Is there a "socknitters' block" like there is a "writers' block"?

Okay, I'm currently working on a pair of Broadripple socks from Knitty. This is for the same friend who has moth problems in her house, so I am using Cascade Fixation, as is called for in the pattern, because it has no wool. Just cotton and elastic.

I'm having some issues with the heel; I'm afraid it will be too baggy for her...she's very pettite, and wears a (get this) size 4 1/2 to 5 shoe. (Socknitters dream, no?)

While I wait until tonight so I can try these socks on her, I dug these out of the dark recesses of my UFO bag to work on: Gentleman's Lozenge Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.

These are for my father, who wears a size 12, so these will take much, much longer...

Congratulations Miss Ewe!!!

And the winner of the contest is Kate, of Miss Ewe Knits!!!

Not only did Kate guess the right composer, Rossini, but she also was able to identify the correct opera "La Donna del Lago". It's a pretty obscure piece, and the fact that she was able to guess that from just those few pages is REALLY impressive!!!

Because of this, Kate gets a brownie point: in addition to the Fortissima Socka, she's also going to receive this set of 8 Glamscience gift cards/envelopes. Enjoy!



I'll have another contest soon, and just in case anyone felt left out, I promise to make the next one more inclusive for everyone :)

Eye Candy Fri+ Wee Contest

I thought I'd share with you what it looks like where I work...


This is the most heinously arm-cramping excerpt of an opera I played last night. It is CRAZY fast. I used my meteronome, and I can confidently say each measure equals 60. For you non-music folks, that means I have to one second to play each measure. (In this example, there are about 2 measures per line. All 4 pages (including the rests) take 68 seconds to play.

THE CONTEST: Be the first person to leave a comment giving me the name of the composer of this piece, and you win this skein of "Fortissima" Sock Yarn.

(hint: he's Italian)
Good Luck!

How did this happen?

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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I took this quiz that I saw on Hakucho's blog, and the answer had me laughing on the floor.

Socks #5 and #6

Here, finally, is a pic of my bf modelling his new socks! I tried doing the purl bind off on these toe-up socks, and it was way too tight! I ended up doing the sewn cast off, and it worked great! Some day, I'll do the kitchener bind-off, but for now, it seems so fussy to me...


I loved working with this Fleece Artist merino sock yarn, and I had a good amount left over (he wears men's size 10-10.5).

Oh, and I was also knitting some mindless plain vanilla socks during concert intermissions last week...

I used an afterthought heel because I didn't want to disrupt the pattern too much. These socks were toe-up as well.
Yes, I am one of those crazy people who has to have the stripes match...
The yarn is Regia self-patterning. There were a couple of annoying things about this yarn:
1) there was a knot, and it didn't reconnect in the same color sequence...I undid it and found the right place to re-tie it, but luckily, I finished the socks before I got to the knot. *whew*
2) the sections where the stripes are supposed to be solid colors (especially the orange and pink parts) were peppered with white chunks of undyed yarn (looked like a printer running out of ink).

I do like the colors a lot, and I've knit with other Regia Jaquard that didn't have these problems, so I hope the skein I had was just a dud. Again, I had a ton of yarn left over, which is good (I'm size 9.5 narrow).

Jumping on the Bandwagon

I'm a few months behind, but I'm totally doing this:

Sock yarn is excluded. Need I say more?

Oh, and this looks fun too (in lieu of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day):

Eye Candy Friday

Yet another African Violet pic for Eye Candy Friday. This guy's called "Slap Happy".

Slow Goin'

I think I must've caught one of these totally heinous bugs going around NYC...at any rate, it has slowed down my knitting output somewhat...

Nevertheless, I'm almost done with a pair of socks for the bf. The yarn is some Fleece Artist merino he brought back from Canada for me, and it feels great to knit with. It came in one skein which I dutifully split into two, but the colors got progressively darker and stronger during the second half of the skein, making for some fraternal sock action:


The colors are a bit truer in this pic:

The free pattern is here. I was curious about trying it because the heel flap is located at the bottom of the foot as opposed to behind the achilles part. (Where I did an eye of partridge anyway). I also started the sock using the Knitty Magic Cast On and I totally loved it! I have some sort of dysfunction when it comes to short rows, and I really liked this alternative.

Oh, and this would be the debut of my Schnauzer sock blockers (I have a pair of sheep ones too!) When the socks are finished, I'll get my bf to model them, though.