New Bumper Sticker

It used to be I wanted my bumper sticker to say "I stop for all wildflowers", now I want it to say "too busy to drive I want to be knitting". All I want to do is knit "Socks". I've finished a few pairs recently. I've actually finished the second sock for Martin made out of Socka Mexico.




These worked out very quickly considering they are not me:) I used the Riverbed Architecture from Cat Bordhi. I'm pretty much using it for all my toe up socks. I've tried quite a few bind offs for toe up socks but think I like this one the best: knit 2 in pattern, *replace 2 on left needle, K2 TBL, K1 in pattern and repeat from *. I think it looks very neat and if you have to tink back it's easy to do. Try and tink back using the EZ sewn bind off and it's not so easy. I wish I could credit the person who designed this but can't remember who did it. Mea culpa...


I finished Rebecca Hatcher Keyhole Cable Socks. I used Smooshy from Dream in Color. I'm not sure I would buy this again as I found it a bit thick and thin, don't remember where I bought it. All I modified was I used Cat Bordh's Riverbed Architecture, no short row heel for me.












I received the Digitessa Kit from Yarnissima.


Oh I wish I had a better picture of this but I have not taken it out of the bag:))) Everyone keeps talking about the smell and the color is out of this world. I think the color has changed somewhat since she first brought out the kit, the shades are darker. It's in my stash to be lovingly looked at but not knit yet:) I recently received the kit for Digitessa but have not taken a picture yet, it's in lovely shades of brown. A few years ago I would not have chosen brown as a color for me but with the way the fashions are dictating the colors there is not much choice. My mother is an Autumn and I'm supposedly a Winter?, go figure. The kits come with chocolates:)))


Sundara has stopped posting yarn on her website because we kept crashing it. Now she has added subscriptions. I'm sharing a Cool with Britgirl and signed up for a Dark and an Artists Choice plus all the Seasons subscriptions I'm getting there should be no reason for me to buying anything else. She is starting a Sweater Subscription on October 15th. The yarns are gorgeous but very expensive. I have so many sweaters on the needles and in my stash, I can't justify anymore and if the truth be known sweaters seem to be on the out at the moment. There are lots of lovely yarns out there but Sundara is my favorite, her colors are beyond describing.
I'm off to knit on Violets Rising by Anne Hanson.

Nearly strangled the mailman, !!Wollmeise Spoiler!!

Supposedly the Wollmeise packages went out late last week. Today is Tuesday and the door bell rung, the mailman wanted a signature. I was thinking what could it be, not expecting any yarn today:), well I'll be darned the poor mailman didn't know what was going on. I didn't take a picture of the ruler, ate the candy and we got a set of 2.5 mm double pointed needles by Holz and Stein. Plus of course a pattern, will have to take a picture of it. Absolutely yummy, don't know what I'll knit with them but I sure won't be wanting to trade them for something else.

One of Martin's socks is done. Looks a bit funny off the foot but once on looks like a normal sock. I love Cat Bordhi's sock architecture.

I finally ended up using EZ's sewn bind off. I stared a thread on Ravelry asking for help. There was a lot of good suggestions. The one I really wanted to use was the K2 P2 rib tubular bind off. Most of the information I read said was only good for the K1 P1 rib. It looks ok but I will do a swatch and try the tubular the next time.

Here's Rushing Rivulet by of course Cat Bordhi using the Riverbed architecture. I have finished them but don't have picture of them on. They turned out much better than I had hoped. I thought my guage may have been too tight but they fit like a glove. I keep reading that guage for socks should be snug or the heels won't wear well. If I knit lots of socks I'll have a pair for every day of the month. How's that for logic. Won't be long and I'll be there.

I've started Spring Thaw Socks from Knitters Summer 2008. I'm using Shibui Socks in the sand colorway. I'm about half way through the arch expansion.

