Still around!

I can’t believe it’s been 10 days since my last post! I’ve been very busy lately with both my new job and yarn4socks so haven’t had much time for any kind of crafting or posting. I have been staying on top of all my blog reading at least… I apologize to those who’ve commented lately and that haven’t gotten an answer yet, I’ll do my best to reply at some point. This week is going to be crazy as we got tons of new stuff going into the store and I’ve got to put it all up by Sunday’s update. So you might not see me around much this week either! I’m hoping that next week things will settle down a bit and I’ll be able to resume an semi-normal crafting/posting schedule.

In the mean time, I guess I should really be showing you what has arrived in my mailbox in the last few days…

This spring I was part of the May Day Sock Swap, organized by Lynne and Emily

The point of the swap was to knit a pair of socks for your pal and ship them out by May 1st. The person knitting for me was Becky of Leggy Creations. Due to a series of event, Becky contacted me and told me that she wouldn’t be able to make the May 1st deadline but that she would send me a package as soon as she could. Thus, this Friday, I was surprised to receive a big box from my mail man. And this is what was in it.

Becky sent me a pair of her sock blockers (aren’t they beautiful?)

and a pair of adorable sheepy coasters that she made for me

She also sent me a pair of socks and a pattern

And some pretty sock yarn and lace yarn

It was a great package to receive and I really appreciate everything Becky sent me. Thank you Becky!

We’re back to sewing

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I had done a lot of sewing. I never posted about it back then because what I made were made for two special packages. Both packages have now arrived so I can now share them with you.

The first package was for my friend Kelly who lives in Iowa. She’s a knitter too and she likes to knit socks too. I had noticed though that she would carry her sock knitting in little plastic bags and that I just had to make her something nicer than that.

So I sewed her this little set:

My friend likes birds so I made sure to use a fabric with birds on it.

I had also knit her a pair of socks, the Ripples pattern from the Sockamania KAL. Here they are on her feet:

They’re a tad on the tight side and a pain to remove, but she likes them, so that’s what counts. I might need to knit her another pair though at some point!

The last package was for my May Day Sock pal. The packages were due out on May 1st and the package arrived to my pal’s doorstep on Saturday. So I can now show you what I made her!

My pal was Karen from Needles and Wool. She’s the one I was knitting the Schaefer Lola Red Dwarf socks for. I ended up giving her the Hand Maiden Casbah Sangria since they were too big for me and I knew she’d like them just as well if not more.

I also made her this little box bag and zipper pouch set:

She seems to have liked everything I sent her and the socks fit her perfectly. If you’re interested you can see her post about her package here. I really enjoyed putting everything together for her, it was fun!

Yes, I still knit

I still do knit sometimes, don’t worry. I even finished a pair of socks this week! I finally finished the Ripples socks from November’s Sockamania pattern. They’re intended for my friend Kelly, I hope they fit her!

They might be a bit tight around the ankles but I gave them a good soak and I think they might have stretched out a bit. I wont know for a few weeks if they do fit her as I need to mail her the socks and she’s on vacation at the moment.

I also finished another sock, my first Red Dwaf sock in HandMaiden Casbah Sangria. The pattern really was a lot of fun and I had them knit in no time at all.

I started knitting again on my other Red Dwarf sock, the one in Schaefer Lola. I’ve reached the leg now and I should have it done in a few days.

This sock is destined for my May Day Sock Swap pal. I hope she likes the color!

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After spending more time sewing on my sewing machine, I realized that it really didn’t work very well and that I needed to buy myself another one. I am in the process of destashing quite a bit of yarn to pay for it. I have some new yarns listed on my destash page . Let me know if something strikes your fancy!

May Day Sock Swap

After 2 fairly successful sock swaps (Sockapalooza and Monkey Sock) I’ve decided to join my 3rd sock swap. This one is organized by Lynne and Emily (who just had a baby!) and is named May Day Sock Swap.

This swap is a fairly small swap and is a secret swap so I wont tell you much about my pal’s preferences in case she comes and visits!

I’ve already chosen the yarn for her socks but am still debating on the pattern. The yarn I picked is Schaefer Lola in this gorgeous purple/burgundy colorway.

The pattern I’m thinking of knitting is the Red Dwarf socks by Turtlegirl. I think they’ll go together well.

I’ve cast on for a practice pair of Red Dwarf socks for myself with this gorgeous yarn that is Hand Maiden Casbah in Sangria.

I’m loving how it looks so far and the pattern is super fast and easy. In no time I had 2 repeats done.

The Casbah is a gorgeous yarn to knit with and I’m loving the fact that I can knit it up on 3.25mm. It makes a big difference when you’re used to knitting everything on 2.5mm!

For those wanting some of their own Lola or Casbah, both of them will be available at yarn4socks  on the next update on Sunday 24 at 9pm est.