It sucks when you have a song stuck in your head. . .

Okay, this post has a lot of pictures! What have I been doing you may ask? Or maybe just completely ignore this. . . .I've been winding yarn into hanks, dying yarn, waiting for yarn to dry, and then rewinding the yarn into hanks once more. . . .yep, fun fun. Actually it is. I'm really excited that my 10 pounds of sock yarn is coming tomorrow along with a 2.4 lb of tencel/merino mix to try. Yay!!! I've been wanting to dye up my normal sock yarn for the past week. Oy withdrawal. . Anyways, below is a picture of 2 of my baby samples I've knit up. The green one if the Woodland Sock yarn (bamboo) and the pink/black/green is the normal my normal sock yarn, Celtic Socks. I'm going to make them into pairs so they definately count for Summer of Socks. =) Gotta love it.

Below is MacKintosh's Christmas colourway "Diabolical Christmas." I like it. =P My Hannukah colourway is in the works and will be released soon. Muhahahaha. . . .*cough* *gag* *pass out* *die*

Next we have the yarn I purchased for my HP Sock Swap 2 pal. Yes, I know it's not true Gryffindor colours, but it self stripes, was a great price and is very soft. . . . . drop it! =P

I wanted to start with the Chubby Sock. I still need to knit a sample with this, but it takes up colours wonderfully and is soft. There are 350 yards in each hank. =) Below are colourways: Ginny (yes, I changed it slightly), Professor Sprout. and Sex Kitten.

Next we have the Woodland Sock yarn, my bamboo blend. I LOVE IT! We have Half Blood Prince, Ginny, Invisibility Cloak, and I have 1 Professor Sprout & another Ginny that didn't make it into the picture. There are 439 yards in each skein.

Below is the first full box of yarn with a few skeins of my Celtic Sock on top. I will be dying probably around 20 skeins of the Celtic & 16 of the others for the festival.

Here are links to some more people who are knitting up my yarn. =)

Venka Is knitting up my Bellatrix LeStrange colourway into Sockopia's Bellatrix socks. The first one looks awesome so far!
And Chelsea is knitting up "The Burrow" and "Arurelie" into some sweet looking stockinette socks. I love how Aurelie is turning out. Kind of like a purple tiger stripe. =)

Now I mentioned a song stuck in my head. That would be "The Fragile" by Nine Inch Nails. Have been a fan since I was 7. Gotta love having older siblings to influence your life choices. I am actually now going to make up a colourway for Trent just because I adore him. Love is too strong a word for someone you don't know. . . . it's weird in my opinion. But, whatever. Yep he is definately my type, except height wise, but screw that. hahahah he's old enough to be my dad. . . .didn't say that. . . .lmfao

Some one say Fiber Festival?

Below is the newest colourway for MacKintosh Yarns. This is Professor Sprout. It consists of vibrant greens and a deep chestnut brown. =)

I have a lot of preparing to do for this fiber festival. . . . .below is only a small portion of the yarn I am going to dye up. The smaller hanks in the front, 8 oz hanks of my sock yarn have 20 more on the way to join them. Yay!!!! Let's get dying! It is a lot eh?

I have some bragging to do!!!!

Okay, the bragging isn't actually about me, it's about Sarah, a customer who bought a skein of my yarn "The Burrow." Yeah I dyed the yarn, but look at what she's done with it so far: (yes, this may happen often now)

Wonderful isn't it? I can't wait to see the finished product. Btw, the picture is of the back of the leg. =) Yay Sarah!

Etsy Shop Update. . . .yarn yarn yarn. . .

Here are the newest colourways I've added to my etsy shop:

Molly & Ariana skeins are 4 oz with 485 yards and are all superwash.
Bellatrix is 4 oz with 560 yards and is also superwash.

First we have Ariana Dumbledore. You need to read the 7th book to understand this one.

Next we have Bellatrix LeStrange. Yep, I added the evil bitch too. Hmm just thought she'd be a blast to do. =)

Lastly and the newest (put up this morning) We have Molly Weasley! I love the blend of colours and am excited to see this one knit up.


That's it for now. Thanks!!!

ATTENTION!!!! Plied Yarn!!!

Below is a picture of my first ever 2 ply yarn. . . .I'm getting better! I put in a quarter to show the size. Sweet, eh?? I just spun that tonight. I'm so proud of myself. It's not perfect, but I think I'm improving. =) Yay!!!!

River Rapids never slow & destashment. . .

Below is a picture of the new socks I've started. They are River Rapids by Sockbug. The yarn I'm using is Socks That Rocks lightweight. This colourway is actually Limestone that I dyed over. The light green is the original colourway. I thought I'd jass it up a bit.

Time for the destash. More yarns will be added as I go through them. Here are two colourways to begin with:
Below is Lorna's Laces sock yarn in Crazy Stripe. One of the cakes has the band in the middle of it. Neither have been used, only wound up. Both cakes for $16 and $20.60 with shipping. These usually retail for $10 a skein.

