One is the loneliest number

Now that the song is running through your head - I give you a current WIP.



Labyrinth Sock out of the fabulous "Socks from the Toe Up" by Wendy Johnson. Ravelry tells me I started this sock on May 16th. It spent a lot of time riding around with me being ignored but taking lots of rides in the car.... I pulled it out of the bag 2 days ago finished up the gusset increases and knit half the leg - I finished it up last night and it's ready to be worn if it only had a partner. Please do not think that my taking 3 months to knit 1 sock is by any way a disparagement on either the book or the yarn. I just found some other things to work on (Girasole - I am talking about you!) and sewing :) Maybe the 2nd sock won't take so long! Oh - it's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Iris Garden knit on my handy Addi's size 2.

What's going on....

So this week there is no sewing going on at the house - why? It was past time for the sewing machine to have a cleaning and tune-up! I finished sewing up some bags and then packed up the Elna to take over to Intown Quilters (see link on the side-bar). They have a deal with a local place that does cleanings and repairs on sewing machines. I haven't heard from them since I dropped off my baby so I'm hoping that everything is going along well with the cleaning. My elna was my mothers' - she gave it to me several years ago and I've loved sewing with it. When I took it in to IQ one of the ladies recognized the carry case and then praised the machine - she had apparently had one years ago and loved it :) I had been a bit nervous about dropping her off, but with those comments I knew everything would be OK.

So instead of filling my day with sewing I've been trying to do some other things around the house - I cleaned a bunch of stuff out of the office - YAY!! And Sunday evening I did some cooking... I'll do a separate post for that because I have a bunch of photos to go with that post too.

Recipe Time!

I've been keeping myself busy making bags and even getting a little bit of knitting. My girasole is coming along slowly - up to 640 stitches around so each row takes a bit of time.

I made hummus today as we're having a "greek" geek night tonight and I thought I would post my mom's "secret" hummus recipe for everyone. This is an easy recipe and makes really good hummus.

Here's what you need:
2 cans Garbanzo beans
1 teaspoon salt (I use kosher salt)
2 cloves of garlic (I cheat and use the prepared diced garlic)
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 to 1/2 cup lemon juice

olive oil & chopped parsley for garnish

Drain 1 can garbanzo beans and reserve the liquid. Pour the other can including juice into your food processor. Add salt, garlic and tahini into the food processor and turn on. Add the lemon juice to help with the blending. Process until smooth. Taste! Add more lemon juice if needed or the extra garbazo juice if it's too thick.

That's it! So easy and good!

Substitutions - you can sub peanut butter if you can't find tahini. Also while processing, you can add more garlic if you like or black olives or roasted red peppers to make a different tasting hummus.

Use pita chips, carrot sticks, celery sticks or just use a spoon to eat!

Sewing and whatnot

I've been pretty busy since I opened up the etsy shop (and even busier since WendyKnits blogged about my bag!) So not much knitting has been going on here - just bags, bags and more bags! And I do tell people that I'm owned by cats so they know if they're allergic. Here's Joon "approving" of the most recent batch of fabric. Don't worry - I had just brought the fabric home and was taking photos - now they're off to the wash and then I'll make some more bags! Wheeeeeee!

Project Bags

I've been spending time (and my fabric stash) sewing sock knitting project bags. They're approximately 8" deep and 5x5" across the bottom. Here are a few photos of the finished products.





And I've opened up an etsy store where you can view even more photos and purchase the bags! It's OliviaKnits of course! I am planning on making some zippered bags and larger totes as well but since the sock projects are near and dear to my heart I started with those ones first.

I've been a busy girl

I started 2 new knitting projects and spent today sewing little project bags! First the knitting - I'm participating in a knit-a-long hosted by Sheri over at the Loopy Ewe. It's for the Jared Flood pattern Girasole. I'm knitting the blanket size using Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Natural. I've finished Charts A & B and am halfway through Chart C.

Here's a photo!



The next new project - well... it's a SEKRIT. But I have a pretty placeholder photo from outside my house.



Now - onto the sewn bags! I have a stash of fabric that I was telling you about when I was making those pretty aprons a couple of weeks ago. I've seen some really cute project bags that friends have brought into the knitting groups I go to and I've seen some other cute ones on blogs I've read. So, I decided to take up my stash and make some cute bags and I will be selling a few too - cause I haven't found a job yet and I've got to work with what I have (make that stash WORK baby WORK!).

All of the bags I made today are roughly 8.5 inches tall and 5x5 across the bottom and are completely reversible. They have 2 handles - and the longer one tucks through the short handle. The bags will hold a cake of sock yarn with room to spare!



