MS3 DONE!

So its finally finished. The knitting was actually finished several days ago. I just had to finally get around to blocking her. Looking back on the project I'm proud. I'm proud that I finished it. There was more than one occassion when I wanted to quit. The first clue was the hardest for me. And took so much concentrations. I think this project made me grow as a knitter. I learned a lot, while still having fun. Now on to the pictures!
First a bath:

And here we are all pinned out. blocking with the aid of Carly's blocking wires. Thank you so much Carly. We started out attempting to block this without wires and wow! So glad I have knitting friends to bum tools off of.

Now to just let the pictures speak for themself.









Pattern: "Swan Lake / Mystery Stole 3 by Melanie Gibbons"
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare - Merino Wool Lace Weight. I used one (880yards 100g) with 16.3g leftover.
needles:3.25mm (us 3)
started: sometime in Dec. After Justin got home from deployment. Not sure what day.
finished July 5

socks for Amie

Ok so these socks are my June socks. I generally wanted to not count socks unless I cast on and off during the month. But with life and other projects and what not these are the only socks that will get finished in June.


Pattern: Feather & Fan Socks by Judy Sumner
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino Sock 2/6 color: pinata
needles:2.0mm (us 0)
started: May 29
finished June 17

hopefully no more cheating on the stash sock front. sorry Amie I still haven't put these in the mail. I have them all packaged up so its just making it to the post office now. hehe.

The mittens have gotten little else done on them since the last post. I picked them up this morning but I'm not feeling like colorwork today. I did finally go get printer ink. But haven't printed off the next clue for MS3 yet. I have moved the laptop downstairs and the printer is upstairs and not even plugged in right now. So motivation to hook everything back up is what's holding me up. Hopefully soon. I did 2 test knits since the last time I blogged. When patterns are releases I'll share details on those. Both projects are socks. I also got bored of knitting my current projects and knit like 6 dishcloths. I dont put those on ravelry or blog or picture them since they take me like 30 minutes or less to knit.

Its warmed up a bunch and we are trying to not turn the air on... and when you are this hot working with wool of any weight seems less exciting. But as I'm an addict I doubt this will hold me up long.

Mitten love

So I pulled out an old project that I had actually forgotten about. When I pulled it out the other day other than the corrugated ribbing only a few rows had been worked.
I tossed it aside in favor of a faster project at the time (it was for a swap). When going thru the knitting bags/baskets/boxes/etc the other day. I found the neglected mitten. I'm awaiting a package in the mail (a test knit. more details later) and didn't want to start anything new. I still haven't managed to remember to pick up printer ink. So this mitten was the perfect distraction until the mail arrived.
I finished the mitten today. Tho its not blocked yet and needs a mate. But I couldn't help but want to share these pictures with you. First off the inside. The floats. Because we all know seeing the inside is just as much fun as the outside (sometimes more if its neat enough).


and the mitten. In all its glory (pictures fuzzy but we are to lazy to try to get another one since we didn't realize it was fuzzy until already up on flickr and ravelry).


Pattern:Knitting Marvelous Mittens by Charlene Schurch #20
Yarn: knitpicks palette in blue and brownsheep wildefoote in black
needles: size 2.0mm


I can't wait to get this pair finished and blocked. I'm already picking out other color combinations and patterns. There is going to be more mitten knitting going on in my future.

May Stash Socks

Pattern: k3p1 ribbing, slip st heel flap, with a wedge toe
Yarn: YarnPirate Merino sock color: rebel
needles:2.0mm (us 0)
started: May 12
finished May 19
notes: really liked the yarn. very squishy and soft. we found several knots when winding it. each sock had its own knot, and if memory serves there is at least 1 more in what's leftover. Speaking of leftovers I had 30.4g leftover.

This yarn started out as Feather Fan Socks. But they were to small. I was lazy and didn't want to upsize the pattern. dont even get me started on how changing to bigger needles isn't a good way to upsize a pattern.


I think the yarn knit up prettier in the ff pattern. But I dont totally dislike the fo.

(playing with picture sizing. If I adjust the width to make it fit properly on here it gets blurry. when i dont adjust it its off center.)

So Soft.... sock washing

I love when yarn gets softer when you wash it. For those curious Fearless Fibers gets TONS softer when you wash it. They are so dreamy feeling.

Austermann Step also gets slightly softer with a wash.

Smooshy doesn't change at all.

Sock Contest

"Melissa" is hosting a sock contest on her blog. All she ask is that you send her an email with the pictures of the socks you've knit since last July.

Turns out I've knit 15 pair of socks in the last year.

always knitting

Finished Justin's socks. Not 100% thrilled with them. But they fit perfectly and he really likes them. I absolutely love LOVE the yarn (but not the way the colors worked on this one).


