I simply cannot resist summer sock yarn! I took the boys downtown last week to play in the park and ride the Swan Boats and stopped in at Windsor Button. And they had fun Fixation sock yarn! (Not to mention all sorts of other things that I haven't seen elsewhere. Oh, Windsor Button, why must you tempt me so?)

Then I got to work on Saturday at A Good Yarn and there's new colorways of Art Yarns Supermerino. How am I supposed to leave the store without taking a few hanks of this with me?? Seriously.

The stuff is like candy! And I've got a real sweetooth. I guess I know what I'll be doing over the long weekend!

Longer than a speeding Thomas train.

More powerful than a Lego firetruck.

Able to distract a single boy from the television.

Look! Down on the floor!

It's a shawl! It's a scarf!

It's Clapotis!

I just got back from a quick happy birthday trip down to NYC with my son B to see grandma. (Poor S had to stay home with daddy and 103 degree temperature.)

B was thrilled to ride on the train. He spent three hours of the four hour ride happily looking out the window, leaving me with a surprisingly great deal of knitting time. He did insist on helping me with the cables on katy though.

On Saturday, I got to go to Broadway - no kiddies, just me, other theater-going adults, and a lot of spam.

Then we took a walk in the park and went home to eat cake. Yum!

There was just enough time before the ride back on Sunday to do a little knit-tourism. First up was the new knit cafe in town, the Point. (Where I picked up a t-shirt and some sock yarn - surprise, surprise.)

And of course, a must for every NYC knit-trip, Downtown Yarns. B even helped wind the Koigu I bought! (I'm going to make the shrug that the woman helping B is wearing.)

And then we came home, I dropped the suitcase on my foot and got to spend the first three hours of my real birthday in the ER. Happy, happy. Result: a bad bruise, no broken bones, and half a Fixation ankle sock complete. I'll be spending the rest of my birthday on the sofa with my foot elevated. And most likely watching the fireworks tonight on tv.

So happy birthday to me and God bless America, home of the free, the brave, the most fabulous knitting stores in the world, and 24-hour healthcare!

Sockapal-2-za updates coming right up!

More finished socks:

Ada's simply lovely white, lace socks
Andrea's super striped crochet socks
Karen's pretty purple striped socks (these are the first of TWO pairs she's making for her pal!)
Katherine's fun pooling socks, practically her first pair and knitted up lickety-split! I think we've got a new sock obssessed knitter here.

In progress:

Lisa is making super cool socks with ArtYarns cotton/elastic yarn, Candy. They're so neat!
Karen's amazing patterned socks
Laurie has started some gorgeous mermaid socks in Blue Moon Fiber Arts sock yarn
Kristel is making the most incredible "Tiger Eyes" socks
Kim (scroll down to June 26) has begun her MaiTai socks in hand-dyed merino. Check out the fun palm tree design she added to the socks!
Reina has finished her first ankle sock for her pal
Barbara is making the most beautiful socks with Lorna's Laces. You've got to see the gorgeous pictures she took of the sock in progress.
Krista is making a neat basket-weave pattern for the cuff of her socks
Nicole is almost done with the first of her Koigu Broadripples
Bliss' first beautiful lace heart sock is already blocking
Tania has turned the heel on both of her socks
Cori just started her Regia stretch "go with the flow" socks
Grumperina's sock experiment continues with a little sock surgery
Amanda is making striped fixation Broadripples - so fun!
Rebekkah has finished one lovely red variegated sock
Jenn has started her lovely Waving Lace Socks
Beth has begun Mountain Colors Retro Rib socks. So glad to see that there will be Retro Ribs again this time around!
Christine is turning the heel on her Koigu cable sock
Janell has finished her first "purple in the sky" cable and rib sock
MA has started her toe-up Koigu socks
Purly has frogged her beautiful lace sock
Kathy has solved her pooling problem and is knitting her socks from side-to-side!
Shawna has gone red, white, and blue with her Bastille Day socks

Planning pals:

Lee is rushing to finish other socks and get on to the sockapalooza!
Nathalie is practicing her toe-up techniques
Timothy is also practicing a new technique: to avoid second sock syndrome, knit second sock first!
Jen is going to make "Ellen's Stockings" from Folk Knitting in Estonia
Samantha has chosen Mexican colors for her "Follow the Trails" sock
Jody has two beautiful socks and yarns to pick from
Jaimi is going to 'go with the flow' with some fabulous Koigu
Lyme is trying to choose between to different cotton yarns
Keri has settled on some bright jewel toned Lorna's for her pal's socks
Emy is going with Rowan's Cashcotton - yum
Joan is contemplating some very unique socks for her pal
Gwen is going with some pumpkin-colored Trekking yarn
Liz found some great Cherry Tree Hill yarn for her pal
Lou is looking for help deciding which yarn to use for her sock pal's socks. Visit her site and leave your opinion - you might just be the pal she's making the socks for!
Sharon reports that she'll be using Mountain Colors yarn in the color Yellowstone and a vintage pattern from 1944. Can't wait to see a finished picture, Sharon!
Oh, and there is some serious sock yarn porn over on Donna's site. Check it out!

