Another one down...

I've been making some serious progress on my Christmas Knitting this year :-) I was able to hunker down and finish the second sock to this pair of socks yesterday!



Pattern: Cinder Block Socks by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Kertzer On Your Toes with Aloe Vera

This pattern is my go to sock pattern for men's socks as it's fairly stretchy with out being k2p2 ribbing the whole time and its esthetic ally pleasing to the eye.

This knocks off another pair of socks from my Christmas Knitting List. Now I just have 2 more pairs to knit. One more pair of black Cinder Block Socks for a size 11 man and a pair of socks for my brothers new girlfriend who (thank god) has a size 7 foot!!!

Finally a small pair of feet ;-)

I've started hers about a week ago but was able to dedicate some good knitting time to them today. The photo was taken this morning and isn't an accurate representation of how far I got today!




I actually just finished the foot and need to work on the heel of the first sock. So I made some wicked progress on it today :-) I'm just knitting the plain stockinette with a slip stitch heel by WendyKnits using Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label in Garnet and Zen Yarn Garden Bamboolicious in an OOAK colorway that been in my stash for like FOREVER!! I love how well the colorways go together and both bases are super soft. I know she'll love them :-)

I've also finished the eye searing Red Hot Pink Socks.



Pattern: Slip Stitch Heel by Wendy Knits
Yarn: Dragonfly Dyewerx Smooshy Sock in Princess 2.0 & Rocky Mountain Dye Works Sundance Sock in Red Hot Pink

I was quite worried that I would run out of yarn with both colorways since I was just using scraps. So before I started knitting I weighed out each ball so I knew where I would have to reserve yarn for the second sock.

It was totally nessessary. At the end I literally had like maybe 11 inches left of yarn left. Pretty much finished by the skin of my teeth ;-)

I am so glad these socks are casted off. I am totally not a pink person and looking at these socks made me want to gauge my eye balls out ;-) It gave me that extra incentive to get them done so I don't have to look at them anymore! There is going to be long dry spell between the next pair of pink socks I knit up ;-)

Lastly! I'm going to be attending The Fibre Shindig in Calgary tomorrow. I've never been there so I'm looking forward to checking out the vendors and posting some photos to my Instagram! So if you want to see what it's all about check out my Instagram feed!! I'll also be doing a blog post sometime after as well!

Happy Knitting :-)

Now that the chaos is over...

The week before Thanksgiving was quite chaotic for me. We decided to have my family over for thanksgiving dinner so it requires a lot of preparation. We do the traditional Ukrainian dinner so I had to make Nyleshniki and Perogies. Perogies take the most preparation. I usually make 3 types of perogies but this year I decided to do just 2. The winners were cheddar bacon and sour krought and bacon. One afternoon was dedicated to making the filling. Then the following morning was dedicated to making enough perogies dough and then 6 hours of pinching. The end result was 7 big freezer bags of perogies. This was more than enough for Thanksgiving dinner. I have enough in my freezer to tide me over well after my next child is born in December :-)

Nykeshniki is relatively easier to make since it's just a crepe with cottage cheese and fill filling. It only took me a couple hours to make that.

The whole meal went off extremely well! My husband smoked a ham on our BBQ and it turned out awesome.

Now that the holiday chaos is done I can get back to relaxing and knitting :-)

Right now I'm knitting on the 2nd pair of Cinder Block Socks and I'm determined to get these casted off in the next 2-3 days!




I'm not going to get super excited or anything bc I still have 2 more pairs of socks, an infinity scarf and about 3 more toques to knit for my Christmas Knitting. I'm still confident that it will be done before this baby is born ;-)

This is the latest pair of socks I added to my Christmas Knitting list. My brother has a wonderful new girlfriend and I'm sure she would love a pair of socks for Christmas as well :-)




I'm using a couple leftover scrap balls of Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label in Garnet and Zen Yarn Garden Bamboolicious in a OOAK colorway.

This project is my night knitting since I can't even fathom knitting with black yarn at night ;-)

Happy Knitting :-)

Back to Christmas Knitting...

There's been a vicious chest cold circulating through my husbands work. I caught it about 3 weeks ago and it lasted 2 days, then my husband got it and he's been suffering from it for about 3 weeks. I thought I was in the clear but apparently I got it again about 5 days ago and it knocked the crap out of me. I was able to do very little knitting but most of my time was dedicated to trying to rest, get better and keep track of an active toddler. I've been feeling WAY better the last 48 hours though.

So here's a little catch up :-)

I was super excited to get my September Installment of the Tanis Fiber Arts Year in Color Club. It included a super soft skein of chunky alpaca merino blend yarn which is now a new base called Grey Label!! The colorway was named Margarita and even though pink is NOT my color when it's knitted up its more of a hint of pink than anything else.




It came with a cowl pattern but I had my heart set on a toque for myself ;-) So after a quick search on Ravelry I decided on Foliage.




It was a super quick and enjoyable knit. It's super soft and is heaven to wear :-) This base is going to be a hit!

I had a bit left over so I decided to play a bit of yarn chicken and start knitting a hat for my toddler. So we can have matching mommy & daughter toques. I used the Foliage pattern but I opted not to do the lace portion aside from the crown increase.




