Vogue Knitting Live Weekend.

After the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, people at work asked "What did you do last weekend?".  I said " I went to a knitting convention sponsored by Vogue Knitting Magazine".  They wanted to laugh when I said knitting convention, but then looked perplexed and said "Vogue...like the fashion magazine with all the celebrities and models".  Yes... VOGUE.  Oh, so NOW you are interested, huh?

I will start by saying that I was so excited, I forgot to take pictures of most things. But, I will do my best to describe what I was feeling.  How can you put "ridiculously excited at every minute" into words.  The words just cannot contain the emotion.  Between seeing old friends, making new ones, looking at all the pretty yarn colors, finding new knitting accessories, and meeting designers of things that I actually knitted, I was floored.

First things first.  I had to meet up with my core knitting group, the Knatural Purls.  We are a fun bunch who celebrate our love of knitting and love (and sometimes war) with having curly hair.  As beautiful as it is, it can be a lot  of work to keep the hairstyles in great shape.  I'm glad to  ha the support system.   Another big topic of discussion.....finding the perfect hat for all of this hair.  More on that later.

The first booth I made a purchase at was The Dancing Sheep.  I saw a bag that had a corresponding fabric to a bag I made a few years ago, and just had to have it. 

Look at how happy the little bag is in it's new home. 

Then, I walked past Biscotte & Cie and couldn't resist making a purchase. Their sock kits are fun and gorgeous. I also love their self striping color ways. 

I ended up purchasing a pattern with owls on a tree and another with fish under the sea.  I ran into a small problem with my bank card being super protective of my account. They didn't want to let the transaction go through because the company is from Quebec.  I guess they though my card ran away to Canada for the weekend. So, I pulled out my American Express Serve card, which I preload with funds for yarn purchases (yes, I have a card for yarn...don't judge).  The transaction went through. Lovely! It pays to be smart about your finances. I later called the bank and sorted everything out with my card. 

My last yarn purchase was at Dragonfly Fibers. I had such a tough time picking a color. But, these spoke to me. I also figured that it was a limited edition, being that it is a Sock Summit color.  So, I had to have it.  

The next day I got to live one of my dreams.  I met the owners of Malabrigo at a trunk show at La Casita.  I was thrilled. I have been in love with Malabrigo ever since I first laid hands on it, and I was so happy that they decided to show at my favorite yarn shop in Brooklyn.  

Here I am in their lovely "Sunset Park" scarf, designed specifically for their book Rasta in Brooklyn. It's so warm and fluffy.

This time I am wearing Gowanus and Tawana is wearing what I think is Lineal from Malarigo Book Four.    This is actually size small.  I usually knit a medium, but bulky yarn has a tendency to expand, so it was a perfect fit.   

I really want this sweater.

Here are the lovely people that make it all happen.  There were hugs all around.   I tried to speak my best spanish and she tried to speak her best english, and we were able to discuss our love for this beautiful yarn.  She was amazed when I showed her all  of my ravelry pics of past Malabrigo projects.  The love for this yarn spans years.  

So, that  means it is time to present the yarn for the next project.  I am going to make a hat and cowl set for my friend Judith.  She chose chunky yarn in the Polyvoriento colorway.  She doesn't know how quickly you can fall in  love with Malabrigo.  She will find out soon enough. 

Socktober Sunday - Week 1

On Saturday, I spent hours knitting the sleeve of my Grandpa Cardigan.  I needed a bit of a change for the day.

I decided to take a stab at completing socks for SOCKTOBER!!!!  Today was the last official day that I wore a  pair of sandals.  They are these cute open-toe booties.  As I dreaded the thought of putting them away, I began to realize that pretty soon I will need winter boots, and I have no socks.  EEEEEK!  

I have countless skeins of sock yarn.  Enough where I have sock yarn split into 2 skeins, and just waiting to be cast on. Here are some of them.

And.......I may even have a few more skeins tucked away in the OTHER bin, that hasn't been split yet.  

So, why do I have no socks???

I figured it out.  I got all happy when I learned the magic loop 2 at a time technique.  I get all excited, work the socks to the heel turn / gusset, and then Boom!  I stop.  Something weird happens with the counts.  It's like front sock 1, front sock 2, back sock 2, back sock 1.  But when you are doing k2tog  between the backs and the fronts, things get all crazy.  So, it took me about 3 pairs of socks getting stuck somewhere at the heel turn to recognize this flaw.  Silly me should have heel turned 1 at a time, but .... I digress.  

So, here is an example of one sock.

I casted on this sock on July 26, 2009.  The yarn is Araucania Ranco Multy in Pink, and it was given to me by one of my really sweet knitting friends whose Ravelry ID is Carmelnap.  It was a birthday gift, and I was so excited that she gave me this gorgeous pink yarn.  The pattern is Kai-Mei from Cookie A.'s Sock Innovation book.  

For some reason, I got stuck at the gusset.  I have decided to separate the socks, and knit the pattern to complete it.  Now, I just need to figure out where exactly I am in the pattern.  

That is another one of my personal knitting "problems" that I am trying to fix.  I get lost in a pattern, am apprehensive about ripping back, and then I just put it to the side and do the inevitable.  Cast on another project, promising myself that this one will be better.  I will take notes this time.  I will follow it graciously and have a nice completed something in the end. 

So, yeah.  I'm guilty.  I kinda just did that about an hour ago.

I purchased this yarn from The Loopy Ewe about a week ago.  Biscotte & Cie Felix Self Striping Yarn in "Gazania B". 

Gazania is actually a flowering plant native to Southern Africa.  Here is a picture for color reference.

So, the yarn spoke to me and said "I want to be a pair of Toe-Up Afterthought Heel Socks".

So, in my knitting drunkeness (because I had to be drunk off of the yarn fumes to cast on another sock while there was a perfectly pink sock begging for attention) I wound it into a skein.

It's soooooo pretty!!!  

Then, to take a step further, I split the skein so that they were even in weight (53g), and I cut it so that both skeins started with the same color.  Yes, I am a little bit picky about having matchy-matchy socks. 

I casted on 20 stitches, using the Long-Tail Cast On and alternating it between two needles.  This is the cast on that I have done over 200 times for my hexipuffs.  I can do it in my sleep. 

I am using my new 5 inch Knitters Pride needles.  They take a bit of getting used to.  They are so little that I feel like they will snap at any minute.  So, I am being extra careful with them.  Maybe I should have gone with the 6 inch ones.  I was worried that my stitches were going to fall off of the needle after I finished my increases.  But, after putting the stitches on 4 needles, that worry went away.

So, here is the sock that I started.

I am going to call it "Révolté" for 2 reasons.

1. The yarn is made in Saint-Bruno, Quebec.

2. This is the "rebel" project, because although I should be knitting other things..... I am going against all that and knitting away.  

This will become my travel project, because all of my other projects are too big to travel with now.  

I am hoping for 2 things.

1. Beautiful self striping patterns

2. No second sock syndrome.  

Happy Knitting Everyone!