A whole lotta stuff

We are in full-on marathon-prep mode here. Well, one of us is, anyway. I'm busy tagging clothes for a big kids' consignment sale next weekend... This is what our dining room is filled with right now:



That is just a very small portion of the total amount of baby-related junk we can't wait to get rid of. It is a ton of work getting it ready, but hopefully we'll get a few bucks for it and the best thing will be to finally get it all out of the house.

Earlier today we drove the marathon route, and I'm amazed at how long it is! It's amazing to think that Bill is going to be running that tomorrow morning. I am so proud of him. If you're going to be at the marathon tomorrow and you see #173, that's my man - give him a big cheer! His friend Anthony is also going to be running - he's #3600.

In other news, Death by Sock came in the mail on Thursday. I managed to get my socks out before I was killed, so it wasn't a total loss. In fact, it was kind of a relief to be knocked out in the first round. I got to participate, but it didn't take up too much of my time. I do have to say that all the whining and competitiveness surrounding Sock Wars was a little bit tiresome - I think a few people kind of missed the whole point. It didn't matter how fast a knitter you were, you'd still be dead as soon as your assassin finished their socks. You couldn't keep yourself in the game solely by being a fast knitter - the only way to stay in the game a long time is if your assassin flakes out. It was kind of a brilliant way to set up a swap where even the people who get shafted by their "pal" (i.e. assassin) get something in the end. However, Yarn Monkey should've done a better job of explaining that so that people didn't get so wound up thinking it was all unfair and that somehow they could move themselves up if they could delay their assassin or something. Whatever, people! Anyway, I had a good time and was quite happy to get my socks.



As you can see, they're a little big (my foot is 9" long, but these socks are about 10" long which is what the size chart indicated for my shoe size). I'm going to try to felt them a bit and see what happens. I adore them, so I definitely want to figure out what I need to do to make them fit!

I also got my chocolate swap package by mail on the day of my Sock Wars death:



Thanks to Lacey for an amazing gift package! I especially love the handmade chocolate-colored bag. Lacey's hubby is in the military, stationed in S. Korea, so I got lots of Korean chocolate. I've been keeping it hidden until I had time to take a picture so haven't tried any yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. I love all things foreign! She also sent a bunch of lovely chocolate-colored yarn, which I'm currently trying to cook up a plan for.

I'm putting off my design work in favor of a couple quick little projects for Halloween. On Wednesday afternoon, I took MK on a little yarn crawl to The Naked Sheep and Close Knit. While at Naked Sheep, I found a pattern for these incredibly adorable little Halloween baskets - the pattern includes a devil, a cat and a spider. Here is the devil, pre-felting:



It is going to be so cute - I can't wait to stick it in the washing machine and see what happens! I'm also working on the spider, so I'll probably wait and felt them both at the same time. Stay tuned for FO pics!

Sockret Pal Questionaire

The basics:
How long have you been knitting?
Off and on since I was 10, seriously for the last 18 months or so.
Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep?
The latter - I'm pretty comfortable knitting socks!

The measurements:
While your pal may ask for some additional info to ensure a great fit, please provide your shoe size, or any other fitting related info you think is pertinent.
Size 8 shoe, circ = 8", length = 9"

(fiber related) Favorites:
What colors do you love?
All of them! Seriously, when it comes to sock yarn, I have trouble finding a colorway I don't like.
Do you prefer solids or variegated?
Both!
What fibers do you most love to knit with?
Natural fibers - soft wool, cashmere, alpaca, angora, mohair, silk, bamboo, cotton...
Who do you consider your favorite yarn vendors?
Blue Moon Fiber Arts (of course!), Lorna's Laces, Louet Sales, Rowan, Cascade, Debbie Bliss (just to name a few...)
What projects (other than socks, of course*S*) do you most enjoy knitting?
I love quick projects like dishcloths, toys and felted things. Most of what I design seems to be sweaters, so I'm not as likely to knit one of those for fun because they take too darn long.

(fiber related) Dislikes:
What fibers can you not stand to knit with? To wear?
Acrylic! Although I do like soft, quality synthetics. I also hate scratchy wool (can't stand Lopi).
What colors would you never wear?
On my feet I'll wear anything. On my other parts, I'm not a big fan of lemon yellow or 80s-ish pastels. I tend to gravitate towards purples, blues, greens and dusty pinks. Earth tones are my friends.

The Tools:
Plastic or Metal? Bamboo or wood?
I'm all about my Knit Picks Options needles right now and of course I love my Addis. Don't really like cheap aluminum or soft bamboo.
Circs or Straights?
Circs!
DPNs or Magic Loop?
I swing both ways (and do socks on 2 circs as well), depending on the project.
Are there any knitting accessories you don't have in your collection but would like?
I would love a circular needle organizer, and I'd love one of those little sock wrist bags that allow you to take your socks anywhere.

