You guys are killing me!

As if I have nothing better to do than post sock updates all day. Okay, my wry grin doesn't come across very well in plain text... Really, I love you guys! But you're killing me! So please forgive me for being so slow with the final February updates. I've been working on this post for two days now, and I have to do some knitting, too, you know! Plus it doesn't help when freaking Blogger goes down when the boy is asleep and I have some uninterrupted time to blog... Want some cheese with that whine?

At least I didn't come up with the Knitting Olympics (check out poor Stephanie's post re The Podium, if you haven't already). What a logistical nightmare!

Rachel just sent me these lovely Koigu Jaywalkers for her first brownie point:



StarzAbove got over a case of SSS (second sock syndrome) to finish her F socks.

Persnickety Knitter (aka Lord Voldemort) finished some awesome argyle socks for her dad.

Shelley has some cute little green socks done for a second brownie point.

Tara finished her first (and last, she claims!) pair of Jaywalkers. Sounds like your next pair of socks should be in worsted weight, honey!

Joanna finished some Pomatomuseseses but doesn't have a camera to shoot the completed pair. You can see 1-1/2 Pomatomatomi here.

Amanda slid some toddler socks in under the wire, after knitting up Kepler for her Olympic gold (whew!).

Crazy Basket Lady finished some Megaboots Stretch socks. That yarn is gorgeous, even if it's a pain to knit with!

New blogger Michelle finished some lovely (if a bit large) lacy socks that are being modeled in a non-traditional manner by her adorable daughter.

Kirsten finished her second red sock. Scroll down to her Feb. 18th post to see the first one.

LivingLakeside finished some Vineyard Stripes socks, just in the nick of time.

Lauren has Jaywalkers done!

So does Merete!

Erica finished her Sockapalooza socks, a tribute to our home state of Oregon! Too cool!

Wendy went totally nuts with the Knitting Olympics and knit socks for her entire family. She was, sadly, 1-3/4 short. But still, she gets six (!) brownie points. Wow!



Linda finished some lovely Opal socks, despite running out of yarn at the 11th hour!

Sheri gets another brownie point for some Bernat boy socks for her son.

Siri also gets an F for some gorgeous Regia socks.

Okay, I think that's everyone... I'll hold off on the drawing until this weekend, so PLEASE check to make sure I didn't miss you!

In my own personal knitting world, I've got a lot going on (as usual). The Knitter's sweater is blocked and ready to seam up. It turned out really nice, but for some reason I'm thinking that I have it done when in fact I still need to do button bands and collar as well as seaming... So, not so done! I also just signed up to be a sample knitter for Knit Picks. Now, as a consumer I love Knit Picks. They're cheap, their yarn is generally decent, and they have a smart business model. As a knitting professional, however (can I call myself that yet?), I don't like the fact that they take business away from the LYSes. I do think that everyone can learn to get along, but some knitters have the attitude that yarn is way too expensive and it should all be priced like Knit Picks'. Knit Picks does nothing to discourage this attitude when they state in their catalog that "similar yarn sells for $11.95/hank" when that's actually not quite the case. If given a choice, I would certainly use Koigu or Lorna's Laces over Sock Garden or Essential. Sometimes it's nice to make a project on the cheap and not have to resort to nasty acrylic. So for now, I'm happy to work as a sample knitter for KP but they're not at the top of my list for places to submit designs.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts, however, is at the top. I had a very nice conversation yesterday with Kaci, one of the partners, about doing some design work for them. The next thing on my list is to put together a proposal package for them (gee, do you think it will include some socks?).

While doing all this knitting, I've been watching enormous amounts of reality tv. Yup, I'm the lowest common denominator! The fact that Dumb & Dumber is my all-time favorite movie should've given you a hint about that... I've discovered a couple new shows - first off is Project Runway. Why didn't I discover this earlier? Bravo had a PR marathon last weekend and I got to watch all the shows up to the current one. I was lovin' it. Could Santino be any more of a freak show? I also Tivoed the Amazing Race. I've been obsessed with world travel most of my life and have been to five continents and I think 21 (is that right?) countries. This show is the ultimate contest for me! I'm about halfway through the premiere right now, and I'm definitely rooting for the geeks.

Next up was Skating With Celebrities. My latest issue of People magazine confirmed the nasty rumor that Lloyd did leave his pregnant wife for Kristi, so I have zero respect for either of them now. I was rooting for them to win because they were kind of the underdogs, but now I'm pulling for Jillian and John, big time.

The big finale of The Bachelor: Paris was this week as well. I was quite happy that Sarah won, although a little bit surprised. I thought Moana had it, especially after the show last week where they were saying that viewers were pulling for her. I never liked her - all of her over-the-top (in my opinion) emotional blubbering never quite rang true to me. And that dinner with her family? I would never want in-laws like that! Yikes!

