Three Sachets

Three Sachets

I belong to the neatest group of knitters. It's called Yarn for Breakfast or YfB. They are listed on the Meetup.com site. I think I have belonged a few months shy of a year. The wonderful thing about the group is they have meet ups all over the Hampton Roads area. We all belong to the group but some of us will never meet. Each of us elects which group email meet up places we wish to be notified about. I only belong to two groups. There is the YfB group that meets one Saturday a month in Portsmouth and there is another group under that same umbrella called Yarn for Supper. Those groups meet in the evenings some place. I belong to a group that meets at a Panera one Tuesday a month. I get to see some of the same people at each group every month and then there are members who float in and out according to their husband's ship schedule, having babies, work, vacations, and just life in general. If you have a chance to join a group like this you will meet so many different knitters and crocheters! Now they are trying to do spinning group once a month. Maybe once my job is done I can go to a meeting or two.

Once in a while the group will either spend money or get donations to give to the group. When cash is short donations work perfectly. My friend Ro and I decided that we could donate something for the group. I was lucky that I was befriended by a lovely lady at a lavender farm in NC. One year at a local festival, the woman gave me a huge box of scrap lavender. I have saved it for at least two years now I finally have a use for it. We decided to make sachets to give to the members of our YfB. So we bought some lavender (some very purplely) yarns and have been knitting them in our spare time.

The sachets come from the Vogue Knitting Quick Gifts that I got the horse pattern from. I bought the one for one pattern and one only then found the sachets and decided that the money I spent on the book paid off more than once. Good investment in quickie gifts!

Here are the three sachets. I sewed up some tulle that I found in the bargain bin at Hancocks and cut it to size. I hand sewed them because it would have taken longer to drag out the machine and set up and then have to put it away. Besides no one will see how crappy I sew because the bags are sown up too. I got two sets of sachets out of each half skein. Ro has the other skeins and is making sets of her own. There is only one last thing that we need to do; get a ribbon to tie the sachets in a stack together. Then it 's off to YfBf for nifty gifties at our next meeting.

This bag's stitch is called Andalusian stitch. Everyone of the stitches is extremely easy. This is a great project for a beginner. The nice thing is you can even make an afghan out of each of these three blocks. Great gift idea!
This one is the Seed Stitch or Moss stitch. Way easy and very quick. If you hate purling, this wouldn't be one you would want to do any larger than this.
...and the last one is the Basketweave Stitch. It's easy but it's also easy to forget how many rows you have done. I got carried away on some rows, but they all are done and that's that. Here's the whole gang!

The End

Tag You're It...Again
I was sitting here minding my own early morning business having my tea and wham I got hit with a meme. I don't usually join in them but this one was short and sweet. So, since Sharon tagged me guess I had better do this!

(This portion that explains the Meme is directly cut and pasted from Sharon's blog)
I am supposed to list six unimportant things that make me happy and then tag six other people. They must mean little, not unimportant things. If they make me happy, then they're important - well, to me they are.

These will prove how boring I truly am. Okay here goes...
1. I enjoy going into our backyard in my pjs with a piping hot cup of tea in the early morning hours to check out our fledgling garden. We are strictly beginners and we really love eating what few things we actually get from it. It would be way cheaper to drive 1/2 mile to the grocery store and buy what we need. but there is something very basic about having a garden. It's as close to farming as we are going to ever get.

2. There is a stretch of trees that I drive by in the fall just so I can see them turn yellow . I stop driving that way when they finally drop their leaves. I am a fall fickle friend.

3. WARNING!!!! People who don't like pets or their kisses need to skip this one. Getting kisses on the face from our newest dog, Lucy. She is a neat kisser and loves it when you squeeze her face to kiss her back.

4. I get this really strange satisfaction when I hang up the last item from the dryer every single week when I do the laundry. It's done! I get the same satisfaction when I fill up my mini van with gas once a week.

