The best thing about swaps.

The best thing about participating in a swap (in this case the Mitten Kit Swap) is that no matter how much fun you have getting your package ready to ship and finding all the right little things to send, there is some one else you don't know doing the same thing for you! I cannot tell you how excited I was to see the box waiting at my door. Then I opened it and saw the gorgeous bag that Heidi made. I can't get over anyone being clever enough at sewing to know how to place a zipper. I love the bag and the fabric.

Then I opened the bag and found all sorts of cool stuff, not the least of which was a skein of my favorite yarn (kidsilk haze) in my favorite color. Loved the lorna's laces. Loved the notions and games for the kids. Love the pattern. Loved the candy (but I am pacing myself). Have I over used the word love? Don't think so - my package put a smile on my face the entire day. Thank you Heidi!

Now, I have to finish my socks for a swap partner in Germany. What fun!

new socks

Who-hoo! The first new socks of 2007. Here are the specs. The top pair for DH are regia mini ringel with knit picks essential heels and toes. Pattern was random from my head, knit on 2 circs. The extremely bright orange socks are for me and the yarn is a handyed yarn I bought a long time ago, I think from Ebay. The pattern is the falling leaves from IK 2005, and all the wonky yarn overs from the pattern evened out with light blocking. Sadly the pattern does not show up well here. This was also knit on 2 circs. I am sensing a trend here and I think ...(dramatic pause).... that this is probably my favorite way to knit socks. I have used dpns and magic loop but keep coming back to 2 circs.

Just so that noone thinks I am a prolific knitter or a woman of leisure, I will stipulate that the orange socks were 80% done by the end of 2006 and the stripes were 50% on New Year's Eve. My current project is for the spring swap from Martinas BaselKunst and I am using the anastacia pattern with sockatta yarn, because my partner said she preferred yarn with cotton, though I am not that happy with the colors.

I was feeling smug

So I have already finished one pair of socks this month and I am well on my way to finishing a second pair. I made the bags for the mitten kit swap. I have read hundreds of posts on sock knitters about the knit from your stash. I loved the idea that sock yarn doesn't count and almost took the pledge. I had a thought that if I continued at my current pace, or even slowed down to 2 pairs a month I could knit through quite alot of sock yarn. Then I walked to the stash closet, to do a little sorting. I thought I should seperate hand dyed and commercial sock yarn since sometimes the hand dyed has a vinegar smell. I was shocked to tell you that I stopped counting commercial sock yarn after I got to 30 balls, I couldn't bring myself to count hand dyed because I am mortified by the size of my hoard.

I cannot tell you the effort with which I stalked the elusive vesper sock yarn, only to find two unknit skeins sitting months after their acquisition. Ditto for Anne by schaeffer. At least six skeins of STR. Four skeins from Ellen's half pint farms. And so on. I really thought it was doable to knit through the stash and allow the occasional sock yarn purchase. Not counting my STR club. And there is already such beautiful yarn at home waiting to be knit! This can only be gluttony, if not full blown addiction. I think I need to consider making a committment to knitting from my stash. I will post a pic of my wretched excess when my boyo naps.

first FO of 2007

This is the bag I made for my pal in the Knit Mitten Kit Swap. I just made up a rough mitten shape and felted it. Its kinda cute, but I am really proud of the next step - I needle felted for the first time. The photo is dark but I used yarn to write knit mitt.

I had a strange find this week, a pair of socks I started a long time ago (the falling leaves from IK WInter 2005) with one sock totally finished and the second sock 2/3's done. I cannot for the life of me remember why I put it aside or why I never got back to it. Luckily it was an easy pattern to find my place in so it should be simple to finish unless they fall back into the worm hole.