The Extras:
Do you have a wish list? If so, please share the link!
I do, but it's horribly out of date. The books I'm really jonesing for right now are Vicki Howell's New Knits on the Block and the 3rd Vogue Stitchionary (whenever it's released).
Do you like sweet, sour or salty? (or all of the above? *S*)
All of them, depending on my mood (and the time of the month)!
Do you have any allergies your pal should know about? (Certain foods, smoke, pet hair, etc)
Don't have any allergies, but can't stand smoky yarn.
Favorite scents? Scents you can't stand?
I love clean scents - melon, vanilla, green tea. Don't like anything that smells like a grandmother (except when it's worn by a grandmother).
Do you collect anything (other than yarn and knitting toys of course)?
Simpsons chotchkes!
When is your birthday? (month and day is fine!)
8/11
Do you spin? Dye your own yarn?
Nope! Who has time?
Your favorite author/band/vacation spot, anything you think will help your pal know you better...
Oh, gosh - read my 100 things if you want to know more about me than you ever wanted to. But now the kids are destroying the house and I've got to run!

Okay, for real this time - we have socks!

In the interest of not procrastinating any longer (and after realizing that I can't do a huge update post on Sunday since Bill will be running in the Portland Marathon and might be a little irritated if I'm talking about socks instead of cheering him on), here goes the mondo sock update that I owe you from Sunday. You guys sure are busy little beavers!

Lain test knit a pair of socks for me, but you have to wait until they're released to see them!

Karen's got her 3rd pair for September - some Eyelet Lace socks.

Nicole's got two pairs - one pink and one blue.

Dee finished some Fortissimo Colori socks.

Crazy Knitting Lady has some finished Austermann Step socks and Simple Stripes Fair Isle socks.

Anastacia has two pink pairs and one red pair of CIC toddler socks done along with a pair of semi-secret Patons socks.

Sheri made some Patons Kroy Jacquard socks for a brownie point.

Karen finished her Mystery Socks.

Jennifer made these lovely Madder Rib socks:



Virtuella made her first and second pairs of toe-up socks ever, both with funky cuffs.

Rachel managed to do a little sock knitting even while getting all the Sockret Pal matches sorted out - she finished her first (and last) pair of Jaywalkers along with a pair of stripedy gift socks.

Stariel finished a pair of beautiful Beaudelaires, some lacy socks of her own design and her Socks of Doom.

Lisa made some fabulous Cashmere socks for me, but they're a design sample so you can't see them - sorry!

Tze-Wen made some short Fixation socks along with a pair of Lang Jawoll Cotton socks.

Lara made some grey striped socks that she worries are too wild for her dad! She also whipped up a pair of Pomatomuses.

Diane finished up two more pairs for this month - one big and one very small!

Silja made two pairs of CCM-supporters socks.

Charity made the cutest pair of baby anklets.

Shelby finished a pair of lime-and-purple Jaywalkers.

Pat Q made a pair of Regia Silk socks. I hear nothing but raves about this yarn - I really must get my hands on some!

Jamie made a pair of Cappuccino footies.

Jessica knit up some crazy yellow Sock Hop socks.

Chrissy finished some lovely lavender Whitbys and some colorful short socks.

Susie made a pair of Blue Vanilla socks.

Sprite whipped up a teeny little pair of Fixation baby socks. Cute!

Tanya made her Socks of Doom along with a pair of Cape Cod socks.

Jacey made Jaywalkers and some plain handdyed socks.

Helga finished some very pretty Socks of Doom.

Debbie's got three pairs, including her Socks of Doom.

Nadine's got a whopping four pairs.

Nicola knit some Retro Rib socks.

Dave made some lovely Regia socks with a really cool heel. Yay for Nancy Bush!

Bettina sends a pic of her dark and scary Socks of Doom.

Lacey made some Oktoberfest socks:



Julia finished some secret gift socks (you can get a sneak peek here).

Laura finished a grey pair of Socks of Doom before she was asassinated.

Christy shows off yet another finished pair of Socks of Doom, these in Nebraska colors.

Sara made a pair of gift socks for her mom.

Angela made Sassy Stripes anklets for her hubby.

Jill finished up some stripey socks and shows off some great b-day swag.

Sharon made some totally awesome Buzzwalkers.

Our other Sharon has some lovely Socks of Doom to show off.

Katrina gives us yet another pair of Socks of Doom. Boy, the troops are falling like flies, aren't they?

Kris made some Happy Socks.

Lyndsey made some crazy striped Socks of Doom.

Emily, who is a little late (but so am I, so I'll forgive her) has some late August and Sept socks.

Tammy made some nice grey Socks of Doom and some very colorful Hanauma Bay socks.

Shelley's got two adorable little pairs of baby socks done.

Shayla made some gorgeous Mata Hari socks.

Beth made some beautiful Redwood Socks.

Jenni's got school spirit as evidenced by these Varsity Socks.

