Okay, okay, let me explain!

Well, I finally did it - I managed to tick somebody off. I'm sure I've done it before, but this time I irked someone enough that they actually left a comment. I was preparing myself to get flamed for my comments on copyright, but instead I got an anonymous comment from an Oregon native who was irritated by my protrayal of Oregon drivers. So let me clarify...

First off, I love Oregon. If I ever leave this state, it's going to be feet first. Even though I've only lived here a year, I feel like I'm finally home. And so I was snarking about the slow drivers here in an affectionate manner, kind of like I rag on my husband (who is my favorite person in the whole world) for leaving our halloween pumpkin on the front porch so long it turned into a bizarro science experiment and started dragging property values down in the neighborhood. So I sincerely apologize, anonymous Oregon commenter, for ticking you off.

And you are right - the drivers in my home state of Minnesota are horrible. I hate the thought of driving on the Minneapolis freeways every time I go back there. Yielding is not socially acceptable there, and boy do people like to tailgate. At high speeds. In blinding snow. And y'all can't get mad at me for saying that because I used to BE one of those crazy people. I have to say, though, the worst driving I've ever seen had to have been in Atlanta. Yielding is common and expected there. The problem is that people often just pull out without looking, expecting others to yield. Which is fine if you see them, but not fine if you don't! The Atlanta freeways were notorious while we lived there for these huge fiery wrecks with multiple fatalities that would shut traffic down completely for hours. I think there was an average of one fatality a day or something ridiculous like that.

Oregon is so much better than either of those places. I don't mind California drivers, either, since they generally seem skilled (I guess that's what happens when you spend three hours driving to work every day). However, now that I've been in OR for a year, I am really happy with the less frantic pace here. I rarely find myself in the left lane anymore and even when I am, I don't feel like I have to drive 90 to avoid getting in anyone's way. It's much more relaxing and I don't feel like I'm taking my life (and my children's lives) into my hands every time I get behind the wheel.

That said, I guess the point of my earlier rant was the people who drive soooo slowly around here. Not at the speed limit - I am more than happy with people who drive the speed limit and have turned into one of them myself, for the most part. But the people who toodle along at 40 in a 55. Or 30 in a 40. I just wonder about them. What are they thinking about? Don't they have anywhere they need to be? Do they just enjoy driving? Perhaps they're concerned about fuel economy. Enquiring minds want to know! In another year, I'm probably going to be one of those people.

Well, I hope that makes my position a little more clear (and a little less irritating to you, gentle anonymous reader). I love Oregon. Okay? Okay!

Now for some socks.

New knit-alonger Cece finished a pair of January Jaywalkers. No J for this month, since she joined too late, but she will get a little brownie point!

Linda finished up a gorgeous pair of Yukon Leaves socks. She just started a brand new blog, so git over there and give her some comments, dagnabbit!!!

Persnickety Knitter gets a big ol' J for these lovely Log Cabin socks. I am loving that pattern!

Amanda gets a brownie point for her Rumba socks. Very nice!

Abigail finished some totally funky Hot Socks for her son's best friend (aka Glamour Girl - the friend, not the son). Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the prize for February. It's making me wish I was entering myself in the drawing! Thanks, doll!

Jennie finished ANOTHER pair of Jaywalkers. She entered too late to get her J, but she's going to get another brownie point!

Ragan posted a pic of her brownie point socks, which she knit for her daughter. Too cute!

Sarah's January socks are an amazing pair of knee-highs that you HAVE to see. I don't blame your mum for stealing them. I want some!

Finally (I think that's all of them - whew!), I have Jen's January Jaywalkers!

I'm posting her pic here because her DF just lost his grandfather and she didn't feel it appropriate to be talking about socks on her blog immediately after. Please send some thoughts and/or prayers her way. And no, those aren't Jen's hairy legs in the picture. Even tho' they are pink, these Jaywalkers are for her DF.

Okay, if you're still reading this ridiculously long post, I have more for you. First, I'm done with the crazy last-minute Knitty design. Karen is hosting a little FO-along this week and said I could get credit for this if I blogged about it, even if I didn't show pics of it. So there you have it. I'm quite happy with it, and it got rave reviews at my knitting group last night. Please, Amy, please please like it! I'm just going to keep submitting stuff to you until you accept something, so you may as well get it over with!

I also got some fantastic news in my e-mail inbox yesterday - Knitter's is buying one of my designs for the summer issue! Yahoo! I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed at all this stuff that is getting accepted (and all seems to have a deadline of March), but it's a good problem to have. Fortunately, Chris is going to help me out and knit one of my samples - a little pair of socks for Quick to Knit Gifts. Now I just have to get the pattern written and find the yarn (which should be easier than it's turning out to be)...

And now, back to work. I have two hours before the kiddies come home and about 16 hours of work I have to do. And all I really want to do is curl up on the couch with my Jaywalkers and watch last night's Bachelor: Paris. Sigh.

Huh?!?

Well, today is the first day in a loooong time that there haven't been any sock updates to report. So I'm going to use this opportunity to implore you all to get your socks in ASAP! Remember, they have to be to me by midnight PST on Tuesday in order to count for your J. Or at least by the time I get up in the morning on Wednesday, which could be anywhere from 6 am to 9 am, depending on how nice the boy is to me... I will then be getting the January drawing organized (prize this month is the Knit Picks Parade) and post the winner on Friday.

I am still looking for the person who left an anonymous comment about their Potowatamuses being done (yes, I know that's not right, but that name drives me CRAZY). Please check and see if you have a J if you think you should. If you don't, please e-mail me or leave a comment (or better yet, both, since it seems like some e-mails haven't been getting to me). If you do leave a comment, PLEASE make sure a link to your blog is included either in your profile (which needs to be public) or in the text of the comment. If you don't have a blog, you need to e-mail me your sock pics or post them on Flickr or Photobucket and send me a link. I need to see your socks before you can get credit!!!

Since we don't have any socks to look at, I'll give you a pumpkin update instead. Yesterday we were heading out the door to have dinner at my in-laws, and I was confronted by this:

I asked Bill what had happened to the pumpkin, and he looked at it with a puzzled expression and said "Huh. That's weird." Now, Bill has a deadpan sense of humor that often leaves me stumped. I'm like my mom in that I'm quite gullible a lot of the time. So my first thought was that the pumpkin had finally disintegrated. The second was that my mother-in-law HAD finally come and stolen it off our porch. Then it clicked, and I knew that Bill had snuck out and buried it while I thought he was on his run. So now we'll be on the lookout for pumpkin plants in our front bed this summer.

And for those of you who are as much of the Katie-Holmes-is-totally-pathetic mindset as I am, I give you this link. It has it all - Tom Cruise bashing, a gay cowboy reference, and a Ron Livingston mention (he's my boy from Office Space and Swingers).

I'll leave you with this lovely pic of all my Masters Level I swatches out blocking.

The loose threads you see are my crazy method of keeping track of which swatch is which (it's a little system involving loops and knots to represent numbers). Now I just have to write up the answers to a slew of questions and write my little one-page report on blocking, and I'm ready to send them in! I'm ready to be done with it, I can tell you that!

Oops! I almost forgot - today is FLASH YOUR STASH day! Go see the yarn I'm going to eventually use for Denmark from Knitting On The Road, along with a lot of other lovely lovelies. Thanks, Mama-E!

Super Sock Sunday!!!

It's like Super Bowl Sunday, only better! Speaking of which, I might actually watch the Superbowl this year. I have been a football hater all my life. I've repeatedly stated my disdain for football with pride. But...I actually watched a little bit of a game with Bill last weekend and found myself enjoying it just a little tiny bit. It helps when you have a husband who is kind and patient enough to explain every little detail over and over again. I've had a stubborn mental block against understanding yardage, downs, safeties, field goals, etc. But for some reason, this time, I got it. And the Superbowl is featuring the Seattle Seahawks, which is the closest Portland gets to having a football team, and the Pittsburgh Steelers who, for some random reason, have been Bill's favorite team ever since he was a kid. I can't believe I'm considering watching football for any other reason than to scorn it. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Now that that tangent is complete, here are your socks!

Laura finished her Jaywalkers and gets her January brownie point. Gorgeous! I love seeing how all the different colors of Sock Garden knit up.

Saff posted her January socks, which are a lovely pair of Regia (with awesome matching stripes, BTW) socks.