Wollmeise Sock Club Spoilers

People in Europe are starting to receive their 1st installment of the sock club. Pictures are here. Sorry you need to be a member of Ravelry to see them. We're just over the pond can't take that long can it?
I received my 2nd installment of the Sundara Seasons Club in Winter and Spring. We got the lace this shipment. I do like knitting lace but it takes so darn long and I have enough shawls to last me a lifetime, I really don't wear them that often. One is Crushed Cherries and the other is Honeyed Hibiscus. The Honeyed Hibiscus is similar to the Tulip shawl I'm working on by Sivia Harding, just darker. The Crushed Cherries is absolutely gorgeous. Pictures to come, the package arrived late this afternoon and we got a lot of rain today so very gray.
I've finished Rushing Rivulet Socks in Shibui Sock in Seaweed and Rib and Cable Socks by Nancy Bush from Interweave Knits Fall 2005.
I started on Empoisonnee yesterday by Yarnissima. I've started the toe 3 times so far and am on a bit of a hiatus for now. I detest short row toes and was trying to get to the same point in the toe a different way. So far it's not working I think I'm going to have to break down and do it her way. Her patterns are stunning. You can buy Empoisonnee at Twist Collective. Cookie also has a new pattern called Lissajous from Twist Collective. I bought that as well. Cat Bordhi has a free pattern from the same place called Houdini.
I'm working on a sock for Martin using the riverbed architecture with Scholler Stahl Socka Color. I bought it from a store here in town that was going out of business. I bought 10 balls thinking I would make a sweater until I got them home and realized I had about 5 different dye lots. The thing about making socks for men is they go on and on and on:) Oh well one out of 6 pairs isn't bad is it??

Poor, poor credit card

I got home from shopping and checked emails not expecting anything but I got into the Wollmeise Sock Club. I was actually thinking when I went out oh well saved some money:)

If I'm here summer must be nearly over

I'm sitting at my computer refreshing my hotmail account to see if I've got a place in the Wollmeise Sock Club. It was run like a lottery. I have not even knit with it yet. I have the Digitessa kit and traded a Sundara that I was not that fond of for a skein of Wollmeise.
Sundara has 2 new clubs starting shortly. One will be a Sock Club and the other a Sweater Club just after signing up for 4 more Seasons for a total of 6. Oops that's the first time I've admitted how many out loud. I had originally signed up for Spring and Summer but succumbed to Autumn and Winter with doubles in Spring and Winter.
I put 3 yarns on sell/trade page on Ravelry and they were gone the first day.
Twist Collective published their first issue just recently. Wow, the patterns are amazing, all are gorgeous and the designers the cream of the crop. There was a lot of talk on Ravelry about the price of patterns and shouldn't we be able to buy in bulk and get a better price. But I like that you can only buy what you like and they will be there for a long time so you don't have to buy everything now.
I'm working on my 2nd Rib and Cable socks by Nancy Bush in Mountain Colors Bearfoot and just starting my 2nd Cat Bordhi Rushing Rivulets in Shubui green. I will try to get some picture of both socks soon.
The Mountain Colors Bearfoot is a lovely yarn. I had tried a number of patterns but did not like any of them so kept frogging. My friend Wendy tuned me into this pattern from Interweave Knits issue Fall 2005. I did not like the heel so went ahead blindly and ended up with the cables on the foot not lining up. Normally I would redo it but I was tired of rewinding this particular yarn, I refused to do it and pray noone wants to have a closer look:)) The 2nd one is perfect.
Well Claudia is already on Finland so I guess I didn't win a spot in the Sock Club oh well more money for Sundara.
One of my last posts I moaned that I did not think anyone was reading my Blog and when I was looking at blog the other day I noticed I had a response. Made my day...
Off to walk Sadie.

I Found it...

Well holy cow I found it. I talked about the Firestarter and how difficult it was to follow the chart. It has instructions on how to do the twisted stitches without a cable needle. I like an easy life, do not want a headache while knitting. Here's the link to Trishshack's life, it is her blog. Here's the reference on Ravelry. I don't know how long this thread will stay up but as long as Trish keeps her blog it will be easy peasy...
I got an email from Yarnissima today to say she has updated her site and the kits are back in stock. She's also working on a project called Zum Dirndl, a magnificent kit including 1.5 skeins of Wollmeise 'Natur' (80/20!) plus lots of extras... Can't wait to see what it is. I had already bought all her patterns, but the kits include the patterns. Pretty expensive kit if you've already bought the patterns.
I wonder if anyone is reading this blog:)) Oh well I'm enjoying doing it..

