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A little while ago, my local yarn store had a sale.  The more you bought, the bigger the discount on sale stuff.  Well, since I’m basically just starting my knitting obsession hobby, I needed some sock needles, so I thought this would be a good time to stock up.  I also needed to get some black yarn for Ron’s hat, some colorful yarn for toys, etc. etc.  I didn’t really understand how the sale worked, but I just bought what I wanted needed.  So I was hemming and hawing over this beautiful Schaefer Helene yarn that was the softest 50% wool, 50% silk I ever did touch.  It was in blue (my favorite color) and it was soft and expensive.  So I should buy it, right?  Well, I held it a little (a lot) longer and couldn’t put it down.  Did I mention it was originally $44 a hank?  It was $44 a hank.  But it was on sale!  When do you get a chance to buy yarn so expensive on sale? I had no idea how on sale it was because it wasn’t marked except for a colored sticker.  I was guessing it was maybe 30-40% off.  Good deal.  Ok, I decided I would get it.  It would be the perfect yarn to make a special scarf for myself.  This was the yarn stashes were made of.  This is a yarn that might stay in the stash for a long time because I would have to think of something special to do with it.  So here’s a picture of it:

The hanks are beginning to look a bit scraggly because, well, I can’t stop touching the yarn.  Sometimes I just like to hold it and pet it.  I’ve noticed it’s beginning to pill a bit, but it’s a flaw I can look past.  So now I can tell you how much I paid for it.  Guess.  You don’t know?  $11 a hank.   Yes!  $44 yarn for $11!  It was because I bought all those needles!  See how much you can save if you spend a lot of money?!  And look, I’m putting the new needles to use on a pair of socks.  My first effort at socks on two circulars:

I’m diggin the red.  It’s the KnitPicks sock garden in Zinna (I got it on sale and I think it’s discontinued).  And yes, I took a picture of it on a pile of laundry because where else do socks end up? I’m sad because I’m realizing I can’t take it on the plane with me today because of the metal needles.  Has anyone ever successfully taken size 2 circular metal needles on the plane?  I don’t think it’s worth risking it.  But darn.. it’s so portable.  I need to do some thinking about what to take.  I don’t think the size 15 plastic Denise circulars for the tote I’m working on are such a good idea either.  Heck, those seem more “dangerous” than the size 2’s that aren’t any bigger than a pen.  Maybe I’ll start another hat on smaller Denise needles.

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KnitPicks.com was having a sock yarn sale, so I had to pick some up. Yes, I’ve only knit one sock, but I have plans to knit more. I figured I should buy some cheap inexpensive sock yarn, lest I be tempted to purchase more $Schaefer Lola$ yarn (see completed sock in previous posts). The KnitPicks colors are zinna (red & yellow), flower power (multi), and yukon (blues). I also got two balls of Andean Treasure 100% baby alpaca in granite. The other ball is on the needles for a scarf.

And I also want to knit some Jess Hutch toys, so I HAD to get some colors going. There were so many cute colors in Patons Classic Wool (Merino) that I was overwhelmed and had to buy some. However, I might return them and get the Brown Sheep Lambs Pride because I like knitting with it better and it’s so soft. It’s harder to find, though. We’ll see. Here’s the Patons colors I bought:

In other news, some of my family visited this Easter weekend. Friday my brother got a call from the public defender’s office in Chicago and it looks like he may have a job. Yay! As you can see, they are very excited:

What party animals! Do you think I pooped them out too much?

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Ron’s Grandma passed away today. We’ll miss you Grandma D.

Thank you for the knitting needles.

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Ok, so you’ve picked up all your stitches:

Now for that pesky RT (Right Twist). After you’ve joined the round, knit so you have two stitches left before the first marker. Click on the pictures below to see the captions, but here’s what you do: Knit 2nd stitch on needle without slipping stitches off the left needle. Knit the first stitch on left needle, then slip both stitches off the left needle (and you have two new stitches on the right needle). The stitches you have slipped off the left needle will look floppy and yucky. Don’t worry about it. Trust me. Relax. Take a few deep breaths. Roll those shoulders a bit and lower them away from your ears. After a few rounds it will start to look purty. Really! And after felting it will look even better. So here’s some pictures (They are in sequence below, but I can’t seem to get the captions to go in order when you click on them, so just pay attention to the titles).

There, you’ve done a Right Twist. Here’s what the bag will look like after several rounds:

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I thought Ms. Sock would like to model next to the African art, with her earthy colors and all. The sock does have it’s issues, but I’m willing to look past them and accept it for what it is, my first finished sock. I couldn’t stop her from modeling throughout the process:

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If you or anyone you know is a beginning knitter and is trying to knit the Meema’s Felted Marsupial Tote from S-n-B, these photos might help. If I had these photos to follow when I first made the tote, it may have avoided some flinging of work across the room, cursing, ripping out work, and general anger and frustration (pouting). I thought I would give back to the knitting community by helping beginning knitters pick up stitches from the bottom of the tote. If I ever learn how to post a Quicktime video, perhaps I’ll do that someday. For now, you may find the “picking up stitches” video on knittinghelp.com to be helpful. Click on the picture to see my captions. (If I did this wrong, let me know in the comments)Here we go:

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The yarn becometh a sock.

Phew, the pattern is working out. You see, it’s a pattern without a picture. Normally I wouldn’t even entertain the thought of a pattern without a picture of the finished product. I don’t know what I was thinking. I bought the yarn, and since it was kind of thick, I didn’t have sock pattern for it. The woman at the store gave me the pattern and I took it and used it. By the time the heel came around I thought “Hm, a picture of this dang sock would be nice right about now.” It was interesting to start parts of the heel when I had no idea if it would work out or not. Luckily, it did (thanks to knittinghelp.com). I do like how the colors are coming out on the foot, they’re a bit more muted than they appear in the picture. I like the stockinette better than the ribbing. I keep wanting to start more projects, but I really need to finish the ones part-finished: 1. A yellow baby hat from a few months ago, 2. a bag, 3. a hat for Ron, 4. a scarf for mom (see previous post)