Yarny Goodness

Yup...today is one of those yarny goodness days. I got yarn in the mail - mind you, it's all yarn I ordered from the Loopy Ewe, but that's besides the point.

The two orders I mentioned in my last post came in the mail last week. I get my orders sent to the school I work at because it's much easier to do that. I'm not home during the day when the mailman comes and since the packages are bigger than the little mailboxes we have, I'd have to make an extra trip to the post office. While normally I wouldn't mind going to the post office, the thing about over here in Korea is that the post office (among other places such as the bank) are closed by 4:30...though from what I understand the post office might close by 5:30, but that only leaves me half an hour to get home and get to the post office before it closes, and...well, to make a long story short, the overall best solution is to simply have the packages sent to the school address.

So, the picture to the right shows my loot. This is a combination of both orders. In the back you can see the lovely Loopy Ewe tote I received for becoming a Loopy Groupie. I also got a keychain, some yummy peppermint candies (one in each order), yarn and patterns. The patterns I got are as follows: Pretty As A Peacock by Some Knitting Required (a beautiful shawl), Snapdragon Toe-up Socks by Wendy D. Johnson, Chestnut Hill Socks by Lisa Parker (Wildhorse Farm Designs), Grid Lock Socks by Lisa Parker (Wildhorse Farm Designs), and Lacy Pillars Socks A Loopy Groupie Sock Pattern designed by Debbie O'Neill (which I guess I got for becoming a Loopy Groupie - sorry can't find a link for it).

The yarn is as follows: Chameleon Color Works Evolution in black cherry (somehow I messed up my order and only ordered 1 skein instead of 2 so I will make something small with it - or some baby/toddler socks - 2nd from right), Baby Boo by Numma Numma in the apricots with mixed fruit colourway (3rd from left), Superwash Me - Sock by J. Knits in the colourway ac#124 (2nd from left), my second skein of Alpaca with a Twist Fino in the same colourway and lot number as the skein in the previous post (this is the second one I needed so I could make the Pretty As A Peacock shawl) (1st on the left), Fannie's Fingering Weight in the Rhapsody colourway (1st on the right), and finally I love whomever it was who cancelled her order the day they were packing mine up. I had ordered Chameleon color Works Bambino in the Purple Rain colourway (3rd from right). I was originally told (via email) that they were sold out but put the colourway on my wishlist. I was fine with that. Then a day or so later I received another email saying that someone had cancelled her order and so they adjusted mine to include the Purple Rain! Woot!

Forgive the horrible picture above, but that's me holding the Purple Rain. It looks like I have no makeup on and I'm as pale as a ghost...however, I do have makeup on, though it's probably worn off since this picture was taken after I got home from work. As far as paleness goes - well, that's just natural, lol. Again, sorry for the horrible pic!

So, in other news, I'm still working on the Wollmeise socks. They are knitting up fast when I can find the time to work on them. I'm also doing them on size 2.7 (odd size but they are needles I got in Seoul and they didn't have the standard sizes on them...I think it's the closest to a 2.75 size though). The sock is turning out a little loose I think, but that's ok. I really like this pattern and it's knitting up nicely. I really like the way it looks in this colourway too. Currently, I'm on the foot of the first sock, nearly half way to the toe. I'll also include a closeup of how the pattern is looking.

I gotta hand it to Monica, she's got some pretty awesome patterns created! I don't know how she does it, but way to go, Monica!

First Toe Up Socks

Edited to add: I mentioned that in my first round of the 10 rows that on one line somehow I had made a mistake but didn't know where. Well, I figured out what it was.

To those attempting this pattern (or who want to but haven't), there is an error on line 9...it starts with p1, k5 but that leaves you with one extra stitch at the end. I think that is supposed to be a k6 instead so that it all works out. Besides, the rest of the 10 rows all start with p1, k6 and end with k6, p1 so it only makes sense that there is a typo. I've since changed it on my copy of the pattern.

Just wanted you to be aware...

Will ya look at that? Will wonders never cease? I have finally begun my first ever toe up socks! I used the crochet cast on method (I think that's what it's called) and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined. The only problem I had was in getting the crochet chain undone to ravel out...not entirely sure I did it correctly, but nonetheless, I did get it out.



This is the beginnings of the Falling In Love pattern from MagKnits, and I only have the first 10 rows done so far. It isn't difficult (at least not at this point, but then you just repeat these 10 rows to get your pattern so I doubt there will be any difficulty), and I think the pattern will look nice with this colour. The pattern gives you options to do short row heels or the gusset/flap heels, but at this point I'm not sure which I'll choose. Normally when I do my socks (which so far have all been top down), I do the heel flap and gussets. But, I think that since this is a new experience for me - the toe up method - it might be a good time to learn a new heel as well. We'll see when I get to that point at which I decide to go with.

I made at least one error in the pattern when I was knitting it, but I couldn't tell what I had done wrong, so I just left it. On the particular line I had to k6 and end with a p1 at the end, but somehow I ended up with 8 stitches left instead of 7 so I just k7 instead. I don't think it will be terribly noticeable.

Also, in the wrap arounds for the toe I messed up a couple of times but that was due to having started it before school and not having enough time to finish it, which resulted in a loss of rhythm doing it. I know that when I do the second sock that I will have to do that section all at the same time...so I don't get lost. But, I will just chalk this up to experience ;o). I'll show more pics another time when there is progress on the sock...like maybe when I get to the heels I'll show you how I'm doing - especially if I decide to go with the short rows.

Now, I must go and do some reading for a book review that is due towards the end of the month. The book is on the history of Prince Edward Island (for my Maritime History class) - some of it is interesting, and some is boring (like the political aspects...). At any rate, it must be done.

Happy knitting!