Tech Knitting

I was reading about a new left leaning decrease today on Ravelry. The link can be found here. I don't know what the name of the person is as usual but wow what a lot of work has gone into these posts. I've now put the link on my desktop.
Happy knitting, I'm off to bed. Have not knit a stitch today. Darn.

Semi-Solid Why do I love thee???

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post why I like Sundara's Yarn so much. Self-Striping yarn is all the rage but it's very hard to find patterns that compliment it except plain socks. Now I have nothing against mindless knitting:
1) you can watch TV and knit
2) you can talk on the phone
3) you can ride your bike while knitting:)
And the list goes on.....
When we travel I take too many projects. Some of them don't even come out of their bag. I take at least one mindless project so I don't have to count stitches and rows while I'm talking. And of course never do as much knitting as I think I should. But you must always be prepared....
With a semi solid yarn you can do intricate stitch patterns that show up beautifully. There are designers out there who are churning out patterns for self patterning yarns.
Suzi's Knits is one. Go look, she has some gorgeous patterns. There are at least 3 that I will probably purchase at some time.
Cookie A's patterns are to die for. She does use some self patterning yarns but they are subtle. She has a few free patterns on Knitty. I think her most famous sock pattern is Monkey which you can find on Knitty. Monkey is on my list of to do patterns.
Archiknist also has some very nice patterns. I don't know her real name, key hole socks is also on my to do list.
Since joining Ravelry I've found even more free patterns. Really you don't need to buy any if you're trying to save your money for sock yarn:)
The Yarn Harlot says you don't count "Sock Yarn" as part of your stash:)
I think Stephanie is one smart lady:)

Arrived in the Mail

Lorna's Laces in Chocolate, and Dream in Color Smooshy, Black Parade all from the Loopy Ewe.

Season's Yarn Club from Sundara Yarns, Prickly Pear on the top and Jungle Boogie on the bottom.

I'm spending too much time on Ravelry checking out 2 groups, Sundara Yarn Love and the Seasons Yarn Club. I'm not getting as much knitting done as I would like. Sundara has a new website and no longer tells us when she is updating the site. If all of the Sundarian's signed on at the same time we would probably crash the site. She is working hard at tweaking the site, we'll have to patient. In the last year I've tried a lot of different sock yarns but I'm totally obsessed with Sundara's Yarn. I have not snagged an update since she changed the site. I thought I was being very decadent signing up for 2 seasons, spring and summer and find out later that some have signed up for six???

I've been slowly updating my stash on Ravelry, takes some time but is fun to go and look at it. Also been posting a few projects, when will I get to all of them?

So much yarn so little time:))

Take a picture when yarn arrives

I'm sitting in my office and it's still bloody raining. Oh well, at least I won't have to work hard in the yard today. Bad weather saves the wear and tear on my body:)
I've made a promise to myself I will not wind yarn into cake until I've taken a picture.

Took a bunch of pictures today using the flash as it's too dark outside to get any decent pictures. Here are pictures I promised yesterday.

These are Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding in the Silk Lace in the Tulip colorway by Sundara Yarns.

These pictures are Mad Color Weave by Tina Lorin done in Sundara Yarn Sock in Brown over Cocoa. The pattern is very easy to follow. The only thing I might do differently if I knit again is when you start the heel flap you have to increase 2 stitches on each side which seems to pull a bit and make small holes. I'll try and increase the stitches in previous row so as not to pull.

These 3 kits are all from Van Calcar Acres Farm. The Yarn Harlot created quite a bit of chaos in Jennifer's life after she posted about the kit. It took quite a while to get the kits but she did warn me.

Every time I post a picture it goes to the top of the page and I have to reposition everything, darn frustrating. When you preview pictures are not where you put them. So that's it for me today. Think I'll go and see what's happening on Ravelry.

WWKIP day in North Bay

June 14th was World Wide Knit in Public. The weather looked a bit gray but the day turned out great. North Bay has a population of about 56,000 and about 12 of us were there in the morning. It moved down to the waterfront in the afternoon, not sure how many showed up.

I'm working on Mad Color Weave, a free pattern.. in Brown over Cocoa by Sundara Yarns. I will try and post a picture soon. The weather here is only good for ducks at the moment. Sundara has a new website, go check it out. She's not posted any new yarns but I always check. I'm waiting for my Seasons shipment being mailed out any day now. I joined up for the Spring and Summer Seasons. I'm a winter person but seem to be changing as I get older, go figure. I think it has something to do with the styles and fads.