And what reality tv maven could avoid American Idol? Although there isn't really anyone this year that sticks out in my mind. Okay, Owen is digging around under the desk, so I'm going to publish before he figures out how to unplug the computer!

SP7 rocks my world!

My SP7 has been dropping little hints that I should be expecting a big package sometime soon. Imagine my delight when I found a box waiting for me after the mailman's visit. I ripped it open and pulled out this mysterious object:



It was heavy, cylinder-shaped and wrapped in bubble wrap. I had no clue as to what it might be. I'm a little daft sometimes, because once I unwrapped it, it all made perfect sense!



A humongous Yankee Candle in my favorite scent! Yay! There were a few (just a few) other goodies in the box as well.



Meg Swansen's A Gathering Of Lace, the Sweet Mary Jane cardigan pattern from Knit Picks (hmm, more lace) and four hanks of Shimmer to knit it with. And, just to make sure I don't make it a full day without cheating on my diet, a little bag of chocolate. Notice that they didn't make the pictures?

Thanks, SP! You rock! I am very tempted to wind up that Shimmer and start on Sweet Mary Jane, but I'm dedicating my life to socks for the month of March. I have my Vineyard Stripes socks (which is now the knitting that I keep in the car at all times, so I never have to sit and do nothing when I send Bill in for coffee or wait for Sydney's preschool class to let out). I'm also going to start New England from Knitting On The Road, and I have a couple of secret projects of the socky variety as well. Oh, yeah, and my Sockapaloooza socks, although they might not get started in March since they're not due until May...

Speaking of socks, you guys have been going nuts! Check out all these updates (and they just keep coming and coming...):

Cece's got some Dublin Bay socks made out of gorgeous Koigu.

Ragan has her FIFTH brownie-point socks - a pair she knit quick for her son to wear to school for Fox In Socks day.

Manda earned Olympic gold as well as an F for these Broadripple socks.

Leah's got some Badcaul socks - more Koigu! Love that Koigu.

Dave stranded up some way cool (and way Canadian) Blue Moose socks. You have GOT to check them out.

Sara knit up some rockin' Canada socks from Knitting On The Road.

New knit-alonger Lindsey joined too late to get her F, but she's got blue brownie point socks!

Julie finished some INCREDIBLE over-the-knee socks.

Thanks to everyone for all your awesome socks! Remember to double-check your name in the sidebar for any needed corrections, and get any last-minute updates in by midnight tomorrow PST!

Gold me, baby!

But first, some free yarn!



This is the yarn for my June Mag Knits design. So now you've had stitch pattern and yarn pics - know what it is yet? Yeah, I don't think so! This yarn was so very generously donated by Pam at Spirit Work. If you're in the Rochester, NY area, go check her out! She threw in that great clear tote and a nice little card - totally unexpected!

Now, what you've all been waiting for, the Olympic Shrug! As we look at the shrug pictures, let's reflect on the 2006 (non-knitting) Winter Olympics. I just love the Olympics, both summer and winter, but winter always captures my heart in a way the summer never will because of my childhood aspirations of alpine skiing greatness. My favorite Olympic events? Besides the alpine skiing (I love all of the race events - slalom, GS, Super-G & Downhill), I love short track speed skating for the sheer craziness, ski jumping for the connections to my Finnish heritage (and sheer craziness), biathlon because who can say that skiing and shooting aren't a totally logical combination, and curling because it's great fun (if you ever have a chance to try it, do!). I've also discovered this year that I really like ice dancing. I never used to, but this year I finally got the connection between ice dancing and ballroom dancing. It's really neat to watch them do dance steps on the ice. It's a nice break from all the jumping around and waving of arms in the regular figure skating (which I also love - don't get me wrong!).



Get it? A shrug? Har-dee har har. Blame Bill for that one.

Here are a couple of back views (please ignore my inexplicably baggy butt):





And one more shot of the front:



Scroll down to yesterday's post if you want to see close-ups of the stitch detail. Again, for those of you just joining us, this is the Cabled Shrug from IK Fall '05, in Knit Picks Elegance.

Since the camera was out, we used the opportunity to snap some pics of the small fry. Here are my impeccably behaved, expression-free Stepford children.



Okay, this is more like reality, with everyone going different directions:



And because I just couldn't help myself, I decided to make Karen's gift yarn into my first pair of toe-up socks using the free Knit Picks pattern.



I can't help but think that the socks on circs, flanked by the two balls of yarn, strongly resembles a uterus and ovaries. Is it just me? They are some MASSIVE ovaries, for sure!

