Current Events (**Malabrigo Alert**)

Woolgirl Sock Club "August 08"


Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

What can I say, I heart WOOLGIRL!



Saturday I received my August installment from the Woolgirl Sock Club, and it's just wonderful! Check out the big bag! This is perfect for large WIP's or just many smaller WIPs. See that baggy of goodies? It has the cutest rubber erasers shaped like sandals! I so will not use these, I'll have to place them on my shelf in my office to display. I just love the clever packaging, the way the skein of yarn was stored in the cute orange water bottle. The yarn is just refreshing and pretty, it isn't a colorway I would choose, but it is one that I like alot, which is a perk of joining a yarn club, I think it allows you to broaden your yarn color choices.





Plus.... SQUEE!!!!..... I got an email from Jenn letting me know that I won the "Georgia O'Keefe" Contest from the Woolgirl Sock Club. Not only did I win, I won 1st place! That's 3 skeins of the soft Mama Llama sock yarn of my choice coming my way. Getting my club package, and then finding this out, was just too good; it was kind of like a late bday present.



For the "Georgia O'Keefe" contest, we had to write a post of our favorite Georgia painting. She has such a beautiful collection of art, I just couldn't settle on just one painting, so I did one post with a few different paintings, with a quote of why I like each one. Here is the one that scored me the 1st prize.



My quote for this was:
"Jack in the Pulpit IV"
Rich dark petals bring a feeling of comfort & security...soft blue center of fire reminds me that my sole is strong.
~Yo me siento vivo/I feel alive~

To see my full post, click here.

For my Mama Llama Sock Yarn, I choose these colorways:
Fall Leaves

Venice

Forest



And now onto other events, when I was GPY the other week, I found out from Beth (GPY owner) that they were to start a "Tech Square Afghan" Knit Along, starting 8/17/08. I quickly signed up, because the knit along is not like any other knit along. The Tech Square Afghan really is a unique experience. In this Afghan alone, you'll learn almost every technique under the sun. Techniques are: Entrelac, Intrasia, Provisional Cast-Ons, Seaming, Cabling, Increasing, Decreasing, Half-Hitch Increases, Double Decreases, Mattress Stitch, Circular Knitting, Knitted Cord, Traveling Stitches, Sewing, Waste Yarn Opening, Pockets, Embellishments, Steeking, Hemming, Duplicate Stitch, and much more. It really is a great project. I'll take some pictures of my WIP to show where I'm at in the Afghan, here's a look at the completed Afghan from the book.


**Malabrigo Alert**
I came across a thread on Ravelry, and the wonderful Gonzo, gave a link to a shop in Germany that is well stocked with the coveted Malabrigo Sock Yarn!!! YES ITS TRUE! All you need to do is choose your colors, send an email to bestellungATjuergenweidnerDOTde, they'll process the order for you via PayPal. The online store is Juergenweidner...it's all in German, to translate, use the Free Translation website.

Last, but not least are both the Ravelympics and Yarnsmackdown Events I'm in. I'm sorry to say but I'm just falling behind on my Ravelympics. I'm so upset. Yarnsmackdown has just eaten up my time. And Sock Wars III is still on, but now it's just getting old to me. I've been in this competition for months, killed 4 so far, just received a cake of Mountain Colors sock yarn from my previous target, but really have no desire to cast on another pair of Sock Wars Detonation socks. I've knit so many socks, not just for Sock Wars, that I'm just UGHHH! about it now. I've now decided that both Sock Wars & Yarnsmackdown are going to the bottom of my list, and from today on I'll be focusing on the Ravelympics, the Tech Square Afghan and Secret of the Stole III. I will say that I managed to score some points in Yarnsmackdown, killing with 2 Diamond Lace bookmarks, 1 pair of Starry Starry Nights socks, 1 Avocado w/Dollup of Sour Cream Toast, and 1 set of Diamond Lace Dishcloths = 10 points!

Yarnsmackdown 2008

Being crazy as I am, I also joined in on the Yarnsmackdown 2008. I'm in the Food Fight, Advanced Socks, Dishcloth, Stole, and Dishcloth events. I count on dieing early, as I just have too many things I'm working on, plus also trying to go out today with my hubby in San Francisco for my birthday. He's giving me *evil eyes* right now cause I'm writing this post and not yet ready... so I'll hurry up and finish this.

The Food Fight contest, is all in fun, and we've been asked to knit some "Toast", basically a minimum of a 4 x 4 square. In my dossier I received, my target, Daphne LaLuLu, put her favorite color as green, so I choose green as my base color.

I was trying to be as creative as possible with this event, and also trying not to take away my time from knitting the tons of other things I'm supposed to also be working on.

I've called this "Avocado Toast with a dollup of Sour Cream"

Here's the toast with the goodies I sent along this morning:


And some other angles, I really tried hard to make the white yarn, look like a dollup of swirled Sour Cream, I think I kind of came close???




For the other events, I think with continued knitting, I'll be able to send my Advanced Socks out to my target this Monday, I casted them on late last night, knitted to about 2 a.m.. I'm almost done with the leg portion, and should be turning the heel during the drive to San Francisco then from there, it's pretty fast for me. **Fingers crossed to get these done by Monday**

I figured the Bookmark, and Dishcloth, shouldn't take too long, the Stole, I'm not even going to think about right now, that I'll surely die from.
I'll keep you posted.... oh yah, as for the Ravelympics, its slow going because of this contest, once I get done with these, I'll be full speed ahead with Ravelympics, and with Sock Wars, sadly my target can't find the SIPs, she misplaced them somewhere, and will probably just send me a skein of sock yarn.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

A pair of FOs

I finished 2 different sets of projects I was working on. First off were my 4th pair of "Detonation" death socks for my 4th Kill in Sock Wars III. There's a whole story behind these socks, I'll make it as short as possible.