See ya next week with more Sockapal-2-za progress. Keep on sockin', everyone!

I am completely mad for ankle socks! Here's my latest pair, started at the playground, continued on the subway in NYC, then at the emergency room and finally finished while resting my foot on the sofa.

It's my own ankle sock pattern again. With the Fixation yarn though, I used US5's and cast on 48 stitches. And the best part: it took only one ball! After finishing the socks, I had this much left.

This was my first time using Fixation. It's really neat - so soft and stretchy. I ended up keeping the tension pretty tight, stretching the yarn a bit while knitting, so that the socks stay nice and snug. Cause who wants saggy ankle socks? Now I can't wait to start the next pair with the white Fixation that I picked up in NYC. I got two balls, since I wasn't sure how much yarn one pair of anklets would take, so that means that I should get two pairs out of the yarn!

You can never have too many pairs of ankle socks, right? (Please say right, otherwise, I'm gonna need an intervention or something.)

Nine days to the release of Book 6. One stripe left on the scarf.

Harry Potter is coming!

I brought katy in to my intermediate knitting class on Tuesday to use her to demonstrate shoulder and side seaming. I wasn't quite far enough along on my NBaT to seam anything, plus I was anxious to sew up the body of katy to see if she fits. Once I'd seamed a few inches, my love of seaming kicked in again, and I couldn't stop until all those crisp, neat seams were finished.

Let me just interject here how incredibly annoying it is that Debbie Bliss hasn't given knitters any help in this pattern regarding how do all the decreases along the armhole or that long v-neck. There's cables and ribs and a lot of seaming and picking up of stitches to be done later and if you simply decrease at the edge, it's gonna be UG-LY! I kept one selvedge stitch in stockinette all the way up, doing all decreases in pattern one stitch in from the edge. This certainly helped, giving me a clean, straight edge for seaming, but something like the clever lines of decreased ribs that you always see in the Rebecca patterns might have been nicer.

I went ahead and added the collar, both to be sure that that single selvedge stitch was going to look acceptable with the picked up collar, and so I'll know how much yarn I've got left over for the sleeves.

For those of you considering katy, the original neckline is VERY open. I believe Amber referred to it as "flashdance". I made a couple of adjustments to the pattern to give my katy a more functional and modest neckline. First I added two extra decreases to the armhole to get rid of that droop shoulder effect you see on the model. Then I changed the width of the shoulders by ADDING five extra stitches to each shoulder, effectively trimming down that mega-wide neck. (By adding, I mean that I pretended the instructions were written for five more stitches on each shoulder. On the back, that meant binding off ten fewer stitches for the neck and on the front, ending the decreases earlier so that the shoulders contained five extra stitches.)

I'm happy to announce that katy fits, the neckline looks great and provides full coverage and I've got a healthy four and a half balls of yarn remaining for the sleeves. Phew! She's been kind of a pain in the tush, but I guess hard work really does pay off. Now to fiddle with those sleeve instructions....

One week to go....

Weaving in ends.

Adding fringe.

"I want this bike for my birthday."

I was working in the store yesterday and was so pleased to see little things I had made here and there. The store is now closed on Sundays for the summer, but that doesn't mean we can't take a little tour today.

First we notice the beachy window I put together a few weeks ago - rather perilously, I might add, since the whole wall of sale yarn threatened to fall down on top of me while I was doing it.

Upon entering, we'll turn left towards the cotton yarns and find my first swatch, Rowan's Summer Tweed.

Next we'll swing around to the big wall o' wool on the right, and find my favorite little swatch, the super fantabulous Art Yarns Supermerino. (This is actually the colorway I'll be using for my sock pal's socks.)

Then, if we look down a little lower, there's the funnest swatch of all, Berroco's Softy. (Note: if you cast on 24 stitches on a US8, the little tufts of softy-ness will POOL! Seriously, I had to reknit the swatch with a couple fewer stitches to kill the pooling.)

And behind us, by the window, we find the so-called model tee, my nothing but a t-shirt store model.

And on the way out, let's sneak a peek at the new window in progress. (Pictures coming tomorrow!)

