It's Ravelry time, baby!

Ok, I got home from work today and there it was--the Ravelry invite! WooHoo! So, I spent pretty much all evening on the site. Um, it's awesome. For those of you waiting, I hope you get to join in the fun soon. My ravelry name is knitlikecrazy (knittinglikecrazy was too long) so be my Ravelry pal. :)

Enough of that. Now, some knitting. First, I have the dishcloths I knit for my bride-to-be friend, Dana:
I have no idea if they will match her kitchen, but they are pretty anyway. They were knit with some Sugar N' Cream. Of course, I had to knit a Ballband Dishcloth, as it is my favorite one to knit. The all blue one is a pattern from Knitty Gritty, and the multi-colored one is a slip stitch pattern that I just winged. Hooray for knitted bridal shower gifts.

And now, we have the Flicker Socks:

Oh how I love these socks. I think this is definitely a pattern that I will be using again soon.

The Specs:
The Yarn: Louet Gems in Willow (of course, purchased from The Loopy Ewe)
The Pattern: Flicker by Cookie A. An excellent pattern. I actually was able to memorize most of the lace chart, and the pattern was very easy to read and understand.
The Needles: Size 2. The standard sock needles in the sock knitting life o' me.
The Verdict: These socks are awesome. I am putting this pattern up there with Jaywalker and Broadripple. I want more Flicker Socks!

I have started on another pair of socks--the vacation socks! I cast on with the Cherry Tree Hill yarn in the Cabin Fever colorway. I am going to try toe-up again. My first completed toe-up socks turned out ok, and I want to get better at it. I am going to be keeping it simple this time and maybe the next pair I will be ready to incorporate an actual pattern. Anyway, the point is not that I am making toe up socks, is that they are the vacation socks! Wednesday we leave for the Smoky Mountains. There are 11 of us going to stay in a giant fancy cabin and much fun will be had. There will be beer, there will be hiking and there will be white water rafting. Hell yes!

I was hoping to dye some yarn for the Etsy shop before going on vacation, but that did not happen. You may be saying, "but why, Jen? Why didn't you dye any yarn when all you did on Sunday was sleep and knit and watch Lifetime?" I will tell you--I am scared of the mouse that moved into the kitchen. How you can live in a second floor apartment that is clean in the middle of the summer and have a mouse is a mystery to me. We saw the mouse too. He is not afraid of people either. Gross.

I named him Norbert.

Happy knitting and see you on Ravelry! :)

Oh, I want to show off my stash too!

Well, I have been patiently waiting for that coveted Ravelry invite. It could be coming soon, as the website tells me the following:

Found you!
You signed up on June 6, 2007
You are #7212 on the list.
557 people are ahead of you in line.
13130 people are behind you in line.
32% of the list has been invited so far.

This combined with Sarah taking pictures of her stash and Lisa mentioning to me that taking pics of the stash before getting the invite would make things easier, made me want to take the stash pictures. Plus, it is more fun than doing laundry.

Here is where the majority of the stash calls home:

My dad built the frame around the rubbermaid drawers. The plan was to stain the top and put some fabric around it to make it look all nice and pretty in my room. Yeah, I have had that thing for almost three years. :) I have way more knitting books than what is sitting on top of the drawers, but they are randomly scattered all over the apartment.

Then, I got the brilliant idea to do this:

All my STR yarn and other yarn that I am super excited about goes on the dresser in the basket from Target. That way, I can look at it and pet it and perhaps sniff it anytime I want. I put my knitting needles in the vase because they were always all over the floor and stuff and it is easy to store them there. And, I think it looks cool!

And, if you want to see the pics of the stash, just click here. I know I have some more yarn around here. There is a skein of Mountain Colors that I know I have not knit with, yet I cannot find. Damn knitting elves probably got it.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. I have not knit much this week, as I have been reading Harry Potter. I did finish last night. I am not going to talk about it, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone. I will say it was, I think, the best Harry Potter book. So so very good.

Happy knitting! :)

Oh the yarn fumes. . . .

Many exciting things have happened in the last few days. There was an incredible amount of knitting, some reading, and some yarn acquisitions.

Ok, first off....Harry Potter! Last night, I went with Ryan, Ang, and Alex to Barnes & Noble so Ryan and I could patiently wait for our Harry Potter books: We got the cheap kiddie HP glasses from the bookstore. Yes, I am wearing a HP scarf. It was the first project I ever knit. It's all in stockinette, it rolls like crazy (which is good because the rolling covers up the ends that I never weaved in), but it's my Harry Potter scarf. It had to be worn last night. We had to wait for a long time in the store, so I parked myself in the knitting section, where I sat on the floor and finished up my first Flicker sock:
I even cast on for the second one and started on some ribbing. This sock is so beautiful. I just love it. The stitch pattern is so cool. I am very excited to knit the second sock. That will have to wait though, as I must read Harry Potter! :)

While at the bookstore, I also grafted the toe on my lacy socks. What does that mean? Oh, it means an FO, people!
Here are some specs on my socks:

Yarn: KnitPicks Essential (75% Superwash, 25% Nylon), about a ball and a half or so.
Needles: Size 2
Pattern: My own. I found the stitch pattern in a stitch dictionary and made it work for my socks.
The verdict: I like the socks a lot. I love the stitch pattern. I think I may try to knit another pair and rework the pattern so I have few stitches on the needle or go down a needle size. I find the socks to be a little loose, especially in the cuff. They are very pretty though!

