Limbo

I am in limbo ....

I feel like I am gloating between projects waiting for the next thing to happen.

I have finished my partner's socks for the HSS6 but am holding off until I hear she is ready to send her box to me - which is on hold as she is helping a friend complete obligations due to a serious illness.

I have finished my 'toes' for the ODD socks round robin socks - we have the list of our fellow knitters, but have received no address for the person we are supposed to send our projects to ... each of us working just a part of the sock pair but by the end we have completed the stitching for 1 pair of socks although in reality 5 pr were made.

I have swatched for the Mr. Greenjeans sweater from knitty.com for the Kat's Sweater KAL for the "Eastwich Stitchers" on Ravelry. It begins tomorrow ... but still I'm waiting very anxiously. Looking over the pattern today I see that by the time I get to the bottom of the sweater I will be knitting over 300 sts ... I have a feeling its going to drive me batty - although working it as a group it should add some motivation and keep me on track. Hopefully I will have the proper amount of yarn (I forgot to take into consideration the yarn needed for the swatches)

ah -- and then there are the socks for Becca's graduation which for some reason I can get back to -- I have lost my place in the pattern and misplaced the second hank of yarn for it ...

HSS6 UPDATE

Yes! I'm only 2 days behind on where I planned to be with the sock -- good thing I figured in a cushion ...

I have finished the heel expansion stitches - so tht there is enough room for the heel to turn at the bottom of the sock ...

now it is onto the leg and the cuff -- with the super stretchy cast off!!!

Yipee!!

Hogwarts Sock Swap 6

Finished both heels -- although I had to veer away from the original pattern to do it ... I have issues doing w&t short-row heels on toe up - don't know what it is, it just happens ... so did basic short row where you skip doing the last st of the row and just pass the last st worked back onto the working needle after the turn ... easy peasy ... then on the gusset you knit the last live st with the first waiting st then M1L.

Interesting stuff. Made a couple of big holes but those were easy enough to pick tighter ...

so photos you might ask?

Hate to spoil the surprise for my partner but I'm kind of proud of the heels ... the colors look much better in person than they do in the photo - this makes it look more orange than in real life, and with the flash it washes it all out.


well I'm a little behind on the socks ... due to trip to MOA yesterday to get son's new glasses & half day gone missing since I had to wait for the railroad spike to remove itself from the top of my head .... much better now.


after the heel turn, I start expanding for the ankle -- while working the pattern st across the front of the foot ... it winds up beginning on row 5 instead of 8 as I thought it would because of the arch expansion ... but as it actually works out well because then when I finish with the expansions and get ready for the legs they will start on the proper row.

I'm glad instinct told me to do what the pattern did not.

At first I was concerned that the heel seemed to be too shallow ... but with the expansion rounds it should work out fine.

The big concern now is - the size ... all I can do is hope they fit since my partner's feet are much smaller than mine so I can't try them on to make sure they will go over the heel ... keeping fingers crossed.

HSS6 UPDATE

Okay - total number of rows for today? 0

yeah that's right ... big goose egg.

I did do 24 rows (that's 3 repeats) and tightened up the gaps between the instep & sole needles where I had to leave some extra slack so there would be enough stretch to go over the heel ....

so what put the breaks on today?

short row heels .... wrap & turns ... both scare me because they are not so easy to "fix" if there is a boo-boo ....

so far I haven't had to use a "life line" but I will have to this time .... I will have to do it tomorrow though ... time to put on those "big girl panties" and jump in ....

This should be easy - but its been so long since I've made socks this way ... at least 2 exchanges ...

the last one I used Cat Bordhi's book and the one before I made a form of tube socks (no heels)

I can do this ... I have to do this ... its a great pattern and I want her to have it ....

then maybe I will make a pair for myself (for the kids to steal and wear out before I get them back, if I know them)

Naughty Day

Daily Goal: 4 pattern repeats = 4(8 row pattern) = 32 rows
Total Rows Knitted Today: 2

Yup that's it ... it started with the football game ... then it was the chili ... then it was the missing Boy Scout forms ... then it was the chili (yep again) .... then it was the knee I twisted by walking on my leg while it was asleep ... then it was cornbread ... then it was hubby's back (ok, this actually started by the football game, but didn't really get time worthy until later) ....

then there was dinner ... and the kids begging me to make blueberry muffins ... and then getting the kids ready to go back to school ... then there was the 1 hr conversation I just got off the phone about Girl Scouts ....

add it all up ....

and a whole, whopping 2 rows were completed today ....

I'm so far behind ... but on the bright side -- I figure I only have 3 repeats on the foot, so that is only 24 rows ... and the kids are gone back to school tomorrow ....

so I should have all day tomorrow to knit ....

right??

Hogwarts Sock Swap 6

I'm up late -- watching "Post Man Always Rings Twice" and getting the first round of pattern stitch done for my partners socks ...

I kind of goofed the toe up ... but I like the pattern that was made :-D

There is some issues with where the pattern jumps from one needle to the next ... I have to keep the pattern loose so it offers enough stretch to get over the heel (tricky part when you don't have the foot handy to try it on) and by keeping it loose I am findng that there is some gapping.