If any of you are interested in purchasing one of these bags - please let me know :)

Swan Song

So I was having a bit of the blahs earlier in the week and despite a successful trip to Goodwill to find so "fabric" for repurposed tote bags I didn't do to much knitting this week until tonight. But tonight I knit the gusset, the heel and 1 leg repeat on the 2nd Swan Song - yeah!



And here's the obligatory progress shot. To recap - it's a free pattern from WendyKnits - just click the link on the sidebar and once you're over on her blog check out the free patterns! It's knit using Pagewood Farms in Orange Spice. Most of the time I can get gauge on Wendy's sock patterns using size 1's, but this time I had to go with size 0's (but that's what she called for in the pattern).

I'm hoping to get up to Charlotte on Saturday for at least the dinner part of the Wendy visit there (she's teaching classes at Charlotte Yarn this weekend) but I probably won't know until sometime tomorrow - and it also depends on if the boss will let me work all day tomorrow or come in early to finish my hours on Saturday. We'll see!

At least there is progress on the knitting front!

Recently I've been feeling the 2 steps forward 12 steps backward.... but at least there is knitting progress. This is the Swan Song pattern by WendyKnits! You can click the link on the sidebar to her blog where it's located in her free patterns! I'm using Pagewood Farms Yukon in the color "Orange Spice". Now I'm not normally an orangey-type of girl, but mom bought this for me and the more I knit it, the more I love it. It's definitely not something *I* would have bought myself, but it's going to be fun wearing it! I know it will wear well because I've already used this yarn for a pair of Hedera's for the roomie! Also, yesterday I finished (finally) a baby surprise jacket for my mom to gift to one of her friends. Now I just need to get it mailed off to her.

Not Knitting

I know I just blogged the other day, but I wanted to tell you about my "other" crafting! In fact, this was my first craft experience, not the knitting.... Please to be not freaking out!


Here I am - all set up on the dining room table - plenty of light, room enough for everything and a partial view of the TV...

And the backstory.... A month or six weeks ago, I saw a cute Amy Butler (tm) pattern at Knitch for the "Domestic Goddess" Apron pattern. My mom cooks quite a bit and in the past has sent me an apron (or two)... and I thought I'd return the favor! While she was here for Stitches South we went into Knitch and I had her pick out the fabric for her apron. Now, if I had any less procrastination flowing through my body I would have sewn the apron up sometime between Saturday night and today.... Why? Because I had to search for a particular purse/tote for mom and finally found it on eBay. Today it arrived at the house and I took it off to the post office and when I got home I started and finished her apron.... so I'll have to send it off seperately. Oh well... she'll still love it! Also, the piano man's mother, who has us over quite often for dinner *always* wears an apron while getting together the dinner stuffs - so she's getting one too. We'll see her in a week, but hopefully her apron will be finished tomorrow!


Here's the finished apron for Mom! I'll show you the one for PM's mom when it's finished!

The pattern is very well written and only took me a couple hours to finish - I followed the directions and top-sewed and interfaced and didn't take any short-cuts on it... I hope the mom's love their aprons!

Getting out the machine and all has really gotten me thinking about sewing up some cute knitting project bags... and, well, while not quite as voluminous as my yarn stash - this one's older!



It's almost *all* fat quarters too - I do still have a mind to sew myself a red/white log cabin quilt and you can't see any of that fabric at all :)

Recipe for happiness

I've really wanted to keep this primarily a knitting blog and not go on about my personal life but I've been having trouble recently with my job search and subsequent $$ troubles - but I may have found a recipe for temporary happiness:



That's Pagewood Farms Alyeska (has the CASHMERE - hello!) and my favorite chocolate ever.... the plain Hershey's bar.


omnomnomnomnom.... happiness here I come!

ps - I also feel I should apologize to my mother for not handing this over to her a couple of weeks ago while she was here. Turquoise is her favorite color. Sorry Mom - this one's for me. XOXO

pps - I'm knitting Kai-Mei from Cookie A.'s new book Sock Innovation!

Progress shot!

Well - there has been a little hiatus on the knitting front. I spent a couple days last week helping Liz out at the theatre sewing costumes for the improvised soap opera Scandal: Under the Big Top. I had a blast and got the last costume on the improvisor about 10 seconds before the show started - it was awesome!



