Mandi Knits   » Knitting, spinning, crafts, and being a geek.

Oh. my. gosh. I’m dragging this morning. I overslept. I’m exhausted. I just can’t seem to catch up! I’m so glad that over the next two weeks, I don’t have one single day that I have an appointment or “to-do” prior to noon. Thank goodness!

I didn’t get much crafting done last night. I started something for my Craftster swap-partner in the “Fill a Coffee Mug” swap, but I decided that I wasn’t happy with the colors I initially picked, so I’m going to try again with a different color palate.

I knit maybe 3 or 4 rounds on my socks last night too, but that was it. I think I should have just gone to bed early instead.

*yawn!*

I’ve also been working on uploading pictures of my stash to Flickr, and then I’m adding them to Ravelry. Thanks to Carolyn, who commented on my previous post with this solution, I’ve decided to downsize my stash a bit. I’m going to start setting aside a pile of yarns to mail to the school tonight hopefully and maybe I’ll get a chance to mail them tomorrow.

I’m thinking I may have to make a stop at The Neighborhood Knit Shop tonight. I’d seen this sock yarn on KnitPicks, specifically in the “Clay” colorway and I thought it was the most perfect fall color ever. I thought I’d go up to the store and see if I could find something autumn-like there. Otherwise I may have to order from KnitPicks when we get back from our honeymoon.

So. Ravelry… yah. Obsessed. It’s just waaaay too much fun.

If you’ve seen my recent photos on Flickr lately, you’ll notice that it’s been a steady stream of yarn pictures. I haven’t flipped my lid. I promise. I was adding my yarn stash to Ravelry, and the only way to add photos on there is through Flickr.

One thing I noticed when I was going through my stash… I have an ass-load of old chunky and ultra-bulky weight Lion Brand yarns. I am so over super thick yarn. I bought a ton of it when I was first learning to knit because, well… thick yarn + big needles = rewarding knitting results for newbs. But it’s served it’s purpose and I’m tired of looking at it. Anyone want some yarn?

… Hmmm, maybe I can gift it to Erica, along with my giant plastic needles that I knit my very first scarf with. (I’m determined to get that girl knitting so I can have a crafty-buddy. Heh.)

I cast on my second sock last night. I had planned to knit during the season premiere of House (am I the only one who found it rather disappointing?) but that didn’t happen. (I worked on a Grandmother’s Favorite dish cloth instead.) I finally cast on the second sock and worked on it during Scrubs reruns right before bedtime. I finished the ribbed cuff and I got about 3 rows into the ankle before the Nyquil kicked in and I passed out.

I’m already planning my next pair of socks. I’m planning to use the Lang Yarns Jawoll sock yarn (pictured to the right) that I picked up from The Neighborhood Knit Shop on Saturday. I haven’t chosen a sock pattern yet though. I want to try something a little more difficult than the first basic sock I did, but nothing too hard. Maybe just something with a little more detail around the ankle or something. A different rib maybe? The book I’m using, Getting Started Knitting Socks, has lots of good ideas. I just need to take a few minutes to flip through the book and pick something.

I need to figure out what knitted things I’m going to make for Christmas gifts too, because I need to get started on those.

AND (due to the fact that I’m a glutton for punishment) I decided to join my first swap on Craftster, the “Fill a Coffee Mug” swap. I should find out who my swap-partner is going to be today, which is good because then I’ll find out whether they prefer coffee, tea, or hot cocoa -themed items and I can get started on that! Send-outs for the swap are by October 10th. I’m getting married October 6th. (Hence the “glutton for punishment” statement.) I figure it will give me something to work on next week at my mom’s house. It will keep me relaxed so I don’t start having pre-wedding jitters. Right?! Right.

Yay, I finally got my Ravelry invite this morning!! My username is “mandi” on there, if anyone would like to add me to their friends list!

I really don’t know what to say… there must be a fairy-knitting-godmother out there or something.

I got home from work today and there was a box waiting for me from Amazon.com. Now I definitely love to shop online, and I had pre-ordered Crazy Aunt Purl’s new book, but I knew that shouldn’t have come yet. I had no idea what it could be.

I ripped the box open, and inside were two knitting books I’ve been lusting after, and the 2008 Stitch ‘n Bitch daily calendar.

I don’t remember ordering these…?

