Monkey2's foot cozies

As I was trying on the first sock on my sleepy Monkey2's feet one morning, she mumbled, "Ooh, those feel nice.  Is this my foot cozy?"  And so they are.

yarn: Regia 4-ply Flusi Das Socken Monster in Fraulein
needles: US 1.5 (2.50 mm) KP Harmony dpns
CO 56 sts
Simple 2x2 ribbing throughout the leg & instep
Worked until hit the bottom of her big toe & did a typical wedge toe bind off.  It's a little pointier than I should've made for her feet but it does give a teeny bit of growing room.

And with that done, I'm back to my usual pile of WIP's.  Well, technically the black one w/silver sparkles retangular wrap in the top left corner is Monkey1's.  While it should be easy on size 17 needles in garter stitch, she sometimes can't see the loops well enough & so she has me correct her errors.  I did try to power through her WIP in case she could wear it to the one "formal" dinner on the cruise ship, but once we found out it would be the second night of the cruise, I abandoned it for her ruffle scarf instead.  I'll have to have her get back to it or it'll end up permanently in my pile.

Continuing clockwise from Monkey1's WIP, is the olive Berroco Cuzco Cosima.  This may be a very long term knit since many Ravelers seem to have to make a lot of adjustments for a decent fit.  The little red blob is the beginning of a gift hat so it should go quick, the blue/beige shawlette WIP is Stephen West's Blue Whale from A Verb for Keeping Warm's Pro-Verbial yarn club, and the brown infinity scarf is a Twisted Rib Neckwarmer in The Plucky Knitter MCN Aran.  Underneath it all is the mostly brainless Crystal Palace Mochi Plus Parquet Squares blankie for Monkey1.  I don't have enough to finish, so I need to order more of the colorway.

But with all that, I don't have a sock on the needles, especially with Monkey2's foot cozies being done.  I should wind my Jan 2011 Blue Moon RSC kit & cast on, but our March 2011 RSC kit is travelling towards us & should arrive soon.  Then there's 2 of the 3 kits from last year I should knit.  (Not knitting up Sweet Pea 'cause I'm saving that for the next female baby in my extended family...that lives somewhere colder than Oahu and the Philippines, that is.)  And still in the Blue Moon theme, the Socks that Rawk group has a KAL voting poll going on and I have all 5 of the paid patterns in my "library" of patterns.  But that's won't start 'til the beginning of April once the voting is done.

Then there's Irishgirlieknit's Walk Now.  I even have a skein of Plucky Knitter Primo in a neutral color that would go well with it.  I guess I'll knit on my WIP's while I contemplate which yarn & sock pattern to do next.

Back to the usual

Cloudy days make photographing black items pretty darn tough, but I'm too lazy to wait for a sunny day.


pattern: Bella's Mittens
yarn: Cascade 128 Superwash in solid black by request
needles: size 9 & 10 KP nickel-plated circs
mod: by my sister's request, made the mitts convertible

As much as I love this cute reverse-engineered pattern, I think knitting this 3 times is more than enough. But then, the only reason I knit this is again is that my sister requested a pair of mitts that would allow easier access for her fingers when iPhone-ing away on her mass transit to work. What I do for family.


pattern: Yarn Harlot's sock recipe
yarn: Regia Flusi das Socken Monster
needles: 2.50 mm KP dpns

Monkey1 picked this colorway out during one of our visits to Purlescence. I originally started knitting this in my normal continental fashion, but was inspired by Irishgirlieknits & Cupcakefaerie to practice my lever (aka Irish cottage style) knitting. So aside from the cuff and half the toe (I got really impatient by then), most of this pair was done lever-style. I think I've got the hang of it, at least on dpns, especially since I've reverted to my norm of tightening my gauge on the second sock. Whether or not I'll switch to this style entirely will most likely depend on my mood & gauge I need.


So. In a recent training class at work, the lecturers talked about how there are 3 parts in our skills process - the comfort zone, the learning zone, and the panic zone. While not in my comfort zone, I am at least out of my panic zone and firmly in the learning zone when it comes to my newbie spinning.

I love the Kundert spindle I got from A Verb's booth at Stitches West. While no where near consistently competent, at least I'm no longer afraid to practice w/dyed fiber as opposed to the white BFL I started with. It probably helps that the dyed BFL mix I bought is in my color comfort zone too.

I will also say that a large part of getting out of my panic zone has been all the encouragement I've been getting from my crafty buddies, especially Tapmouse, my awesome teacher WonderMike (always willing to give suggestions on spindles and fiber) and the fabulous Verb ladies, Kristine and Adrienne.