STR Goodness! (Warning: Spoiler Alert)

Before I start talking about the goodness that is my first BMFA Sock Club package, I should warn you:











I will excuse you from reading my blog today, if you don't want to find out about the first package. :)

Before I talk about my package I should probably deal with the results of my contest. As you may recall, there were two prizes to be given away. Well, there is only one winner*....Tia!!! Thanks for your donation!! Mel and I thank you!!! Hope you enjoy your Knitting Like Crazy yarn.

Now that's out of the way, so what do we have here? My first Sock Club package....ever! I have never been in a sock club or yarn club or anything, so this is super exciting to me. I dropped everything and cast on for the socks right away. I am loving the pattern and pretty much can't put it down. I can't wait to be wearing these socks.

Yesterday, after some knitting goodness with my knitting group, I decided to be crafty (yeah, like I need to be more crafty) and made this:

It's a dpn holder. I was really tired of not having anything to keep my dpns from a-flyin' around my knitting bag, my bedroom, and the apartment in general. So one trip to Joann's and about 30 minutes later, I had this. Now, I do not sew, so I just used some of that stitch witchery stuff with an iron to put it together. I have no idea if it is going to hold up, but for the few dollars I spent, it's worth a shot. I am referring to this little number as my prototype, because if it does seem to hold up, there might be a chance that I might make some more to unload on the knitters I know. :)

Anyway, that's all I have for today. I am going to start dyeing yarn now, so if I owe you some yarn, chances are you will be getting it soon. If I don't owe you yarn, that's ok, I still like you!

Happy knitting!

*Only one entry was submitted for this contest, thus making only one winner. Don't worry, I will be holding a no donation required contest again in the future. Probably around May-ish. Stay tuned!

Well, I guess it's not that bad. . . .

. . . .as I have been sitting on my ass knitting the last few days! Thanks for all the comments about the knitting injury. It really wasn't all that bad. It hurt for a day, and not even that much. To me, it was more hilarious than anything. And, while I am sorry for everyone else's puncture wounds, it is nice to know I am not the only one who has been injured by needle-stuck-in-couch. wishiwerebuffy has recommended a tetanus shot. Probably not a bad idea. Between poking myself with sharp objects and that dirty job I have, I could use one. Hmm, I bet I can a free one at work!

And now back to your regularly scheduled knitty goodness. . . .

So, I think I am becoming obsessed with spinning. A couple weeks ago I ordered some roving from The Chicks With Sticks, which I very quickly turned into this:
Which then I very quickly turned into this:
It's a mini-skinny-scarf. I only had about 40 yards when I was done with the spinning, but I desperately wanted to see it knit up. It's cute. Actually, I pretty much love it! I am now out of roving, but I am sure some more will make it's way to me soon. And, I am starting to consider dyeing it. Hmm.

After I finished the skinny scarf yesterday I decided to finally knit my Bears iPod cozy:

It is still in need of a button, but I am quite pleased about how it came out. I made up the pattern to get it to fit my iPod. I still have quite a bit of the Superbowl Shuffle yarn left, so I may try to make a cozy for something else. What? I do not know.

So while I am showing you all these mini/tiny knitted things, how about some mini-socks? These socks are for one of my friends that has tiny feet. Like, really tiny feet. Like, I only used one skein of Claudia Handpainted tiny feet. Anyway, here are the specs on the socks:

The Pattern: Roundabout Socks by Ruth. This pattern was great. Two rows, well-written, and fun. It can't get better than that! It's free on Ruth's blog, but I have to warn you though, if you go to her blog, you will likely see pictures of yarn she dyes, which is so beautiful that you won't be able to resist it, so you will go to her etsy site and buy a bunch, but I digress.
The Yarn: Claudia Handpainted Fingering Weight, colorway Blue Fields; one skein
The Needles: Size 2, as is the standard here at Knitting Like Crazy
The Result: My tiny footed friend is going to have some great socks the next time I see her.

On a totally unrelated note, JC, when am I going to see you next? :)

So that's it for the knitting. Now onto the yarn purchases. I recently scored this baby from The Loopy Ewe: Oh yeah, it's Dream in Color Smooshy! I had been wanting some for awhile and, well, a $25 Loopy credit plus shop sneak up means more yarn for me! I am not sure what sock patten I will use with it, maybe this.