5. This one will seem strange in this economy. I got such a happy feeling when I dropped my 5 week notice at work. It was such a load lifted off me. Like I had my ankle chains cut loose. I can garden more, read a book, and go for walks when everyone else is at work and breathe again.

6. I get such happiness when I spend time with my friend Romelda. We have reconnected after a long period of not being together. We meet every Friday and we knit together for three hours and I always laugh. I feel so good when I leave. When we don't meet I feel lost and I didn't get my belly laugh for the week.

I have no idea who to tag for this, but here are a few...

1. Tina at A Blip on the Radar
2. Luni at 3 Sleeves to the Wind
3. Romelda at Pell-Melling
4. Cheryl at Dreaming of Germany
5. Shannon at The Wiltin Rose
6. Amanda at Mistress Stash Enhancer

The Road Less Traveled
A Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

It's been eons since I have crocheted anything. The only reason I have done these is because one of my young co-workers is getting married next month. I volunteered to make her two garters for her wedding; one to keep and one to shoot to a crowd of young men. I found the pattern on Ravelry and it was pretty easy. I didn't count like the maker did and I managed to make it work for me.

I made two different garters and took them to work for her approval. She chose this one and I have since made two of then. I asked her to choose her own ribbon that will be in each garter. I have never sew anything like these before so we shall see how they turn out.

4/21/09-I have pretty much finished the base the both the garters and the co-worker has chosen her ribbon. Here are the finished products.

Here is a close-up of the garter with the ribbon that matches the wedding colors. Since green is my favorite color, I was thrilled how it looks and that there is a note able contrast with the white.

Here is a less larger view of the garter. After threading the ribbon through it I decided that I need to cover up where the ribbon and the elastic will come together, so I crocheted these. These were also found via Ravelry...

I love how these turned out. They are so cute and such a quick crochet. I did start one and rip it out because I realized when I was about 3/4 finished, that I didn't follow the directions and the flower was not going to lay down properly yet have dimension at the same time. So I scraped the first one and ended up with these two. Each one will cover up the ending point for the ribbon and elastic.

...and here are the finished products...




Here's to Kelly and Andy on their very happy day. I hope that you have years and years of a very happy marriage. Happy Wedding Day, Saturday, May 16th.

Giddy-Up

I haven't been slacking, I swear! I have been working on a Christmas present that has taken me outside of my comfort zone. I don't have small children anymore. When I did, I crocheted afghans and a scarf or two. I never got into the stuffed animal thing but bless her heart, my MIL did and both
my sons got the cutest dragons when they were toddlers. It's been years and years since there have been any little kids in our family so when my brother had a son, I thought I would use my knitting skills to make sweaters and little kids gifts.

I was sitting across the table from a fellow knitter and noticed her book one Saturday at a Yarn for Breakfast Meet Up. I asked if I could thumb through it and fell in love with one/two of the patterns in the book. I nearly broke my neck trying to find the book. I went to two shops and no they did not have the book. So I got on the internet and found the book. I found it here. I was really happy to have found the book. It came very quickly and then I beat feet over to Knit Wits to purchase my yarns to make the two projects. Some of the yarn from one project could be used for the second one. So the cost was not horrible. The results were just too cute.


Does this give you any idea what it is? Maybe you need another angle...

Getting warmer?

Yeehaw! I could not resist making my nephew Zachary this Pillow Pal Horse. He will be getting this along with the Zebra Pillow Pal for Christmas this year. I thought since he is three and loves the wooden horsey that his great-grandfather made, he would love the horse and zebra pillows.

I have one more knitted gift that I will be making for him but that will be later and when I get into it I will blog about it. I thought I should knit these fun things for him while he is small and thinks they are cute. I had a good time making the horse and learned that I am not that great at finishing seams. So while Zachary does not care, I did learn two different ways to close a seam. One is much nicer than the other. What I mostly learned is that I need to take more time when finishing and that practice makes perfect.

The Zebra is made the same way as the horse. I have the yarn already so I should be able to start on it here shortly while I am still enthusiastic about it. Such a cute idea that is super easy to make!