Kristy knit up these toe-up STR socks:



Whew! Now I'm quickly going to publish this post before I get even more updates in the mail... You guys are awesome!

OFFF, socks, socks & more socks

On Sunday morning, I jumped out of bed, ran downstairs and paced the floor, waiting for the arrival of my Oregon Flock & Fiber Fest partners-in-crime Nicholette Hoyer (the brilliant mind behind the knitted crowns in the summer Interweave Knits) and Betsy McCarthy (of Knit Socks! fame). You'd think that the three of us would talk knitting on the drive down, but for some reason we got started on tsunamis, earthquakes and bird flu. Go figure!

As soon as we got there, we headed for the Blue Moon booth. It was total sensory overload, as usual, and as soon as I walked in Tina started handing me huge piles of yarn (she owes me a bunch for designs I'm doing for them). It is, of course, all fantastically gorgeous and is looking really good adorning the top of our piano:



After a trip to the car to unload our goods, Nicholette and I met up with Amanda at the Tigard Knitting Guild booth where we sat, knitted and chatted about all things fiber-related for the next two hours. It was SO much fun to sit and talk and knit, uninterrupted by children, with two people just as obsessed with knitting as I am.

Here's me & Amanda:



Amanda and Nicholette:



and me & Nicholette:



Gosh, it would've been a lot easier to just get someone to take one picture of the three of us together, wouldn't it?

After lunch (where Nic had lamb kabobs - how could she!), we went to the barns to check out the fiber-producing creatures. We got the chance to pet this angora bunny:



I was dying to pick it up and run away with it. I love how even the tops of their ears are super furry! And it was so unbelievably soft. We also saw plenty of cute little alpacas...



and the most adorable llamas:



What a great way to spend a morning! I spent the rest of the day working on my Socks of Doom in preparation for sending them off for assasination on Monday:



I made them out of Knit One Crochet Two Creme Brulee, which made really awesome socks. The gauge that Yarn Monkey specified for the Socks of Doom was a little bit looser than I would've made these for myself, but they were still a fun and super-fast knit. I hope Kentucky Quiltmaker (my target) likes them, even though they will be her Sock Wars downfall...

Sunday evening we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday, complete with pointy hats:





Cute little dunces, aren't they? We also had some a tricycle riding exhibition. First there was some high-speed trick riding by the Wicked Witch of the West:



And then, well, I really don't know what to say about this...



Right now, I am putting off two things in a big way. The first thing is (obviously) the sock update, which keeps growing and growing and gets worse every day that I delay posting it (which, in turn, makes me put it off even more). I was going to do it at the end of this post, but this is getting long enough already so I will post socks in my NEXT post. I swear!

I also am at the swatching stage again, having finised the Handpainted Yarn design apart from seaming and some attached i-cord. It turned out really nice, and the Lion & Lamb is a dream to knit with. I can't show you the whole thing, of course, but here's a little taste:



Isn't that Black Purl colorway to die for? I just love it. But finishing this means that it's time to go back to the drawing board and start working up my next projects. Once I get into swatching, I love it. Getting started, however, is not always so easy. I have a few different projects that are already swatched that I'm planning to add to the GYW line, and I can't even get those started. For some reason, I have this idea in the back of my head that I have other stuff that needs to get done first (although at this point, I'm not sure what that is since I don't have any hard publication deadlines coming up). I'm continuing to work on my 2nd Dublin Bay Sock while I try to make up my mind about what comes next. Wish me luck!

PS

Amanda and I will be manning the Tigard Knitting Guild table at Oregon Flock & Fiber tomorrow morning from 10:30 - 12:30. Stop by and say hi if you're going to be there!

Can't blog...knitting!

Can you believe that I was up until 1:30 am this morning knitting the Socks of Doom? How pathetic is that? I think I've finally gotten my head around how sock wars is supposed to work, and realized that it doesn't really matter how fast I knit my socks if my assassin's assassin doesn't kill her (I'm going to use "her" here since most, but not all, Sock Warriors are female) before she finishes my socks. The way Stariel the logic genius described it, basically when you get a finished pair of sock in the mail, you're finished, even if you've already sent your finished pair on. The only way to not be finished is if your assassin gets killed before she can finish your socks. So by knitting your socks quickly, you're really helping your target's target by taking her out. And Yarn Monkey finally figured out a way to have a swap where the people who get flaked out on actually benefit by moving up the chain (and the people who get killed benefit by having a pair of socks - it's a win-win situation!). I still haven't gotten my dossier in the e-mail yet (that sounds weird, even though we say "in the mail" all the time...), but I do have my target's name and foot size now. I've got her firmly in my sights! Bwahahaha!