In exciting family news, my brother-in-law just got a permanent job, a couple years after being laid off from his last one (he's a graphic designer, and the market is pretty poor for designers here in Portland). He's been doing contract work for awhile but just landed his dream job with the top design firm in town. He's incredibly talented, so it's about time that this happened. If any of you know Smith (sunglasses/ski goggles/etc), he designed their logo (upper left corner of website) and many of their ads. He's actually doing a logo for my design biz, which will be unveiled soon, and it's so much fun working with him and seeing just how talented he really is. Anyway, congrats, Chris! We went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse last night to celebrate and had a little touch of irony in that Meat is Murder by The Smiths was playing on XM as we were pulling into the parking lot. It didn't stop us from tearing into some seared flesh as soon as we got inside. Sorry, Morrissey, but we're a family of unabashed meat-eaters here!

Land of 10,000 Socks

I've been putting off a sock update, waiting for pics of my Olympic Shrug (yes, it's done!). However, as much as I love procrastinating, my inbox is stuffed with socks and I'm afraid it's going to explode if I don't start posting this instant. I will try to get some shrug pics up this afternoon, but in the meantime, I've got some serious sock p*rn for y'all!

Nelda has yet ANOTHER pair of brownie point socks. These were made at the request of her poor sockless son whose feet are now happy in a stripy blue pair.

Karen finished her Olympic Socks - two-at-once, toe-up Checkers socks for her best friend who is currently on pregnancy bed rest (poor thing!).

Tammy knit up some grey ribbed socks and learned why gauge is so important! Luckily, she has a little sister with little feet to gift these to (lucky for the sister, for sure!).

Laura finished some happy little rainbow-colored socks which I find delightful (sorry, Mr. A! We'll have to agree to disagree.**) She also came up with a great sock-a-monthy twist on Alanis Morrissette. I used to do this with songs all the time when I was a kid (most famously to Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name", which I changed to "Shot through the arm, and you're to blame! Doctor, you give me that Band-aid". That's all I have to say about that...).
**see footnotes on her post for more details about the disagreement w/ Mr. A

Sherrill finished her second brownie-point socks (scroll down past the spectacular pics of her garden, which I, with my postage-stamp-sized city lot, really enjoyed drooling over).

Joanna finished up some scrumptious Cascading Leaves socks for her F.

Abigail finished some lovely Arizona socks for another brownie point. She also has a little contest going, and some yarn p*rn! Good reading over at 1870 pearl!

That's all she wrote. Keep those sock updates coming!

I'm at the final gate!

I'd like to compare my Olympic knitting project to a slalom run (I think that's particularly apt, considering the cabling on the shrug, which reminds me very much of the twists and turns of a slalom course). There have been a few hairy turns, including one gate which I missed completely and had to hike back up the hill to avoid being disqualified (i.e. I twisted a cable the wrong way and had to ladder down about 25 rows to fix it - but fix it I did!). I'm not going to set any world records, but I've made it almost all the way to the bottom without breaking a leg (or a needle). I'm in the home stretch - all that is left to do is some seaming and a little blocking. Here she is! The Olympic Shrug, aka Cabled Shrug from IK Fall '05:

And a closeup of the stitch pattern:

This was a really fun knit. I couldn't ever completely abandon the chart, but it got to the point where I knew it pretty well and didn't have to look at it for every single stitch. It looks and feels great in this yarn (Knit Picks Elegance), and I think I'll wear it a lot. Stay tuned for finished pics tomorrow or Sunday!

The socks are flying fast and furious off the needles. Jennifer finished some gorgeous Jaywalkers in Pansy Sock Garden. Love that Sock Garden!

Tania knit up some fabulous lacy Jaywalker-esque socks of her own design. Love them! The lace really looks great with the zigzag pattern.

Ragan the crazy sock ho has finished her FOURTH pair of brownie point socks (this is in addition to her J and F socks). And she has more to come. Save some for March, lady!

Choomon has her 2nd pair of brownie point socks - a pair of Opal Rainforest Fish socks for her daughter. Funky!

Quikeye finished some River Rapids socks. Love that pattern - I am loving all these lace socks we're getting lately! I love lace, and I love socks, so I don't have to explain how I feel about lace socks...

Sheri finished some fantastic Pomatomi for her F. I am so in love with this pattern, but alas, no time! So I'll live vicariously through those of you who knit them and are gracious enough to share them.

Chris also gets an F for some finished socks, but you can't see them because they were sample knitting done for me. Let me just assure you that they are gorgeous and I'm a little sad that I have to send them back to her after I get them back from the publishers! Small sacrifice to make for a reliable and able test knitter! Even though there aren't socks on her blog, you should check out her latest post. She is the only person I know who could come up with an analogy between pap smears and knit-alongs.

As if having sample socks appear in my mailbox as if by magic wasn't enough, I got some socky yarn goodness from Karen as a little thank you for participating in Show Your FO.

My participation was a little lame, as the only things I finished were samples that couldn't be shown, so I was totally tickled to get this yarn (there was also chocolate in the envelope, but it was snarfed up before it even hit the table). I am absolutely DYING to cast on for some socks. Perhaps I should use this gift as an excuse to quit whinging about it and just do it!