One Harry Potter scarf all done. You can't tell with it hanging in the window but it's almost 8 feet long. That's 57,600 stitches (to compare, I'd estimate that the NBaT is about 33,000 stitches).

Boy, did I have fun putting the new store window together!

want to see the BIG picture?

There's one of the boys weasley sweaters and both Hogwarts scarves. On the left, by the original scarf, are pics from the Sorcerer's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets films (can you spot Molly Weasley's magic needles?).

And on the right, by the new scarf, are the pictures I posted a while back from the Prisoner of Azkaban and the upcoming Goblet of Fire.

And there's even a Nimbus 2000!

Only 5 days left and we can put the new book in the window too. Oh boy!

I spent all my Sockapal-2-za blog reading time last week finishing those 57,000 stitches on the Harry Potter scarf! So this week's update includes only those updates that you all alerted me to.* If you've also made some progress, let us know about it in the comments!

First up, as always, more finished socks!
Siri's Mountain Colors Open Rib socks
Tania's hot pink cable socks - ooooh, Cashsoft, yuuuum
Janell's beautiful blue cable and rib socks
Kathy's Opal handpaint socks in her own original pattern

Followed by some sock pals hard at work:
Cara has started some exquisite socks using Evelyn Clark's Acorn Socks pattern
Ashley's periwinkle Lorna's Laces socks are underway (she's also posted a wrapped short-row tutorial for those who are looking for a little help with that technique - check it out!)
Joy is working on lace socks in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
Emy has her first CashCotton Broadripple sock halfway done
Jen is past the heel on the Koigu socks for her pal (looks like she's doing both together on circular needles!)
Susanne is also doing both of her wavy patterned socks at the same time
Linda has added a heel in Lorna's Laces to her pal's Koigu sock
Krista finished the first of her basket-weave cuffed socks (in super fab red and black!)
Kathy's side-to-side sock is really starting to look sockish - you've got to see it!
Jenn's Waving Lace socks have started waving
Beth has started some beautiful lace socks for her pal
Dorothee has begun her sock in some spectacularly colored yarn
Sarah has one fabulous ankle sock all done
Alison has sent in a photo of the pattern and yarn she's chosen (pretty pink!)
Tracy has one false start behind her and is ready to get started again
Carola picked up her sock yarn on her recent trip to Berlin
Di is looking for some help deciding between some wonderful choices
Margene, who has been knitting some amazing non-sockapal-2-za socks, promises an update today!

And finally - get your imaginations ready - pictureless pals' progress:
beginner Leslie is all finished!
Jacky's all done too!
Tonia reports that she's almost to the heel of her first sock using a pattern from Socks Socks Socks and Lorna's Laces
Angela writes that she'll be knitting "Landlocked Socks" (wonder what those will look like!)
Nina reports that she's finished one sock already in Knitpics merino
Phoebe will be making Crusoe in Diaketto yarn!
Orli is being very secretive, but says that she's started her socks with yarn from Elann

*The moral of this story: send me an email with your sock progress and you're sure to be in the next week's post!

Look what's new on my needles. It's a Sophie bag!

Who starts a felting project in 90 degree weather? Well, after finishing the Harry Potter scarf and Clapotis, I realized I'm left with only cotton yarns on the needles. That just won't do. I've had this plan to knit a quick black bag for myself for a while, as my little black felted Gap purse has started to have holes in it from its five years of use. The Cascade 220 has been sitting on my desk for months waiting patiently and as I went to put the needles for the Harry Potter scarf away, it caught my eye, and I decided it was time.

So, I'm knitting along on the bag and my almost 4-yr old son, S, comes up and asks me, "mommy, is that going to be a sweater?" Awwww. "No, it's going to be a bag," I reply. --"A hat?" --"No, a bag." --"A hat?" --"No, a BAG. --"Oh, a hat." --"Okay, yeah, it's a hat." What can you do?? His twin brother, B, came up a few minutes later. "Mommy, what's that?" "It's going to be a bag." Having learned from my earlier discussion with S, I added, "for putting things in." B said, "Like Legos?" --"Sure, like Legos." --"Oh, okay, I'll get some."

Wishes really do come true.

There's even a new edition to mommy's week-old birthday present pile: a sophie bag all ready for felting.

birthday cake

birthday burp

birthday smile

sophie - felted and blocking

1. The denim pinafore I finished in May was well received. After visiting the little girl it was intended for, I suddenly got nervous about the size and so sent it off a month before her birthday, just in case it was on the small side. It fits!