On Thursday night, I was joined at my knitting guild meeting by not one but two of the knitterati. MK Carroll is in town visiting a friend who happens to live about 10 blocks from me, so I picked her up and took her with me (even though she was admittedly skeptical of how much fun a knitting guild meeting would be...). Once there, we met up with blogless Donna, Amanda and Katrina. After the meeting got going, who should sneak in the back but Marnie MacLean who just recently moved to Portland! Here are the cool knitting cats:



From left to right, we have Katrina, Marnie (modeling her uber-cool Crime of Fashion scarf, which I made her put on despite her protestations that it didn't match), Amanda, MK and Donna. Needless to say, we had a very good time...

I really should be doing sock updates today, since I'm spending tomorrow morning at Oregon Flock & Fiber trying to finish the Socks of Doom and the afternoon at my Mama Discussion Group, but I just don't feel like it. Y'all might have to wait until Monday, but I will get to them. There are some good ones! To make up for my slackerness, I'll leave you with these pics of a little goodness that arrived in my mailbox today. This is my first skein from Mama-E's Fall Sock Club. Oh, my! If only you could eat yarn...but then it would be gone, and I'm quite happy that I can keep this around and pet it. I got so excited when I opened it and held it up for Bill to see - his comment? "Yup, looks like yarn."

Full-skein view with flash:



Digital macro close-up - yum!

Socktoberfest is back!

Socktoberfest sign-ups are open, so get over there (if you haven't already). It sounds like Lolly has huge plans for this year and it promises to be a rollicking good time. Go now! What are you waiting for?

I also found yet another swap to join - this one is Hot Socks and I just couldn't resist joining after I found it on Shelby's blog. It makes me slightly less guilty when I'm buying sock yarn for someone else.

Speaking of yarn, last night my knitting group met up at Abundant Yarn, which I don't get to very often because it's sort of far away. I, of course, had to gorge myself at the trough (and realized that I don't like knitting amidst all of that beautiful yarn because it's too darn distracting - at least at the Yarn Garden, the yarn is all in a different room so it doesn't keep catching my eye...). I bought yarn for four design projects. Since I can't show you the designs until they're done, I'll just give you a preview of the yarn.

These are little balls of Lana Grossa Newsoft, which is this stretchy, tubular yarn that reminds me of sweatpants. I've got plans to turn them into socks, but not for your feet...



These beauties are Cascade Luna, 100% Peruvian cotton. I'm going to design something for your kitchen sink with them (hmm, any ideas what that might be?). Can you see the little fingers at the bottom of the picture, reaching up to snatch some yarn?



I've been dying to get my hands on more soy yarn, and these little bundles of joy caught my eye as I walked past. They are from Knit One Crochet Two and are 53% soy and 47% polypropolene (anyone else wonder why they couldn't just make it 50-50?). I bought enough to design a summer top, but I haven't decided what it's going to look like yet. This yarn needs to be swatched so I can learn all of its little secrets.



Next up, some good old Cascade 220, which will be turned into a super cool felted bag idea that I've had kicking around in my head for ages.



And finally, some good old red and black sock yarn, with which to do some colorwork, my pretties!



I also picked up the final weapon in my Sock Wars arsenal:



The Addis of Death are ready and waiting for Friday's mission. Woot!

Since I haven't shown the kids off in a little while, and I happened to snap this picture of them playing nicely together this morning (you don't know how rare this is...well, those of you with multiple small ones probably do - it's rare!), here they are:



As soon as Owen saw me get out the camera, he started after me. This is his latest and greatest facial expression (my mother-in-law calls this the "Little Chief Thundercloud" face):



Yes, I am the one who gave him that horrible haircut. I am so sad that I forgot to take a before picture. Did any of you ever read the book Mop Top when you were kids? Well...it was getting pretty bad. Here is my best attempt at getting a better picture of it while he tried to climb up my legs:



MOMMY! I. WANT. THAT. CAMERA!!!

Cough, cough, sniff, sniff

Thanks for all your sympathy, guys! I am moving into the final stages of my nasty little cold, which means coughing like I'm trying to lose a lung every five minutes or so. So fun!

Anyway, let's get right down to business. Bring out the socks!

Teri's got two pairs made out of beautiful hand-dyed sock yarn.

Liz whipped up some basic stockinette Regia Rio socks.

Ginger is getting a jump-start on her holiday knitting with this cool pair of Opal socks that match perfectly, apart from the heels (doesn't that self-patterning yarn just drive you nuts sometimes?).

Tanya finished some Jaywalkers.

Manda made some short little Neopolitan Socks.

Kathy finished some Knit Cafe socks in yummy alpaca silk. Wow!

Carole whipped up what she claims are The Fastest Socks in the East.

Tammy made some broadripple socks for her daughter.

Joni has a couple late August entries - some Beaudelaires and Mamlukes, and some Aran Braid socks. She also has her September pair - Gentlemen's Fancy Socks.

Margo whipped up some cute little toddler socks.

Khris made some lovely rib and cable socks.

Ashley finished some toe-up Moda Dea socks.

Jill knit up two more pairs of socks this month and has them on display in a big way.

