9:13

Pair #9

yarn: gingerbread people Desert Vista Dye Works

I had to buy this yarn after my BFF bought it. I'm such a copycat. It's self striping, and sparkly. And it came with a mini skein for contrasting heels and toes. Love.

pattern: Basic sock pattern.

8:13

And just like that, pair #8 are done!

I made these as a pay-it-forward gift for Bart's cousin Cari in Florida. She has special ordered many items from me, and mentioned a few times how she'd like some socks. How could I resist?

yarn: Karynlandia colorway, BMFA

I cannot say enough nice things about this yarn. It's lovely to work with, has a great twist, comes in gorgeous colors, and is so squishy that I just love to squeeze it!

pattern: ripple socks, from Not Just More Socks by Sandi Rosner

easy to memorize, quick to knit.

7:13

Hey, wow!

Two blog posts in one week. I'm on a roll :)

This is pair #7. Knit up superduper fast.

pattern: Simple Skyp socks

yarn: Cakewalk yarn, colorway Brooklyn

I really love the little bits of color in the yarn, and will buy more! I will also knit this pattern again, as it  was so quick and easy. Maybe in a manly color next.

5 & 6:13

I have become the anti-blogger. I think about it, really I do! I just never seem to find the time to add new things, and photos, and links. It's a lot of work, yo.

I have found time to crank out many new pair of socks.

First up, a pair that I started probably 2 years ago and never finished. I don't know why...the pattern is awesome and the yarn is squishy. The pattern is Kai-Mei by Cookie A., sock genius extraordinaire.

The yarn is Prism Saki

 This pair I made in April for a KAL on Rav. These are Mullet socks, in the BMFA colorway Baby Zombie. The minute I saw the name of this color I knew I had to have it. Love me some zombies :)

I have become terrible at taking photos of things I've made lately. I made two baby sweaters as gifts and didn't get a photo of either completed before I mailed them off. Don't know where my head is at, but it's not on photo taking.

At this pace, I will for sure have 13 pair by January 1st!

4:13

This is the fourth pair of socks I've completed in my quest to knit 13 in '13.

Simple socks, to rest my brain between all the cabled business I've been up to lately.

Yarn is from Desert Vista Dyeworks, given to me by my BFF Heather.

I love self striping yarn. Nothing but happiness here.

Sock experiment 2

Since sock experiment #1 was so successful, my BFF and I decided to do another one.

The first pattern I chose was very fussy. I knit almost an entire sock before I decided that I loathed it. So I scrapped that sock.

I decided upon Yarnissima's Slingback pattern (I've been wanting to knit it for a long time) and I decided to do it in this lovely Smitten Stricken yarn that I got in the Cookie A. sock club last year. It is more purple in person than it is in the photos. Lovely, lovely yarn. I really loved it.

We had the entire month of March to work on it.

 The first sock was a little tricky; this pattern is a toe up and I never do toe ups. But I figured it out, and then was moving right along. The second sock gave me fits. I don't know what happened, but by the time I got to that criss cross in the middle, my counts were off. I tried to tink back and fix it, and ended up ripping out the whole thing. Heartbreaking. So I've now actually knit this sock 3 times.

 My Bff Heather is a big old cheater. She came to visit me St. pat's weekend, and she was all finished with my pair. AND she came bearing other gifts, all so she could say she kicked my ass. And she did.

This was the pair I got in return. Awesome doesn't even begin to describe them. I love them so much. If you can't tell, there are owls all over them. With beaded eyes. I told you she kicked my ass!

I love my socks. Love love  love!

I've been trolled!

I got an email today from an old friend and co-worker, who brought up the fact that I don't blog very much anymore. My response was that I rarely get comments, so it feels often times like I am speaking to no one. And I've always had a hard time blogging my real feelings, the hard parts, my inner truth. Then comic bloggers became huge and I didn't feel like I compared, so I just stuck with my less than exciting approach...occasional stories from the everyday.

So today, I decided to write a blog post. I logged onto blogger to find that I had 11 comments awaiting moderation. Wow! 11 comments is an avalanche to me. 9 of the comments were spam. No surprise there; I get a lot of spam.

But there were 2 comments posted anonymously by an actual person who read 2 different posts and felt the need to comment.

Both of the comments were very nasty, and I was a little shocked at first. I am not a prude in the least, but apparently I am more naive than I thought. I figured if I didn't say anything polarizing, didn't talk about religion or politics or how sometimes I want to run far, far away from home, then I wouldn't have people hating on me.

I was wrong!

