Happy Easter to All My Peeps!

My newest sock design...

Glenda the Good Witch Sock Kit

Here is another installment in the Woolgirl Wizard of Oz Sock Kit Series and I don't know how Jen will ever top this one!

Glenda the Good Witch

So much thought and care are put into these sock kits. If you have never gotten a sock kit from Jen at www.woolgirl.com, you need to! I don't have a separate picture of it, but this kit even included a sparkly magic wand, just like Glenda's in the movie.


The pattern is called Twisted Cables The Glenda Sock and it is designed by Bethany Whitney. The sock yarn is Tosh Sock by Madelinetosh and the color is Glenda the Good Witch. I am not a huge pink person (even though my stash looks like I am) but this pink is awesome. It's really muted and dusky.

This is a picture of a pencil that was included. Look at the inscription. LOL

Jen has included a stitch marker from WeeOnes in most of her kits. This one is adorable just like the rest. Now I have a Bad Witch AND a Good Witch!

She always includes candy. I hate Black Licorice but my daughter skarfed them up with no problem!

This is some handmade soap. There was a lot of attention to detail put into this. The packaging was classy and so much a part of the overall theme of the package. I am thoroughly impressed with it!

Next is a Sugar Cookie Recipe with 2 cookie cutters; a crown and a star.

I am in love with this bag! It is completely lined and all edges and seams are invisible. When it is closed up, the bottom is a square. It's perfect for a mitten or sock project to take on the go. I just started a new mitten project and needed another bag this morning!

This is a bookmark and it says "only bad witches are ugly". (I know a few of them, trust me!) I got the Wicked Witch kit too and it had a similar book mark in it. I love to read so I can never have too many cute markers!

Finally, here is a notepad. Too cute! Jen never lets me down!! This made my day!!

That's REALLY weird

Is it possible that it is just a coincidence that both Private Practice last week and House this week but have kids that are BOTH male and female and the parents had to make a choice which one to raise them as???

How IGNORANT!

Check out this post.

I cannot understand why people feel the need to label activities as feminine or masculine. I think this woman needs to find herself a hobby. She sounds bitter. LOL

Estuary Socks

Well, one month on the couch seems to equal four Sock designs, folks. Here is my fourth design, Estuary Socks.

These socks were inspired by the place where a river runs into the ocean. This place is called an estuary. A river will just pour out and become one with the sea and I find that fascinating. My design shows rolling hills on one side of the estuary and cliffs on the other. Try your best to imagine a beautiful woman (or man) with long flowing hair flapping in the breeze standing on the highest cliff looking out over this amazing natural wonder....(corny huh?)

Boogie Wunderland

Here is my newest design. My family and I have fun trying to name them as I finish them. We wanted to name this one Creamsicle, but I explained to my kids that I could get into some hot water if I chose a name that is probably trademarked. So hubby (who is the king of fun nick names) came up with Boogie Wonderland since it is another retro design. I changed the spelling so they would not be named after the song.

The cuff is made with the Latvian Twist technique. It was surprisingly easy. My inspiration for the design was some wallpaper in a movie I watched during my recuperation this past month. I think they would look awesome with dark purple instead of the orange too. If you give it a try, send me a link to a picture when you are done.

Bella Mittens

I finished these mittens in 2 days...the benefit of knitting with Chunky Yarn! I used my first month's Malabrigo Club yarn. Not my colors but my daughter loves it so they are hers. The pattern was made to resemble mittens worn in the movie Twilight and this daughter loves those books. She hasn't seen the movie yet.

I warned her of the value of the yarn and when she can and can't wear the mittens so they don't get ruined. This was my first time knitting malabrigo (believe it or not) and it's scrumptious.

Entrelac Scarf

Here is my first attempt at Entrelac. I think it came out nicely. Fun to knit.

Ahhhhhh (that's a sigh of relief)

I have my laptop back and ALL of my files were recovered. PHEW!! They are all backed up on my new external hard drive too.

So, I am now ready to finish up some more patterns!

YIPPEEEEE!

Woolgirl Valentine Sock Kit

Another fabulous Sock kit from Woolgirl. The yarn is Tosh Sock by Madeline Tosh in the Valentine colorway. My color is dark which I LOVE! But, I see other color intensities in the card pictures. So, I'm not sure if everyone got the same color or not. There is no indication of who made the cards, but the pictures are awesome. I have a close up of them down below. The kit also included a really cool heart shaped box filled with chocolates (which is very welcome today because I am in some pain!). There is also a stitch marker made by Sunneshine on etsy. There is a picture of her business card below if you want to check out her shop.

