Green Eggs And Ham

...Umm, I mean green socks and other stuff...

Finally got the green socks for my nephew finished. I hadn't worked on them while the knitting olympics were on and really missed doing them. It was a little awkward working with the smaller needles after using a size 5.0mm needle for the scarf!

Tinker Belle was checking out the socks to see if they would pass inspection. I think she seemed satisfied with them. She's impressed that I am improving on the kitchener stitch on the toe area and meowed her approval. Here's a closer look at the socks to the left.

I have already cast on for another pair of children's socks, but they might not go to my nephew. We'll see though.

Can't wait until tomorrow when I can cast on for my red socks for Project Spectrum. I think I'm going to use the feather and fan pattern from Shazzas Knits. The only red sock yarn I have on hand is a solid red, but I don't think that will matter.

Off to get a little knitting done before I have to read the required pages for my Communication Disorders class later this afternoon.

Happy Knitting!

Irish Hiking Scarf

I finally got a pic or two of my completed Irish Hiking Scarf for the Knitting Olympics. Here it is to the left. You can see the bare size 5mm bamboo needles as well. And look who made yet another appearance...Tinker Belle! I had placed the scarf on the table, went and got the camera and came back to find her crouched on the scarf so that you couldn't see much of it. I got her off and she crouched down beside it as you can see. She seems to approve of it...

Also, I decided to take a pic of the 4 balls of yarn that I had dyed with Kool-Aid to show as well. The Tropical Punch ball (the reddish-orange one) is the same one from a few posts back. You can see the one I think I will call "Cherry Surprise" since it was one of those ones that change colour once you add the water to it. It's the one from a few posts previous that I had posted of it hanging on a hanger drying. You can't tell that it is varrigated in the pic though.
The purple ball to the left is done with grape Kool-Aid, and the one you see to the right was done with the no name brand grape. It did not turn out nearly as dark as the Kool-Aid one...whoda thunk it? I mean, it's all the same stuff relatively isn't it? Apparently not!

I am just noticing that the reddish one looks bigger than the others. It's only because I didn't wind it as tight I think...either that or the fact that during processing it sort of felted together in places and I ended up pulling it apart made it "fluff up" or something. I am thinking of making children's hats or scarves out of these so far...unless I get some other idea. I only have one ball of each so it's not like I can do a big project or anything. Also, the colours don't go together (I don't even think the purple ones would) so I can't use them in a large project either...I'll let you know what I decide to make and post pics of the finished projects.

Off to work on my nephew's sock a little before bed. I don't think it will be done by tomrrow (unless it is into the evening), however that is ok because I have completed what I said I would do for the olympic knitting. I said I'd do the Irish Hiking Scarf, and I did. I added to the challeng of also trying something else that was new, and that was dying the yarn (wool) with Kool-Aid. So, technically speaking, I went beyond my challenge and challenged myself a little further as well. Besides, I had tons of studying to do and I really wasn't in the mood to do that (I can't seem to find my studying groove this year...maybe because it's my fourth year?), I would rather have been knitting. I studied though.

Anyway, happy knitting!

Scarf Progress

I got my Knitting Olympics Irish Hiking Scarf done last night!! Wooo Hooo!!! I stayed up until around 1:30am to finish it since I was so close. Don't have the picture as of yet, but will try to get it up tomorrow. I am also working on the heel of my nephew's green socks, and will probably work at it some for a bit before bed, and then tomorrow.

Not much to say right now, but just wanted to post the news of my finished scarf. Check back for a pick of it (probably tomorrow evening at the earliest).

Winding Down...

Well, we are pretty well one day closer to the Olympics being complete - including the Knitting Olympics. I still don't have any updated pics on my scarf, but I can tell you it's getting there, and hope to be finished it soon and have a pic of it to show. I must say that I've enjoyed seeing everyone's progress (at least on the blogs I've visited) on their olympic challenges. So many nice patterns and pretty yarn choices out there!

I'm getting anxious to work on socks again. I still have the 2nd green sock for my nephew to do and I'm hoping to get it done by the weekend, but I'm not 100% sure if I will or not. The only time I'll have is tomorrow (providing I finish my olympic challenge scarf in time), though my nephew will be up since his parents are working and I don't know if that will give me time, as well I can work on it Saturday evening. My main priority now is to get the scarf completed though.

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased some more sock yarn (to feed my sock knitting obsession) and I really want to get to it. Here are a couple of pics of my purchases:

The sock yarn is all Patons Kroy, there is a hank (I think that's the right term) of 80% wool 20% nylon, 2 ply in blue jean, from Briggs & Little Woolen Mills, 2 sets of DPN's (2.5 mm and 3.0 mm) and I also picked up a free pattern leaflet for basic socks.

