Triumph!

TAKE THAT! I pwned the Over the Knee Stockings! I actually read the pattern correctly this time, I adjusted for my row gauge being off by a bit, and figured out how many additions needed to be made. I had to do about four more pattern repeats than were in the pattern. I added quite a few more stitches as well so they'd be a bit wider at the top to fit my massive thighs. The top right twist rib I did holding the Louet Gems yarn together with some white elastic so that these suckers will stay up.

I'm really quite proud of these babies and think they're going to be awesome and warm as well as rather sexy this winter.

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Next up on my Sock-Off docket are the Bellatrix socks. I got the pattern off Ravelry for free...which is cool. I'll be knitting them out of Socks That Rock lightweight in the Flower Power color-way I acquired in a trade with Illana for a few skeins of Twinkle Chunky that I had.

I'm about one pattern repeat into the sock, and they're not only quick, but I think they're going to look awesome with this yarn!

After Memorial Day, it's time for more socks!

Claudine and I decided to do a Sock off. I have a rather competitive streak as some as you may know. And once when Claudine and I were comparing sock yarn stashes, my competitive streak decided to show itself and the First Annual Sock Off was born.

The Sock Off will run from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The idea is to knit the most socks between the two of us in that amount of time. Socks will be awarded points on the following critera, and they'll be weighed afterwards (Claudine says her feet are bigger than mine, so this is an attempt at making it even)

• 1 point for a heel flap


• 1 point for a short row heel


• 1 point for a cable pattern


• 1 point for a lace pattern


• 1 point for a patterned heel


• 1 point for short row toes

Other points will be added as needed. Can you think of any that are missing?
The winner will get bragging rights and a sock yarn of her choosing from the loser. I think there should be a certificate involved as well...but we'll see to that later. :)

Really, it's anyone's game. I actually don't have a ton of traveling going on in June. July, with San Diego Comic Con might help give me a boost, but it's possible that I'll just be so exhausted from working the show that I'll come back to just pass out in my hotel room sans knitting.

So, I think the first pair of socks that I'm going to work on for the Sock Off will be the Over the Knee Stockings from Handknit Holidays (Ravelry Pattern Link). I've got new yarn (Louet Gems in a nice cream color), and a new understanding of the pattern (from having done it a couple times before and failing). I understand that I have to make the sock a few stitches wider to cover my thigh and that it also needs to be about four pattern repeats longer than the pattern specifies. Now that I'm writing that, I hope I have enough yarn. The strategy is that even if I dont' complete the pair by the end of the summer, I'll have knit so much on these socks that when weighed they'll out-match my competitor. mwa ha ha!

Randomness

I've had a rather random week...so you end up with a random pictureless post.

• Knitted Rings: Someone gave me the Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar for Christmas. It was a very nice gift, I just wish that the calendar didn't use two days per pattern. It kind of kills it for me. A lot of the big patterns are things that are kind of too suburban for me and just not my style, but I have found some decent patterns so far. I dogear them and then I'll take them out and throw the rest away after the year's over. Well, this week (or maybe last week, since I was away from my office for a couple days I didn't keep up with it as well as I normally do) I saw a pattern for knitted rings. Like, for your fingers. Very novel. there were buttons on them. This seems like an AWESOME stash busting idea. So, you get a Tangled Yoke Cardigan done and you have an extra button? Voila, matching ring!


• The Joy of Knitting Tattoos: I was at a luncheon today with a bunch of people in the publishing industry that I didn't know. I was sitting next to a delightful woman from the New York Times (I have no idea what division, more than likely the advertising one since it was a publishing advertising luncheon) who upon noticing my tattoo asked if I knit. I said I do, and she and another person from another company and I started talking about knitting, Ravelry, Flickr all of it. It was awesome and a great way to break the ice!


• I finally got some moo cards of my own!


• I'm knitting a really adorable frog for a friend's birthday. She found the pattern on etsy. If you're on ravelry, I just added it to my projects, you can click on it through there to find the pattern. It's my first time using Manos del Uruguay. I love the acid green color and I really like the way it's knitting up. It's kinda inspiring me to knit a pair of mittens out of it.