Thanks Jen! I just love your kits!

Laptop disaster

Yesterday my laptop wouldn't boot up. I ran diagnostics on it and called Dell this morning with the error codes. Turns out I have a hard drive failure. They are shipping me a new one. BUT, I just designed 8 new sock patterns that I haven't test knit yet and they are on the old HARD DRIVE. :( waaaaaa.

I have a PC guy here in the city who has done amazing things for me in the past with an old computer. I am hoping he can get everything off of the old hard drive before I replace it. If not, I think I might be sick!

Right now, I am using my old laptop that I passed down to my kids and the space bar hardly works and it is missing the e key. (took me forever and lots of editing, just to type this)

Think good thoughts for me please! I need those socks designs. They are so awesome! (all of my patterns that I bought are on there too!)

I bought an external hard drive too. From now on, all of my designs will be saved on both hard drives and as hubby suggested, I will email it to myself and store them in my yahoo account. HINDSIGHT!

Ravelry Store now open!

If you have been waiting to buy my Shamrock Sock pattern, it is now up, and available for purchase on Ravelry.

The price is $5 until 2/17/09. At that time, the price will be raised to $6 to help defray unexpected costs. Please take advantage of the lower cost. I struggled with the decision to increase the price and decided that I needed to for the long term, but I really want everyone who has been waiting patiently for it to be available on Ravelry to get stuck with the higher price.



Thanks!!

Funny movie you have to see...

I am NOT a Martin Lawrence or Cedric the Entertainer fan, but I just watched one of the funniest movies. It's on HBO on Demand this month. It's called "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins". It has James Earl Jones in it too, which was a pleasant surprise.

I have OFFICIALLY watched every On Demand Movie possible....one week into my recuperation. Now what? LOL

Decorative Sock Cuffs

Latvian Twist Edge:
Cast on 60 stitches.
Knit 3 rows flat back and forth in garter stitch.
*k4, rotate the left hand needle under the cast-on edge and then behind and over the top of the right hand needle to where the stitches are ready to be knit again*, repeat between * to the end.

Join in the round and knit socks in your favorite way.

Picot Edge
K 6 rnds in stockinette stitch
*K2tog, yo; repeat from * to end of round.
K 6 more rounds in stockinette.

Fold facing along picot edge to inside of sock and attach as follows: Pick up the edge of the first cast on stitch and knit this together with the first stitch on the needle. Continue to end of round.

Ruffle Edge
Cast on 4 times the number of stitches that your pattern calls for.
Row 1: Knit 2 together across the row
Row 2: Purl 2 together across the row

Crochet Picot Edge:
With crochet hook size 3.5 mm/E/4, beg mid back: 1 sc, * 3 ch, 1 dc in the first ch, skip approx. 1/2", 1 sc in next st ,

repeat from * and finish with 1 sl st in first sc from beg of round.

Sock Heel Stitches

If you know of any other heel stitch patterns, please let me know what they are, so I can add them here.

Heel Stitch
Begin with wrong side facing. (This would be the inside of the sock.)
Row 1: Slip 1, then purl all remaining stitches.
Row 2: *Slip 1, k1; repeat from *.
Repeat these two rows.

Eye of the Partridge Heel
Row 1: Sl 1 purlwise, *k 1, sl 1 knitwise,* repeat from * to * end.
Row 2: Sl 1 purlwise, p to last stitch, k 1.
Row 3: Sl 1 purlwise, sl 1 knitwise, *k 1, sl 1 knitwise,* repeat from * to * last 2 sts, k to end.
Row 4: Repeat Row 2Repeat these rows till heel flap is about 2 1/2 in or desired length.

New Mitten Kit

I had a tulip mitten kit on my wish list from Riihivilla. But, after I saw the picture of this one that my friend Jenn posted a picture of on the blog for the 3rd round of the mitten, swap, I had to have it. With shipping from Finland, it was NOT cheap. I plan to knit through a lot of my Ravelry queue during my recovery and I want this to be at the top of the pile. Roses normally aren't my thing but I just love the red against the white.

ENTRELAC!