Lolly got a brownie point for these gorgeous blue Koigu socks. That yarn is incredible! Also, if you haven't checked it out yet, she's got a great art-along (it's more than just a knit-along) starting up in March called Project Spectrum. The button is right next to those socks, so go see what it's all about. I've already got the perfect yellow and orange striped sock yarn for April.

And Crazy Basket Lady made a pair of Opal socks for a friend but sent them out before she took a picture! 30 lashes for you! I will give you a brownie point without a picture, just this once, but next time you're going straight to sock detention!

Now that that's done with, I'm going to take a moment to have a little pity party for myself. I got my rejection notice back from No Sheep For You this morning. It was a very nice note, but it was still a bit of a bummer. The good news is that I was in the final running. Putting a knitting book together (or a magazine issue, for that matter) is like putting together a very complicated puzzle. You've got to get a good mix of different styles, colors, skill levels, yarn types, yada yada yada. I have one design in particular out of this set that I really, really like so now I have to decide what I'm going to do with it next.

I've also got this crazy idea in my head that I have to submit something for the next Knitty. The deadline is Feb 1, and I just started knitting it Friday night. Knitty requires that you send in a completed pattern w/ photographs as your submission instead of just a concept, so I'm going to be cutting it VERY close. We'll see what happens!

Ah'll Be Bahck

We just watched the very beginning of the first Terminator movie on one of our movie channels. I haven't seen it in ages. When the Terminator (who is, of course, played by Arnold Schwarzenneger) lands in the present, he's buck naked. He stands up and treats you to a nice booty shot. Bill pointed out "There's the governor of California's butt!" But it gets better. After he takes in a view of the LA panorama (for some reason he lands up at Griffith Observatory), he walks over to some punks who are messing around with the telescope. He's still naked. And he's coming at you, not going away. It's relatively dark, but you are definitely able to see some floppage. So I can now say that I've seen the governor of California's doo-dah! Me and a zillion other people...

Don't blame me - I voted against the recall.

For any of you who have any lingering questions about the whole copyright thing, Jenna has a great FAQ section on her site. It answers almost any question you could ever have, from a legal standpoint (and she IS a lawyer).

And now on to what you're really here for...socks!

Shelley finished up some blue brownie-point socks for her nephew. Nice work!

Julie finished her January socks while watching the BBC Pride & Prejudice. Sock knitting and Colin Firth - what could be better? She made up her own pattern and it is muy cool!

New socker Kathy gets some brownie points for her very nifty cabled socks.

Jill finally overcame her Jaywalking difficulties to get her J!

I just got back from a great class, How To Get Published, taught by the always fabulous Leigh Radford at Lint. She brought in a bunch of examples of things that she has submitted, including her very first proposal to IK (which was accepted, of course) and her book proposal for Alterknits. It was great to see how she does things, and I got lots of ideas. Her first sweater proposal was so cool - the theme of the magazine was going to be something like "You're sitting at a cafe in Paris overlooking the Seine - what are you wearing?" Leigh came up with a very creative idea to put her proposal inside the pages of Madame Bovary. She went to Powell's and got an old French version of the book and put her sketches and text on little cards that she taped to pages inside the book. How cool is that?

She also brought an advance copy of her next book, One Skein, which will be coming out in March. There were a ton of great projects. One of my favorites was a set of tiny felted bowls. I can't wait to get my hands on my own copy! Go to her website and you can sign up for her mailing list to be notified when it comes out and where she's going to be doing signings.

I got a bunch of great yarn, too (gotta take advantage of that 10% discount!), but you'll have to wait for Yarn Porn Monday to see it.

What is UP with Oregon drivers?

As you may know, Bill & I moved here to Portland from S. California just over a year ago. Now, LA drivers are nuts. As a general rule, people in the slow lane are driving at least 5 mph over the speed limit. In the fast lane, you'd better be going at least 80 or you're going to have people riding your bumper. I've always been a bit of a speeder, but after 2-1/2 years on LA freeways, I developed a serious lead foot. Perhaps it's because Angelinos spend so much time stuck in traffic that when the freeway is clear, they feel the need to make up for lost time.

Here in Oregon, it is a completely different story. Bill tells me it is because the fines for speeding are so high. That makes perfect sense, but what makes people feel the need to regularly drive 5-10 mph BELOW the speed limit? The freeways in town have a speed limit of 55, but people often toodle along at 50, 45, 40... There's no bad weather, there's no traffic in front of them. Do they just enjoy driving so much that they want to stretch it out as long as possible? And even in the fast lane I rarely see people driving over 60.

In a way, it's kind of nice. If I just want to chill out and not worry about driving like I'm in Daytona, I can. However, when I'm running late, and I'm supposed to be picking Sydney up from preschool in five minutes, people driving 30 in a 40 mph zone really baffle me.

The other thing that really boggles the mind is people who put studded snow tires on their cars as soon as the season starts and keep them on until the very last day. In the city. There are nice grooves in all of the roads around here caused by people driving around with their studs. They're not supposed to drive on dry roads with them, but if you have studs in the city, it's impossible not to. The really sad thing is that Portland will have a snow/ice storm maybe once or twice a winter. Yes, if you get stuck away from home in the snow, it's a hassle. But does that really justify tearing up the roads all season, just so you can get home in the off chance the you get stuck in the rare storm? I'll forgive you if actually live up on Mt. Hood or in the gorge somewhere where you do get snow regularly. But people in Portland with their studs - it's just wrong.

Okay, am I becoming too judgemental lately? Speaking of which, I'm looking at the picture for today in my 365 pattern stitches calendar, and there's a big boo-boo in the swatch (an extra hole between the 2nd and 3rd repeat from the bottom). What is up with that? Wouldn't you think they'd take 1/2 an hour and reknit that swatch? I suppose after knitting 364 other swatches, they might be a bit tired of swatching. But it's so glaring!

On that note, let's get on to some socks.

Choomon knit some lovely twisted socks for her daughter. I was wondering how this yarn knit up, since I have some, and I think it looks great (esp. for little girl socks)! These are some brownie point socks.

Quikeye has some brownie-point socks, too - a loverly pair of Wyverns that she knit with some Kool-aid dyed yarn. I love the color, and the pattern is fantastic! Great job!

We have a new knit-alonger, Virtuella from Norway, who knit up a wonderful little two-colored baby sock. It doesn't get any credit for the KAL, but it's so cute I wanted to share it with all of you.

We currently have 103 knit-alongers (if my count is correct)! Thanks for making this such a fun event. Keep those January socks coming, and if you look at the sidebar you will notice that I've added little *s for those of you who have brownie point socks. I don't give you a star for your lettered sock, but any extra socks that you make, you can get a brownie point star for! Quikeye gets the props for the most brownie points so far!

Why copying patterns just ain't cool...

DISCLAIMER: The opinions below may be strongly worded but are only meant to educate and don't make any assumptions about the behavior of anyone reading this post! If you are a pattern copier, please read this with an open mind and give it some thought.

There has been some discussion lately on the ever-exciting Knit Design list about copyright violation and copying of patterns. As a fledgling designer, this discussion was extremely interesting to me. What brought it about was a designer who got a letter in the mail from a woman who had purchased a pattern of hers at a LYS. There was a sample in the store, and the pattern had sold out except for the store copy. The LYS employee told her that she'd make her a photocopy for $1.

First off, this is very illegal. The LYS can get in big trouble for doing this if the right person finds out and decides to call them on it. Second of all, it's very unethical. I never really thought much about this until I became a designer as well as a consumer. I am a big fan of a bargain, but each pattern that gets photocopied for a friend takes money out of the designer's pocket. It's similar to the whole royalties thing w/ Napster and all the music sharing on the internet, except knit designers are as a rule very poorly paid. Nobody is getting rich off those patterns (not that all musicians get rich off their work, but that's a different discussion)! The same goes for .pdf files that you buy from a pattern site on the internet. E-mailing that pattern to a friend is just like photocopying a paper pattern, and it hurts the designer each time it's done.

Also, please don't demand that your LYS photocopy something for you. There are several LYS owners on the Knit Design list who also design, and they tell horror stories of customers getting really angry because they refuse to photocopy a design out of a book or a pattern leaflet. For some reason, people think patterns should be free, but a knitwear design is just like any other printed material. I doubt that anyone would think it unreasonable if Home Depot refused to photocopy pages out of a How-To book they were selling. Or Barnes & Noble refused to photocopy a magazine article because a customer decided they didn't want to buy the entire magazine. There are plenty of free patterns out there, whether they are distributed by yarn companies on the inside of ball bands, or on the internet. If you don't want to pay for patterns, find a free one. But don't have the attitude that all patterns should be free!

