Purple Princess Knits

Kathy is back and glad to be home. Being on a ship is not for everyone, the problem is that you don't know if you can handle it or not until you give it a go. Being sea sick does not make for having the best of times. There was some knitting and some shopping but being back on land is a good thing. We will hear more about her travels later.
I am glad she is back. I have not heard from Sharon yet but it sounds like she may be a bit under the weather since she returned. Hopefully she will be back soon.

We did get to hear a bit about some fine yarn purchases. This yarn is fabulous. It shines and feels wonderful. Kathy will turn this into a beautiful shawl.
Denise, Kris and I were all the happy recipients of some wonderful cruise presents. Very unexpected but oh so nice. Kathy is absolutely the Cruise Goddess and we now all feel special even if we didn't get to go on the cruise.
Denise got some beautiful peach sock yarn from Fleece Artist.

Kris got a beautiful colorful skein of Fleece Artist.

I received the most beautiful skeins of Claudia's Hand Painted in the color called Purple Earth. It may look a bit blue in the picture but it is the most beautiful shades of purples with a bit of gold and browns mixed in. Awesome. I am so starting some some special socks tomorrow, or as soon as I have a free needle or two. I love this yarn! THANK YOU KATHY.

BEAUTIFUL!

Then I did receive the "bet." Yes, I get a present for Kathy passing the Colorado Bar. We bet some yarn but she upped the stakes and I got something even better. This is why you should always support your friends and bet for them, never against them. She worked hard, passed her test and .....

I got some beautiful PURPLE/LAVENDAR stitch markers. But...... they are not just stitch markers....... they are also on a beautiful silver chain that you wear as a necklace. So totally awesome. I really love this.

Thank you Kathy. I am only a Princess but YOU are a Goddess!

Today the Downtown Knitters had their first semi-annual luncheon at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant located in the Denver Pavilions at 16th & Tremont. This is how great traditions get started.

We wined, okay it was iced tea but it was really good iced tea. It was lunch, what do you expect. We dined on some very fine Italian Cuisine. We laughed, a lot. We knit. We took a long lunch so we could have extra good fun. We intend to start this tradition and have this event twice a year. The lunch hour group has been knitting together for over two years and we have become good friends who share knitting time and life stories.

Who was there?

Me of Course. Be sure to get a good look at the fine surroundings.

Kris. Again look at those wonderful cozy surroundings.
Denise. Notice those nice fancy checkered tablecloths? We dined in style.
We sure had a great time. Knitting; Eating; Drinking; Laughing.
Who was not able to attend? mmmm....... let me think...... who else is in the group?????
Why it is Kathy and Sharon aka CBs. Why weren't they at the luncheon event?? Because they are the CBs (cruise bitches.) The two of them decided to go on this little sea socks cruise and they just didn't make it back in time for our "event." I am so sorry. That is just too bad. Oh, so sad. We really missed you both and I sure hope you all can schedule your time better and make it to the 2nd Semi-Annual Luncheon. We will surely be talking about this one for months.

Look at them sporting their new Judith Leiber frames they bought just before they left on this little cruise.

Sharon
Kathy

Welcome back guys, I can't wait to hear about your travels and we can tell you all about the luncheon event you missed.

On that note I do want to congratulate Kathy! (http://mountainpurl.blogspot.com) She is now also known as the COBB! The Colorado Bar Bitch, of course. She passed the Colorado Bar the first time around. Congratulations Kathy.

Don't forget the yarn that you owe me. Why does she owe me yarn, when she is the one who passed the test, you ask? Long story short, she is already an Attorney, but she was only licenced to practice Law in California. I have known her a couple of years so I know this woman has a photographic memory and is extremely bright. In addition, she juggles a 50 hour a week job, a husband, two small kids and is quite an accomplished knitter, among other things. There is nothing she can't do well. So, in the beginning, when she said she was going to study for the CO Bar, I had the utmost confidence that she would pass the first time with flying colors. With all that she has on her plate, a little bit of self doubt was in her mind, so we made a bet. The bet is if she passes the first time around, she owes me some kind of really great sock yarn, and if she did not pass I would owe her the yarn. I knew she would pass all along so shouldn't I be rewarded for having undying confidence in my friend. She is one of the best.