Below is Lorna's Laces sock yarn in Camouflage. I lost the bands for these skeins. Neither have been used, only wound up. Both cakes for $16 and $20.60 with shipping. These usually retail for $10 a skein.

MY WOLLMEISE CAME TODAY!!!!!!! OOOOO I've been looking forward to this all week! I e-mailed Claudia about a week and a half ago and ordered the 2 skeins. Aren't they beautiful? The top one is Amazonas and the bottom is Brombeere. Yay!!!!



BTW Anna, I never said if the book was good or bad or gave anything away soo blah!

Fiber Fest Day 2 & Finished Sexy Kittens. . .

Lastnight while waiting to purchase the seventh and last Harry Potter book I finished my friend Melissa's socks. I think they turned out great and believe she'll love them! I can't wait to give them to her! I even grafted the toes while standing in line, lmfao! I stayed up until 7am reading and I just finished reading it tonight. All I can do right now is think. The ending makes you think. . . . .and ponder about it all. . . .it is a conclusion and it gives you comfort, but it still makes you think.


OKAY, now to the fiber fest. I helped out Toni for the second time and I simply adore this woman! She kept her promise and brought me bare yarn for my new sock yarn busniess I'm putting in gear. She brought me a 100% Merino superwash, a 100% Merino non superwash and a merino, bamboo, and nylon blend! I can't wait to dye them up and see what everyone thinks! Below is the cone of the Bamboo blend!

Below is Malabrigo Lace in Blue Surf. This stuff is soooooo soft it should be illegal or locked up! I bought 3 skeins, $10 each and 470 yards. This will become my Invisibility Cloak from Charmed Knits! I wanted the green, but they didn't have a 3rd skein. =/ Oh well. I think the blue will do brilliantly!

Toni also brought me 2 skeins of Mountain Colors Twizzle for me to try because I REALLY want to try it! The colourway is "TaMarack." And I also purchased yet another skein of STR. It was the last one of this colourway, "Romancing the Stone" and it was calling to me. . . . .oh shut up! lmfao. My mom went with me today and had a blast!! I was surprised actually. Okay, enough chatter. I have a book to finish & socks to start!



And also, Martha Holiday, who was also helping Toni, taught me how to do short rows!!!! Also, check out her "Hold My Socks" DPN sock holders!!! They're awesome!!

Damage & Soon to be an Etsy update

Below is the largest part of the damage I made today at the Midwest Fiber Festival. I was helping Toni Neil, from The Fold, out at her booth and she is the main Midwest carrier of Socks That Rock. . . . .me being an avid sock knitter dove in and barely made it back up for air. . .ouch
The skeins are in this order: Watermelon Tourmaline, Fire on the Mountain, Seastone, Farmhouse, and Puck's Mischief. All of the skeins are medium weight.

I also bought some more yarn and some roving, pictures later.
Etsy:

I bought some new dyes today also and will be dying up about 12 skeins of yarn next week and updating the store. In the next few weeks there maybe a change in the yarn I am using as I am trying to find a better provider and Toni is helping me with it.

I will also be dying up some more skeins of "Hagrid," which has been requested after the only skein of it sold. There will be new colourways being added to the collection.
Pricing & yardage is as follows:

Merino Superwash yarn: 485 yards & $16.50 a skein
Kona Superwash yarn: 372 yards & $13.50 a skein

If there is a colourway that has sold and you would like to purchase please contact me and I will dye some up for you. Thanks!

And also, I'm now on Ravelry!!!!! Yay!!!!

Strange things that happen with sock yarn. . .

As you can see I finished my Jitterbug socks. The yarn is wonderful to knit with and extremely warm. It is also a tad thicker than most other sock yarns. The funny thing though is the pooling. I Love weird pooling and these socks are not different. These were knit from the exact SAME skein of yarn. . . wow imagine my surprise when I put them on and low & behold look at them! hahahaha funny eh? I still love them, no matter how different they are. That's the wonderful thing about hand-painted sock yarn, you never know how it will turn out. =)


I also thought I would give you a little bit of sock porn while I was at it. Below is a picture of some of the yarn I've dyed so far. Not all of it's in here. . . .in this picture you can kind of see the following colourways: Half Blood Prince, Trvor the Toad, Rowena Ravenclaw, Ginny, Mediterranean, Narcissa, and Nessy. All of these are available at the etsy store in the sidebar. =) Each one of these hanks is enough to make an adult pair of socks. It's tempting, but I must not keep it!. Honestly my favourites are Half Blood Prince & Ginny.

Harry Potter. . . .

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Hufflepuff

2. Shoe size?
size 10 1/2 to 11 women's

3. Foot Length?
9 1/2

4. Foot Circumference?
still trying to find a tape measure

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
a. lanturn moon size 2
b. brittany size 2
c. any 5" bamboo or wooden needles size 2

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
not really =/

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
eeww. . . Ravenclaw. . .well better than Slytherin

8. Allergies? Do you have any? Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals?
none

9. Are you an international participant (outside US)? Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?
nope

Jitterbug Jitterbug. . .

