Thursday, June 28, 2007

Completed Socks and Spoiled Cats



The first pair of socks I have made for myself are done. WOOT!

Yarn: Trekking XXL (which was brought back from Germany for me) in the color Candy 157

Pattern: Diamante


And, as is pretty well known, my cats are super spoiled. First there was the kitty drinking fountain, then came the raw meat diet (except that Quirk refuses to eat anything but kibble...Queue, however, total carnivore), and now......

KITTY TOWNHOME!

Queue is especially fond of climbing all the way to the top and jumping off.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Sideways!!


My First Sidewinder
Originally uploaded by herzeleidknits

I am working on my first "Sidewinder, A Perpensockular Sock" and I love this pattern. These socks shall be for my sis - since they are made out of the wonderful Wollmeise she brought back from Yarnmany for me.
Almost 1/2 done on the first sock. WOOT!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Yarn Pr0ny Pics

Today was the annual sale at Knit n Knibble in Tampa. Here is my haul...



I didn't go apeshite crazy for a change. 1 ball of Austermann Step (hello 20% off), 2 skeins of Malabrigo (15% off), and 8 balls of Brilla for the drop stitch T-shirt I want to make (40% off). I believe I am set in the yarn dept for quite a while. Seriously, I think it's more that I'm totally spoiled by the Wollmeise colors... so now I find most other stuff kinda boring. I'm sure this yarn snobbery will pass.

Here is the pic I promised of the limited edition Tofutsies colorway



And a pic of my current favorite WIP - Diamante Socks using the Trekking my sis brought back from Germany (with cameo/pic hogging by Queue).

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Yarn school and other goodies

Okay so I'm not posting on a regular basis and I need to fix that. I'm going to try to quickly update some stuff now and hopefully write more and post some pics later tonight.

YARN SCHOOL
It is official that me and Ms. M. are going to Yarn School in September. WOO HOOO!! I'm so excited. However, learning how to spin might be quite dangerous for the ol' checking account. :)

TOFUTSIES LIMITED EDITION
SWTC is putting out limited edition colors of their Tofutsies yarn every other month. I was able to snag a ball of the June color which is a nifty pink and black. It also comes along with a exclusive pattern. Super cool!! Pics will be posted later of the colorway. I purchased mine from The Yarn Grove and they will let you preorder the future colorways. There is also a sock club yahoo group which is open to all lovers of the Tofutsies yarn. You can click to join the yahoo group from here.

THE YARN GROVE
The customer service at this online yarn shop is AMAZING! With every order (I have placed 2 so far) I have received personalized notes and a small gift along with my shipment. This kind of service will make me continue to be a customer and to let others know that they should shop there too. Oh, and free shipping....woot!!

Friday, June 15, 2007

'Vog On KAL

On Ravelry a 'Vog On Knit-a-long has been started for the 'Vog On sock pattern from the new Knitty. Then I decided to start a group blog for everyone participating. WOO HOO! Now I just have to finish the socks I'm working on before starting these. I'm still figuring out what yarn I'm going to use for the Vog's ....which for me should actually be called "Croc Ons".

Monday, June 11, 2007

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Showing Knits in Public and Random Run-Ins

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Yesterday was WWKIP day and I did make it out to Citrus Park Mall in Tampa to knit with some ladies. Unfortunately, I'm horrible with names so I cannot remember who all was there but a good time was had by all. There was a "Daddy Dance Off" contest being held in the same food court which was quite entertaining. What I learned: Once you are a parent you do not mind making a fool out of yourself in public. You actually do it with pride.

Fiber Arts

After the knitting yesterday, Ms. M. and I went to Fiber Arts which has moved but is still close to Odessa, FL. Since they're in the process of moving there were bags of yarn everywhere but do yarn people really care if they have to look around a bit? I know I don't. Lots of pretty yarn and somehow a ball of Trekking ended up coming home with me.