2. Amy Lu asked to see some close-ups of katy's neckline. Okey dokey.

left side and right side

And look, no droopy shoulders, no flashdance neck!

3. We've had yet another blankie crisis. Last week, S is cuddling with his blankie while watching Miss Spider and then just holds it up a little and quietly states, " I think this has a hole in it." Funny, this announcement has become so commonplace that it no longer results in the same sort of rush of activity and anxiety as it used to, either in them or in me.

before

I did some duplicate stitching that night and brought the blankie to S while he was sleeping.

after

4. I stopped by my LYS yesterday with the boys in tow and S immediately recognized the big long scarf in the new Harry Potter window. "That's the thing you make and you bring it and it hang there." When we got in the store, he went right over to the window to see the things from the inside. I found him stroking the Nimbus 2000 and then suddenly he looked up and said in a voice of slow realization, "hey, that's my...." I'd totally forgotten that he'd recognize his weasley sweater! He was actually very excited to see it there. (So was B: "look, an H sweater!") I explained that once it was done hanging in the window, we'd be bringing it back home. But then he grabbed hold of the bottom of the scarf and said "can we take this?"

Back in NYC for a "make-up" visit for my son S, who missed the last one two weeks ago with a fever. I started a new project to bring with me in case I find some time to knit (fat chance with two 4 year-olds on the train!). I thought it only fitting that I work on the beautiful feather and fan shrug that I found at Downtown Yarns on the last trip.

Koigu and JaggerSpun

And speaking of fans, after putting the boys to bed last night, I went over to the local Barnes & Noble and stood in line with the other obsessed fans and quidditch seekers to buy the latest Harry Potter book at the midnight release. They handed out free posters and Harry Potter glasses.

don't I look like Trelawney in those glasses?

Those of use who had not reserved copies of the book received orange wristbands and waited well past midnight until all of the folks with reserved copies bought their books. At 1:10 our line started moving!

let my orange people go

At 1:20, I had my book.

hooray!

I'm still recovering from the weekend with the boys in NYC. Touring the big city with little kids sure can be stressful!

After two days, grandma and I have figured out how to plan better though. First, think long and hard about how much time you have and what you want to do with the kiddos. Cut out long walks and travel time, plan in breaks, food and fun stuff. Once you have a reasonable, parsimonious plan, cut out an additional three things on the list. And be sure to stop to enjoy the simple things, like your reflection in a rain-filled sidewalk grate or puppies in a shop window.

PS - The puppies are right by Gotta Knit (which was unfortunately closed on Sunday as we walked by).

All four of us were just beat at the end of the Saturday, when we first stopped by a closed Yarn Co. (silly me, I believed those hours listed on the website) and then visited what is possibly the world's loudest museum, the Children's Museum of Manhattan, for a Dora- and Dr. Suess-filled ride to overstimulation hell.

Sunday was much better with us first eating awesome waffles and pancakes at EJ's Lunchonette and then stopping by KnitNY. (Sorry, Point-ers, we had to nix our visit to the Point in order to keep all our activities in one area of town.)

The boys ate cookies and I ran into Jon, of the Jon blog, who was working on this incredible intarsia baby blanket!

Speaking of KnitNY knitting, we spotted the KnitNY shrug that I made last year for mom at her office, which we briefly crashed for an emergency potty break!

We even had some time during a little dry spell in the weather for the boys to play in the sandbox at Washington Square before rushing off to Penn Station to wait an hour for our delayed train back home.

I did no knitting, and so still have the task ahead of me of ripping out this lovely, but waaaay too long sleeve I knit last week for my long-sleeved nothing but a t-shirt.

I got so into the stockinette and the idea of a nice long sleeve that I overshot the mark by about 2 inches!

Lesson learned: less is more.

Well, I got what I deserve. Silly me, telling you all to send me your updates - my inbox was overflowing!

No seriously, thank you for keeping me updated. It's made keeping up with you all much more manageable. Here you go, all the updates you could possibly take in one post. Well, maybe more than you can take: read some, come back tomorrow and read some more. They'll still be here!