I was running short of yarn so I put out a ISO in the Tanis Fiber Arts group for any scraps from the club. So thanks to Teresa for saving my butt and sending me her scraps!! Thank you, thank you!! :-)

I know my daughter is going to love her toque when it's done bc she has been wearing mine whenever she can ;-)

Now I've picked up the eye searing Red Hot Pink Christmas Socks. I weighed out each remnant ball before I started knitting and had intentions of using up every bit. So I knit the first sock and was very happy that there ended up being enough yarn for an ankle sock. I was sweating a little when I was knitting up the heel and I the ball was getting smaller and smaller. But I was able to squeak out a sock! So now I'll have enough for a matching sock :-)




Which I'm working on now :-)

And I don't even want to mention the chaotic status of my side table which has all my WIP's on it.




There's a bunch of Christmas knitting on there, plus my "inspirational motivation reward". Which is my From Way Back Cardigan which has like 6 rows started on it, but it's meant for motivation for me to get my Christmas Knitting done!!

That pretty much gets me caught up for now ;-)

Happy Knitting :-)

Etsy Shop Update @ 9am MST

Etsy Shop Update in 1hr 30 min :-) There are 28 skeins that will be available in 4 bases!

Shipping within Canada is $13.50 for the first skein and $1 for each additional skein for Standard Parcel.

Shipping to the USA is $9 for the first skein and $1 for each additional skein for Small Packet Air.

Shipping everywhere else worldwide is $12 for the first skein and $2 for each additional skein.

If there is a dramatic difference for shipping when I print the shipping labels, I refund the difference via PayPal. Usually if it's anything over $1 for the difference :-)

Happy Shopping :-)

Mini Etsy Update : Preview :-)

It feels good to be able to finally get a preview done of the 7 colorways I currently have dyed up for my first Mini Etsy Shop Update!! I've been dyeing up a storm this week and I'm so happy to finally be able to get the photos done :-) The gods blessed me today by allowing my daughter to take a LONG nap this afternoon!!

Yes!!






















There's only 1 skein of each of the 4 bases dyed up in each colorway and they will be available September 25 @ 9am MST :-)

Here's a little info about each of the 4 bases below:

Anna's Sock is soft and has a nice twist.
80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon
100g - 400 yards
Gauge: 6-8 stitches per 1 inch
Needle Size: US 1 - 3 or 2.25 - 3.25mm

MCN Sock is super soft and fluffy. Completely heavenly!
80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon
100g - 420 yards
Gauge: 7-8 stitches per 1 inch
Needle Size: US 1½ - 3 or 2.5 - 3.25mm

BFL High Twist Sock has a nice twist and is similar to Anna's Sock only BFL :-)
80% Superwash Bluefaced Leicester, 20% Nylon
100g - 400 yards
Gauge: 6-8 stitches per 1 inch
Needle Size: US 1 - 3 or 2.25 - 3.25mm

Wild Rose Sock is a wonderful hard wearing 4 ply sock yarn :-)
75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon
100g - 450 yards
Gauge: 6-8 stitches per 1 inch
Needle Size: US 1 - 3 or 2.25 - 3.25mm

I hope everyone loves them :-)

Happy Knitting :-)

Dyeing up a storm...

I've been super busy the last few days!! I've been dyeing up yarn and reskeining (as much as my toddler will allow). Which can be a lot or very little depending on the day or if she decides she wants an afternoon nap that day ;-) So far I've dyed up 5 colorways in 4 different sock bases. I'm loving how their looking!




This was just a quick photo with my iPhone just before I put them away but they are fabulous! Over the next couple days I'll be taking more detailed photos and posting them here and my Instagram! Be sure to check it out :-) I'm hoping to have a mini Etsy Update in the next couple days :-)

Happy Knitting :-)

Christmas Knitting ...

Since I'm due just before Christmas this year I'm determined to get as many Christmas gifts knitted up as possible. This year I have decided to do socks for my family members and toques for my husbands co-workers. I've been tossing the stash looking for yarns that are compatible for toques. So far I've pulled out some handspun yarn and some Manos del Uruguay in Wool Clasica and Maxima. These skeins have been in my stash for a couple years and are a quick knit :-)

The first toque knit up fast in a day:




And the second toque just needs the crown decreased tonight :-)




Pattern: Regular Guy Beanie by Chuck Wright

I think I may have to knit another 4-8 toques after these 2. It depends if I also want to knit toques for their spouses. It'll be an ongoing project while I'm knitting socks. Mostly if I need a break from knitting socks for a day ;-)

No updates on my Christmas sock knitting. I'm working on the eye searing socks and have been procrastinating a bit just because they are just so damn bright!! But so far I'm on target for my sock knitting and I was even able to finish a pair of socks for our hunting buddy Bill. Hunting season is just around the corner and I'm sure Bill will be getting some good use out of these socks ;-)




Pattern: Cinder Block Socks by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Socrates

I love knitting with this yarn. It's one of my fav commercial sock yarns. This is the only yarn my husband loves for socks. The alpaca/ merino/ bamboo mix makes it light and lofty but still soft and super warm :-) It also blooms nicely when washed. It gets fluffy and makes a nice fabric. I hope Bill loves them :-)

Happy Knitting :-)