Restocking the supply

Over the last year or so, I've knit a decent amount of sweaters and shawls. When asked, though by a non-knitter what my favorite thing to knit is, I'll always reply the same... socks. Sure, they wear out faster then a sweater and won't become a family heirloom, but I truly believe, unless you're "blessed" with feet that run hot (like the Tall Guy) there's nothing that feels more cozy then a pair of hand knit socks on your feet! I also noticed over the last few weeks that the cold weather and my near lack of sock knitting over the last season has left me with a lot of tired looking socks.

This resulted in my kicking into high gear a pair of socks that I had been knitting a row here or there on and had managed to knit one of the socks a total of three times before getting it right. If you know this pattern, you will understand why this is funny. The Jaywalker, while notoriously a problem causer in the way of biasing=tight fit is not a difficult or challenging knit. At all.

The first time I knit the on size zero needles that I thought were ones. An entire sock. I don't know why I didn't try it on, this is not like me! The second time, I got 90% down the leg/cuff only to notice a major major error about three rows after the cuff. The third time I got it right and the second sock pretty much flew off the needles. Thank goodness.
I've already cast on for another pair of jays which will be my commuting/work knitting for the time being.

Details:
Pattern: Grumperina's Jaywalker
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Sock in Amy's Vintage Office
Needle: Size one magic loop
Mods: None. I knit the 76 stitch version and I think it's a pretty perfect pattern w/out me messing with it.
In the meantime, today is the first day where spring may actually be starting to poke its head out of the dirty leftover snowbanks. I am cautiously optimistic.

Clean slate?

I was just thinking about how much I have to tell you and/or what I haven't shown "the blog" that I've knit or baked . Back in the day, it was just the blog. Now, there's ravelry, there's twitter and for times when it's a random thought, it may even be Facebook. So, I try to blog, but this is my moment to say I refuse to feel bad when I don't post for awhile because dudes, there's a good chance you've already seen the picture!


This just went in the mail tonight and is bound for my new nephew, H.
The colors are a little off but, it was an iPhone photo at night, in my bedroom. Sorry about that!
A basic top-down V-neck raglan, I looked at pattern, but really, I didn't need one.
I hope it either a) still fits or b) is big enough for next winter!

Keeping busy

When Mother Nature hands you record breaking snow....

(the Tall Guy's car at about 2pm yesterday)

I knit socks.

Details:

Yarn: Miss Babs Sportweight in Cleopatra

Pattern: Sell your sole socks, (on the right side, pdf)

Needles: Size three Addis

I'm bundling up and heading to shovel out the car! It's been nearly a week since I've been to work, I'm starting to forget what my office looks like!

And it continues

Feds are home today as the area continues to dig out. I'm not sure I've ever seen a storm dump so much all at once. I've been knitting in fits and starts this weekend, but we've been

surprisingly social in our neighborhood with board games, an outdoor party (photos below) and a relaxing Superbowl get-together (good job, Saints)

If you haven't seen it already on Twitter, or Facebook or I've emailed it to you, here are a few pictures from *Snow*bar.

The Tall Guy built a snow fort during the last storm in December and in discussion with the neighborhood guys, the snow bar was conceived and built over the course of the day Saturday. It opened Saturday evening and people flocked to see what the crazy kids down the street were doing outside in the cold. At one point, management showed up to shut us down, and before you know it, they had beers in their hands and were checking out the creation. I love our neighbors!

And here's one last shot at some point in the night that you can see the group and the size of the structure... so much fun!

We will now begin to brace for yet another storm that's due to hit us sometime tomorrow into Wednesday. The Tall Guy is expected to fly out for work tomorrow night and we're hoping he can make it in...at the same time, we have friends scheduled to fly back in to DC tonight (their car is parked here at our house) and my hopes are not high for them making it. This snow, it's getting a little ridiculous, folks.

Holy snow, batman

So, this is sort of an insane amount of snow, kids even for this girl from NH. Like, really insane. I decided last night this called for a cowl/neck warmer because a scarf bunches up too much sometimes under my coat and I've been looking for an excuse to knit up this yarn. The Tall Guy waited patiently for me to finish it this morning and off we went in the snow!

