Archive for July, 2008

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 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.

I heart my Namaste Cali-Laguna Bag

I was recently doing my daily scrub of Scout’s site, and made some splurge orders. First I bought one of the new Namaste Cali-Laguna bags in Olive. What I love about this bag, you have multiple methods of carrying it, over the shoulder or hanging from your forearm, or just holding in your hands. There’s enough in this bag to store multiple projects, notepads, you name it. It closes good, so it’s not open to the world and those who have wandering hands or 5 fingers would be a better way to put it.

When I got my lovely bag, I immediately pulled my contents from my Jordana Paige Bella bag *sorry Jordana, the Bella is still a fave of mine*. I’m known to hoard bags and accessories, honestly what woman isn’t??

Anyways, after I got my Cali-Laguna bag, I started searching for the bag accessories, I have no idea why I didn’t do this from the get go (bad buyer me), but I found some other cool accessories to go with my bag, and I quickly ordered those up from Scout’s site as well, all in a matching Olive color.

My Namaste set includes the Cali-Laguna bag in Olive, the Cali-Laguna Clutch in Olive, and the Cali-Laguna Needle Purse in Olive. I use the Clutch to house my cards, checks, & important things, plus extra needles, and I stuff this baby inside my Cali-Laguna bag. The great thing about this is that when I’m in a rush or going to dinner, I simply pull out the clutch and off I go, and the Cali-Laguna bag rests waiting for it’s mate in the car. I use the Needle Purse, for more needles, if needed.

Here are some pics of how these all go together, I highly recommend these. I use it daily, and stuff all my notepads/books that I use at work in it, and carry it around like a backpack, a very pretty one.

Whew! What a weekend (Part Une)

This weekend was totally cool, and so much fun. I have to split this up into separate posts because there’s just too much to tell.

First I’ll start off with Football, one of my all time favorites, and need I say is starting back up now with pre-season just around the corner. My team of choice, the San Francisco 49ers, they are the golden time, although lately have had some growing pains and some pretty rough patches, nonetheless I’m a “Faithful 49er” and I’m with them through thick & thin. I registered for Opening Day Training Camp tickets a few weeks ago, and this past Saturday was the big day.

It was the three of us, my husband “C”, my son “Pops”,(less my daugher “Yahyah” who ran off with her grandma), and I, who headed down to the 49ers training facility in Santa Clara, CA bright & early Saturday morniing.

They had it setup real nice, food stands, games, official 49er store, cheerleaders, etc. Plus the main event was on the field, where all the players were stretching, getting ready to do practice drills & scrimmage games. We picked a nice spot on the bleachers, and watched away, plus we took all kinds of pictures.

Here’s the 49ers Quarterback Alex Smith stretching:

Here’s a view of some of the players:

Here’s the entrance to the facility:

After going to the camp, it got me all ready to start knitting some nice 49ers themed garments. I want be in “Knit Style” this season, since I wasn’t knitting before, this will be my first official knitting fall/winter season Sometimes I wonder how it was I never knitted before??? I took to it like a fish to water, from what my mother tells me, I’m a natural because my grandma was a knitting queen & its in my blood. Unfortunately my Mother isn’t a knitter, so for now, it’s just Lil’O'Me the in the family that knits. I do have an Aunt Virgie who Crochets, she lives in Seattle, WA & my Aunt Mary down the street is quite a sewer, she makes all sorts of cute things, my Mother however does make beautiful jewelry, I’m going to start working with her on making custom stitch markers soon, lookout for those!

Now, a few weeks ago, in the Metagroups on Ravelry I started a thread to see if there were any “49er” fan knitters who would like a group themed mainly around the 49ers but also including just general football or any sport themed knitting projects. I got a few replies, enough to start group, so now I am. The group is named “Knitting Niners”, if your interested in joining, just look us up in the groups listing or send a PM to RockyMoreno so I can send you an invite. My intention for this group isn’t to isolate other football fans or other sports fans, I really would like group where you can meet other knitting niners, as well as share ideas for knitting projects that can be worn or used in the spirit of sports. Sports are truly a great thing for us humans, they help keep us healthy, by allowing us to engage in social situations, which in turn relieves stress (well maybe not for those that take it a little too seriously), but overall it is a good way to relax and have fun. Plus if you are someone that gets involved in actually playing sports, there’s a ton of health benefits there too, your cardio, your weight, your physical health, and if you have kids, its a nice bonding experience.

I’m going to start a knit along for the group for a nice beanie to wear to a game or just to wear in the fall/winter.

So that’s it for my Part Une, lookout for Part Duex in a couple days… much more music, knitting, Scout’s goodies, and more

Knitta project for San Jose, CA

Knitta project for San Jose, Ca

Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

Here it is folks, just the beginnings of my “Tree Trunk Cozy” that I started just a short time ago.

