Very Hungry Caterpillar

I had been looking for an excuse to knit this for years, and then this April, it came - a Children's Book themed baby shower!

It was a pretty quick knit, and I'm very happy with it! It was nice to work with some thicker yarn (worsted held double) after having done socks for a few months.

I hope to eventually see the baby in it, though it was for a distant acquaintance, so I'm not sure I ever will.

We gifted it with a book and a rattle - I love the little kit it made!

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SM4 - Sweet Nuttins

And Round Four is here! I absolutely love love love these socks! These were my fastest knit in the whole competition, and the pattern was so well written and so beautiful!

This was also deep stash - some leftover yarn from Becca's Shawl.

I knit this in a bigger needle size, because initially I was trying to make them to fit my mom, but they definitely weren't big enough. However, they're a little loose on me. I'm thinking about frogging the toe and increasing the length to give them as a gift for someone else in my family, but I haven't decided. I also haven't worn them, just in case!

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PS: Round Five will be on hold until December, since it's a gift!

Ben's Birthday Moss Socks

Between rounds three and four of Sock Madness, I somehow had the urge to...knit more socks.

Well, I guess that's a little misleading. I had already knit these socks for my brother, and I had knit them with exactly the same construction of the Firefly socks I had knit him, and then I got a call, literally the night they were blocking, saying he had a few fit problems with those socks.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really glad he called. I would much rather knit him socks that he'll wear, especially since he likes them so much, but the timing was...non-ideal.

Well, during Round Two, I had gone to my Uncle's party, and while there, I tried the socks on his feet for heel alignment. I had already knit toe-up, and the problem area had been the heel, so I tried (for the first time) a toe-up heel flap. I frogged the cuffs, finished the two heels, and then headed home.

In April I got the bug to finish them. They were, after all, supposed to be a March birthday gift. So knitting back the Ramen Yarn, I finished them up and sent them off!

And the best part is? This was deep-stash yarn!

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Yarn Dye Extravaganza!

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Wanting a distraction from traditional knitting between rounds, I decided to take some old yarn I had, but knew I would never use, and dye it up!

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I honestly can't tell you what dyes I used, since it was essentially me throwing things in a pot and seeing what came out, but I can show you what came out!

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First, I dyed some white linen yarn (image 3).

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When it first came out of the pot, it looked very red (image 1), so I put it back in for a bit, but it didn't make a difference. However, after the dye dried, it was more of a peachy color (image 4).

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Next, I dyed four batches of some wool and cotton blend I had gotten from a kickstarter. These were pink (image 5), purple (image 6), blue (image 7) and green (image 8).

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They turned out much warmer in tone, and more deeply saturated (images 2 and 10). I especially like the green and blue.

And yes, all of these are in Ravelry:
Linen Page
Pink Page
Purple Page
Blue Page
Green Page

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SM3 - Waimakiriri

Round Three of Sock Madness was tough for me. Really tough. It almost knocked me out. The pattern required a tiny cable to be created for the toe. It then asked you to pick up stitches around, and then continue the cable up the sides of the foot as you knit, and then around the heel and up the leg.

I used Tipsy Sheep yarn in the White Russian colorway, and I can barely get them over my heels! But they do get over the heel, and I did finish them, and I did make it to Round Four!

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Altering dress

Between rounds of Sock Madness, I attended a formal weekend event. In preparation, I purchased a formal dress from the Thrift Store - only $11! Unfortunately, while it fit nearly perfectly, the shoulders needed to be taken in, as they often do on my clothes.

Well, a night's work later, they were fixed. I had to rip open the seams of the shoulders, creatively hem the mesh, cut out the satin and re-seam the top of the shoulders, and then hand wip stitch back up around the outside.

It was generally more complicated than I thought it would be, but I was pleased with the result, and I was able to wear it without pins or bulky folds that weekend!

SM2 - Rose and Thorn Socks

Round Two of Sock Madness was the first competition round. So, after completing the Qualifying Round, and giving some background to the organizers, participants are sorted into "teams" of about 50 people. In theory, all the members of your team should knit at roughly the same speed, factoring in life situations as well as actual knitting time.

Then the pattern for round two drops. As with all the other patterns, you must knit the socks to be a minimum of 9" long, and follow various minimums in the pattern. However, on this one, only the first 40 people on your team make it to round three. You also have a minimum of two weeks to complete the pair, meaning even if there are five spots left on your team, the cutoff is two weeks.

Spoiler alert: I made it to Round Three!
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Emiliana

After completing the Slip Stripe Spiral Socks for Sock Madness, I had just enough time to finish up a shawl I had started - Emiliana! The moment I saw this pattern, I knew I had to have it, and I bought yarn for it at Stitches West 2016.

This is a mosaic knitting pattern, and I used Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply yarn in Naked and Russett, along with size 7 needles, to get such an oversized shawl.

I wear it all the time and I am absolutely in love!

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Stitches West 2016 - Haul!

Once again, I spent a wonderful weekend in February at STITCHES West - the local festival for all things fiber related. While I was there, I took a class on custom fitting a sweater, which I really loved. I also hit up the market pretty hard core.

Pictured to the left:
-Amish swift (in bag)
-Ball Winder (in box)
-Black Trillium Fiber Studio Gradient Set in Lilt Sock: Olive
-Black Trillium Fiber Studio Gradient Set in Lilt Sock: Gingersnap
-Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply: Russett
-Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply: Naked
-Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply: Stonewashed x4
-Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply: Raisinette
-Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply: Romy
-Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply: Oyster
-Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply: Taurus
-A Hundred Ravens Iachos: Lothlorien
-Miss Babs Wowza: Corset

MMMHH I CAN'T WAIT!

SM 1 - Slip Stripe Spiral

This year, I participated in something called "Sock Madness." This is a competitive knitting event, very loosely based off of March Madness - there are seven elimination rounds, and participants are sorted into teams or leagues. All of the patterns for the socks are sent to the participants by email, and as soon as the pattern "drops," it is a flurry of knitting to be earn a spot to advance.

The first round is a qualifying round - you simply have to knit a pair of socks in two weeks. The socks were called "Slip Stripe Spiral," and relied predominately on slip-stitches and two contrasting skeins of yarn. I completed them using Black Cascade Heritage yarn, as well as my Black Squirrel Yarn, from the Kickstarter for the Black Squirrel Fabric and Yarn Shop.

In general, I'm pleased with how they came out, though I rarely get to wear them, since it's almost always too hot for socks here.

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