Pattern: Justin's basic sock pattern
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino Sock 2/6
color: SeaStorm
Needles: 2.0mm
Start: April 16
Finish: May 7


Finished clue 4 on the lace the other day. Will have to wait a bit before starting clue 5 (out of ink in my printer and its definately a pattern I need printed out. Can't see myself working off the computer for this one).



(I hate how the pictures are fuzzy. On ravelry and flickr they dont look fuzzy. and when we take them they are much better looking. so I'm not sure if its something I'm doing wrong when I post them here? anyone?)

project update

Pretty close to throwing in the towel on Justin's current sock in progress. Frogged back twice and still running into the flashing issue. I'm gonna go with third times a charm theory. But if that fails the sock will go away and I'll just pull out new yarn. I will say that so far the yarn is holding up really well, even with all the ripping back.

As far as MS3 is going. I finished clue 3 last night. I need to print the next section. Clue 4 is twice as big as the previous couple clues (it was a double weeker clue) so it might take me a bit longer. I really like how this lace it knitting up. I can't wait to block it. The blocker magic. Hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pictures of this one.

some wip

Ran into some issues with "Justin's 4th pair". after doing the 31 gusset decreases the yarn started to flash. This picture is with the needles removed just before I frogged back to the last decrease.
(this picture isn't great. The flash makes the yarn look all odd.)
My plan is to do another decrease or two and see if that fixes it. He will have to then try the sock on and check that it isn't to tight. I'm pretty sure going down just 2 stitches isn't going to make that much of a difference. I think I'll need to change at least 4 if not more than that to see much of a difference. But Justin is afraid going down 4 will make it to tight. He says right now it is the perfect fit. But I dont want to finish with it flashing like that. When I first started the socks I had to find the perfect combo of number of stitches and needle size to prevent it. Then I feared it would show up in the gusset or heel flap. When it did neither I totally didn't expect it to when I got back down to my original cast on number. But with half the sock know stockinette instead of all ribbing there is flashing. blah...

Since the issue with his sock happened while he was at work. I put it asside and was able to pick MS3 back up. Yes I still refer to it as MS3 instead of "Swan Lake".

This is it after finishing clue 2 and a couple rows of clue 3. (Figured it was time for a nice blog update.) I totally love knitting lace now. I finished Amie's Wedding lace (sorry no pictures. still working on that. was dumb and didn't take one.) I was really itching for more lace down in GA. So it was a real treat to get back to some when I got home. I decided instead of starting something new I'd finish MS3. It has been on hold for like 3 months. Clue 1 tried as hard as it could to kick my butt. And almost did. I was ready to give up on lace. Then I knit the wedding lace and loved it. I'm glad I picked MS3 back up. Clue 2 went extremely fast. I started it yesterday and finished up today. With very little knitting time actually available. I printed off clue 3 tonight.

I dont think I'll have a hard time finishing my goal of 3 lace projects this year. Its addicting. As is most knitting. When I was working on Rogue all I could think about was doing more sweaters. Working on socks makes me want to knit more socks, and now working on lace makes me want to knit more lace. Knitting is just enjoyable. Safe to say I'm more than a little addicted to knitting.

finished april socks

all done!

April Socks

So I'm keeping up so far. But I'm glad that I didn't make the 2 socks a month goal. I love knitting socks but I'm really aching to get something else on my needles. SSS seems to be creeping up with each pair I knit.


Pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt
Yarn: The Knittery 4ply Sock: Merino Cashmere (OLD)
color: Lakeside Flora
Needles: 2.25mm
Start: April 7
Finish: Not yet this is only sock 1

This yarn is thicker than what I'm use to. which makes knitting with it seem odd to me. But its super soft. Justin loves how the "stripes" spiral around. I'm not as fond of that. But its not horrible I guess. These colors knit up totally make me think of the Grinch.

sweetheart socks (my march stash socks)

pattern:Sweetheart Socks by Chrissy Gardiner (interweave knit holiday 07)
needles:2.0mm (us size 0)
yarn: Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn
color: infatuation
start: March 6
finish: March 30
notes: changed the cables on the back of the leg. the pattern shows up much better in person than in the picture. its not as lost in real life as it appears. Was able to memorize the chart which made things easier.
Now lets talk about the yarn. When winding this yarn into a ball I ran into some unhappiness. Lots of knots. We stopped counting after 7 I think. And there were more than that. The two socks from the same ball (550 yard ball to start with) are different. which i know is the case with lots of handpainted. One sock is darker than the other. the yarn itself has it issues other than just the knots. It goes from thick to think speratically. Which was a little annoying. Not sure how the yarn will hold up to washing as I've not washed or blocked these (I normally wear them first then do that, when they are for me. and these are). I dont want to say the yarn is complete crap because its an awesome price for the yardage and the colors are amazing. Will give another review after I've worn and washed them a few times. But those are the issues so far. It is soft yarn, but did start to get a little fuzzy just from knitting with it (just trying to make sure I mention everything). I got both pair of socks for my us size 8.5 foot out of the 1 skein with 33.7g leftover.

