Finally some Fall!

It’s finally fall! I’ve got a big photo post coming up tomorrow, with lots of photos of the knitting. As I mentioned, the Hat-Heel Socks are officially finished, and now I’m working away on the Fuzzballs… I’ve actually already finished the first sock, in three days! I can stroke another thing off of the 101 things list (finish a sock in a week). I realized that I could have called them confetti for all of the different colours.

Today was a chilly but sunny day; typical fall. I came home from school and made applesauce and brownies. Last night I made chicken curry; I’ve become such a cook! It’s strange but also gratifying to cook for myself. I like the independence, and knowing that I can completely take care of myself.

My school work seems to be much less than last year… So far anyway. I’ve had lots of downtime to work on the knitting, and I’ve already been scoping out projects for my next pair of Christmas socks. The Christmas knitting is going to be done before I know it! I opened the yarn box for the first time last night since moving back to school, and it was exciting to rediscover what yarn I brought with me.

I know that its seems as if I’ve totally forgotten about the sweater. Don’t worry, I’m still committed to it fully, I just haven’t been working on it lately. I like to finish the instant gratification socks first. Soon I’ll be working on the sweater once again. The back is already at 6 inches or more, meaning I have around 11 to go.

I can’t believe that it’s already September 24. Soon the snow will be flying (funny, I had a dream about a blizzard last night) and the horses will have their furry winter coats on. I’ll have even more of a reason to be cozying up in handknits!

 

De-stashing the stash

The other day, I de-stashed the Stash. I don’t think de-stashed is a verb. Or a word for that matter, but I digress. It gets the point across; I took apart the stash. I photographed some of it, as you will see in a few moments. I didn’t photograph everything (there would be too much) but definitely some. Why would I do such a thing? In preparation for today, for this exact post. This is a BIG BAD PHOTO POST. Haven’t had one in a while, so I figured that I might as well wow you with lots of pictures.

First up: The Zoomobiles. It’s been a while, but here they are:

 

The heel flap remains half finished, but tonight I’m going to be working on them. It’s the hottest day of the year so far (and I’m at work with no air conditioning again) so I’ll be relaxing with a cold beer when I’m finished work.

They’re looking pretty good so far; I love how the stripes ended up on the heel flap.

Next: I have the coolest hair today.

This was taken with my cell phone, so the quality isn’t great. I’m not usually very adventurous with my hair, so I’m very proud of this style! I french braided it to the side, then flipped the braid over itself in a kind of knot. Then pinned the whole thing!

Now, this next photo may be confusing until you read the text.

 That’s right – if you read closely, it states “make the heel with the Eye of Partridge pattern”. Kill me now. How lovely. Not only is this new pattern toe up, it’s got my favourite heel flap pattern, Eye of Partridge. I’ll reveal the pattern a little later, when I actually start knitting it… But for now, you’ll have to wait and wonder why I’m putting myself through this torture.

 

 

 

And that right there, is a whole lotta stash. The bottom picture is my newest addition – manly sock yarn. See the green! I’m so proud. I figured that all were suitable manly. The rest of that stash I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but I know I’ve got to do something quickly, because it doesn’t fit in the bins and I don’t know how I’m going to transport it to school with me. I like having a stash problem – it means I’ve usually got too much yarn.

 

Why the photos of my cat? Simply because they are too cute, and I’m planning to make labels for my books with those particular pictures. I couldn’t resist sharing… Who knew that my yarn-wrecker cat could be so cute?

There you have it: a big, bad, disorganized photo post. I’ll try to be more coherent next time… No promises though.

Stumped

I went through the stash last night, and I’m stumped. I don’t know what to knit next; nothing is really screaming “Knit me! You know you want to!”

This is just plain weird. I want to run to the yarn store and get something exciting, but then I look at the stash and think “I already have way too much yarn”.

Here it is, in all of it’s wooly glory. The Stash.