I killed my last (3rd target) back in the beginning of June 2008. Around that time Julie (former Supreme Commander of Sock Wars) ended the game suddenly, declaring the winner to be whomever sent a postcard to her by a specific date, and was lucky to have it drawn from hat. If your familiar with Sock Wars, this is definitely not how the game goes, but unfortunately Julie has had some real hard times in her family, I don't know the intricate details, but I've heard it has to do with the passing of an immediate family member. Don't quote me on that, I only heard from the grapevine, so I have no real proof, but I totally understand her actions if it is the case. Anyways, there were alot of Warriors still alive, like myself, still wanting to play, and lucky us, Casualknitter (On Ravelry) graciously took over the game, and has kept things going. So, I continued in Sock Wars III, and I enlisted help from Casualknitter to track down the SIPs I was supposed to receive from my 3rd target. After weeks of attempting to track down the SIPs, we came to the conclusion of who we thought had the SIPs, believe me, we followed tracking #'s and everything, and yet this person for whatever reasons wouldn't fess up the SIPs. I'm not saying anything bad about her, maybe she really didn't have them? Who knows, either way, at this point, Casualknitter game me the go ahead to start a new pair from scratch.

I didn't start a new pair until about 2 weeks ago, I was pretty reluctant, not want to spend the $$ for sock yarn, but I did, and bought some Tofutsies yarn, since it is the official sock yarn for the game, SWTC is sponsoring Sock Wars.

Anyways, after I knitted the 2 cuffs & heel of the socks, I lost my desire and tossed the puppies in the o'hibernating basket. But, the competitor voice in me kept saying "finish the socks", so I got my 2nd wind, and voila, less than a week later I finished the pair, which was this past weekend. I was just to happy to have these puppies finished, literally.

So, you'd think all the hassle was over, right? Well no-sir-ee-bob, funny thing I packaged the socks, and took them with me to work to send off at lunch time, but then I realized, I don't have address! I quickly emailed Casualknitter for the info, and after some waiting, finally got the address this morning. I was kind of in a helpless mood the other day and did a post about this in the Sock Wars group, asking for some good luck to come my way, and it did 8-) I got my address and these puppies are going to be overnighted today to get to there target tomorrow. Yay!!! Geez, this 4th kill has been an adventurer, all the while, I wonder, if my doom is coming soon? I think my assassin is still alive? Hmm...we'll see if I live for a 5th kill.

Now to the 2nd FO, these are the Simple Booties & Scratch Mittens from the Easy Baby Knits book. I picked these because they were quick & cute, and my friend had her baby earlier than I thought. These are knit using Blue Sky Alpaca Yarn, and are just soft as can be. I hope they fit.

	From Top to Bottom, Left to Right, Pic 1 is the completed "death socks" for my 4th kill along with the goodies I sent, some Rasberry-Dark Chocolate Kisses & Chocolate Almond Kisses, plus 1 wrapped beeswax candle. Pic 2 are the socks opposite each other. Pic 3 is a close of the sock pattern. Project Specs 1 skein Tofutsies #799 Sole Searching, gauge is 8 stitches per inch. Size knitted, US 9.5, approximately 10 inches from edge of heel to toe end. Finishing used was Kitchener, ends woven & knotted off. Pattern key, INC increases used in combination with K2TOGs, creates a "Zig-Zag" appearance.
	From Top to Bottom, Left to Right, All Pics are just different poses & shots of the completed set. I was trying to get good angles. Project Specs 1.5 skeins Blue Sky Alpaca Yarn in Pink, gauge 28 stitches and 34 rows = 4 inches. Size knitted for newborns. Finishing used was seaming pieces together, ends woven & knotted off. Pattern key, straight garter stitch, with ribbing for mittens. Deviations I made were not knitting the ribbing for the cuff of the booties, I thought there would be less tension on the babies ankles if I just stuck with garter stitch.

Quick knitted gifts

Scratch Mitts & Baby Booties


Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

I've been planning for awhile now, to knit some precious items for a close friend or I should say family member of mines & my husbands. They were expecting their 1st girl after 2 boys, well, time flew and I fell behind on my knitting, what with contests, projects & stuff, anyways, she had her baby girl just a few days after this past 4th of July!



We haven't visited the new parents yet, they've probably written us off by now..upset we haven't visited.



I had to jump into high gear when I heard she had the baby, so I quickly put down the Socks Wars socks I've been sluggishly working on (yes I'm still alive and starting to get sick of it), and I started knitting these cute Simple Booties & Scratch Mitts as a gift. The pattern is from the book "Easy Baby Knits".



The booties aren't done yet, I still have some ends to weave in and some Pom-poms to make. The Mitts are almost done, still have some seaming to do. These little things knit up fast! I'd be done already but I had to visit family this weekend so my knitting got put on hold. I need to go buy some pink ribbon tomorrow so I can put the finishing touches on these cuties. I'll post the final pics soon.



And the Specs are:

1 skien Blue Sky Alpaca in Pink

1 ball Cash Velo in White

Just a little Silk Pink ribbon

Size knitted is Newborn 0-3 months, knitted with US2 & US3 needles





P.S.....

To not delay further we have winner for "Guess what I'm knitting" post I made earlier last week. Stay tuned for who won and is getting a gift certificate goody from The Loopy Ewe 8-)