socks took me longer. Being in GA really changed the amount of knitting time available to me. I have a lot less here believe it or not. Plus we are spending weekends at my cousins house and so busy down there no knitting time at all. Started to get worried that I'd never finish these, but here they are.

Justin's #3

Because I couldn't resist the urge to cast on another pair of socks. Justin now has 3 pair.



Yarn:Austermann Step
Needles: 2.0mm (us 0)
Pattern:His Basic k3p1 rib. We did a longer heel flap this time that he thinks fits better than his last pair. But we think we need to do a couple more rows next time. Will test it out and see. This pair like the last has a round toe.
Start Date: Feb 27
Finish Date: Mar 4


The lace is coming along nicely. I've finished the little flower section and just have to do the repeat of the LoV chart. Then the edge chart (which right now I dont have). I'll do my best to post another picture once this chart is finished.

changes and a wip

Some changes are being made here at PixieRose Knits. Before both Amie and myself would sign in as pixierose to make post. This got a little confusing for some people (example when my local knit group asked me about teaching knitting when that was Amie). So now we are posting as separate identities. It also got a little confusing when I'd comment on other blogs. I've commented as PixieRose, Gayle_Rose, JessicaRose, etc. Now I'll post as JessicaRose. The goal is also to post more. I think I can easily accomplish this. Amie has a lot on her plate right now. Her wedding is coming up and work and what not. But hopefully she'll start posting more too because she is an amazing knitter and needs to show her stuff off more. That and come on, she created our blog. As of right now she hasn't created her "identity" but I'm sure she will soon.

So this is my first post on here as JessicaRose. And for my first post I'll show off progress on the wedding lace.

some FO's enjoy

Seriously need to update more. Will try to work on that. I have plenty to show. I finished Rogue. I've knit 4 pair of socks (can only show off 3 as one pair was a test knit and the patterns not released yet. Will show them off as soon as I can tho because I love them). so lets get to those pictures.

Rogue

Pattern: "Rogue" by Jenna Wilson
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in Dark Natural Mix (a little over 5 skeins)
Needles: 4.5mm
Started: Aug 25, 2007 (official cast on)
Finished: Feb 19, 2008 (officially got everything woven in and sewn together)
notes: I learned a lot with this pattern. I could have gotten it done a lot faster if I hadn't kept hiding it behind my couch. I hide it for various reasons. Either I was struggling a little or just didnt' have time to work on it. Its a good pattern. I might knit it again someday.

Justin's Second pair of socks

Pattern: Basic k3p1 rib with a slip stitch heel flap and a round toe
Yarn: Koigu in p312
Needles: 2.0mm
Started: Jan 2
Finished Jan 8
notes: Had a little trouble finding a toe. But Justin loves this round toe and has requested it again on his next pair.

Ugliest socks EVER

Pattern: another k3p1 rib witha short row heel and standard wedge toe
Yarn: Skacel Collection, Inc. Trampoline
Needles: 2.0mm
Started: Feb 12
finished Feb 17
notes: these were my feb stash socks. The yarn had been in stash for several years. I got it when I was first learning socks and dont recommend stretchy yarn when learning. I figured it was right with the stash club to get it out of my stash. I picked the yarn when pregnant and wow its UGLY knit up.

Lenore

Pattern: "Lenore" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (ravelry link)
Yarn: DiC smooshy in Gothic Rose
Needles: 2.0mm
Started: Feb 17
Finished Feb 22
notes: The yarn is so soft and squishy. Had about 32g leftover. The pattern is well written and knit up fast.


Now I'm working on Amie's wedding lace. Sorry no current pictures, but will try to get one soon.

~Jessica Rose

2008 Goals

So I'm not usually big about setting goals for myself. Especially knit related ones. But this year I've decided that there are things I want to do and if I say them aloud they are more likely to happen.

first up is the "socks from stash" group I joined. Its a kal blog. One pair of socks a month from stash yarn. So first goal is at least 12 pair of socks. Most likely I'll knit more than 12. I started to set my goal at 2 pair a month. But there are other things I want to knit and I dont want to get stressed out with my goals. So at least one pair even tho more are possible and likely.

