Socks.

Yup, today is all about the socks. For those of you who don't like socks, or for those who do but need a little laugh break, here is a little clip for anyone who has ever been a computer geek like I was in my former life (or for anyone who doesn't like Microsoft). Click here to see Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer get crazy. The first time I ever saw this, I was working as a software slave and I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. The people in adjoining cubes thought there was something really wrong with me (in addition to the regular stuff they already knew was wrong with me). I apologize to anyone who watches and doesn't get it - it's probably only funny to a small segment of the population. My husband thinks it's funny, and he's not a software geek (but then, he definitely is a geek in many other respects). But I digress...

Ginger made herself some Socks of Doom, which she is calling her "suicide socks" and knocked one item off her holiday gift list.

Katrina made her 2nd Socks of Doom. She's getting SAM2 credit for them since she had to reknit the entire pair (see her post for the full story). These are the socks on which she got advice from the venerable Nancy Bush.

Hanne made some Jaywalkers.

Here's a late udpate on Karen's Sugar-Free Socks, which raised $450 for her Diabetes walk and also kept her toes nice and comfy on the actual walk. So awesome!

Eva made two pairs this month, including her first patterned socks.

Emily's got two pairs of pink socks.

Soap Fiber Gal has some Regia Jacquard socks and is also selling copies of her new sock book, Friendly Sock Compilation II. Check her post for details.

Khris made a pretty little pair of footies and is looking for a good short-row-heel tutorial if anyone has one.

Teri's got some Broken Rib socks.

Zonda made some pink Fixation footies.

Lara made some Lobster Pot Socks, as a test knit for yours truly. They turned out really lovely!

Kristy made these Aran Braid socks, her first non-generic pair, out of some mystery stash yarn:



Esther finished some Crazy Stripes socks.

Karen made some lovely Lorna's Laces Watercolor socks.

ZhiWen made some gentleman socks and some socks for dad.

Ashely did some toe-up Pomatomuses.

And here's another pair of Pomatomuses from Crazy Knitting Lady.

Yvonne finished her Travelling Socks.

Stariel made some cute little baby socks.

And we have another pair of Jaywalkers, this time from Bettina:



Helga made a very colorful pair of Lobster Pot Socks.

Jessica finished some handspun socks which are now permanently on her feet as her new faves!

Paula whipped up some super-cool Halloween Socks.

Jamie squeeked in her October socks with this pair.

Tina knit up some Harebell Lace socks from Sensational Knitted Socks (do we love this book, or what?).

Tammy (who is still waiting patiently for her September prize yarn - I haven't forgotten, I swear!) finished up some Cascade Lace Wings Fixation socks.

Brenda is showing off some Angel's Rest socks and some Garter Rib Regia Bamboo socks.

Sarah made these lovelies from some merino-tencel yarn she picked up. Nice!

Lacey made some Baltic Sea socks.

Jenn, who has been very quiet so far this SAM2, finished two pairs this week!.

Anastacia has finished 17 pairs this month! 17 pairs! Wow.

Tanya has three pairs for the month, but I can only show you these two since the third picture she sent me was of a scarf and not socks! It was a very pretty scarf, though...





Ragan whipped up some funky little footies.

Nicki finished a pair of Gentleman's Fancy Socks.

And Pat has our final pair, some Austermann Step socks for her hubby to wear while he's coaching ice hockey. Sweet!

That's all for now, folks! Happy knitting!

And another thing...

See the updated description for I'm a Knitter and I Vote! There are now two ways to win prizes - first is to vote and let me know by Nov 30. You'll be listed as a voter (no need to spill your guts about who you voted for or what your political affiliation is or anything like that), and all voters will be entered into a prize drawing.

If you're mouthy like I am, you can join the blog and post answers to questions I'll ask that are designed to inspire some discussion. Contributors will be entered in another drawing for other good stuff. I've also got a button up for voters.

Show that patriotism and vote, people!!!

Am I crazy?

I had yet another bump in the road towards becoming the next Nancy Bush today. First, I got my preview copies of Knitting for Babies, which I was supposed to have a pattern in. I flipped to the table of contents to see where it was. Hmm, not there. I look a couple more times, just in case I missed it. Nope! I page through the magazine to see if it might be in there. No dice. It got bumped, unbeknownst to me.

I then checked my e-mail, where Yvonne let me know that the Winter Interweave Knits preview was up but my socks (which she knit for me) were nowhere to be seen. Bumped twice in one day - ouch! I was way more bummed about this one, since I've so been looking forward to being in my favorite magazine. I sent Pam Allen an e-mail, just to see what was up, and she sent me a very nice note in return. Apparently, they needed to cut the exact same amount of space that my sock pattern took up. So it got cut. But they love the socks so much that they didn't want to offer them as a web pattern but wanted to save them for a later print version. She'd meant to warn me ahead of time but hadn't gotten to it. So, it will be in a later issue, and she said that it's extremely rare to print an issue that has everything in it that's supposed to be. This made me feel a lot better, but there were a couple hours in there where I was totally disgusted with the whole process and was thinking that anyone who puts up with this $&@#$* is totally nuts.