• I finished one of the Cat Bordhi Sky Master Noro Socks. I kinda feel like it's a little too small, but hopefully that won't be a big deal. Also, I ended in the same color I began, so maybe this pair will match! I'll get a photo of the first one soon.


• Also, I almost forgot! Smitten w/Knittin snagged me my sock yarn that I ordered from Annie's! They sold my first order which is pretty upsetting, but at least they more often than not have what I'm looking for when I go there, which is more than I can say for some other knitting stores... Sorry to be snarky, I'm just quite upset about a few things my old favorite LYS has been doing/done recently. That sock yarn will be used for the Over the Knee Stockings take two.


• Also, also, Smittin w/Knittin and I are thinking of knitting exclusively socks and seeing who can knit the most socks between the beginning of July and the end of August. It might be a bit unfair given that I have a lot of travelling planned for those months which is prime knitting time (not to mention Burning Man 08 which is just like a massive time to knit like no other provided I pick up some bamboo cotton yarn). Just curious. If you were going to do something like this, would you set any ground rules, and if so, what would they be?

Well, that's just about all we've got here chez PassionKNITly.

Post X-mas haze

Yup. Haze. I have NO WIPs.

Read that again, just to make sure. No WIPs.

I finished Christmas knitting - in time for Christmas even! Check out these awesome mittens I made for my roommate


She had the scarf. The project was to match the mittens to the scarf. I think I did a pretty good job. The mittens are a little brighter than the scarf, but I think that normal wear and tear in the city will dull the colors so that they're both the same dirty color. So I finished those while I was in Rhode Island for Christmas.

I also finished the monkey socks...sorta


My monkies were the last FO of 2007. Which is actually pretty hot. I think i botched the kitchenering on the toe of one of them though, so I have to go over that with some extra yarn and close up the hole. I really LOVED this yarn, the Great Adirondack's Silky Sock.

I'm currently seaming together a ginormous afghan for a friend. Her friend had crocheted her this blanket years ago but it's coming apart at the seams. I told her that for Christmas I'd seam it together for her. It's proving to be a rather large task.

But I should still have a pair of socks in the works right? Well, I thought I'd pick up the Over the Knee Stockings from 2006. I untangled the yarn and looked at them. Sternly. I will not be beaten by a mere pair of socks, no matter how tall they may be. After looking at them sternly, I realized that I need to add about three more repeats to the length of the stocking to get roughly the same ratio of over the knee ness. This means that I suddenly might not have enough yarn. While I like the yarn I chose for these, there's no way in hell they'd stay up. I'm thinking of changing to a koigu, Louet Gems or something different. So I think I'm heading up to Annie's on Saturday afternoon...just so you know. Come hang, give some moral support, and knit with me.

Feels good to kick those damn things out of the zzzz pile.

Also, I found this hot site on the web that's trying to be a Suicide Girls for knitters. Cool thing is that they've got some tat shots up there, and my tattoo is the icon for the links to knitting tattoos!! :D After looking at the site a bit, it really makes me want to be a Knit Girl! Go check it out: http://www.badknitgirls.com.

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2007 in Stitches

Here's what I managed to complete in 2007!

• A Stripey Mohair Scarf knit out of Bee Sweet


• Mountain colors Jaywalkers


• Reflection Aran Pullover for my brother


• Uptown Boot Socks thanks to Jury duty


• Wedgewood Blouse too bad it didn't fit


• Rhode Island Red Socks STR yarn from Some Bunny's Love


• Coachella


• Clapotis next time I want to do this, remind me not to


• Icarus


• Jack Sparrow's Favorite Socks


• Berkshire Pullover from Weekend Knits


• Twinkle's Skating Sweater


• 4 Basketweave Plaemats for Bess and Jeff


• Sparkle Hat 2.0


• Ann's Midnight Dot Mittens


• Colorful Monkey Socks

Not to shabby. 17 projects overall. I think that's more than last year! It was a good yarn year.