I'm hoping that as I finish the sock I will be able to tighten up the stitches in those areas and 'hide' my little boo boo's.

Dumbledore said he saw himself in the Mirror of Erised with a pair of warm woolen socks .... I hope these socks will be worthy for even him.

Scavenger Hunt #1 - HSS6

Not sure I understood the assignment correctly, but I'm willing to give it a go:

1. Inter-twining with a smile

Spinning Competition, what is more intertwined than making yarn?

2. I love Hopscotch
"Hopscotch Rug"

3. Pretzel are best warm
Knitted Pretzel

4. X Marks the spot?

Winter Lace by Lion Brand

5. Can you hold my place in line please!

would love to add these to my wish list

And an extra just because I thought these markers were cute too:

Look - little Starbucks specialty coffees! Aint that cute? imagine meeting the knitting group with these - and no extra calories.

SOCK SWAP TIME~!!!!!

Okay -- just to give everyone a heads up (and hopefully it won't get lost in all the politic posts)

Hogwarts Sock Swap 6 is taking sign ups

We have a new HeadMistress
We have a new Deputy Mistress
We will have new Heads of House

Now all we need is YOU!!!!

Drop in at the old hss5 website (its being revamped for the new exchange) for the details ...

We are hoping to have enough time for stitching so we can get owls off in time for Valentine's Day delivery, since HBP deals so much with Love and facing feelings hidden deep within.

Please - if you have participated in the past, or know someone who has -- are you are willing to take the first plunge into a swap ... stop by the page.

Hogwarts Sock Swap 6

set so that packages arrive by the Christmas holidays, and with a Deputy Mistress in charge - they are collecting interest in doing a 6th sock exchange!!

Whoo hoo! soon names/addresses will begin to be collected in two places:

the Ravelry Group
the Hogwarts Sock Swap 5 page (soon there will be a new link to the new group page, but you can get the basic info there)

If you are a past member, I urge you to sign up once again ... this is the Half-Blood Prince round! I would love to see an overwhelmingly Slytherin presence there.

Lets not let our favorite Potion's Teacher down - okay, he wasn't that great as a DADA teacher, but in Potions he was awesome!

Show N Tell

Colored section #1
the orange is the life-line which will be pulled when the socks are done .... I could do it now, but I think I'd rather wait.

This section is done now so I feel its ok if my partner gets a sneak peak.

dye job gone awry

well not really ... I like what I got, but it was exactly what I was hoping for.

they should make some lovely socks -- it will have a wonderful one of a knd pattern to it.

I label these skeins "Close But No Cigar" color ways ... because while the skeins were colored the same way, at the same time, same dye-lots - they marled differently ... but they should make a beautiful effect once knitted up!

Okay so here's what I did .... I did a test swatch and kept careful records of ratios of colors (so I could make the batch bigger), colorant:water ratios, "cooking" times.

This particular dye lot used 11 parts blue to 2 parts purple Paas dye, to 2 cups water for 1/2 oz yarn, cooked for a total of 12 minutes. then cooled to room temp and rinsed then hung to dry.

here is how it was supposed to look:

This is what I got instead:

here is a comparison of what I got ... left to right (brightness is off):

1) the color I wanted (deep navy)
2) the rainbow batch used to see who colors would blend
3) the color I got (deep navy dyed over just blue)

as you can see -- they are all very nice (and youngest daughter has already claimed the rainbow mini skein for a sock)

as you can see - its considerably brighter than I wanted but it should still give me a good effect even if it isn't the exact one I wanted.

these were pure yellow paas overdyed onto onion skin dyed yarn ... the paas was microwaved and the onion skin was cooked in a crock pot for a whole day (I really needed more onions skins than I had to make it deeper ... but you use what you've got)

As you can see the color runs from a subtle onion to brighter yellow - it should flash wonderfully giving it a metallic look!

I've been told that it could be that the yarn has simply taken all it can of the dye and it can't take anymore ... I don't know .... I haven't heard of such a thing but I suppose its possible.

New Button

Okay I've got a new button done up for the next Sock Swap ... the HSS5.

HOGWARTS SOCK SWAP 5

SIGN UPS ARE NOW HAPPENING for past students of the swap .... if this is you then you should already have the Headmistresses email address.

New Students can begin to sign up next week.

OFFICIAL SITE:
Hogwarts Sock Swap 5: Dumbledore's Army

I hope to see a lot more Slytherin's this term ... we were a rather small group last time, but still managed to pull off winning the House Cup (yes we are still proud) ... of course there was a house that only had 2 members (had to feel a little sorry for them).

C'mon everybody -- lets sign up and have some great Quidditch games this round!!!

New Potter Name

Okay - for the first one I used my gargoyle moniker (I love it dearly) but for this round I decided it was best to get a 'Potterized' name so I used the alternative name generator.

I took my common name and gave me this:

Queen Frysia the Fierce

Oh yeah -- that's ME.

I still think it should be Freesia, like the flower, but I will go with the spelling they gave...its interesting.

I wonder who I will get.