Add to that the fact that I've had exactly one sale from my new website, and the whole thing is a bit discouraging. I've got so much work that I can barely keep up with it (I just got word that I had three designs accepted for the Maternity Knits book, and I'm also doing a sock pattern for the spring issue of Cast-On), so I must be doing something right! I know that it will take a little while before my website gets going, but I expected a little bit more action than it's gotten! If any of you are web marketing geniuses and have any tips for me, please share!

Speaking of the website, I just released a new sock pattern today. They're called Lobster Pot Socks, and they were designed for Missyjoon as her Summer Sock Party socks. If you like crazy cabled socks, you should check them out. Here's a picture of the heel flap version:



And here's the one I made for Missy, which has a short-row heel (and is lobster red, to match the pattern name):



Here's a close-up of the toe so you can see the cables a bit better:



To get your own copy of the pattern, go here.

Tomorrow is our big annual Halloween party. Bill and I spent tonight cleaning the house like madpeople. The results are great - I was lamenting the fact that we don't have a housekeeper who can come in every week and make it look like this! My office, however, is a complete and total disaster since everything that didn't have a nice home somewhere else in the house got dumped in here. One of these days, I'm going to organize this room. Yeah, okay, Chrissy, just keep telling yourself that...

Arctic Lace Blog Tour!

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this up until now, but I know how short people's attention spans are these days, especially knitters! Ha, ha - just kidding, guys!

I recently ordered a copy of Donna Druchunas' new book Arctic Lace from Schoolhouse Press, and I'm going to be part of a blog book tour she's doing! I will be posting a full review of her book here on November 8. She has a list of other stops here, where she's doing interviews, guest postings, and other fun stuff all around the blog world.

If you're at all interested in lace, even if you haven't knit it before, you should get your hands on this book. But I won't give everything away - come back on Nov. 8 for a full run-down of everything I love about this book.

I'm a knitter, and I vote!

It's that time of year again - the political ads are hot and heavy, the yard signs are up (wow, I was actually able to stop my finger before I typed an "n" instead of a "d" there for yard), and Oregon voters got their ballots in the mail yesterday.

I'm a little bit disappointed that Oregon votes by mail. I've always loved going to the polling place on election day, filling out the ballot and dropping it in the little box, and then heading home to watch the results come in on TV. Although I guess my last year in California I voted electronically before election day, and that wasn't quite the same, either, but it did get me out of standing in line for an hour at the polls.

One good thing about getting your ballot in the mail ahead of time is that you can study it and make sure you vote the way you intend to on each item. We've got a gazillion ballot measures this year, and some of them are pretty questionable, so it's especially important to be thoughtful while filling out the ballot. We've got library and school funding measures, both of which are very important to me (although I find it very frustrating that schools and libraries have to beg the voters for funding every few years instead of being securely funded by the federal government like they should be). And a governor's race, which is also critical as the two candidates will run the state very differently.

Now, if you've read this blog for awhile, you'll know that I'm a very proud Democrat and unabashed liberal. But regardless of your political persuasion, I encourage you to get out and vote on election day. It's important, even if it doesn't seem like one vote makes any difference. It does! Technically, a single vote doesn't make a difference. But your vote combined with thousands of others does. It's kind of like if you give $1 to your favorite charity. You may think, why bother? $1 isn't going to make any difference. But if you and 10,000 of your closest friends all donate $1, suddenly you have $10,000, which would make a huge difference. It's the same thing with voting. The government is supposed to be by the people and for the people. But if only a small percentage of people vote, then that's not really the case, is it? So get out there and vote!

I also think that respectful discussion of the issues is extremely important. In talking about the things we believe in and keeping an open mind to others' opinions, it helps to clarify what we really stand for. Part of the problem with our society these days is that people don't really think. They listen to talk radio or see television ads or "news" stories and take them at face value. It's important to ask what the motivation is behind each story or ad, particularly the attack ads that are so despicable (and often dishonest) but unfortunately very effective at swaying the casual voter. Nobody has the right to complain about the direction our country is taking if they aren't willing to take the time to educate themselves about the issues and the candidates. Think long and hard about the kind of world you want for your children, and find the candidates and ballot measures that you think will bring about that world.

I've found my priorities changing greatly after starting my family. It's no longer all about me - I've got my kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, etc. to look out for. I want them to have a safe, happy society to grow up and raise their own families in. There are three things that I feel support that goal - a peaceful world, a clean environment, and a society that respects and takes care of all of its members. The Democratic party is certainly not perfect, and there are definitely things about it that I don't support. However, on these three items, I really feel that the Democratic candidates are the ones who have the right approach to these issues. The war in Iraq has made us more vulnerable to terrorists, and Osama bin Laden is still out there, plotting against us. I want us to get ourselves out of Iraq and get back to the business of protecting our own country and people. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a horrible dictator, but there are hundreds of those all over the world. It's not the US's job to get rid of them all and I don't think the Iraqi people are much better off now that the country is being overrun by renegades and suicide bombers. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and wasn't developing weapons of mass destruction.

