Close to my Heart

Two weeks later.....

Wow, two weeks since I've posted, it's been a while since I've gone that long!  Nothing too excting going on over at chez Close to my Heart, and that has certainly impacted the lack of posting.  Additionally, I've made some lifestyle changes in terms of diet and exercise which is taking some time, and I'm also trying to spend a bit less time on the computer.  I am however blogging regularly over on my new Diet and Fitness Blog, feel free to check it out.

In the last last two weeks, I finished a pair of socks:

And started another pair:

I also knit a dishcloth:

Project information for all of these can be found over on my Ravelry Project Page.

Yestereday I started something with the handspun I showed you in my last post, but haven't photographed it yet so will show you another day. 

Vacation beginning

My first few days of vacation were quite relaxing.  I finished a pair of plain vanilla socks, a birthday gift for a sister in law:

 

And I've also done some spinning.  I finished spinning up the third bobbin of singles:

 

And got it all plied up:

 

I still have the other half of the 8 ounces from Crown Mountain Farms to spin and ply, so the official pics to come once all is spun and washed.

A couple FOs

I finished up a couple projects on Canada Day.  I sewed the buttons on this little baby sweater:

And I cast off my lacy rib sock #2 to complete the pair:

And now I gotta run and get ready for work. You can find more info on my Ravelry project page if you are interested.

Toe Up

We're continuing to enjoy beautiful summer weather here, so I thought I'd change over to a summer theme.  I love changing up my templates regularly and Typepad makes that easy to do.  The Summer BBQ seemed appropriate since we are barbecuing a fair amount here at chez Close to my Heart.

The sock mojo is continuing this year, I counted my Sock FOs on Ravelry the other day, and I think I have completed eight pairs already this year.  While I'm not about to join the 52 pair plunge, I'm happy that I've already completed more pairs than last year and have no plans to slow down.

A few years back, I went through a phase where I knit toe up socks exclusively, then decided I didn't like knitting short row heels and returned to the top down heel flap socks that I had originally learned on.  I could knit a top down vanilla sock in my sleep, and I think that contributed to my boredom with sock knitting in 2008.  This year I realized that a simple patterned sock was the answer, and recently, I also decided I needed to change up the sock construction as well.  Enter Wendyknits toe up slip stitch heel construction.  I finished her Nanner Socks the other day, very fun pattern to knit:

And I've cast on another of Wendy's patterns, the Lacy Ribs:

The variety of sock knitting options is one of the things that makes it so interesting I think.

Let's make a deal

Among the many things I love about Ravelry, one is the sense of community that exists in many of the groups there.  I have mentioned before that I am active in several groups, and have enjoyed getting to know people from around the world.  In one of these groups, Ravelry member Toadyjoe decided that she really didn't like sock knitting, but loved handmade socks.  She had an extensive selection of sock yarn as well as an extensive knitting library.  She made a proposal for group members to select two skeins of sock yarn, knit her a pair of socks with one skein, and then keep the other skein for them self.  She sweetened the deal even further by including the book of the sock knitter's choice from her library.  I of course had to get in on this deal. 

The yarn I chose to knit socks for Toadyjoe with was a gorgeous merino tencel from Yarn Pirate. After extensive browsing around Ravelry I decided to knit No Purl Monkeys.  I think this was great choice for this yarn, and very enjoyable to knit as well.  I think there will be a pair of No Purl Monkeys for myself in the future. 

Here's the finished socks:

In return I received the book French Girl Knits and this gorgeous Wolllmeise Sock Yarn.

I've always wanted to see what the fuss was about this yarn!  Toadyjoe also included a bonus, a hank of Malabrigo Lace Weight that I didn't think to photograph.

Did anyone notice that I posted two days in a row for the first time in who knows how long?  And I even have a couple more posts planned for the rest of this week.