My house remains Slytherin -- that has not changed -- not by any means.

Okay--this contriversy has been going on for so long....

But this really shows the parelles.



Remember too that Luke was told that Vader killed his parents.
Funny Videos

Hogwarts Sock Swap 2

Okay here is a link to the Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 google CACHE....this means that google had one saved in its memory.

Hopefully this will stay up for a while....all the links are clickable and usable so you will be able to get to everyone else's blog sites.

I still haven't heard what happened that they pulled them down but I loved checking in and seeing what was new.

Plus we never heard who won the house cup this year! I got a few answers for the trivia contests and the posting contests....so I'm a tad involved here---or maybe its just the Slytherin in me...lol.

I know this will be considered rude....

by a lot of people. It is definitely against exchange etiquette...but my partner has had her package for a month now and still has not posted photos of the socks I made for her, and the HSS2 site has disappeared ---so I'm just going to do it.

I liked them.
here they are...made with Lorna Lace's Shepherd sock yarn in BeeStripe with Gypsy in Raven.




here is a overall view. I used two different patterns, one top-down, one toe up. It changed the way the yarn pooled and how the heel worked up too.




Here's a detail of the heels. I really like both of them although the heels are different. I like them both for different reasons. The top-down had a nice thick back to it, however the toe-up has a thick area under the heel (which would suit my needs)

The toes turned out more pointed than I had hoped, especially on the toe-up, but that was because I forgot to increase my decreas and kept dec'ing everyother row.
The top-down I ended with a three-needle-bind-off which leaves a slight ridge on the inside, but then most socks I know have a slight ridge there. The toe-up used the figure8 cast on and I think I started with too few a loops which also helped to create the pointed toe.

I used the Gypsy to dress up the top so these socks can be used in the springtime too when the weather calls for shorts....or maybe I'm just more adventuresome than most....also it has a great tactal quality that I wanted to incorporate, it feels just like fur against the skin {no animals were hurt}. It also had the added benefit of hiding a slight difference in the height of the socks caused by switched needle sizes on the cuff.

Now I had planned it all out for one sock to be done with a size 4 and the other with a size 2...had the gauge worked out and everything and it should have worked out great...but when my daughter sat on my needle and I had to switch pairs it was just enough to set things off.

Its really too bad that I don't know how my partner feels about these socks--or maybe I do--because they are the most expensive thing I have EVER made, including my crocheted blanket/shawl that took over 10 skeins of yarn (its what taught me about yarn weights).

At $11 per sock (yep, $22 for the pair) I had really hoped to have seen some sort of acknowledgement on her blog if not the group. It hurts but you know what?

I'll live. I'll still make and give gifts. And I will never spend that much EVER again for a stranger. NEVER.

AWWWKKKKK

Okay so Saturday I checked on line to see if my partner had posted photos to the HSS2 group page but she hadn't...in fact no one had posted for a couple of weeks...no biggie, it happens sometimes that way in groups.

But then yesterday (Sunday) when I tried to check the group--there was nothing! It was like the group had never existed. Even the original HSS1 blog was gone.

I have no idea what happened. It was like someone cast a disapperation spell, or shouted "Cunfunctus". I tried doing a blog search on blogger and it still came up with nothing at all.

Somehow, for some reason, the blogs must have gotten deleted.

I've sent out a couple of emails to the deputy headmistress and one of my house's prefects to see if they know what happened...especially when I went into the blogger discussion group and found that some groups on other blogsites (not blogger that I could tell) had been deleted for having broken links on their pages without warning.

So of course, the first thing I did was take the link to the group blog down (well disabled it until I find out what's happening).
I was wondering if it had something to do with the recent lawsuit against the Harry Potter Lexicon online who was planning on publishing their site in book form. While I couldn't see the point of this it would be cheaper to buy the book than it would be to print up everything yourself from the webpage.

I'm wondering if that single act was enough to make websites run in fear of being sued so perhaps the site was eliminated to avoid c/w issues.

Don't know--I'll post an update if I find out anything.

Well this is going to change the direction of this blog. Now what will I write about? I guess it will become all about Newscommentary.

{sigh}

If that owl got lost I'm gonna cook it

Still no word from my HSS partner as to whether she has gotten her socks. To me this means that either (a)she's out of town (b)they didn't show up (c)something has happened to her or (d) she really hates them and doesn't know how to tell me.

I'm hoping its (a) and not (c), hopefully not (b) or (d). If they are lost and I don't know about it I'm afraid it will be too late to get a tracer on the package now...they were delivered over 2 weeks ago. If she hates them....well I can live with that.

I know that I'm not the best sock maker...and I had a lot of problems with them...and I ended them unconventionally.

I just want to know that they arrived safely.

I guess I have to go back to my cushion of needles to sit on.

My Socks Have Arrived

Well, I guess I should say my partner's socks have arrived at her place...oh the beauty of racking numbers....I don't have my computer hooked up to my pictureHD right now, but when I do I will take out this sentence and put in a photo of the socks (but here is a sneak peek showing how the yarn worked up).

I hope she likes them.....despite the problems, I really had fun making the package up....I just wish I could have added more for her.