Neither Hip Nor Funky

I bet many of you read that last post and were thinking, “Well that’s fine, but you know what that post was really needing? More Socks!”

And others were thinking:

“Shhhhhhhh, be vewwwy, vewwwy quiet; I’m hunting wabbits, heheheh”

Well, consider all your thoughts heard:

Another belated gift, some hunting socks for my father in law. Cascade 220 Superwash, pattern made up as I went.

Also belated: responding to the “You Make My Day Awards” kindly given to me by Gudrun (go check out her new hat pattern; I’ll have pics of my test knit of it up by the end of this week), Jillian, Knitography, and Jennie. Thanks guys….mentions like these alway make me smile; in fact you could say they make my day.

It is so hard for me to pick ten knitting/crafting sites that make my day because there are so many, so I’m going to broaden it a little (aka take the easy way) and list other internetty goodness that makes my day.

1. LOLcats: don’t need to say much here…only need to find a way for my cat to earn fame on the site.  Just a quick glance can make me smile in the morning before I’m off to work.

2. Slate’s Political Gabfest: The Most Adequate Political Talkshow.  They’re still working on a slogan, but I think the ironic humbleness of this nomination fits well. I love Slate in general, and I am alway informed and amused by John Dickerson’s articles.  The three mainstays of this podcast are intelligent, humorous, and straightforward.

3. Indexed: Brilliant commentary in small doses.  She manages sum up diverse issues in succinct graphs and diagrams in a way that she say helps her “make fun of some things and sense of others”

4. The Sartorialist: amazingly lit photos showing varied styles of people on the street

5.  Go Fug Yourself : okay, so sometimes I like a bit of snark.  However, I do like that the women who write this blog are usually snarky and humorous about the clothes but not mean to the people who are wearing them.

6. Etsy homepage: I love checking in to see what is highlighted. I also find the often monochromatic nature of the hand picked items soothing.

7. The Daily Show:  I watch the snippets online.  Oh, John Stewart, how I missed your commentary at the beginning of this presidential race….so glad you’re back.

8. Sundara: I just like to go and gaze at the pretty every so often, even when I know there hasn’t be a recent update.

9. Washington Post:  yup, I like my news. I find their website to be one of the easiest to navigate…which makes sense because they have won awards for it.

10. All the knitty and crafty goodness.  ( I really ran out of items here because the above sites are really the only sites I visit that aren’t knitting or crafting blogs. Considering I normally have between 100-200 posts waiting to be read in my Google reader, those blogs are really my fav part of the internets. ) Thanks for being entertaining and inspiring.

I’m celebrating sockapalooza a bit late over here.

First up, are the socks I made out of the yarn sent to me by my sockpal as an apology for being late. (Doodlebirds Swell sock in Pumpkin Pie)

Second, are the beautiful socks sent to me by my sock pal.

And since two pairs do not a “palooza” make, I’ll throw in a third.

Campfire Socks, altered to use smaller needles
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK in Potluck

There you are, officially a palooza.

So….Autumn Rose

I would guess that this is one of those projects that some people are looking at right now and wanting to cast on, and some people are looking at thinking I don’t have the skill, patience, etc, for that project. (And I’m sure some just have no interest at all…but come on, you guys, it’s beautiful.)

This post is really about my reflection on the skill and patience part. I was already planning to address this because Autumn Rose is one of those projects that I would have admired but not thought I could do one year ago.

Before I posted my initial thoughts, I had an unexpected moment that was either for reflection or out of the Twilight Zone. I’m going with reflection. About one year ago, I finished the Rogue Hooded Pullover, my first big sweater project. I had knit a few summer garments and one botched raglan, but this was the real deal. I was so excited about it, and I wrote this post.

If you clicked over, you would see pictures of myself wearing Rogue and eating loganberry blintz. Last Sunday, 364 days later, we went to brunch at the same place and I order the blintz….which they don’t always have. When it arrived, I looked down, saw the blintz and the cuff of the now year-old Rogue I was wearing, and had a flashback.

Finishing Rogue was my holy grail of knitting, the knit I completed that gave me the confidence to tackle anything and moved on next to my Anemoi mittens. Rogue had been a sweater that I spied early on in knitting and thought “someday.” When I finished it, I realized that I could read charts and I was patient with my knitting and that is all that is really needed to have the skill for any pattern that I could face.

I took a class at my LYS on knitting Rogue, and having that support gave me the confidence to tackle it. It ended up being so much easier that I thought, and I had someone to ask questions of along the way. If you haven’t already, I really recommend finding that knit that you have been putting off and thinking that you can’t do….and do it. If you have patience, you can finish it, no matter how complicated. If you need support, see if there is a class in your area on that project or a drop in class where you can bring any project. If that is not available, use your blog or just ask other knitters.

I’m feeling all motivational speaker on you guys right now, but I’m still doing it. I guess that is because as I look back I am so excited by the things that I made last year and that am now making, and I am fairly sure that I would not be tackling things as complicated if I had not made that initial step that led to a surge of confidence. I want others to have that confidence and excitement in their knitting if they don’t have it yet.

Just one more note, and I will be quiet for now. That FO Rogue post was also when Ashley of dogged posted a link to my blog that led many my current readers over here. So hey all of you, and thanks for your support this past year.

In the second mosiac there are a few items on the first row that I  hadn’t blogged yet.  The blue socks are made out of Yarntini and were a present for one of my sisters.  The hat was a jogging hat for my dad out of Cascade 220 superwash. And the pink socks on the right side were for my mom out of Sock Candy.

I don’t have too much to write about right now but I wanted to go ahead and put up these mosaics so that I can refer to them in my next post.  I will be posting the start of my Autumn Rose Pullover, baby!

For those of you who need an Autumn Rose fix now, may I suggest taking a gander at IndigoMouse’s stunning, completed Aqua Rose.

When my sister told my niece that I was coming to visit, my niece replied “To knit with me?” I said yes that is exactly why I was visiting. My niece has recently turned three, so I was quite excited that what she remembered most about me was knitting, especially since I hadn’t seen her since the summer.

So what did I knit for/with her? Some toys. (And she picked out some yarn for a hat, but that will be in the ‘08 knits)

Pattern: Yo Gabba Gabba Muno at Knituition
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash (I’m too lazy to go find the color on the label)
Needles: US4 dpns

My sister found this pattern and sent it to me because my niece had seen this show at a friend’s house and memorized the songs. However, she is not so good at the names and prefers to call this character “Yo wiggle wiggle.” I looked up the show on youTube and found the “There’s a party in my tummy” song. While watching it, I realized “This is what my friend was talking about when we all looked at him like he was crazy.” I completely understand now; it does get stuck in your head.

I altered the pattern a little by making the body longer and using a different kind of bobble. I also embroidered the teeth and made buttonholes for the arms and picked up stitches around the edges.

The other toy is probably more known to most knitters: Sheldon.
I originally planned to make him three shells so he could change outfits, but I only managed two by Christmas….maybe I’ll make him a new spring outfit later.

Unfortunately, Sheldon looks a bit mopey in this picture. I guess he was not so into the holiday spirit…which did match my niece as she was sick most of Christmas week.

Pattern: Sheldon
Yarn: Knitpicks Shine sport
Needles: US3 rosewood dpns and US2 bamboo dpns