I pulled out the packing slip. Sure enough, my mystery friend from Canada sent them. The same person that sent all the knitting books and the 2007 SnB calendar last year.

All I can say is thank you. Thank you again. It’s too much!

Nick and I went to dinner at Tony Roma’s tonight, and on the car ride there I got a chance to look through the books. Oh.my.gosh. I don’t know what to do next! I love almost every sweater in The Yarn Girl’s Guide to Knits for All Seasons. I love that the book has some really nice sweaters for men in particular (something, IMHO, that’s hard to come by). The other book, Weekend Knits, is fabulous because… well… who doesn’t love a quick knit!? But the great thing with this book is that none of the projects look like they were quick. They are intricate and beautiful. And I need to knit the argyle slippers on page 28! They’re sooo adorable!

I think I’m going to have to drag my new books to work tomorrow to peruse during lunch. I’m resisting the urge to open up the calendar and flip through it. (Part of the fun is getting to see all the new patterns on every Friday, so I hate to spoil it!)

FYI… if you have the 2007 SnB calendar, I discovered that a 6×6 scrapbook is the perfect size for keeping the patterns in. I tore out all the patterns (every Friday) and slipped them into the scrapbook page protectors. It worked great!

According to the waiting-list checker… only 284 people remain between me and an invitation to Ravelry. Tomorrow, I hope!!

I’m the only real knit-a-holic in my family. None of my friends knit (that I know of) and I haven’t had the opportunity to make any new knitting-friends really (tragedy!), so I don’t really know how many needles the average knitter has in his or her arsenal. But here’s my collection so far (collected since I started knitting about a year ago):

As you can probably tell, I much prefer bamboo needles. I have a small collection of metal needles (in the case in the upper left corner of the photo) that were hand-me-downs from my mom’s collection (which originated from my Great Gram’s collection). The pink basket has all my DPNs, the pile in the lower left are all my circulars. Then you’ll see two piles of strait needles: 13-inch length on the left, 9-inch on the right.

My purpose in posting this is not actually to show off my meager needle collection, but to share a secret with any beginning knitters out there (like myself) who are tired of having to run out and buy new needles for every project they want to do… eBay!!

I’ve had excellent luck ordering from the eBay user “skyridertrd“. What’s awesome is: he sells his needles in complete sets, every size from 0 up to 15, for really reasonable prices. He has circulars in various lengths, DPNs, and straits in two lengths. I have not used the circulars yet (as you can see they’re still in the packages) so I can’t speak for thos, but I’ve used my DPNs and straits extensively and they’re every bit as good as the Clover brand ones that you pay $4+ per set for at a craft or knitting shop.

Now I occasionally do splurge. To reward myself for conquering my first knitted sock (something I anticipate will soon become an addiction), I ordered a set of ebony Lantern Moon Sox Stix. I can’t wait till they come! I hope they arrive in the mail this week so I can pack them to knit with while I’m home next week preparing for our wedding! Knitting calms me… so it will be the perfect thing to pack.

It’s almost 1:30 a.m. and I can’t sleep. *sigh* That’s what I get for sleeping in till noon twice in a row this weekend.

Anyway, I’ll share with you my triumph:
My first ever hand-knitted sock!

It’s not exactly perfect, but I couldn’t be much more proud of myself. I feel like it’s the first real thing I’ve ever knitted — something more complicated than a hat, scarf, or dish cloth. When I turned that heel successfully, I was just giddy! (Such small things, I know…)

I used hand-painted 100% merino wool that I picked up while visiting The Neighborhood Knit Shop on Saturday.

I’m so glad I finally made time to stop by that place! When I went in on Saturday, there was a huge group of women sitting in a circle knitting and chatting. At first I was afraid they were actually closed and just having a class or something. However, one of the employees (I wish I could remember her name) greeted me warmly and immediately made me feel at home. The store is just drool-worthy: beautiful yarns everywhere. Before I made it out of the store, I think I’d told the saleswoman half of my life-story. She invited me to come knit with them, which I think I’m going to do — but probably not till after the wedding. I think it will be a nice way to hopefully make some more friends here in Tennessee though.

And speaking of our wedding: in only 12 days, I become a Mrs. Wow.

Wahoo! Only 1,948 people left in front of me waiting to get into Ravelry. It shouldn’t be too much longer now…