Yarn, children, and a lack of sleep

My sons have built "Bionicles" with bits and pieces of original Bionicles and blogged about them at Collins kids . They are very psyched about it.

Currently operating on a sleep deficit, I am trying to hang on until 10 pm before I crawl into bed. Last night I was tired, but too tired and my mind was busy replaying every single conversation I had. When I was finally about to drift off (after midnight) I heard the sound of metal clanging and my dog (the dog on my bed) started woofing and we had to check it out. I keep a large galvanized bucket flipped upside-down over my paper recycling (the town says to keep it dry and that is my feeble attempt), and some creature (giant possum more than likely) decided to see what lovely things might be in the recycle bin. Apparently the clatter scared the creature off, because the Eowyn and I didn't see anything and she didn't even want to go outside to see what it might be. She just sat in the kitchen looking at me with her ears perked up and her tail wagging slightly in a "Did you see anything interesting?" kind of way. So glad I have a watch dog. She's certainly got the watching part down.

I'm still working on both first socks and I will feel really terrible if I finish "my" Lacy Scallop socks before I finish Elena's - since I started hers so long ago and I even made myself a pair of monkey socks in the meantime. I bought another set of size 1 needles I'm so obsessed with socks. I have three pair of socks 'on the needles' right now. Lord, I need to get a grip. The children have been asking about new socks and I feel I should be working on some, but I have the Caspian Sea Socks and the Bazaar Socks by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts waiting in the wings.

Other exciting news, I've been trying to figure out how to make labels for my hand dyed and spun yarn since I'm not so graphic. Flickr has a partnership with MOO and I took some close ups of my yarns and am making them into labels complete with blank space on the back for yardage, fiber content, and WPI. I think they'll be quite handsome! Now I just need to get to work with some more dying and spinning. Here's a sample:



I adore yarn. Sigh.

Too tired to knit?

I'm almost done with my Lacy Scallop sock #1, and Elena's first sock. I was really hoping after an exhausting day at work I could come home and just knit. Don't feel like it at all. I look longingly at the various projects calling to me from coffee table, night stand, end table, desk and think to myself, "I am too tired." Preparing dinner, that's what I need to focus on. And maybe tomorrow the knitting will happen.

Loopy

My order from The Loopy Ewe arrived yesterday. I am in love with that place. A handwritten note from Sheri on the bottom of my order put me over the edge - sweet! It included some yarn destined to become Roza's Socks by Grumperina



And some Interlacements Tiny Toes that I am pondering.



Meanwhile, it is still hotter than Hades here and my dear dog is hating it. She wants to go for a walk, but once we get out there she wants to come home. She's been spending way too much time inside on the couch, looking at me like this



Rough life.

Sock progress

The Lacy Scallops are coming along nicely. They are quite lovely. I'm enjoying the pattern and it's a fairly quick knit - when I do it right. Here they are in Koigu KPPPM (I can't remember the color number).



Elena's socks (she picked yarn from my stash months ago) is finally on the heel flap of ...um, sock number one. I'm working on it every so often and using the lacy scallops as the candy at the end. The pattern is Fiber Trends railroad rib (again).



And still with the bag making. They are quick. They are cool. They will be gifts. It's all good. It just takes time away from socks other knitting items. Here's my pitiful progress.



I have tomorrow to kick some knitting butt before I get my children back on Sunday. The children are feeling neglected by my lack of knitting for them, so they will probably be next on the list.

New Projects

Sigh. I did it anyway. Here are the beginning colors of the Moderne Log Cabin blanket. I've even managed to capture one super long dog hair on the top. Eowyn will not be left out, I guess.



I have cast on for the Lacy Scallops Socks and I bought some more Cherry Tree Hill supersock for more monkey socks.



Also, a Fiber Trends pattern for felt clogs jumped into my hand at my LYS. I buy slippers for my children each year, but never for me. I figured I could make some. Lovely.

