Skinny Ankles and the Trouble They Cause

I decided to change the yarn that I intended to use for my sock madness sock. I apologize to those of you that loved the Koigu. I promise I will use it on a sock that will do it more justice. I felt that a darker color would make the pattern look a little nicer. The name of the pattern is Tropical Mer-tini, which made me think of Mermaids and the deep blue-green sea. Hmmm... maybe my thoughts are still in Trinidad, who knows? This pattern is a knit/purl combo that is full of texure. I decided to use my Socks that Rock Rare Gems that I bought at Rhinebeck.

So, here is my progress so far.

This pattern has a few new techniques that I have to learn in order to be successful.

The first, is the German Twisted Cast-On. I Love it. It makes your sock cuff very stretchy. I found a Video of it on YouTube that was very helpful.

The second technique is the Afterthought heel. I ave never tackled this before, but the designer of the pattern has some clear photographs on Flickr, so the technique looks like it can be done without me having to pull my hair out.

So, I was busy working on my cuff today, and I thought to myself, let me try these on. I knew that if they were too big that I would be in trouble, because my mom doesn't even like this color yarn, so I couldn't even gift it to her. So, I decided that anything I make in this competition will be MINE!!!! I tried it on and guess what????

It's too freakin' big. Aaarrgghh!!! Now, I have to do this all over.... (tears). This is supposed to be a competition. God, why did you bless me with skinny ankles???

Preparing for Sock Madness!!

Tomorrow morning marks the beginning of a new journey that I am about to embark on. It is called Sock Madness. This is my attempt to try out some new patterns, work on my stash yarn, and see how nimble-fingered, I really am. I have 2 weeks to finish the first sock. I have already received the specs, and found out that the pattern was test knit using Koigu KPPPM. I am working on swatching.

Here is the gorgeous-ness up close and personal. I don't even know the name of the colorway. Let's just call it "Round 1 Lilac".

In order to prepare for this, I managed to finish my camera sock that has been sitting in limbo forever. I had to fight with the kitchener monster. I finally won. Sheesh!! It is always an ordeal.

I have also decided to frog a mystery sock that I have been working on. The mystery has been revealed since November. The sock has a cable in it that looks gorgeous...however, cables on size 1 needles are such a PAIN!!! I also missed a stitch, and can't find what I did wrong, so off the needles you go. I need to swatch with that needle.

More updates on my sock progress soon.

Craft Mojo still going!!!

Hello my beautiful people. I know you all miss me. You probably just gave up on checking my blog because there hasn't been any new posts. I am so sorry, but I was busy getting myself into some more crafty stuff. Don't worry... my knitting hands still work. So, let's rewind a bit.


I left for my trip to Trinidad in the beginning of February. Before I left, I tried to attend as many knitting-related events as possible. I figured that I might as well work on my Top Down Raglan Cardigan, because it would be straight stockinette knitting, and easily transportable since it was 1 skein of yarn.


So, here is a picture of it during knit night. (I forgot what night it was, as it is all a blur now)
The next morning, I found this big boo-boo on my Raglan decreases. Ummmm... did they spike my coffee at the shop? Geez!!!

So, the next step was to do this.

Yes, I got pissed off and frogged the whole thing. Since I Spit-spliced the yarn, this is a picture of two full skeins wound into 1 yarncake. I didn't think it would be possible on my regular-sized ball winder, but a bit of pissed-off-ness and vengeance helped to wrap it really tight. LOL!

I met up with Deborah for some knitting therapy and was able to finish this Crochet Scarf for her before I flew out.
Aside from that, I participated in the Knitfiti event on January 15th at the Time Warner Building to help Jamba Juice promote their delicious steel cut Oatmeal. I was interviewed, and here is the VIDEO to prove it. It was so much fun!

So we move on in the time scale to Feb 5th. I am on the plane in Miami, waiting for my connecting flight to take off. There is some oil spillage in the engine, and the plane is grounded for about 1.5 hours before takeoff. Luckily, I had my MMMMmmalabrigo laceweight yarn and some size 4 bamboo needles. 5 days later, this pretty Hemlock Ring exposed itself. I thought it would be difficult, but the pattern is very easy. It is not your typical plane knitting, but I only had 1 mistake and was able to fix it fast. The flight attendant said " you're not done with my shawl yet?" LOL!! A lot nicer than the other horror stories that I have heard about knitting while flying.