Something that bugged me a little bit was the other day when I was talking about self-publishing on the internet and how it's more expensive but can make more money. I got several comments about how publishing on the internet shouldn't have nearly as much cost because I'm not sending out paper copies. I know you guys meant the comments in the best possible way, but unfortunately it's not that simple. In reality, the cost of putting the pattern on paper and mailing it out is pretty trivial in the whole scheme of things. Here are the major expenses involved in self-publishing knitting patterns. I won't get into the value of the designer's time.

Often when you design for a magazine, the yarn is provided (but not always). When self-publishing, you need to buy your own yarn. You generally have to buy several balls of yarn for swatching before you come up with the right yarn and color for your pattern. Then you need to buy the yarn to produce the sample garment itself. If you're working with a test knitter, which is important when self-publishing because you want your patterns to be as error-free as possible, you also need to buy yarn for them and pay them for their time. In addition to yarn, you need needles in all the different sizes and lengths for swatching and finding which needle size works best for the yarn and stitch pattern.

In addition to the knitting supplies, you also need stuff to create a nice-looking pattern, including publishing software like Adobe Illustrator and Acrobat. You have the cost of registering a domain name and hosting for your website, the cost of accepting credit cards/PayPal on your website, the cost of using Payloadz for downloading of the .pdf files to the customer, the cost of a good digital camera and photo editing software like Photoshop. You will also need to hire a technical editor to review the pattern and perform a final check for errors. Not to mention the normal office supplies that are needed for running any small business.

Once you've got the pattern made, you need to get people to buy it. For selling on the web, you need to advertise on websites like Knitty and pay to get good placement on the search engines. If you're selling paper copies to yarn stores, you'll want to pay for a booth at trade shows like TNNA or pay a distributor to market your patterns to the yarn stores for you. You'll also try to do print advertising in the big knitting magazines, if you can afford it.

I'm sure there are other costs that I'm not thinking of, but these are the main ones that I'm weighing when trying to decide how I want to direct my business. I know that most people who violate copyright aren't trying to be malicious, so I don't want anyone to feel bad if they've done this because they weren't thinking about all this stuff! I'm just hoping that I can shed some light on an issue that has been a hot topic amongst designers lately. I will end this post (after the sock updates) with a great article on copyright violation on the internet written by crochet designer Kim Guzman. I didn't think much about all of this until just recently, and I wanted to share with all of you because it's so important.

Ultimately, if designers can't make any money designing, they won't do it. There will be some exceptions, of course, but quality and innovation will suffer. If you're not interested in knitting anything but a basic drop-shoulder sweater or a scarf, maybe this won't bother you. But all of you fans of indie designers like Jenna (designer of the ever-popular Rogue who, by the way, has an EXCELLENT section on copyright on her site), Bonne Marie Burns and Stephanie (aka Glampyre) will be very sad if patterns like theirs go away because the designer just can't afford to make them anymore.

I'm thinking of ways to start a little blog campaign against copyright infringement (kind of like the one against stealing bandwidth - after all, they're very much along the same lines). Anyone have any great ideas for a button?

Okay, I'm off my soapbox! Time for some sock updates!

A new knit-alonger, Jennie, knit up some Jaywalkers for someone very lucky. She joined too late to get her January credit, but go give her some socky love anyway!

Sheri finished some January brownie-point socks in a lovely shade of Bernat blue.

Tina finished her first pair of socks ever! Welcome to the wonderful world of socking!

And I have some errata to report... The rockin' cable socks that I attributed yesterday to Erica are actually Erin's. Sorry 'bout that! I blame Owen for keeping me up all night every night.

That is all the socking for today. Keep those sock updates coming! Five more days to get that J!

Here is the copyright article, reprinted here with permission:

Copyright.....the Truth on Sharing Patterns
by Kim Guzman

If you're on the internet long enough, you'll find this topic come up quite often. Unfortunately, the discussion gets very heated at times and causes great rifts between online friends. As a designer in the needlework industry, I have only recently become seriously involved in copyright discussions.

It breaks my heart to see this issue cause such controversy. The internet has simply made our network of friends larger....*much* larger. Therefore, the illegal copying and free distribution of copyrighted patterns has become much more widespread and has made a significant impact on the needlework industry...more so than could ever have been done before.

I, of all people, understand the desire to help and the crafter's heart is, above all else, a very giving one. Just take a look at our homes and you'll see that almost everything we make is given to others. So, the issue of never sharing our patterns goes "against the grain."

When patterns are copied in such volumes as I've seen even as recently as this morning when I viewed hundreds of patterns passed between some illegal email groups, the publishers are hit hard by lowered sales. Naturally, these lowered sales are going to affect people. According to an article I read recently, Pegusus (a needlework company) is losing $200K in sales a year!

It may mean that the designers are paid less. It may mean that the publisher will have to buy less designs. Or worse, it could mean that the designers can no longer afford to design crochet patterns for a living. This, of course, hurts everyone...not just the publisher and the designer, but it hurts the crafters as well. It even hurts those crafters who've been sharing the patterns so frequently, as ironic as that seems.

How many crafting magazines have you seen fold in the last couple of years? The fact that it's more and more difficult to find the magazines in stores could also be directly related to copyright piracy. So, it could be, that you have already been affected by the illegal activities of many internet groups, without even knowing it.
Everyone has to make a choice...even when you're driving down the road and you decide to go just six miles over the speed limit. There's always the chance you can get caught by the authorities, right? There's no way around it once you're caught. You can't say that "there was no one around" or "the law needs to be changed." It's the same with copyright laws. We may not always like the laws around us, but they're still there and they have a purpose.

I know how difficult it is to say "no" when someone asks for a copy of a pattern. If you have a friend who asks for a pattern, offer alternatives, or locate sources for her. Even those free leaflets you find at your local yarn shop are copyright protected! Why not offer the address of the publisher/manufacturer so she can obtain a free pattern for herself?

What if the pattern is discontinued? That makes it more difficult, of course. Remember that copyright protection lasts for over 70 years. Also remember that there are many legal ways to obtain those discontinued patterns. My favorite is eBay. Another thing to remember is that although a book may be discontinued, those patterns may be recycled into other books by the publisher and could be readily available in another form.

You may think that copying and sending only one...or only a few...patterns isn't going to hurt anyone. What happens to that pattern once you've sent it to someone? What if that "someone" is a member of an email group, and quickly distributes it to her 200 or more online friends. What if that "someone" turns out to be someone hired to help stop copyright pirates? Yes, it's true. That perfectly nice crafter named patternlover@anyemail.com* could actually be someone doing investigation for the publisher, either with or without the publisher's knowledge!

The only way to stop copyright piracy is through education of the public. If you see something that looks like it's copyright piracy, don't hesitate to notify the publisher. It is only through this contact that it can be stopped, as, most domains will only accept notification of copyright infringement when it comes directly from the copyright owner.

If you have any questions about copyright, I encourage you to visit the following sites:

http://members.aol.com/Moonltd/copyintr.htm

http://www.serve.com/marbeth/needlework_copyright.html

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Please be safe out there on the internet. I certainly don't want any of you to get into trouble!

Please know that I am not an attorney. This article is written purely as my own point-of-view and is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions regarding intellectual property laws, please consult an attorney and/or one of the links provided above.

*This is a fictitious name, meant only for emphasis and similarity to an actual email address is purely coincidence.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

I heard from Knit Net this morning! They still want my sweater for the Feb. issue. I'm assuming it won't come out Feb. 1, but this is good news! I hauled butt to the post office this morning to mail it off AGAIN, and this time I will be tracking it VERY carefully. Yay! All my paranoia was for nothing.

Here are your sock updates for today:

Jessica finished some Jaywalkers in a lovely shade of Lorna's Laces (how's that for alliteration?).

Erica has some rockin' cable brownie-points socks. And check out her new Yarn P*rn Monday thing (what would this be - a yarn-p*rn-along?). Too cool! Go join up, you stash-aholics (Jill & Jillian, this means you).

Manda finished some House Socks for her lucky mom.

Lisa posted a pattern for the adorable toddler socks she got her brownie points for the other day. I can't wait to make a pair for Sydney!