Darn It!!

by Vickie

I have been knitting socks for about 3-5 years. Twice now I have had this happen...These socks were blogged about here. They haven't made it two years yet which is disappointing to me, but I decided that repairing them would be cheaper and teach me something. I have never darned a sock before. Since I didn't have anyone to ask when I was ready to fix the hole, I went here to check out a video to learn how to do this.

I got a nice man who is part of a working club to make me this to use for my first effort at sock darning. I was trying to describe to him what I could remember from the internet as a darning egg with some sort of a handle. This is what he produced. I was very happy with it. It worked well for my first effort.
Then I started to darn my sock. I should have watched the video before darning because in the video it said to turn the sock inside out and I remembered that after I was more than half way finished. I just kept going and figured that I could chalk it up to yet another learning experience.

I thought a Chibi would do well for darning. After making several passes and not being able to "dig" the needle into the wood to catch the yarn, I changed to a more appropriate needle.
This is the view inside out. It doesn't look very pretty but it is fixed.
I am hoping that the next sock where I wear a hole in the ball of the foot, I can do a much nicer looking job with my repair. It's always good to learn something new and then to hone that skill. I have to say, I really never wanted to learn how to darn a sock but after paying at least $16 for a ball of sock yarn, it's cheaper to repair it than it is to throw them away and start all over. I am hoping to learn how to reinforce the balls of my socks so that I don't have to do this very often. Has anyone got some better ideas how to prevent the holes in the ball of a sock? Please share!

Spring Has Sprung!

Besides fall, spring is my favorite season. I love how things that used to be brown are turning green again. Life is beginning all over again. I am ready to get outside again and feel the fresh air and sun on my face. I love to open my windows and watch the lacy curtains twist and fold as the wind flows through. Sometimes I sneak off and close the bedroom door, open the windows and lay down on the bed lulled to sleep by the sound of a neighbor mowing their lawn. So my ode to spring this year has the perfect name and the perfect color.

I decided that a project that has been languishing on the needles for nearly a year needed to either move forward of disappear all together. I haven't frogged too many projects but it was time to say goodbye to these...and hello to these...
I found the pattern for these Spring Forward Socks on Ravelry. The pattern is free so I downloaded it months back and 10 days ago after my daffodils were pretty much done blooming I decided I needed more yellow in my daily life. Even though my favorite color is green, I have been more and more attracted to yellow over that last year. I am painting my bedroom walls yellow and have even gotten a bed set in yellow. Yellow and green represent spring to me and during the winter months when we don't see as much sun, those two colors help to hang on to what's around the corner.

These socks were knit on Tess' Designer Yarn Super Socks & Baby. I used the yarn from the pair above that I frogged. I love this shade of yellow and decided that since I was going to knit one pair of lace socks with this yarn, another pair was in order to replace the ones I just couldn't finish.

I started with #1 dpns and then decided after knitting the cuff and about 8 rows the sock was going to be too small. I really didn't want to start all over again so in mid-stream, I changed to size #2 dpns and finished both socks with those needles. One sock is a little more snug in the cuff but I am okay with that and I learned a lesson. I don't know if this holds true for anyone else but if I knit a lace pattern that has 60 some odd stitches I need to go up a needle size from #1s to #2s. If I knit socks that have 72 stitches or more I can to stick with 1s and still have them fit my Flinestone feet. I don't usually use any yarn for my socks except for sock yarn. I like how small and uniform the stitches are with #1s. I have only recently started using #2s and found then to be close to the results of 1s. I am not fond of big bulky looking socks.

I would knit these socks over and over because they are easy and look way more complicated than what they are.
Aren't they cute? They are super easy to knit and you get a great looking pair of lace socks. If you want to see another great pair check these out. They are even more wonderful than mine!

New Toy Alert!!

I am talking everyone who likes to collect things, acquire new toys and just keep up with the "knitting Joneses" that the newest toy is here!!! And I have one....whoohoo!