The schedule for the 2006 Black Sheep Festival, the largest fiber festival on the west coast, is finally up. Is anyone else planning on going? There are a couple of workshops that I'm dying to take, but I don't know if I can justify the expense right now since they're not exactly business-related. One is a learn to spin class, but I just can't decide if I want to open that can of worms. The other is a dye-your-own sock yarn class that shows you how to do striping, fair-isle and other handpainted yarns. How cool is that? However, I'm not sure that I'm prepared to get into the yarn selling business, and so this would be another time-sucking creature that I would have in my brain, preventing me from doing income-producing design work. Sigh. Knitting as a business is great most of the time, but it is a bummer to have those occasional projects that you just don't feel like finishing but have to because you've made a commitment. I know, poor me. Feel free to give us a whack!

I'm so behind!

Between all this darn knitting and trying to maintain the level of cleanliness in the house that was set for Sydney's party (yes, I'm - gasp - actually doing some housework), it's hard to keep up with the end-of-month rush with all you sockers! So please bear with me.

Lolly managed to finish up a pink pair of Dublin Bay Socks while managing the Int'l Postcard Swap for Project Spectrum. Hats off to you, girl!

Curlypurly finished some purple Donny Osmond socks that she thinks are horrid but I kind of like. What can I say - I'm a fan of retro purple 80s socks! She gets her first brownie point for these.

Virtuella finished up a gorgeous pair of Glad Raggs socks for her F.

Laura knit up some fab Baltic Socks for a brownie point:


Newly sock-crazy Nelda finished her Olympic socks. She now has 3 brownie points, which ties her for the brownie-point lead, along with Quikeye and Ragan.

New knit-alonger Susan finished up her first pair of socks, which she wore while having embryos transferred. Send her some positive implantation thoughts! Although not too many, since she would probably prefer not to end up with quads. That's kind of a tricky thing, isn't it? I was talking to a friend today about what a nightmare it would be to have multiples, but I'm sure when you have them, you wouldn't dream of giving any of them up. Anyway, not to hijack Susan's update with parenthood talk...I just have enough trouble dealing with one baby at a time, much less four!

Abigail got another brownie point for her Olympic socks - red lace! So awesome!

Okay, I think that's everyone. Again, since the end of the month is coming up, please check your name in the sidebar and make sure you have an F if you made socks this month! If your F is not up by midnight on the 28th, you won't be entered in the drawing! And a reminder that this month's prize is Mt. Colors Bearfoot, donated by the lovely aforementioned Abigail (see it at the bottom of this post).

Enough talk - time to get back to the knitting!

I'm getting twitchy...

It has been just over a week now that I haven't had any socks on the needles, and it's really bugging me. Between the Olympic Shrug and the Knitter's sweater, I can't let myself start anything else. But it's rough. Believe me, the first thing I'm going to do once I'm done with all this obligatory knitting is cast on some socks!

It's funny, because before I made my first pair, I didn't see how socks could be addicting. I thought I'd much rather make sweaters. Plus, I didn't think I'd ever wear them. Now, the first pairs of socks I grab once they're through the laundry are my knitted socks. What can I say? I love socks! The big question now, is which ones do I knit next. The New Englands from Knitting On The Road for the KOTR-Along? Another pair of Jaywalkers? Pomatomi? My Sockapaloooza socks? Oh, the humanity!

Carol has also become addicted to socks thanks, she says, to this knit-along. She just finished a pair of magic stripe Jaywalkers for her hubby. Happy socking, Carol!

Ragan is on fire this month. She's got two pairs of brownie point socks - one is a cushy pair of slipper socks, the other another pair of Crayon socks.

Adrienne finished her first ever pair of socks - Jaywalkers in Lorna's Laces Black Purl (love that colorway!). Wow!

Brianne knit up some Dancing socks for her hubby for Valentine's Day. Lucky guy!

Okay, I have another Olympic rant. I'm sure you've heard about the big brouhaha between Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick. Davis was getting all this flak about not racing in the men's team pursuit with Hedrick. Newspaper headlines like "For Davis, there is an I in team" and garbage like that was circulating for a few days along with sound bits of Hedrick saying he wasn't going to beg Davis to skate with him. The media and their need to manufacture conflict blew it all WAY out of proportion, making Davis the villain for ruining Hedricks chance to get five gold medals and be the next Eric Heiden. Bill read me a blurb from The Oregonian yesterday that quoted Davis as saying that he had gone to Salt Lake City as an alternate and didn't get to skate, and that he wasn't going to skate in a slot in Torino that would take the opportunity away from someone else.