Next up is lace. I did successfully fix the mistake in the lace I'm working on. But because lace takes a lot more concentration and is impossible to knit around Nathan my lace goal is not very high. I want to complete 3 lace shawl/stoles this year. Big (or well decent sized) ones. One will be the one currently on needles. Another will be Amie's wedding lace. The third I've not picked yet but I have plenty of stashed lace yarn and ideas. I might as for help on deciding this later. This goal may even be small by my standards but since I've yet to actually complete a lace project I dont want to set my goal so high that I'm destined to fail. So 3 it is.

I MUST complete Rogue this year. I have half a hood and 2 sleeves to knit. So this is possible. I've just lost my rogue mojo. I've had this pattern for like 2 years and the yarn for forever. I must have this sweater off my needles and in wearable form.

There are other goals I have in mind but these are the main ones for right now. Might not sound like much. But I have big plans for knitting in 08. This is just the beginning.

~Jessica

scary lace

So I started knitting some lace a few nights ago. Not exactly easy to do with Nathan, so I was hoping since Justin was home I'd be able to manage it. Well last night I was knitting along and they both asked me like a dozen questions. and well yes you guessed it there is a mistake in the knitting. I can't find it. I'm annoyed and disappointed. I want to take the lace and throw it out a window (not literally). I'm pretty sure all I need to do is tink back 2 rows and I'll be fine. But with how annoyed I am there is no way I can tink back 160 stitches.

This was suppose to be my practice lace before starting Amie's wedding lace. Which I really really need to start because I'm horrible nervous about finishing it on time. Since this is a deadline I can't move around.

Other than I'm a stitch short the lace itself looks really good. I was pretty proud of myself. I kept stretching it out and trying to show Justin. I don't know if he truly appreciated what I was showing him. But he humored me for the most part.

~Jessica

one sock down

Finished up the first of Lynette's uptown boot socks.

pattern: uptown boot socks by Jennifer L. Appleby (favorite socks book)
yarn: lorna's laces shepherd sock 6ns Douglas Fir
needles: crystal palace size 2mm (us 0)
size: small knit specifically to Lynette's measurements
yarn left from 50g ball 22.7g. Not enough to knit the second sock out of the same ball but pretty close. I'll knit from the second ball (I did buy it). And then with the leftovers I can knit Amie a pair (hope you like the color Amie).

~Jessica

bad joanns online

So I recently had an unpleasant experience. I ordered a blocking wire kit from joanns. I used their 50% off coupon. After a couple days my kit arrived. I opened it to find that only half the kit was there. The kit was suppose to include 12 of one size wire and 2 of the other. I had 6 of one and 1 of the other. I called customer service to report the problem and to hopefully get the rest of my kit. The lady I talked to was very rude with me. and all she would tell me was that she'd notify the warehouse. Not that they'd fix this problem as soon as possible, not that the rest of my kit would be mailed. Just that she'd notify the warehouse. That's all she told me. A week later I got another something in the mail from joanns. Its very rattly. I open it. Its the rest of the blocking kit (well at least my missing parts. Only they are packaged horribly. The kit comes in a tub. for storage, its to help keep your wires from getting damaged and stuff. When the first half of my kit arrived the tub had become opened in shipping but nothing had fallen out of the tub because the box it ships in is only a couple inches bigger than the tub and the wires are also the size of the tub. In the second shipment (the other half of my kit) the wires were not in the tub at all. They did include a tub but failed to put the wires in it. I'm 100% certain the wires were never in the tub because again the box they shipped in wouldn't have allowed the wires to have fallen out if they'd been in there to start with regardless of whether the tub caps came off or not.

~Jessica

stupid knitpicks

KnitPicks hates me. Its been several months that they've hated me. I'm not sure exactly how long ago this started its been at least the past 9 months that they've hated me. They refuse to let me order anything online. I sometimes manage to squeeze an order in. Usually I have to do it via the phone instead of the internet. Or if the internet does let me order I end up having to call and change things because the internet order got screwed up. The last time I ordered I had Amie order it for me. Because it just wouldn't let me order at all. Today I tried to order Cat Bordhi's new book "New Pathways for Sock knitters". But it wouldn't let me. I guess its not the worst thing since I dont really need to spend the money. But I want the book and I have the $20 to pay for the book. I should be able to get the book, right? sigh.

Maybe I'll break down and call.