Last week was a rough week and I am glad to be through it. Midweek I had a birthday and turned 50. I have had no problems with that until I woke up on the "day" and reality set in. I had a really hard time dealing with it. I turned 50 before my husband. that is not a good thought. Next Friday he will turn 50 so I suppose I can deal with it for 9 days, especially since I have no choice. No matter, it was still rougher than I expected.

So, how do you get over a funky bad mood caused by a birthday you aren't ready to have? I will show you .....

It starts the night before by going to knit at Lollicup with the Arvada Knitters, some new friends and some old friends, all of whom are wonderful.
My longer time friend Denise joined the group and had a good time with my newer friends so that made me happy.
New friend Marlaina ("Marly") modeled her crocheted poncho. It was fabulous.

New friend Cheryl modeled her Jawbreaker. I love the pink/raspberry on her.

Longer time acquaintance, newer friend Judy show off her finished Jawbreaker and Poppy.

New friend Mary Kay finished her headband using her own hand dyed yarn. Fabulous.
Claudia's daughter Madison finished her bag while we were there. I love it that she brings her daughter and they knit together. Madison is only 12 and quite the accomplished knitter.

Saturday I met Claudia, Leah and Nachaele at the Bliss Cafe for lunch. I really love that place. Claudia makes stitch holders and gave me these great purple stitch holders. I love them. There are some really small ones for socks. These are way too cool. I will treasure them always. Claudia you are way too nice. If anyone is interested, Claudia of Creative Process Designs makes many great styles of markers and Knit Knacks sells them. She also has a catalog of her work. They are all awesome.

Nachaele delivered me some beautiful yarn from Colorful Yarns and she also picked up and delivered the cutest little shoes. See her blog "Eat-Knit-Sleep" for a picture of the shoes. They are so cute. We have the same taste in a lot of things and I had to have them. She is so sweet to have shopped for me. I will show and tell the yarn later.

After lunch we went to Knit Knacks (knitknacks.org) where we just get to sit, knit and talk.
Claudia, Chistie and Marly. Christie is back from vacation. We missed you Christie but I am glad you had a good time. Your sock turned out great.

Nachaele, Leah and Cheryl.

I am actually so blessed to have met so may great people that share my passion for knitting. I love spending my knitting time with them. It is so fun, Is it any wonder that I could not stay in a funk for too long.

I had to leave Knit Knacks "early" Saturday. Yes you heard right, I could not close the place down this week. I was slightly bummed but sometimes I guess you have to do other things besides knit. I suppose anyway..... but there were BD plans to deal with. My friends Patty, Sharon, Drew and DH's brother and sister-in-law, Dale and Jeanne made plans for DH and I. the problem is they would not tell us what we were doing. They said to dress casual and warm so, needless to say I was a little scared! With this group you never know what to expect. As it turns out, they took us up "up the hill' to the Lodge in Blackhawk. They treated DH and I to a wonderful dinner at the White Buffalo. It was a great place! I would go again. There were windows on three sides of the restaurant and the view from there is awesome. To top it off it was snowing and looked really cool. After that we proceeded to lose a few bucks at the slots and poker games. We had only been up there one other time. It is pretty interesting to watch the more serious gamblers. We all had a good time together.

All in all, I have to say I am blessed. I love my life, my family, my friends. I have a good job and a great boss. Everything around me is good right now so I just couldn't stay in a funk for too long. I guess it really is okay to turn 50 even if you have to do it 9 days before your husband!

What about my knitting you ask??? Of course I have been and I will tell you about that later.

Remember this? 25 skeins of Tahki cotton classic I acquired from Colorful Yarns in Centennial. (http://colorfulyarns.blogspot.com) It was on sale so I though this was the perfect time to get some yarn for my Log Cabin blanket from the Mason Dixon book. Great idea at the time but my current "swift" named Kevin was a bit overwhelmed by all this.