Finito(e)s:

Kristel's Tiger Eyes socks (she's going to make another pair for herself too!)
Jessica's blue Whitby socks
Barbara's perfectly pink petticoats
Elizabeth's simply sociable socks
Debi's beaded yellow sunshine socks
Jody's Over the Rainbow dream socks
Bonnie's so-called "cooked shrimp" purl lace socks (adapted from the pattern in the Socks Socks Socks book)

Working toes:

Blossom's deep green Friday Harbor sock is stunning
Karen's first incredible patterned sock is done (you GOTTA see!)
Ashley has finished one VERY LONG sock for her pal
Janine made progress on her first tigery orange sock, but had to rip it
Sara is working on lovely vine patterned socks (she's a bit further along now)
Cori is working on the legs of her gorgeous lace socks
Tammy has begun some lacy scallop socks
Michele has made several starts
Gina's ribbing away on her blackberry broken ribs
Poor Phoebe has had to rip out her Crusoe socks
Cynthia is making Crusoe socks like you've never seen before (check out the close up here)
Nina's begun Knitpics geranium toe-ups (check out her almost finished Pasha penguin!)
Emily has started Unst socks from Knitting on the Road in the most beautiful color
Gwen has one orangey Trekking sock done
Erin finished the first of her pink petticoats
Gina has two little blue toes begun
Katie started Debbie Bliss' simple cable socks (so wish these were for me*, but she's in the beginners group!)
Carrie's been knitting her socks poolside
Maggi finished one cabled sock, despite packing half her house into a POD
Christine has finished her first sock (check out her daughter's first knitting project too!)
Kira's up to the heel on her first sockpal sock (only her second pair ever!)
Samantha started her sock pal's sock, ripped it out, changed the yarn a bit and has finished the first one already!
Ina's Green Mountain Madness ribbed socks are well underway
Dorothee has turned the heel on her first sock in a pretty, pretty fushcia and gold yarn
Mac is almost done with the first Touch of Grey sock (I think she spun the yarn herself!)
Lu has purple and green happy socks on the needles
Lisa has started chevron socks in Opal rodeo
Brenda's first purple Cloverleaf sock is done
Rebekkah is almost done with her pink ribbed socks
Johanna has begun some Koigu bobble socks
Cece is making see saw socks (that's fun to say!)
Shawna has finished one Go With the Flow sock
Barbara is still struggling with the pooling and striping of her Lornas Laces Rainbow socks
Tiffany's cat may not be impressed, but her first sock is progressing well
Stephanie is making some wonderful Retro Ribs, but isn't sure that she shouldn't rather use some Lorna's Laces for her pal

Ready to(e) gos:

Amanda has bought the most wonderful rich berry colored Lorna's Laces for her sock pal
Stephanie has also chosen Lorna's Laces and will be making Retro Ribs - hooray!
Katie has collected Lorna's Laces in a variety of colors, but isn't telling yet how exactly she'll be using them
New blogger Julia will be making Vine Lace socks in - you guessed it - Lorna's Laces (she's using one of my favorite colorways, Vera)
Mary is going with Nancy Bush's New England socks in - now, you might want to sit down for this - Koigu. What a rebel!
And Lola is considering Blackberry Ridge yarns. What is this update coming to? (Hee, hee!)

No toes pictured:

Diane , who's just started a new blog, is working on Columbine Peaks socks from Socks Soar on Circular Needles (you HAVE to go see all the projects she's posted to start off her new blog!)
Gailie is designing lacy cable socks for her pal
Minnie reports she'll be using my ankle sock pattern for her pal
Aubyn has begun purple Trekking socks in a mock cable pattern
Tara is using a stranded pattern and Kroy sock yarn for her pal
Ellen writes that she's finished the first of her Angel's Rest socks (Fiber Trends pattern - it's the blue/green one, I think)
And Jenny reports that she's gotten her yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool and will be making basic cable socks

Jenny, we must be on the same wavelength, because instead of starting my sock pal's socks, I've been dreaming of alison's basic cabled socks and ordered some yarn from Jimmy Beans for socks for my two tech guys who helped put the sockapal-2-za together.

* I have totally forgotten who is making socks for me! After the computer matched everyone up randomly and I printed out my master list, I remember noting that my sock pal had a blog and thinking to myself that I should try real hard not to peek. But now I've read SO many sockapal-2-za posts and emails that I have NO IDEA anymore who it was. I'm not looking either! So pal, feel free to post away. I'll never guess!

You didn't think she was all done, did you?

Yes, those are scissors. Yes, I am cutting sophie. No worries, I simply cut some slits evenly around the edge, so I could slide some pretty yarn through to bring a little color to my plain black sophie. (I got this idea from a pretty little bag we have at the store: the Felted Jelly Bag from Designs by Shelley.)

For the trim, I used the fun, retro-colored i-cord yarn I got at Habu last year. I never quite knew what to do with this neat stuff. Glad I got some though, because it brightens up sophie just perfectly.

Final pictures, for the felting spectators:

before felting

after felting

Thanks to Julie for her wonderful pattern. It's definitely my go-to bag pattern.

New project alert!