Now, I know most of you are looking at this photo, thinking “Wow. That’s such a small stash”, and I would agree with you. I have inherited most of this yarn too, so some of it is really old (look at the labels in the bottom bin!). Yes, I would like the stash to grow, but that being said, I also have this really annoying tendancy to want to clear everything out! I hate keeping things around longer than necessary, and I really like to use up what I have before getting more.

And I was planning a trip to the yarn store. I’ve just talked myself out of it. Darn.

So here we have some options. Nothing is really striking my fancy at the moment, but I’m sure once I’m a bit further on the Zoomobile socks something will grab my attention.

Option 1: Patons Kroy Sock yarn; Christmas knitting for my mother

This is Option 1. It’s the most likely option, since I just purchased the yarn in May and I don’t want it to get buried in the stash. That, and I have an awesome pattern that I want to try out: Hat Heel Socks. My mom really likes stripy/patterned yarn, but she doesn’t like to waste said yarn on complicated patterns. This one is unique enough not to be boring, and it will still showcase the pattern of the yarn, though it a different way. I’m really excited about this pattern, but also sort of dreading it. You see, I started it over a year ago with a worsted weight yarn, and promptly ripped it out since the fabric was way too stiff. But I remember starting the heel… It was so difficult. Youtube videos, here I come.

Option 2: Patons Carmen; Christmas socks for my sister

Here’s option 2. I blogged about this yarn before, though I didn’t read the ball band then because I wrote that I didn’t know what it was. Clearly, it’s Patons Carmen. Anyway, I was going to make tube socks for my little sister with this. I’m not sure what it’s going to knit up like, but she doesn’t walk much so it will definitely work for socks for her. These are going to be really simple, so I’ll probably make up the pattern myself and get to it when I’m done with the Zoomobiles. Definitely some zone-out-watch-a-movie-or-have-a-deep-talk knitting. 

Option 3:  A whole bunch of leftovers for some chunky socks. I have the pattern picked out and printed off from Ravelry (so prepared!) but I don’t really want to knit myself another pair of socks at the moment; I’m feeling guilty about not knitting for others. 

Option 4: More leftover yarn. My mom would wear crazy socks like these, but some of the yarn isn’t the same gauge, so I would have to double it up… As you can see, I don’t really feel like going to the trouble of figuring it out right now. 

There you have it. After some struggles with the computer, I’ve given you some options. Guess you’re going to have to wait to see what I pick, but it probably won’t be for another week. The Zoomobile socks are still my main focus, and they knit up quickly. I have yet to be bored by their stripes, but I bet once I get to the heel I’ll be yearning for something else. Heel flaps bore me, but I find the gussets strangely satisfying. Probably because the sock is finally getting some shape. That’s all for now folks. Look for some Zoomobile progress tomorrow, as well as some fabric selections for needle rolls (I didn’t get that far last night… I was in bed by 10:15 pm!).

Sock it to me!

Wow, so much progress in so little time! I’m loving this quick knitting. Unfortunately, no photos today since I was a little late running out the door, but the first sock is completely finished, and the second has half of the cuff done.

Surprisingly, they aren’t going to match. Who would have guessed that, coming from me? Rhetorical question – you guys should know by now that nothing I make every matches. The second sock started out on a different bit of striping than the first, but that’s alright by me. I secretly like how nothing ever matches.

So we’ll see what these ones do… I always like watching how the stripes come together around the heel flap.

With the second sock well underway, I guess this means I’ll be starting a new project soon. It’s a weird feeling, to be able to start something new without the pressure of finishing my current project. I’ll be looking in the stash bin tonight, and I’ll post photos tomorrow. I think I’ll be starting some Christmas knitting, probably chunky socks for my sister or some for my mom. I also need a tea cozy, of all things, for my house in September. I have an inordinate amount of tea, but I’m planning on purchasing a tea pot for my house and I need a cozy!

I’m also going to scavenge my mom’s fabric collection tonight for something to make needle rolls with. I can’t efficiently bring all of my knitting to school in the fall with needles flying around everywhere, totally disorganized.

Tonight is going to be a productive night!