On the environment, I have trouble understanding why anyone doesn't support measures to keep it clean for our children. Is money really more important than the health of future generations? We are doing as much as we can as a family to reduce our energy use and reuse and recycle everything we can. However, it's hard when just about everything you buy is packaged in plastic and is disposable. I would love to see our government more concerned about protecting air and water quality than protecting corporate profits. Clean energy is available (in fact, we've signed up for a program through our power company where we pay a little extra to purchase renewable energy - wind, solar and hydroelectric power), so why aren't we focusing on using it instead of continuing to drill for oil in places that will only supply us for a very short amount of time? We've come a long way towards a cleaner environment in the past 20 years, and I'd like to see us keep going.

Finally, a society that takes care of all of its members. I get so mad when people complain about all the taxes they have to pay. Taxes are the price we pay for living in a society. Don't you want good schools, good health care, well-maintained roads, a strong police force? You can't have it both ways - if we are going to have these things, we need to pay for them. And we should all pay our share - no matter how much money we have. Why is it so unreasonable for those who have more than they need to help out those who don't have enough? Our society has become so concerned with having stuff - buying a boat, or a vacation home, or another car, or some lavish vacation. Is it really so terrible to ask a millionaire with two houses and four luxury cars to pay a little more in taxes so that a homeless person has a bed to sleep in, or a poor child has medical care? I'd love to see the current trend of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer reversed. And to be completely honest, the tax cuts that the current administration has been doling out have definitely helped us. But I'd much rather have that money going towards education or health care than into a tax cut for us. We have too much stuff in our house already - that extra money will just go towards more stuff that we don't need. I'd rather it did some good. I don't want to live in a society where it's every person for themself - where he or she with the most toys wins.

There's my 2 cents on what I think is important. I'd love to hear from all of you, too, and in fact, I'm going to have a little contest. Go to the new blog I'm A Knitter And I Vote for more details, and e-mail me if you'd like to join up. Let's knit the vote, people!

Speaking of lots of knitting...

I just went in to check on the number of sock updates I have, and there are 51 of them. 51! That's just the number of individual e-mails I've gotten from all you sockers, so there may be even more actual socks that have been knit. Guess I'd better get started, huh?

Siri has some Regia crazy color socks that are very fall and some Lorna's Laces Fun Knits socks that are also pretty autumnal. And did you see the new issue of Knit Simple? There is an article on blogging, and Knitting Iris is listed as one of their faves! I can certainly see why - yay, Siri!

Debbie finished up a cute little baby set for a co-worker which included baby socks.

Margo made some nice plain grey socks, finished up at her SIL's b-day party.

OzKnitter made some sweet Opal Ladybug socks for the Red Sock KAL.

Eva made two pairs of socks in September but somehow her update e-mails didn't make it to me until now. Sorry, Eva!

Abigail the swap queen made some Ruby Slippers for her mom.

Kris made some lovely Hippy Crunchy Socks.

KellyD made these!



Khris made some Red Hat socks (along with dying some totally gorgeous yarn) and Princess Stomping Foot socks (along with dying some more totally gorgeous yarn).

Nicola knit some lovely Leafy Lace socks.

ZhiWen made some Rainforest Flamingo slipper socks.

Charity made some cute little striped short socks.

Christy made a "pair" of Xmas stockings.

Ragan made some crazy pink socks and some slightly more sedate blue socks.

Laura made some orange Socktoberfest socks and some grey cable socks.

Bettina knit up these lovely Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.



Fancy, aren't they? She also made Beaudelaires:



And a 2nd pair of Socks of Doom:



Which count because she started them from scratch. And finally, yet another pair, a hybrid of Beaudelaire and the Socks of Doom (she calls them the Rib of Doom socks):



She's also started a knit-along for Eunny's "Chuck's Favorite Socks" pattern. If you like cabled socks, go check it out!

Teri knit some Lilac Lace socks for the Mystery Sock KAL.

Aija made some single-skein footies.

Janin made some blue-and-white Jaywalkers in the colors of the Finnish flag. Suomi!

Liz made some blue Embossed Leaves socks.

Lynn made some adorable Baby Girl socks.

Nelda made some Lobster Pot Socks which are from a new pattern of mine which will be added to my website as soon as I can get the final pattern edits done.

Silja made some "horrible and ugly" socks.

Tammy made socks for her nephew and her daughter. She got some new yarn, too!

Karen made some pink Foot Cozy socks.

Sarah has beach pics and some Petticoat socks.

Karen made some long blue hubby socks and some cute little baby socks.

Adrienne made these Flow Motion socks:



Erica made some Karen's Sugar-Free Socks and some nice straightforward blue socks.

Jessica finished some pink-brown-cream merino handdye socks along with some socks-with-a-long-story.

Sheri made some Aran Braid mystery socks and some little socks for her little guy.

Beth made some very pretty Chocolate Columbine Peaks socks.

Julia made some top-secret gift socks.