~Jessica

admitting it is the first step.

so i've come to what is to me a horrifying conclusion. i'm becoming a yarn snob.

now, don't get me wrong. i have nothing against acrylic. 300+ yards of worsted weight for $2?! what a fantastic deal! and it's machine washable, too! and it's...just not very soft.

well, certain kinds aren't. simply soft...that's one of my top 3 yarn choices. love the stuff. i'm wearing a hat made of it right now and it's so comfy i keep forgetting i've got it on.

but right now i'm also knitting a stocking with red heart. not so very long ago i wouldn't have thought anything about this, but now...wow. i can barely knit a row without taking a break. there's superwash merino in my bag, calling to me! but it's for a self-designed gift, and the stocking is a paid commission. i. must. finish.

i'm giving myself a deadline. this stocking has to be finished in a week. which shouldn't be that hard, the thing's half-done already and it's just a normal stocking...oh sure, it's got some colorwork, but just a christmas tree...all of 2 colors and a simple shape. and i'm more than halfway through the tree anyway. but man, i have to talk myself into working on it. it's not that i don't enjoy the knitting. i do. i just don't enjoy the yarn. not at all. i never realized just how uncomfortable it is until now. of course, i haven't really worked with any red heart since, oh, i don't know...i discovered simply soft.

if only i could knit these stockings in simply soft...sadly, the colors are limited. plus these are reproductions of a 20-year-old stocking which was knit with, you guessed it, the same old scratchy yarn that gives acrylic a bad name.

i'm not a yarn snob. i'm not. this is not denial. i have nothing against the yarn i find at walmart. i have a huge stash of it, and i refuse to get rid of any of it in case i need it some time. (came in handy for this project, let me tell you...for 3 stockings, using two shades of green, red, white, peach, dark peach, black and 5 random ornament colors, i spent maybe $10 on yarn. the rest is from my stash.

anyway. sorry. just had to complain. plus i finished a row and had to take a break.

this really isn't great yarn. i know, it has its uses, but wow. scratchy. i've even begun to notice that the one red heart hat i have irritates my forehead. i never really thought about it before. maybe THAT was the real denial...

and for this stocking, it probably doesn't help that the tree green is double-stranded...i could only find a suitable color in sport weight.

for what it's worth, the stocking is looking rather nice, despite crappy yarn. i'd post a picture if i could, but, ya know, i'm on the work computer. i'm kind of amazed i even get to write this post. granted, it's not posted yet, so maybe this is all in vain.

Pea Pod Sweater

Since I finished Lynette's socks this morning I needed something else to cast on (avoiding Rogue... although I have no real reason to). So I finally cast on for the baby sweater for Justin's cousin. I ordered the yarn ages ago. I cast on and got pretty far in the sweater today. If nothing comes up I hope to finish the knitting part of it tomorrow. Not sure if I'll get it sewn together that fast tho. Just wanted to share. I'm proud of myself.

Its the pea pod baby sweater from interweaves (available as a free pdf download). Knit Picks swish dk in the asparagus color on us size 5 needles. I'm also doing the smallest size (3 month... so dont be overly impressed that I got that much knit today. its a tiny sweater).

~Jessica

Finished Lynette's socks.

Start date: november 1st (pretty late that night)
finished: november 6 (before noon)

will get them in the mail as soon as I can (maybe today... if not then definately tomorrow). Hopefully Lynette will love them and they will fit her perfectly and she can get a picture back to me for posting.

started with 100g ball of yarn. i have 43g leftover! wow right. I thought so too. the socks are 7" to the heel then 7.5" until the toe. and they come very very close to fitting me. I'm pretty amazed.

~Jessica

Lynette's Socks

Basic sock. k3p1 ribbing with a short row heel and toe. Knit over 60's stitches on size 2mm needles.



This is me wearing the sock. The sock is actually knit for a smaller foot so if you look closely you will see that the heel doesn't match up to mine properly. I put it on my own foot to prove that you should never underestimate the stretching power of ribbing. Although when not stretched out the sock looks small its actually a pretty decent sized sock.

The yarn is Knit Picks bare essentials (superwash wool/nylon fingering weight) that Lynette herself dyed when she came down and visited me this summer (Amie made a post about us dying our yarn that included pictures, I'd try to link to that post in this one but I dont know how). I've used all the knitpicks bare sock yarn and the superwash is by far the softest. And definately soaked up the color much nicer than the regular merino (non superwash) did.

~Jessica

Cast on?

Finished up knitting the clessidras last night. Finished grafting and weaving in ends this morning. They need a wash but they are done. Will try to get better pictures tomorrow. Had planned to try today but things got in the way. This is proof that I really am finished with them.


For a quick knit I made some baby booties and a hat today.


I can't decide what to cast on for next. I have Rogue on the needles. I'm about 65-70% finished with it. I have some baby knitting I need to get going on. And then there are of course tons of socks on my "to knit" list. So what to cast on for next? That is the question. Should I start some socks for Justin, for Nathan, myself... the baby sweater for Justin's cousin, the baby blanket, another BSJ..... the list really is endless. The yarn really is upstairs. But to decide seems so daunting right now.