Hello! Isn't that what team spirit is all about? Letting someone who might not have had a chance to skate in the Olympics race in the pursuit instead of trying to win another gold medal? The NBC commentators were so irritating in the way that they made Davis out to be selfish for not racing in the team pursuit, when in fact it was exactly the opposite. And then they acted all pissy when Davis didn't want to talk to them after he won his gold in the 1000m. Who can blame him? I was so happy when he kicked butt in that race. Hedrick wouldn't have gotten his five golds anyway, even if he had won in the team pursuit, due to Davis winning the 1000m. Are they going to call Davis selfish for that?

What do you get when...

What do you get when you combine a pack of toddlers, a chocolate cake with plenty of sugary frosting, a pile of presents and many party favors? Mass birthday party chaos! We managed to survive Sydney's 3rd birthday party yesterday, barely. You can see the full photo album here, but I'll give you a few of the highlights.

Here are the birthday girl and her daddy, ready for the guests to arrive. Those are engineer hats, since the party was, of course Thomas the Tank Engine themed.


Here's a nice action shot of Sydney blowing the candles out.

She didn't get them all on the first go-round, but she does pretty well for a 3-year-old!

Birth control in party form, anyone?

My brother-in-law is in the red hat, sitting by the fireplace. He was a great sport to get up early and hang with all the parents and various offspring. It was great fun for those of us who are used to toddler chaos, but he went home and slept for 2-1/2 hours. He wasn't the only one who was exhausted...

Yes, that's Sydney asleep in the middle of her own party. It didn't help that she woke up at the crack of dawn, sat bolt upright and said "Let's go downstairs - it's my birthday party time!"

The ironic thing is that the house is actually much cleaner post-party than it was before I started preparations on Friday. Here's a little proof of how messy it was pre-party (I didn't take a full set of before-and-after shots, although I wish now that I would've). What happens when you leave a preschooler alone with a box of Kix so you can check your e-mail?

They sort of blend in with the (yes, I know, absolutely disgusting) carpet, but basically the entire box of Kix is spread out all over the floor. All evidence of this is now erased, so hopefully Bill won't burst a blood vessel when he sees this picture. He does NOT approve of how I allow Sydney to have cereal in our tv room (most of which ends up on the floor).

I had to include this picture because of the book that's open on the floor - that's Knitting On The Road, which is Sydney's new favorite book. Yup - she loves it. She'll sit and page through it repeatedly, pointing at each sock and saying "Mommy, are you going to knit that sock?" Sniff - I'm so proud! Yes, the kids like playing with my sock blockers, too.

I have sock updates galore, but first I'm going to make you suffer through an Olympic update. I'm making great progress on the Olympic Shrug - 5 repeats out of 8-1/2 total. Over halfway there, baby!

I have gotten pretty comfortable with the pattern, so I'm able to knit and still pay relatively close attention to the Olympics. Thank goodness for Tivo - Bill rewinds anything that I miss but need to see. Like Lindsey Jacobellis's agonizing snowboardcross final. Yes, it was probably not the best idea for her to do a method grab, but come on! The commentators ragging on her afterwards were too much. I thought she handled all the flak with dignity and grace - the journalists could learn a thing or two about the Olympic spirit from her!

Does anyone else get totally annoyed with some of the commentators and all of their negativity? Especially with figure skating - I think they're the worst. All of their snarky comments about costumes, lack of artistry, blah blah blah. It seems they are particularly biased against foreign athletes, but some of the US athletes become targets for their vile spew as well. I don't know why being nasty is considered to be expertise. Simon Cowell is not a role model, people!

Now that I've got that off my chest, I'm going to post a gazillion sock updates for some awesome inspiration. Just think if I was an Olympic skating commentator - "Nice execution of the cuff, but that heel turn is just terrible. And that yarn - what was she thinking?" I'll leave that to the folks at You Knit What (which I tune into occasionally, but get tired of pretty fast, especially when they're ragging on normal stuff like my Olympic Shrug pattern - I'd rather read y'all's blogs).

New knit-alonger Elizabeth finished some lovely lace socks which get her an F as well as a Knitting Olympics gold. Good going!

Rachel finished some radioactive F Jaywalkers in a funky green colorway. I likes!


Jennie finished some fine February socks and has a pie pic that is making me very hungry (I haven't eaten breakfast yet...).

Tina knit up some awesome green and grey socks for her F. Check out that heel! Love it!

Zonda finished some magical Magic Stripes socks. A perfect 10!

Nelda knit up an adorable teeny-tiny pair of baby brownie point socks.

Sherrill finshed some cozy-looking footies for her daughter. Makes my feet warmer just looking at them!

It is so cold here right now. Yes, I know, cold is relative, but after being away from MN for six years, I find this weather COLD. We were planning to go up to Mt. Hood for Sydney's first skiing expedition tomorrow, but we're all getting sick (again) and can't face that -4 windchill. Brr!

Y'all are stressin' me out!