Michelle finished some cat motif sock.

Nancy G made up these lovely Sixth Sense socks for her hubby's birthday:



Starz Above's September entry has a very special place in my heart - it's a pair of Karen's Sugar-Free Diabetes Walk Socks! Love them! She was one of my most helpful test knitters for this pattern and they turned out great.

Ginny has some Tripping the Welt Fantastic socks to show you, as well as some other BIG NEWS (but you'll have to go to her blog to find out what it is...). It's the same news as two other bloggers have come out with recently. Is there something in the water? Or maybe in the yarn?

Ginny also asked an interesting question about the Sock Wars socks. As in, will they count for SAM2. My first answer was yes, of course, but now I realize it isn't quite that simple. I realize that the quick knitters may be finishing up several other pairs that were started by fallen comrades, but it just gets to complicated to start counting partial socks. So, to avoid any complicated rules, you'll only get to count socks you complete from start to finish. So in most cases, this will be one pair of socks (unless the person you kill is REALLY slow and doesn't even get their socks started before you asassinate them...). Does that make sense? I'm still trying to get my head around the whole sock wars thing, but I figure once it starts, it's just going to happen how it happens and that will be that.

Silja's got some gorgeous Hederas to show off.

Jamie made some super cool Casino Socks.

Beth made some blue boy socks that are looking for a good home.

Laura's lonely Mr. Green finally found his Mrs.

Stariel, who definitely has a sock problem, made some Broadripples and baby socks, and her 2nd Summer Sock Party sock.

Jessica finished some lovely Canadian mystery province socks while in Portland!

Michelle made some gorgeous Scale Skin socks.

Becca tossed some socks in at the bottom of her exciting post about the Harlot's visit to her part of the world.

Bettina finished some Pomatomuses.

Paula tops off the list with some gorgeous Rose Socks. Love those heel flap flowers!

That's all for this week, folks! I am off to swatch for my Sock Wars sock, shop for my Chocolate Swap pal Lacey, and try to get through the sleeves for the Handpainted Knits design so I don't have to feel so guilty about doing Sock Wars! Whew!

Thank you, Brenda!

I went out on a limb and sent the lovely and amazing Brenda Dayne a copy of Karen's sock pattern, and it looks like it got mentioned in the new episode today! How exciting! I'm listening to the episode right now, so I don't know what she said, but there's a link in the show notes. Yay! I love her.

So, welcome, Cast-On listeners!

Okay, a mention on the Harlot's blog, and now a little plug on Cast-On. Am I rubbing virtual shoulders with the knitterati these days or what?

I also wanted to direct you to Laura's little write-up on the Diabetes sock project. She put it into such lovely words. Isn't the internet an amazing thing?

I've got some good yarn p*rn for you today, too. I've gotten two extremely generous offers for SAM2 prizes, and of course I can't help but order some yarn for myself at the same time (after all, if they're going to send me a package anyway, why not have them throw a little sumpin extra in there while they're at it? Yeah? Yeah?). First up, these little lovelies finally arrived from far-off Canada:



The two on the left are Swamp Water and Limeonaide and are all mine. The one on the right (Lush) is going to be a SAM2 prize. Big thanks to Michelle at The Sweet Sheep for these gorgeous skeins.

Next up, we have these, from the very talented Khris over at Chewy Spaghetti:



The fiery orange hank on the bottom, Blaze, will be another SAM2 prize for one of you lucky sockers. The middle one, Succulent, was one of my other choices for a SAM2 prize, but I had to have it for myself. The top hank is called The Spice of Life and is 50% merino, 50% silk laceweight. Yummy! So pretty.

I am just so psyched about all the handdying that is going on right now. So many lovely yarns out there. It is also very exciting that, as I'm branching out with my own pattern line, I can actually start designing using some of these yarns! It makes designing so much more enjoyable to not have deadlines hanging over your head, and to be able to use whatever yarn you want instead of whatever the editor decides needs to be shilled that month. After this crazy summer of deadlines, deadlines, deadlines, I've decided that I'm only going to submit to Interweave, Blue Moon and to any interesting book or other little projects that come along. As always, I reserve the right to change my mind, but for now, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

We had plans to go to the coast this weekend for a little early fall camping, but I am sick, sick, sick and don't feel like sleeping on the cold ground with a head that feels like a rotten tooth. I've found that I have this weird thing as I get older where when my sinuses get plugged up, my teeth ache. They feel like they're going to explode right out of my head. It's very odd. I think Bill is going to take the kids out to the beach tomorrow without me. I plan to sit on the couch, watch a bunch of movies with bad language in them that I don't want the kids hearing, and do a lot of knitting. I'm getting a good start on the 2nd Dublin Bay sock:



This is now my car knitting, and is going pretty quickly. Although I do get a bit nervous driving with those Knit Picks dpns on my lap - if I get hit head-on, those suckers could do some serious damage. Oh, the chances we knitter will take for the sake of our craft!