I'm not sure what the hank will be used for just yet. Does anyone know if this would make up into socks well or not? I honestly don't know if 2 ply is thicker than 4 ply...and you think I would just compare thicknesses while I have it in my hands, but no I didn't do that...and to do so would cause me to make a 3rd trip to my room to get the details. So, I will either check later or wait for someone to tell me, LOL. So, if 2 ply is too thick for socks I think it will probably go toward a children's hat.

Here's another pic, this one showing my baby, Tinker Belle a little clearer. She wanted to inspect the yarny goodness, hoping for a loose end to be sticking out with which she could grab and run with to play. However, there were none so she made do with sniffing and attempting to chew the entire thing. Didn't work though - I caught her and got her down...AFTER I took the pic of course!

And yes, she is up on the table. I tried to get her down several times while trying to get pics taken but she kept jumping up immediately. She's stubborn like that...but not to fear, it was washed clean after the photo shoot, so no need to get all grossed out or anything. And don't hold that against me...please. Besides, what's a little cat hair between friends anyway eh? ROFL!! I'm kidding...don't be offended, like I said, it was cleaned well...the table that is.

Hmm...do I post this and let everyone out there think I'm gross or something because the cat got up on the table, or do I just shrug it off and not worry about what anyone thinks...hmm...what to do, what to do....

Edited to add: LOL @ the comments from Amy & Ruth about my buying sock yarn. I should explain that to my knowledge there is no LYS around here, we mainly buy yarn from places like Walmart or Michael's or some other craft store. And, for sock yarn, there isn't much selection that I have found. Michael's didn't have any! So, a lady there (at Michael's) referred me to this store that is about 20 minutes out of the city where they have some yarn. It isn't a very big store, and believe me they sell sock yarn! Well, they only have one kind, Paton's Kroy, and they had about 8 to 10 colours/patterns to choose from at most. The sock yarn goes FAST, so when you can get it you have to get it. I grabbed what I could! Found out a friend from school works at this store and she let me know when the order came in so I could go get some.

The balls are only small, 50 grams, so in order to make two socks for an adult and have enough, I need to buy 2 balls of whatever colour. That is probably why it looks like a lot. I did have left overs from when I did my green/blue/yellow pair (pic of that pair a few posts down), and I am just wondering if there is enough to do a pair of children's socks or not. I have been thinking of trying to make those cute little sweaters and socks that Ruth and some others had made at Christmas, but haven't quite decided on that yet.

Anyway, just wanted to elaborate on the amount of sock yarn lol...some of them will be made into children's socks, some for me...

Knitting Olympics is progressing along, and I have made a little progress on my scarf, but it isn't enough to take a picture of yet to show progress. Hopefully I'll get enough done in the next day or two to be able to take another pic for comparison sake.

I've been visiting some of the blogs of my fellow Olympic knitters, and there are some really great things being made! It's great to be able to see the progress everyone is making, and just imagine at the end of all of this how many pictures of completed items there will be...pretty colours, pretty articles of clothing...so much work being put into this, we all deserve a pat on the back for sticking to our guns!

I decided during this that I would challenge myself (other than the scarf) at attempting to dye some wool with Kool-Aid. I finished my 3rd ball/skein yesterday, and have 2 more to go. In my previous post, you can see the Tropical Punch ball I did, which was the first one. Here are a couple pictures of my second attempt:

This is the front and back views of the skein. Sorry that the pics aren't all that good or accurate in colour...it was the same night I took the pics in my previous post and I guess I was standing too close so the pics are kinda washed out. Actually in both of these pics you can't really see the difference, but the colour didn't distribute evenly for some reason. The wool on the outer side of the bunch was darker (a pretty shade of almost green), while the wool towards the middle was lighter and seemed closer to a blue colour...maybe the closest you could call it would be teal, but I'm not totally sure.

Anyway, the Kool-aid I used was the cherry flavour that changed colours when it was mixed up, and I must say that regardless of it not dying evenly it looks great. I was worried thought that at one end of the yarn it would be the darker green colour and the other end would be the lighter almost blue colour. I thought that whatever I knit up would look freakish! However, when I was winding up the yarn, it appears that it is varrigated! The dark and light colours are distributed all through the ball. I think it should (hopefully) look neat when it gets knit up. I'm thinking I might make a hat or scarf out of this, and a hat or scarf out of the Tropical punch one....or kids mittens if I have enough (both balls are 3 1/2 ounces).