After 30 minutes or so, I got over my jaw dropping shock and started to get angry. How dare someone who doesn't know me say mean things to me under the cloak of anonymity? And if you do know me, I must have done something really bad to piss you off so much. I forgot that I'm not still in high school, where the mean girls rule and everyone else just shuts up. I had a stalker in high school, and it wasn't any fun. (If it's you, Kathy, I certainly hope you got some help for your mental health issues, you crazy bitch.)

You obviously read several of my posts, enough to comment on the fact that I don't have a job and have plenty of free time. Are you jealous? I do have plenty of free time; I am a lucky girl. I have a husband who works very hard to support our family so that I can stay home. There are days when I would switch places with just about anyone on the planet, and there are many more days that I am incredibly grateful. I worked for many years. I still work, every day. I just no longer get paid for it. I hope that my kids can appreciate (one day, in the distant future) all the things that I do for them that they take for granted. I will only have them with me for a short amount of time, and I don't want them to feel like I didn't pay enough attention to them while they were home.

I struggle every day. I struggle to find balance between being a mom and being a woman. Between being a mom and being a daughter. Between being a mom and a wife. I struggle with depression. I struggle with my weight. I struggle with feelings of inadequacy. I question every decision I make. I regret the choices I made in my past. I hope to make better choices in the future. I hope that my family knows how much they are loved. Every day.

I'm no longer mad. I actually laughed at the second comment. I was poking fun at myself, calling my hair hot (it wasn't in the least) and you clarified it by telling me I was fucking NOT. And that my ass looks like 5 pounds of chewed bubblegum. I may be overweight, middle aged, and unemployed, but my ass is anything but fat. I wish it were a little rounder!

So, thank you, internet troll, for reminding me of how good I've got it. I have great friends. I have a great family. I have a damn good life.

And you can suck it.

A couple of quickies

One thing I have wanted to knit for myself was a simple cowl that I could wear with just about anything. 2 weeks ago I found the softest alpaca yarn, and decided to whip one up. No, really. It took me one evening to make this!

Quite possibly, the easiest thing I've made.

 Then we have the hat.

I bought this crazy pink puffy coat in the fall. Love it, but nothing matches it.

I found this skein of Crazy Zauberball yarn, and fell in love.

The hat is super easy as well, mostly stockinette stitch. The color transitions are very pretty. The hat is lightweight and slouchy. It's perfect.

I posted this pic on Facebook, because Evan said I looked like a dork in my hat. Not only did everyone disagree, one friend wanted one just like it, and another friend wanted the cowl! So I did both of these projects times 2. And make a quick couple of bucks for my effort!

Pay it forward, part 4

I'm so behind on posting! February got the best of me this year. I really am so glad it's over.

Moving along!

I sent out my fourth creative pay it forward gift to my friend Jen. I instantly knew what I was going to make for her, since she posted about the wall of hearts on her blog. I noticed there weren't any knit hearts. After playing around with several different puffy heart designs, I decided that I liked the motif I had seen on an ornament. Then it was just a matter of finding the right yarn combos.

 The first yarns I chose (red & white) were all wrong. I hated the entire thing. I hated it too much to even frog it. I just pitched it in the garbage can. Then I chose a multicolor yarn & a cream. They were better suited to one another. I took my time on the stranded portion, and it was much better the second time around.

I bought the kitchen canister from IKEA. It's red & has a lid, or you can use it to store cooking utensils. Maybe a little candy :)
ANYWAY, word is that Jen likes it, which is all that matters. I hope it brings a smile to her face every time she enters the kitchen.

Sock experiment

My cousin Erin and I decided to try a sock experiment.

I knit a pair for her, she knits a pair for me.

Knitters choice on pattern, yarn & color.

After answering a few questions, I decided to knit Jedi MInd Trick in Fleece Artist's SeaCell yarn, a beautiful silvery grey. The pattern is from Cookie A.'s sock club last year, and won't be available to the public until later this year. It was a fun and challenging pattern. Now I'm itching to make myself something in a neutral color. I have nothing!

We met on Sunday and went to Zingerman's for lunch. Delish.

 This is the pair that Erin made for me. They are so soft and squishy and perfect in every way. The bind off is so stretchy...she needs to teach me that! I love love them.

 Here we are exchanging socks. We really were more excited than it looks. This is my first ever pair of socks that I didn't knit myself.

Awesome experiment. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

creative pay-it-forward, part 3

For my third pay it forward item, I chose Stacy and these boot toppers. About 2 weeks previously, she had posted on facebook that she would like some of these. I had mentioned that ribbed ones would be easy enough even for a knitting novice. When she responded to my pay it forward post, I knew immediately what I would make.

