Foto Friday!

I'm going to try to get photos on the blog every Friday, at least until I get my software issues straightened out. (sounds like a personal problem to me!)

DIY Sock Blockers:

The top pair (blues) is for me; the bottom pair (pinks) is for my sock pal.

I pretty much followed the directions at Little Sesame Knits. Placemats are from Target. I traced my finished Sockapalooza socks onto cereal box cardboard to make the template, cut that shape out and traced it onto the placemats using a colored pencil. Cut it out with some sturdy scissors, et voila! (gotta get that French in there for TdF!)

My feet are just a touch smaller than hers, so I trimmed the template accordingly, then traced and cut for my set.

Worsted Weight Chevron Sock on DIY blocker:

Killing two birds with one stone, here. Demonstrating the sock blocker with the Fancy Chevron Lace Sock. The second sock is on the needles, just haven't had time to work on it.

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Wooden Sock Blocker:


A couple weeks ago, I blogged about finding this at a yard sale for $2! I love that one of the former owners put their name on it: L. Mollot. Should I put my name on there as well?

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More Steps on the Road to SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy):

But, oh, what a lovely road it is! This nummy worsted weight is Shepherd's Wool from Stonehedge Fiber Mill in East Jordan, Michigan. It is the softest 100% wool yarn I have ever felt, almost as soft as baby alpaca. The color is a beautiful heathered deep sea green (lighter than it's showing up here) called "Seebreeze." It may be a gift if I can bear to part with it.

Knit Picks Incident:
We can now confirm that, yes indeedy, there was a Knit Picks incident last week. At the top we have two skeins of Knit Picks Bare for more Kool-Aid dyeing. Left to right we have KP Essentials, all superwash sock yarn: Peacock, Cocoa, and Blue Violet Multi. I was almost disappointed to see the Blue Violet because it is exactly what I was going to try to dye! Oh well, I know I'll love it, and that leaves more color combos to explore with Kool-Aid!

Time Trials

Yesterday's leg of the Tour de France was a time trial segment. Now, I'm not sure what this means or why they do it, but it inspired me to do a little time trial of my own. I knew it was taking about 1/2 hour to do one repeat of my Grapevine socks, but I wanted to get an "official" time and see how long each round took.

A breakdown of each round:
Round 1 - pattern round
Round 2 - all knit stitch
Round 3 - pattern round
Round 4 - all knit stitch

Here are the results:

First Trial (results scrapped due to tinking incident; see Round 3):
Round 1 - 7 mins
Round 2 - 4 mins
Round 3 - realized I should write this stuff down, got up for pen and paper, then realized I missed something somewhere and had to tink needle #2. Twice.
Round 4 - 5 mins
First Trial total - 29 minutes (so round 3 took 13 minutes??)

Second Trial (official results):
Round 1 - 5 mins
Round 2 - 4 mins
Round 3 - 5 mins
Round 4 - 5 mins
Second Trial total - 19 minutes!

I think a typical repeat takes me a little longer because of children distractions, admiring the yarn tinking, etc.

I have another inch or so on the instep and then I can start the toe. Woo hoo!

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In other yarny news, there may have been a recent stash enhancement expedition at Knit Picks. Details are sketchy; we'll keep you updated as the story unfolds.

Also, if you are participating in Sockapalooza, hie thee over to Knitting Ewe and design your own Sockapalooza project bag! These are super cute, made up in "official" Sockapalooza fabric. She is selling the bags and also gift certificates so your sock pal can design their own later. I just ordered one, so I can't vouch personally, but Host Allison raved about hers recently.

And, Mad Caterpillar has designed a PDF label to wrap around your Sockapalooza socks in when you are ready to send. I've printed one out, and if my magenta ink was working, it would be very cute!

PHOTOS!

Ok, wow, just noticed the little photo icon in the upper left corner of the post box. I guess THAT's how you add photos! Let's see if I can show you some of these WIFs:


Here we have the socks I am calling "Stormy Sr." to differentiate them from the toddler socks ("Stormy Jr.") that I also made from this yarn.


Looky what I got from Knit Picks last week! That's Wendy's book, Knit Picks "Dancing," and Knit Picks "Bare" in superwash fingering - just right for dyeing some Sockapalooza socks! "Dancing" is a cotton/wool/nylon/elastic blend in the "Hula" colorway, which I think will be perfect for my mom, who lives in Hawaii.

So once I figure out more of the ins & outs of iPhoto (I *just* upgraded from OS 9 - I know!), this will be a more visually interesting blog!