I finally decided what to do with the Silk Lace from Sundara. I'm knitting Siva Harding's Diamond Fantasy Shawl. I've done about 6 repeats to the pattern and have at least 6 more. I'm using a 2.75 mm but should be using a 3.75 mm. I wanted it to be finer, as well I have a 1000 yards, don't want any leftovers. The darn stuff is worth it's weight in gold:) The pattern calls for 750 yards. The neat thing about the pattern is you work the edging as you go along so very little finishing.

Another cool sock blog to check out is Dave from Ottawa, he does not post as much as I'd like but he is obsessed about socks and designs his own. I'm also finding out that life interferes with things we'd like to do more of:)) Drat.

Off to make supper, hopefully will have some pictures soon. Rain, rain go away, come again another day.

Away for 3 weeks

Martin's father had a fall and so off we flew to England. We arrived on the 2nd of May to lovely weather. Martin and I have visited the UK many times but not in the Spring.
I managed to finish 2 pairs of socks, the Burning Rings of Fire and Marie Antoinette.
Once I've sorted out my pictures I'll post some pictures.
I'm glad to be back. Mom and Dad were here for a visit and drove off to Ottawa today before they fly back to Chemainus. Now gardening is calling my name, knitting may not be my main pursuit:)
Darn.....

Crooked Cable Socks

I finished the "Crooked Cable Socks" by the Sock Bug a few weeks ago. I knit them in Koigu color P822 on 2, 2.5 mm circulars at a guage of 8 stitches to the inch. The pattern is "free". I will knit these again as I like them so much. Found lots of projects on Ravelry and a few said that they mirrored the cables. It never occured to me that they needed improving upon. The Crooked Bug's patterns are well written and fairly easy. I had exactly 9 yards left in the ball when done, I was sweating the last few inches.

Cat Bordhi is a genius

My friend Wendy invited me to go with her to the Kitchener Craft Fair last fall. I was tickled and happily accepted. Wendy had already lent me her copy of Cat's "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles". While we were at the Craft Fair I bought "A Treasury of Magical Knitting" and "A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting". Wendy introduced me to her friend Sharon who helped me with the cast on for the mobieus. I really found Cat's instructions for the cast on very difficult to understand. Sharon got me going. Well to make a long story short I ran out of yarn and trashed it. I would have had to wait a couple of weeks to get the right dye lot, not too patient me:). Shortly after that "New Pathways for Sock Knitters" was published and I ordered it posthaste. I was in awe, her brain moves in different ways, hooked I was. I tend not to dive right in, I read and reread until hopefully I understand. Fortunately for me I'd been searching for the perfect sock and found lots of information on the Internet. I don't really like short row heels but do like to start the sock toe up and I like the look of the reinforced heel and think it wears better in the long run. I have never in my life blocked a sock and it seems that everyone is doing it. After trying to get a picture of my finished Marie Antoinette last night I think I'm going to have to start blocking them. I think I'll order me some sock blockers from here. Check out their Sock Hop Yarn, I'm waiting for an order.



These are "Ocean Toes", I really enjoyed knitting these. I made them out of Fleece Artist Seacell which I bought at Colorsong Yarn.








These are the "Milkmaid Stockings", made from Blue Sky Alpacas in Alpaca Silk bought from here. These were also a delight to knit, never got bored knitting these. I need to block them so the rolled edging looks better. The cast on is done on the two circular needles and then you bring up the edge and knit 2 together. It really looks nice. You have to graft the two ends together.



The date for the 2008 Kitchener/Waterloo Knitting Fair is September 13th.
That's it for me today. The sun is shining and lots of work to do, not knitting:(

Not much done today

In absence of good knitting pictures I'll show you Sadie. She is a Border Collie and the greatest company.

I'm nearly finished Marie Antoinette, on the home stretch. Hopefully will have it done tomorrow.

I'm so jealous the Yarn Harlot sounds like she is having so much fun. Read about her adventures at Camp.

I'm off to bed.