The hat, if you're curious was knit for me by a friend, isn't it cute? I love it! It was made from the same yarn/colorway as my gathered pullover and fits me just right! Thanks NeedleBeedle!

As for the cowl, it was pretty simple... I pulled out my discontinued, Bluemoon Fiber Arts skein of Leticia, a superbulky single ply in Sapphire. I used size 11 needles, cast on 51 or 53 stitches in the round, did a bit of garter ridge, then stockinette til I started running low on yarn, then switched to a garter ridge for the end. I knit til I ran out of yarn which was about 80yds. Easy and warm!

(This is looking up the street towards the metro tracks at about 1pm today)

We tried to take a family picture, but the snow was too much for Annie to handle. She's worse then a toddler with too much sugar in this sort of weather!

Hope you're all safe and staying warm, I'm off to make some chicken noodle soup!

Perfect timing

As the snow rolled in this afternoon, I was furiously sewing on the buttons of my newest finished object. I don't normally wear this sort of red, but something about this color with this base yarn just struck me as a must-have.Details:
Pattern: A nice, simple pattern, the B.O.B (short for button on blanket) is just that. Warm, cozy and not anything one would go clubbing in, just a good winter sweater!
Yarn: Lorna's Laces, Swirl Chunky in Cranberry. I think I ended up using about 5.5 skeins, but I wasn't frugal in my yarn usage. This was my first time using this Lorna's base and sadly, it's being discontinued. I may buy more before this happens. (It's a silk/merino blend which is what gives it that two tone look)
Needles: Size 10.5

Mods?- I think I went up half a needle size and I knit everything about an inch longer then the pattern called for. I also didn't sew all the buttons on yet, but partially that's to hide my screw up on one of the button bands (sssshhh)
In other news, we're about to be slammed by a decent snow storm. We'll see if it lives up to its predictions but the latest from NOAA.Gov was coming in at 30 inches. Yikes! If you're curious, an interesting fact this season is that the DC area has seen more snow then my family in NH! Insane.
I know what I'll be wearing all weekend.
Stay warm!

Something silly

Last year, in an attempt to add something cute to a friends wedding gift I knit up what I thought would be the first of a set of "Beer Sweaters", a sort of cozy for their beer, but silly.
Well, it came out waaaaayy to wide for a bottle of beer and too small for a bottle of wine. It floated around in my stash for quite awhile until the other day.

She seems to be enjoying it in this cold weather.

(The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks that Rock, Heavyweight)

Christmas is finally over!

Yesterday, I met up with some of my work-girl-friends for lunch and an annual tradition; a holiday gift exchange where whatever you give must be handmade! Everyone had come up with some great ideas including a selection of infused vodkas, a serving set made with wine bottle corks, a cute collage, handmade bath products, a handsewn bath towel wrap and I received a gorgeous necklace and earring set.

Needless to say, I knit, as that's what I do. Originally, I had considered trying to branch out, but when I drew my friend Liz's name, I knew she would want a handknit scarf, so that's what I

delivered.

The details:

Pattern: Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf, found at the bottom of this post.

Yarn: Manos Silk Blend, Color 3116 (thanks, so descriptive)

Needles While the yarn calls for 4-6, I went with a 7 for a slightly more airy, less dense fabric.

Starting tomorrow night, we'll be having house guests for the next 8 days or so, starting with Tall Guys friend and ending with some of mine friends from Boston. Can't wait for a good visit, but it means I won't be here too much for the next week or two! Hope everyone is staying warm!

Back to Reality

After over two weeks off from work, it had to happen. I had to come back. Oh well.
In the meantime, I had a very fibery Christmas, receiving lots of knitting related gifts from the Tall Guy and my parents. Details to follow, but until then...my parents gave me a gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe! What shall I buy?!? Decisions, decisions...

Tidings and joy and all that junk

Hi there!
The Tall Guy, Annie and I have been in NH since last Wednesday and will be heading back to DC after a New Years eve in Boston with friends. I just realized that I knit a good amount of gifts this year and managed to take NO photos of the projects! Alas, two pairs of socks, a few pairs of mitts, a hat (I'll get a photo of that soon!) and nothing to show for it. Oh well.
In the meantime, I have plenty of vacation time knitting happening right now, so hopefully there will be something to talk about soon!
I hope everyone is having a happy, fun and safe holiday season!