Long Time No See

I'm still alive. I survived the bad cold I had after Christmas. I was really sick. In fact when I was running a fever my eyeballs felt hot. I felt so bad all I could do was sleep and play Ravelry games the limited amount of time I was awake. Over the past week, I started knitting again and I even have a few FOs.

Lace Ribbed Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks


These are my first toe up socks. I knit the for a buddy, C. I used Judy Becker's Magic cast on. I watched the Cat Bordhi video on youtube to learn the technique. I also conquered short row heels using Kathleen Taylor's no wrap short row heel technique. Yay!!!! I used EZ's sewn bind off for the first time also. I don't know if I'll make another pair of toe up socks, but at least I know I can do them successfully. The sock yarn I used is Madeline Tosh's Somewhat solid in vermillion. It's wonderful. If you can get your hands on some, buy it!

Foliage Hats



The Foliage hat pattern featured in the Fall 2007 knitty is so easy. I'd never made a hat from the crown down but it's easy and a quick knit. I made version 2 and modified the pattern by increasing the hat body from 3 repeats to 4 and the ribbed brim from 7 rows to 10. I used EZ sewn bind off. The purple one I made in December and promptly started wearing it. The red one(I'm sorry for the bad pic. It's been raining and darkly overcast here.) is for a friend, L.

Sock yarn buys



I bought 2 purpley skeins of sock yarn from Fearlessfibers. The one on the right is Imagine; it's a grapey purple with navy blue. The left one is Blue violet. I'm using it to the Bluebell Rib socks from SKS. The socks are for a swap I'm doing.

Sock It to Me Part Deux

The Questions.....

1. How long have you been knitting? Do you consider yourself beginner, intermediate, advanced? I've been knitting for a little over a year. I consider myself to be an advanced beginner because I can knit socks. I have so much more to learn.... sweaters, tops,cables, intarsia, steeking, lace knitting and knitted lace. I've decided in 2008 I'll learn more about lace knitting and knit my first top. I have the pattern for the Scarlet Woman tank top. I want to knit it plus a top I saw in Vogue Knitting Spring 2007.
2. How long have you been knitting socks? I've been knitting socks since January of this year. When I started knitting, my goal was to knit socks. I feel comfortable knitting basic socks. I want to try Jaywalkers, Loksins, lace sock patterns in SNS and MSNS, and Cookie A patterns.
   
3. What are your favorite fibers to work with? Wool and cotton. For socks I mostly use superwash merino wool because of the oops factor. If someone including myself accidently washes the socks, they won't be ruined.
   
4. What is your favorite color? purples, blues and reds
   
5. What are your current WIPs (works in progress)? A secret pair of socks for a swap, Forest Canopy Shawl(my 1st lace shawl), and My So Called Scarf for myself
   
6. Name your favorite yarns, (brand, fibers, colors, etc.). Sock yarn: Fearless Fibers, White Willow Market, Lisa Souza, Madeleine Tosh. I prefer superwash merino wool. I like multi-colored, solid and somewhat solid yarns. Other types of yarn.... I like merino wool. After Christmas..... I haven't done my Christmas shopping yet..... I'm going to try Sundara's yarn. I saw Brooklyntweed's Shetland Lace Triangle knit with her yarn and fell in love.
   
7. What are some yarns/fibers that you stay away from. I don't like Red Heart yarn. I don't like cotton or cotton blends sock yarn. Possum yarn.... yuck
   
8. What is your family situation? (Married, kids, pets?) I'm single with no kids and no pets at this time.
   
9. Name some of your hobbies. Other than knitting, reading, cooking. I crochet a little. I want to start sewing again but need to buy a sewing machine. I need to reschedule my soapmaking class. I haven't found the time to do it. I took a beginner jewelry making class back in March. Maybe I'll make some stitchmarkers on day.
   
10. Name some of your favorite movies? Shawshank Redemption, Secret Window, The Green Mile
    
11. Do you like to read? Yes, I love to read. Since I've been knitting, I haven't read all that much.
    
12. Do you collect anything? Seashells, butterflies, knitting patterns and cooking recipes. I have 40GB on my hard drive. I used about 15 GB of which approximately 8-10 GB is patterns and recipes. I have the most up to date version of Acrobat Adobe. Most of my patterns are stored in either Adobe or Word documents. I have my patterns also stored in flash drives as a backup. I think in 2008 I'll start collecting knitting books. I don't collect yarn or have a yarn stash because I'm practical. Most of the time, I need to have a pattern picked out before I'll buy yarn for it.
    
13. Do you own an iPod or mp3 player? I have both.
    
14. What are your favorite type of knitting needles? Addi turbos. I recently bought Harmony needles (size US 10.5 interchangables) to make the Hemlock Ring Throw. They're so pretty. I want so much to like using them. If all goes well, I'll use them for lace knitting.
    
15. What knitting notion could you not live without? My darning needles. They're in a magnetic case I got as a free gift in a British knitting magazine.
16. Who are some of your favorite designers? I like Cookie A, Jackie E-S, Goddess Knits, Evelyn Clark, Grumperina, Pieknits, Ann Budd, Cat Bordhi, Brooklyntweed and of course EZ.
    
17. Do you subscribe to any magazines? (Knitting or otherwise.) I subscribe to IK.
    
18. When is your birthday? April 29th
    
19. Do you have a "wishlist", (on Ravelry, Froogle, or Amazon)? I have a favorite list I'm working on on Ravelry.
    
20. Do you have a Ravelry ID? wildflower38
    
21. If you had a sheep, what would you name it? Zoe cuz she's a fluffy ewe.
    

Knitterly Things I like

Knitting Blogs:
My SP11 hostess, Christine is having one more contest for our group. Yay! What do you need to do to enter? Easy! Just link me to a fresh, new, interesting knit/crochet blog. No YarnHarlot, Crazy Aunt Purl and others that everyone has heard of. I want new. That's it.

There are so many blogs I like. It was hard to choose. I ended up putting the names of my top 4 picks in a bowl and picking one. I chose Crimson Purl. My top 4 picks were:

Crimson Purl -I enjoy reading about her adventures. She's a knitting social butterfly. We share a couple of similarities. Her favorite colors are red and purple.She's knitting or has knit alot of the patterns I want to try. We both had a baby tooth that never fell out. She had braces put on to close the gap. I have a dental bridge that matches my other teeth.

LovinComfortKnits - She's an awesome lace knitter and a very nice person. Nichole of Lapdog Creations referred me to her when I had questions about blocking lace. I looked at her blog and had another one of my "I want to be able to do that" moments. Her shawls are so beautiful. Her Etain is gorgeous, simply gorgeous. I saw it and said out loud, " WOW!"

Lotus Knits! - She's an actress, knitter and indie yarn hand-dyer. I'm having a hard time resisting from buying her Under the Pink socks in her Lotus Yarn etsy shop. She has contests on her blog and gives away a skein of very own hand-dyed yarn. If you enter one of them, tell her I sent you.

Real Life Live&Unscripted - She knits, sews, scrapbooks and is a photographer. I enjoy reading about her live. She's also a very nice person. I'd been blogstalking her for awhile and decided to delurk and post a comment. She was so touched by it she invited me over for cake. lol...... Ok...what really happened was, I delurked and posted a comment when Adrienne asked her readers to delurk. Instead of putting wildflower38 as my name, I put my real name, Cheryl, on the comment. Adrienne thought I was her neighbor, sent me an email and invited me over for cake.

To whom it may concern: Here's a few of knitterly books that I covet.

Sock Knitting Books:




Lace Knitting Books:



Knitting Books:





What are some blogs you like? What are some knitting books you covet?