Crazy Pie? Sure, I’ll have some.

Have you seen the Sock Yarn Blankets?  You know, the ones made up of little teeny squares of leftover sock yarn?  Popularized the the lovely Shelly Kang?  I must admit the first time I saw Shelly’s I thought “Wow!!  That’s really cool.  But how crazy do you have to be to want to knit a Queen size blanket?  Out of SOCK YARN?”

Yeah.  About this crazy.

I read the threads on Ravelry saying “OOh those little squares are so much fun to make!!” and thought “Really?  A whole blanket’s worth of fun?  REALLY??”

Really.  So far at least – you know how my attention wanders.  That’s ok though, I know this is going to take a long time – years, likely.  I have a lovely stash of leftover sock yarn that has been the inspiration for all of this.  And it fits in with the vague idea I had in January about knitting mostly from the stash, since I have so much stuff I like and haven’t knit.  Also – y’know what’s fun?  Seeing how fast you can whip one of these little suckers out.  And then playing with them to see how the colours look together.  (Yes, I can hear you snickering and the thoughts of “geek!” from here)

Like that red one?  It’s nice eh?  Hmmm, I’ve got some bright orange/green stuff somewhere too, must go find that…

But before I go, if you have any sock yarn leftovers sitting around?  Send ’em over (before you get sucked in too!)  I’ll give them a good home, I promise!

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What have you been doing?

Ok, so it’s been a while.  What can I tell you other than “March Break” and “Flu”.  That describes my last 3 weeks.  ‘Nuff said, yes?  On to brighter topics?  Like, knitting!

You’re figuring there must have been something going on during this silence, and you would be right!  Let’s see what’s on the needles shall we? 

Twisted Rib socks for Joey. 

I cast on 65 sts and am working in 3×2 rib.  Every 6 rows I move everything over 1 stitch, which is producing the twist in the rib.  I can’t claim this as my own invention, as I’m sure many have done it before me.  I saw it not so long ago on Stephanie’s blog and thought it looked like a Joey kind of thing.  Meaning it was not too “bumpy”.  You have to be careful with “bumpy”, he doesn’t like bumpy.  “Bumpy” being defined here as “any texture Joey thinks looks weird.”  He likes ribs, and when I showed him this I was careful to say “Look, it’s nice and squishy!”  so he would not have any worries of “bumpy”.  So far he’s good with it.  Phew!

I am thinking of trying a short row heel when I get to that point, which is something I have only done once before.  If any one has any suggestions on short row heels I’d love to hear them!  

 The yarn is SWTC Tofutsies in colour number 789.  Joey picked it out himself when I was complaining about having a hard time finding boy yarn.  I have read reviews that it is splitty, but I have not had any trouble with it.  It has a bit of cotton in it too, so it’s coming up squishy-soft.  The only complaint I would have is that it is thinner than I would usually use.  I think if you were just doing plain stockinette it might seem too thin – we’ll see when I get to the sole.

WIP #2

Mitered Mittens from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac.  I cast on 40 sts instead of the recommended 48, and I’m using the thumb described here.  I also just did 5 rows of garter st for the cuff rather than ribbing.  The yarn?  Mmm, yummy isn’t it?  Good ol’ Noro Kureyon in colour 180.  I love Noro, all the colours, the striping, it’s so fun.  I really want to get my hands on some of their new sock yarn!  (drool drool)

Next up: baby time!

One of my friend’s is expecting, so of course I am making her stuff!  Who can resist baby knitting?  Or crocheting in this case.  She asked for a brightly coloured blanket, so here it is!  The pattern is a freebie, located at The Diva Crochets blog if you are interested.  I haven’t changed a thing (for once hehe).  The yarn Paton’s Astra, a good basic acrylic that stands up well to washing.  Just what you need for a baby blankie!  This little dude isn’t due until July, so I have lots of time to finish this blanket.  Just as well, since it is not the most challenging thing, and I know I won’t stick with it. 

Now, I know you are wondering what happened to the toys I said I was working on.  They are done, at least the knitting is done!  However the pattern writing is not done, but I am working on it.  I need to add photos and have it all proof read and then it will be ready for you.  Want a peek in the mean time?

Dude needs a name, don’tcha think?

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