Did you notice I forgot something?

I was going to announce the August SAM2 winner on Sunday, but I totally spaced it. So, without further ado, here it is...

Our August winner is...Sprite! Congrats!

And thank you all for spreading the word about Karen's Sock Pattern. We've raised $185 so far, and there's still a month to go before Karen's walk! If and when you finish a pair, please e-mail me a picture. I'd love to put together a Flickr album with everyone's photos.

And now, back to my knitting!

It's all about the socks, folks!

It's the day you wait breathlessly for all week long...sock update day! Yahoo! But first a little PSA and a very exciting announcement...

The PSA - Yvonne, one of my wonderful test knitters and a Hood River gal, is working with Sarah at Knot Another Hat (man, do I wish I lived closer to that store!) to get together some yarn for their local middle school. If you have any nasty acrylic sitting around in your stash, please consider sending it in! You can find all the details here at Yvonne's blog.

The exciting announcement - As you can see from the sidebar, you guys have been buying the Karen's Sugar-Free Diabetes Walk Sock pattern (yay!). In addition, so many of you have been sharing how diabetes has touched your lives in some way through a friend, relative or even yourself. It seems like there isn't anyone who doesn't know someone suffering from this disease. I am so happy to be donating the proceeds from these pattern sales to Karen's walk, but I want to do more. I am happy to announce that after the pattern goes live on my website (hopefully before the end of the year), I will continue to donate $2 for every copy sold to diabetes research indefinitely. I can't wait to see how much money we knitters can raise for this great cause!

And now, on to the socks...

We've still got some dribs and drabs trickling in from August (I'm still trying to recover from all my e-mail issues, although it seems like it's mostly solved with my new gmail account).

First up is Beth with some very nice Regia socks.

Tonia's got two little August pairs.

Aimee sent this pic of her 3rd August pair - knit in Knit Picks Spring Prairie:



Uli made some gorgeous Trekking Socks in her own pattern and some waffle stitch socks, also in Trekking.

Emily had two pairs of August socks done but didn't get them pictured or posted because her beloved dog went missing. I am happy to report that Em's dog is back home, safe and sound, after being gone for 5 days! Hooray!

Sarah made these as a secret Xmas present for her daughter:



Her daughter's only 2, but she's still not posting a pic on her own blog, just in case! Hee hee!

Vigdis starts off the September socks with two pairs:


and


Rachel made some adorable Baby Feather & Fan socks and she's providing the pattern gratis for your knitting pleasure. She also made two pairs of gift socks that can't be shown (sorry!).

Johanna has adorable little pink baby socks.

Karen made some super-cool Bengals socks for her hubby as well as some civic minded socks (as in, knit while on jury duty).

Diane knit up some short little Jaywalkers out of some mystery fiber fest yarn:



Rachel finished up some top-secret gift socks that are very lovely but only I get to see them (one of the priviledges of being the knit-along queen bee).

Janin has a couple pairs of August brownie point socks as well as her September melon salad socks.

Dee knit up some Melanie's Twist socks.

Ragan managed to knit up three pairs of socks while dodging hurricane Ernesto. Sounds like Florence is going to hit Chez Ragan on Tuesday, so keep her family in your thoughts/prayers! I do not envy you kids in hurricane country!

Esther finished some Scale Skin socks. I'm not so sure about the name, but I love the socks!!!

Erica finished some glowing orange Embossed Leaves socks, but you'll have to scroll down past some serious yarn p*rn and the cutest picture of her boys (boy, they are just adorable) to see them!

Sheri made some lovely pink Broadripples.

Adrienne has also made some Scale Skin socks:



Again, love the socks, but what is up with that name? Makes me want to run out for some Lubriderm...

Silja knit up some cute little short socks with some help from her 2-year-old daughter. Seriously!

Lisa made up some kiddo socks with some yarn that she won during SAM1 from Jill.

Paula made some great green-and-white striped socks.

The ever-prolific Stariel finished a pair of Conwys and shows off some yarn that she got here in the beautiful Pacific NW on her recent visit.

Emily's whipped up another pair of Pedicure Socks.

Pat knitted some fabulous Unst socks.

Jill made some funky insomniac socks using a stitch pattern from a Japanese book. Too cool! She got some great b-day swag, too.

Debbie has gone sock-wild and made 6 pairs so far this month!

Nelda's got some Parade socks.

And last, but certainly not least, KellyD made these:



That's it for this week, folks! Keep 'em coming!

The pattern is ready! The pattern is ready!

Karen's Sugar-Free Sock pattern is ready ahead of schedule! I sent out the pre-orders this morning (so if you were supposed to receive one and didn't, please e-mail me), and the rest of you can feel free to order away! You can use the Pay Pal button in the sidebar, which will take you to a secure payment screen. As soon as I get notification of your payment, I'll send you the pdf via e-mail within 24 hours. I've also updated the post below to reflect the pattern's new status as orderable vs. pre-orderable and put in a little new info about the pattern template (which was designed by a knitting celebrity - you'll have to re-read the post to find out who).