I started 3 pairs of socks this past week. I'm only showing you one of them because I still have to unpack the other 2. I already showed you the "Sex Kitten" ones in my previous post. Below are my Jitterbug ones I've been working on. The mountain color socks went with me the first time I saw Harry Potter and these Jitterbug ones went the other 2 times I saw it. they may accompany me again to another showing tonight. =P You can also see my new sock blockers. I chose the Labrador Retriever for the top of the blockers. I LOVE them!!!! I am sooo glad they finally came! I bought them off eBay. The makers make them for you when you order them. This means they aren't sitting around collecting dust. It's a great investment. =)

Here is a pair of footsies I started about 2 weeks ago. I finally started working on them again. The yarn is from my normal non-sock stash. I'd been wanting to try the pattern. It's the "Cable Footies" from One Skein. Easy pattern & pretty quick to knit. I hate the colour I'm using. These will probably be a Christmas gift or something. Both of these pairs will count for Summer of Socks.

I have also added a bunch of new colours of sock yarn to my Etsy Shop. Go and have a look. =)

Harry Potter and the Finished Socks. . .

I went and saw Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix yesterday with my mom & sister. I couldn't take my eyes off Gary Oldman. Granted I've always had a thing for that man, but he is PERFECT as Sirius Black! I think the girl who played Luna was perfect also. The plot was cut up and they kept out very important moments. . . . .but they always do that when they take a book and make it into a film. Ahhh Gary, love that man! Rowling HAD BETTER BRING SIRIUS BACK IF SHE WANTS TO SURVIVE!!!!!!!! I don't think he's dead. . . .neither does my sister. It's just weird how he "died."

I also finished my mountain colors socks. Below is the pic. The colourway is "Fire Storm." I love how the colours turned out, striping and all. Yay 3 pairs done for Summer of Socks!

I have also started my "Sex Kitten" socks for Melissa. She's a punky type girl, so they're perfect. The colours are coming out great and so are the stripes. Weee!!!! What do you think?

I'm seeing HP again Saturday when my dad can go. =) Can't wait to see it again. I'll probably see it about 6 more times. . . . hehehehe. . . . also I'm going to start the Nutrisystem next week and try to lose the weight again. Wish me luck! I will give updates. =)

Let the Dyes keep on coming. . .

I've been having some fun dying up a bunch of yarn nbow that I dropped my GIS (Independent Study) course. I was forced to, I never asked to. So this gave me some free time to experiment with my new dyes. I LOVE the yarn I'm using. It seems everyone is having a dying post, so I thought I'd add mine. =P
Below is "Aurelie." It had burnt orange, burgundy, dark purple and the ever slightest hint of green.

The next one I dyed 2 days ago is called "Sex Kitten." My friend Melissa likes punk themed things and I thought I'd dye up some yarn for her socks. This colourway has lime green, fuschia and jet black. I have fallen in love with this colourway. Just love it!

I'm also almost done with my Mountain Colour socks in the colourway "Fire Storm." Pictures coming soon. Right now I'm really excited for the new HARRY POTTER MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Sockapalooza Socks are DONE! and so are the footsies and I'm sick. . .

Lastnight I finished the second of my Sickapalooza socks. Below is are pictures of them on my feet. . . .they'll shrink back when I wash them. I took the pics in natural light to try to show the actualy colour of the yarn. The yarn is Fearless Fibers in "Spring Breeze." I love how the cables look with the yarn. =)

I also finished my footsies, so now I have 2 pairs done for "summer of socks." Sweeett! I started another new pair in Mountain Colours.

Monday I went back to Chicago and visited with my dear dear friend Sara and hung out at Taste of Chicago and on Michigan Ave. I had soooo much fun! We really need to do it again. I have also been sick. . . eeww? My pal's socks will be sanitized before she gets them! Don't worry. . .I'm starting to feel better. . . kind of. . .

One Sock down, one half way and Chicago. . . .

The first of my Sockapalooza socks is done. Below are pics of my mom, who is MUCH closer to my pal's foot size "modeling" it for me. Interesting poses she chose. The second sock is to the heel already. The pattern knits up really fats and I love how it looks in this semi-solid colour.


I'm from an hour west of Chicago and wanted to go to the Shedd Aquarium while my sister & I were still in town. Sooooo Saturday we headed over to the windy city and had an awesome time. The only thing that sucked was the Brewers lost to the Cubs. I HATE the Cubs. . . .White Sox fan here. . . . .oh shut up. Anyways, it was a gorgeous day!!! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the breeze was wonderful. Below are pics of the skyline, my dad and I and my sister. My mom also went, but she was camera shy that day (and my sister has most of the ones of her on her camera. . .) damn her.