I had forgotten that I put my name on the list at KnitWits for this baby...it's all the rage. I will show you why.

First it is a little big larger than a packet of birth control pills (which I haven't taken in more than a long time but remember the size), but it's more of an oval shape. It's flat and a beige color with pink buttons that operate some cool features. I think this is many a knitter and crocheter's answer to airline travel hassles. Carry this and there won't be any.

So now for the features...first there is a retractable tape measure. The pink button you see there on the top is the one that retracts the tape measure. Just out of curiosity, I pulled out the tape measure and it will measure up to 60 inches. Good?

Next... there is a little cutter that is way smaller than the Clover disc cutter. I doubt that the TSA will object to that. It's so small, you can't even cut your own fingernail with it. Good #2.
...and it has a tiny plastic crochet hook. It would be tough if you are knitting lace but in a pinch I think that you can make it work. One sized hook almost fits all. It's better than losing your hooks to the TSA as lethal weapons of mass crocheting.... Good #3
It's hard to see how large the crochet hook is so I held it up for you to see. It's really not very large. I measured it and the whole thing from top to bottom is 3 1/2 inches and fits snugly on the side.
Wait there is more! This is on the back side of the container. There is a little lid sort of what the lids look like for batteries, but when you open it, you get to see these. Cleaver huh??
That little compartment contains a pair of mini scissors, that the TSA might let you have since the blade is less than 4 inches. If I had any doubt, I would leave these at home and just use the little thread cutter on the front. You wouldn't want to break up the set. Plus you get two needle protectors and three sizes of rubber stitch markers. (UPDATE: I did see on the Knit Kit site that the scissors are approved by the TSA.)
Sorry it's a bit blurry, but you get the general idea. Good #4. Just when you think there can't be anymore, well there is of course! Then you have this...there is a row counter. It can also lock. Good #5.
Well that's about it and I got it all for $20. Such a deal! If you live in the Virginia Beach area you can pick one up at KnitWits where I got mine. Totally cool!

Not My Usual Obsession

I do love making socks. I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I finish weaving in the very last loose end. I almost could never wear them and still continue to make them. I could make them for strangers and still feel so good about them, but the strangers have to wear a size 7 1/2 shoe. So I am feeling pretty good about myself today! I finished another pair of socks.

Having a new puppy in the house may have slowed me down but I managed to get them done. I am still plugging away toward my goal of one pair of sock a month. So far I have managed to make three pairs. Pretty much all the socks I make now are going to have to be stored away because spring is here and things are warming up.

Speaking of warming up, I tried to steer myself away from my usual obsession of green socks with this latest pair. I have some violet and pink sweaters and thought that I might need some socks that would go with some of my winter sweaters.

The yarn is Opal and the colorway is Mississippi. Personally I thought the colorway should have been called Easter. The colors remind of Easter. They are springy and fresh. Hopefully when I wear them next winter they will help me hang on until spring comes again!

I did reinforce the heels with some grayish thread. It dulled the nice springy colors a bit but will give me some more spring in the heel and hopefully more wear.
I have found that reinforcing is great but I tend to wear out the socks on the ball of my foot. I am still trying to figure out how to reinforce the ball of foot so that my socks will last longer. I posed that question on a sock board and someone said, just make more socks. Sounds like a splendid idea to me!

I used different ideas from different patterns that I have knit over the last few years. The ribbing is just a 2X2 kp. The body is a 5X1 ribbing. The heel is taken from Cookie A's Monkey socks. I liked how simple it was and it works with an even number of stitches. The rest of the sock is just stockinette. I wanted a simple sock to knit because I knew that I had two other projects to work on and couldn't give my sock the time it needed for a more complicated pattern.

So another month done and another pair of sock to add to the pile. Whoohoo!

New Kid in Town

I have been absent from blogging for a bit because we have a new baby. By baby I mean a new puppy. After a near break in of our house we decided it was time to get a home security system. DH looked at the boxed hardware stores and the internet to find something we could afford and something we could live with. We got a dog instead.


