Mad for Mingus and Memes

I think my key to blogging is to do it on the weekend. This seems to be working out so much better. Things are getting blogged about again. It feels good. I <3 my blog.

So, Mingus has been going much better for me these days. I even got into enough of a groove that it could come to work and my knitting group and be worked out without error. Yesterday, I managed to complete the first one:
For as hard of a start that I was having with this sock, I am really glad I kept working on it. Because I do love it.

That is really all I have for knitting today. I saw this little meme on YarnMiracle's blog and the mood struck me to do it, so here it is:

1) What I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
Finishing up my last year of high school. I might have even been graduating from high school 10 years ago today, I am not sure. I was working at the Dog N Suds as a carhop in Grayslake, and generally being an annoying teenager.

2) 5 Things on My To-Do List for Today
Laundry
Clean bedroom/bathroom
Tidy up balcony so I can then sit out there and knit a Mingus sock
Wind/package yarn to ship
Go to Milwaukee to celebrate Mel's 30th birthday!

3) Snacks I Enjoy
Trail Mix, Chex Mix, Ruffles Potato Chips

4) Things I Would Do If I Were a Billionaire
Build my parents an awesome house. Give some money to my siblings. Maybe give my brother, Mike, a new car because he is living the dream being on the radio, yet his car is so shitty that the radio doesn't even work anymore. Then, I would quit my job, open that LYS I am dreaming of (and of course, we would carry Knitting Like Crazy yarn) and just hang out in the Northern Illinois area being cool and rich.

5) Places I Have Lived
Grayslake, IL; Chicago, IL; Wheeling, IL; and Arlington Heights, IL. I like Illinois!

6) 5 Peeps I Wanna Know More About:
I want to know about anyone reading this who hasn't filled it out on their blog yet.

Must go now, the to-do list is calling! Happy Knitting!

Socks, Socks, Socks. . . .

Despite being so very busy with day job and yarn job, there has been much sock knitting going on. I guess that's what happens when you have lots of season finales of reality shows to watch (like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars).

So, I finally got around to finishing my worsted weight socks: The Specs:
The Yarn: Louet Gems Worsted
The Needles: Size 3
The Pattern: Generic toe-up that is in my head. I started increasing as the socks got longer in the cuff area.
Time to knit: Around a month (but I was knitting other stuff in between, of course)
The Result: The perfect socks for when I am out field sampling in the winter. These babies are warm!

Then my knitting buddy, Jenni, and I decided to have our own sock knitting KAL. A mini-KAL if you will. I present to you Mingus:

This pattern is a Cookie A. pattern and therefore awesome. This is not a pattern that you want to knit while at your knitting group, or on break at work when you are already having a bad day. It will make you want to rip your hair out. But, if you are chilling at home, enjoying an iced tea and a nice spring breeze through the apartment, then it is the perfect sock. I am in love with the Mingus. I may want to marry it.

But, then, because I need a sock to take to knitting group and/or work, I decided to start a modified Hedera sock because it is mostly mindless:I had seen this mod on Ravelry, and I was in love with the sock. You can see the pictures of the awesome socks that inspired me here.

Well, that's pretty much all for now. I am super excited for my vacation next week to Niagara Falls. (Oh, and my sister and I are going to drive to Toronto one day to go to Lettuce Knit and the space needle thingy). Of course, I have already started making lists of the knitting to bring.

Have a great day everyone! Happy knitting!

Birthday Celebration Sale!

In honor of my second annual 27th birthday (that's right, I staying 27 forever!), I am having a sale at my Etsy shop. 10% off everything. That's right EVERYTHING! It's for today only, people, so take advantage while you can.

Once you purchase through Etsy, just wait for the revised invoice from Paypal. If you do happen to pay, I will just refund you the proper amount.

Now, get shopping! :)

Secret Knitting Revealed and a New Pattern . . . .

Ok, so I have today and tomorrow off of work, and I am trying to use these days to be productive at home. I mean, when a girl has 117 skeins of yarn to dye in a short period of time, you can't just sit around and do nothing on your days off.

So, you would think that I have been dyeing yarn today, right? Of course not! I did yarn related things, like updating my Etsy shop, and updating my Ravelry stuff. And, I finally wrote up the pattern for the Mock Cable Rib Socks of awhile back: You can get the pattern for free on my site, http://knittinglikecrazy.com. And, there is a link over there on the sidebar where the other patterns live. Hope you enjoy it!

And now onto the secret knitting. . . .