I really enjoyed the piece on the “Knitta Gang” from Texas that “knit tags” inanimate objects all over the world. So it was not hard for me to find something to knit late one night in the dark while my hubby was sleeping.

I bought lighted knitting needles awhile ago, and only use them when its dark, only problem for me is there size US11, so normally most projects I’m working on are on smaller size needles and of course circulars. The lighted needles are straights, and to me limited in what can be knit.

As soon as I busted out my needles, I immediately thought of creating my own knit garment to “knit tag” my tree in front of my house, all in honor of the “Knitta Gang”

I decided to make the pattern easy, and so it is knit in garter stitch, and I’ll be transitioning to a new yarn, possibly a red. The current yarn on the needles is purple, and very pretty. Its scrap yarn, so I don’t have any labels as to the specs of the yarn. I plan to get this done within the next week, and will post pics of it keeping my tree cozy.

The contest winner for “Can you guess what I’m knitting?“
In a earlier post, I recorded myself knitting this in the dark with my lighted needles & asked who could guess what I’m knitting based off of prior blog posts hints.

The lucky winner who guessed it, is Leslie!
Congratulations Leslie, your package has been sent out today, I hope you like your goodies

The carnage continues…

Sock Wars III 2008 "4th Target"

Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

What you’re seeing are my 4th pair of “Detonation” socks for my 4th target in the Sock Wars III 2008 Continues game.

I was waiting for a LONG LONG time to get SIPs from my most recent target, but SIPs never came. The new Supreme Commander, Casualknitter, provided help in trying to track down where in the world I’d get my next SIPs to take over. She did some research and I did some research, and we both came to the conclusion that the SIPs were with my last target, but for some reason that person is claiming they never received them, yet if you follow up the shipping chain & tracking #’s, she is supposed to have them. Oh well, for whatever reason, the SIPs are just not coming my way. I don’t want to call my last target a poor sport, I’ll give her the benefit of doubt; maybe somehow the SIPs went MIA??? Who knows?

Anyways, Casualknitter gave me the “green light” to go ahead and start a fresh pair of socks. While most people would love this, I really didn’t because that meant that I would have to use sock yarn from my stash or buy new yarn and start a whole new pair from scratch. I would’ve preferred to get the SIPs, and continue knitting where the previous DEAD knitter left off. This is how the game is supposed to be played, who you kill, stops their knitting immediately & ships the SIPs off to their assassin.

For awhile, like almost 2 weeks, I heavily debated on whether or not to pull from my stash or spend more $$ on Sock Wars. Here’s a quick tally of what I’ve spent thus far….

The Cost of War:
$2.00 to join Sock Wars III 2008
$20.00 Sock Wars III official yarn Tofutsies #733 skein for 1st target
$20.00 Shipping fees to send completed killer socks to first target
$2.00 costs for extra goodies in package (I just have to send goodies with my packages) these include chocolates, tea, etc.
$20.00 Shipping fees to send completed killer socks to 2nd target
$20.00 Shipping fees to send completed killer socks to 3rd target
$35.00 fee to send Postcard lottery entry to Supreme Commander in the Netherlands, this was to see if I’d get picked as the Sock Wars winner.
Total tally: $119.00

I know, I know, I must be crazy to have forked out this much, but I’m a pyscho, I like the competitive sport and felt there would be some $$ sacrifice. What I didn’t sign-up for was the way the whole game changed, what with the sudden ending and the new “Sock Wars Continues” group, but hey, you can’t predict the future, right?

After having spent this much, I was kind of thinking of throwing in the towel and bowing out of Sock Wars III. I wouldn’t be the first to do this, as many people did once Julie (original Supreme Commander) ended Socks Wars III unexpectedly and early. Believe me, many people were upset. The competitor in me just couldn’t let go, so I decided to forge on. What I wouldn’t do was use sock yarn from my stash, all my sock yarn is premium quality, and I felt that because I had left so much time fly by, my chances of being killed are really high, thus I didn’t want to send any SIPs with premium yarn off to anyone. I coughed up the $$ and purchased 1 more skein/ball of Tofutsies yarn, about $20.00, and on I went to start another pair.

I know the pattern off memory, literally, so no need for pattern instructions. I speeded through the cuff and heel, and for some reason hit a BIG STOP sign after the heel decreases, usually this is the point I get my 2nd wind and zoom to the toe because really, your almost there. But my enthusiasm and desire for this pattern and war has diminished greatly. Especially after encountering the dreaded “SIPs missing in action” debacle.

After everything, I finally picked up the needles again, and have started to work at completing these. My goal is to get them done by this weekend to send out first thing next week. There are less than 100 Alive warriors in Sock Wars III right now; the original count was over 1000 warriors, so I am really lucky to still be alive in this war.

And, I’ve been in communication with my assassin, so she’s out there, it’s just a matter of time for her to kill me, or if I’m every so lucky, for me to go full circle in the chain and kill her (I doubt I’ll be that lucky).

Wish me luck & motivation to KILL on

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