We have been talking for months about getting another dog since our herd is aging. We wanted a larger dog and did consider getting a friend's dog who was relocating to another state. They ended taking the dog with them and it worked out just as well. It gave us time to research breeds and to take our time.


Having a new baby in the house who has a curiosity about everything and sharp little teeth to explore that curiosity is exhausting at best. I have had to put my shoes away, pick up everything that isn't supposed to be on the floor, close doors and secure my knitting.

Here is our new baby. She won't be a baby for long ...they just grow up so fast!



Here is our Lucy. She is a Boxer and is 10 weeks old. We are in the process of getting her used to the rest of the herd and to us. She is potty training pretty well and running us ragged. We just love it. So my knitting time has been cut done to next to nothing. I am playing doggie door man, nursemaid and personal trainer. Lucy has her own blog which I am building in between naps and potty breaks. So please hang in there with me and I will getting back to blogging here shortly.

Spreading the Green or Plastic...

The weekend of Valentines Day DH and I took a trip to Raleigh, NC for some time away. I have made it my personal mission to help turn the economy around so of course I started with yarn shops. I had to get references from the natives and I got two names; Shuttles, Needles and Hooks and Great Yarn.

When we arrived at Shuttles, Needles and Hooks, I thought we were in the wrong place. It's in a wood frame house disguised as a yarn store.
I would love to link you to the store website but all I get is the city directory listing. Not a good business move in my opinion but the shop has a following that connects on Ravelry. I scored three skeins of yarn there. Here is what I was lucky enough to get!

Being on Ravelry exposes me to yarns that I might not find here locally. So when I go out of town I look to see what is different. I bought a hank of Jitterbug. I have been reading about it in my sock group and thought I would pick it up to try it out. I love the colors, but I was disappointed this was the one and only hank. As I was leaving to pay the owner's daughter was unloading a nice batch of these.
This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, colorway Mother Lode. I bought two of course! I took this picture in natural light it completely changed the color of my yarn. It's more earth tones with shades of purple, gold, maroon and plum. No blue. I have no idea why that it blue on the end. I am going to do my best to make a pair of socks that match. We shall see!

The next place I tried to help out was...
This is the front of the store. I was really thrilled at it's location. They are right down the walk way from this place. Be still my beating heart.
This was a wonderful place. It was well organized and I found some things that I wanted in there too. The ladies in the shop was very nice and they let me get off some great shops.

I found these amazing towers of endless buttons. If you need a button, I'm thinking they've got it. Have you ever seen so many buttons in a yarn shop before??
This is the backside to the one above. Just amazing!

Even though I don't look wonderful in gray, the display still caught my eye.

Pink is one of two colors that I really am not fond of but this was another display that I really liked.

I bought three skeins of this lace weight It's Jojoland colorway #Ms14. I swear it's not as pink as it looks in the photo. I bought three balls to make a shawl. Now if I just could remember the name of that shawl...any hoo...it's lovely. Superwash lace!!!

I have never knit with Noro before but since I found a beige I liked I snatched it up. One of the women in the shop had a nice feather and fan scarf. I think I am stealing her idea. And lastly, my total weakness...more Misty Alpaca. I just love this lace weight. They had just gotten a new shipment of this color and I melted for it.
So I have documented my efforts to help the economy. Now the rest of you have to do you part. I have to knit now...

Same Song Different Verse

I have been working on knitting one pair of socks a month and want to continue to do this for the whole year. So I have been trying new things to see how I do. I had heard about the Monkeys socks over a year ago and decided that I was not skilled enough to give them a shot. That was so wrong. They are super easy and the pair I just finished this evening at 11pm are even more easy. They are the No-Purl Monkeys. I barley had the last Kitchener stitch done and was already thinking about my March socks. I have no idea what I will make but you know in the morning I will be digging through the sock drawer.

