Summer Knitting

First things first...Welcome back! Apparently I really DO believe in blogging without obligation, huh?

The top photo is of some cute little guys I made for the Little Critter Swap, sponsored by Meghan over at Stitch It! Podcast. The pattern is from an Amigurumi book. I think it's called "Happy Eggs."

By the way, if you listen to knitting / spinning podcasts, you should give Stitch It! a listen. It's funny, touching, entertaining, and enlightening...Meghan's show is one of my favorite things ;-)

Speaking of spinning, I've been doing a little lately:
I spun this yarn -- which I'm calling Ply Me! for now -- on my Kromski Sonata. I'll give it a real name after I do some bobbin juggling and decide what kind of finished yarn I want. I'm leaning toward two-ply sock-weight. The pretty colors are courtesy of All Things Heather, purchased at KPixie.com

I've also been doing lots of knitting. I have other photos to show you, but for now, I'll just post this one...
They're Mom's "spring socks" (Carolina, Last Queen of Naples, by MonkeyToes). I made these two-at-a-time on one circular needle, using Plymouth Happy Feet yarn.

Unfortunately, I packed them for shipping before taking photos of the finished socks! So I'll have mom model them for me and send a few snaps.

Wow! The Summer Solstice has come and gone -- amazing how time flies! And speaking of come and gone, we've also had visits from my mom, my sister, and my mother- and father-in-law during the past six weeks. Every visit was thoroughly enjoyable, and thoroughly enjoyed.

Summer Knitting

Spicy Podcast and Mild Socks

More lovely 18th century Chinese porcelains to inspire you...
Aren't they gorgeous? There are more photos below, but this is my favorite. That red looks as transluscent and luscious as a candy apple.

Isn't it funny how candy apples always look much better than they taste? Caramel apples, too. Unless the apple is cut into wedges and dipped in a bowl of melted caramel. I had it that way in Lancaster County, PA one time. Leave it to those Pennsylvania Dutch to come up with a new sugar delivery system.

Sorry I was so grouchy last post! To be honest, I probably will hold true to my vow, but I thought Kristen made some good points in her comment. So, to follow up on my "when in Rome" title, here's a new cliche for you: Variety is the spice of life...(Really, it is!)

So I guess my knitting life hasn't been very spicy lately. No variety, at any rate. I'm still working on the slipped-stitch Koigu socks for my step father. One is finished and the other is about halfway done. When both socks are finished and blocked, I'll post some more photos, but for now there's nothing interesting to post about them. And that's the extent of this week's knitting! I'm on a mindless knitting kick, just wanting to relax and not have to think about pattern repeats, so that's OK.

On the spicier side, however, is one of my new favorite podcasts: Knitters Uncensored. From the very first podcast I was drawn in by these three expats...funny (they always make me laugh out loud), friendly, interesting, crazy, sometimes a bit on the...um..."adult" side (which is very OK by me), and definitely about knitting.

Another plus, in my opinion, is that the podcast isn't chock-full of music. I have my own music on my pod, and tend to avoid podcasts that include more than a couple of songs. (I prefer none, actually, but one or two are fine.) Also, Knitters Uncensored tends to run on the long side (an hour or more).

For some reason, podcasters worry about running too long. But I happen to enjoy long casts if they're good: Like being in the middle of a great book and knowing you have a couple hundred pages yet to go. It's satisfying, and gives me lots of guilt-free knitting time. Not that I ever feel guilty about it...but you know.

So give Knitters Uncensored a try...I think you'll like them :-)



I also want to mention that Neighborhood Fiber Co. had a really successful trip to TNNA and The Knitter's Connection in June. Karida got several orders from stores across the country, so you may see some great D.C. yarn turning up in your LYS. If not, you should go check out the Web site where you can drool over her pretty colors.

Until next time, then. Thanks for coming back, and happy knitting!

Spicy Podcast and Mild Socks