So, I put the knitting down for a while, because I decided that I want to make my carnival costume. So before I get into that, I want to explain a little bit about carnival. It is derived from the time of Colonists and Slaves in the Caribbean, and was the only day that they slaves had any freedom. They wore costumes to mock the slavedrivers and danced to drum music. It has evolved into a whole culture of music, food, fabulous costumes, competitions, and a big money-maker for the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. When you "play mas" (short for masquerade) you have the opportunity to pay for the privelage of being part of the parade for 2 days. My particular band, TRIBE, offered us an all inclusive package complete with a gorgeous costume, port-a-potty truck, mobile cool-down unit, premium drinks, breakfast, lunch, snacks, goody bag, the hottest DJ's, and top of the line security. Not to mention a sea of other masqueraders/hotties to dance with. However, it is customary with TRIBE that their band members wear the bikini tops for both Monday and Tuesday. Many people do that without any problems. However, I am a different story. Trinidad is Hot, Hot, Hot, and I sweat if I walk down 1 block. So, I decided to make my own outfit for Carnival Monday.

The theme this year was Birds of a Feather, and my costume was the Hummingbird.... Hence the purple and green colors.

This is what I had to work with.

Starting the sewing.

1 hour later

Finally done

I just want to make one disclaimer. Although the costumes are a tad bit skimpy, what I see when I look at them is the beauty and the art and the craft of Mas-Making. It is such an amazing thing to see the amount of work and intricate detail that goes into making these fabulous costumes. Check out me and this depiction of a Brazilian Macaw

So, who is coming with me next year?

The Bodysnatcher!!

So, I tried on my sweater before I seamed the sleeves, just to get an idea of how it would fit. I am home with my mom, so she becomes my fashion critic.


Me: Mommy, I want you to tell me how this looks.
Mom: Stares at me like I have two heads
Me: Come on, it's just not finished yet...but I need you to tell me if the fit is ok.
Mom: It looks like revenge of the Bodysnatchers. Look at how those two things are just hanging on the side.
Me: Those are the sleeves. I just have to seam them. Ugghh!!!


Fast forward to the Sit N Knit Holiday Party, where muggles are not allowed.
"Oh, I LOVE your sweater" "Did you make that?" "How long did it take?" "Oh, and it matches your hat" "I LOVE Bobbles" "You must be so warm in that" "Is that a Twinkle pattern?" "Where can I find a pattern?" "You look all cuddly and snuggly.. can I touch your sweater.. can I hug you?"


Rule #1 when knitting - Never ask a Muggle for advice.
Here is my sweater. I am contemplating making a second one.

Here are some more highlights from the party.

First off, I met Louise who was my gift exchange knitter. She picked my name out of the bag, and I couldn't be any happier with my gift.

She made me a Tudora scarf/cowl. It matches my coat perfectly. Yay!!
The recipient of my gift was Katya. I made a hat that I designed, which I now declare "The Fashionista Hat". Yes, it was inspired by the super-fashionable MJB many blog posts ago. I think that had a little to do with it. LOL!! Don't we look super-cute?? Katya loves the hat, and I am so happy to have her as a new friend. It was made using Cascade Magnum, and it took somewhere between 2-3 hours to make and seam together.

So, next up was the raffle with super-cool prizes. I donated 4 sets of Sit N' Knit Stitch Markers to the raffle. Jen, who was sitting at my table won them, and then she won another prize, and another, and another. I actually won a pair of my own stitch markers as well, but I put my name back into the raffle to give someone else a chance to win them. Karma is good. I won this book in return, with the same ticket number. Yipee!!

I got to hang out with some cool friends. Yes, we had a baby in a bar!!! Good thing she wasn't reaching for my drink. LOL!!! And, here is the proud and beautiful mommy, Tawana. She is wearing her Tilted Duster, and the hat that she received as a gift. It looks like the Republic hat.

I also got to see some familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while.

Here is Allena who moved out of New York to pursue a different career path.

Here are Sahara and Marva who I haven't seen in months, even though we live in the city. Life just gets busy in the city.

The best part?? Homemade cookies with my initials on it!!! They were super-good. Kudos to A-M for baking them.

Although the beginning of my weekend was a little downtrodden with some Corporate America BS, the knitting party on Saturday truly lifted my spirits. Knitting friends are the best!!! I had such a blast.

On another note, I have all the time in the world to knit now. So, hit me up if you wanna go fondle some yarn at a store, or if you are still stuck on how to do two socks at a time, toe-up, on a magic loop.

My next stop will be volunteering at the Seaman's Church Institute. They need people to knit for the men and women who work on those freight ships and barges, and don't get to be home for the holidays. Won't you send them a little love. Contribute to a care package.

Big, Pink and Bobbly.

This sweater is growing very fast!!! I just attached the sleeves last night. I am working on the decreases leading up to the neckline. The sleeves also need to be seamed. I am about to attach the last skein of yarn. Hopefully, it is enough to complete the tunic.

Here is the latest picture.

I really think that I can finish this!! More updates soon.