I finished up the first of the Van Dyke socks out of the new book by Wendy Johnson - "Socks from the Toe Up". This is one of the sport weight sock patterns and if I had more time it would go along pretty quickly. I did cast on the second one last night and am almost to the gusset increases already... I am using BMFA Socks That Rock (medium) in Pink Granite. This colorway came from the sock club and to be honest, I wasn't thrilled with the pattern and have cast on using this yarn for a couple of different projects that didn't work out. This yarn definitely matched up with this pattern and that makes me terribly happy! Not much other knitting is going on right now - but I did get out and mow the lawn today!

And then there was more....

A finished object for you - Nanner Socks by the fabulous WendyKnits!



Pattern: Nanner Socks by WendyKnits - free on her website www.wendyknits.com
Yarn: NummaNumma Toasty in Brunch for Beth
Needles: Addi turbos size 1.5
Mods: None - didn't need any! This is a toe-up pattern so you can make them as long/short as you like and I like them just the way I made them! It took about 2 weeks from start to finish but there were actually some days I didn't knit and some days I knit on a BSJ...

And then there was Stitches South this past weekend! Mom flew in Friday night and also an old family friend Paula drove in on Friday for the event as well. We went to the marketplace on Saturday and walked around ALL day! I was *really* good until I got to the end of row 400 and then I fell down... and fell down pretty hard!



From the top left - Brooks Farm Mas Acero, Miss Babs in Chocolate Roses, Anzula Sock Yarn, Miss Babs in Waterfall and Maple Creek Farm in Pretty in Pink.... I could have bought SO much more but I ran out of money! At the end of the night we all went over to the dinner hosted by Brittany the KnitWitch over at Scalini's which was just up the road about 2 miles... Dinner was SO good and I tried really hard not to make a fool of myself over the garlic rolls! Her dad owns the restaurant and I heard him saying that the recipe for the garlic rolls is butter and garlic - and when you think there's enough garlic.... Double it! That's my kind of recipe! The food was so great and they also had a raffle for prizes. Lots of great things from Knitch, Quiddity Jane made 2 knitting bags, gift certificates from vendors - I wanted to win EVERYTHING and finally I won something:



The grand prize! So incredible - not pictured, a ball winder! I couldn't believe it! When we got back to the house both Paula and Mom said I had too much yarn (they didn't even see it all!) and it may be true (or not) since most of my stash is sock yarn it doesn't count, right??

More Finished Objects!

I know it's not quite been 2 weeks - but maybe I'll actually start blogging more than twice a month! I've got some nice things to show you...

Remember that lone sock "Glynis" I showed you in the last post? Well... now I've got a pair!



Pattern: Glynis by Cookie A. out of Sock Innovations
Yarn: Shibui Sock in Jewel - 2 skeins.
Mods: None, but I did find the error in the foot pattern chart - row 8, the last K3tog is actually a K2tog. It's now on the errata page over at Interweave Knits.

Also finished:



Pattern: Marigold Socks by Pamela Wynne (free on Ravelry)
Yarn: Araucania Multy colorway #307
Needles: Addis size 1 (or 1.5)
Mods: None - Cast on for these February 16th and they've been waiting for a little while to be finished... but they're done now and off to the roomie for her wearing pleasure!

Now to decide what to knit next! Oh, the possibilities!

2 week update

Ok - I've got some things to show you! I've been knitting and stashing some yarn!



This is the Victorian Neck Cozy by Wendy Johnson - and it's a free pattern on her website - www.wendyknits.com
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Grimm's Willow Wren
Needle: Size 3 addi's
Mods: Used size 3's as the pattern is written for sportweight yarn and I used a sock yarn. Otherwise, no mods!
Notes: First time doing a knitted border - once I wrapped my head around it, it was pretty easy, the pattern is well written and the charts are clear. Wendy has *great* patterns!



I also did some shopping at the Loopy Ewe - a friend was kind enough to give me a gift certificate and I just went a little *crazy* ;) From top to bottom: Cascade Handpaints in Dark Sunset, Duets Skinny in Plum Marmalade, The Sanguine Gryphone in Clotho, and Bellamoden in Red Badge of Courage.



Also this week I got Cookie A.'s new book - Sock Innovation and cast on for Glynis using Shibui Sock in the Jewel colorway. First sock finished minutes ago - 2 days for 1 sock, hello MOJO! This is a very nice book with a huge techniques section, beautiful pictures and new patterns. I have had a bit of trouble with the glynis chart - but honestly it most likely is a problem between book and user! I made it work however and the sock looks great - must go now and cast on for the second one!

Finished Object

Hey all! I've got a very pretty FO to show off to you!



Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark in the book Wrap Style
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% superwash in Buxtranzl (boxwood) from the first Wollmeise Sock Club shipment
Needles: Size 6 Addis
Mods: 12 pattern repeats instead of the 8 the pattern calls for
Notes: Cast on March 1, finished and blocked March 11. This is a very easy pattern - I found the pattern repeat easily memorized - I even took off 3 or 4 days of knitting and still finished this in under 2 weeks! YAY!

Knitting Progress

So, I'm trying to do a few more posts than recently, and I've been knitting (surprise) so here's the progress!



With a bad case of KDD (knitters' ADD) I cast on the Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark (Wrap Style) on Sunday (yes, yesterday!) I knit the neck and 2 body repeats yesterday and blew through 4 more body repeats today. If I get some QKT (quality knitting time) tomorrow after work, I may be able to finish this bad boy... I only have 2 more repeats on the body, the edging and then cast off! This is a very FAST knit and a pretty easy lace pattern as they go. I'm using the Buxtranzel Wollmeise from the first sock club shipment and I'm really loving it.

Yesterday, I also cast on for the Victorian Neck Cozy by WendyKnits (I told you KDD!) I was making a few mistakes in the Shetland triangle, but still felt like knitting so I cast on and knit about 3 rows... No progress shot of this as I haven't picked it up yet today. I also cast on for a garter stitch discloth (KDD for reals) because I was *tired* but waiting for a phone call from the bf... luckily, he called very soon after and I went to bed! I did not cast on the 2nd marigold sock however, but will probably do that by the end of the week. Happy knitting everyone!

Mid February Update

I'd call it something different and clever but that is what it is and that's all I got right now. I have been doing a whole bunch of knitting - see?



Pattern: Earl Grey by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (free on her blog)
Yarn: Bearfoot by Mountain Colors in the colorway Obsidian
Used approximately 1 full skein for E's large feet!
Notes: Knit for the Lime & Violet Sock Marathon, started a wee bit early on January 30th (official start date is 2/1) and finished up on the 16th of February. I did have to stop knitting on them for about a week to knit on these:



Pattern: Fetchings by Cheryl Niamath (Niamith?) off of Knitty!
Yarn: Shepherd's Wool in Granite purchased at Knitch
Used: 87 yards total
Notes: Knit by request for my friend Beth who is travelling to Prague in a couple of weeks! However, I should have totally asked her if she wanted any modifications - we met and then she asked if it was possible to make them longer! No problem.... the yarn has 250 yards in a skein, so there are plenty of left-overs.... but in the mean-time, I had cast on for these:



Pattern: Marigold Socks - free pattern link on Ravelry (sorry can't remember the designer's name off hand)
Yarn: Araucania Multy color 307
Notes: Toe up (obviously) these are for the fabulous roomie! They have been much delayed, but the picture is of about 2 hours knitting, so I am *hoping* they move pretty quickly and they'll also be tallyed for the marathon when finished.... The knitting has been delayed so I can knit this:



Pattern: Fetching now in extra long! I'm totally making this up as I go along and I can only hope to remember what I've done so far! Beth is leaving out of town in just over a week but I cast these on yesterday and so there you go... she'll have them by Monday I swear!

And now - a sleepy kitty picture to keep you until next time!



Gabriel needed some snuggle time on my lap and he looked so cute I *had* to take a few pictures!

New Year FO's and new projects!

Hey everyone,
I have 2 FO's for you already. The first is a pair of socks - Elfine Socks



drying over the rack as I finished them on Saturday (and wore them to Knitch to show off on Sunday) - I began these socks in July 2007. I know, such a slacker.... I totally blame the other shiny knitted objects I have finished. Also the lace pattern is quite similar to the Titania Socks and I got very bored. They are knit toe up with a short row heel and I'm happy with them even though I did have to fiddle around with needle size because they took so darn long to finish.

FO the second - the February Lady Sweater -


Also drying on the rack - I do still have to attach the buttons, but that's it! Also, so you know, there are sleeves, I just tucked them underneath the rack so the weight of the damp sleeves wouldn't stretch out. Three weeks from start to finish - crazy!

Also - I have just joined the LimeNViolet Sock Marathon 2009, running February 1 through August .... (psst - and I'm a mod for the group too!) So here is my burning shame:



That's all my sock yarn laid out in a single layer on my bed.... over 30,500 yards of it... and as a disclaimer, this does include both fingering weight and sport weight yarn bought *specifically* for socks. I plan on knitting at least 6 pairs of socks this year and hopefully a few other things that will use up a lot of this stash.