Road Trip!

This week I've been busy getting ready for my second-ever vending experience. This time, it's the Madison Knitting Guild's Knit-In.


I've never been before, but I was invited to apply after the organizer saw my booth at Yarn Con. Although I'm not looking to start vending on a regular basis, Madison is only about 2 hours from me, so it seemed do-able. Not to mention, when I found out that the Harlot is their guest speaker, I thought it sounded like a ton of fun!


My sources tell me, that once the Harlot blogged it, registrations started pouring in, and they are expecting record attendance. I won't be able to hear her speak since I will be working, but I am looking forward to basking in the party atmosphere of happy knitters that will be encircling the campus.

If you are coming, please say hi!

*My quilt above is "I'm Buggin" from 1996 and can be found in the book Contemporary Quilts: Quilt National 1997. Not that it is related to the Knit-In (only via the travel theme) but the blog feels naked without a photo!

I Guess That's Why They Call Them Tweens

What is going through a 9 year old boy's mind as he hovers in the doorway? I believe it is something like this:

"What are those little sisters watching without me? Oh, Winnie the Pooh. That show is for babies. I hate baby shows. Oh, look. Pooh is really cute. Oh, there's Tigger. I love Tigger. Must....break......away. But....I seem to be.......transfixed."

I saw him standing there, looking so cute and holding his 3 dinos so casually, and it reminded me that I forgot to blog about Green Steggie a couple of months ago. I took the opportunity to surreptitiously get a photo. Then later, I was looking through the photos and I got a little verklempt.

This is a boy who loves his "buddies and blankies" more than any of my kids. He sleeps under a mountain of 2 quilts, 1 blanket, 4 blankies, and about 40 stuffed animals every night. And yet, should friends stop by unexpectedly, he is up the stairs like lightning to throw all of the stuffed animals into the girls' room.

He would rather die than have me kiss him goodbye in front of the school, and yet, he looks around and then leans forward between the front car seats every day as I am dropping him off, so I can give him a little head pat or hair ruffle. And he still will hold my hand walking down the sidewalk. If we are in another town where no one will see him.

Oh, little man. My basketball-playing, Star Wars-loving, dino-holding sweet boy. Would you please just stay like this forever?

Meet Green Steggie.
Free pattern here.
Yarn: Arucania Nature Cotton, 1 skein.
Notes: I debated about using a light blue for his face, since the black doesn't show up very well on the dark green/navy combo, but he liked it, so be it.

It took me a long time to get around to making him; I am not a huge fan of knitting toys because they are so fiddly, and ever since the "Bad Kitty" debacle I just haven't had the motivation. Some people just have a knack for embroidering adorable faces, but I don't have that gene. (Seriously-if you don't believe me, just click on that Bad Kitty link.)

However, if you love making toys, have you seen this adorable pattern?

He might look at little linty, that is because he has been playing for a few months with his best friends, Blue Squishy and Tri.

Great Sox

Here I am, having a little "wash and dry my handknit socks event" and I remembered that I never showed you all the handknit socks from last year. I don't know why I-a seller of sock yarn-would neglect this. It seems like I should be shouting from the rooftops every time I finished a pair of socks! Maybe it's because I'm just a Plain Jane sock knitter? Just the basic sock pattern for me, nothing lacey, nothing cabley, nothing fancy, not even a little picot.

Or maybe I just have rocks in my head. I will try to be better.


So better late than never. Here they are, in no particular order:



I will never forget where I was when I started this pair. I was at Borders, listening to the Harlot, and thank God I brought this skein of "emergency knitting" along with me, because the first 2 skeins of regular knitting fell out of my bag on the way into the store. Never underestimate the value of emergency knitting. I almost finished the first sock that night.

Sophie's Toes color Midnight Sky, which is a navy, dark royal blue, and grey combination. The pattern I always use is the sock pattern from the Ann Budd book Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and all the following are variations of that.

These were made from a pairing of scraps, which explains why they are shorties. No reason, just that I wanted to test knit some of my own yarn. Let's call it "quality control".


Sophie's Toes Magical for the leg and foot and Electric Blue for the heels and toes.


How about a stripey pair. I am totally into stripes, especially if they don't have that fake-fair-isle stuff gunking it up. I'm just not into that FFI stuff. (Sorry, if you are a FFI lover). And, as a bonus, they're a little tweedy!

Lana Grossa Meilenweit colortweed #1004

So I brought home that tweedy-stripey green and blue yarn, above, and realized that I was already knitting these, below:


I know that one is stripey and one is not, but other than that, they are almost the same color. Don't laugh, I'm serious. In the dark pre-dawn and pre-caffinated hour, one might even mistake and mismatch them.


I started these way back when because I was concerned that there were white areas in the dyed yarn. Again with the quality control. But it was fine - it was really light blue - and lucky me! My quality control specialist (me) happened to knit (me) a size 9!

Sophie's Toes Lily Pond. Kelly green and denim with a little chartruse and light blue.

Ok, here's where it breaks down into total craziness. I just love the Hundertwasser, can't stay away from the Hundertwasser. Visit it every time I go into LYS, even if its just to say a quick "hi" and look at the paintings on the ball bands.

These socks are so NOT ME. I didn't love knitting them. Didn't love the FFI and the extreme yellow patches. However, in the end, I love them and wear them a lot. In fact, just thinking of the Hundertwasser makes me want to go upstairs and visit the stash. Focus, Emily, focus.

Opal Hundertwasser #650 Blue Moon. Sock yarn inspired by paintings!




Ok, here's another pair I really love.


(Sophie's Toes Table for Two. Teal with green light blue and grey.)


You can tell if I really love the yarn because then I will give it the Full Royal Treatment. That means, I will extend the ribbing all the way down the leg. And I will make the leg pretty long, about 8" or more.


Therefore, they will take a lot longer to knit, but I will enjoy wearing them much more and then they are much more likely to achieve all-time-beloved sock status. I just really like the ankle hugging action of a ribbed leg. Is it just me, or does anyone else have trouble saying the word "ribbed" without wanting to break out in juvenile giggles?


Moving on.

One last pair from 2008. I actually broke with the blue and green theme that seemed to go on all year. And here's something fancy. The Eye of Partridge heel. Ooh, pretty. Worth learnin' a little something new.

Sophie's Toes Crushed Velvet. One of my best selling colors. With so many different colors combined, it turns out a little differently every time. This was a very dark batch. Any which way, it is always pretty.

That brings us to the end of our 2008-finished-sock-slideshow. I hope you have enjoyed the program. Happy knitting!