The one I did yesterday was with grape Kool-aid, and again for some reason it didn't distribute evenly. I turned the yarn over and made sure it was all submerged in the mixture...everything I could think of to make sure it was all exposed. But for some reason, the wool on the outer edges is darker. I am hoping it will do the varrigated thing like the one above did. I need to make 2 more balls of the purple for a project I have in mind...a felted bag. The only thing...the other two might have different shades than this one because the store only had 1 package of grape Kool-aid left...grrr!!...so I got the no-name brand grape instead. I'm thinking that it's really the same thing so it should turn out...I hope...if not, then I'll have a funky looking bag! Oh well, c'est la vie! I'm having fun doing it, and I went the extra "mile" to add some challenge to my knitting olympics challenge. I don't think that I'll have the time (mid terms next week) to start, let alone finish, the bag as an extra knitting olympics challenge, however, I think I am also going to add to my challenge and get my nephew's other green sock completed. Remember, my challenge includes trying to find the time to get my knitting done because of school, homework, and mid terms...

Happy Knitting!

Olympic Update!

Day 4 is almost over with now, at least in my time zone. I thought I would post a picture of an update of the Irish Hiking scarf that I am working on for you to see. I only have about 14 inches done so far, not as much as I'd like but its good for the amount of time that I've had to spend on it. I'm hoping to get it done soon though.

Ok, for some reason the colour still isn't looking quite right, at least on my computer. I am thinking it must be the flash washing it out or something. It really is peach and not white or light pink LOL.

This picture shows the colour a little bit better, however my cat Tinker Belle decided she wanted in the picture and jumped on the chair just as I snapped the pic. I am just realizing that in both of the pics you can't see the details of the cables very well...but I am impressed with the way it is turning out. It is actually going quick, that is when I get the time to knit...and it's on size 5 mm, and after knitting socks lately, I am seeing more progress faster than with the socks.

Also for a challenge, I added to my personal challenge and attempted to dye some wool with Kool-Aid! The first time I ran into problems, mainly because when I was trying to rinse it I held it under the tap some and ended up with some large chunks of felting that took place. I was a little upset...ok more than a little...and after it dryed some I decided to see if I could pull it apart. Well, I did and it took a L O N G time, but I got it done. I don't know if that will weaken the fibers or not, but I did it anyway. Here is a pic of the finished results.

I'm really sorry that the pictures aren't really turning out all that well...the flash is washing them out I think. The flavour of Kool-Aid I used was Tropical Punch. It was in a blue package and silly me was thinking that it would be blue in colour (to be honest I didn't really think that the flavour was 'punch' and would probably be some shade of red), however I think it turned out pretty good. It all seems to be evenly dyed.

My second attempt at dying was today. This time I chose the cherry flavour that turns a different colour when it's mixed. On the package it showed a picture of cherries and underneath it was blue so I thought maybe that was what it would be...can you tell I want to dye some blue??? Anyway, when I mixed it it was a weird shade that I can't describe other than to say it would be similar to turquoise I guess. Unfortunately, this time the colour didn't take evenly. Some of it soaked up more of the colour and looks a dark shade, nearly green, and the wool that was towards the middle of the skein didn't get as much (I wonder if I didn't squeeze out the water good enough before adding it to the dye mix) and is a lot lighter and looks closer to blue. Oh well, might make for an interesting combination for whatever I make with it...lol

I tried to upload the pics of it, but it wouldn't post them so I must be over my quota of space allowed or something...if that is what the problem is. Oh well, I'll just have to post them another time.

Off to work on my knitting now. Good luck to the other olympians, and happy knitting to all!

And We're Off...

Well, for me and those in my time zone (Atlantic) who are partaking in the Knitting Olympics, it has been nearly 10 hours since we were allowed to cast on. Quite honestly, I did not hear fireworks, nor applause, nor cheering, nor did I see throngs of fans outside my window encouraging me on in my attempt to go for the gold. What's up with that???!!

I suppose there are those who will think I'm some sort of geek or just plain off my rocker, but that is their opinion. Ok, so I probably am a geek and I just might be off my rocker, but since when has that stopped me from doing something? Ok, ok, so I admit that it may have stopped me from doing things in the past, but they won't knock me down this time!


To the left, you will see my humble beginnings of my endeavor to do my part for our "little get together" called the Knitting Olympics. As you can see, my yarn is peach, but looks sort of off white on my screen. I'm using my 5.0 mm (size 8 US) bamboo needles, and a cable stitch holder/needle/thingamajigger. The pattern I chose is the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern from www.helloyarn.com (note the colour of the scarf in the picture...it is not two colours. It is supposed to be all blue, but sadly the printer was running out of colour ink so it looks like it is blue and lilac). The yarn is Red Heart Super Saver which I dug out of my stash so that I could get a dent in that! I know a lot of people will cringe at the thought of this type of yarn being used, but it's what I'm using!

