Thursday, October 29, 2009

Look What I Can Do!!!!

TOE UP SOCKS!!!!

My Lucy socks are done... Lucy yarn, Lucy pattern... for me!

These are the quickest socks that I have ever knit! I did the second sock in a total of 2 days and a few hours for the cuff and bind off! Really I am so excited by these. I wore them to work today... No one coud see them b/c they were in my shoes but it made me damn giddy all day knowing they were on my feet. :D

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Where in the Workd is Winnie? - Week 2

In our second letter from the headmistress she talks of 2 locations. One which has a lovely castle and "spring air" ... I would think she MIGHT be in Las Vegas as the weather here has been rather spring like and we have our own "castle" ... BUT she included a photo with her letter which shows that she is not, in fact, here but she is actually in Dunedin, New Zealand at Larnach Castle. It's actually spring there, they're not just having strangely nice weather. :)

The second location she talks of is in Canada and is on the border of Quebec. It's known for having great Maple syrup and used to be part of three towns that have been merged into one. After a bit of searching I have determined her destination to be Stanstead, Quebec.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Where in the Workd is Winnie? - Week 1


It appears that our headmistress is scurrying out of London after having been under some false accusations from the Ministry. It's unbelievable really. Honestly, what could be they be thinking!?!?

Anyways she signed her letter "Ciao," which has led many students, myself included, to believe that she is headed into Italy next. However, with the way that "Ciao" has been incorporated into the English language this is purely just a guess. I only hope that she is safe during her travels.

1st Weeks Assignment...

  1. Someone with the same craft as you (either those listed above or another one). -Elanor Cadogan
  2. Someone who was born in the same month. - Waverly Trimble
  3. Someone from a different country. - Eugene Nigeno
  4. A new HSKS Quidditch player. - Stellwa Quinn
  5. A player who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps. - Wisteria Lovegood
  6. A player who has a bigger stash than you! (And if your stash is the biggest, proudly say so!) - Megaera Black
  7. A player who both knits and crochets. - Rowena Bladvak
  8. Someone who has the same favorite color as you. - Hermione Bagnold
And I'm heading off to do my comments now! :)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

My Toe-Up Adventure!

I have started on my second shawl, "Percy." It was part of a KAL with some fellow HSKSers. I'm using my Sweeney Todd yarn from the Nefarious club. The project got named "Ozymandias, King of Kings" from Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias. It's really VERY VERY pretty so far. The charts are in tiny print and one is patterned on both the RS and the WS so I'm moving a lot slower through that chart than I normally would, but I have really flew through most of it and, I think, that it's looking beautiful. In addition to starting another shawl, (I am now a lace and shawl addict!) I decided to attempt my first pair of toe up socks, encouraged by Ronni. This is my progress since Monday night. I am pretty thrilled with the socks. And I was surprisingly shocked at how amazingly easy toe-up is! WOW! Thankfully Ronni was able to give me some tips and links to help me get started. Where would I be with out my best friend? (((Awwwwww....)))

Yarn balled, Pattern Printed

Cast-on and the first few rows

Progressing up the foot

Pattern: Sprucey Lucy by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR
Colorway: Lucy
I named them "Pork and Beans" after one of my favorite Weezer songs... I promise if you read or just know the lyrics you'll see why. Also the song has been stuck in my head ALL WEEK. ;)

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Wishlist and Favorites

Favorite colors: blues, turquoise, pinks (but not mauve), (most) greens, purples, reds ... I like pretty much every color
Favorite scents: Vanilla, Jasmine, Lavender and some Raspberry if it's not overpowering ... I'm not big on scents really, I hate florals and I don't like things that smell like food, they just make me hungry
Favorite yarn brands: Malabrigo, Fresh from the Cauldron, Cosmic Fibers, Handmaiden, Knitpicks lace, Socks that Rock
Favorite yarn types (wool, cotton, etc.): Merino wools, Wool/Silk blends, nothing scratchy ... I REALLY love sock yarns, mostly hand dyed, and I've started to get into lace yarns too. I am not a fan of cottons. At all.... they hurt my hands to knit with. I also avoid acrylics that aren't an acrylic/wool blend because of the scratchy factor.
Favorite types of snacks: Oreos, Cheez-Its, Chips & Guacamole, Dos Equis

I knit. ... I have learned to crochet, but I've not really done much with it or picked it up.
My favorite projects are socks (which I seem to have difficulty finishing, SSS) and recently I've fallen in love with knitting lace and shawls. I don't do colorwork. It scares me. I haven't tried it yet but i don't have an interest in it either what with my never ending stash of sock yarn and tons of sock patterns and shawls for me to knit!
My favorite knitting needles are knitpicks nickel for circulars for lace or sock, knitpicks harmonies for DPNs... I also like the Addi Turbos for circulars as well. I REALLY would like to get a set of DPNs by Lantern Moon but I'll work on that want on my own. ;) Hooray for the holidays!
I also LOVE stitch markers. I make them; I buy them; I trade them with friends. I honestly do not think I'll ever have enough! I like to make sure that my projects have matching stitch markers. They need to match, but they also need to stand out so that I can see them. :)
My other hobbies include jewelry making (I also do stitch markers and row counter bracelets), sketching, reading, and swimming. Although nearly everything has taken a backseat to my knitting and swimming I've more or less quit. ;)

Allergies: some pollens and grasses, melons... Nothing that really pertains to the swap unless you're thinking of sending me flowers inside of a melon that I'm meant to eat, that could be hazardous.

Wishlists:

Books that are on my "to buy" list:
Not that I necessarily WANT books in a kit, but they can give you an idea of patterns/tyoe of patterns to look for.
(links go to amazon.com, I don't have an amazon wishlist because I share my amazon acct and I don't accidently want to be gift the BSG episode guide or something.)