I don't know why I have been putting it off for so long, but I finally decided to tackle entrelac tonight. I just finished my 2nd triangle (out of 23 needed for my base for the scarf I am knitting). It's pretty fun. I also decided to master backwards knitting so I don't have to turn my work and purl the even rows. It really speeds up the process! The yarn I am using is sooo soft. I found it at Webs. It's called di.ve' Autunno

Need Help finding pattern

I'm looking for this Pattern Booklet and can't find it in stock anywhere. I want to make the gray/red socks in the upper right hand corner of the pic on the left. I have the yarn but need the pattern. If you know where I can get copy, please let me know. It's Kertzer SRK 403 for their "On Your Toes DK" Sock Yarn.

Thanks for your help!

No-More-Humdrum-Mittens Swap Round 4 Questionairre

How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? I taught myself just over 2 years ago using www.knittinghelp.com after my kids taught me how to do the long tail cast on and the knit stitch.

Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I'd say advanced in some areas, beginner in some and Intermediate in most.

What are your favorite colors?Any you dislike? I love Lime Green, Orange, Red, Brown and Turquoise. I also like weird combos like Red, Turquoise and Orange and Brown on a white background. I just love color! I do tend to shy away from jewel tones and pastels unless they are mixed in a trendy combination with something else.

Do you like Latvian type patterns? If so, what are your favorite patterns? Yep - I like just about all that I have seen. See my queue :) I have the yarn to knit the Vinterblomster, Bird in Hand, Fiddlehead, Ladybug and Tiffany already so please don't knit those for me! (I also already have the Sea Mineral mittens from a past round). If something is in my queue, I already have the pattern. I do have some on my wishlist located at

Do you desire mittens for yourself, your "special someone else" or your child? Me please

What is the measurement from your wrist to the tip of your longest finger? 7 1/2 - 8 inches

What is the circumference of your hand at it's widest point? 7 1/2 above my thumb

What other things do you enjoy knitting? socks, sweaters and rectangular stole/shawls

What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum) I have two sets of Denise Interchangeable, 1 set of Knit Picks interchangeable in the colored wood, a full set of bamboo 10" straights, a full set of bamboo DPN's and several 40" long sock needles in sizes 0,1,2, and 3 for magic loop. In other words, unless they are a splurge such as glass needles or ebony/mahogany, I am all set in the needle category. LOL

What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make? the Hemlock Ring Blanket

What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with? Quiviut!

What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden? Cook? I spin on a spinning wheel and have a drop spindle but have not used it yet. I love to sew and plan to make another quilt soon. I haven't quilted in over 10 years though. I love funky patterned materials, especially the Japanese ones and any you can find at repro depot. I want to make a Cathedral Quilt with a bunch of different funky material with an all white background. I have tried to garden in the past but just can't get into it and I hate to cook.

Besides yarn, do you collect anything? Not really

What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? I'm on weight watchers so I don't eat too many treats. but the weight watchers chocolates are good. (Russel Stovers makes them)

Anything you hate or are allergic to? Not allergic to anything but I hate white chocolate and although I have tried to become one several times, I am not a tea drinker. I love flavored coffees though, especially Southern Pecan or Coconut.

Do you have any kids? yes, 3 beautiful daughters

Pets? my first and last dog (whose adorable but way too much work and noise), and my first female cat who has cured me from ever wanting another female cat.

What is your favorite part of Winter? Watching it snow and getting to wear mittens!

What is your least favorite part of Winter? Driving in the snow and being cold down to the bones.

They're done!

I'm officially a knit designer! I designed a sock pattern and I am so happy with them.

Designing my own pattern has taught me a lot. It's all trial and error and a lot of ripping out and reknitting. But really, the hardest part was finding a fun name. We can thank my husband for this one. While in recovery after my surgery last night I asked him to help me come up with funny Irish words or phrases because I had wanted to name them "Luck O' the Irish" and found that name was already used for another sock pattern out in knitdom. So, we came up with "Shamrock Shenanigans" so you can wear them while you act out all of your tomfoolery. LOL

I am in the process of getting set up as a designer on Ravelry and will be offering it for sale on there once it is done. But, if you really want the pattern and don't want to wait, you can paypal me and I will email it to you. Here is the link to the pattern on Ravelry so you can put it in your queue. My email address for paypal is debberooni at comcast dot net (just make sure you put it back into the real format. I don't wan to get spam so I am not using the correct format here).

The pattern price is $5. I you wait until it is on Ravelry, you can buy it through there and store it in your library. I am fine with either way. I also have a link to it in my etsy store in the right sidebar.