I have to say, I've been stumped by why so many knitters have issues with the Jaywalker pattern. It seems so straightforward to me! But I have found out that the sizing is a trick and a half. This stitch pattern is not at all stretchy, so when I did the cuff, it seemed like it might be a little bit big. I decided to keep going, though, and I'm glad I did. I've now got the heel gusset done, and when I try them on, the cuff barely fits over my heel. But it does fit!


I'm just glad I didn't try to get the cuff any tighter! It's such a bummer (esp. when you're knitting both socks at once) when your socks won't fit over your heel...

Well, Blogger is about to go down, so I'm going to wrap this up. Sock on, everyone!

I'm typing as fast as I can...

...while I anxiously listen to the baby monitor... The boy had another rough night last night. I'm really conflicted as to whether I should give him antibiotics or not. He's pulling on his ears a little bit, and he's very cranky at night, but I definitely am anti-overmedicating. I wish I knew how to use one of those ear probe thingys. I don't want to drag him back to the doctor yet again! What do you guys think? To antibiotic or not to antibiotic - that is the question.

I have some more sock updates, but first a couple public service announcements. First, I don't know if you all have heard about the whole Stitch and Bitch trademark controversy. You can read all about it here. I'm not going to get into my opinions on this, other than the fact that this ISN'T the way to get good PR for yourself. But if you feel strongly about this whole fiasco, please go check out the site and see if there's anything you can do to help.

Second, check out the Harlot's lovely post about her 2-year blogiversary and Knitters Without Borders. If you haven't yet gotten on this particular bandwagon (and I hadn't gotten around to it until she inspired me today), please consider it. And thank Stephanie for all that she does for us knitters! She truly rocks.

Okay, now for some socks!

First off, if you want in on Sockapaloooza, sign up today. Signups are open until midnight tonight, so get over there!

Carol finished some Magic Stripes socks while getting in some good TV watching.

Jaya finished a lovely pair of socks for her lucky friend T.

Keep those sock updates coming! Remember, they have to be in by midnight PST on January 31st - one week from today - to count!

Pumpkin Watch '06

The saga of the ever-rotting pumpkin on our front porch continues. Here's a little progress pic:


And for Chris, who loves those pumpkin-flesh eating microbes, here's a close-up of a particularly funky spot.


Bill says he's going to bury it in the flower bed as fertilizer. We'll see if and when that happens! Do you think we'll get any pumpkin plants if we bury a whole pumpkin?

I got a nice little box in the mail from Knit Picks yesterday, including a bunch of color cards. Some of those sock yarns are just screaming "buy me, Chrissy, buy me!"


This is what I worked on much of the weekend:


These are all of my Masters Level I swatches except one. I'm still working on the last one, which is two colors. Now to get them blocked and get all of the questions written up... Maybe by the end of the month? Or maybe not - this knit-along is keeping me VERY busy.

And speaking of the knit-along, here are your Monday sock updates!

Renata finished a pair of Socks That Rock Jaywalkers. And wouldn't you know, she was having a little contest w/ STR as a prize, and I tied for the win! Yahoo! Go check them out.

Christy has a lovely pair of grey Lichen Ribbed Socks from NB's Knitting Vintage Socks, along with some really cute kiddo pics. Her 10 month-old has some TEETH! Yowza! Owen is just a slow toother-outer, I guess.

Anonymous commenter finished a pair of Pomatomuses (or would it be Pomatomi), but since I don't know who you are, I can't give you credit! Please e-mail me!!!

Lauren has some lovely Embossed Leaves socks - her second pair of socks ever! Nice job! She also got herself a new spinning wheel...I am drooling!

Susan finished up a funky pair of Garter Rib Socks. I am totally craving that colorway - Knit Picks Sock Memories Hawaii!

Siri knit up some spotty socks for her boys along with some gorgeous Louet Opal Gems socks of her own design. They look so incredibly comfy!

Silvia finished her funky Kool-aid dyed socks. She already finished her January socks, so these are just for brownie points! And no, you don't get anything for brownie points other than some extra knit-along love...

Karon is a new knit-alonger who has one Embossed Leaf sock done. She signed up too late for a J, but go check out her lovely sock and blog anyway!

Good socking, people!

Sunday socks

We've got a couple more socks to show y'all, but first let me answer a couple of questions. 1. No, you do not have to sign up each month. Once you're signed up and on the sidebar, you are in for the whole shebang. The 20th of the month cut-off is for new signees only. 2. Sadly, baby booties, slippers, etc. are not going to count for thing knit-along. My criteria is going to be that it's something where you had to turn a heel (classic or short row - I think you know where I'm going with this). Baby socks and fuzzy feet will count, since they have the classic sock structure. If you have any questions about whether something will count, please ask.

Now for the updates...

Silvia finished up some lovely pink striped socks for her daughter, and is halfway through another pair for herself with some awesome Kool-aid dyed yarn.

Check out Sheri's Socka toddler socks. Those are some cute little feet on a cute little guy!

For those of you who want to get in on the Sockapaloooza craziness, sign-ups start on Tuesday at 12:01 EST. That rocks for those of us on the west coast because it's 9 pm on Monday night! I'll be trying to sign up as soon as my knitting mommies leave, although I have a feeling it will be like trying to get concert tickets on Ticketmaster right when they go on sale...refresh, refresh, refresh...

Thanks for all your support re my designing woes. I keep thinking that self-publishing might be the way to go. If I ever get Sydney's sweater back from Creative Knitting, I'm definitely going to put that up for sale on the website because it has gotten such a positive reaction from everyone I've showed it to. There are a few other options as well, like The Knitting Vault and Chiagu. Self-publishing is definitely a greater risk, because you could end up spending money to produce a pattern that nobody buys. But the potential for reward is also much greater if you have a pattern that really takes off. And all deadlines would be self-imposed, which would be helpful with the small ones around.

I've also started on the Nutrisystem diet. I've decided that I need to lose this baby weight (that I've had since being pregnant with Sydney) once and for all. I'm not good at all with diets or cooking, so this is perfect for me since everything is prepackaged and involves little preparation. It's actually pretty good, too! It is helping me with the main things I always have trouble with, which are cooking, portion control and knowing what to eat. It's pretty idiot-proof. And Bill is delighted to not have to cook for me anymore. And he's happy that he no longer gets home from work to find me starving to death because I haven't eating anything all day. I'll let you know how it goes! After all, that woman from Joe Millionaire went from a size 10 to a size 4 in just two months*! *Results not typical...

Whew!

I survived my afternoon with 3 toddlers and a baby. It was exhausting, to say the least. Part of the problem was that the younger girl wasn't exactly thrilled about being left, so she spent the first half of the time wandering around looking for her mom (and giving me suspicious looks). The second half was great - the little one warmed up to me finally, and Owen went to sleep. Sydney and the older girl entertained each other the whole time, so that was nice. I even got a tiny bit of knitting done, right at the end, when they were all playing nicely in the same room.

We've got a few more updates:

Elizabeth just finished her first pair of socks ever, in a gorgeous self-patterning yarn, and they look great. She's got cute doggy pics, too!

Erin made some cool brown and black socks, D's Papasox!

Abigail gifted a lovely pair of green/red/blue socks to Ariane for hosting the Holiday Sox Exchange. Very nice!

Crazy Basket Lady just finished a gorgeous pair of Opal socks.

Also, there are a few new knit-alongers who need to contact me with their blog or e-mail addy. If you haven't heard from me with a confirmation that you joined the knit-along, or you have a blog but you don't have a link in the sidebar, please e-mail me! I have had trouble accessing a few of the Blogger profiles, and if you don't have one, I can't get your info from the comments.

We caught another raccoon this morning. We thought they were gone, but apparently not... Bill also opened the front door this morning to discover the keys had been left in the lock overnight! Yikes! At least we had the alarm on so we would've known if anyone had tried to come in. But still! Good thing we live in a relatively safe neighborhood. He tried to blame me for it, but it would never occur to me to open the door and not take the keys out of the lock. So I think it's his fault, no matter what he says...

I'm feeling a little bit down on the whole designing thing right now. The Knit Net thing really bummed me out. I'm wondering if they're exacting revenge for something I said on the Knit Design list when the whole controversy about independent designers was brewing. If you don't recall (I think I posted about this awhile ago), the most recent issue of Knit Net had an editorial about crummy knitting patterns and how Knit Net has never had complaints about errors in their patterns. The editor also went on to say that the big knitting magazines and yarn companies also have error-free patterns, but that independent designers don't. Of course, that made all the independent designers on the Knit Design list go absolutely crazy.