I knit these with Trekking XXL sock yarn. It's my first time with this brand. I seem to be about 10 miles behind the rest of the sock knitters I know. I have been reading about this brand for years and have never bought any until last year. This ball of yarn has been in my sock drawer for a while. This is what happens when you have too much stash and not enough knitting time!


I am really pleased with their fit. I think the stitch definition is about the same as the Monkeys. I thought they knit up very quickly when I had some blocks to time to devote to them.
Even though I loved my Monkeys I am not so happy about them lately. I have machine washed them twice and line dried them both times. Sadly they are starting to felt and they have become a bit snug. It's all my fault. I guess I misunderstood the signs on the label and wasn't supposed to wash them in the washing machine. Right now they are in "time out" until I can decide what to do with them. Should I give them to someone or should I keep them? They are a bit of a challenge to get over my heel but once there they fit fine. I know one thing for sure, they will never see the inside of a washing machine or dryer again. I want to smack myself upside the head. I just loved those socks and they were my very first pair of Monkeys. Drats!I just love these socks and can't wait until Cookie A's book comes out in April of this year. I think I might be getting the hang of this sock knitting thing...

25 Random Things about Me
I was stunned to read that I got named for a Meme. I don't usually answer them but thought since I am still plugging away on my socks this would be great filler. Sorry, sometimes it's just necessary when you knit as slow as I do.

I got tagged by Sharon for this Meme. I found her blog via this person.
Okay here we go...

1. First and foremost I am a native Texan. No matter where I live I always have a wall in my house full of Texas items so I can take Texas with me where ever I go. It's a must!

2. I love the country but live in the city. I lived on a dairy farm for about a year in my late teen years and loved it. I secretly wanted to marry a farmer but married a sailor instead and have been trying to get to the country ever since.

3. I love to watch true life murder shows, which creeps most people out. I love Dr. Michael Baden's show on HBO. Now you will not be shocked to read #4

4. I have been hooked on Patricia Cornwell's books for years. She has a new one out but I will wait until it's a paperback before I let it collect dust on my "to be read" shelf.

5. I lived in Japan and Germany as a child and loved them both.

6 .I collect fruit and vegetable teapots and pitchers. I have 37 currently. I have limit the cost to less than $15. I am dying right now because I found a bell pepper that would cost me $35. I don't have it and won't get it until the price drops....

7. I am addicted to salt and chocolate. I eat both every day in some varying amounts.

8. My 30th wedding anniversary will fall on Friday the 13th this year. And they said it wouldn't last.

9. I have a glass jar fetish but again limit it so that it doesn't get out of control.

10. I learned to crochet as a kid while my grandmother took a nap every afternoon while we visited. I really loved it but never really did anything about it until I was in my early 20s. I didn't really learn much about knitting until I was over 45.

11. I love everything fall and winter. I hate summer and I live near the ocean and never go there.

12. I feel lucky to have a green thumb. I worked at a nursery in college and took home plants no one else wanted. I got them to grow by talking to them and playing music to them. I had a jungle at one time in my apartment.

13. I went to culinary school and now hardly ever cook. I am burned out. If I stopped working I would cook more because I have the time to do creative things.

14. I don't have a lot of very close friends that live close by.

15. I love animals and wish that I could have more but they are expensive to keep healthy.

16. I would rather receive a handmade gift more than most anything. It makes me feel special because someone was thinking about you enough to give of themselves and their time.

17. I have had a weight problem all my life and I find it a bit ironic that I teach nutrition to culinary students. I tell them that I am the perfect example of what poor nutrition choices can do to you.

18. I have two sewing machines and never use them. I have them because they are connected to two women in my life and they remind me of them everyday when I walk past them.

19. I am not a great housekeeper but I try to keep things picked up in case someone comes by the house randomly.

20. The older I get the closer I think I am coming to becoming my mother. I am a negative person and fight that off almost everyday.

