Django - Cookie A is a genius!

I started Django this past Tuesday and it is going pretty good. The pattern is easy to follow and I am loving the feel of Mama Blue's Sea Merino.

I wanted to do 2 socks via magic loop but when I looked at the pattern, there are 2 rows where you have to shift 2 stitches and then back and I can't figure out how to do that via magic loop when you have 2 socks on it. In the past, I've had to physically move one sock off the circ, move the stitches and then move the sock back on the circ.....a major pain in the butt! So I decided just to do one sock at a time on magic loop. I've done one cuff and little over 1 pattern repeat. I am very pleased so far!!

Gluttony is good to go!

Finally finished the 2nd Gluttony sock and I love them! The colors are much brighter in person....my flash washed out the color a bit. I really enjoyed knitting with the Verve yarn and ordered 3 more skeins from Woolgirl for my stash. Then I found out that The Unique Sheep sold it undyed on their website and I bought a few skeins of undyed for my next dying project.

I'm hoping that I have enough yarn left over to do bi-colored anklets next.

Rockin Sock Club

Just as an update to my blog....here are the first 2 kits for Blue Moon Fiber's Rockin' Sock Club 2008.

Kit #1 - Serendipity pattern - Dragon Dance Lightweight sock yarn:


And the finished socks:



I had enough yarn left over for little anklets:



*************

Kit #2 Leafling Sock pattern - Lucky Mediumweight sock yarn (hope to get these done during sock camp!)

Year of Lace - Kit #1

I received this at the end of March and my first impression was......I love it! Great orange-red color and very pretty pattern by Sivia Harding who I adore!

Then I read about the yarn issues on ravelry and I started getting worried. I wasn't ready to start the shawl yet but I went ahead and wound my skein up on Monday to see if I was having the same issue with multiple breaks and the color rubbing off.

I have 3 breaks....1 looks like it was there during the dyeing process (you can see the white of the yarn where the dye didn't touch) and 2 look like they were knotted after the dyeing process.

The 3 knots wouldn't have been a big deal but the color rubbed off on everything it touched. I was wearing a white shirt and somehow managed to rub the skein again me so I ended up have orange marks on my shirt. I wore latex gloves to do the winding since I like to use my hand to guide the yarn into the winder and that glove was a mess! I should have taken a picture before I threw it out but I was worried about more dye stuff getting on the kitchen table and table so I threw it out as soon as I was done! I ended up with orange smear marks on the kitchen hard wood floors but I was able to get it out with soap and water. The table luckily is glass and wiped clean. The white shirt is a no go....I tossed it in the washer and it still has orange marks.

Needless to say, I will not be knitting with this skein....I won't have the dye constantly rubbing off on everything it touches or I touch with my dye covered hands. I've already emailed the YOL group and requested a replacement skein.

The odd part is that I have about 10 skeins of Claudia Silk Lace and I have not had a problem with any of them. Their yarn is beautiful with a nice glossy shine and it is wonderful to knit. It appears that the YOL order of 200+ skeins probably threw off their dying process and some of the dye jobs got screwed up. I've heard that some people do have good skeins which has none of these problems.

Mondays aren't so bad after all!!

Look what I got in the mail! :) I really love the mailman when he brings me such packages.

***************************

Yarn from Mama Blue (http://mamablue.etsy.com):

Blue faced leicester sock yarn in Ruby (I've never knit with BFL but I heard that it is the poor man's cashmere so I thought I would give it a try):


Sea merino sock yarn in Girl:


Sea merino sock yarn in Sky:


Simple merino sock yarn in Preserves:


Simple merino sock yarn in Talula:


***************************

Miss Babs is having a sale on her website (www.missbabs.com) and I couldn't resist ordering a few:

Yummy fingering sock yarn in Pouty:


Yummy fingering sock yarn in Bluegrass:


Yummy fingering sock yarn in Evelyn:


Yummy fingering sock yarn in Lola:

Monkey is off my back!!

My monkey is done and I love it!! I definitely will do this pattern again but I will probably do the no purl monkey next time.