Christmas and Fair

Yes, it is that time again already.

Christmas-

I have just geared up, or panicked rather, my Christmas knitting.  It is nearly August and I don't have even one gift finished. BAH!

Here is the line up:

Momma- socks
Ronda- socks, + an extra ?
Rick- ?
Daddy- 30 bottles of wine, in the make right now
Brent- neckwarmer
Joe- duck?
R- Weasely sweater?

My mom's socks are about 45% finished.  The easiest project so far has been the wine because Joe did it.

Joe expressed interest in a knitted duck.  Now, I have to decide if I want to wing it (no pun intended) or buy the pattern.  I think I will embellish it with needle felting.  Why did I just start needle felting? It is wonderful! Maybe I will put a zipper in the duck so it can be a money-stasher or something.

Fair-

Last year I busted my rear for the fair.  This year I am going to finish the projects I am on and if they fit into the categories great, if not oh well.

Potential projects-

Fawkes Socks
R's socks
Snakes cabled sweater
R's sweater
Stag bag
Kellylnch blanket

I might come up with some others.  I thought about knitting a hat or something in addition to these.  Overall this is it.  I am more worried about Christmas.

In addition to these items I am stash busting.  I just finished off some yarn that has been hanging around the house and in the process of getting rid of some more.  It is Plymouth DreamBaby DK.  I bought it on super sale at LYS about 2 years ago.  I had about 7 skeins of it.  I am now down to 2! Which is going to be used for R's birthday cardigan!

Here is some of the yarn:

The eyelet pattern is from Some Cloudy Day Legwarmers that I adapted into R some pants.

R just got finished with a pb & j sandwich...

Reducio! Hospital Wing

I joined Reducio swap Hospital Wing.  Funny thing, it came on a day that I left work sick.

A very sweet package came from Leighton Buzzard, United Kingdom.

Thanks, Ali123!

Sock bits

So, I was under the impression that I would have millions of little sock yarn leftovers once I started knitting socks.  Hmm...where am I going wrong?

I hate buying full skeins yarn for Blythe clothing.  I have the yarn forever and I get sick of it.  Sometime it is super satisfying finished up all of that yarn, well, unless you are running short.

I, so far, have only had one nice Blythe-size leftover.  All my others are still too much to use for doll clothing. Maybe practice makes perfect.  That means knit more socks.

Ariana socks are on hold.  The twisted stitches are too much for me to think about right now.  I have moved on to my custom knee socks in self striping yarn.  I am almost finished with the first sock.  Very little yarn will be left. :(

Am I ready?

Am I ready for Ann Kingstones's Gyffindor Pride socks?

Photos are from Ann's Ravelry and website.

I think I have enough yarn for them.  I am okay with sock anatomy now and I am fair at fair isle (no pun intended).

I want to try these soon.  Right now I am going to make a pair named for Dumbledore's sister, Ariana.

Oh, here are R's socks:

Pattern also by Ann Kingstone

Can I start new socks?

NO! I have to finish my Bellatrix and Gryffindor pair first! But, I so want to start Ariana.  I haven't tried toe up yet.

I was going to use a blue yarn but I have Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn in cream that I think would look very lovely.  I want the socks to be tall.

Ahh....I have to wait.  Off to knit socks.

Added later-

I do not have photos of my socks.  But, here is R's socks.  Socks for Little Witches by Ann Kingstone.  Ann is a lovely knitter.  I think she is publishing a book soon, Novel Knits.  I just read that is will be available in US.  Yay for Ann!

Well, I will have to add it later.  I can't get it to do it.

Why did I buy straights?

I am no longer keeping my straight needles.  The only purpose they are serving right now is decorative and they are messy looking at that.

I wish some knitting genius would have advised me to stock up on circular needles instead of straights.  Wondering where this post is going?  Well, I am bunching them up by size and selling them in my Etsy shop.  I am hoping someone out there just loves straight needles!!

They are very nice needles- birch, rosewood, and bamboo.

I am selling other knitting odds and ends-  point covers, cable needles, stitch holders, thimbles, finger protectors, etc.

I feel like I have hit a knitting milestone. I have been at it long enough that I know what works for me and it is time to get rid of the rest.

It is like finally remembering the kitchener stitch. Big milestone!

Knitting Goals

It seems that I have a million things I want to knit and write patterns for, but too little of time to get it done.

I think I am going to write patterns for my old projects which include: the niffler, mandrake, pixie, and ashwinder. If you couldn't tell these are magical creatures from Harry Potter. So far, my issues have been either trying to remember or trying to compensate for my weird way of knitting.  All of my early projects use knit through the back loop (ktlb) as the knit stitch and that stitch shapes completely different from the knit stitch.  In a lot of ways I like it better for toys, it creates an elongated and tight knit.

There are few other items that I have in the planning stage.