Nancy made these colorful Sarah's Mermaid Socks:



Nadine made some Opal Silk socks for her dad and some funky black-and-white socks for her cousin.

Lain made these cute little lilac socks.

Natalie made some Rainbow Socks for a friend, and also set up her new website. Go check out her yarn!

Kelly made some uber-cool Slinky Socks.

Jacey's got some amazing Slipped Sanity socks. You have got to check these ones out!

Kelly's got two pairs - green Knit Picks and Regia Bamboo.

Shelley made two cute little pairs for October.

Sonya knit up a pair of Karen's Sugar-Free Socks and finally gave into the temptation of the Koigu.

Emily made a cute pair of Fuzzy Feet:



And our last entry is from Aimee, who finished one little pair of socks this month.

Whew! That was fun, but I really need to stop putting the updates off until I have so many. You guys are just too prolific! And now, it's time for me to go to bed before I wake up at 3 am with key imprints on my forehead and drool shorting out my keyboard.

Whole lotta knittin' going on!

Well, well, well - we've got tons of knitting happening here at Chez Knittin' Mom. I'll start with the Nancy Bush review that I've been sitting on since last weekend. I got to see her again last night at the Tigard Knitting Guild meeting, where she showed us her wonderful slides of Estonia. I realized that I need to do a bit more work on some of my friends who aren't quite as knit-obsessed as I am (I invited a couple of them to come with me to see Nancy's slides of Estonia at the Tigard Knitting Guild meeting, and Chris's response was "Oh, yeah, that sounds like a REAL good time." Followed by eye rolling. I thought she'd been making some progress, especially after the Harlot reading, but she's still got a ways to go).

Anyway, the three classes I took were Estonian Lace, Estonian Traveling Stitch Patterns, and Knitting Vintage Socks. We learned an Estonian cast-on and bind-off that are nice and stretchy for lace knitting as well as methods of swapping stitches without a cable needle from both the knit and purl sides and also a new heel turn and toe shaping. Just when I think I'm getting close to knowing it all. (FYI - I'm kidding, there - I'm well aware of how much I don't know).

Here's my lace swatch, which includes two different traditional lace patterns (one of which has these funky little bobbles called "nupps"):



And here is my little traveling stitch "willy warmer" (we did do a small back-and-forth swatch to practice swapping stitches on the purl side, but I have no idea where it is and I'm guessing it's now a kid or cat toy):



It's actually more of a finger warmer, so it would only fit a very young or very "underprivileged" willy, but I've always wanted to make one of those legendary items so there it is.

The next day was sock day, and we made one of these cute little sample socks that is basically a small-scale version of the Lichen Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks:



We learned the Welsh Heel (which is incredibly funky and fun to knit, although I don't know if I'd actually put it on socks I was going to sear) and the star toe of three points.

Here is a close-up of the bottom of the heel (it's at the bottom of the picture with the rib down the middle). See? Funky!



It has the most bizarre combination of decreases and yarn overs and as I was knitting it, I just couldn't figure out how it was going to turn out. But somehow it did!

One of the greatest things about Knitting Vintage Socks is the intro to the book which includes all of these vintage toe and heel shapings along with a four sample socks that use all of the different heel and toe techniques. Nancy brought along all of the socks from the book (along with the Knitting on the Road socks which were really fun to fondle in person):





And here I am with the woman herself and her socks. Can you see the star-struckedness wafting off of me?



Nancy is wearing an Estonian sweater, but it's machine knit and was sent to her as a gift. She wore plain black commercially-made socks and mentioned that she doesn't have time to knit socks for herself. And of course all the socks she brought she needs as samples and only has one of each pattern anyway (because I'm sure it would be tempting). The sample that had us all agog was the cashmere Bed Sock, which is made out of the Mountain Colors 100% Cashmere. We couldn't stop carrying it around and petting it. Katrina couldn't stop thinking about it. See? Here she is, thinking about that cashmere!



She considered substituting the Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere, but didn't like the fact that it wasn't variegated. Last night she admitted that she'd ordered some of the Mt. Colors, which is being dyed for her at the factory at this very moment. Such a bad girl! Just in case I didn't mention it before, K, I'd love some cashmere socks for Christmas! Wink, wink!

Nancy came and sat at our table for a few minutes before her talk last night, and Katrina scored some serious advice about substitute yarns for a couple socks in the book and also some tips on her Socks of Doom (yes, she's still in the War). How can you complain about getting sock advice from Nancy Bush? I'm so jealous of the guild members who are at the retreat right now. It sounded like there were going to be some very nice classes. Maybe next year!

I've been a very busy little knitter. I've got a bunch of things I sadly can't show you, including my Harvest Sock Swap sock. The pattern is turning out just the way I wanted, and I will definitely be offering it for sale as soon as it's done. I'm quite delighted with it - it's rare for something to come out just the way I want it on the first try, especially with a little experimental technique thrown in. The ladies at my table at the guild meeting last night got a little sneak peek, but the rest of you will have to wait a bit longer.