I posted something about how Knit Net had lowballed me on my sweater (and they did, but it was the first offer I'd ever had and I didn't know to negotiate or anything), and I probably wasn't going to submit anything else to them. Which is true, but I'm notoriously flaky about stuff like that (I also said I wasn't going to submit anything to Nursery Knits/Quick To Knit Gifts and look what happened)!

Anyway, I'm wondering if someone from Knit Net saw that e-mail (since Knit Design has about a gazillion members) and now they're punishing me by refusing delivery of my sweater and ignoring my e-mails. Nice way to do business! But then, I should've known better than to open my big mouth. Live and learn!

I also sent a bunch of swatches out at the end of last year and haven't heard a thing back about any of them. I sent to Knitter's, IK, No Sheep For You and Lace Style. I also have the infamous Sydney sweater that has been in Creative Knitting's hands for almost six months. The longer you go without hearing, the less likely it is that they're going to use any of your designs. I'm also convinced that Amy Singer will never ever like anything that I send her, for Knitty or anything else.

I'm trying not to get too depressed about it and be happy about the designs that have been accepted, but it's hard. I know that I shouldn't expect to be a huge success right off the bat, but I see other people doing it and this makes me have doubts that I have what it takes. Bill wondered if maybe my resume has something to do with it, and it might be easier once I have some listings on there. Would an editor look at my resume and see that I don't have anything published, and would that color their view of my submissions? I don't know. They all say that they're looking for new talent, but who knows. I'm sure they also don't want people flaking out. It's easy to make a swatch and a sketch, but can someone with no experience actually flesh that out into a coherent design in multiple sizes? I can, because I've done it, but they don't know that.

Thanks for listening to my whinging! I think I'll get back to my Master's swatches and my Jaywalkers. Even if I can't get published (okay, published in any of the big huge mags/books/Knitty), at least I know I can knit!

Happy Birthday, Darling!!!

Today is my darling husband's birthday. I won't tell you which one, but he was born in a year ending with a zero so you do the math. He's well on his way to being officially middle-aged! And he's going to love me for telling you all that (and posting this picture in which he's making such a lovely chipmunk expression). Anyway, happy birthday, sweetie pie!

I did manage to call him and wish him a happy birthday around 11 am this morning. The first time I saw him today, I didn't remember to say anything. I blame severe sleep deprivation caused by a little boy who wouldn't go to sleep until midnight and woke up at 6 am, ready to rock, after wanting to nurse every single frickin' hour during those six short hours of sleep that I was allowed. I could barely function when he wanted me to play at 6, so I handed him over to Bill and pulled the covers over my head for another hour. So much for getting to sleep in on your birthday!

Owen had his 9 month checkup this morning and is doing great - 20th percentile in weight, 40th in height and 90th in head size. Yup, he inherited the gigantic head that is shared by both my family and Bill's. It just means he's going to be smart, right? He still has fluid in both of his ears, a little bit of pus in his left ear, and has two more teeth coming in. Any of these things could be the reason for all the crankiness at night, but the doctor is reluctant to give him any more antibiotics since there isn't really a bad infection and he just got done with a round. So, we'll see what happens over the weekend. I am very sympathetic to the poor little guy since my ears are still bugging me. I just can't get them to clear. At this point I'm resigned to spending the rest of my life half deaf.

Now that you're sick of hearing about all of my health complaints, let's get on to my favorite part of the day - sock updates!!!

Karen FINALLY finished sockling #2. Don't worry, hon, it gets easier with each pair! You've got lots of great sock yarn to keep you busy for a long time.

Lisa finished a gorgeous pair of Jaywalkers. Go check them out!

Tara knitted up a pair of magic stripes socks for her Penguin.

Leah rocked a pair of Geranium Jaywalkers. Love that Sock Garden!

And Elizabeth finished a lovely lime green and black pair of January socks. Very nice!

Whew! I think I got everyone there. If not, send me an e-mail. Like I said, sleep-deprived mommy here, trying to keep up with all of you crazy sockstresses!


I am working on the heel flap for Jaywalker #1, and in the midst of all the sock craziness went and signed myself up for the Knitting Olympics. I'm going to use it as the motivation I need to finally get knitting on the Cabled Shrug from IK Fall '05. I'm going to have to slow down on my Jaywalkers so that I don't have to knit another pair of socks in February! Not that it matters, since I'm not going to put myself in the prize drawings (that would be lame, since many of the prizes are coming out of my stash, and I don't need to be giving myself yarn that I already own...).

And I have some sad news. I was shocked and dismayed to find my Knit Net sweater in the mail today, returned to me as undeliverable. I e-mailed the assistant editor to find out what the he** is up, but of course haven't heard back. So I'm guessing there's no way it will be included in the February issue. Since I have the pattern and everything already, I'm going to try to get it up for sale on my website ASAP. I am so bummed! Oh, well. What can you do?

Updates and a meme

But first, I have to say that three hours never flew by so fast. My favorite part? Taking a long shower without anyone trying to break down the door.

Now, we have a few sockers who have been busy little beavers!

Lolly finished some Fixation socks in early January. Yes, you all can get credit for socks you finished before the knit-along started or before you signed up, as long as they came off the needles on or after January 1. Scroll down a little further in her post, and you find a lovely picture of two mules! Socks and mules? How can you beat that?

Chris finally finished her padded footlets. If you read her blog, you'll know that these have been hanging around for months! Perhaps the knit-along finally gave her that needed kick in the pants to finish the second sock? And she tried to be all stealthy and get her "J" without getting any knit-along love. Sorry, girlfriend, but it doesn't work that way! If you haven't discovered Chris's blog yet, go check it out. She is one of my absolute favorites!

And Laura finished a gorgeous pair of Rib & Cable socks in a lovely blue colorway. Gorgeous!

Just to let you all know, I try to get things updated within 24 hours of when I get them. So if a couple days pass, and you don't see your update, please let me know. I don't want anything to get lost in the shuffle, and I am a harried, sleep-deprived and forgetful mom of two kids under three! I won't be at all annoyed if you pester me to get your updates up!

Amy over at Frottez! tagged me with a meme! Yay! I've seen all these memes flying around but haven't been getting tagged. I was starting to feel like the kid who gets picked last for kickball!

4 jobs you have had:
Tastefully Simple Consultant
Software Designer
Geology research assistant
Dairy Queen slave!

4 movies you could watch over and over:
Office Space
Best In Show/A Mighty Wind/Waiting For Guffman
Groundhog Day
Bring It On (yes, I know...)

4 TV shows you love to watch:
The Simpsons
Grey's Anatomy
American Idol
The Apprentice

4 places you have been on vacation
Hawaii
China
Paris
Africa

4 websites you visit daily
Bloglines
Yahoo Groups
Knitty Coffeeshop
Hotmail

4 of your favorite foods
Pizza
Entenmann's donuts
pancakes
fresh spumoni ice cream from the italian restaurant down the street

4 places you would rather be right now
asleep
Hawaii w/ my husband and no kids
healthy (I know, it's not a place, but I still want to be there!)
Mom's house

4 bloggers you are tagging
Sharon
Joanne
Erica
The Other Erica

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Socks galore!

I have a bunch of sock updates for you. But first, let me tempt you with a photo of the January prize yarn!

It would be very interesting to see a pair of Jaywalkers made out of this... Hmm...

Also, I'd like to take a little survey. What is your all-time favorite sock yarn? Let me know, and I just might take some of your suggestions and toss them into the prize bin.

And now, on to the updates...

Erica finished a very loooooong pair of knee-high socks for her husband. They are quite impressive!

Choomon finished a gorgeous pair of Best Foot Forward socks from the Knit Socks! book.

Lisa also finished her January socks. You have GOT to go check out her "Stickin' It To The Man" socks.

Ragan finished a lovely pair of fuzzy-trimmed socks. Too cute!

And we have a new knit-alonger, Merete, who already has her January socks done - a nice pair of stripy socks she knit up for her granddaughter.

Whew! We've currently got 68 knit-alongers and 14 people who have finished their January socks already. 14 knitting days left this month, folks!