It's the beginnings of a Jilly scarf (the pattern is in the Free Pattern Archive for Rowan subscribers). My mom picked out the yarn, Manos Cotton Stria, last year on my first trip to Downtown Yarns. She loved the look and feel of the Stria and got a kick out of the red and the white together. We instantly thought candy cane stripes and I remembered that I had at least one pattern for a nice, stripy scarf (besides this one, there is a chunky-gauged version in Rowan Junior). We excitedly purchased the yarn. Then, as so often happens, it got tucked away for a year (to ripen? to cure? who knows what it does while we neglect it?). I did think about starting it several times, but have to admit that the thought of winding all those hanks into balls led me to tuck it away again and again. Now that the boys LOVE winding yarn (in fact, I like to have some yarn ready for winding in case the boys start to get wild and need a way to redirect their energies) and mom's birthday is once again approaching, it is time.

It doesn't hurt either that I've absolutely fallen in love with long scarves. This one should end up looooooong, since I have about a foot so far and have barely made a dent in the first two of six balls. This is so much fun!

Today was my grandfather's birthday. He died a decade ago, but I still remember his birthday each year. I have an old sweater of his that I saved. I wore it a couple of times, but it's much too long for me (he was a big man). So I've started to sketch out ideas for designing my own version of his sweater. No pictures yet, since I don't know if it will work, and if it does, I may send the pattern off somewhere, but I just thought I'd share that with you today anyway.

I have so many other things I want to knit right now. So many more practical things (seriously, when am I going to wear lace??). But I am so loving the colors and the yarns and the wave pattern in this feather and fan project that I find myself graviatating toward it every night. I reach right past my long-sleeved NBaT, right past katy, right past my design projects, right past the sockapal-2-za sock yarn, and grab this shrug.

this was two days ago - I'm loads further now!

The first time I posted about this project, many of you called it a scarf, but it's really going to be a shrug. It is knit like a scarf, but the sides will be sewn together for several inches at the "top" and "bottom" to make sleeves. After several nights of obsessive knitting, I progressed past "sleeve" length, and sewed up the cuff a little, so I could get a better sense of how it will look on.

see how much I've been neglecting my other projects?

I love that the stripes and the pattern repeats are random. (Well, I'm following a sequence of stripes and repeats and pattern variations, but the designer didn't make them according to some ratio or even symmetrical from one sleeve to the other.) It's so much fun to let go for once and simply watch something develop into whatever it's going to be. So many times, the goal of knitting is to reproduce a pattern perfectly - get all those beautiful cables in katy to look as crisp and neat as in the pattern picture, for example - but with this shrug, which doesn't have a "perfected" design and which I only saw once in person anyway, those sort of expectations just don't hold. Perhaps that's precisely why I'm so drawn to this project right now.

It's been hard dividing my free time over the last week betweeen knitting and reading. I've been making progress on the feather and fan scarf, but each night I force myself to put it down and go to bed early so I can read a little. No, I'm not reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince just yet. After starting the first two chapters, I realized that I needed to go back and reread the fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As I was pulling out the old books, I realized that I was about 100 pages away from finishing the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when I had set it aside last winter (I was planning to reread all the books). So I finished the fourth and should be starting the fifth very soon. Then I'll get to six, so don't tell me what happens, 'kay?!

But I said read two. I'm not just reading Harry Potter. During the day, when the boys are playing hard on the playground (and it's like 90 degrees so I can't knit!), I can sometimes sneak in a little reading time, but it's not good Harry Potter reading time (I can't focus too much on the book while I'm watching the boys and there's no way I'm carrying the giant tome that is HPOoP to the playground!). Nope, on the playground, I'm reading Knit One, Kill Two, subtitled "A Knitting Mystery". The Amazon reviews of it are terrible, and it is pretty predictable. For example, the main character, a young woman who finds herself having to solve the mystery of her aunt's murder, finds she has to stay in town longer than she had planned. Her new friends at the local knitting shop, who are teaching her to knit like her aunt did, would love her to stay and live in the house she's now inherited from her aunt. As soon as one of the girls says, oh yes, you should stay longer, I think, well, there's got to be some sort of love interest if this girl's gonna stay longer. Turn page. Enter love interest character. Still, as light, playground reading, I have to say I'm enjoying it. It's actually supposed to be the first book in a series! Here's a little from the book description for the next one: "...splayed out on her original hand-woven rug, her blood seeping into the design." (Roll eyes now.)

Still, this is all loooooaaads better than this book, which was so sappy and maudlin about knitting and it's power to bring some ridiculous, stereotyped characters together that I just had to stop reading it after about 20 pages. Yuck! I'd rather be knitting wool in the 90 degree heat, thanks.