I also got my Hot Socks package from Julie, which included three different kinds of yummy cocoa, some biscotti, two balls of Regia and a hank of lovely hand-dye that she dyed herself (I am totally in love with it). I didn't manage to snap a pic of it before it got attacked, thanks to a dead camera battery, but here's what she sent (please ignore the boxes which look like they were torn into by jackals).



Owen really liked the biscotti...



My kids are loving all these junk-food-related swaps. They are both total chocolate fiends and I think have eaten more of my Chocolate Swap chocolate than I have! I was enjoying a moment the other day, when they were stretched out on the sofa together giggling. After smiling at the peaceful moment, I realized that it was because of the box of chocolates they were tearing through.



Please forgive the Photoshopped bikini on Sydney - I was about to post this when I realized she was in the all-together. That girl does love to be in her birthday suit!

Shelby's SP9 contest!

Wow! I'm actually getting my act together to post a contest entry! Go figure.

Typing is a tad bit slow today since Owen managed to rip the Shift key off my laptop and messed up the Enter key as well...

List your favorite:

Actor - Hank Azaria
Actress - Toni Collette
Animal - cheetah
Band - ABBA
Book - my Barbara Walker treasuries!
Bubble Bath - don't use it
Candy - Hershey's milk chocolate w/ almonds
Color - tie between purple & orange
Drink - caramel fudge mocha from Coffee People
Flower - Lilies
Food - Pizza
Lip Balm - Burt's Bees
Lotion - Aveda
Movie - Dumb & Dumber
Place - Paris
Song - Dancing Queen by ABBA
TV Show - Grey's Anatomy
Yarn - anything from Blue Moon
Vacation Spot - Hawaii!

It's up!

My redesigned website is up and it is fabulous (thank you, web designeress extraordinaire, Jordana Paige). I've got three patterns up for sale with more coming very soon, and links to my three free patterns from Mag Knits and Spun.

I've even got a little button, so if y'all like my patterns and the website, please share - I'd really appreciate it.



Okay, shameless self-promoting plug is over. I'm quite happy, and I feel like knitting but not much like blogging, so off I go!

Info for my secret pals and some excuses for the rest of you...

I'm all about the excuses lately. I've only got 25 sock updates, but they're obviously not done yet. For some reason, every time I sit down in front of the computer, I don't feel like doing anything. I don't feel like blogging, I don't feel like replying to e-mails, I don't feel like writing patterns... Is it the change of seasons? I've totally got the blahs.

Since I can't get my butt in gear for sock updates, I've got a couple answers for my secret pals who I hope haven't totally given up on my by now. First, for my Sockret Pal, who asked what my dream storage solution would be for circular needles. I have been racking my brain over this one since you asked, and I'm having a horrible time deciding. I like the hanging ones that have a little pocket to stick each needle in, but I'm afraid that between kids and cats, it wouldn't have a fighting chance (although I could always hide it from them). Maybe a little pocket folder thing (sort of like the Knit Picks needle case) would work? With a pocket for each needle that I could label on the outside with the needle length/size and then the needle would be coiled up inside? I think that regardless of how the needles are stored, the most important thing would be an attached needle gauge since most of my circs don't have size written on them and I can never find my needle sizer when I need it. Hope that helps a little bit!

And now for my SP9, who asked if I reread books I like and how many times I've read my favorite book. I have to confess that I don't reread books very often. I think the book I've reread most often would be "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire, which I've read at least three times and wouldn't mind reading again, now that I'm thinking about it. I tend to like new material when I pick something up to read, especially since I don't get much reading time in these days. Movies, on the other hand, I'll watch over and over. I've seen Groundhog Day probably a hundred times.

I will try my best to get off my butt and post those updates along with a little recap of the Nancy Bush extravaganza I was lucky enough to attend this past weekend. In the meantime, you can stalk Katrina, who was there for all three classes with me but hasn't posted yet either, and Amanda, who was there for the Estonian Traveling Stitches class and has already written up her glowing review. I will confess to having quite the little crush on Nancy. She is just like her books, which is to say absolutely fabulous! I love her. I really do!

Greetings from the nuthouse

For some reason, I keep getting the silly idea that I don't have enough going on. And so I volunteered to be one of the newsletter editors for the Tigard Knitting Guild next year, which is a board position and involves extra board meetings every month in addition to soliciting articles for the newsletter and putting it all together. I've also got this crazy bug in an unmentionable spot about running the Portland marathon next year. I've always wanted to run a marathon, and seeing Bill do it this year really made me want to go for it. Of course, I don't think I could run 100 meters with a knife-wielding maniac chasing me right now, but for some reason I think I can whip my butt into shape by next October. In all that free time.

I also have about a million ideas for home and yard improvement as well as things I want to start doing (like baking bread and canning stuff). This from a woman who can barely get the laundry done each week and whose kitchen counters are always have at least one layer of dirty dishes and old takeout containers covering them. Sigh.

And besides, how am I supposed to find time for all that when I have so much knitting to do? I've got two projects for Blue Moon on the front burners right now. I can't resist showing you the yarn because it is so freakin' GORGEOUS! First we have their bulky Icelandic wool in the Harlotty colorway. Amazing.