Marie Antoinette

This is Marie Antoinette, I started it yesterday. I've just turned the heel. I'm doing them on 2.25 circulars. If you click on the pictures they will blow up a bit and hopefully show some of the detail. I nearly ripped it out as it is a bit snug going over the heel. I've read so many articles that say you really should do socks at a tighter gauge. They are supposed wear better. I was worried that the edging would be too loose. The pattern is well written, so far everything is at it says. I plan on wearing them with sandals. The patterning goes right down the heel. This is the first time I've knitted with Harmony from the Woolen Rabbit. It does pool a bit but not in an unpleasant way.

I'm going to have to figure out how to take good pictures of my own feet:)

That's it for today.

So many choices

This came in the mail last week. Sundara silky fingering and silk lace. The yarn is part of Sundara's "Flowers from my mother's garden - Tulip". This yarn was only available for the month of March. I had planned on making " A Luxurious Secret" from Summer 2002 IK in the lace. I have made it in the Jaggerspun Zephyr silk/merino. It turned out very nice. I thought for a nice present to myself to do it again and make a matching pair of socks in the fingering silk. I've started the swatch in the silk but not sure yet what I'm going to do.

I finished the Firestarter last night. I will definitely do these again.

I've started swatching for Ann Hanson's "Marie Antoinette" in one of the yarns she recomends "Harmony Superwash Merino/Nylon Sock Yarn" in colorway Tupelo Honey from "The Woolen Rabbit. Ann's patterns are unique and very well written. She also does some beautiful lace if your interested. Do go take a look. As soon as I cast on and have something to show will post a picture. Picture of yarn is below. The picture makes it look green but is like honey, wonderful shades of honey for the Queen Bee sock:)

Must go do some chores. Have a great day!

Put something down that is soft and cozy and what happens but a
cat appears. That is Garfield. I'm working on Firestarter. Once I had figured out how to go about it went fairly quickly. Second sock not so well. I guess I was getting cocky. I nearly finished eating up the last of the gusset stitches when I realized I'd forgotten to do the pattern on the back of the heel. Darn. Ripped it back and onwards I went. Things were going too well when I noticed a mistake. Decided best go to bed and sleep on it. Ripped it back again and am now on the last stretch. This is not a pattern for the faint of heart, whilst the pattern is free you can find help. If you have a membership to ravelry you can do a search for firestarter and see lots of projects with different yarns etc. I do have a chart that I got off ravelry but can't find where I got it. The yarn is Socks that Rock lightweight from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. There are lots of comments about the yarn pooling but it pools so nicely:) I really like this yarn.



I tried to get a detailed picture of the heel. They are made toe up,
using Judy Beckers magic cast on. If you have New Pathways for Sock Knitters, book one there is a detailed article showing how to do it. Also you will find links on her site to a video showing how it is done.
I cast on 10 stitches to two 2.5 mm circulars. I'm not really fond of short row heels and toes although I have done them.

Well that's it for today, Sadie and I are off for a walk.

First time blogger

I'm obsessed about knitting. At the moment I'm churning out socks like it's nobodies business.

Hi, my name is Terrol. I live in North Bay, Ontario and it's Spring, what more can anybody ask for. And by the way the sun is shining.

If you had told me that I would be spending hours on the internet perusing blogs I would have told you, you were crazy. How I found the Yarn Harlot I do not know but she's changed my life and many others I'm sure. I'm 52 (almost) and see my life going in a different direction. Martin and I run Torbay Cottages and we'd like to sell and Martin retire and I to design patterns and have a yarn store on line. Probably mostly sock yarn. Did I say I was obsessed about knitting socks:)

I've designed my first sock. It won't get any gasps, "wow" but it tickled me. And here's a picture.

Look up for picture:), having troubles putting them where I want them.

I bought the yarn at Yarn Forward in Ottawa. It is Lang Jawoll Cotton superwash. Basically there are 3 lines of fake cables up the front "K2, *replace stitches to left needle, K2 tog TBL, K1, repeat from *. If I have a choice I use 2 circulars and knit toe up. These were knit on 2 circulars and done toe up.

My other obsession is walking with my dog Sadie.

As I'm having some troubles putting pictures where I want them I'll leave that delight for another time. I walk with the previous owner of Torbay, Steve Landsberg and his dog Brandy.

More about knitting on my next post.

Toodles.