Startitis

So, I've decided I hate that Log Cabin square. I have cast on for the Mason-Dixon blanket (huge) and I don't have enough yarn for the whole thing, but that's what yarn stores are for, right? Then I started looking at the flickr groups (four of which I have joined, ALL related to knitting or spinning) and I kept seeing Elizabeth Zimmerman's baby surprise jacket. I have The Knitting Workshop, that pattern has taunted me for a while now. So, I head for the stash and decide while some Noro would be beautiful, it's not so practical for a small creature that tends to vomit spontaneously. Digging for the cotton. I have some warshrag cottons left over - I know, given my defeat with the Log Cabin square do I want to risk a whole baby jacket to scraps? They are all in the same color family, and I can alternate the solids with the variegated to make it easy on the eyes. We'll see.....

I also want to start a new pair of monkey socks in some Lorna's Laces I had started a Chevron Scarf. It didn't look right to me ... too tight, so I frogged it. Now I'm thinking about making Sock Bug's Lacy Scallops Socks Sock Bug with the blue I was going to use.

I ordered some yarn from the Loopy Ewe and after I placed the order I immediately added four more skeins to my cart (but I didn't hit "check out" - I'm so proud) but they are gorgeous and calling out "Chevron Scarf - woohoo!" to me.

Add to that the bags I am making for co-workers for the Holidays (it's are only four and a half months away) and all I want to do is something other than making bags. It's a pretty quick bag. Oh, and the socks I promised Elena. Maybe I shouldn't start anything else ... today anyway.

Crazy? Pretty much.

Last night I had an idea that seemed like a good idea at the time, but tedious now comes to the surface. I'm using my scrap sock yarn to knit a Log Cabin blanket. Yep, crazy. Of course, four strips into it, I decide to google this morning and see if anyone else has had such a crazy idea. Yep. Two of my favorite knitters, Wendy at Wendyknits, and Cara at januaryone. Of course one was very planned (and gorgeous) and the other has so much sock scrap yarn that there are lots of endless, beautiful colors to choose from. Mine choices are way more limited. I've got some self-patterning Opal, some plain, some varigated Tofutsies, and some Cherry Tree Hill left over from the monkey socks.

Here is a square of the experiment. I still haven't decided if I like it or hate it.



I have decided that I would use garter stitch only if I were to really try and make a blanket. Better to build squares from two complimentary colors with one contrasting center square maybe. It certainly is original.

I have decided to use lots of my jewel toned Cascade 220 to make a very large garter stitch blanket (pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting). We'll see how long THAT takes. Seems like a slog-a-long waititng to happen.

Gratuitous yarn shots

Friend Becca was on a cross country trek for two weeks and brought me two lovely skeins of Chameleon Colorworks Evolution yarn. It is a very soft, machine stretched (not exactly sure what that means), merino. I've been pondering what they will become.



I decided to knit and felt some old some handspun and dyed yarn that got slightly felted while dying. The original color was a very deep green. Looked pretty solid with a nice sheen, but I had no idea what it would look like felted. The color has improved 100%! I really like all the lighter shades you can see in it now. I have no memory whatsoever of the dye(s) I used. Damn.



Another early dying and plying project that finally got knitted. Two-ply and three-ply yarns behave very differently and when I started knitting this I didn't like the way the plies looked. I've grown to like it. Here's a close up of the inconsistenly spun two ply and knitted scarf



In the words of Gillian Welch, "One monkey don't stop the show." But here are my two favorite monkeys



Finally, the monkey socks are done. These are a pattern from Knitty by Cookie A. They were incredibly fun to knit and I really dig the picot edge (idea from Cara at januaryone.com). Done is soft, cushy merino by Cherry Tree Hill. The socks in the photo are unblocked because I couldn't wait to put them on. They are getting the old blocking treatment right now. I think they will look awesome with all the black in my winter wardrobe.

Today Chicky's class went to the Eno and my smallest thought this was the thing to do with baby frogs



She was also making baby frog pools along the edge of the river. She had little piles of algae for comfy frog beds and the pool had a shallow end and a deep end.