I'm also working on some socks in Seduction, which is a tasty blend of merino and tencel. I can't remember what this colorway is called, but I want to say it's Puck's Mischief.



I've got a couple of FOs for you all, too - the devil bag, and the spider bag. They turned out pretty cute, although not as deep as I would've liked. I had a feeling that they wouldn't when I was working the pattern, but I didn't modify it. The shallowness does make them work for an unintended purpose:



Think she needs me to felt her a kitty bed? Fortunately the kids are too young to notice cat hair mixed in with their Halloween candy. Here's an unobstructed view of the spider bag:



And now I'm off to work on my heel flap and mentally prepare myself for the weekend of classes with Nancy Freakin' Bush! I'm doing Estonian Lace, Estonian Traveling Stitches and Knitting Vintage Socks. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it.

sock update & kitty p*rn

Poor Bill is in Laguna Beach for a few days at a conference. We liked So Cal when we lived there, but now he can't wait to get home where the people have all their original body parts and you can find a parking space without too much trouble. I'm quite happy to be home with our new kitty. She is so sweet!

Sydney spent most of yesterday cooking in her new kitchen (okay, is this picture going to make all the feminists cringe or what?):



She got a new ballerina costume on the same day that she got the kitchen, so she couldn't resist trying them out at the same time. She whipped up quite the smorgasboard of plastic food for her new best bud:



Owen is quite enamored with our new addition as well.







Which is fine with me, since it keeps him busy and from doing things like this:





I was working away on my computer in the dining room, happy that the kids were entertaining themselves quietly. I should've known it was a little bit too quiet... Leave Owen alone in a room with a half-full cup of milk with no lid and a custard-filled bismarck, and something bad will undoubtedly happen. He was quite delighted by the whole thing, but Bill was not so happy to find the last bismarck destroyed in such a disrespectful manner (we get these from a little shop down the street, and they are SO good and often sold out by the time we get there).

I have some wonderful knitting to show you (I am in LOVE with the yarn I am working with right now - I will take a picture for you very soon). But I want to get Nelda's sock update posted before the boy wakes up, realizes I'm not there, and starts raising hell. So far the cat has kept away from the yarn, which is good. I hope it stays that way, since as you can see from the pictures above, I'm not much of a housekeeper!

Thank you, Nelda, for all your hard work on the update this week!!! And before we start in, I want to announce the September winner. It is...Tammy! Congrats, chica! E-mail me your addy so I can send you your prize. That means I'm going to have to decide what the prize is...hmm. Okay, here's your update.

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First we have some September socks to finish up, then Chrissy can draw for a September winner:

CrazyBasketLady has these pretty Opal rainbow socks.

Ashley gets a brownie point for her Socks of Doom for Sock Wars!

Jenipurr made these cool breast cancer socks

Uli also finished some Socks of Doom for Sock Wars. These look sooo comfy.


Now on to the October socks that have been rolling in: We are kicking off Socktoberfest in fine fashion.

First up, Sara finished some awesome Trekking XXL stockings, I love those colors.

Teri P. made some beautiful ribbed cashmere socks.

Stariel made some pretty rainbow socks and these amazing lace socks from her own pattern and even shares the pattern, check it out! She also made these and these little cuties. All hail the sock queen :o)

Pat has some Friday harbor Socks. Those are so cool, I gotta get that book!!

Karen has some identical twins from Opal sock yarn.

Carole has some toasty toes socks in lovely Fall colors.

Melanie finished some pretty blue pomatomus socks

Aija made someboyfriend socks. What a cool looking pattern.

Michelle finished up some jaywalkers from awesome yarn that she dyed.

Kelly D made these lovelies, man I love Fall colors


ZhiWen made these Father and Son socks. Lucky Guy!

Rachel made these enormous white socks for soldiers. Wow!

Jen has her first pair for the knit-a-long. Awww, cute camo socks for her son!

Nadine has 4 pairs this month, these 2, some Lorna's Laces and Socks of Doom and these 2, one is Trekking XXL and the other Artyarns, mmm, artyarns.

Sharon has these Feather Fan lace beauties, love that colorway.

Helga has these awesome angora socks for her hubby.

Silja finished up a couple of pairs, these Regia socks and these very cool sandal socks.

Bobbi made these Lorna's Laces camo socks, she won the yarn in Sock-a-Month 1. Very nice!

That's all of the socks for this week folks! Great job on all of them!

Stuff-o-rama!

I'm supposed to be working right now, but I managed to e-mail off the pattern from hell (which I've been working on since July) so I figure I deserve a little break. I've managed to get myself way in over my head again with pattern work. Remember me saying I was going to focus on my own pattern line and not do a bunch of submissions? Well, somehow I've got myself another bunch of work to do, and I'm not sure how it happened. Part of it is the nature of the knitting design business - stuff that you submitted months earlier suddenly shows up after you've written it off or completely forgotten about it...