Sock knitting

Well I truly had intended to blog sooner than this.  I have some handspun to show you but decided that I was not happy with the colour in the pictures I had taken, so will try again this coming weekend.  I also find that Ravelry has taken some of my blog steam away, I'm active on several forums there and by the time I read and post..... And then there's Plurk, Twitter, and to a lesser extent, Facebook.  Then I have to find time to knit, spin, and crochet, and there's those pesky things like work, chores, and sleep that get in the way too.  Nevertheless, here I am finally, once again a week later.

I"m happy that the sock mojo is back this year.  Here's my latest completed sock. 

 

These are the Eagles Flight socks, and were knit as part of a Knit Along over at the Fun Knits Ravelry Group.  Yarn is some unknown opal purchased on vacation in the Okanagan a few years back, long before Fun Knits became my main supplier of yarny goodness. 

Shortly after finishing these socks, I cast on the next pair, No Purl Monkeys using Yarn Pirate Merino Tencel in the Sweet Magnolia colourway.  Colour is more accurate in the second picture, but the first is much cuter.

 

 

Lots of Socks

Today was a sunny spring day. It was lovely to open up the house and let some fresh air in.  I always feel a lot more energetic on such days, so therefore some normally mundane household chores were accomplished much more easily than on a dark and dreary day.  Included in this was organizing the handknits.  I pulled out the sock tote, one of those big under bed storage containers in which the socks had become rather jumbled.  The socks were dumped and returned to the bin in a more orderly manner.  It looks like I have a fair amount of socks, and really have no business knitting any more for myself, even though I know I will. 

Most of these socks were knit by yours truly, with the exception of about five or so that I received in swaps.  And missing from the bin were about half a dozen pair that were in the laundry.  I didn't take a count, nor do I really want to, just a tad bit embarrassing me thinks.

Darn good thing that the latest pair off the needles are a late birthday gift for my Father:

Details should you care can be found on the Ravelry Project Page.

Socks X 2

I actually intended to blog a few days ago, however our internet connection has been beyond pathetic, and getting online either did not happen or was so painfully slow that we pretty much ran screaming from our computers.  Hopefully I will get this post written and published before we loose our connection yet again.

Early this past week, I finished two pairs of socks.  First, using gorgeous Malabrigo sock in the Velvet Grape colourway, my first Knitspot pattern, the Tessarae socks:

I actually goofed and made the leg of the second sock I knit one pattern repeat shorter, but did not realize that until I finished the sock.  I'm not a perfectionist enough to care, after all they will be hidden under pants!  Great yarn and great pattern though, I would knit with either again.

The second pair of socks completed were Tidepool Socks using  Araucania Ranco Multy in the Peach Green colourway.  This yarn is not nearly as luxurious as Malabrigo Sock, but still lovely yarn in a gorgeous colourway. I would knit this pattern again and would use the yarn again as well (and do have more of it in my stash). This simple pattern makes a nice cushy fabric that I like a lot.

The return of the sock mojo

I'm cautiously optimistic that the sock mojo that was absent through most of 2008 has finally returned in the first weeks of 2009.  I FINALLY finished the Lorna's Laces Flamingo stripe socks, started way back in November and knit on briefly during the Black Friday trip to the states:

Shortly after finishing this pair, I cast on a first sock for two more pairs. 

These are Tidepool Socks, knit with Araucania Ranco Multi in the peach green colourway:

And these are knit with Malabrigo sock in the Velvet Grape colourway:

This is Ann Hanson's (Knitspot) Tesserae pattern.  I've admired her designs for a long time, but this is my first time knitting one.

I've also come to a realization.  I can no longer knit plain vanilla socks, I think ho hum nature of these socks is what caused me to loose my mojo.  So I'm now after simple patterned socks that will still serve as take along knitting projects.  Both of these patterns seem to fit that bill.

GIft Socks

One Christmas gift is knit, a pair of socks for my sister.  Fortunately, she has small narrow feet, so they knit up quite quickly.

Details can be found over on my Ravely project page.