MORE ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Look what just arrived ! ! 

Top Designers include:

Cookie A.

 - - love her designs including Pointelle that was in time-out so very long.

Nancy Bush

Anne Hanson

- - just knit her les Abeilles shawlette, twice

Véronik Avery

Deborah Newton

Evelyn A. Clark

Meg Swansen

Chrissy Gardiner

Katheryn Alexander

Pricsilla Gibson-Roberts

Eunny Jang

Mellisa Morgan-Oakes

Anna Ziloorg

Cat Bordhi

- - the gal who just changed my entire sock heel world - more about her shortly

Ann Budd  - whose name is on the front cover

oh, that's not all folks.

There is also an Instructional DVD included ! ! !  

I AM SO EAGER TO GET STARTED WITH SOCK KNITTING MASTER CLASS 

I am a sock knitter, wait, I am a SOCK KNITTER

no, really

I AM A SOCK KNITTER ! ! ! ! ! 

Since Dianna introduced me to magic loop 2-at-a-time

and discovering Melissa Morgan-Oakes,

I love knitting sox.

Then Cookie A. designs entered my knitting life.

L-♥-V-E her designs and my sock drawers are filled with her designs.

Cat Bordhi entered my knitting a bit later in my knitting life.

However, this week she re-entered 

with a GREAT BIG BANG ! ! ! 

If you knit socks

then you really have to take at look at 

Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel Sock

I first read about it on Ravelry

and used the link provided.

Here's her video

After watching this amazing variation of a short row heel

known now as Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel

I found her Rav Group 

Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel Socks

I could not resist immediately ordering her

ebook Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel Sock

If it's instant gratification you're craving, this is it ! ! ! 

This ebook was on my laptop within seconds of my purchase.

No only is this pdf format ebook on my laptop it is going onto my NookColor

just as soon as I show you my first attempt of

Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel Sock

Sweet ! ! ! 

My go-to sock technique

toe-up or cuff down !

hugs

  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  

keep warm

FO's & WiPs

First

Finished Objects ! ! ! 

Hope it's just the perspective that make my ankles look HUGE

These are one of the 6-on-a-stick sockfest.

Wilton Cake Icing Dye dyed

Finished ! ! ! ! 

Next,

From the 6-on-a-sick project:

Pink

again, Wilton Cake Icing Dye dyed.

L♥ve 'em.

On to Works-in-Progress

again, the third and last pair in the 6-on-a-stick project.

Frogged [that's ripped out to non-knitters]

this pair from mid-foot back to the leg/cuff part of the sock.

I am trying a brand new technique I've learned.

The Afterthought Heel.

Afterthought being that a length of waste yarn [in this case a piece of blue yarn] is knit into the sock

at the point where the heel is to be knit 

after the sock is knit to the

toe and finished.

At that point,

the stitches on either side of the waste yarn our picked up on needles and the heel is knit.

I'll post photos as I go along.

Next WiP:

Sunshine and Lime

my Camp Loopy Project II socks.

Knit from the toe up in stockinette stitch

will use the afterthought heel technique.

Project II for Camp Loopy must use

Cable Stitch in the design.

I will be knitting 

a Cookie A designed sox by the name of

what else? but

SUNSHINE

a cables with lace pattern.

Lastly,

Very first purchase of

Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn

I'd like for you to meet

Twitterpated

Yep, that my knitting life this past week or so

in a nutshell!

hugs

♥   ♥   ♥

Start to Finish

The shaping of the shawlette amazes me.

This is my first shawlette pattern

it's an Anne Hanson pattern - 

les Abeilles

found on her website Knitspot

or

on Ravelry

les Abeilles [the bees] is my first shawlette pattern

-not counting the kerchief neckwarmers -

and did not know what to expect . .  .  .

sooooo,

following directions cast on - - - - whoa, Nellie ! - - - -  

242 stitches * * * Yikes !

that what it said, 242 sts.

As it turns out this is the lace edge that forms the 'angle' of the triangle.

Thereafter, every other row contains decreases

that self-shapes this shawlette.

It truly amazes me.

The shaping is apparent after knitting twenty or thirty rows.

The picot-like edging is knit as you go.

Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. 

not added later with pick-up stitches.