I've got two bags and three pairs of socks to do for Blue Moon. We've been talking about these designs since May, but I just got all the yarn (without warning) for them at Oregon Flock & Fiber. Kind of hard to plan out the schedule when you don't know when in the heck you're getting your yarn! I don't say this in a bad way at all, because when they're late with the yarn, it makes me feel better about being late with the design. And I'm more than happy to knit with their amazing yarn - it just adds to my disorganization to have these things suddenly in my lap.

I'm also going to be doing an exclusive pattern for The Sweet Sheep, which I'm very excited about. And I just got notice that my sock design was accepted for the 3rd Stitch 'n Bitch book (it's going to be an advanced knitting manual, and I submitted a stranded colorwork sock which I think is very cool). And I got an e-mail from the editor of Cast-On magazine, looking for more sock patterns. And an e-mail from the editor of a book that's being published next year of maternity knitting patterns (I'm submitting a nursing top to that one in an attempt to selfishly further my lactivist agenda...). I am working furiously to get the new website up before the next Interweave Knits comes out, so we'll see what happens!

Just to make life a little more complicated, we've decided to adopt a kitten.



Isn't she cute? Her name is Kika, which I like but Bill's not so sure about. So we'll see if we end up renaming her. We went over to see her last night, and the kids went nuts for her. She lived with a 2-year-old previously, so she's really good with kids (although she was a little bit riled up by the time we left). Of course, I had to go out and see what eco-friendly kitty litter options there are, and found this great stuff. The clumping clay stuff has always kind of freaked me out, so I was delighted to see there was an environmentally (and kid) friendly option.

I'm really excited about having some creatures around. I've been thinking alot about what kind of pet(s) we should get since I think it's really important for kids to learn how to be around animals. Fish? Guinea pig? Bird? I do think I've talked Bill into getting some chickens next spring, but those aren't really house pets. I will definitely enjoy the fresh eggs and fertilizer they produce, though!

Okay, back to the grind. Have a great weekend, and we will have another guest sock update on Sunday!

SP9 questionaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I am a relatively hard-core yarn snob, although I do like some Lion Brand yarns. I like anything soft and snugly. I hate Lopi.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I've got a lovely dpn holder, but my circs all go in a shoebox. Although looking around, I see three pairs on the dining room table, five pairs on the buffet and one on the phone stand underneath the wireless internet box...

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I've been knitting off and on since the age of 10, and obsessively for the last year and a half. I'd consider myself advanced since there's not much I'm not willing to take on!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I do, but it's horribly out-of-date. I have more than enough knitting books (unless you happen to have an Alice Starmore book lying around that you want to give away - har, har), but I would love some good books on organic gardening and/or raising chickens in your backyard.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
Anything crisp & clean, like melon, citrus, cucumber, green/white tea, light florals.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Do I ever! I am a milk chocolate-aholic.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I don't spin, and don't really have much time to do other crafts (although I would love to get my hands on one of those Subversive Cross-Stitch kits).

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like pretty much all music except heavy metal and country. My computer can play MP3s as well as my iPod.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like almost all colors, except maybe lemon yellow (unless it's for dishcloths). I tend to gravitate towards purple and green, but I'd like to branch out so don't be afraid.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I've got a husband Bill, 3-year-old daughter Sydney & 1-1/2 year old son Owen. We're getting a kitten tonight.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
All except ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Why, socks, of course!

13. What are you knitting right now?
I'm finishing up a pair of Dublin Bay socks, working on a felted bag for Blue Moon and getting ready to start a few different sock designs for various books/mags/yarn folks.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
I prefer them!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I loves me my circulars. I hardly ever use my straights anymore. I have a few bamboo circs, but I much prefer my steel needles or my Denises.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yup! No need to wind anything for me!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
If you don't count things that will never be finished, it's about a month right now.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Can't decide between Christmas and Halloween.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Anything having to do with the Simpsons.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I really want Vicki Howell's New Knits on the Block. I'd also love to get my hands on some Vesper sock yarn and some Blue Sky organic cotton. I also love getting beautiful local yarns from my pals that I can't find here!

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Um, how to knit with my feet so I could be twice as productive?

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Um, yes. How could you tell? My foot circ is 8" and length is 9".

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
8/11

Sock update & a couple announcements

First of all...he did it! Bill ran the Portland marathon yesterday in just over 4 hours. He would've done much better but had horrible leg cramps for the last 5 miles and couldn't run any more. I was/am so proud of him for finishing - we drove the course on Saturday afternoon, and it makes you realize how ridiculously long 26.2 miles is!

I've got a couple sock-related announcements to make. First, Khris of Chewy Spaghetti is offering SAM2-ers a $2 per skein discount on her gorgeous handpainted yarns. Just enter "Sock-a-month" in the memo area when purchasing at her Etsy store. Also, she's offering free shipping to anyone who sends her a picture of a FO made out of one of her yarns. Thanks, Khris! I know from personal experience that her yarns are gorgeous.

