Doing my part to stimulate the economy.

What does that mean you ask??

Buying a bunch of stuff off of knit picks with my stimulus check that I got from the government.
I scored a bunch of great stuff and since I don't have kids or anything that important to spend the money on I thought why not.

Here is the swag I got.
The set of Options needles because I keep hearing that they are a-m-azing. I also ordered some extra cables for it. They also send you 2 cables with each one that is awesome! I also got the 2-at-a-time Socks book. Which I really want to learn because I know that I will have second sock syndrome if I ever finish this first one.
And I got a bunch of different yarns to try out because I have never used any of there yarns before and they are so cheap compared to most yarn. Especially the sock yarn and if you notice in the photo there are 2 skeins of sock yarn that I order the Gloss sock yarn and a skein of Essential sock yarn. But I did not order 2 skeins of either of these! I don't know what I was thinking but I will have to order so more and hope that I get the same dye lot. *fingers crossed*

Also got some yarn to make a pair of Mrs Beeton's. I got that red skein (Merino Style in Holly Berry) to go with that fluffy stuff (Suri Dream in Wildflowers) for it because it looked more red on the picture on the site but I think the purple stuff (Swish DK in Eggplant) will go with it better.

I think my favorite skein other than the fluffy stuff is the dark red skein. (Andean Treasure in Embers) I love it! It is so soft but it is baby alpaca so I guess it should be.

My other new recent treasure are a set of sock blockers! They are so pretty I love them. I got them on eBay from Chappy's Fiber Arts and Crafts.
They are really great and will put the cut out you want in them and they have a whole bunch to choose from. They also left me feedback really fast which is always nice.

The only thing is I think I got the wrong size. I ordered the size for my shoe size but I put the sock that I am currently knitting onto them and the sock is to big for it. So I guess I should have got the large instead of the medium. But they will look nice hanging on the wall even if I can't use them.


I still have been knitting my current 2 wips. Even though it may seem like I have just been shopping. Thats the bad part about the internet it so easy to spend a lot of money really fast. Just click click click done. Especially with paypal because you don't even have to get the card out to use it so there is nothing to slow you down.

Here is some sock progress. after this picture I have started working on the heel flap but I haven't got that far yet. I am hoping to get a good bit of it done this weekend because I will be in the car to 3 to 4 hours 2 days this weekend and I will not be the one driving so that is prime knitting time.
Also going to a graduation. Is it rude to knit at a graduation?? There will be a lot of people there that I don't know and have no idea who I am and will never see again so do I go for it? But will my dad get mad and give me that red faced look of anger?
I will probably just give it a go and see how it turns out. I'll take the sock if I can do it and still pay attention to the ceremony if not I can take the Little Ruff I am working on it is a pretty mindless pattern.

What I have learned from sock knitting so far with just this much done?? Don't use this yarn again for socks! The yarn splits a lot and I always loose one or 2 of the little strings. And you can see them poking out if you look at this picture close enough. But don't because that is my pasty foot.

This Summer is for KNITTING.

I have decided that this summer the summer of 2008 will be for knitting.
I really just started knitting this year before that I was loom knitting for a while but I really buckled down with a dvd and learned. Then I took a beginners class at my university.
Also because of that class the teacher of it and myself started a knitting group on campus. The name of it is ssk saluki student knitters. We choose that because our mascot is the Saluki dog.

So anyway knitting is going to be my main craft this summer. I really want to enhance my skills and do projects that evolve something new each time that I haven't done. I plan to make a tank top but I'm not sure if the yarn I have for it is right. I was just going to use Cascade 220 in lime heather but I'm wondering if it is to scratchy. I am going to have to think about it before I just jump in because I want to be able to wear it. But I would much rather just jump in but I don't want to do a bunch of work and then it is unwearable against my skin.

Since this is going to be the summer of knitting this is what I am currently working on.

My first project is a pair of socks. This is my first pair of adult sized socks and I was really excitied to start making them but I'm not sure if this one is going to work out. I some mistakes in it and I am only in the first few inches of the cuff and I think the needles I am using are to small so the fabric is really tight. Also I am not sure if it is going to fit or not. Because I've never made a sock before so I don't know if it is big enough for my big girl calves. I am using 2 patterns for this sock. I using the Basic Sock Recipe by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and the measurement stuff from the book Sensation Knitted Socks. Since this picture I have knitted like 2 more inches on it.


I had to add this second picture because I have a lot more done than the first one and I couldn't stand to leave it at that. Here is what I have done as of right now. Sorry for the crappy pic my camera is dead and I took this one with my phone.

I do have to admit that sock knitting is more daunting that I thought it would be. Its going to take a long time to knit these socks but I am going to keep plugging away.

The other wip I have is called Little Ruff and it is from the book One Skein Wonders. I am knitting it in a worsted green Malabrigo yarn. I love this yarn! This is the first nice yarn I ever purchased. I got it a couple of years ago at a lovely shop in Chicago called Nina. This was in the days before the area I live in had a yarn shop. Before then the only place to buy yarn was at box stores and most of it is crappy acrylic.

As you can see from the photos that this is going much faster than my current sock. Probably because I am using the right sized needles and I am using one of my lovely pairs of addi's.



This is all I have for today. Maybe tomorrow I'll post about some FOs that I have finished and the new sock blockers that I just got in the mail.
If a few days I will also have an order coming in from knit picks so stay tuned for that.