I used Bernat alpaca yarn. It is soft and fuzzy and perfect for this kind of project! I used just a tiny bit over 1 skein, so a pretty inexpensive project too.

Pay it forward, part deux

 Today my second pay it forward gift was delivered to Lisa Kemp, the sister of my sister-in-law Shannon. Lisa is a fun girl and crafty in her own right. She doesn't need any knit items, so I pondered for days about what to make for her. Then I came across a fun idea that I wanted to try: Instagram magnets.
Here's how I made them!

1: In Photoshop, I resized 9 photos to 3x3 inches & 300 resolution. I made a blank page that was 12x12 and put all the photos on it.

2: Sent to Costco for printing. Cheap!

3. Cut apart photos.

4. Sticky magnet sheets! What a great idea! These were 4x6. Had I realized that, I probably would have made my photos 2x2 instead, to fit more on a sheet.

 5. Trim off excess magnet.

 6. Admire your handiwork so far!

 7.Apply Mod-Podge dimensional adhesive slowly over the top. This was what they had at Michael's. You can use any type of dimensional adhesive.

 8. Allow lots of time to dry. Like 4 hours. Try not to let any bubbles form. This is harder than you would think. I had tons of bubbles.

 9. This is what they look like when they are dry.

10. Super awesome!

pay it forward, creatively!

I signed up again this year to do a creative pay it forward, where you make and send a little something to 5 people, and then those people are supposed to do the same thing, It's a nice way to brighten someone's day, and you feel really good in the process!

This  year's recipients are Jan Connair, Lisa Kemp, Cari Brennaman, Regan McDonald, Stacey Bogert, Jen Brecht, & Jennifer Hignite. Yes, I realize this is 7 people. I have a hard time saying no :)

I sent out my first 2 packages. This is the first!

Topiary beanie from weekend hats

for Jan Connair.

I love the lace motif on this hat, and it is gathered in the back so that it slouches just perfectly on your head. I overdyed the yarn, to make the pattern stand out more. The yarn took the dye oddly, so it's greener in some places, and there is a purple tinge in there as well. WTF? I used a dark teal dye, and am baffled as to why it came out unevenly.

The hat looks a different color in all 4 photos. Sigh. The last is the closest representation of what it really looks like.

It's a beautiful hat, but next time I won't screw around with the color. Kind of bummed me out.

Anyway, it's done and in Jan's hands!

13 in '13

My friend Jen blogged about goals the other day
so I thought "I should get some of those".
After a few minutes many hours of careful consideration,
I decided that I have two goals this year.
For right now, anyway.

1. Knit 13 pair of socks in 2013. This should be a fairly respectable challenge for me. I know that it's possible to do, but still a lofty goal. I have no less than 4 socks waiting for partners, so I'm already well on my way. I am going to knit thru the massive stash of sock yarn that I own.

2. Run the entire 5K. October 20,2013. If I can't run the whole thing by then, I never will be able to. Plenty of time to train. Plenty of time to breathe. Plenty of time to find my groove.

There are also things like 'I want to lose weight' and 'I want to spend less money' and "cook yummy things" that I plan to do but I'm not calling them goals. If I keep up running, I will lose weight. If I knit from my stash, I will spend less money. If I meal plan, I will spend less money. All beneficial side-effects of the original goals.

Keeping it simple.

Knit in 2012

This is the fruits of my knitting labor for 2012: 30 projects. This doesn't include things I made for my shop, and I know I knit a baby hat/booty set that I forgot to photograph. There may be one or two more things I've forgotten, and many things I started but didn't finish. Wow.

In 2013, I want to knit even more!

Create something!

Y'all know I love making stuff.

The only way to combat the torture that is January, I plan to make lots of things.

First up, I made this frozen birdseed wreath.

Super simple, used products I had on hand.

Naturally, it's decided to warm up a few degrees since I hung it up. I hope the birds find it before it totally melts.

I got the idea from Pinterest, and here is the link to the original recipe. If you haven't signed up for Pinterest yet, what are you waiting for?? All the coolest ideas can be found there.

Sadly, I had no cranberries, and there weren't any at the grocery store. I will definitely do this again next year, with the berries. The berries make it pretty. I don't think the birds care one way or another.

What are you making today?

Hey, it's 2013!

So Happy New Year.
I haven't blogged since July. 6 months.
I did stuff. I went places.
My kids grew. My pets were crazy.
My Buddy passed away.
I baked. I cooked. I played.
I knit lots of things.
I took lots of pictures.
I read lots of books.
I laughed. I cried.
And now we're caught up!

Going to try to be a little more consistent in 2013.
Happy 2013!