Mother's Day

Yes I'm late, but when am I not??
I had a really good mother's day. The kids behaved all weekend, and I got yarn, and a mini trampoline, both of which I really wanted.
I've been knitting this week for a first time mom to be. I made the baby yoda jacket and a few pairs of baby socks. I think she'll like them. I also got her a really great black and white photo book of babies. Really pretty. My kids liked to look at babies pictures a lot when they were little, and they have always loved hearing their birth stories.
It was one of the best Mother's Days I've ever had.

warm woolies...

I have found a knitting charity that I really like alot.
Warm Woolies.. or http://www.warmwoolies.org/
They send warm knitted and crocheted things to kids who really need them. They will even send you the yarn to make the stuff. I sent them a small baby blanket and they sent me a wonderful box of alpaca yarn and requested socks. This stuff is SOOO smooshy. I'm in love with this fiber.
I really do like the idea that I'm helping out some kids who really do have an actual need for this stuff I'm making. ANd I get to knit up some really beautiful, lucious feeling yarn in the process. What's better than that.

sock yarn leftovers.....

If there is anyone that knows me that I haven't already hit up for this one....I am looking for sock leftovers you don't mind parting with. Color doesn't really matter too much. I have some projects I'm wanting to do, little christmas-y and baby things, and a couple of other things, and I need little bits of sock yarn, even as small as 10-20 yards.
I'm also looking for bits of other kinds of yarn as well. I'm wanting to try a scrumbling project, and the more different colors and kinds of yarn you have for those, the better they look. So if you have the yarn bits, and the urge to mail some of them to me.... let me know.
I'm Nisha on Ravelry, and I have a post office box address I don't mind sharing with people I don't know. LOL
So drop me an email, or a PM on ravelry, and I'll be glad to take and use up those bits and bobs we all have but won't use, but hate to throw away....
Nisha

Sock camp....

Until a few weeks ago, I never knew there was a sock camp. Well, now I do. And I've officially added it to the list of things I'll do if I ever have a bunch of money laying around that I don't need.
Two of my local friends went, and one of the things they have been working on is their toilet paper covers for the camp "homework". Well, one of them made the yarn harlot's blog. Her entry was Edgar Allan Poo and Annabelle Pee at the house of Flusher. If you look on the Harlots blog there is a photo. Annabelle Pee has died from smelling the Tell Tale Fart. This whole thing even made my husband laugh literally out loud. He enjoys a good pun, and this is a few of them all strung together.
But I can't wait to hear the stories from sock camp. With Cookie A, the Harlot, and Cat Bordhi there this year, I really can't wait to hear about the new stuff my yarn buds have learned, the stories they have to tell, and see the stuff they brought home. I know they have to be having a (yarn) ball of fun.

Stuff

I haven't been posting on the blog much. Life has kind of gotten in the way of that. We had whatever plague that has been going around. The one that has a cough that lingers for weeks, and sounds like you are about to fall over dead because you can't possibly be breathing? Yeah, that one.
I've finished 2 pairs of socks so far this year. I've knitted and frogged several more, but I've acutally finished two pairs. One I gave to a friend for her daughter, since I made them too short for Siara. (my daughter)And I think I may have a pair done by this weekend as well.
I got some yarn from Jimmie Beans, part of their Lorna's Laces odd balls, and whether my mistake or theirs, 4 skiens of it was sport/dk weight instead of the sock yarn I thought I was getting. So, I'm looking at things to make with that, since I don't want to have to deal with shipping it back. I think one set will be a poncho or sweater for Siara, and the other will probalby end up as a scarf for *ME*. There is one I've been looking at for a while, and it's not to big to lug around here in the AZ heat.
I'm starting to work with circs when I do the socks. I'm still going kind of slowly with it, but it's really nice to have the tofutsies NOT fall off the needles. LOL
Oh and totally off topic, we got a dog. It's a trial thing, and she's been on kind of a Ben Franklin schedule, early to bed, TOO early to rise. So we are working on that. She's a 6 month old belgian shepard and hound mix. Nothing beautiful to look at, but a good dog for the most part. She is on the timid side, and evidently really wants me to know that *SHE* knows that I'm the Alpha B*tch because she does a bit of submissive peeing everytime I tell her to do anything. We have only had her for 2 days, and I haven't raised my voice to her at all, except to tell her to hush when she was barking, and even then, I really, honestly, wasn't loud. Hopefully she'll figure out that I'm not going to hurt her soon. I'm just getting real tired of cleaning up dog pee.

Sad News

There was a site called Socktopia that became a group on ravelry, and a seperate blog/website. The lady that did that site put out an incredible number of wonderful sock patterns. Her first name was Gigi, but most of us who used her patterns new her from her online tag, Momma Monkey. She passed away yesterday. I did not know this, but last night when I was looking for a pattern to start for myself, I picked up my standby favorite, her Fawkes sock pattern, inspired by the phoenix in Harry Potter.
I think I have to finish those socks fairly quickly now.
I knew she was sick, and that she had taken her patterns down, and was moving them to a different site, but had no clue just how sick she was. I only knew her from a couple of emailed questions and her patterns, but the amount of work she did, and what she shared for free, spoke volumes to me about how generous she must have been in real life.
For those who are looking for some of her patterns, they are listed here.
http://www.monkey-toes.net/patterns/
I'm really sad to hear of her death, and her family is certainly in my thoughts and prayers.

photos....

Not really sure how to do this, but I'm going to try...

Monkeys....

I've been doing No Purl Monkey socks for my hubs. I had started out making them for me, but Tofutsies is a really STINKIN slippery yarn, and it fell off my metal needles 4 FREAKIN times, and I had to frog them completely and start over. So the last time, I started them again, with a different yarn, but didn't do a gauge swatch, didn't even mess with them, I was so flustered until I was about done with them. LOL I was making them for me, I thought, (Size 8.5 -9 women's sizes) and the first one fit my hubs, who wears a size 13 MENS shoe. LOL OOOOPS. Guess those gauge swatches really are important.
The reason I'm doing the monkeys is I'm part of a Ravelry group that does a knit along every month, that this month is was doing a pattern from Cookie A. (she has a lot of stuff on Knitty that is available for free. She does really interesting sock patterns.)
But I'm almost done with the second sock for Marty. I'm going to start another pair for me really soon. After I do this, I'm going to brave on and start doing cables. I'm going to make a dishcloth first, just to get the technique down, make sure I really do get it. I don't know why I seem so afraid of them, if I screw it up, they can always be frogged. LOL

new blog...

Okay, I have another blog for my real life "stuff", but this one is going to be for the knitting. I've been knitting for just over a year, and I've become rather obsessed with it. Especially socks.
Things are rather unorganized right now, so when I find my camera, I'll post some pics of the stuff I've done lately.