~Jessica

clessidra progress

Been working on the clessidra's after a bit of a break. Had to stop to get some baby knits and some mittens out of the way. I have more baby knits I need to get done but I also want to finish these up since they were started forever ago. I've finished the calf shapping and am now working on the ankle shaping. After that they should finish up rather quickly (i mean it doesn't take long to knit a foot). I have real progress on them now considering it was only a week or ago that they only had a couple inches.

Just thought I'd update on progress. Will try to post finished pictures soon. Then I'm off to knit a baby sweater and finish Rogue (which I'm working on the hood. so only a hood and two sleeves to go and I'm done. would have already been finished with that one too except baby knits are getting in the way. well that and i messed up and had to frog back some. having to frog part of what you thought was finished tends to slow you down a bit. you lose motivation because lets face it frogging just isn't fun). But if I do keep up my progress on it I might finish mine before Amie. Hear that Amie perhaps I really did catch up to you and its like we knit them together. hehe

~Jessica

evil little buggers.

so. i was straightening up the area around my nightstand, which always has a few books and knitting projects laying around in it, and i found the lace pattern swatch i knitted for the bridesmaid shawls. i picked it up and stretched it out, admiring the pretty pattern, when suddenly there was a huge hole. sts started running up and down, ruining the pretty pattern. then i noticed the teensy little molted moth larvae (or whatever you'd call it) stuck to the swatch. i picked up the stockinette swatch, which was laying right there next to the lace pattern swatch, and same problem. so, okay, no huge problem...annoying, and sad to see a pretty piece of lace ruined, but it's just a swatch. no big deal. as long as they stay away from the actual shawl, which is in a bag downstairs, we'll be fine. (i haven't gone to check on it yet, i'm a little afraid. but i don't think they can get to it.)

then i had a moment of heartstopping fear as my eyes landed on the thick plastic shopping bag next to the nightstand. the bag that i use to transport my rogue back and forth, my 100% wool rogue. i carried it to the office and dumped it out, then picked it up and began to examine it carefully, checking each st for signs of damage. thankfully there were none. i love brown sheep naturespun. i knew it claimed to be mothproof but i doubted that it actually was. but that seems to be the case. there would have been no trouble for the moths to get at the sweater, it was just laying in a shopping bag with the handles gaping open. i mean, the last time i checked the sweater a brown recluse crawled out of the bag. (yeah. i know. *shudder* that's WHY it was the last time i checked the sweater.)

i'm still nervous. it won't fit in a freezer bag, but i think i'm going to find something a little sturdier to store it in. just in case.

-pixie

gift contest

Carly over at http://kasiaiscarly.blogspot.com/ is running a contest. this is my entry into that contest. the contest was to name the best and worst gifts you've ever gotten. here is my story:

Best gift by far would be last Christmas. Justin had to work on Christmas and all season his schedule was so hectic that he didn't get to order my gift till late. It arrived 2 days after Christmas and he was on duty (24 hour work day). He told me if it got there that day that I could open it without him but I refused. I had no clue what it could possible be but was more curious then ever. I asked for a hint and all he said was that it would keep me busy for a while. It turned out to be a very long day waiting for him to get home. When he finally got home the next morning it’s the first thing we did. He watched me open my gifts (yes plural). And they were both equally fantastic. The absolute perfect gifts for me.



Yes yes that is the complete series for Sex and the City and Friends! My two favorite shows of all times.

Now for the worst. The worst gift ever would have to be the souvenir I got from my ex husband. He deployed about a year after we got married. But only hit the last half of a deployment so he was only gone for like 3 months. He hit several ports during that time. And I was looking forward to some fantastic souvenirs when he got back. When he got back his family had come down for homecoming. He started dishing out gifts. He gave them some fantastic things and I just kept thinking that man if he got this great stuff for them I must have something awesome. Well when he got to me he handed me the tiniest package he had. I opened it and found a broken keychain. Found out later that he had actually bought it for his sister but then when it broke he just decided he’d give it to me instead. I have no picture. I’m pretty sure I promptly tossed it into the trash.

~Jessica

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Big news in blogland: I have the Internet again! Oh poor blog how I have missed you! But I'm back now. Got lots of stuff to update now. I've finished some things and added others, including some gifts and commissions. Some of which have also been finished. And Jess's socks are looking so good on here that I'm really having to fight the urge to not cast on a pair of Clessidras. Especially after seeing a modified pair on LJ Knitting the other day done toe-up with a short-row heel, my preferred technique.