I'm off to FedEx after I finish this post to mail off two more submissions for Quick To Knit Gifts. I swear, I'm taking over that magazine! I can't totally spill the beans on what they're going to be, but here are a couple little nibbles:


It's kind of funny, because I don't think of myself as a big felter, but all of the designs that I'm doing for them are felted, except for one (and that one is socks). Then again, felting is easy, cool, and it seems to be very popular. I just find it a bit odd that I'm having all this success with felted designs when I don't think of myself as a felting expert by any stretch of the imagination.

I just started a babysitting swap with a friend from playgroup. So I have the house to myself for three whole hours! Of course, I will have hell to pay on Friday when everyone is over here. I'll get to see what it's like to have four kids under 3. I think I'm going to be glad that it's only for a few hours! Although my friend's kids are two very sweet little girls, and the older one is just a month older than Sydney so they get along pretty well. I was going to spend the whole time working, but here I am, one hour down, and I'm still blogging! These knit-alongs are a lot of work! But I love it - I'm having such a great time seeing all these socks, and visiting lots of blogs that I haven't seen before. Keep 'em coming, sockers!

I joined the club...

Yup, I'm a follower. Here is a pic of the Jaywalkers. This is just such a nice pattern for the variegated yarn, and it's a relatively mindless repeat. It's so nice to be knitting for myself!

Helene finished her January Socks - do they look comfy cozy or what?

And check out a new knit-alonger, Lucia, who not only has already completed her January socks but has written a great calculator for making your own pattern for toe-up socks. Awesome!

Dene finished a pair of socks of her own design for her son-in-law and started some Jaywalkers. We'll see if she can wait until February to finish them!

And here is a VERY exciting announcement regarding the knit-along... You now have EXTRA incentive to finish your socks each month, because each month everyone who has finished socks that month will be entered into a drawing for sock yarn! How does that grab ya? I've decided to skip the Knitty SP6 so that I can give you guys more fabulous prizes. For January, the prize will be two balls of Knit Picks Parade in the Checkers colorway. So get those socks knitted, y'all!

I am still deciding on the final prize, but I promise it will be spectacular. Also, if anyone has any sock stash that they'd like to donate to the cause, please let me know. I would love to give away as many prizes as possible since we have so many sock-a-monthers!

Bill and I thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon date yesterday. We crawled into bed with a big bucket of Double Stuff Oreos between us (and without any kids jumping on us), put in Creepshow on DVD (Bill's family has a weird Christmas tradition involving Creepshow which hasn't been happening lately because of the kids), and relaxed. I knitted, and Bill ended up taking a two hour nap. It was so nice! We really need to do that more often. It was great to be able to watch a non-G-rated movie with the sound on and not worry about scarring the kids for life.

Keep those sock updates coming!

Socks, socks, socks!

Go check out these new entries, from quikeye:

Chutes & Ladders toddler socks
Jaywalker
Pomatomus (yes, they really are way awesome!)

Give her some sock lovin', y'all!

I cast on for Jaywalker last night. The sock garden that Sharon gifted me was just too hard to resist. I'd show you a picture, but I'm out the door to take the kids to my in-laws for the afternoon. Bill & I are going to be ALONE together. I can't remember the last time that happened. It has been way too long. Needless to say, that takes priority over blogging.

Sock on, everyone!

Mid-day sock update

Mary Beth has finished a lovely pair of pink Oak Rib Socks from Vintage Socks - go check them out. Also, scroll down a couple posts on her blog and read about the Red Scarf project. If you have some time this month, consider knitting a scarf for a kid in need!

Ah, Saturday...

Yesterday was not a good day. My ears still hurt, the kids were absolute nightmares (I think Sydney cried approximately 10 of the 12 hours she was awake yesterday, for no good reason), and I just wanted to take a nap. There were points where I was carrying Owen around, wondering what would happen to him if I just passed out. I tried not to walk too close to anything with sharp corners, just in case.

Today is looking up. My ears still hurt, and I'm almost completely deaf because of all of the fluid (Bill is finally learning to yell everything instead of talking in a normal voice, only to have me say "what?"), but at least Bill is home to share my pain. And I got this little goodie in the mail:

An RAK from the lovely Sharon! She'd already spilled the beans that she was sending me the EZ book, but the rest was a delightful surprise! The Joy Of Knitting Companion will be a great design tool because it's filled with this:

Yup, knitter's graph paper. You can never have too much of that lying around! And, more sock yarn! How appropriate. Knit Picks Essential in Grass (one of my favorites) and Sock Garden in Hydrangea. Love it! Now my biggest problem is having more sock yarn than I can reasonably knit in the near future. What to do, what to do...

Sock Updates
We have some finished socks to admire! Sonya finished her Whitbys and they are gorgeous. And go check out Melanie's blue-and-green striped socks. Very funky!

Keep those updates coming, sockers! Also, if you've e-mailed or commented about joining but don't see your name on the sidebar, please e-mail me again. I'm not ignoring you - I've just had a much bigger response to my little KAL than I expected! I don't want anyone to get lost in the shuffle!

Get A Haircut
Bill managed to cut Owen's hair yesterday.

Doesn't he look boyish with his new 'do? He's looking peeved because he really hates the red-eye light on the camera. I tried to cut his hair last week, but I couldn't manage to wield the scissors, hold his arms down so he wouldn't grab them, and hold his head still so I wouldn't cut skin instead of hair, all at the same time. I'm not quite sure how Bill did it, but they both appear to have come through unscathed.

Knitting, Anyone?

This is one of the few recent FOs that I can actually show you. It's swatch #1 for my TKGA Master's Level 1. 2x2 ribbing and garter stitch - how exciting. Can you see why I'm not dying to do these? I know the basics are important, but I'd much rather swatch up a funky stitch pattern or work on some socks. I will get these done in the next three months! I will! I will!

My Cast-On Socks are done (apart from grafting the toes, which I'm putting off for some reason), and I'm now working on some more swatches for the Quick To Knit Gifts book. They just accepted a third design of mine (for - you guessed it - socks) and are interested in two more of my ideas. It would be crazy if I had five designs in that one book! It gives me hope that some of the swatches that I sent out to Knitter's, IK and No Sheep For You will get a positive reception as well. Although it's probably easier to get the easy little designs accepted in a publication where you're not competing against the likes of Teva Durham and Debbie Bliss. IK is my nirvana, but I'm guessing it will be awhile before I manage to break down that door. Especially since they seem to feature the same designers every single month. Anyway, they've got some swatches, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

And keep on socking!

Ouch!

After a day-and-a-half of excruciating ear pain, I went to the doctor yesterday to find out I have a blazin' ear infection in my right ear and my left isn't far behind. Apparently ear infections are contagious - who knew? I haven't had one since I was a kid, but let me tell you, I have a lot more sympathy for Owen and his poor little ears now! It hurts, like someone is taking a giant drill to my eardrum! My ears are also totally plugged up, so I can barely hear anything (although the kids' piercing screams still make it through). One more joy of parenthood - my first ear infection in 25 years!

The only good thing to come out of my illness was the fact that my body finally gave in to sleep. It was exhausted enough fighting off the nasty ear bugs that I was able to sleep around the clock last night. Ah!!!

In sock news, our knit-alonger from Norway, Helene, has her January socks almost finished. She used yarn she dyed herself with Kool-Aid - too cool. Go check them out!

In other news, the winter season of cheesy reality TV is really starting to kick off. I am so excited! First off, Skating With Celebrities. I mean, come on! Nancy Kerrigan and Dave Coulier (of Full House fame)? Kurt Browning and Debbie Gibson? I can't wait! Then, American Idol, always a favorite, kicks off next week. Bill and I are unashamed, unabashed fans and will admit to owning CDs by both Kelly Clarkson and Bo Bice (who was SO robbed last year...). Finally, the season premiere of The Bachelor: Paris was on last Monday. Oooh, he's an ER doc, girls! You should've seen the drool-soaked chins when the ladies found that out. Personally, I couldn't think of any career I'd want my husband to have less (except perhaps coal miner or airline pilot). Bill's at work way too much already, in my opinion, and he only has to be there during the day, during the week! Regardless, I can't wait for next week's episode. Hooray for bad television!

Socks and lots & lots of pictures!

Socks!
Well, we have 37 sockers as of my latest update this morning - wow! This knit-along is going to be a blast! Thanks for playing, guys! I updated the rules this morning to reflect a few changes (all of which are in other posts, if you've been reading along), the most important of which is to PLEASE E-MAIL ME YOUR SOCK UPDATES! As much as I love all of you and want to read your blogs every day, I just can't do it without putting the anklebiters up for adoption. I'm also going to just post the updates at the beginning of my regular blog posts every day. I think this is nicer than posting a big long list every week. Yes, I am stealing heavily from Lolly's Socktoberfest because I had such a blast participating in that knit-along!

