Fetching(s) Spree!

I am on a roll with my Christmas gift list thanks to Fetching! I am in the middle of the 3rd of 5 or 6 pairs I will be making. I love this pattern - it was my first cable project and now I am in love with cables. Here are two completed pairs and one in process - after that I have a cream pair (a gift), a pink pair for me, and maybe one more that isn't planned yet. I also have a possible pair (or more) of the male version, Dashing to come.



Aren't they pretty? They are all Knit Picks Shine Worsted - the green is Green Apple, the purple is crocus, and the blue is wave. This yarn works great for these - the gauge is perfect (up one needle size to 7) and the slight shine really shows off the cables. Hopefully I will continue to love the pattern through the rest of the pairs and won't get tired of making them before I'm done. :-)

Fall into Autumn Theme of the Week

This week's question/theme for the Fall into Autumn swap is...

Autumn has now officially begun here in the States!! What is your favorite thing about Autumn/Fall? Why?

My favorite thing about Fall is apple cider. I love the stuff! It is my beverage of choice from September to January. I like it cold or hot, plain or with spices. I have a crockpot of hot cider going at each get-together of the season. yum! I also like leaves, pumpkin desserts, and halloween decorations. :-)

When you wish...

I had a request from my Fall into Autumn swapper to share my knitting related Christmas gift wishlist that I mentioned the other day. So here it is!

• Cascade fixation sock yarn
  
• Crystal Palace Maizy sock yarn
• keychain mini sock blocker
  
• knit car sticker http://www.cafepress.com/knitty.22561366
• Red sockmonkey sock knitting bag from here: http://www.yarntraveler.com/knitting-bags/
• a tie dye kit (any kind appropriate for cotton except RIT)
  
• sock blockers size large
  
• Knit Picks Harmony wood double point needles sizes 1, 3, 4, 5, & 7
  
• Wood or bamboo straight needles - size #8 9 or 10" long
  
• Knit Picks Harmony wood circular needles sizes 6 & 8 - 16" long
  
• Knit Picks Options cables sizes 24", 32", 40"
  
• Knit Picks Harmony wood tips 5, 8, 17

Quick needle complaint

I hate needles that aren't labeled right on the needle! I just realized I did 1 1/2 pairs of Fetching on the "wrong" size DPN as a couple of my larger sizes are plastic and not labeled. I always get the colors mixed up and I thought I was remembering correctly. O.k., actually they are the right needles since I swatched first and got gauge (and they turn out nicely) but they aren't the needles I thought I was using. Sigh. Oh well. Now to figure out what to use for Dashing which calls for the needle size I am using for Fetching...

Please note that I have Knit Picks Options Harmony needles on my Christmas wish even though they aren't labeled just because they are so gorgeous. I will just need to get better at sticking them in the right pocket and checking them with the needle sizer. ;-) You know, assuming I get any.

Stash Enhancement

Some of my new christmas gifting yarn has arrived...

All Cascade Fixation: two balls of "Italian Ices" for a pair of christmas present socks (if you are uber observant this will look familiar - I already bought this color for myself and didn't recognize it online. Oops, so somebody on my gift list will have the same color socks as me.) One ball each of Celtic Green and Wine to make christmas colored tiny socks, One ball of Tahiti for a pair of little socks, and two balls of white for an experiment. I have been researching what kinds of dye can be used on cotton (not many) and I'm going to try it out to see if the Fixation will take the dye. I want to be able to dye my own sock yarn! :-)

Yarn changing with the seasons?

Just a quick post as I don't have any of my photos with me at the moment. (not that I'm posting from work. That's not what I meant at all. cough.)

The Fall into Autumn Swap hostesses are posting a question/topic of the week. Posting an answer to the question gets you entered into a contest so here goes!

"Now that in some geographic locations the weather is starting to turn cooler, do you change the type of yarn(s) you knit/crochet with? If so, what do you now knit/crochet with instead and why? If not, why do you not switch and what do you knit/crochet with?"

I don't change the types of yarn I knit with as it gets cooler. Since I don't work with wool it doesn't make much difference to me! I'm using cotton, bamboo, silk, etc. no matter the temperature. My projects might change - I don't really feel like making a scarf in the summer when it seems it will be eternity until I can wear it again.

As for what I'm knitting right now - that would be things from my big list of Christmas gifts to knit. So: socks, Fetching gloves, mini socks, dishcloths, and scrubby washcloths will be all you'll be seeing for awhile. After I'm done with that stuff, I really want to start a shawl using the silk my No Sheep for You pal hand dyed for me.

