Ahh, daylight savings

I've got three things to share with you this morning:

1. Daylight savings sucks for me this year. I went to the store this morning to get some breakfast on my way to work (yes, I have to work on Sundays) and was surprised that the store was closed even though the signs said it should have been open. So I went to a different store that was open and thought I was going to be late for work, and was getting stressed out and driving faster than I should have when I realized that I never set my clocks back last night! So, here I am, an hour early for work on a Sunday. It sucks but at least I have my sock with me to knit!
2. I've been doing some frogging! Speaking of my sock, I have successfully turned the heel (I don't know why that scared me so much). I couldn't tell from the pattern what was going to happen to my sock when I started knitting and turning my work but miraculously, a turned heel appeared! This sock thing isn't so hard after all. I did frog several rows lastnight, though, because it was a little loose around the foot and I wanted to decrease a little more. I'll post a picture tomorrow- I'm going to a comedy club tonight so that doesn't leave time for posting pics. I also frogged about 8 inches of the last sleeve of Mike's flame sweater because I realized that 8 inches back I somehow switched knitting needles and so my gauge was all wrong! How do I do things like that? Does anyone else make such dumb errors and not notice?
3. About comments: I know you're out there reading my blog but nothing makes me happier than comments from you all. I know you've got something to say! A reader of another blog said that she didn't know that bloggers really appreciate comments so if you're like her, I'm here to tell you that they do! I never realized this myself until I became a blogger.
4. Okay, I know I said 3 things but here's a 4th. I haven't forgotten that I promised you a picture of Phoebe post-haircut. Once I finished cutting her hair I didn't want to immediately torture her more with a flashing camera so I decided to wait a few days. It will come tomorrow.

Meet Phoebe!

Check it out- 2 posts in the same day!
Meet Phoebe! She's my hybrid German Angora bunny. Isn't she beautiful? I have tons of her fur saved and really want to learn how to spin it. Nevermind that everyone says angora is hard to spin. I have dreams of mittens with super soft cuffs made of Phoebe's fur. I started giving her a haircut tonight. It takes a long time since her fur is so thick so I'll finish tomorrow and post an after pic later. Here's one of her getting a haircut. I gave her a giant chard leaf to munch on to keep her occupied.
Here's a Gyrid update. I finished the back and added a small cable design just below the neckline to spice it up. It's blocking on my bed. My bed isn't usually covered with black plastic. Mike painted the bedroom today (see the pretty grey-blue wall in the background?) so that's a tarp to keep paint off the bed. It still smells like paint in there so we're going to sleep in the guest bedroom. In the meantime, the bedroom's a pretty good place to block some knitting, don't you think?
And . . . Here's my sock. It just keeps growing because I don't know when to start the heel! I think I'm going to have to soon. I'm just scared I'll mess it up. But it's pretty so far.

Socks and Pumpkins

We went to a pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island on Friday and it was so much fun! We got lots of cool pumpkins, went through a hay bale maze and saw cute farm animals. They have a big corn maze too but we're waiting to go through it with some friends next week when it's haunted. Bradley was very well behaved at the pumpkin patch (except for peeing on a pumpkin) and he liked sitting in the pumpkin cart.
I'm plugging away on my dublin bay socks. So far, my 1st sock is almost 7 inches long. This being my first pair of socks, I'm not sure when to stop. How long do you like your socks? I'm using Lorna's Laces sock yarn and I don't know exactly how much they'll stretch lengthwise when they're on and I'm knitting them for my mother-in-law so it's not like I can try them on and knit until they fit me well. How long should I knit it before starting the heel? Advice is appreciated.

New Addition

I added something new! Check out my links on the right to free patterns I've used. There are so many free patterns on the web that I could spend all my time looking at them. If only I had time to knit them all! As I use free patterns I will add them to my list.

I also found this link to a good cast-on for socks. It's called the twisted german cast-on. Unfortunately I came across it AFTER I started my first sock! My sock is going well, though, so I will probably knit another pair and then I can use that cast-on. There is always something to look forward to!

Socktoberfest!

I discovered socktoberfest over at Lolly's blog. Click on the button below to check it out.



Since I am a socktoberfest member, I thought I'd better start knitting my socks. So, 3 attempts later, here it is- My first inch of a beautiful sock! I started with a different pattern and then changed my mind. Then I read the pattern wrong and cast on too many stitches. When I cast on a third time, I counted wrong and cast on too few! I realized about 10 rows down. Oops. I was starting to feel stupid because I couldn't count but then I finally got it right.


The pattern I'm using is Ryan's free Dublin Bay pattern. It's a simple sock but has a small lace pattern down the sides. I'm excited that my stitches are starting to look like a real sock!

I also finished the back of my Gyrid top but couldn't get a good picture tonight.

Shopping!

I went shopping yesterday! My desire to knit my 1st pair of socks and my desire to knit Christmas presents led to a great idea. I will knit socks for my mother in law! This seems so simple that I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I've been thinking a lot about what to knit my mother in law since she lives in a fairly warm place and doesn't need scarves or mittens and I want to make something that takes less time than a sweater. She always buys me cute socks so hand-made socks for her will be perfect. So off to the yarn store we went (husband and I). I found some beautiful Lorna's Laces variegated yarn that will be perfect. Now all I need are needles and a pattern.