But all those updates are just going to have to wait. Right now I'm anxious to finish this and get back to knitting. I paused in the middle of knitting a practice Anemoi mitten (to see how I like the pattern) to write a quick post. Because I have a new favorite knitting technique: corrugated ribbing. Now, I'm normally not a fan of how corrugated ribbing looks. And because of that, I've never tried knitting it. But the Anemoi mittens call for corrugated ribbing, so I gave it a try. And I'm in love. The technique is just so neat. It's fun! I'm really getting into a rhythm with it. I think I prefer it to regular ribbing. I think I still like the solid-color ribbing better for most things...but it's not nearly as much fun, heh. Maybe I'll just start using corrugated ribbing exclusively. I don't HAVE to use two different colors. I can just use two strands of the same color.

Okay, yeah, it's settled. I'm a knit nerd.

The reason I'm trying out the Anemoi mitten pattern is for the mitten swap on LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com/community/mittenswap I believe...right Jess?) Jess is the moderator, and she's doing an awesome job! I mean, I'm telling you, my partner is absolutely perfect for me. She's like the perfect combination of me and Luke. I'm impressed with how well-matched we are. I know Jess (with Hope's help) worked really hard on the matches, and it shows. Everyone seems to be really happy and excited about the swap. It's going great.

Oh, one more bit of news. We're on Ravelry now. And we dragged Lynette in with us, too. You can find me on there as pixieaep.

Okay, back to Anemoi!

-Pixie

sock post (picture heavy)

first up is the first clessidra. The second one has been cast on and I've gotten about 3inches worked so far.





Next are decent pictures of the monkey socks.





And finally decent pictures of the waving lace socks out of the handpainted yarn I got in my sock kit swap (thanks Genevieve)






I've cast on for my Rogue Hoodie again. This time not screwing it up. I've finished the hem and part of the bottom cable. Working on the kangaroo pocket (almost finished). Its going well and I hope to post some progress pictures soon.

~Jessica Rose

So I finally got around to getting new needles so I can finish my clessidra stockings. And well I'm not happy with them. They are so much weaker than my first set. But I emailed the company and told them what happened and they are sending me a replacement needle. So right now I'm really hoping that the replacement is more like my first set than this second set. I'm not happy with them at all.

In other knitting news I finished a baby jacket.


What an odd little mess right?



Its Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket
Started: towards the end of July 30
Finished: Beginning of Aug 06
Yarn: lionbrand cotton-ease (original) in pineapple color. Not really sure how much as the yarn had previously been frogged and I didn't worry with measuring it out.

No modifications although if i knit it again I'd change the button holes and possible try to figure out something to do to that top edge to make sewing it up a little easier.

This one is knit for my niece (soon to be stepsister Ashley is due in October). I'm now in search of the perfect buttons. I'm thinking something bright pink and happy. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any.

knitting progress

ok so I finished my waving lace socks (contrary to the picture they are the same size and they fit very nicely on my foot. just dont have a picture of that)

I finished some Monkey socks out of the yarn I dyed (Amie posted about).

I've started another pair.

I need to get some baby knitting done. But after several failed attempts at a sweater I have to get my nerve back to tackle it again.

~Rose

Fun in Virginia!

I'm in Virginia! I've been here since Sunday evening. Luke and I rode up with friend Lynette, and it has been absolutely wonderful. Hanging out with Jess and Nett and Luke is great, and my guy's so sweet, and he surprised me on the beach with a ring, but that's all non-knitting-related so I'll save it for my personal journal.

As for knitting content, first of all, knitting time with Jess and Amie! Yay! It's nice to be able to knit together instead of both knitting in front of our computers while IM'ing each other. Plus we have Nett here. And we taught her to knit! We'd taught her once before, but our time was limited and she had forgotten most of what we'd said. So we taught her again, and she knit a couple of swatches and said, "I want to knit a sock." This was...last night? She's now almost finished with the first of a pair of baby socks out of Knitpicks Essentials in Grass and size 1 needles. She's doing great, too. Really, only one mistake that she didn't tink back to correct: she got turned around and did a row of reverse stockinette at the edge of the heel. It looks intentional anyway, so not a big deal. Plus, this is literally her first project. On size 1 dpns with fingering weight. She's a quick learner.

*to the tune of Three Blind Mice* Three hot girls, three hot girls, see how they knit, see how they knit...



That's Nett on the left, working on her sock. I'm in the middle with my Zoknis. And Jess is on the right beginning a Baby Surprise Jacket.

Then tonight, we dyed yarn. Jess had a bunch of Knitpicks Bare of various types, and I had some Bare Essentials. We have a ton of pictures, but I'll only post a couple:

My yarn, which I'm calling Hippie...at least until I think of a better name. Anyone have any suggestions?