I have a confession to make. Commenting is becoming a millstone around my neck. I love reading blogs. I love GETTING comments (who doesn't?). But the thought of making comments has lately been causing me to avoid Bloglines. I don't know what it is. I guess I feel pressure to be witty and insightful. And it doesn't help that one of my best blog friends is Chris the Comment Queen... I can't even begin to compete with her on her sheer volume of quality comments. How she finds time to knit and raise two kids is an entirely different topic... But then, I've always been one of those people with a few really good friends instead of a larger circle. Part of the reason for that is the amount of time it takes to maintain a friendship. Why do I think it's any different in the blog world? After all, art imitates life.

I am so delighted to have the sock updates coming in every day (except today, strangely!). It gets me out to your blogs, and even if I don't comment on YOUR blog, I can talk about you on mine. For some reason, I feel much more loquacious when I'm writing on my own blog rather than commenting on someone else's. Okay, enough with the guilt already. I should just resign myself to the fact that I'm a lurker by nature. I just don't want you all to think that I don't appreciate you, because I do! Like I've said before, I've learned so much from your blogs and I wouldn't be the knitter or designer I am today without you. So thank you.

On a lighter note, I've discovered a wonderful thing - knitting while driving! Well, not actually while the car is in motion. Perhaps it would be better described as knitting at red lights. I keep my knitting in my lap w/ the yarn in the passenger seat. When I hit a red light, I pick it up and knit a few stitches. Some of the lights between home and Sydney's school are pretty darn long, and knitting while I'm sitting there makes it much more enjoyable. I've started stopping for lights as soon as I see yellow instead of taking a second to decide if I've got time to gun it through... Of course, now that I have knitting to do when I'm stopped, my green light ratio has gone way up.

Time to get back to that blasted knitting. I think I can... I think I can... I think I can...

Let's try this again...

Okay. I'm going to give Blogger a second chance. I will say that I haven't been very motivated to switch from Blogger because I really like being able to get into the HTML code and play around. I don't have the time or energy to code my own pages, but the HTML editing I do in my template scratches my geek itch nicely. I tried out Typepad briefly just as a test, but it didn't allow nice editing of the HTML like Blogger does. And the fact that Blogger is free is another motivating factor. So for now, Blogger will have to do. I just need to remember to save a bit more often... I'll go for awhile with no problems and get complacent.

Sherrill finished off a stripey pair of toe-up socks.

Soxy Lady Amanda knit up a pair of Square Dance socks.

I didn't get any socks done, but I did pick out yarn for my Sockapaloooza pal:

It's Koigu KPM in color 4000 (it's a really dark olive green with lighter and darker strands running through it). Lucky pal, huh? I just hope she doesn't mind having socks that are hand-wash only. I have a pattern in mind, too (my own), which I'm going to send to Mag Knits in hopes that it will become the next Jaywalker (hee, hee! dream on, right?).

Now for some Valentine's day fun at the Knittin' Mom household. Here is what we did to entertain ourselves:

Could that T-Rex on Bill's arm be any bigger? He just joined a racquetball league and has his first game tomorrow morning. Think that'll scare his opponent?

Sydney picked out this nice purple and orange one for me:

In addition to dabbling in body art, we pigged out in royal fashion last night. I sent Bill to the store to buy a Whitman's Sampler and we ate the entire thing (okay, I ate most of it) as well as a pizza from Pizza Hut. The pizza was a little disappointing (it was the new kind with the little dipper things in place of the crust), but the chocolate was better than ever due to the fact that I've been starving myself on that NutriSystem diet. I've lost ten pounds, five of which I probably gained back last night.

We also did some serious Tivo watching. We had the second of the two Code Black episodes of Grey's Anatomy to watch. If you haven't discovered this show yet, do. It is SO GOOD. Then came Skating With Celebrities, which is a hoot (especially when we're watching Olympic skating at the same time). I am so glad that Nancy and Dave are gone (HATED them) and I'm totally rooting for Kristy and Lloyd. Go, Buffy! And of course American Idol. Nobody to really root for there, yet, since there are still a gazillion contestants left. Soon enough. And, on my own, The Bachelor - Paris (Bill refuses to watch this with me). I'm so glad that phoney baloney Susan got the boot. Moana, you're next! And now that I've got that out of my system, I apologize to those of you who don't watch cheesy reality tv and could care less about these people.

With all that TV, though, some good did come:

2-1/2 repeats done, 6 to go. Woo-hoo! And there is finally a Team Portland blog. It was just started today, so all you PDX Olympic Knitters, get over there and join. I'm starting to think that I actually will get the shrug, the Knitter's sample and the Quick To Knit Gifts stuff done on time. I hope I'm not being overly optimistic...

And, for Mom, some pics of the grandkids:

Nice haircut, Dad!

Okay, he was only halfway through.
Here is the finished product:

Doesn't she look grown up? It's incredible to get a nice picture of her like this.
Usually she does this when the camera comes out:

With a face like that, can she be planning anything good?