In all this excitement, I managed to finish my second sock, and here they are:



They were such a fast knit, and soooo comfortable. I'm thinking perhaps I should knit all my socks in cashmere from now on...yummy! Here's a side view of one foot:



In fact, they're keeping my toes toasty as I type! And now I am done bragging about my own pattern. My grandmother would be horrified at my complete and utter lack of modesty.

In other knitterly news, I got a little box in the mail yesterday - it's my Summer Sock Party package!



One Dublin Bay Sock, a ball of Fortissima Socka with which to knit the 2nd, two balls of gorgeous burgundy alpaca, Bliss in a Box (if anyone needs this right now, it's me) and a couple of at-home spa treatments along with a packet of info on how to hold your own in-home spa party! I love it all - thanks, Laura! You figured me out perfectly.

Yesterday Bill and I used a family guest pass to the Nike Employee Store (a friend of mine just started a job at Nike and very generously gave us the pass after hearing what a huge fan of Nike apparel Bill is). What happens when you get two shopaholics (one of whom is totally obsessed with athletic shoes and happens to need a lot since he's training for a marathon and wears them out very quickly) in a huge store filled with awesome stuff that's all 50% off? Nothing good, I tell you! I added three pairs of shoes to my collection as well as one pair for each of the kids (Bill only got two), along with a ton of clothes for all of us. My favorite purchase was a little Oregon sweatsuit for Owen, which I'll have to have him model once I get the tags off of it. Head-to-toe green and yellow! For those of you not living in Oregon, these are the colors of the U of O Ducks (where Bill Bowerman coached track, mentored Steve Prefontaine and started Nike). I certainly don't like everything about Nike, but the whole story of the U of O runners, Pre and the origins of the company are kind of magical. For anyone who's at all interested, I highly recommend the movie Prefontaine starring Jared Leto. We own it and watch it every few months just because it's so inspiring (and fun to see all the Eugene landscape footage).

Stay tuned for tomorrow's sock update! We've got some good ones, and I'll also be announcing the August prize winner who will get some great sock yarn generously donated by Sheri.

Do I take advantage?

I really think I must. See, I got a little mention on the Yarn Harlot's blog in her post about her visit to my fair city. Do you think that will spike my hit count? Um, just a tad. So...I'm going to take advantage (but it's all for a good cause, I promise). I am selling a brand spankin' new sock pattern (and for those of you who don't read my blog regularly, I am a relatively new designer but have upcoming sock designs in the Winter '06 Interweave Knits and the upcoming Big Girl Knits 2, so I've got a little bit of street cred).

But wait...this isn't pure self-promotion. My dear blog friend Karen, who is a long-time sufferer of diabetes, is raising money for the Walk for Diabetes, which she will be participating in on Oct. 15.



This sock is going to be one of my first self-published patterns, once I get my website redesigned and up. I am currently working on this with the fabulous Jordana Paige, who designs amazing knitting websites in addition to her awesome bags. She also helped me put my new pattern template together, and let me tell you, it is gorgeous! And you, my lucky readers, have the opportunity to get an early peek at this pattern (along with the new graphics) and a chance to help Karen raise money for a cure that could help her and others who suffer from this chronic disease.

I am selling the sock pattern, which I've dubbed "Karen's Sugar-Free Diabetes Walk Socks", for $5 a copy with all proceeds from patterns sold before the October 15th walk going towards Karen's pledge drive.

Additionally, everyone who orders a copy of the pattern will be entered in a drawing for three balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (which is what the sample sock is knit in) in a color of their choice with which to knit said socks (or, really, anything you want to knit out of it - I won't make you use it for the socks!).

To order, just click this Pay Pal button to be taken to a secure payment screen:

I'll send you a pdf of the pattern via e-mail within 24 hours. If you don't want to use Pay Pal for whatever reason, e-mail me at knittinmom at gmail dot com to make alternate arrangements (you can mail me a check instead, and I'll e-mail you the pattern as soon as I receive it - I can also make printed versions available if you can't receive a pdf by e-mail).

Let's raise some money for diabetes research, boys and girls! And if you would, please help spread the word by linking to this post. Let's help put Karen's pledge account over the moon!

All right, shameless plug over! It just feels serendipitous that I got a link on the most popular knitting blog in the universe at the same time that Karen & I are working on this little charitable project. As the Harlot would say, Knit On!

Can't talk, comin' down...

Okay, if anything can induce a knitter's high, going to see the Harlot has to be at the top of the list. How do I even start to describe how cool and funny she is in person? Well, she's just like her blog - how's that? I'm still a little giddy just thinking about it.

