I am the champion AKA look on the internet before giving up

I have finally figured out the double crochet foundation chain. DUH! It makes complete sense.

Now on to the socks.

Crocheted Socks ... an oxymoron?

I was at the library with the kids and I decided to make a trip over to the adult non-fiction section and see what kind of knitting books I could find for myself. I picked up a few ... New Knits on the Block, the Knitty Gritty Knits book, the newer Big Girl Knits book, and a book on knitting two socks at once. Then another book caught my eye.

Crocheted socks. COOL, I thought. That would go a LOT faster, and I have the perfect yarn for it. Patons Stretch Sock yarn because I know the density of crochet would make for an inflexible pair of socks.

So I got it, too and I was thrilled to go home and try something new.

And I tried and tried and tried. For an hour. Just to do the double crochet foundation chain. Really.

And I put the book down, rewound the yarn, and laid the hooks aside. And I said I would be returning the book to the library sometime today.

Really, I don't like to admit defeat, but I am a big enough person to admit that I am not an excellent hooker. I just never have been. I get by. But that is about all I can say for that craft.

I might give it one more whirl today, but I won't be dedicating a lot of time to it. I just don't have it in me. There is some amount of self-preservation involved, I believe.

The smallest things make me happy

I have been on the look out for some sock blockers. Sock blockers are really cool things... you can shove a sock on them and then block it. Pretty self-explanatory, huh?

I saw one up at Yarn Cravin' over the weekend, but it was $ 24 for one. That is a good price really for a wood sock blocker, but I didn't really "need" to get it then.

So I slipped over to Etsy and found this really cool blocker with needle gauges in the middle. And then I popped over there again today and lo and behold, she has a PAIR listed at $ 12.50 and then $ 5.00 for shipping! $ 17.50 for a pair of blockers, when it would have cost me $ 26 for a plastic pair from Knit Picks. And this way, I supported an artisan as opposed to a larger online store.

Check them out. Can't wait to get them! http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=12834147

Ooooh... and they are from Cleveland. Even better ... an Ohioan that I supported.

The hat that knits itself

is there that one pattern ... the one you could knit in your sleep? The one memorized just because you love it so?

Not that this hat looks good on me, but it looks good on my kids so I make it.

This one I knit up to sell at Necessitae tomorrow night, and I used a yarn that I had been hoarding for no real reason except I needed to save it for just the right project. And I am glad I did.

This slip stitch pattern makes it so wonderful to show off those varigated yarns, and this one is no exception. It is a bulky weight yarn (BugsNugger in Gaia organic) and it glided along beautifully.

This is modeled on # 1's head, who wanted to know if this is hers. I asked her where the hat I made her was (same pattern, different yarn and colorway), and of course she has no idea. Typical 10 year old.

Sometimes you just need to put the needles down and breathe

This weekend was filled with very little knitting. Very little. I worked on DH's second sock, but that was it. I did start a new project last night - a textured hat out of a really cool dyed yarn from Bugsnugger. It was part of the knitting bag I purchased for myself with my Mother's Day money in May and I hadn't even touched it.

So today I start back up on some more knitting, especially since tomorrow is a stocking at Necessitae and I am so totally not at all prepared for it. It kind of just snuck up on me.

I did visit a new yarn store to me - Yarn Cravin' in Perrysburg. Just a hop, skip, and a jump from me and they knit every Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8:30. I might make a monthly trip up there, but now that Upward basketball will be starting here soon, I won't be able to get away like I want to. But it is a cute little store. Shoved full of all sorts of yarn in little nooks and crannies, and even in the bathroom. Charming place.

The family ... ALL of them except me ... have colds. They are driving me INSANE. Especially the husband, who really isn't doing anything that would warrant a complaint. He is just ... sick. And he is a LOUD sick. Blows his nose like a foghorn. He can't do anything quiet when it comes to things like this. And then there is the first-born, who is experiencing the first cold ever to be had by any human being.

So on that note, I go out and resume my mother duties of wiping noses, giving medicines, and stuff like that.

Six months. Wow. Six months.

This is pretty bad. Six months of no blogging. But it certainly wasn't six months of no knitting. Let's see ... what happened in those six months?

The family went to Myrtle Beach. Then we started back to school. Then I decided that I needed to have a hip replacement at the end of October. But before that, my former employer (yes, former) decided that they needed to let me go before they had to pay that short term disability crap. So I picked up the knitting needles like crazy in November and this month, and have since made two pairs of socks (toddler size), made a sock for my husband and am working on its mate now, a hat and scarf set, and some pants and other things.

Christmas was yesterday and my house looks like it. It was a good day, though ending with a new tradition of going to see a movie and eating at The Waffle House. Lotsa fun.

Have a few sick kids, but nothing unmanageable.

Oh and did I mention that we also have a dog? Probably not as I like to block that out of my memory.

And just to show you that I HAVE been working hard, here you go:























I vow to blog more for the New Year. I vow to take the time to finish off projects. And I vow to make something for me at least every other month. That headwarmer is the only thing I have made for myself since I made my Bellatrix socks at the beginning of the year.

Happy Knitting!