And I'll leave you with one of the boy, who normally photographs quite nicely. However, Daddy was holding the camera WAY too close to his face. Check out that glare - poor little guy!

No wonder he hates the camera.

*#&$@#* Blogger ate my sock post!

I had a nice list of updates for you, but friggin' Blogger ate my post. So here are the ones I remember - please go check out the blogs of Choomon, Curlypurly, Elisabeth, Elspeth, Johanna, Phoebe and Stariel for some socks. I think that's everyone. I apologize up and down, but I just don't have the energy to go back and link to everyone again, so you'll have to go to the sidebar to see their socks. I'll blame Owen for my severe laziness, since he was up half the night coughing up a lung.

I also have made good progress on the Knitter's sweater, the Olympic Shrug and picked out yarn for my Sockapaloooza pal. Pics coming soon, if I don't get so mad at bleepin' Blogger that I give up on blogging for good!

Happy V-day, everyone!

Here they are!

If you can believe it, the only sock update for today is...mine! The Jaywalkers are done. Whew!



I managed to get the toe decreases done yesterday at my class and then grafted the toes last night. They are so comfy and fit really well. The colors are totally insane, but I like insane socks, so it works out just fine. The yarn is Knit Picks Sock Garden in Hydrangea. I would definitely use this pattern and yarn again. I really like the way it has the light and dark stripes on alternating rows. Very cool.

Now, I want, no NEED, to gush about that class I took yesterday. It was just incredible. Joan Schrouder is truly a knitting goddess and it was so much fun to take a class with someone who has such a goldmine of knitting knowledge and at the same time is a very skilled teacher. She struck just the perfect balance between teaching the entire class and giving individual attention. And she paced it so that the faster folks didn't get bored and the slower folks didn't get too lost. It was truly a spectacle to behold.

It turns out that the schedule was changed, so I didn't end up going to the Ethnic Stitch Patterns class (that will be next month). It was the Pacific NW Indian Sweater class. We ended up making a little tiny sample sweater:



Yes, it still needs sleeves, but I still think it's pretty amazing that the entire class got this far knitting from 11 am to 5:30 pm with an hour break for lunch. Speaking of lunch, I happened to be sitting in the front (yes, I am a geek, and proud of it), and ended up eating at a little table with Joan! It was great to just sit and chat with her. We talked about designing and colorwork and the Black Sheep Festival (which is down in Eugene, where she lives, in the summer and is the largest fiber fest on the west coast).

The first thing that we worked on in the morning was colorwork and how to work with one color in each hand. That, of course, meant that I had to learn how to pick. And I did! It wasn't even that bad, although I'm not going to switch because I've got my throwing fine-tuned into an art form. We did a couple rows stranded at the bottom to get the hang of picking on a knit row and a purl row. Then we started weaving in every other stitch. Here's what it looks like:

The weaving ended up being quite slick. She had a little handout with diagrams of how to weave by just flicking the carried color up or down around the working color. I still need quite a bit of work to even out my tension so the stitches will be to my liking, but I'm not terrified of two-handed colorwork anymore.

The other really cool technique that we learned was a nifty three-needle bind-off for shoulder seams. It's not the normal three-needle bind-off but it's almost like an i-cord and leaves a nice little decorative ridge running up the seam:

We also did short row shaping for the shoulders in order to prepare for the three-needle bind-off, which I knew how to do already but was able to fine-tune (especially the knitting/purling of the wrapped stitch).

Joan lives in Eugene, which is why we're lucky enough to have her teaching these three classes here. Ethnic Stitch Patterns will be in March, and then Ethnic Color Patterns will be in April. I can't wait for the next two!

The other thing that was pretty interesting was realizing how much my knitting has improved in the six months since I really got back into it. Blogging has been a huge part of that! It's such a great way to learn about new techniques, yarns, books, patterns, etc. etc. etc. And it's so inspirational to see what everyone is doing. I was able to really use yesterday to perfect and fine-tune since I'd done almost everything (or something similar) before. I didn't have to struggle with learning something radical and new (apart from the picking, which I think I picked up more easily because I'm also a crocheter and work the yarn with my left hand when I do that).

I also got word yesterday that the rejected Knitty pattern was accepted for the March issue of Spun! So you guys will get it soon as a free pattern, just not from my site directly. I think it's pretty cool, so stay tuned.

I will leave you with a picture of some hard-won Olympic Shrug progress. This was done while watching Canadian Jennifer Heil kick butt at the Ladies' Freestyle Moguls competition.

It's not going as quickly as I'd like, but then the past two days have been spent mainly knitting on things that are not it. We'll see how it goes when I put some serious time into it!

Happy knitting, y'all!

No post yesterday because...

I was KNITTING MY LITTLE FINGERS OFF!!! I'm sorry, I know it's rude to YELL at you all in all-caps, but I really did have quite the productive day. But first, we have some sockers who have been waiting very patiently for their updates.