I don't have a current picture of my progress to date, but I can tell you that after measuring it, I have roughly 7 inches done so far. I am enjoying this pattern, and the cable stitch is a lot easier than I thought it would be. I have a thought simmering on the back burner in my mind for if I get this scarf finished early. I'm not going to say what it is yet, or if in fact I will do it, because I might not have time to do it because of school work. However, if things work out well for me, I will fill you in on the details at some point ;o).

It is not a little after midnight, so I am going to head off to bed and rest up for a day of studying and knitting. Hope you are all enjoying your first day of the knitting olympics. I'm looking forward to reading and seeing pictures of everyone's progress.

Happy knitting!

Whew...

Ok, what a relief! For some reason I had thought that the Knitting Olympics started today. I don't know when or how that got into my head, but it did. I was all worried that I wasn't going to be able to start on time due to school but I had accepted that.

Well, this morning I decided to go back to the post in Stephanie's blog (Yarn Harlot) and double check the starting time. I didn't find that, but I think she had said 2pm eastern time. I did however see that the start date is tomorrow, February 10! Yay! I will now be able to start on time because I don't have any classes on Fridays.

I had planned on knitting on my scarf this evening though for the olympics (I have decided on the Irish Hiking Scarf as the 'cable stitch' scarf that I would do) and was looking forward to it. So, now that I can't do that I will work on socks (but what else...I am a newly diagnosed sock knitter addict!). Maybe I can get my nephew's second sock done of his green pair tonight and start another pair for myself or to put on the mitten tree at church at Christmas...just something to tide me over til I can cast on for the Olympics.

Must get back to studying now, my test in Communication Disorders is in 3 1/2 hours. Don't have quite that long to study though because I still have to get ready for class.

Happy Knitting!

More Socks

Well, I finally have my next pair of socks done, and I think they turned out pretty good, and I am even wearing them as I type this. I am really enjoying knitting socks, at least so far, and I wore them to Bible Study today and they felt and looked great. I got some nice comments on them as well, so that was nice and encouraging.

The first picture below, the colour didn't turn out for some reason, probably the flash but who knows. The light parts that appear while are actually yellow, and the part that look like really light blue (especially near the yellow) is actually green.

Below is a better picture, colourwise at least. I was trying to be really creative and cross my legs for the picture. I was hoping my cat would get in the picture as well as she was up on the bed I was sitting on but she ran the other way when she saw the camera. Poor kitty, I think she's sick and tired of the camera from all of the pictures that I've taken of her these last eight years! Sadly, she did not wish to make an appearance in these pictures...

Anyway, you can at least see the colours better in this picture. They show up more like they really are (though the colours are still looking a little lighter than they actually are)...again, I have no idea why this one would turn out better than the last. The batteries were low to nil as I was trying to set up the pics and that is also why they are plain and boring and not very artistically taken like a lot of the pictures I've seen in other blogs (I had to snap them fast before the camera shut off). But, I just wanted to get my proof that I finished them so they could count for Sock of the Month, etc.

They are made with Patons Kroy (75% wool, 25% nylon) in the colour "Krazy Stripes" using 3.25 mm needles. I knit them from a pattern that was around a skein of other Pattons yarn (Bernat Sox) and is actually the same pattern that my previous ones that were pink and purple stripes. The only thing I did differently was to not make stripes.

I should be getting the second of the green pair for my nephew done some time this week. Thankfully the small socks for two year old don't take as long to knit up as adult sizes. I've got to finish reading a book and do a 7 page paper on it as well as a test to study for this week so if I don't get the sock done, I won't worry about it. I don't have any deadline to meet, so that's a help. Also, I want to get it done up earlier in the week because the Knitting Olympics start this week and I want to devote my time to that little project.

Off to do some homework now. Happy knitting!

Progress

Well, I am making progress with my lastest two sock projects. My striped pair is going well. I am just about to the point of decreasing for the toe, so shouldn't be too long until I can start the second one.

The green socks for my nephew are also progressing...much faster since they are small LOL. I am at the same point on this one, decreasing for the toe. I am hoping to get his done by Friday or Saturday at the latest so he can have them to wear when he comes over (we look after him on those two days).

Knitting Olympics starts in soon and I am getting anxious to work on the project. I think I am going to use yarn from my stash (probably some peach coloured red heart that I have) so that I can get a dent in it...won't be much of a dent thought.

I just figured out...well more of a remembering really, that I have two midterms during the Knitting Olympics so I'll have to be studying for those. Hopefully it won't take away time for my knitting. I'll have to knit on my study breaks and maybe try to get my knitting done before that. Though, to be honest, there will be 3 days after the midterms to work on it so it won't be too bad I hope.

Off to work on the socks some more! Happy knitting!