Goodies from The Loopy Ewe

If you knit socks you probably know about the great online store The Loopy Ewe. I enjoy their blog and have browsed the store many times looking at the fun accessories etc. I hadn't ordered yet since they didn't have any non-wool yarns (well it is the Loopy *Ewe*) but! Now they have the Sockina Cotton I have been looking all over for! I had a little surprise money come my way last week and I decided to use it to splurge on a ball of Sockina. The cool thing about Sockina is that it is self patterning - it stripes with a geometric kind of pattern thrown in. That is really rare in a no-wool sock yarn. Here it is! This is colorway 05
Another great thing about the Loopy Ewe is their great service and nifty Loopy Groupie freebie program. First, on the service - my order shipped very quickly even though I ordered on a holiday, my order included a note from Sheri thanking me for the order and a little card with two yarn samples on it, and she wraps the yarn up so nicely for shipping! My Sockina looked like a burrito before I ripped into it:

a note: I opened this package on my lunch hour at work and couldn't wait to take a peek at the yarn but knew I'd want to post this nice wrapping. So I ripped a little hole in the back of the tissue so I could feel my yarn before I could take a photo. ;-)

Now, an explanation of the Loopy Groupie program. Sheri includes a free gifty item with your first five orders from the store, and then with the sixth order you are officially a Loopy Groupie and you get more goodies with that order. More info on the program here. My Groupie gift for my first order was a nice little set of needle inventory cards fastened together with a heart fastener.
Thoughtful, huh? And the Loopy Groupie program makes me want to keep ordering! (Psst, especially if they can find more no-wool sock yarns to carry!) :-)

Fall Into Autumn Questionnaire

I just joined this swap! So here are my questionnaire answers for my future swap-ee:

1. Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been doing it?
Both, but I prefer knitting at this point. I have been crocheting for two years and knitting for four months.

2. Have you made dishcloths before? Do you use them yourself, give them as gifts, or both?
Yes. Both.

3. What's your favorite cotton to make cloths from? What cotton would you like to try that you haven't before ?
Any cotton really! I frequently use Sugar 'n Cream or Peaches 'n Cream. Sometimes I make decadent ones using Blue Sky Cotton.

4. If you knit, do you prefer circular or straight needles? For all, do you prefer wooden, metal, or plastic needles?
Usually straight but I use circular some too. Wooden/bamboo is my favorite, plastic is o.k., I am horrible with metal needles. The stitches just jump off!

5. What are your favorite colors? Any colors you don't like much?
Pink is a favorite. I can't think of any colors I don't like, really.

6. What do you like best about Autumn?
Going apple picking, pumpkin picking and carving, halloween decorations, baking, cool but not too cold weather, leaves changing...

7. Pies: Pumpkin? Apple? Pecan? All of em? or No Thanks!
Apple - yes Pumpkin - yes Pecan - no thanks!

8. When you were a kid, were you the one who couldn't wait to get started with school , or the one who overslept on the 1st day?
Hmm. I think I was excited about school for the first day (but still didn't want summer to end) then didn't like it after that.

9. Do you celebrate Halloween? (The real key here guys is especially knowing if you have an aversion to the holiday or little goodies/decorations associated with it, given the timeframe of the swap)
yes

10. If you had to choose just 3 edible 'goodies' to eat for a full year, what 3 would you choose?
chocolate. Just chocolate. Of any kind unless nuts are involved. ;-) Also, fruit, and... more chocolate I guess.

11. Do you have any pets? Kids? Husbands who seem like kids? ;)
Yes (two cats); No; You could say that ;-)

12. If you were to describe a particular yarn that shares traits of your personality, what would it be and why?
Pass? I'm just not good at that sort of thing. I don't know what kind of animal or tree I'd be either.

13. Do you use your cloths mostly for dishcloths, or as facecloths?
dishcloths

14. Favorite Fall Holiday: Halloween or Thanksgiving and why? (Feel free to share another fall memory if you do not celebrate either of these holidays)
Probably Halloween for the fun and the fun decorations. Although Thanksgiving used to be a favorite when I was doing the cooking and spending the day with my family.

15. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should know about?
Wool! That's it really. I'm good with other animal fibers like alpaca. Not allergic to any foods etc.

One FO for now

I have lots of posts in the back of my head but a few include items that are in the mail to a friend so I don't want to post until she gets them in case she sees this... also coming soon a Yarn Harlot-esque sock trip! But for now... the purple shortie socks for my MIL for Christmas:
The pattern said you could get a pair from one ball of Cascade Fixation. I had my doubts and figured there was definitely no way I could make them for big-footed me. But, since I only had one ball of this color and the LYS didn't have any more, I decided to try. I JUST finished them for size 8 feet, we are talking around 20 yards leftover. Actually, I only had maybe 1 yard left over but that's because I had already made one tiny sock before I got the idea to make these. So if you don't make a tiny sock first you'll be in better shape than I was. This is one of those colorways that looks better to me knitted than it did in the ball. I wasn't sure about it in the ball (then why did I buy it? I don't know.) but I think it is really pretty as a sock. I finally figured out the color too (lost the ball band) - it is called Lupins, which I always spell with an e but they don't. Also, Lupin(e) makes me think of Lepus, a jump I'm sure. But who doesn't like a giant rabbit?*


* Anybody who has been attacked by one, I'd think.