Wow! Webs (The coolest online yarn store yet!!)

There are very few things I am guarenteed to do each day (besides taking care of basic personal needs and bodily functions....or knitting). The one exception to that, the one thing I can't imagine Not doing...check the Yarn Harlot for new posts. Then, when there is one I MUST read it AND follow ALL of the links.

I am a newbee knitter having taught myself in Feb of 2005. So, I do not as of yet belong to any part of the local knitting community. Well, I am assuming there IS a local knitting community only because there HAS to be. I just haven't really looked for them yet what with working at night, being home with a 2 year old during the day (translate as praying for more/longer naps), trying to get some basic household things done each day, and well, knitting. Anyway, I digress (now there's a surprise....read as "Has ADD"... ) Anyway, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is my IDOL...a true Knitting Goddess and by following the links in her blog I am becoming familiar with so many wonderful people who also knit and blog (look Ma, I'm a blogger too!!). Amazingly enough, I have first joined a much larger community who show me everyday that I am not unusual in my love for yarn, fiber, color, unique design, knitting, etc. I AM unique but well, you know what I mean. Everyone wants to be special but not THAT special. It's nice to find yourself amongst a group of special people who understand where your heart and head is.

And yet again I digress. Yesterday in following all of her links, I found myself at Webs and was amazed! I am currently on a yarn diet. I am trying (read as thinking about but not getting anywhere) to save money for Stitches East in November. Webs, however, has Regia Strato for just $6 a skein. That's just $6 for a pair of handknit socks!! The yarn for my first pair cost me almost $20!!! I know, I know!! But it was all about the experience. So, for the bargain basement, low, low price of just $6 I can have a knitting project that lasts a week or two or three, is amazingly portable, and is just about the coolest thing on the planet!! Yeah, I am hooked on socks....sorry DH but they are here to stay.

Knitting into the Black Hole of a sock foot

I cast on the second sock of the grey striped pair for my DH on Friday but only got the first 8 rows of K2 tbl, P2 ribbing done. I made up for that, however, over the weekend. On Saturday I made it to half-way down the heel flap and yesterday I finished the flap, turned the heel, picked up the gusset stitches and made it past the decrease rows onto the main part of the foot. Now, I am knitting into the ever present black hole that is the center part of the foot. He wears a size 10 shoe so the foot is an inch or two longer than one I would knit for myself but things could be much worse. Thankfully this is a self patterning yarn and makes wide stripes (8 rows). This helps alliviate the boredom somewhat. Sufice it to say that I have 37 rows to go to the toe shaping...

I am anxious to get this sock done for two reasons...

1. This is the first pair of socks I have made for him and I am hoping he enjoys the feel of hand-knit socks as much as I do

2. As soon as I finish this sock I can cast-on the second of my Jaywalkers for ME!

Then there is the ever-growing list of socks I want to make for people...Mom for Mother's Day, a second pair for my son, "The Monkey (the 9 year old)", a pair for my Dad for Father's Day, more for ME, and the list goes on... At this rate I will never get some of the bigger projects that are sitting idley (is that a word?) by in the giant heap that is the UFO pile done! But I will have lots of cool and comfy socks...oh, well. You win some, you lose some, and sometimes you just keep doing socks.

FOs

Cushy, warm, not-to-high slipper or boot socks for the "Monkey" (aka our middle son)
The Olympic Socks...the socks that started it all...
This is a basket weave pattern blanket that I donated to the boys' school for their annual fundraising auction.
This is the sweater I designed for the midget for Christmas. All of the sweaters have stripes but each is a little different. He's my sweetheart so he got a heart.

The "Midget". Such an angel here....a demon most other times!

Well, I finished the second sock for my oldest son (I have 3 boys ages almost 13, 9, and 2). I also finished the first sock for my DH, and am working on my first sock of my first pair of jaywalkers (for me!). Here they all are:

The second pair of socks I made for the midget. Who says they have to be identical?? He tells me all the time how comfy they are.

Here we go...

Well, I'm not sure what is possessing me to do this but here goes...I have a blog!!! Yikes! I am bookmarking new blogs to read everyday but the only one I actually manage to check and read every day is Yarn Harlot (she the Goddess of Knitting blogs, funny women, amazing knitters).

I have only been knitting since February of 2005 (14 months and counting) but have already moved into the Obsessive Knitter status. As Stephanie says, I am a Knitter with a capital K. It makes a difference. Most days I feel like I can't knit fast enough... I have so many projects on needles and ten times more in my head. I can't imagine what it is like to have been knitting all of my life. I am so jealous of those lucky ones. My mom was a good knitter. She is still alive but no longer knits because of hand issues (carpal tunnel and a degenerative bone disease). I tried to have her teach me how to knit when I was in high school but she is not a patient teacher and on our best days we have a sort of guarded truce. I used to say that she was a great knitter and in her own way was. I just never realized what else was out there...socks, fair isle, intarsia, steeks, etc... She was a very good knitter just not a very adventerous. I think she was worried about some things being too difficult. Me, bring it on....

I am a process knitter. I care more about the 'doing' of the knitting than the what. I give away most of the FOs. I also LOVE the math of knitting. With some measurements and some imagination you can make anything. I have already made 8 sweaters but only used someone elses pattern for the first two. After that I purchased a book on basic pattern shapes and designed my own. Granted, we are talking about a simple basic shape, the drop shoulder but that's okay, I made all 8 before December. So, I had been knitting less than 10 months.

I started with a baby blanket that I would be mortified to see now ( the errors are many and very visible). From there it was scarves, a few hats, the aformentioned sweaters, a couple of ponchos, a capelett, a few felted bags, and finally socks.

I have been challenging myself with different projects up until the socks...I am hooked!! My goal for the 2006 Knitting Olympics was to complete my first sock (singular). After dropping $18.75 on one 100 gram skein of sock yarn at LYS I was terrified that I would botch it and "waste" said money. So, I got out some worsted weight Patton's wool that I had dyed with the kool-aid method and proceeded to learn the basic formula for socks. I grossly underestimated the length of my foot and was in too big a hurry to bother actually measuring it or trying the sock on. I mean after all, it is MY foot. I should be able to eye-ball how long my sock should be....or not. The mate to that first sock is a bit longer. They are however, amazingly forgiving and very comfortable. In fact, I am wearing them as I type this! Anyway, I then made socks for my 2 year old with the same yarn. It was so much harder (his feet are so small) and then so much easier (his feet are so small). I went from dpn (wrestling with a porcupine) to two circs (wrestling with two twining ivys) to one long circ and I was hooked! I never thought I would knit on anything smaller than a size 8US but am now the exstatic owner of 2 pairs of long Turbos in size 1US and wouldn't want to make socks on anything bigger! I did try the same size needles purchased at the craft store but found that the join between the cable and needle cought my yarn on EVERY round. The Addi Turbos really do live up to all of the hype and I will never buy another brand...they are that good!

Suffice it to say this is more than I thought I would post first time out and at least as disjointed as I feared. But it feels good to be able to start expressing what I am knitting, thinking about knitting, dying,.