Ok, now we have the yarn purchases. These were all made while at the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair this morning. It was absolutely fabulous there. My mom and I headed out there very early this morning so it was not crowded at all, which is nice as I am not a fan of large crowds (which is why I had to hide in the knitting section and knit at the bookstore last night). :) Anywho, I had a plan about my yarn purchases. The plan was to walk through and look first and then decide on what to buy. Of course that went out the window when I saw this:
Are you kidding me? A $5 bag o' yarn!? Nice pretty yarn that I can felt!?!? It was going so fast I had to get it. I mean, $5 hardly counts, right? After that, I did stick to my plan. I knew I wanted to visit the Briar Rose booth to get some yarn for the Morning Glory Wrap from Knitspot, so that was my first stop after the wandering. I picked up this:

This is Wistful in some lovely purples and greens. I managed to find two skeins that look pretty close to each other, so I think it will be perfect for the wrap. They were very helpful at the Briar Rose booth and they even had the Morning Glory Wrap all knitted up and on display. I think my mom was a little freaked out when I started sniffing the yarn, but she knows I am crazy about the knitting! :)

Then my mom was very kind and bought me some more goodies:I love the knitting girl socks. I love socks like those (like my Napoleon Dynamite socks, or my Care Bears socks). They are perfect for me! The sock yarn is from Creatively Dyed Yarn. The lady at the booth was also very nice. She told me she dyed yarn for three months to get ready for the festival. I told her I dyed about fifteen things to put on my Etsy site and that was a whole lot of work. Her stuff was all so beautiful, but I decided on the purples. It reminds me a bit of the Goodbye, My Love sock yarn that I dyed and sold. I am going to use this yarn to make my mom some socks for Christmas, I think. It was so nice of her to buy it for me, and all moms love hand knit socks!

Finally, I got some lovely Claudia Handpainted in the Twilight colorway:

I have been eyeing this colorway for a long time on The Loopy Ewe, and when it was in front of me, I just could not pass it up!

My mom and I spent maybe two hours there and then were on our way home. It was very nice day for me and my mom. And, even though my mom doesn't knit, she is quite the enabler. This was my last big yarn purchase for the year though, so I had to make it good. I have so much I need to knit some of what I have. So, I will be likely purchasing some souvenir yarn while in TN in a couple of weeks (yes, I looked up where the nearest yarn shop is and called to get directions) and then I will probably by some yarn for a super secret knitting project I have in mind. I have lots of good projects waiting to be knit here, so I want to try to focus on getting those done. Of course, I could always win some more blog contests! :)

I have to go back to reading Harry Potter now. I am only on chapter 4 and I have had the book for fourteen hours already. :)

Happy knitting and happy Harry Potter reading!

Ravelry...will you ever call my name?

Alright, a quick post. I was reading some knitting blogs, as I like to do. I was reading Shelley's blog (my dear SP10 pal) and she was talking about how you can look up your place in line on the Ravelry waiting list. Here's what I got:

Found you!

You signed up on June 6, 2007
You are #7212 on the list.
1303 people are ahead of you in line.
10650 people are behind you in line.
32% of the list has been invited so far

Hmm, I hope I don't have to wait much longer. And, now, I must go. It is time to sit in bed and knit!

Have a good night. Happy knitting!

There has been knitting!

Well, I have been quite the busy lady in the last week or so. Somehow, I have found time for some knitting, which is good.

Even though this was not on my list of things to knit, I couldn't help it. It just kind of happened. It's the Baby Kimono Sweater from Mason Dixon Knitting. I so used leftover dishcloth cotton for this. But, hey, it's soft, it's bright and machine washable. After I finished knitting it, I learned that my college roommate, Karen, is pregnant, so it was perfect timing. She is not finding out the sex of the baby, but clearly she is going to have a girl. She has to, so I can gift her this sweater! I just need to finish seaming this up and make some ties for the side and it will be ready for gifting.

Speaking of seaming, I finished my blue lacy socks. Well, I need to graft the toe shut, which I wanted to do before blogging so I could post a picture, but, alas I cannot find my little bag o' knitting notions. The reason I can't find it is the bedroom looks like this: Oh, I am embarrassed to even post that. I should stop blogging and go clean...seriously! Anyway, I will have a pic of the blue lacy socks, once I locate the bag with the needle I need to close the toe!

I did finish one Embossed Leaves sock this week too:

It's so pretty! I am not quite ready to start on the second one, but soon. I am thinking it may come with me to TN at the beginning of August. It might be a good one to work on during the long car ride. I will probably have to pay Alex in Egg McMuffins to drive all the way there, but it will be worth it, if I get to knit the whole time. :)

Oh, I saw the Harry Potter movie Thursday. How I love Harry Potter! I didn't love book 5 like I did the others, but after seeing the movie I would like to go back and read it again. Very good movie. I am on HP overload (as I am sure many of you are too). I can't wait to get my hands on that last book. I have never gone at midnight to get anything in my life, but I will be at the Barnes and Noble waiting for my Harry Potter book. Next weekend will be crazy with getting the new book and going to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair Saturday morning. There will be lack of sleep, but it will be a good weekend!

Hmm, that's all the knitting I have at the moment. I think I am going to put some knitting podasts onto my iPod and clean the disaster that is my room.

Happy knitting! :)

Oh man I on a roll. . . .

Just a quick early morning post to say I think I better go to the casino or the horse track or something, because I am on a major lucky streak right now. That's right, I just won Sarah's Fugly Friday contest! Who knew when I knit the crazy cat lady poncho for my Halloween costume last year that it would win me yarn today!

So, if you have time and you have some fugly knits, head over to Sarah's blog for details. Well, even if you have nothing fugly to share, you should head over there because she has a very nice blog to read!

Alright, that's all I've got for now. Have a good weekend and happy knitting!