Sister Stay-cation

[gallery type="square" columns="2" ids="2972,2973,2974,2975,2976,2977" orderby="rand"] This weekend I had a real treat, my sister Carla showed up and we had an awesome sister-staycation at my apartment.  We watched my selection of animated Disney-ish movies (Brother Bear, Anastasia, Lilo and Stitch), worked on our knitting, made my first batch of truffles, went shopping for Martha Stewart Office Supplies at Staples.

We also ate out at the Griffin Gastropub (an amazing 20 seat pub in Bracebridge) where I had an awesome lentil burger and Carla had some really excellent looking beef stew.

Not only was it a fun weekend it was a productive weekend. Carla finished a sweater and a pair of mittens, and I managed to get all my mystery leftover skeins tagged and niddy-noddied some of the yarns I won't be knitting anytime soon (RIP Color Affection, the yarns are nice but after two months I have to admit I'm not all that interested in knitting it).  I also finished and blocked the two baby sweaters, finished an illusion knit dishcloth that I started at the Huntsville Spinners and Weavers guild last Thursday, and also finished crocheting and stuffing an amigurumi Raccoon for Toshie, started a pair of socks on my new 9in circulars (still figuring out whether I like it or not), and planned out two shawlettes for the moms of the two babies getting sweaters, and made plans to participate in the Slug-A-Long at Fresh Stitches.

So, overall a very fun, productive weekend, hopefully Carla will be able to come back again soon.

Happy [Canadian] Thanksgiving

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone!

So far I've had a great weekend, specifically today, which has included some knitting,

a hike to Wilson's Falls in Bracebridge,

a FO photo shoot,

received some exciting news (not mine to share, yet),

and a Thanksgiving dinner for 1 (grocery store rotisserie chicken, green beans, some boxed stuffing and a pumpkin pie).

So, for my very first Thanksgiving away from my family has been really, surprisingly, fun.  I don't plan to make it a habit of solo holidays, but knowing I can celebrate on my own is a good feeling.

FO: Pinus Sicilian Socks

So, I'm a little behind on posting my Finished Objects.  This is the second pair of socks I knit during the Ravellenic Games, two months ago.  Over the next couple of weeks I will be making a concerted effort to get caught up on my FOs, all 8 of them.

I wish I had more to say about these socks, but honestly I knit them so long ago I can't really remember.  But they are really nice to wear ... and I think they were fun to knit.

- Details -

Project Name: Pinus Sicilian Socks

Pattern: Pinus Silvestris Socks by Hunter Hammersen in The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet

Recipient: Me

Yarn: indigodragonfly Merino Nylon Sock in Never Go Up Against a Sicilian When Death is On The Line (Discontinued Color)

Modifications: None

New Skills: None really, socks are getting to be and understandable item to me.

Feedback:

• Yarn: Yet again, Kim's fantastic sock yarn is fantastic.  The color isn't exactly my favorite of all time (it was my very first "mystery skein") it is perfect for these socks and this pattern.
• Pattern:  After admiring Hunter's patterns I finally knit a pair of her socks.  Its a nice clear pattern. the only issue is that the PDF of her e-book is so large (due to all the awesome patterns and pictures) that it overwhelms my  GoodReader app so I chunked it down in Adobe Acrobat.  However, if you don't own the full Acrobat you can't do this sort of thing.

Re-Knit?: Nope, I like the FO but no need to go back to it, however I have something like 5 more pairs of her socks in my queue I need to get to.

FO: Cone Socks

The Ravellenic Games are a great time for a person to challenge themselves, and for me taking on the challenge of completing two pairs of patterned socks in two weeks was a good one.

I was able to accomplish something new and try out a sock designer I have been really wanting to try, verybusymonkey. These socks have made me realize how much I love making socks, and lace socks are tops on my lists.

Also, because I wanted to be on Team Doom (rather Team Smart-Ass World-Dominating Knitters of Doom) it was my first chance to work with indigodragonfly's Merino Nylon sock, which was awesome.  Such a great yarn, a two-ply with lots of sproing and great colors.

This managed to be the 8th pair of socks that I have completed in 2012, so I am way ahead of schedule on my year of socks, but I have no intention of slowing down.

- Details -

Project Name: Cone Socks

Pattern: Cadence Socks by verybusymonkey

Recipient: Mine, Mine, all Mine

Yarn: indigodragonfly Merino Nylon Sock in They Were Cones

Modifications:

• Shortened Cuff and Leg - I have quite large calves and so I find I don't like tall socks as they don't stay up.  So I took out some repeats of the cuff and one of the leg charts.

New Skills:

• None, I think: I'm really starting to get the hang of this sock thing!

Feedback:

• Yarn: AWESOME!  Kim's 2-ply sock yarn is a very different texture from other Merino Nylon sock yarns I have used and it is a welcome change.  It has great spring to it and really feels great in socks.
• Pattern: This my have been my first verybusymonkey pattern but it won't be the last.  I LOVE knitting lace socks and these ones are brilliant.

Re-Knit?: Probably not, but I will be knitting more of verybusymonkey's patterns as soon as I can.

FO: Second Try Houndstooth

Second time's a charm.  After a poorly warping my first scarf, I had some warp threads shred which resulted in a very short scarf.  This time everything went right and I have a full sized scarf ready for Christmas gift giving.

I enjoy this sort of weaving, simple but creating a neat result.  Having only two shuttles I'm sorta limited on my plaid options and I haven't had the nerve to try out too many lace patterns, in part because I don't have any pick-up sticks.

- Details -

Project Name: Second Try Houndstooth

Draft: Grab and Go Bag by Liz Gipson in Weaving Made Easy

Recipient: Probably Grampa

Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Salsa Heather and Bittersweet

Modifications: None

New Skills: Actually not getting my warp threads shredded by using paper as warp separator.

Feedback:

• Yarn: Palette has such great colors (they recently went up to 150 shades) but I don't enjoy knitting stranded colorwork so this a great way to use it.  It is a bit rough but it is perfect for weaving.
• Draft: So easy and yet creates such a complex finished project.

Re-Weave?: Yep, I already have another one warped up and another 5 or so of color sets to go.