pjbknit

Two Down, Two to Go

Pairs of socks, that is. I want y'all to know that the light is lovely at dusk, but there are thorny roses that snag sox,  bugs and mosquitoes and crazy dogs chasing horses, oh my. Anyway, I braved the elements to bring you Samus Socks, inspired by Lisa Lloyd's Saxony Sock. I used the Samus Saxon braid cable from the Knitty pattern, and generally ignored the pattern, especially the seed stitch,  except for admiring the photo. My socks are in Knit Picks Essential Tweed, Marine Blue. the back is 3x1 rib. My Samus is in Cascade 220 Tweed.

Look what I found where the peach blossoms were not long ago.

There were also crazed-looking possessed bunnies under the peach trees. Two rabbits came within about three feet of me. I was a little concerned to see the rabbit hopping directly toward me. (No killer rabbit thoughts, I thought it was a cat which 8 dogs would rip apart.)  I could not do anything with the eye  in two kinds of photo editing software.

River Run Done

I have finished the River Run socks that I started lo so many moons ago. I have trouble with toe-ups, but the only problems I had with these socks was the bind-off. Wendy's pattern, which Eva gave me in a swap,  was great. the yarn is Fearless Fibers in Pride, from the Seven Deadly Sins sock yarn club. Wisteria is about the only flower left.

Pattern close-up. Yes, that is a yarn end lying there.

Prizes!

DH picked three names at random, and here are the prizes and winners.
3rd prize is a set of four hanks of wool sportweight yarn. Karen S won this. It is going all the way to Denmark. From eBay listing: 4  skeins of fine quality  sock 100% wool yarn. It will felt. Total weight is 7  ounces. Colors:   white, blush, pink and burgundy. Each color is one skein. Sport weight. Yardage is 1,350  yards per pound

Second prize is Andromeda silk/merino yarn, Turquoise Dreams, from Stitches Under the Sun on Etsy. The winner is Jen C

And, drum roll please, Lisa won first prize.
Here are the fabric choices for a sock bag sewn by me (also useful for other small projects)

Kittens and yarn

Cherry blossoms

Mary Engelbreit teapots

Hello from B'ham

Tuesday's sky from my room. I now have Internet access after a new router and fiddling with laptop settings.

I went to lunch at the Birmingham Museum of Art with some colleages. Sockie enjoyed the blue pools in a little courtyard. Sockie did not share any creme brulee, however.

Thanks for all the blog comments. It is fun to see new blogs. Why'd you think I told Chris about my contest?

Happy Blogiversary to me and Happy Earth Day to Y'all!

So, today is my third anniversary with Typepad. Let's give away prizes! Leave me a comment on this post by Friday, April 25th at 12 p.m. Central, and we will select three winners at random. (DH will close his eyes and point.) First prize will be a handsewn sockie bag! From Trek's pattern.  For this, I will let the winner select fabric from a few choices. (I have been in an Asian phase lately) Second prize is a hank of handpainted turquoise and purple silk/merino yarn, enough for a scarf. Thrid prize is four hanks of sportweight yarn, ranging from cream, pink to burgundy. (Photographing these items is one of those things I have been meaning to do. One is actually photographed, but still in the camera.)
I will be in Birmingham at the Alabama Library Association's annual conference until Friday. Hope to find where Knit Nouveau has moved?  (Shows how long it has been since I went there.)

A Lot of Stuff, and a Little Knitting

Seeing Cristi's beautiful vest (go look at it.) inspired me to pull out my mystery Fair Isle project. I don't remember what it was supposed to be. I started it 10-15 years ago. (Longer than some people have been knitting.) Anyway, then I packed it away. It is mostly Reynold's Candide. I sold the rest of the yarn. Figured I would not finish it. I have a vague memory that it was going to be a scarf, maybe. Turtlegirl suggested I make a round bolster pillow. I wonder how it would felt. Could I cut it (would that be a steek, LOL?) and knit another side and make a purse, maybe?

The patterns came from this book, I remember. The authors are Mary Smith and Maggie Twatt. It says printed and published by the Shetland Times. Ltd. I got it in Washington, DC when I lived there from 1989-92. I taught myself to knit in the round on dpns when I lived there.

I also finished half the leg of my second Saxon braid sock to match Samus. This is Knitpicks Essential Tweed in Marine Blue. I have to be in the mood. I put aside another second sock for this.

The iris are blooming next to the garden. We put the tomato plants out in the garden yesterday, and have been mulching and watering and placing cages. I got squirted with the hose and got dirt all over me.

Yarn and Blue Skies

The sky was very blue and the weather was gorgeous, and there were no tornadoes yesterday. DH planted the tomatoes in the garden. We still have to finish putting newspaper around them and mulching them.

I found the dogwood tree. It is so small, it gets lost in the plum trees.

The mail brought Cotlin from Knit Picks, 70% cotton and 30% linen in color linen (beige to me.) . I plan to use it for the new topdown version of  Eyelet Cardi. I wore my turquoise bottom up one Friday. I got the pattern again from Chicknits as soon as I found out it was now topdown, as I had so much trouble with the yoke. . Must. Not. Start. Yet!

Here are this week's strays. The bulldog is very sweet. I have not been able to pet the terrier because the bulldog licks my hand when I get it low enough. Anyone want a bulldog or terrier? They both have collars, and have been around for a week.

Now This is Amazing

This must be why I even enjoyed Spamalot.

You're The Mists of Avalon!
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
You're obsessed with Camelot in all its forms, from Arthurian legend to the Kennedy administration. Your favorite movie from childhood was "The Sword in the Stone". But more than tales of wizardry and Cuban missiles, you've focused on women. You know that they truly hold all the power. You always wished you could meet Jackie Kennedy.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

What, More Sock Yarn?

It has been a while since I have been to my LYS, The Taming of the Ewe, in Jacksonville, AL. But last night they had a knitting and tea party to celebrate the end of tax season. Chocolate was also involved. Here are two reasons, although it was on sale. This is Kertzer On Your Toes. The left one is 75% bamboo and 25% nylon. The wild one is 75% wool and 25% nylon. It has aloe in the yarn, too.

This is handpainted Katherine sock yarn from Laura, at Sugar Bunny Blvd.  It is 100% superwash merino, and it is  really soft.The color is Apple Blossom. I saw it on her blog, and I had to have it. I had a hard time finding apple blossoms to pose it with for y'all.

CPH Photo Opportunity & Other Stuff

OK, so I made DH wait until the Food Network show on Julia Child was over. He was playing Civilization on the computer anyway. So, as the temperature has dropped 20-30 degrees, I felt like modeling a wool sweater. I also sewed on buttons and wove in the ends. Ta-da! Mr. Pecan Tree seemed amused. The thing above my head is a gourd birdhouse. The yarn is Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran Tweed in color 117, and is 85% merino wool, 10% silk, 5% cashmere.

DH went to the spring A-Day football game at the University of Alabama yesterday, with around 78,000 other people, and brought me back the "most expensive car tag" in the Alabama Bookstore on the Strip in Tuscaloosa. He got to go to his fraternity house and favorite bar.( I stayed home and cooked pecan-crusted salmon cause he hates fish.) The tag says Alumni at the bottom. My MLIS is from UA.

I frogged Spring Fling and started on Louisa's Harding's Tide cropped cardigan. Here is my progress draped over the yet to be planted Spanish Lavender. Less artistic shot below, with bird poop edited out. TLC Cotton plus leftovers in Periwinkle.