Pink and Bobbly

I think that I vaguely remember saying that I wanted to finish the sweaters that are currently on the needles for my New Year's Resolution last year. This will clear my "palate", so to speak, so that I can "taste" new patterns. Having said that, I am hoping to make some room so that I can make Sylvi from the winter edition of Twist Collective.

So, in my attempt to get things off of the needles, I have given myself a deadline on Friday, December 12th for the Twinkle Bobbled Tunic. I am planning on wearing it to the Sit N Knit Holiday party on the 13th. Saturday is supposed to be 34 degrees outside, so that totally cooperated with me wanting to wear a chunky 100% Wool sweater.

So, here is my progress so far.

Here are the complete sleeves, and the hip portion of the tunic.

I continued working on the tunic portion, and have made my way past the pocket. I have about 20 more rows to go before I can add the sleeves. After that, I decrease for the neck, make the collar, pick up and knit a ribbed edging for the pockets, seam the sleeves and then I am done. I like having to only sew 2 seams. Yay!!

Wish me luck on completing this! I still have to knit the gift exchange gift that I approximate will take about 2.5 hours. More updates on that later. Back to knitting!!!

November Wrap-up - Picture Heavy Post

November has been a whirlwind. First the Election, then a marathon cookfest to celebrate my Mom's birthday, then Marathon cookfest #2 for Thanksgiving, a belly busting knitting potluck, and a delightful show to top it all off. I am so sorry that I have not blogged in over a month, but please forgive me. I have been a little busy... with good stuff of course!!

Well, I will give you what you have all been waiting for first!! The knitting extravaganza.

I started Juliet on Halloween, and finished on November 21st. I used Briar Rose Fibers Sonoma that I bought last year at Rhinebeck. I started out casting on for the medium size, because my gauge was slightly smaller than the pattern called for, and I used size 10 needles. I increased for the sleeves until I felt comfortable. It turns out I was about 3 stitches away from the large size, so I just added 3 more stitches and went ahead with my fingers crossed. I ran out of yarn halfway into the last repeat, but luckily, I has a second skein that was dyed similarly. With Briar Rose, it is impossible to get the same dye lot. But, the slight color variation didn't bother me at all. I bought some gold buttons from Save-A-Thon, and boy did I save a lot. The buttons were less than $2. Yippee! The best part is, that they match my boots perfectly. I know, there I go being all matchy-matchy again. Here are my pictures.

I also completed my Cabled Beret from the Premiere Issue of the Debbie Bliss Magazine. I love this hat. I started it on Nov. 19th and completed it on the 24th. The original hat looks very droopy, and I thought that it would swallow my head, especially since my hair is a lot shorter now. So, I went down to a size 4 needle for the ribbing, and a size 7 needle for the rest of the hat. The result is perfect. I used 3.5 skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran as specified in the pattern, in the Berry Colorway. This hat is super warm, and just glides over my hair. Because of the silk content, I don't have to worry about it sucking the moisture out of my hair like wool does.

So, now that the hat is complete, the challenge was to find a comparable sock yarn so that I can make Druid Mittens to match. Debbie Bliss does not make the Berry color in fingering weight. Booooo!!! :-( I took a chance and ordered Socks that Rock in "Jasper". I felt like a big dummy holding the hat up to the computer screen to see if it would match. Well, nobody is perfect... but I am happy that the colorway is really close.
I am excited to get started on these.

I have one more thing to complete this set. I started making the Crofter's Cowl with the Debbie Bliss Silk Alpaca. On the second half, I ran out of yarn with about 9 stitches left to knit. So, now that I have leftover yarn from my hat, I can finally complete it. Here is a picture of half of it, sadly.
I also started another sweater. On the day after Thanksgiving, Rosi G. invited the girls over for a feast and some knitting company. My contribution was a lovely Sweet Potato Casserole. My first attempt was on Thanksgiving day, and I truly believe that the knitting crew got the sweeter deal the second time around.
When I wasn't stuffing my face, I was busy knitting. Here is the bottom portion of the back of my Victoria Sweater from Twist Collective.

Here is another shot of some Thanksgiving gooey goodness. Mmmm.. Lattice-Top Peach Pie. It was gone in about 2 minutes. LOL!! Greedy family!! I have also been doing a little crochet. I promised my friend Deborah a long time ago that I would finish her hat and scarf set. Ummmm.... let's just say that I love her more than I love to crochet. And, since I love to see a smile on her face..... I made some progress this past week. 15 inches whew!! I have about 30 more inches to go before I add ruffles.
Here is a picture of me with my mom on her birthday. We are still trying to work on getting her to fall in love with yarn, but for now she can just smile on the knitting blog.
Last but not least, I went to see the Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall. The Rockettes were amazing!!! Here is a picture of the whole cast.
I sat in the First Mezzanine, in the last row. Dang!! I love the zoom on this camera!!