Beaded Bag

Since last summer's Mystery Stole 3, I have been dyeing to do another knitting project with beads. This month I will be knitting along with some fellow Ravelers (Monthly Adventures 2008 group) to make a small bag. All of the items needed for the bag were received over 2 swaps. The beads were sent to me by knitknerd:

And the yarn was hand dyed (yes, just for me!) by AnniePurl:

who also sent the fabric for the liner:

The color of the beads and yarn together remind me of the sea glass we find along the coast of Maine. I am designing a simple pattern with that in mind. As soon as I finish my second sock for SKP, I will be casting on for this bag (I am on the heel of my 2nd sock...).

Jacobean socks

Well, I'm tired, but I finished my SKP2008 socks 2 days ago. Then I decided not to knit yesterday, but I'm jumping back in today.

So here are the details:
Pattern: Jacobean by Julie Persinger for SKP2008 sock1; toe-up pattern with short row heel; magic loop or 2 circular needles
Yarn: "Jitterbug" from Colinette; 1 ball (Recommended yarn=fingering wt)
Color: Velvet Damson #118
Required Gauge: 8 st/inch; My gauge: 7 st/inch, but I was making these for a Men's size US10 and the pattern was written for Women's size US7-9, so I did not adjust the pattern.
Recommended Needles: US 1.5 /2.5 mm (I used 2 circ US4/3.5mm)
Comments: Fun pattern to knit. I hope the short row heel holds up (I usually only use short row heels for baby socks and Christmas stockings).

You really can't see the diamond design in these pictures, but the design looks nice in person.

And here is a close up of the short row heel:

Back to knitting today. I hope to finish up my Firestarter socks.

How fast do you knit?

How much knitting can I get done while riding from Rochester, NY to Portland, Maine?

I can cast on a toe-up sock and work the toe, foot and gusset. This will help me guesstimate how long it will take to knit a pair of socks using an intermediate -difficult pattern. Let me explain.

I am not a speed knitter by any means, but I am not slow either. I knit because I enjoy it and it relaxes me. But last week when I was catching up on my blog reading, Purl Diva had to show me this: the SKP: Sock Knitters Pentathlon (click button below for Yahoo group).

The basic idea is to "challenge yourself by knitting in ways you don't normally knit and in the process become a better, stronger knitter". We will knit 5 different pairs of socks over the next 9 months. The patterns will be released at predetermined times, each about 2 months apart and will be intermediate -challenging in difficulty rating. As you finish a pair, you are given a number (first person done = 1, second = 2, etc). At the end of the year, the person with the lowest score wins the Pentathlon and some fun prizes. So far there are over 500 participants from 30 countries. Do I expect to "win a medal"? Of course not, but it will be fun "racing"!

Here is my yarn for SKP Sock 1 (needed to be solid/semi solid). It is "Jitterbug" from Colinette (color: Velvet Damson 118) which I have not knit with before, so I will be checking my gauge this week.

PS...I think it will take me a minimum of 1 week to knit a pair of socks and not neglect the rest of my life.

February Project of the Month: Hearts, of course!

You know I love a quick KAL, so here's my last KAL on Ravelry:

February's project: Heart shaped pillow. And look, I already made one (it only takes a couple of hours with sock yarn):

This one is for my Valentine! I used Nova Sock yarn in "Jester" and I stuffed the heart with some cotton balls near the seams and lavender buds in the center. It is such a quick project and a great way to use left-over yarn.

Pattern comments: The pattern says "row" when it is actually knit in the round.

If I didn't have so many project goals for February, I would make a bunch more of these!

KALs

Today I have joined another knit-along (KAL): Sock-a Month Knitalong (SAM). MS3 is/was my first KAL. I have had so much fun with it, I have been hunting for more KALs that I might enjoy. Since I am a busy Mom of 3 (plus the 2 dogs, 1 cat, 4 rabbits, 2 beehives and a husband), my time away from the house is limited. I make time to knit every day, but do not have the time to leave my house for a knitting circle. I have found that MS3, with it's 6,000+ knitters worldwide, provides some of the comradery found in actual 'physical' knitting circles. And it certainly provides the motivation to keep moving along with a project.

So, with only 2 clues left in MS3, I've joined SAM. It's easy: finish a pair of socks a month from August through December. It dosen't matter when you started the socks, only that they are finished (both socks) within the given month. Since my WIPs (works-in-progress) include these

finishing a pair of socks a month will be a good thing for me to do! Think of all the needles I'll free up...

And when I finish those socks, I can allow myself to dig into:

If you're looking for a KAL, here's a good place to start:

http://knitalongs.xaviermusketeer.com/
And if you hear of any others, please share in the comments.