So long, farewell

Oh, my poor neglected blog. What's the answer to having a blog that never gets updated? Start a new one, of course!

I'm moving! You can find me over at Yarnadoodledoo where I'll be sure to keep updating with all the sock yarn I've been dyeing as of late.

Thanks for reading! See y'all at the new place!

New tricks for an old dog

As a die-hard top-down sock knitter, I finally decided it was time to try some toe-up socks. I had tried once before, but my cast-on was such a mess, I gave up and cast on for the cuff. And why mess with something that's going so well? Top-down socks and I were BFFs. This past weekend I headed over to Border's with my 40% off coupon in hand and I picked up Wendy Knits' book "Socks from the Toe Up". I'm not afraid to admit it: I'm shamelessly hooked on these patterns. I love them, and the book is really pretty to look at too! The instructions are really clear, and I managed to whip up Judy's Magic Cast-on with no problems. Another thing I really like about the patterns in this book is that the lace patterns are really easy to memorize, and not some 18 row chart of sheer headache-inducing insanity.


This is the Diagonal Lace (Rav link) pattern and I'm totally in love with it. I'm also using some of our Yarnadoodledoo sock yarn in the Cerise colorway. Erin and I tried out a variety of yarn bases, and I think we've settled on the one we want. This yarn is so sproingy and funt to knit with! Awesome pattern + lovely yarn = KNITTING JOY

I've also been spinning and planning a sweater, because summer in the South is the perfect time to knit a sweater, right? Right. I'm thinking top down raglan with handspun yoke. I'll have picks of the handspun this weekend.

Oh, and we've been dyeing. Lots of dyeing.


Last night the mister and I watched that last episode of The Wire that we hadn't seen. No more new (to us) Wire episodes ever! I'm so bummed! That being said, when's the new "East Bound and Down" season start?

I found out today at the allergy clinic that I'm going to have to keep on going 3 times a week for 4 more weeks. A normal person would probably be discouraged by this fact, however I immediately thought, "More morning knitting time! Excellent!"

Can you have too much yarn?

I keep inundating y'all with yarn photos, but this time, I just have to share as this yarn makes me want to jump around like a kid who's had too many pixie sticks.


I bring you: Verve - 480 yards of a 90/10 superwash merino/nylon blend. It's up for sale in the shop, which was a hard decision for me. I wanted to keep it and roll around in it (don't tell anyone).

Also, have y'all seen the mods for the Monkey sock pattern by Cookie A.? Here it is! (link goes right to the .pdf) And if you've got big clodhoppers like myself, this is where the party's at. I'm knitting them out of some hand dyed purple variegated yarn, and it's so pretty I squeal everytime I look at it. I'll post pictures soon!

Yarnadoodledoo, take two

Oh me. I can't stop dyeing.

Here's some more for you:

This is an Alpaca / Superwash Merino blend. Nom nom nom. This actually was dyed by the lovely Erin.

I think I might knit this one up next:


They're all up at the shop, if you'd like to browse. Yarnadoodledoo!

Yarnadoodledoo!

So, my friend Erin and I have been complaining for ages about sock yarn skeins that don't have the proper yardage for large lady feet (we're both US size 11). So, instead of whinging and moaning (as we're wont to do), we decided to start dyeing our own! And bringing it to the masses! Behold, Yarnadoodledoo!

After some fun and successful dyeing attempts, we decided to open up shop.

Berry Stained! 460 yards of superwash glory!

Bantam! This one is so gorgeous, I may want to keep it.

This one isn't for sale, but I wanted to put it up here for posterity. The first yarn dyed! It's like an Easter Egg!

Yay, sock yarn! Yay knitting!

I think I'm obsessed

About 2 weeks ago, I attended a session with Lynne Vogel of Twisted Sisters fame at Haus of Yarn here in Nashville. The whole class was absolutely fantastic. We learned about mixing colors and fun techniques. Lynne showed Erin and I the finer points of spinning sock yarn, and boy howdy, did I take to heart! I was obsessed! I immediately came home and started spinning up 4 oz. of Hello Yarn's "Peat" fiber club offering, and decided to ply it with some alpaca roving I picked up at Yarn School. I thought 8 oz. of a two-ply yarn should be enough for my giant lady feet.

And was I right!



I managed to get 647 yds onto a 4 oz bobbin! And you know what this means, right? I probably can get another skein of similar length out of what's left on the 2 bobbins! Insanity!

I have arrived! I can spin sock yarn!

I love socks.

It's official. I love knitting socks. I can't stop and I'm hoarding sock yarn. I'm even spinning it. I may have a problem.

The latest project consists of two plain ol'vanilla socks, knit out of Noro Kureyon sock.


The only issue I have is that I have US size 11 lady feet. Some fun patterns aren't geared for my Northern European peasant DNA. I also feel that some variegated and self-striping sock yarn should just be knit plain without any pattern. Let the yarn be the centerpiece, not the pattern. I started these socks over a ton of times because I couldn't decided what to do. That being said, I'm currently knitting some lovely variegated sock yarn with a lacey pattern. We'll see what happens. If it's too tight on my feet, though, it'll be ripped out. Damn my large lady feet!

a cowl in sunshine

The wham bam thank you lamb (rav link) is one of the easiest projects ever, and has awesome results. Here it is, in all its handspun glory:


This was actually made up this weekend for my mother's friend. She was going to get a beret, but somehow I kept TWISTING when casting on, causing many profanities to come flying out of my mouth. Moral of the story: garter stitch cowls make fast and fun presents (esp. when using handspun! oh! the joy!)

Don't mind the wet hair:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's the pattern, in case you're interested.

I'm sticking with you

In attempt to beef up my sewing prowess, I made a log cabin pillow this evening!


It's a little clumsy, but I'm pretty pleased!


(I ran out of stuffing).

The pattern came from "The Crafter's Companion" and it was easy as pie. I modified the back, since I was taking the easy way out and was just using some polyfil I had laying around. I'm quite pleased, even though it is a little goofy.