so casting on for socks won.

and i knit the first one in 14 hours. which is super fast for me.



i think i was feeling a bit deprived.

it's some joann's sensations soles and more in the pink/grey/purple colorway that my inlaws got me for christmas. 75% wool 25% nylon. it's very nice in general and awesome for inexpensive sock yarn (well, at least i think it's inexpensive. it was a gift so i don't know for sure, but last time i checked joann's doesn't sell $20 sock yarn.) a tidge scratchy, but my feet don’t care….and it’s super warm, which i love. the colors go really well together (very me) and i can’t put the damn things down.

i've always kind of turned my nose up at plain socks in self striping yarn. my first sock was a pair of jaywalkers (that don't really fit well) in fake isle self striping sockotta. after i finished those, self striping yarn didn't really interest me. i think i had a block about it, that should've "moved on" past "easy" socks. besides, i can just buy plain socks. plain socks are boring.

yeah....turns out i love plain socks in self striping yarn. at least i love them when my brain is tired, which definitely was this weekend. my husband got in a car accident the day after christmas. he's fine (thank God) but the car, unfortunately, is not. needless to say i was really glad to have something soothing on the needles that i could just pick up and knit. and since it's terribly entertaining to watch the stripes appear, it made me happier. yes i'm easily amused.

mmmmm eating your words is yummy. :)

i've been on a bit of a podcast binge this month. the hosts of one of my new favorites, the knitmore girls, seem to knit a lot of these "vanilla" socks in self striping yarns. gigi talks about knitting her heels with the other end of self striping sock yarn balls. that way the patterns aren’t interrupted on the top of the foot, which appeals to her “design aesthetic.” :)

i didn't notice the pattern being interrupted on my first stripy socks so i didn't think it would bother me on this one. (i'm not exactly known for my attention to detail) turns out i didn't notice it on my sockotta socks only because the short row heel took exactly one pattern repeat to complete. with these, it's really noticeable (or maybe i'm noticing it because i've been listening to episodes back to back so it's been mentioned a few times). either way i'm going to try that on the next pair.

i've also had time to spin again. i'm 1/2 done with the merino madmoon sent in the cpaag swap.



it's getting easier and easier. i finally have the drafting thing somewhat down...i understand what's supposed to be happening even if i can't always do it, i'm not parking and drafting as much, and things are becoming more even. yay! i'm going to buy an ashford spindle set with some of my christmas money and ordered some fiber from the dizzy sheep the other day. i've definitely come to the dark side. i want my cookies!

otherwise i've just been enjoying not having anything pressing to knit. well, that's not entirely true. i found out on christmas that my SIL baby shower is going to be in the second week of january instead of february/march. my masochistic baby blanket (9 squares from the great american aran afghan) is kind of stalled right now....i burnt myself out doing four squares in a month. i informed her that her big present won't be ready by her shower. i think i'm going to make a ruby sweater to wrap up. or maybe just a hat and socks. we'll see how ambitious i get.

so i owe everyone (or all 10 of you that read my blog) some quiviut. although in my defense, there wasn't much more to post after the day i blogged....it poured for the next three days. we did have a wonderful bbq at my sister's house during one of the breaks in the rain, complete with awesome food, family, laughter, a ukelele playing friend and another who does fire dancing. it was like our own personal luau. :)

and i finished my socks.



since then i've been a gift knitting machine. i have dubbed this year insanity gift fest 2008 because i had the absolutely nutty idea to knit/crochet things for my entire list. well, all the adults anyway. *headdesk* i made things for the baby neices and nephews as well but those items have been done for a while. and the older ones, the kids who are at the "santa brings toys! yay!" stage got store bought presents.

surprisingly though, i am not stressed at all over this prospect. i have the attitude that if it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done. i figure if worse comes to worse i'll stick my FO in a gift bag on christmas morning (or whenever i see the person), needles and all, let them unwrap it, then take it back. when they get their gift at the end of january, it will still be awesome and i will not have put undue stress on myself. this laissez faire approach has served me well...and i've managed to complete 90% of my list. (yes, i know you all hate me right now. but try it! it makes the whole process much nicer.)

i made crocheted beaded necklaces for my sisters and friends (7 in all, although i might make an 8th) using some seed pearls i found in hawaii and a veriaty of other beads and pearls from a local bead store.

i found the tutorial on youtube and really enjoyed making them. i think they're my favorite FO of this holiday frenzy which also includes the following:



pattern names from top to bottom: a hat fit for a boyfriend (i made 3), a hemlock ring blanket and a simple crochet skater beanie (which is actually the very bottom picture) all from ultra alpaca , a raleigh hills hat out of aslan trends invectia (LOVE), and my constant companion out of ella rae classic and galaway highland worsted. i also started an afghan for my mom from lion brand pound of love (her present was seeing the yarn i bought) and something for hubby (but i'm not sure if he reads this, so no more info that that). not to mention the pair of bulky weight mittens for myself because it freaking SNOWED here. at the beach. i know, i know. pics or it didn't happen:


anyway more info in my ravelry notebook (on my knitting, not the snow. all my gifts are tagged with insanitygiftfest2008).

i still want to make a pair of peekaboo mittens to match the aslan trends hat and the purse still needs a lining (which i have all the stuff for, just haven't sat down and done). after that i we'll see. i'm conflicted. i'm really on a hat kick and i've found a lot of great hat patterns in my search for gifts....but i don't wear hats. i also really enjoyed working with beads in the necklaces. i'd like to try beaded knitting and i have all the things required to make ice queen...but again, i would never wear it. so half of me wants to knit some of these really great patterns which would eventually be gifts. the other half wants to cast on socks for me. i'll probably do both.

the hard thing about not blogging often is when you do, you find seventygajillion things that are mention worthy....but then the entry ends up with teel dear running all over it. so i'll stop while i'm ahead. :)