The Sweetie’s Slipper Socks

It’s Fall Frenzy around here, aka October and November. Things are busy. I have so many projects to work on and the house currently looks like a tornado went through. Parts of projects, in various stages of being done, are all over the place.

The one thing I got finished though were my sweetie’s slipper socks. He asked for these specifically and I was all excited. He really isn’t a sweater wearer and heretofore has not particularly wanted to try my socks. Till now!

With trembling fingers I went looking for a simple sock pattern that I could use bulky yarn to make. And I found it. For anyone who want the pattern, go to Downsizer.net and type in “Chunky Socks”. The pattern is made from the top down on dpns and is a REALLY simple sock with very good directions.

It calls for using Aran or chunky wool on 5mm dpns for a medium to large adult foot, but my sweetie saunters around on aircraft carriers so I used size 6 dpns for an extra large sock. It fits him perfectly. I used Bernat Alpaca Natural Blend yarn. Its 70% acrylic and 30% alpaca. The yarn is sooooo soft to handle and knitted up easily. The picture doesn’t show off the color quite right, but they are dark forest green, his favorite color.

In the pattern it did not call for the tops to be cuffed down, but sweetie liked them lower. In the pattern it calls for 20 leg rows and I did 16. The next pair I’ll probably half that so it will still be shorter without having to be cuffed. I’d like to try this with worsted weight so he could wear them with his shoes. These are definitely too thick for that, though they are perfect for bed socks which is what he wanted.

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The food dehydrating continues. I found a great deal on carrots today. The carrots were right from the farm (a local commercial farm) and were gorgeous. I got 11 bags of carrots for $5.00. I was pretty happy, but now I need to chop them all up and blanch them and get them drying. A dryers work is never done. LOL.

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Making items for the big fair in November and soon as I get some of them finished I’ll put them up.

Talk to you all again soon!

Free Yarns!

I knew that would get your attentions. lol.

Today I got to go to my knitting group and the woman who runs it brought a huge tote of free yarns. She used to own the LYS until she retired so I’m talking NICE yarns here. Here is the booty I garnered! Most of them are full skeins. A few are just shy of full. Not enough that it would matter to most patterns. The big blue ball is very thick and soft. It feels like roving and it pulls apart-ish and looks a bit like roving. I’m going to try using it like roving for something I’ve been wanting to try for awhile now. I hope it works! I also got a free pattern. Oddly enough the top right hat is exactly what I’ve been looking for. LOL. I want to make a version of that but felt it. I’m hoping all you far more experienced knitters can help me with that.

I also picked these up at a yard sale last week and thought I would show you. I think they’re really pretty. I like the patina on the metal and that the globes are glass. I’m going to put these for sale in the store I sell out of in town.

Look What I Found!

Assorted Sock Yarns (Photo credit: LollyKnit)

A wonderful way to join two yarn ends together!I found this video on http://lllin526.wordpress.com  (Crafty Lady).  I always struggle with changing/adding yarns together and end up with a knot that is a bit on the bulky side. This method of attaching yarns is brilliant and I cannot wait to try it.

Look What I Found!.

Cookies! Me love Cookies!

I know I’ve been a bit quiet of late. I’ve tried to take advantage of the gorgeous weather this week and get some things done outside. I’ve also been trying to wrap up some projects and try others out.

I gave myself a deadline of the 24th to have a new supply of jewelry/gifts made for my display at the store where I sell things; Keepin’ It Local in Athol, Mass. I’ll post those soon as I get them finished.

My sister’s hat is getting mailed out on Friday. Unfortunately too late for her to use it this winter, but hopefully for next.

Took on another project that I’ve wanted to try for some time now. I finally have enough materials to do it with and am finishing it up today. (hopefully). I’ll post that one, too.

In the meantime, I finished a project for my hubby. For a little back story…

When we were first married, as most young couples, we didn’t have a pot to piss in. We decided for our anniversary we would make each other something. He made me a beautiful teak box and put my name on the top with cape may diamonds and pretty pebbles (which we got when we went there on our honeymoon and the pebbles were from Stafford Forge, NJ where we went on our first date). I made him a flannel stuffed bear. He had never had a teddy bear so I made him one.

Now, 23 years later, the bear is a bit worse for wear. Flannel doesn’t hold up that well apparently. So Flannel Bear is now lovingly sitting on a shelf to spend his remaining years. Since the sweetie loves Cookie Monster I went looking for a pattern…and found a great one. I had never done anything like this so it was interesting. I think it turned out pretty well though and at least is recognizable as “The CM”.

The pattern was free from http://a-crochet-ninja.blogspot.com/ .  The yarn she used however was no longer available. It is a yarn from the UK, but they stopped making that particular color. I used Angel Hair yarn. It’s the same yarn I used for his scarf and worked out really nicely. He is soft, furry and totally cuddly. He is also about double, or more, the size that hers came out. I used 3.5 balls of the yarn to make this. The cookie was my addition and made with scraps of the peruvian wool that I used for my sister’s hat. What’s a Cookie Monster without a cookie after all?

COOOKIIIEEEEE!

 

Downsizer: for a sustainable & ethical future – Quick and Chunky Sock Pattern

First this site is awesome. It’s called Downsizer.net. You need to register to get to the forums, but it’s free and fast. I can’t wait to try these socks. Fast, easy and bulky…my kind of sock!

Downsizer: for a sustainable & ethical future – Quick and Chunky Sock Pattern.

Progress of a Shawl

As promised, or threatened , here is my progress on my shawl. Getting that strip to 72″ seemed to take forever, but I finally got it done and started on part two of the pattern. I “think” I’m doing the one stitch right, but since there was no real name for it, I couldn’t look it up to double check. It looks sort of like the one in the picture, although maybe not exactly, but its working and I still think its a pretty look.

The pattern has you carrying yarn for entire rows though and that’s very annoying and makes doing things far more annoying. I know how some of you detest knotting, but I finally said screw this and am only using one color at a time. None of the pattern calls for two colors in a row, so the carrying seems like a pointless waste of yarn and addition of aggravation that I just don’t want to deal with. The knitting is now going faster, smoother, and far more easy. (and easier on my hands, too).

In the picture they use only two colors but its a LOT of green so I’m going to alternate every third set with a creamy white to give it a little splash.  I’ll take a pic and show you how that comes out. See what you guys think.

Anyway here it is. I can’t stretch it out fully, but you get the idea. Oh, that was another thing. The pattern called for using 29″ circ needles. When I finally squeezed on all 72″  it was really tight, so I switched it to my 48″ circs. MUCH better.