Next, we've got another knitter (Megan) selling a sock pattern to raise funds for her Tour de Cure to benefit diabetes research. Thanks to all of you for your support of Karen's walk-a-thon, and if you want to donate more for diabetes research, go to Megan's blog and check out the sidebar for info on how to help.

This week, we did a little change-up for the sock update. Teri very generously offered to do a guest update, which was a huge help to me. I'm going to put open a call for guest sock updaters, and I'll put y'all in a drawing for a socky little prize at the end of the knit-along. Love it and want to do multiple updates? I'll give you one entry for each update you do for me! E-mail me if you're interested. I love doing the updates, but it is nice to have some fresh adjectives to describe socks. I'm sure you're all getting tired of "gorgeous".

Also, I've gotten a few updates since Teri finished this, so you'll be included in next week's update if you sent your update in yesterday and you're not on here. I'll be doing the drawing for Sept. after next week's update so that you're all included.

Now, on with Teri's update:

Happy Socktober! What better way to start the month of sock celebration than the SAM2 updates? Thanks, Chrissy, for inviting me to do this week's updates.

Margo completed her second pair of toddler socks for September while traveling. Be sure to check out all the delicious yarn she picked up along the way.

Kelly finished her Socks of Doom; she worked on them while knitting in public for the first time!

Ginny's Socks of Doom are done as well. She got a scare when the postman knocked on her door, but it was a false alarm. It makes me smile to think of all those socks winging their way all over the world!

Chrissy finally completed the blue socks for her brother. They've been on her needles for nearly a year!


Aimee has two more pair for September; the first are Interlacements Toasty Toes for herself, the others are Steinbache Wolle Activ Effekt for her daughter.

Julia's celebrating the completion of her Pretty Petals socks, plus a load of other stuff. Check out the picture of her wearing her daughter's sweater - cute!

Ragan's been doing some shopping! Plus, she finished a pair of green-with-pink footies.

Have you seen Aija's stripey Ronald McDonald socks yet? She dyed the wool herself with Easter Egg dyes.

The Persnickety Knitter's Socks of Doom are finished. Plus, she used the Socks That Rock won in a SAM drawing to knit some inside-out socks.

Siri's two pair of socks for September include the Blue/Gray Big Brother socks and a pair of Autumn Flowers.

Mandy's Elfine's socks are full of pretty leafy goodness.

Emily used her own pattern for her these lovely blue socks for Anneliese.

Here's a picture of the Hedera socks Bettina knit using wool from Tricot Treat on Etsy.

Julie's Sunset socks were knit using Kool-Aid-dyed yarn.
Sarah completed her Jaywalkers just in time to count for her September socks.

Robin's yellow/orange/white anklets make me so happy - this is one of my favorite color combinations.

Zonda gets double KAL credit for her stormy Ocean Socks - they were her project for the Mystery Sock KAL as well as for SAM2.

Vicki has some great detail shots of her Acorn Socks.

Michelle sent out her Socks of Doom. I wonder how many people have been knocked out so far?

Check out the gorgeous blue Karen's Sugar-Free Diabetes Walk Socks knit by Helga. Remember, you can get your own copy of this wonderful pattern designed by Chrissy here. Take a look at the right sidebar to see how much has been raised so far!

Nicki joins the SAM2 this month with her Baudelaires.

Christine had a mini-KAL with Zonda, finishing her Ocean Socks for the Mystery KAL and SAM2.

Christa's fastest-ever socks were her Socks of Doom. She's waiting for her victim's unfinished pair now.

Amanda's first socks were a little too tight. The second pair were a little too long. But, just like Goldilocks, her third pair are just right. Go see her Summer Garden Socks for yourself!

Two more pair from Blogless Aimee - Handspun hand-dyed Woodsman socks for her husband and KnitPicks Crayon for her 4-year-old.
You can all but feel fall in the air when looking at Bobbi's Scottish Highlands Falling Leaves.

Sarah used the two socks on two circs method for the first time to knit her Lorna's Laces socks.

Missy knit a pair of Karen's Sugar-Free socks, finishing just in the nick of time!

Ginger's Socks of Doom are looking for their victim - could it be you? Watch out!

Adrienne is practically turning cartwheels, she so happy to be done with the Nasty Green Socks.

Heather is another SAM2 newcomer with her very first pair of socks.

Blogless Nancy has two pair finished for September; Child's First Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks and a pair of ribbed Regia Patch Antik, both destined to be Christmas gifts.

Jennie's in love with her Norways. They look so cute folded down over her boots!

Mary has been knitting gift socks. Go see her two pair of baby socks - awwwww!

Blogless Tanya's last pair for the month of September are these Autumn Socks.


Lynn's showing us her squishy sock love, finished with a whole day to spare!

Rachel's Textured Triangle socks are so pretty - and she's even sharing her pattern. Thanks Rachel!

Thanks to a lace bug, Brenda's sock knitting has slowed down. Her Online socks took nearly a month to complete.

Abigail's Ribbed Socks are her third pair for the month. Now Abigail, we want to see the Hallowigs!

Whups! I nearly forgot my own socks. You can see the Jeannie socks I dyed and knit here. I love this yarn.