21. I would rather wear jeans and T-shirts than anything else in the world. I am not a girly girl and really don't want to dress up if I don't have to. I don't own a dress anymore. The only reason I own heels now is because I have to wear business dress to work everyday. Otherwise I would be barefooted in jeans all the time.

22. I like to strip old furniture to see what's underneath and make something more wonderful from it.

23. I judge a book by it's cover.

24. I am addicted to TV. Even if I am not watching it, I like the noise.

25. I can not text and really care very little about learning it. It's all I can do to keep up with one blog and a cell phone.

Fruit and Socks
by Vickie

I have been knitting socks like a fiend since the beginning of Jan. When I joined a sock group on Ravelry I have been trying to stick to my commitment of knitting at least one pair of socks a month. There is a sub group with in the sock group that is trying to knit two socks a month. Whew! When I thought I was going to quit my job, I signed up to do two socks. Since I am not quitting my job after all, there is no way I am going to be able to knit two pair of socks a month. I did however do it in the month of Jan. I had picked two easy pair of socks and made it. I finished the second pair (first pair of Monkeys) on 1/29. Cut that pretty close, huh!

These socks were started on December 9 and finished Jan 1st. It took awhile because of our Christmas vacation in Alaska. I knit my son a hat and two baby hats so the socks just got pushed aside. I have worn them several times and they have been washed as many and they look great so far.

I call these Pumpkin socks. The color is perfect for me since I love all the fall colors. The texture is bumpy and reminds me of the blemishes on pumpkins. This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Stripe. Woodlawn is the colorway. It took two skeins with a total of 430 yards on #1 dpns. The pattern is from Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch and is called Stansfield #11.

The pattern caused some pooling in the socks but it didn't really affect the look of the socks to where I wanted to frog them. The texture lessened the impact of the pooling which I usually don't like. This time it added some interest.

The socks are soft and easy to wear. They wash and dry well in the dryer. That makes me a very wool sock wearer!

Monkey See, Monkey Do
by Vickie

I really love being a member of Ravelry. It has opened up so many doors where my knitting is concerned. I think I belong to about 16 or 17 groups. I would belong to more but there just isn't time to keep track of all of the conversations so what I have is manageable.

Since learning to knit some where around five years ago, I made it my goal to learn how to knit socks. I took lessons, well a class and then have done everything else after that on my own. I knit cuff down socks and love doing them. Recently I have been attracted to some more fancy patterns that happen to be toe up socks. Since I don't do them yet...I am a wee bit limited but only until I take a toe up class.

So when I found a more fancy pattern that was a cuff down, I decided to step outside my comfort zone and try something new. I have to say that I am thrilled with the way they turned out. Many of you have already done these but it's my first time making them.

I made them with Rio de la Plata in the colorway of Chinchillia. They have flecks of dark brown, pink and with different shades of beige. I usually knit on #1 dpns but this time since the cast on amount was only 64, I had to use #2 dpns. I was surprised that going up a needle size did not make my socks bulky. I didn't want really huge bulky socks that I can't get into sneakers or clogs. Fat socks are only good for me when I don't have to be a grown up and wear shoes.

This is my very first pair of Monkey socks. I love their bumps and twists and turns. They look so much harder than what they really are.

Here are two shots that show the color variations in the yarn that made it perfect for this kind of a pattern. The yarn was so easy to use and hopefully it will be easy to wash and dry. I am not into hand washing my socks no matter how wonderful they are!
Not only are there the regular Monkey socks (that have the purl stitch) but someone has come up with another take on the Monkey socks, called No Purl Monkeys. The texture looks a little more smooth but from what I have been told by someone who has made them, they go faster. As if that is not enough...now there is another version called Micro Monkeys. I am going to try and do both patterns when I get a chance.

The designer, Cookie A has now even got a book with her sock patterns about to be published sometime around April. I pre-ordered the book and the delivery date is around the beginning of April. I am excited to get another sock book where I can knit them cuff down and I like her designs.

There will be other posts about socks since I belong to this group. I have to knit at least one pair of socks a month for 2009. This should be fun!