While I was looking at all the yarn (because who can go into a yarn store and simply buy what they came for and not look at everything else?), Mike sat on the couch and looked at pattern books and found a great holiday book- Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick.

He was particularly excited about the Aran tree skirt because we need a tree skirt and I'm Irish. It would be perfect! So when I came home, I bought it from Amazon. Now I have to wait for it to come to me but I have enough to occupy me until then.

Speaking of other projects, I have started sleeve #2 for Mike's flame sweater and am only 2 inches away from having Gyrid finished. Unfortunately I ran out of yarn! The pattern says 4 skeins. I had 3 and was hoping that would be enough since I'm making it a little smaller but I didn't quite make it. The yarn store I got the yarn from is closed today so I have to wait.

Knitting ADD

I am beginning to think that I have knitting ADD. I am knitting the flame sweater and the gyrid top, as you know, but I can't stop thinking of other things to knit. I really want to knit socks because I haven't done it before and I can't stop thinking about soft, warm socks made by my own 2 hands. Are toe-up magic loop socks too much for a 1st-time sock knitter to tackle? I also want a soft fuzzy hat to keep my ears warm since I work outside a lot and it's starting to get cold here in Portland. I also want to knit a pillow for my dad for Christmas and I want to start now so in case my idea (more on that later) doesn't work out, I have plenty of time to figure out another plan. I'm also jealous of everyone who's knitting a sweater for herself right now. Being in the "Christmas project" spirit means I'm neglecting myself and I really could use a new, warm sweater. I just need to finish what I've already started!! Self-control is so hard sometimes (okay, always)!

Gyrid front almost finished

The good thing is that I have done a lot of knitting lately. My husband is sick and we went to the emergency room yesterday (he's okay, the Dr thinks it's a virus) so there was a lot of waiting and knitting. A fellow knitter came up and showed me her project (a baby's dress- pretty, pastel and lots of eyelets). I love the way knitting brings strangers together. After coming home from the hospital, Mike took some medicine that made him sleep so there was nothing for me to do but watch tv and knit. I'm almost done with the front of Gyrid! (I must admit that while Mike was sleeping I seriously contemplated going to the yarn store to look at sock yarn but I decided against it.)

I found this sign of fall in the parking lot leaving work last week. I love the acorns still attached. Some of my coworkers laughed at me for picking it up and keeping it but fall is my favorite season!

Gyrid

After lots of attempts, I finally took some okay pictures of my Gyrid tank top. It's from Elsebeth Lavold's book The Viking Knits Collection. I'm knitting it with her Silky Wool yarn in a mossy green color and I really like it. I originally bought it for another project but I decided it wasn't really my style. With Christmas coming up (okay, it's a ways away but planning early never hurts) I looked through my stash and rediscovered this yarn and realized that it is totally my mom's style- earthy color, kind of tweedy. So I found this pattern that uses the same amount of yarn as I have so it's kind of like my mom's Christmas present will be free.














The pattern is pretty simple except for the cabled part. She uses lifted increases that I've never seen in a pattern before but I think I've got them figured out. Here's my progress so far. I've actually done a lot in only a few days!

The color is kind of off in this picture but you can see how the cable pattern is turning out.

Lazy knitting days

I had a lot of plans for my days off (Fri & Sat) but then things got in the way. I really wanted to go hiking and finish painting my bedroom since right now only half of a wall is painted and that's nor exactly the look I was going for. Then I woke up to a torrential downpour and a hurt shoulder. What was there left to do but watch Smallville on DVD and knit? Good thing knitting doesn't use the shoulder muscles. I finished the back of the husband's flames sweater from the 2nd S nB book. Now all I have to knit is one more sleeve and then my LEAST favorite parts of knitting a sweater- blocking and seaming.

Knitting the flame on the sleeve was my 1st attempt at knitting intarsia and it was totally successful! I was expecting lots of frogging but after only having to rip out a few rows at the beginning, I got the hang of it. Here's a close up of my 1st intarsia motif. Pretty nice if I do say so myself.

As a reward for finishing the back, I started a new project.

The reasons I deserved a reward:
1) Knitting a large man's sweater is a LOT more work and takes a lot more time than what I have been knitting all summer- small women's tank tops for me.
2) Also, I'm knitting it with Lion Brand Woolease, which is not my favorite yarn. I started knitting it though when I lived really far away from a yarn store and only had access to Lion Brand yarn (well, Red Heart too, but I won't sink that low). Buying yarn over the internet didn't occur to me as I'm much too impatient to wait for it to arrive. So I wanted to take a break from the Woolease, though it's really not that bad.
3) Knitting miles of stockinette with a few increases thrown in is boring after a while. I love lace and cables and patterns- anything interesting.

So . . . The new project I started in the Gyrid tank from Elsebeth Lavold's book The Viking Knits Collection. I already have half the front finished and I must say that her cable patterns are not for the faint of heart but they are really cool! And her silky wool yarn is really nice to knit with. The finished top is going to be a Christmas present for my mom.