I added purple to the white areas after that picture was taken, and then it looked like this:



This is Nett's yarn. I think it's absolutely gorgeous. Reminds me of Lorna's Laces, honestly. I wish we'd gotten a good picture of it laying on the table, but we didn't, so here it is in the bowl:



And here Jess is putting the finishing touches on her yarn, which I've dubbed Flower Garden. It's similar to mine, but more pastel. She doesn't like it. I do. She has, um, "threatened" to use it in socks for me. I'm hoping she keeps her word. ;)



The yarn is still cooling in the kitchen. We need to go in there soon and rinse it. Jess may post more process photos later, and we'll definitely post some of the finished yarn. Complete with swatches, because I don't know about Jess or Nett, but I'm dying to see how they knit up!

This really has been an awesome trip. I don't wanna leave! At least I have till Saturday.

I love my friends! I love knitting time with my knitter friends!

(Oh yeah, and since Luke's right next to me...I love him too. Even though he doesn't knit.)

-Pixie

So I joined a sock kit swap over on livejournal. I convience Amie to join as well. We've already sent and recieved our kits. This is the kit I sent: http://community.livejournal.com/sock_kit_swap/10073.html. Which turns out I was paired with a local girl. So I got her to join the knitting group. And we are all set to get together and knit. This is the kit Amie sent: http://community.livejournal.com/sock_kit_swap/10971.html. The girl that Amie sent to also happen to be who sent to me. She is awesome. I love her. We've been emailing back and forth since we first got paired up. She is a total hoot. This is the kit she sent me: http://community.livejournal.com/sock_kit_swap/11618.html. Now right now we dont have pictures of the kit Amie got because her work computer is dumb and wont let her upload pictures. But this is the kit Amie got: http://community.livejournal.com/sock_kit_swap/9714.html

I've already started knitting with my yarn.


Its the waving lace sock pattern from interweave knits (featured on the front cover of the favorite socks book). I'm working it with the self dyed yarn that I got in my kit (which is 75%wool 25% silk and very nice to work with) and size 1 (2.25mm) needles.



this is another shot of my progress so far. These pictures are taken inside with very poor lighting and with my phone. The color is much nicer than this. But it was raining when I took the first picture and dark when I took the second. So no bright sunny yummy sock in progress shot. I was a bad knitting and failed to do a gauge swatch for these I just picked up needles I wanted to use, yarn I wanted to use and a pattern I thought would be nice. so this picture is really me seeing if they are a disaster before I start working on the heel. they aren't. So I'm happy.

Amie is coming to visit me. Her and Luke (her fiance') and our friend Lynette are driving down on the 15th. I'm so excited. We are going to venture to some of the local yarn shops. Maybe make a trip up to twisted sisters in williamsburg. Of course loads of beach time and playing with Nathan time (my friends adore him. they are like aunts to him and he is like a nephew to them). I'm super excited about their visit. We are even considering a yarn dying extravaganza. But the details haven't exactly been worked out yet.

Another thing me and Amie plan to do while she is down is work on our blog a little (putting up something in our info). And hopefully uploading some pictures so that you can see all the awesome stuff Amie has been knitting. She is a fo queen right now. Wiping out stuff like no ones business.

But I guess this is enough of an update for now. just figured since it had been almost a month I'd better post something.

~Rose

knitting in public?

So wow its been a while since me or Amie have blogged (poor Amie and her computer. it apparently hates anything related to trying to make post or really do anything at all).

Today was knit in public day. I didn't. My sock traveled with me around town trying to find a new bathing suit (I put my old one on today to find a mystery stain on the left boob). I had every intention of going to the pool, but that didn't happen. I did finally find a suit that fit (which was more of a struggle than I'd like to admit. I tried suits on at 5 different stores before finding one. and I dont even really like it but it fit so I bought it. I did manage to go see harborfest fireworks. And since we planned on getting there super early (an hour and a half early... and since fireworks were late it was almost 2 hours early) I was so excited about knitting while waiting, but left it in my car when we took my friends (I'm a dork sometimes).

My knitting girls had our meetup this morning. And decided since I'm getting married that they'd change locations and it be a knitting bridal shower. My knitting group is really amazing. I'm so happy to have them. I took my camera with me to get pictures... but while there I forgot about the camera. It wasn't until I got home that I realized "crap, no pictures". Oh well. Maybe some other time.

I do have some yarn porn that I will happy post about in the very near future. I've kinda spent to much money on yarn lately. But I'm trying to control myself. Its just so hard with such pretty yarn everywhere. But since its dark I'll wait and take pictures tomorrow. If your lucky I'll actually post the pictures tomorrow night, well see.

~Rose