Here's les Abeilles' progression - photo-by-photo.

A few rows past the lace portion and on to the garter stitch portion.

Look how this beauty is taking form.

Moving right along.

Only a dozen or so stitches remain on my circular.

Here is the set up for the three-needle bind off.

Bound off 

showing pre-blocked size.

Being blocked.

Final size 37" across at neck edge and 20" center point.

Cast on July 1st and Blocked and finished July 7th.

I'm enjoying this pattern.  So easy to follow Anne's instructions

and the charts are large enough to see.

This pattern will be used again and again.

Great for gifting.

hugs

♥  ♥  ♥

Vesper Yarn

Learned about this yarn while following

The Knit Girllls

video podcasts.

I believe they have influence over me.

Just found them last month and have been watching their current episodes

while catching up on their past video casts

one a night.  

So, about this yarn.

Saw these on The Knit Girllls and, of course,

had to have some.

I'm going to knit them toe-up

with an afterthought heel

- this will be my first attempt at them,

however, watching Leslie's tutorial I know I can do. . . 

well, she makes it look easy.
Her video is excellent!

One more thing with these sox,

I am going to knit them in stockinette stitch.
I've not knit an entire sock this way before.
Will have to pay attention to the fit.

Now, who dyed these great colors?

These are Vesper Sock yarn

100% Superwash Merino wool

Self-striping of course.

Dyed by Julia Vesper

at

Knitterly Things

I can't get these on my needle fast enough.




hugs


♥ ♥ ♥

What's in the Bag

It's the Pink pair of

'six on a stock' trio.

I wimped out and am finishing the one pair at a time.

I tried taking them along in the car so that I could knit a bit while waiting for dr appts, etc., etc.

Found that it was too cumbersome to take to Knit-In-Public.

So am making some progress one-pair-at-a-time.

The Pink Sock is my take-along knitting this week.

I keep it in the drawing string bag I made from the goodie fabrics I won on

Chris' blog giveaway.

We Love Quilting

Such a generous giveaway it was.

More about it in a later post.

On the same topic of six-on-a stick socks

I've finished the Green pair

They haven't been blocked just put them on the blockers 

to show them off.

I l♥ve the way my dye job came out.

hugs

♥♥♥

An FO [Finished Object] & what's on my needle

I finished my shawl

les Abeilles

by Anne Hanson

and posted it to The Loopy Ewe website

prior to the deadline!!!!

You can read all about Camp Loopy on Sheri's blog.

I put my finished les Abeilles to soak 

and then  

with the help of a trio of Hubby's ham radio antennas

that I used as blocking wires

I was able to block it like crazy - stretching it like crazy so that the lacy pattern was shown off to it's very best.

Since then I've bought blocking wires from InSpinKnity

 I heard about on them on

The Knit Girllls videocast.

The fiberphile Tree Peony and The Loopy Ewe Solid Brick

colors

couldn't have matched any better if I had know what I was picking.

Both yarns were easy to knit with and feel wonderful after a soak and blocking.

Come on Cold Weather.

Soooooo,

since this shawl was a pretty easy knit

I'm giving it another try.

I using yarn that first begun it's life knitted as Pointelle

- - - you may remember Pointelle - - -

the dreaded sox from Hades 

until, of course, I MASTERED THEM ! !! !    

The yarn is Jojoland in Melody 100% superwash wool.

This shawl is in a triangle shape,

as you can see in the finished one above.

This photo shows the first part -

the lace edge portion just completed.

The center, pointy part of the shawl is at the center of my needle.

The two short ends at the left side and right side

are part of the long side of the triangle

- the neck edge.

Thus, 242 stitches are cast on

for the lace edge.

When the lace edge is complete the stitches have been decreased

to 168 stitches.  

The decreases provide the shaping for the V of the shawl.

The picot-looking edging along the top [long] edge

is knit right along with the body of the shawl.

The picot-looking edging - V below V - 

will continue across the neck edge to meet in the center.

I'll try to remember to take photos along the way

showing the effect the decreases

make to form the remainder of the triangle shape.

Nutz, a picture is worth a thousands words.

I'll post pics.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

With that, I'll want to wish everyone

Happy 4th of July !

hugs