Since the only knitting I'm doing right now is work-related, I give you a sneak peek at the Cast-On design (without giving away any of the details, other than the fact that it's a sock):

And no, it's not some bizarro thing with a cuff coming out of the foot. I just folded it over so you couldn't see the stitch pattern. You'll have to wait for the magazine to come out to see that!

There Goes The Neighborhood
If you were around at Halloween time, you saw pictures of our jack-o-lanterns which had faces scribbled in Sharpie at the last minute since we didn't get around to carving them. And you'll remember that we had two mini-pumpkins, two butternut squash (since we didn't get around to shopping for pumpkins until the last minute and all the stores were sold out by the time we got there), and one big mama pumpkin that we picked up on our earlier trip to the pumpkin patch.

Well, Sydney walked off with the mini-pumpkins (they're probably rotting in one of her hidey holes somewhere), and one of the butternut squash was made into soup. The other squash and the big pumpkin, however, are still on our porch.

Bill's theory is that it will just continue to sink into itself until it disappears. I think it might disappear, too, but for a different reason - I have visions of my mother-in-law sneaking over here in the middle of the night and taking it away because she can't stand it being on our porch any longer. If she doesn't do it, maybe the raccoons will!

The Small Fry
Here is what happens quite often when I'm knitting on the couch.


For some reason, the boy loves chewing on yarn. He also has loads of fun with other knitting-related notions:


The knit chek and the tape measure are his new favorite toys. Sydney loves the tape measure, too, mainly because she can hold onto the end of the tape and swing the little cannister around her head like a lasso. It's kind of cute, so I try to tolerate it until she clocks either me or her brother with it.

And so the girl doesn't feel left out, I took a picture of her last night in her classic begging pose.

She doesn't like Good & Plenty (I gave her one a few weeks ago, and she spit it out immediately and gave me a dirty look), but she knows it's candy and so she wants it. Why can't she be like this with broccoli?

Yet more socks!

We have a few more pairs of socks to show off. First, check out Amanda's awesome crocheted socks here.

And Sara has been busy - she's got some Holiday Detour Socks (love those knee-highs!) and a pair of very funky Toasty Toes socks.

Great socking, guys!

Also, just a note about the credits you're getting in the sidebar. I'm just going to put the month that you've completed down (instead of counting pairs, since some of you (see above) are knitting multiple pairs per month and I don't want it to look like you're doing less than you are!). Sadly, you'll only get credit for one pair each month, but feel free to send in as many as you want for us all to oooh and aaah over.

I have some pictures to post, but the kids are being EXTREMELY difficult and won't let me take enough time to actually download them off the camera and upload them into Blogger. Maybe if Blogger was a little faster... Just to let you know what I'm up against, I started this post at about 9 am this morning and it's 2 pm right now... The boy is starting to get cranky again, and Sydney wants her Play-Doh flattened out for the gazillionth time today. No, wait, she's yelling that she wants it made into a ball, and she can't do it herself. Now she's screaming. Now Owen is screaming, too. What fun. Am I a terrible mother for just ignoring them? Don't answer that...

We've got another!

Stariel finished a gorgeous pair of Denmarks from Knitting On The Road. Go check them out!

Also, to clarify the January bonus socks, you can count any socks that were finished in the month of January (even if you finished them before the knit-along started). So if you've got January socks, send them in!

And we have our first entry!

I know I said I was going to post updates on Saturdays, but I'll probably end up posting them as I get them since I'm having so much fun with this whole thing...

Anyway, we have our first entry from Amanda. Go check it out!

Yay for socks!

Well, as you can see from the sidebar, the Sock-A-Month Knitalong is already rolling along! Since there are quite a few of you, I'm going to ask that you e-mail me when your socks are posted to your blog. If you don't have a blog, e-mail me a pic and I'll post it here. I know quite a few of you mentioned that you have socks done or close to it for January - make sure you e-mail me when they're done so you get your bonus credit!

Also, thanks to Amanda for the great button (it's up in the sidebar for your swiping pleasure - please host on your own server, yada yada yada)! And please go visit your fellow sockers' blogs! I will be mulling over the prize for the next few days and will post some pics next week (I hope) to get y'all extra motivated. I lurve socks!!!

So my sleepless night didn't come to a very good end last night... After I got done posting about the knitalong, I went upstairs and was trying to get back to sleep when I heard Sydney crying. She and Bill were up and she was all hot and feverish (again). She was also complaining that her back hurt. Well, overly paranoid mother that I am, I immediately thought meningitis. I was misdiagnosed with it as a teenager, so I know all the symptoms, one of which is a sore back/neck. We tried to get her to touch her chin to her chest, but she wouldn't do it. Not surprising at 1 am while sick and crabby, but we called the doctor anyway. After about a 15-minute conversation, the doctor recommended we take her in to the emergency room, just to be safe. It's one of those things - we knew that there probably wasn't anything wrong with her, but if we blew it off and there really was, how would we forgive ourselves? So Bill bundled her into the car and off to the hospital around 2 am. I had to stay home with Owen, even though it almost killed me.

The diagnostic tool for meningitis is a lumbar puncture, where they stick a small needle into the space around your spinal cord and draw out some fluid, which they then send off to be tested. I've had one lumbar puncture, one epidural and one spinal, so I know how horrible it can be. I was left at home to try to sleep, knowing my baby girl might be undergoing the procedure that very moment. And if Sydney had meningitis, did that mean we would need to get Owen tested, too? It's generally more dangerous for babies... Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.

Since they got to the hospital so late, there was only one pediatric doctor still on duty, and they apparently had a bunch of traumas come in while Bill and Sydney were waiting. They got in to see the doctor around 5 am, finally, and they ran a bunch of tests and basically determined that she was just suffering from the remnants of her awful cold. It was a huge relief, but so frustrating at the same time since they could've been home sleeping that whole time. They got back around 6 am and went straight to bed. Bill had to leave for work at 7:15, so he got about 20 minutes of sleep. He has to go out for a work dinner tonight, too, so this was about the worst possible night this could've happened. But again, better safe than sorry!

I am taking a community education class at PCC, which starts tonight, on the History of Fashion. It's 2-1/2 hours, and I'm not sure how I'm going to stay with it all that time! I sure hope it's interesting...

I did get another little bit of good news today. I got a call from the publisher of a couple of grocery-aisle books that are coming out in the next year called Quick To Knit Gifts and Nursery Knits. I almost didn't submit anything to them because of a huge brouhaha on the Knit Design e-mail list that I belong to (basically everyone there was all up-in-arms because this publisher is only offering $150 per pattern and takes the copyright forever). But I reconsidered and whipped up a few super easy things and sent them in. Well, they want to buy one design for each of the books, and they're going to be deciding on the other designs this week. We also discussed what other things they're looking for, and I had a few ideas that she's really interested in.

I'm glad I ended up submitting because the publisher is really nice, she got back to me very quickly (unlike some of the knitting mags where your submissions basically disappear into a black hole for months...), and I'll get some free advertising for my website. I'm hoping that, since these mags are sold in grocery stores, I'll be able to get some traffic to my website if people like my designs. I'm planning to have some patterns up for sale by the time the books come out, so it might drive other sales - at least that's what I'm hoping. And even if it doesn't, $150 is $150! That will buy a few skeins of yarn, anyway.

A meme and a new knit-along?

Well, I should be sleeping, but here I am at the keyboard. I am so exhausted and sleep deprived, but for some reason my body won't let me catch up on sleep. I took a two-hour nap with Owen this afternoon while my mother-in-law entertained the girl. I'm regretting it now... Even drugs aren't helping me these days (I can pop Benadryl like candy with no effect whatsoever).

Anyway, in my insomniatic state, I came up with a new knit-along idea. Everybody's doing it, so why shouldn't I (other than the fact that I already spend way too much time at the computer already)? So, here's my idea. Drumroll, please!

Introducing...the Sock-A-Month Knitalong!

See the post below for more details. I separated it from the rest of my blather so that I can link to the rules more easily. I'm really just wasting time until Owen wakes up for his next snack...

Now, on to the meme, which I snagged from Amanda's blog:

The Top Five for 2005
1. New technique: Mattress stitch! My finishing looks so awesome now. I actually like seaming, if you can believe it.