I may not be reading Harry Potter 6 yet, but I did spend a little knitting time this weekend to make a bookmark for it. Several people pointed out Laura's Harry Potter bookscarf pattern to me and I just had to make one. I had some leftover yarn from the big Prisoner of Azkaban scarf I made for the store, so I was able to use that instead of the floss that Laura used (11 stitches to the inch - now that's a true fan!). At my gauge, I only had room for three of the gold stripes, but you still get the effect. I whipped the whole thing out at Knitsmiths yesterday, while yelling at people not to talk about HP6. (Heh, heh, I'm a little nervous that someone will ruin it for me.)

And as is always the case, I still haven't used up all the leftovers. I think I many have to make another - for the store window, you know.

An alphabetical update!

Beginners first:

Alison has started her first socks (check out her newly finished Stitch 'n Bitch hoodie!)
Allena didn't finish her Kool Aid dyed cabled socks, but she did finish an incredible outfit for her daughter
Anita has started her Sprite-colored pom squad socks
Cara's red lace socks are simply stunning
Carry's socks have just begun
Cathy has finished a fun green test sock
Christine has made the most adorable pair of ankle socks (not sure if they're for her pal or not)
Christine has one Fluted Banister sock finished
Cynthia is making progress on her beautiful blue sock, despite kitty attacks
Erin didn't knit the socks she's wearing, but aren't they the coolest EVER?!
Gina's blue cashmerino socks are looking great
Heather's jungle sock heels (from many angles)
Jenn told her sock to 'go take a hike'
Karen's incredible brown/pink patterned socks are finished!
Kate has magic looped a beautiful heel for her funky stripe sock
Lisa's lace cuff anklets are so cute
Minnie has handspun the yarn for her pal
Phoebe's oh so lovely Crusoe has had to be frogged for being way too small
Spring is making socks with Supermerino (swoon)

And now the old-timers:

Alexandra just started her socks in Meilenweit Cotton
Amanda will be using Kroy sock yarn in blue (my very first sock swap socks were made with this yarn!)
Amy has started garter stitch cuff and heel socks (love those colors)
Anne's cable and rib socks are looking good - and no pooling!
Barbara's socks are wonderfully wild
Beth's wavy lace sock looks just like in the magazine!
Bethany has begun a lovely feather and fan sock
Blossom is turning the first heel (come on Dora lovers: "She's turning the heel; she's turning the heeeeel!")
Brenda's first lacy sock enjoyed a trip to the North Island
Brynne has finished a pretty pink cable and rib sock
Cara got a picture of her sock in progress with none other than the Yarn Harlot
Carla would love to ask her pal which of the socks she's started her pal would most like
Carolyn's beautiful cabled ankle socks are finished!
Cass started her pair of socks, but wasn't sure if she shouldn't be making two pairs instead

(take a break, get up and walk around, stretch your legs...)

Dawn's first sock is "making waves"
Deb has finished her first sock (check out the bathing suite she just made!)
Diana is trying out picot hems for her Koigu socks
Elizabeth has finished one basic cable sock (with a perfec short-row heel!)
Erica's sophisticated green striped cabled socks are all done!
Gaile has come up with a beautiful eyelet pattern for her socks (seen here visiting the garden)
Gracie has begun waffle socks for her pal
Ingrid will be making Summer Garden socks, designed by her mom (and fellow sockapal-2-zer), "the Knitter"!
Jenn is working on gorgeous lace anklets for her pal
Jenny's making a mermaid sock (love that pattern!)
Joan's first side-to-side sock is done, but not seamed yet - you gotta look: it will blow your mind!
Joanne is cruising along on her submarine colored Crusoe
Jody's first waving lace sock is almost too nice to give away
Julia is in love with her first Vera vine lace sock
Julia's cashmere Latvian Lace socks are finished and they are to die for!

(anyone else have to pee? go now!)

Karen had just enough yarn to finish her first sock
Karen's pretty, pretty pink butterfly socks are the second pair she's finished for her pal!
Karlie has started Gull wings socks
Kim's Mai Tai Palm Tree socks are done and enjoying the New Jersey shore
Laurie has posted progress of her red mermaid socks on her new blog!
Linda finished her first sock (look at that perfect toe!)
Lindsay's pink, pooling, lacy socks are amazing
Lisa is up to the heel of her second Candy sock
Mac's handsome grey handspun socks are all finished!
Marti is making green Celtic socks
Mei has started pretty orange eyelet socks
Melanie's Socks that Rock socks turned out to be different colors
Michele has finished one cutie patootie green and purple ankle sock
Nicole's Broadripples are going to fit!
Purly is going with the flow

(time for that snack bar you've got tucked away...)