Kris finished up a lovely pair of Waving Lace socks in a gorgeous Socks That Rock colorway.

Christy knit up some Child's First Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks for her very lucky sister.

Lisa finished her New Englands from Knitting On The Road and managed to get the coffee stain most of the way out (whew!). This is the current sock for the KOTR-along, and I've got my yarn all ready to go as soon as I get past the current craziness...

Abigail finished up a pinky pink pair of Cotton Candy socks that were her training pair for the Olympics.

Hey, no Jaywalkers in that crowd! I love the Jaywalkers, don't get me wrong, but I'm also a big fan of variety. However, since today couldn't go by without a Jaywalker pic, I'll show you mine.

I realized yesterday that the Jaywalker Knit-Along prize entry deadline was coming up (it's the 14th), and if I wanted to get in the drawing for all that Socks That Rock, I'd better get my tushie in gear. Not that I'll ever have any chance of winning, since I'm one of those people who never win anything, but I still want to get these Jaywalkers behind me. So I knit furiously on these all day and managed to get to the toe. It should be smooth sailing from here on out, baby! I really could've finished them last night, but then I wouldn't have been able to cast on for my Olympic Shrug during the opening ceremonies last night!

I was a bit skeptical of this whole Knitting Olympics thing. Of course, the most obvious reason is all my looming deadlines. But then there was the yarn (I'm substituting Knit Picks Elegance and hadn't really used it before or swatched at all until yesterday). I did a little swatch yesterday morning, just to see if it was going to work at all. The yarn is small for the needles, so the stockinette swatch was sort of loose. I wasn't sure I was going to like how it turned out. Also, I've kind of been on an anti-Knit Picks kick lately due to discussions on the (yup, you guessed it) Knit Design list. Or not really anti-Knit Picks, just less pro-Knit Picks and more pro-LYS yarn. And then there was the pattern. Was I going to like it?

Well, I was swept up in the excitement of the KO and put down the Jaywalkers at 8 pm so I could cast on for the shrug. Before they showed the opening ceremonies, they were playing some tape of the men's downhill training runs. When I was a kid, I was a fanatical downhill skier. I spent every weekend in winter on the ski hill (granted, I did live in Minnesota so it wasn't much of a hill) and my family took a couple of ski trips out west each year. I was a double-black diamond skier and had Olympic aspirations, of course, but my family didn't have any kind of means to get me a coach or anything like that, or even get me on the race circuit at all. And of course my rinky-dink high school didn't have a ski team. I haven't skied regularly in years but I still love the idea of it and it's my favorite thing to watch during the Olympics.

Okay, that was a tangent and a half... My point was, Bill and I were talking about what incredible athletes the downhill skiers are and having a little argument about whether downhillers (as in, the ones who do that specific race, not downhill skiers in general) or speed skaters have more thigh strength. I threw in a little comment about how I'm an Olympian, too.

Bill: Huh?
Me: Yeah, I'm an Olympian! See? [holds up knitting] The Knitting Olympics!

Bill: The what? The Nerd Olympics?

Me: Um, hello, kettle? This is pot. You're black. [blatantly rips off favorite Phoebe line from Friends]

As I continued to knit frantically, (with a little help from my friends)

(That's supposed to be a look of intense concentration, not annoyance, on my face...) I discovered that I love both the pattern and the yarn. The Elegance is incredibly soft and really nice to knit with. The pattern is nice and interesting. However, it's not going to be the best thing to knit while trying to watch the actual Olympics. I have some plain stockinette that I'm going to work on then. See, I can combine work and the Knitting Olympics!

Here is what I managed to finish last night:

That's about half a pattern repeat, and I figure that is the absolute minimum I need to do most days in order to finish on time. I will need to do more on a few days, but I also think I'm going to do one less repeat than the pattern calls for (at least) since I'm not a big fan of super long sleeves. I prefer them to fall a couple inches above my wrist so they don't get into everything. So that will help a bit.

Here is a close-up of the center diamond pattern (this will be much more exciting once the second half is done):

And here is the side diamond:

Isn't that nice?

And for some reason, I've built up a collection of cute Owen pics! Lest you think I totally ignore Sydney, the reason I don't post many pics of her on here is that she's always running around in her underwear and I don't feel like posting pics of her little Strawberry-Shortcake clad bum for the pervs to find. So until she starts to wear pants more regularly, you won't be seeing as much of her here.

Have you ever seen a baby who sits like this all the time? I haven't, but it sure is cute!

I don't remember Sydney ever sitting on her knees when she was this age.

Owen discovered his first cardboard box the other day. I tried to get some cute pictures of him sitting in it, but I wasn't quite fast enough.


Some people like to play air guitar. Bill plays Owen guitar!


On that note (okay, I promise to stop ending my posts with stupid puns), I'm going to go get ready for my Joan Schrouder Ethnic Stitch Patterns class.