And now for a little R&R

The Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival (SAFF) 2015 was great.  I was again tied to the Workshop building.  But the classes went off without more hitches that I could handle, so I remain Unflappable Annie.  In a year with LOTS of changes, there were a few bumps in the road.  So we learn and do a very few things differently next year.  Here is a shot of the Friends & Fiberworks booth.  My gradient yarns are to the left of the Uber-Blanket. Thanks Lucky Fibers!     So it's now just a few days after SAFF, and as I wind down, I'm happy to chill, tie up loose ends and get ready for the next big thing. 

Hopefully it will be a small thing, but I'm going in for foot surgery soon.  I have a condition called Morton's Neuroma (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/mortons-neuroma-topic-overview) always annoying, often painful, and it just won't fix itself.  So now I'm going to get it fixed.  It's an un-busy time at the day job, and again, post-SAFF, so the time is right to put my post-surgical foot up   I will be the model patient.  OK, I'll try to be the model patient.

My LYS fiber customers are well-stocked, my Etsy shop is shut down(except for the digital patterns) and my desk at work is getting cleaner.  My desk at home...well, we won't talk about that.

A very nice man will be taking care of me as I knit, watch movies, knit, read, knit, pet the cats, knit...you get the picture.  I'll be knitting felt hats for one of my shops, socks for holiday giving, a sweater for me, dishcloths because the drawer is looking skimpy and ALMOST anything that the very nice man wants.  No sweater though...do not tempt fate.  Beware the curse!

Might as well face it...

Might as well face it. I’m addicted to socks.

Knitting socks that is.  I've been a sock knitter nearly since I started knitting in the late nineties.

I started with fat socks as many people do.  For beginning knitters, the size one needles just seem impossible.  So I began with a few pair of worsted weight socks - - warm and cozy in hiking boots.  Then I realized that they didn’t wear very well (particularly in merino).  But it’s okay… I learned the structure of sock.  The heel flap, turning the heel, the gusset, grafting the toe.

But in the last few years, my sock knitting has come along way.  Now even a slightly bigger sock yarn seems awfully large.  I just finished knitting a pair with Paton’s Kroy on what seems like HUGE 3’s for the leg; 2’s for the foot. I’m currently teaching a sock class, to bring other knitters into the fold.

So a little finished object parade, for your consideration…

 Vanilla lattes in Knit Picks Felici

Eirene - Paired cables in Knit Picks Bare sportweight.

 A slow slog of Circle Socks.

 

No pictures for the next few.  Seems if I wait to take pics, I'll never post this. 

3 X 1 ribs in Paton’s Kroy, with both legs knitted at a conference, where I did not see any other knitters.  Very strange.  This was a social studies conference.  At library conferences, there are LOTS of knitters.

There are under construction, with the pause button hit in various places for teaching purposes...

‘Blackberry waffles’ in  Lang Jawoll in a very dark purple colorway that has forced me to knit them under the full spectrum light.

Big fat socks in an unlabeled sock yarn from the FFW sale room.  Kind of a ‘denim blue fake fair isle' pattern.  Maybe Fortissima Colori Mexiko 6 ply.  Maybe.

Happily I have found the Ravelry group, 12 Socks, in which other sock-addicted knitters show  off their work, with monthly challenges.  I won a prize for the February challenge - -more sock yarn!

Socks 2015.1 Log Cabin Latte

Last evening I grafted the toes on my first completed pair of socks for 2015.  I used this pattern:  Vanilla Latte.  My first time with the pattern, I liked it.  The sock was a bit big, but that's okay as they are intended for the Strategic Gift Reserve.  Even though my feet are a generous 8.5, some of my sisters (the main sock recipients) have feet that are even more generous, as are their spirits. 

The yarn is Knit Pick's Felici in 'Rustic Cabin.' I am glad they brought that yarn back, and I particularly like the colorway.  As I found the link, I see that it has 'disappeared' again.  I guess I'm not the only one who likes it.  Glad I bought more that one colorway.

I have 2 other socks in the pipeline.  One is a cable sock made in a sport weight yarn that I purchased in error.  Turns out I really like both the yarn and the pattern.  Add the fact that sport weight socks knit up a bit faster, even on a size 3, and I had a hard time putting them down last evening. I'm already planning a variation for the next pair.

Upcoming events (for which I need to hustle):  Friends & Fiberworks annual Winter Retreat.  I'll be staffing the store and teaching a dye class.  Shortly after that the gang will head to the Statesville (NC) Quilt Show where my dyed fiber will be in the FFW booth.  Guess I'll be dyeing quilt show fiber in class.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Happy New Year 2015

As the new year rolls around we tend to take stock.  What was wonderful...other things...well, less so.  I find that I miss the blog.  Not the self promotion, that gets tired.  I've never been one for a parade of finished objects.  I can hardly remember to take pictures for my Ravelry page.

But I think that what I miss is the writing.  Writing a few times a week give me a time for introspection...thoughtfulness...as I try to put thoughts and feelings into words. I have used this blog as a diary of sorts, mostly writing about fiber (obviously), gardening, travel and the public parts of my life.  There's only a little about work, except as it gives me a few interesting travel opportunities a year.  My private life is only interesting to me - no drama to make salacious reading.

So in 2015, I'm going to revive the blog.  Other resolutions...

• Finish the purple sweater (about 80% done).
• Rework red sweater.  So far I have pulled out the sleeves and washed the yarn.
• Knit at least 6 pair of socks (2 already on needles)
• Work out more - Notice that I did NOT quantify that. but I've either walked or done yoga nearly every day since the Christmas break began.
• Pay attention the Etsy shop.  I started by putting my patterns up.
• A little promotion wouldn't hurt (Facebook; Phat fiber)
• Add patterns to Ravelry.
• Keep my office cleaner.  It's currently quite tidy. Can I spend 5 minutes at the end of every day tidying up? 

So we shall see if I can keep this going.  Stay tuned...