Other than that, I have been dyeing a lot of yarn. When not dyeing yarn I think about dyeing yarn. The yarn dyeing is becoming so crazy that I actually rearranged my bedroom on Monday to accommodate all the crap I need for dyeing yarn. I even have a little desk area in my room now for packaging and filing and yarn labeling and everything. I would show you a picture of it, but, well, it's still a disaster in my room as not everything has been put in it's place yet. Maybe next week. ;) Besides, I didn't have time to clean my room today as I was updating the etsy shop:

Man, I just blogged for so long, I didn't realize how late it is!

Good night and happy knitting!

My first knitting injury. . . .

It's my first knitting injury, and I cannot post a picture. Why? Well, let's just say it involved a Knitpicks Harmony Needle (size 2) and my ass. Amazingly, I did not bust the needle. Who knew my ass was quite the dpn pincushion? Certainly, I did not.

I was a little worried, at first, that there was a splinter of knitting needle in there, alas, there is not. I had this confirmed by a certified medical doctor -- Alex (ok, that's a joke, Alex is not a doctor, although he was a good man and checked the puncture wound for splinters. And, it should be noted that it was more on the hip and less on the ass, but an ass knitting injury sounds much better for knit-blogging).

Anyway, after sustaining said injury, I stopped knitting for the night. It's my punishment for leaving a knitting needle on the couch. :)

Ok, that's all. I had to tell this story to people who would understand.

Thanks! Hopefully knitting with pictures soon!

It's like a knitting library in here!

Well there have been some awesome knitty acquisitions in the last few days.

First, I was gifted this by the kids I babysit (Peter, Lily and Jenna):I had not seen this book before, but I am glad that I have it! There are lots of babies arriving soon and my friends are definitely starting to be in that "baby making" phase, so this is an excellent book for me. There is a ton of cute stuff to knit in it!

Then, I scored an Amazon gift certificate, which I promptly spent on this:I have been dying for Lace Style for quite some time and Fitted Knits was high on my list too. I never really thought I would want to knit mittens like in Folk Mittens, but since I have been working on the Bird in Hand mittens, that has changed. Bring on the Fair Isle, baby!

Other than that, things are good. I am pretty tired today, as work has been super nuts the last couple days. But, tonight there will be much knitting and, um, American Idol!!!! Hooray! My 2nd favorite show is back on TV! (The Office being my first favorite). Tomorrow I plan to dye a crap ton of yarn, and then on Thursday I am going to go knit with my knitting group. Friday I am taking off to Iowa for a weekend of fun with my brother in fabulous Waterloo!

There is still time to get on some blog contest fun here at Knitting Like Crazy! I am giving away two prizes (yummy hand-dyed prizes!). Check out the details here.

Happy Knitting!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that!

Hello everybody! Happy 2008! I hope you had a wonderful New Year. Mine was pretty good. My evening was spent at Mickey Finns in Libertyville with a few of my friends. Overall, a good time. I stayed up until 3:35 in the morning, which is super crazy for me!

Well, since the last post not much has changed in the knitting. I did manage to finish my Bears socks: Here are the specs:

The Yarn: Knitting Like Crazy 'Twist Mania' sock yarn in the Superbowl Shuffle colorway
The Pattern: My own generic toe-up pattern that is in my head. I stopped these socks a little above the ankle because I would like enough yarn left over to knit a Bears iPod cozy. I definitely have more than enough to do that!
The Needles: Two 16-inch size 2 circulars
The Result: Well, all I am saying is that I knit these socks during the last two weeks of the Bears season and they won both games. They are magic winner socks!

Other than that, nothing else has been finished. Bird in Hand mitten number one is slightly longer than the last time I showed it to you. I knit a Baby Bib O' Love yesterday as I have some babies to knit for. On Saturday I had a nice chunk of time to knit, but instead I did this:
What's this?
Uh, could it be handspun yarn?? Why yes, yes it is! A couple months ago I bought some roving from Froggy Fibers and I got a drop spindle and thought I would give spinning a try. I gave up pretty quick, but Saturday when I tried again, it still didn't go well, but it went a little better than last time! I mean, that's probably 5-6 yards, but it's handspun yarn. Handspun yarn that took me an hour and a half to make! Oh well, that's what practice is for, right?

Sorry I don't have much to show off. I promise I will try to be a better knit blogger! :)

Here, look at some yarn I recently put on my Etsy site:

'Just Beachy':

'Sunset':
Well, that's pretty much all I got. This week is going to be another crazy one. Hopefully I will find sometime to knit. Have a good week! :)

Happy knitting.

P.S. I am still running my Blog Contest for a Cause! You can read the details here. And, you can now find my friend Mel on Ravelry. Her name is melaxid!