Knit N Knibble

After Fiber Arts, Ms. M and I decided to leave my car @ Fiber Arts and carpool over to Knit N Knibble over in Tampa. It was quite busy yesterday. I don't know if it's because people were out knitting for WWKIP day or if that is how it is every Saturday. I found a beautiful color of Malabrigo I fell in love with but there was only one skein left. I chose to believe that it was fate saying "do not buy more yarn now." Left empty handed.

Random Run-In

Ms. M. then had to take me back to my car at Fiber Arts, which is located in the same strip of stores as a restaurant, G. Peppers. Ms. M. noted that there was a car show going on at G. Peppers and joked that maybe my dad was there. I called his cell phone and he was! So we wandered down and said "hi." Quite a random run in since we were both not anywhere near our homes.

Yarn Metering

After all of this we went to Ms. M's and played with her new yarn meter. Boston, the superdog, helped and even wandered over and nosed some yarn back into place when it caught on the swift. I told you he is a superdog. I now have enough Zephyr separated from the cone to make a drop stitch tee that I've been eyeing. News on that once it is on the needles. We also split some of my Wollmeise so I can start playing with that soon too.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Ravelry and clapotis (hey, I rhyme)

RAVELRY

Oh Ravelry, how I am becoming addicted to you. First it was the forums...now I have sworn to friend everyone with a cat avatar (not really a long story...but not an interesting one so I'll spare you.) It is such a joy to look not only at other people's wonderful triumphs but to feel the camaraderie of the knitting disasters that everyone shares.

CLAPOTIS

Oh Clapotis, how I am bored to tears by your repetitive pattern. Luckily I am using malabrigo so the softness of the fabric makes up for the constant k1, ktbl, k3, ktbl. However, dropping stitches with malabrigo is a time consuming business. I'm almost 1/4 of the way done with it...so it shouldn't be too much longer. I know it will be beautiful when it's done.

KNIT IT PUBLIC DAY

Tomorrow is World Wide Knit In Public Day and apparently all of the other local knitters took this to mean "let's meet up super early in the morning and knit." So, I may not make it to any of the "planned" events but I will be knitting in public at some time within that 24 hour period. I hope to see others out there knitting too.

YARN SCHOOL

It's a possibility that I will be attending "Yarn School" in September. Supercool! I'm crossing my fingers that Ms. M says "let book it." WOOT.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Yarn Pr0n Pics including GERMAN YARN

Here is a bunch of yarny goodness..... yay

The Orange bag from Germany contained all of this inside. 5 skeins of Wollmeise, 2 Gedifra (which my sis bought for me), 1 skein of Trekking (which I already played with...as you can see), and a mini skein Wollmeise included w/ my order. AND 2 sets of Addi Lace Needles. WOOT
Now for some close ups. These pics do not do justice to the wonderful colors.



Well I'd write more now but my cat has decided to take up residence on the keyboard

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Project COMPLETE and German Yarn Haul

It has been done since last Thursday, 5/31, but I have been busy doing other stuff.....so finally - I'm here to announce....

THE PROJECT IS DONE!!!

Woo hoo!

And, because my camera battery was dying I only have ONE picture to prove that both sleeves were completed and attached. And it's only of the front. However, the back doesn't change with the second sleeve attached so....there are pics of that in my previous post.



German Yarn Haul

My sister is back from her travels in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. WOOT! I am now the very happy owner of lots of Wollmeise, some Trekking, some Addi Lace Needles and two balls of purple yarn my sis picked out for me. The camera battery is charging.... I will take pictures and post later tonight.

Ravelry

Like I needed another online addiction. I am now on Ravelry - user name Herzeleid, if anyone wants to "friend" me. It's like mySpace for knitters and crocheters. Totally addictive.

WWKIP Day

This Saturday is World Wide Knit in Public Day. I believe there is a group meeting up in the Tampa area at Citrus Park Mall. Ms M. and I will be there....showing our knits in public.

Stitch N Pitch

The tickets have arrived. Looking forward to meeting other local stitchers and the goodie bag.

lolCats

My other new online addiction is ICanHasCheezburger. I didn't know there was a whole collection of hilarious cat pics out there but now that I do...I have to check for updates daily.