2. Favorite FO: My Conwy socks, which unfortunately were stolen by my mom (I guess they're her favorite FO, too!).

3. Favorite KAL: On The Road Along!

4. Favorite LYS: Do I have to pick just one? I guess I'll go with Close Knit, which just opened but it's only a couple miles from my house and the owner is such a sweetheart (and has awesome taste in yarn).

5. Favorite tool: My Addi Turbos. I'm loving the socks on 2 circs, and the Addis are a big part of that.

Six Goals for 2006

1. Get published in a print magazine.

2. Knit my poor husband the pair of socks he's been begging me for for six months.

3. Finish my TKGA Master Knitter Levels 1 & 2.

4. Design & knit an aran sweater.

5. Host a knit-along (see above).

6. Get some patterns up for sale on my website!

The Sock-A-Month Knitalong!

SAM1 ended on July 31, 2006. Here is the participant list:







Knit-Alongers:

1. Abigail ********** - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


2. Adelle ** - J,A,Y,U,L


3. Adrienne - F,M,A,Y,U,L


4. Adrienne ****** - F,M,A,Y,U,L


5. Amanda * - J,F,Y


6. Amanda * - J,F,A


7. Amy * - A


8. Ann - M,A,Y


9. Bee - Y


10. Beth - F,A


11. Brianne *** - F,M,A,Y,U,L


12. Carol - J,F,M,Y


13. Carol - J


14. Carry - F,M,A,Y,U


15. Cece ** - F,M,A,Y,U


16. choomon ***** - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


17. Chris - J,F


18. Chrissy, your hostess * - J,F,M


19. Chrissy - F,M,L


20. Christine - M,A,Y


21. Christine - M


22. Christine - A,Y,U


23. Christy * - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


24. Courtney * - J,M,A


25. Crazy Basket Lady **** - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


26. Curlypurly * - F


27. Dani - A


28. Dave * - F,M,A,Y,U,L


29. Debbie - F,M,U


30. Dene 31* - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


31. Elisabeth - J,F


32. Elizabeth - J


33. Elizabeth **** - F,M,A,Y,U


34. Elspeth - F,M,Y


35. Emily *** - F,M,A,Y,U,L


36. Erica *** - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


37. Erica - F


38. Erin * - J,M,A


39. Erin - Y


40. Eva - A


41. Ginger * - M,A


42. Hege - M,A,Y


43. Helene *** - J,M,A,Y,U


44. Helga ** - M,A,Y,U,L


45. Jamie * - M,A,U


46. Jaya - J,M


47. Jen * - J,M,A,Y,U


48. Jenn **** - F,A,Y,U,L


49. Jenni - Y


50. Jenni - L


51. Jennie ** - F,A,Y,U,L


52. Jennifer - F,M,A,Y,U


53. Jessica - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


54. Jessica *** - A,Y


55. Jill * - J,F,M,A,Y


56. Joanna - F


57. Joanna - F,M


58. Johanna * - F,M,A,Y,U


59. Julia * - F,M,A,Y


60. Julie * - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


61. Karen - J,F,M,A,Y,U


62. Karen 39* - M,A,Y,U,L


63. Karon ** - F


64. Kat - A,Y,U


65. Kathleen - M,A


66. Kathy *


67. Kelly - Y,L


68. Kirsten - F


69. Knit Chick ** - F


70. knit_tgz - M


71. Kris * - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


72. Kristy in NC ***** - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


73. Kristy * - M,A,Y,U,L


74. Lara - A,Y,U,L


75. Laura * - J,F,Y


76. Laura* - F


77. Lauren *** - J,F,M,A,Y


78. Leah - J,F,M,Y


79. Linda ** - J,F,M,A,Y,L


80. Lindsay * - M


81. Lisa ** - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


82. Lisa - J,M


83. Lisa - M,A


84. LivingLakeside - F,M,A,Y,U,L


85. Lolly * - J,F,M,A,Y


86. Lu - M,A,U


87. Lucia - J


88. Manda - J,F,M,Y


89. Mary Beth * - J,F,M,A,U


90. Melanie - J,L


91. MelissaJoon - M,L


92. Merete - J,F


93. Michelle * - F,M,A,Y,U,L


94. Monica ************* - A,Y,L


95. Morgan - F


96. Nelda ******* - F,M,A,Y,U,L


97. Pam - U


98. Persnickety Knitter - J,F,M,A,Y,U


99. Phoebe ** - F


100. Pixeldiva - A,Y


101. Quikeye ******* - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


102. Rachel * - F,M,Y,U,L


103. Ragan ************* - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


104. Renata - J


105. Roberta ******* - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


106. Saff - J


107. Sara * - J,F,M,A,Y,L


108. Sarah - J


109. Shanidy - F


110. Shayla - M


111. Shelley *** - J,F,M,A,Y


112. Sheri ********* - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


113. Sherrill ** - F


114. Sillyewe * - M,A,Y,L


115. Silvia * - J


116. Siri ******** - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


117. Sonya ** - J,M,Y,U


118. Stariel ********* - J,F,M,A,Y,U,L


119. StarzAbove * - J,F,M,A,L


120. Susan - J,M,A


121. Tania - F


122. Tara - J,F,M,A,Y


123. Tiffany - J,A


124. TinaInWonderland * - J,F,M


125. Tonia *** - M,A,Y,U,L


126. Virtuella - F,M,A,Y,U


127. Wendy *********** - F,M,A,Y,U


128. Yvonne * - A,Y,U


129. Zonda - F,M,A,Y,U,L

KEY:
J = January - our prize winner is Jaya!
F = February - our prize winner is Zonda!
M = March - our prize winner is Persnickety Knitter!
A = April - our prize winner is Lauren!
Y = May - our prize winner is Karen!
U = June - our prize winner is Sonya!
L = July - our prize winner is Khris!
* = brownie point socks!
Grand Prize winner list can be found here.

The Rules

Here's how it will work. The goal will be to knit one pair of socks each month for the next 6 months (beginning in February and ending in July, but keep reading to the bitter end to find out how to get extra credit in January). I was going to make it 12, but who has that long of an attention span these days? For each pair of socks that you knit and share with all of us via your blog or pics e-mailed to me to post here, you'll get entered in a drawing for a fabulous prize (TBD, but it will be something sock-related, and it will be fantastic!). Anyone who knits all six will be entered in a bonus drawing for an extra special bonus prize (ooooh! aaaah!). How's that for motivation?

This knit-along will be fairly mellow for those less-competitive folks since you can knit just one pair of socks and still get your name in the drawing one time. You can knit as many socks per month as you want, but you'll only get drawing credit for the first pair (so max number of entries is six).

More Prizes!
As if the grand prize drawing wasn't enough, there will be seven monthly drawings as well, starting in January. Everyone who finishes a pair of socks in that month will be entered to win sock yarn.

Deadlines
You must sign up by the 20th of each month and finish (and let me know of) your socks by midnight PST of the last day of the month. You can sign up anytime, but if you sign up after the 20th of the month, you won't get entered in that month's drawing and will have to wait until the next month. To be included in the grand prize drawing, you must be signed up by July 20th and finish your July socks by the last day of the month. But remember, the sooner you sign up, the more chances you have to win!

Also, you must finish the socks (i.e. they must come off the needles) in the month in which you ask for credit. Socks can have been started anytime and can be socks that you will be giving away.

Since this knit-along is gearing up to be a smashing success, I will ask that you e-mail me with your sock updates. I'd love to visit all y'all's blogs to check for socks, but since there are so many of you, I just can't do it. And I don't want to miss anyone's fab socks! So send me an update when you have sock picks and I'll post a link/pic so everyone can drool over them and be inspired.

I will be keeping track of how many socks you've knit next to your name in my sidebar. You will get a little letter for each month in which you've completed a sock. As you can see, we've got a number of eager beavers who have already completed their January extra credit sock. Which brings me to...

**BONUS ENTRY**
For those of you who are chomping at the bit to get started, I'll let you early birds who finish socks in January get an extra bonus entry to the grand prize drawing. Yes, these can be socks that you finished before the knit-along started, as long as they came off the needles on or after Jan. 1 and you e-mail me a link/pic. Get knitting, y'all!

Join us!
E-mail me or leave a comment if you want to join up. With all the other sock knit-alongs going on right now, what have you got to lose? How can you beat getting multiple knit-along credits with one little pair of socks?

Let the fun begin!!!