Mommy, where do socks go when they die?

I knit these socks out of STR Lightweight. I really like the yarn a lot, and actually, I'm wearing a pair of socks that I knit out of the heavyweight version.

I have learned quite the lesson, however. I'm pretty sure I'll be investing in some nylon thread the next time I knit a pair of socks out of yarn without any nylon. It's interesting to me to see which socks last the longest. And I'm suddenly in a sock mood. I want to knit every sock right now. Of course that's not possible.

Especially because the Ravelympics are coming! In 2006 I joined in the Yarn Harlot's kntiting olympics. I didn't medal. I came pretty close to finishing the sweater I was working on, but in fairness to me, it was my first sweater and it was knit in pieces and I had troubles with it to boot. I figured that to give myself half a chance this time, I should knit a pattern I've already knit before.

A couple of years ago I knit a Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I really liked knitting it. I liked the faux seams on the side, I liked the shaping of it and the button band as well as the cables in the yoke. I actually found it fun to knit. Tragically, this sweater which I loved for a short time, had an unfortunate incident with some warm water and felted. It's still wearable, just not by me. So to give myself a fighting chance of actually medaling this year, and to replace a fabulous sweater which I dearly miss, I'll be knitting another Tangled Yoke Cardigan as my Ravelympics project for 2010. And, because I liked it so much the first time, I'll be knitting it out of Rowan Felted Tweed again, this time in green instead of red:


I haven't quite picked up the buttons yet, but I'm pretty sure that M&J still has the buttons I used on the first one, and that they come in different colors, so that's a good bet I think.

How about you folks? Are you joining in on the Ravelympics? I haven't quite figured out which team I'm joining yet, though, I guess I should do that soon. I'm tossing up the Brooklyn Team or Team USA. Are there any friends on either? Which should I join?

Sock Pair #2 Down!

The Bellatrix Socks (Ravelry Link) are my second pair of socks for the Sock Off with Claudine (who I'd link to, but she hasn't updated since May). I really loved the lightweight STR and I think that the colors did really cool things. Also, please note that there's absolutely NO color pooling! How awesome is that!!??

So these socks were successful!
But right now I'm taking a break from socks. I'm knitting the Passionflower Tank top from Sublime #610. Instead of knitting it out of the Soya Cotton, however, I'm knitting it out of Louet Linen. I wish I could show you what it looks like, but I can't seem to find any site that has a photo of it that doesn't run retartedly slow.

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So...enough project news...there's been quite a bit of acquisitions chez PassionKNITly!

Firstly, Natalia gave me this yarn below:

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I have no idea what it's made of. It feels like wool, but there are some long fibers in there that make me think there's some alpaca or llama in it as well. Natalia said she thought it was possibly Manos, but the consistency of the spin seems a little too consistent to be Manos. At any rate, I think I'm going to turn it into a hat of some kind eventually.

I have awesome friends, who, when they saw some STR lightweight while they were on vacation in Toronto picked some up for me!


The color way is called Backstabber. I hope they weren't trying to tell me soemthing by picking up that color way, however, I do love the color. It reminds me of the Fleece Artist sock yarn I knit those Boot Socks from Favorite Socks out of (may they rest in peace).

On Friday, I went to meet Illana at Brooklyn General. She works there on Fridays and Saturdays, so go say hello to her! I've really only been to Brooklyn General once, and I haven't been since they've moved, although I've been driven by it plenty. I LOVE THIS STORE! I so wish they weren't so far away! I would go there to knit and stare at the yarn and the pretty fabrics and the massive amount of books they sell and everything else there for DAYS and DAYS and DAYS!! It's such a great place, you've really gotta go there!

While I was there, I was forced at gunpoint by Illana to buy things. So I did (you know, I really do value life!).


I started with a bit of Rowan Denim yarn because I still want to knit that ripple skirt from the Spring 2007 IK. Stan's not a huge fan of jean skirts, actually, he hates them. But I maintain that since this is a knitted jean skirt that it should be different. He said he'd give it a shot. The skirt really doesn't look like a typical jean skirt anyway, so he should probably quit his whining.

Also while at Brooklyn General, I managed to pick up a Lexie Barnes circular needle holder.


Awesome photoshopping skills eh? I wanted to show the inside and the outside. I love the fabrics, I think it's really neat. Finally I have something to store the plethora of circular knitting needles in! It's still empty, but sometime soon I'll move them all in there.

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And I just wanted to leave you with one gratuitous shot of myself. My friend Alicia took it at Natalia and Alex's wedding a couple weeks ago. I think it's a better one of me recently and makes me look really cute. Also, that massive paper pouf behind me is really awesome! :)

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!

We all need a little SEX sometimes...

Stash Enhancement eXperiences for you perverts out there.

I seem to be buying up my weight in yarn. It seems like I'm sticking to the laceweight and sock yarn as of late though.

First up is my own little tribute to Gramps. I bought it the day after he died because, well...touching something so soft was extremely soothing. And it's such a vibrant alive redish marroon I just had to have it:



As the tag says, it's from J.Knits. Lace-A-Licious is the name and i think the color is called Indiana or something along those lines. It's an alpaca laceweight and runs about 1200 yards which is pretty phenomenal. I could get another Icarus out of it, but I think I'll probably use it for one of the other myriad of shawls I currently have queued.

Next up, I met my friend Illana (that's a Ravelry link folks) for some good mediteranian food in Park Slope. I had de-stashed to her two and a half skeins of Twinkle's uber bulky yarn that I accidentally managed to get for $10 a ball (I KNOW!! Way cheap right!?). She told me to pick something from her stash I liked as an exchange. So I got this sexy looking thing:



That's STR lightweight yarn. I'm not sure of the colorway, I want to say it's flower power or something like that. I've used the STR mediumweight, but find that the socks I got out of it were a little too thick for my liking. They're really warm, they just don't fit in my sneekers. So I've wanted to test the lightweight stuff for forever, and this color way is just PRICELESS. It's actually really made me want to seriously lobby my parents come Christmas time for the STR Rockin Sock Club.

I also managed to get out of the deal this cute little number:


That's some sweet looking Malabrigio Laceweight yarn. I'm not sure what the colorway is called, but isn't it gorgeous? So, I think it was a pretty good trade. I got some smaller yarn out of it anyway. I should mention that those two photographs were Illana's, not mine. I never had anywhere near that amount of natural light when I take photos of my yarn. :(

I started organizing my yarns a bit more, in that I now have one BIG bag that I've been putting two smaller bags in. One of the smaller bags is laceweight yarn and the other is sock weight yarn. Those seem to be the two kinds of yarn I've been buying recently. They're easy to pack up with me when I go back to NY from wherever it is I've been, and I don't have to buy a ton of it at the same time.

That said, I'm just now knowing the wonders of a sweater that fits well. I LOVE wearing my TYC around. It's just the right weight. Most of my other finished sweaters I think are a little too warm actually, which surprises me because i'm usually always cold no matter what. My TYC actually keeps me warm, but not too warm.

Aditionally, I just cast on for Jeanie from Knitty. I have really only completed a row so far, so it's not even really worth showing a photo. The project looks somewhat challenging, but I'm sure that once I get into the pattern, it'll fly by.