Rachel's cotton striped socks are, like totally, my new favorite socks (must. buy. that. yarn.)
Rebekkah's Opal Handpaints are "insane"ly beautiful and all done!
Renada is reknitting the foot of her poor Black Water Abbey sock after an unfortunate scissors incident
Samantha's richly colored rib and eyelet socks are done!
Sarah's striped socks visited the Bridge of America in Panama
Sarah will be making the Main Eyelet socks, but you won't be interested in socks anymore once you see her fab-u-lous wedding garter pattern
Stacey has made the prettiest little picot edge to start her socks
Tammy has discovered the magic of turning the heel (PS: dogs + yarn = well, you do the math)
Teresa has just barely started her Mountain Colors Bearfoot socks
Uli's subtle wavy rib socks are all done!

It is so incredible to see all these socks being made. But can I say that after that update, I can't possibly look at another sock for another couple of days. Seriously, I think I'm going blind from all this blog reading! I'm knitting with my eyes closed tonight.

all aboard!

I had some time this weekend to restart the long sleeves for my maroon nothing but a t-shirt. After discovering last week that I'd made the first sleeve too long (and too wide), I ripped it back to about mid-forearm length and started again. I decided to go with a completely straight sleeve, since that will give me a subtle bell shape when worn and is easy-peasy to knit. A few hours of knitting in Claudia's living room with fun knitbuds like Lauren, Paula, and Kathy, and I had finished that first sleeve again. Sleeve hell reared it's ugly head though when I picked up my finished sleeve to show the gals and immediately saw that I'd accidentally increased a stitch somewhere in the middle. Ugh!

can you see it?

To answer your next question, no, I'm NOT going back again for that!

This week I've been busy working out a few new pattern ideas. It's so fun picking out a some new yarns and giving them a try. I hope to have at least three new designs in this bag. And if things go well, I might even have new free pattern for you in a week or so!

The candy cane Jilly scarf is getting bigger.

In two directions, as B is helpfully demonstrating. Yes, as I've been knitting along late at night (watching the reruns of Amazing Race on the Game Show Network mostly), and working the K2tog/M1 pattern that creates the diagonal shape, I've forgotten the K2tog a few (okay, 5) times. Over 3 feet, that's not such a bad percentage, right??

Can you see how it gets wider there in the middle? Look closely. Oops!

And no, I'm not going back to "fix" this mistake either. Here's why. As I was about a foot in, I thought the scarf might be a smidge on the narrow side. I didn't notice that the scarf was wider until the first two balls of yarn ended (that's three feet I got out of two balls of yarn!) and then I just sort of thought, oh this isn't too narrow at all. Only after I counted the stitches and laid the scarf out flat (something you never really do with a scarf) did I see that I'd missed a few decreases. I'm planning to keep the scarf this wide for about another foot, then intentionally forget to do some (well, 5) increases over the following 3 feet. That way the scarf will be wider in the middle where it wraps around the neck and a tad narrower at the ends where the extra fabric simply hangs down. Brilliant!

Moral of the story: I am a giant knitting dork.

The boys have been begging to go down to the Frog Pond in Boston Common (no frogs, just a wading pool for kids), so we did. We splashed around a bit, played in the nearby playground and then went to Downtown Crossing for a snack. And since we were in the neighborhood....

They don't call this place Windsor Button for nothing!

But look, they also have yaaaaaaaarn*.

Happy boys, happy mommy, happy day.

* I only bought a clasp for my latest Sophie and one lone skein of yarn to try out for a design idea. I browsed and fondled, and trust me, they had lots of fabulous stuff that I haven't found elsewhere, but I couldn't think of a reason to bring any of it home. The same thing happened to me on my recent trip to KnitNY. After Jon spotted me there, he asked what I was getting and I told him there were lots of neat, new yarns I'd love to get, but I simply didn't need them. Jon said: "That means your stash is big enough." My response is still the same: "Damn!"

I did some finishing a couple of weeks ago - another baby sweater for another Knitsmith. Look at Vicky's cutie patootie pink and purple raglan in Butterfly Cotton.

For the record, Vicky knit this sweater in a sweater class and learned how to do all the seams, so she CAN seam but she was just done with THIS sweater, if you know what I mean. So I stepped in to seam it up. How can I turn down a raglan seam? And in those colors.

mattress stitch, I think I love you

and in garter stitch too!

I was hoping that finishing this little sweater would inspire me to pick up my white bread top, katy, or maybe even pop, and get them finished, but no, it didn't.