My friend, Jenny, will be married in July, and I really really loved the idea of knitting her some kind of wedding shawl. I was flipping through an old IK and found the Clementine Shawlette and knew it would be perfect. Here is my finished shawl:
I gave it to Jenny at her bridal shower this weekend, and she really loved it. And, that makes me very happy! I used Valley Yarns Deerfield, which I got on crazy sale from Webs. It's alpaca and silk and so wonderful (so wonderful in fact that I bought four balls in a lovely green to make one for myself one day). I highly recommend that yarn.

I have not just been knitting for other people (which is super fun, of course), but I also busted out a little something for myself:

(sorry for the blurry pic there, it's hard to take pictures of yourself)

The specs:

The Pattern: Little Silk Shrug from Lace Style
The Yarn: Ella Rae Bamboo/Silk in the Shimmer colorway, 2.5 skeins purchased from Mosaic Yarn Studio
The Needles: Size 7
The Modifications: I used size 7 needles for the whole thing, and I increased the number of stitches from 46 to 58 so it would fit me.
Time To Knit: One week-ish.
The Results: I love it. I had to do the garter stitch border part twice, as the first time it was way way too tight. Second time around, things went much better.

I have already worn it three times and I want to wear it everyday for the rest of my life. It just makes me that happy.

Well, that's about all for now. Happy Knitting! :)

Dear Knitting Blog

Dearest Knitting Blog,

I am sorry that I have been neglecting you. You see, I have been busy. There is socks to be knit, yarn to be dyed, American Idol to watch. And, well, Ravelry. It's become my daily time-suck. I used to waste time by reading knitting blogs (and updating my own), but now I am there, chatting my day away in the forums, trying to take the perfect pictures to get more hearts on my projects, and being peer pressured into knitting cool things. I am sorry blog. I will try to be better. I heart you.

Love,
Jen

And, now, back to your regularly knitting. Over the last few weeks I have been going in these crazy spurts where I will knit like crazy for a week, then touch nothing fiber related for five days, and repeat. I don't know why this has happened, but there is knitting getting done, so in the end that's good.

Ok, so first there is the baby knitting I have been doing.

These two things are for my coworker's new baby boy. Both quick, easy, and inexpensive. My kind of baby project!

This is the 4-Hour Baby Bias Blanket from Lion Brand: You knit it on size 50 needles!! I never thought I would be a knitter to use such needles, but I guess I am now. When you need something in a hurry, they are an excellent solution. I used about four balls of Lion Brand Jiffy for this (I say about because I did have to bust into the second four balls that I bought for another one of these to finish the last few rows). Truly mindless knitting there, my friend.

Then I knit this little Bunny Blanket Buddy:
I knit that out of a half a ball of TLC Baby Amore. I definitely have enough to knit another one. I think little baby Silas will be happy with his new stuff!

I also managed to finish my Leafling socks, from the March installment of the Rockin' Sock Club:
At first I was not happy about the fact the second sock came out beautifully striped, and the first one had pooled more, but now I don't care. The stitch pattern is really lovely and to me, not many things beat a brand new pair of socks made out of STR on my feet.

I am very glad I finished those socks because my one knitting goal for this year was to complete all the socks in that sock club. So far I am two for two.

Hmm, what else? There was some stash enhancement courtesy of George W.: Of course, Socks that Rock! I got above all in lightweight and from left to right we have Blarney Stone, Turquoise, and Pebble Beach. I have already decided that the Pebble Beach yarn will become Sidewinders after seeing these on Ravelry.

I have some other secret/mystery knitting going on, but those should be able to be revealed in about one week or so. :) Oh the secret knitting, some of my best work yet, I think!

And now, the shop plug. Some of you may have seen my sidebar (or even been to my etsy shop recently) but I just want to put it out here--I now sell roving on Etsy!
There is currently four in my shop, and a ball o' roving arrived this week for more dyeing fun!

Lots of good things are coming up soon which hopefully will give me good things to blog about (or give me no time to blog, I am not sure). There are more birthday celebrations coming up (there was an early b-day celebration for me yesterday, but I am waiting to blog about that because I am quite behind on the blogging right now), and a trip to Niagara Falls, and the reschedule of the Yarn Harlot (Hooray!!!), and the dyeing of 100 skeins of baseball themed yarn, and weddings, and weddings, and weddings, and weddings. (None of those weddings are mine; remember, I want cats. 124 cats!)

That's it for now. Happy knitting!