She was scheduled to speak at 7:30 at Powell's Home & Garden. Which is a tiny little store in SE Portland. Um, hello? Could nobody convince them how many knitters come to see her? I got there about 5:45 (and happily was one of the first ones there, which was a good thing since I had to save an entire row of seats for my later-to-arrive cohorts) and settled in to knit my sock. I should say, settled into one of the 70 seats they had set up. Yup - 70 seats! By the time she came out (fashionably late), people were 5-deep across the back and crammed in all the aisles. Basically, there were people anywhere that had a view of the microphone (and quite a few in other places as well).



That was taken at about 6:30, and people just kept on coming. Craziness, people, sheer craziness!

The other crazy thing was the number of people I knew (or who knew me) through the ol' blog. Here are some fellow knitterly folk:


That would be Amanda and Katrina, knitting on some socks.


The two very serious-looking ladies on the right are my MomMA cohorts, Brittney and Chris. Behind them, with her extremely well-behaved little boy, is Tiffany.


Now, I didn't write any names down, so I've got pictures (like this one) of a few people I don't know. If you see yourself and you're not identified, please identify yourself! The two people in this picture who I do remember (because they commented on my blog the day before) are Kathy, second from the left, and Lori who is on the far right.


These are the lovely ladies from Hood River. From the left are Sarah, owner of Knot Another Hat, Yvonne, Jeanine and Sabrina who owns the very cool little shop So Much Fun, which is down the hall from Knot Another Hat.

The woman sitting behind them, in the green sweater and blue scarf, is Kelley Petkun from Knit Picks. She was spinning with a drop spindle, and what she was spinning looked suspiciously like it came from the dog sitting on the lap of the woman next to her...

I ran into another member of the local yarn knitterati - Tina Newton from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. She brought a little gift bag of Socks That Rock for Stephanie, but I didn't see them still around when we left so I don't know if they ever managed to give it to her. I stuck a hank of STR from my stash into my little Portland-themed gift bag (a Lantern Moon bag, another Portlandy item), so she got one hank of it out of her visit, anyway.

Here's the Harlot, photographing The Sock on its trip to Portland:



And here I am with the Harlot herself!



My MomMA shirt worked exactly how I intended - people spotted me because I was wearing it (although it's kind of weird to have people recognize you even though you've never met them...), I got tons of positive comments on our mission, and Stephanie liked it as well (I just hope the one I gave her fits - it's an XL, but the Cafe Press XL is more like a normal person's M - and she doesn't have a strong hatred of pink...).

Here's the outtake:



What am I pointing at? No idea. But the fact that we took two pictures ticked off the Powell's staff (who were expecting to close at 9:00 - this was taken about 9:15 and there were probably 75 people in line behind me). Again, why they didn't plan better for this affair is beyond me.

Anyway, it was a totally fabulous experience. I have this thought in my head now that I'm going to comment on every post Stephanie makes on her blog, so that next year she'll know who I am! Hee hee!

In fact, I was so amped after last night, I signed up for Sock Wars today. I've been resisting clicking on that button for weeks, but I finally caved. As soon as I started reading the comments and saw Abigail talking smack about how she can knit a pair of socks in 12 hours, well...that was it! Bring it on, girl! I'm sure I'll be a miserable failure in the 1st round (not to mention that I don't actually have time to knit any socks that aren't work socks, but we won't think about that), but at least I'll have that cool button for my blog! I am a knit-along ho to the nth degree.

Wait! Don't stop reading yet!

And now on to another very exciting announcement. Go back up to the picture of Brittney, Chris and Tiffany. See that black bag on the chair? See those needles pointing out of the top? That was the sock I was working on. The other sock is complete, and here it is being modeled by my fabulously slender-legged sister-in-law:



This sock is going to be one of my first self-published patterns, once I get my website redesigned and up. However, you, my lucky readers, are going to get an early crack at this pattern and a chance to help a great cause.

The lovely and wonerful Karen, who was the very first person who commented on my blog way back when I started it a year ago, is a diabetic. She is walking in America's Walk For Diabetes with her husband on October 15th. She has been raising pledges, and will be giving away some wonderful prizes to anyone who gives a donation.

I went over and made my pledge and then started trying to figure out what else I could do to help. Well...I am going to be selling the sock pattern, which I've temporarily dubbed "Karen's Sugar-Free Diabetes Walk Socks", for $5 a copy with all proceeds from patterns sold before the walk going towards Karen's walk. I'm also going to see about Bill's company matching program to see if we can do 150% of all patterns sold. Stay tuned for details about that!

Additionally, everyone who orders a copy of the pattern will be entered in a drawing for three balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (which is what the sample sock is knit in) in a color of their choice.

If you'd like to order the pattern now, you can do so here:

I'll send you a pdf of the pattern by e-mail as soon as it's ready (it's going through its final set of tech edits as we speak and should be done in the next day or so). Let's raise some money for diabetes research, boys and girls! And if you would, please help spread the word. Let's help put her pledge account over the moon!