First socks of 2011

nobody can dig out the chocolate first with these neapolitans!

Yea!  I am on my way to keeping one of my goals with my first socks of the new year, only 5 more pairs to go.  I used the Carolina pattern by Monkey Toes with KnitPicks Felici yarn in the Neapolitan colorway.  I love them!  Okay, it figures that I make some nice warm squishy socks out of sport weight yarn and we have a taste of summer in the middle of winter (it is currently 76 degrees F in my front hallway, gotta love Southern California!) so of course I can't wear them.

that nifty eye of partridge heel flap, love it

Unfortunately I did get almost done with one sock only to realize my gauge was too tight and they were really hard to get on my foot.  Sigh, so I put in an order for some larger sock needles (can I tell you I was so disappointed with that!) and pulled it all apart to start anew.  Since I has to start over anyway I decided to use my newly learned TAAT technique that I had just started to figure out on the sleeves for Lil' Misses new sweater.  Knitting actually went rather quickly doing this, it only took me a little over a week to get them done.  The only thing I am kind of iffy on is the toe, I do like the eye of partridge pattern I knit but I feel that I should have switched to that earlier even if it meant I just knit a few rounds without decreasing yet.  Maybe it's just me but it looks a bit weird with the sock pattern going onto my toes, my toes are a bit squarish so it doesn't take too much to decrease for me and it just seems a bit sudden to my eye.

zoom, it's a toe!

Next up will be Toe Up Socks With a Difference by Wendy Johnson using the design element from Pillars by Lisa Stichweh with some KnitPicks stroll tonal yarn in the blue yonder colorway.  I plan on starting these next socks along with the Knit Picks Lovers group on ravelry as part of a February KAL.  I am really excited about these socks and am looking forward to learning toe up, here's hoping I can figure it out!

How to: Make a tote bag for knitting, crafting or toting

I can't believe I didn't get better pictures before gifting this...

I do realize there are probably a million and a half free tote bag tutorials floating around on the web, but I haven't seen anything quite like mine so I thought I'd share.  I absolutely love this bag I created to hold all my various knitting projects and tools and have already made several more as gifts.  If you didn't guess on the timing of this tutorial, yup, the one pictured here was indeed a gift for a certain someone, Granola Mama in this case.  I must say with this pattern there is something I really enjoy about picking out all the various fabrics and seeing how they work together.  { it's located in PDF format here}  Here's what you'll need to make one for yourself:

• 4 pieces of 18"x 8" fabric for the outside of the tote, one 4 1/2 " x 7 1/2" for the closure, and 2 more pieces 4 1/2" x 28" for the straps
• 3 pieces of 18" x 7" contrast fabric for outside of bag
• lining fabric 1/2 yard of 45" wide fabric
• interfacing (I use either medium or heavy weight), 4 of 18" x 8", 2 of 18" x 7"
• batting, 4 of 18" x 8", 2 of 18" x 7"
• fusible interfacing, enough for the straps and closure fabric
• zipper (if you wish to put in a zippered pocket, you'll need some extra pieces of fabric also)
• button or velcro

It is actually a pretty straight forward design (since I came up with it I'd be really surprised if it were anything but dead simple!) and doesn't require any fancy stitch work, well at least not anything I'd consider fancy.

materials all assembled and ready to sew!

New technique for a new year

I want to try a few new techniques this year, not just knitting ones (which of course there are a few), but tricks to keep my life happier and absolve some of my guilt at letting things go too long this past year.  If you are curious as to what all of these are I listed them in the sidebar off to the left under Goals 2011, feel free to laugh and learn along with me this year!

I am already in progress on conquering one of my resolutions, learning to knit two at a time on circular needles (abbreviated as TAAT cause I really don't want to have to type all of that over and over).  I am currently knitting a Mi Escuelita cardigan for Lil' Miss, for which the yarn, Ella Rae Amity in aquamarine, was ordered last fall (yes, it's been sitting in my stash for a few months now, holiday knitting kind of got in the way!).  It is actually a really quick knit and I must say I am very pleased with it so far.  I have already finished the lower body of the sweater and decided to do the sleeves TAAT.  It was a total bitch to get started but now that I am a few inches in I 'get' why people like this way of knitting.  I am no longer obsessively counting rows and worried if my gauge changes from one sleeve to the other, and if they will look the same, etc.  It may go a bit slower but they'll be done at the same time, and I need to finish both sleeves up to the armpit to join them to the body and continue work on the top portion of the sweater.

Maybe I'll give TAAT a try when I finally decide to face the music and restart my Carolina socks languishing in my knitting bag.  They really are too tight and need to be redone, but I just don't have the heart to do it yet!

Sock Resolution

I'll admit it, I am addicted....to knitting socks that is!  I already have completed one pair, the ever popular Monkey socks by Cookie A., and am currently working on my second pair, Carolina by Monkey Toes.  Wearing handknit socks just makes me feel so decadent!  Probably the same feeling some women get from wearing fancy underwear.  I will admit, I felt a pang of jealousy at the last image in this post on Mooncalf's blog, oh to have a sock drawer like that!  So that's my goal, well at least one of them, to knit a sock every month (I know my limits and my level of laziness so a pair each month might be asking too much) so at the end of the year I'll have an additional 6 pairs tucked in my drawer to keep my toes nice and toasty.

My dear MIL got me off to a good start with my Christmas gift of knitting books, one of which was Sock Innovations by Cookie A.  Squee of excitement from me when I opened that little bit of joy!  Then later on Grumpy and Chatty-Cathy gifted me with some sock blockers and a skein of Imagination sock yarn, double squee!  I think they must have known about the goal fermenting at the back of my mind even then.

I am going to be joining in the toe-up sock KAL planned for February in the KnitPicks Lovers group on Ravelry also, which will be my second knit-a-long ever.  I just am a bit concerned about that style of socks fitting my freakishly high instep, remember my bitching when knitting my Monkey socks?  Anyway, while perusing the forums on Ravelry when girding my loins to start those socks I found a number of knitters cursed afflicted born with high insteps who reported that the heel style of toe-up socks didn't work for them.  However I have voiced this concern and am eagerly awaiting feedback from my fellow knitters as to how this obstacle shall be overcome.

Check out the nifty eye of partridge heel!

That said, I think a bit of cheating rule-bending may be in order, meaning the pair I have started and am working on will count as the first of my socks!  Since I haven't even finished the first sock that shouldn't be too much of a cheat, although they are on hold at the moment as my gauge has changed.  I may need to start them over anyway on larger needles.  So, do you have any resolutions for the new year?

Merry Christmas!

If only I had an army of elves to help me!

I know not to start a letter with an apology, but still, I am sorry to have neglected you all but I have been unbelievably busy getting everything done for Christmas.  From last minute gifts, finishing up those that were already started and of course the "oh, crap!" when I realized that I forgot to make something for a special someone the crafting side has been pretty busy.  Then of course there is the baking...   the still to be made homemade rolls and pound cake for Christmas Day, the cheesecake for Christmas Eve, it never seems to end this time of year.  I had trouble paring down my list of cookies and this year made a whopping ten different varieties.  Mister Vonkysmeed thinks that something is seriously wrong with me, I think he may be right! 

I promise to come back with a recap of my holiday crafting and of course more observations on the stunts of my two little ankle biters in the New Year.  Until then Merry Christmas, belated Happy Chanukah, Joyful Kwanzaa, Jolly Yule, and a very Happy New Year!