Then along came Nachaele (knit-eat-sleep.blogspot.com), who so graciously let me borrow her swift. My swift was one happy dude.

In no time I had this.
I never thought I needed a swift before. I had a ball winder and Kevin really didn't mind being my swift, but after using Nachaele's, I now know why I need a real swift. This took minutes (okay, under one hour, that is still minutes) to wind up. With my old "swift" it would have been hours even days. Not his fault, we just had to be so careful not to tangle up the yarn. My swift liked to "flick" his hands a lot and that caused yarn dropping and tangles, plus we could never really go that fast. I am SOLD. I ordered my own swift. Thanks Nachaele.

Now I have to find somewhere to a put my new project with all this wound yarn. mmmm....
It is my Tepper Jackson bag to the rescue. What other bag could be more fitting to hold all that colorful yarn a bag from Colorful Yarn, what else.
Wow, I even have a matching accessory bag.
Now, I just need more knitting time!

A moment from the Little Princess, Dina. I haven't told you much about her yet so here goes. I got her from a farm in Arkansas. She had gotten too big to show and too big to breed and she just needed a good home. She is the Amazon of Chinese Cresteds. Her parents were both a respectable 12" but she is over 14 1/2", So no one really wanted her after she became full grown. She came to me on her first birthday. She was pretty, but oh so aloof. She was friendly but not the cuddly little thing I wanted at the time. She seemed very independent. Having lived on a farm and all I wasn't sure we could make her happy. She had fleas and she was a mess. She had never traveled before, so she threw up, a lot, at first. We took her home cleaned her up and decided that even though she wasn't warm and cuddly we WOULD give this little girl a good home. I thought that I really needed a puppy to get a real connection and this one was already a year old so I did not think I could ever really connect with her. I was still thinking of getting my puppy also. I am glad I didn't because, I was so wrong. She has turned out to be the best "dog" (loosely used, she is more like one of us, she is a member of our family) we have ever had. She is so very smart and yes, she is warm and cuddly. She seems to love being around us and we love her very much. She is very special to Kevin and I. She is our Little Princess.

I do not knit a ton of socks like some people. I do however enjoy knitting a good pair of socks once in a while. I have to prioritize and disperse them in with my many other knitting projects. There is so much out there that I want to knit, so many things I have in waiting and so many things I have already on the needles, so it is very difficult sometimes to decide what to knit with my limited knitting time. Nonetheless, I have not knit a pair of socks in while so no matter what else is going on, it's time for socks and socks are on the needles!

Saturday at Knit Knacks, I showed Nachaele, Leah, and Christie the Turkish toe cast on and gave them an insight as to how I go about making socks. When I took a toe up sock class from my friend Kathy, I discovered that I enjoy making socks from the toe up for many reasons. When you start a sock at the toe you can be very flexible about the number of total stitches you need for the yarn weight you choose, the pattern stitch you want to do and the needles you want to use. You can fit your sock, as you knit. You can make adjustments as needed, as you try on your sock. For example if you have a larger ankle measurement you can change a needle size at the ankle to accommodate or even add another stitch pattern repeat, you can make a longer heel flap; in other words you can fit your socks to your own feet as you knit. (be sure to write down what you do so you can make a second sock to match!) If you split the yarn into two even balls you will know that you will have enough yarn for each sock. This may be important if you have a bigger foot or want as long of sock as possible without having to buy more yarn.

Unless a really great top down pattern comes along (and it will have to be really spectacular) I will plan my socks like this......

1. Decide on yarn. I decided to only to pull out my Socks that Rock yarn stash, this not all of my sock yarn just my STR.

Tough choice but the winner is ....
Lightweight STR in the color "Lucy"

2. Review this book.....
In my opinion this book, Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch is the only book about socks you will ever need. I said need folks. You need this book no matter what other sock books you have or want, you need this book. You may also want to rely on a stitch pattern book or calendar so you can find different stitch patterns to use for your socks.

Here is my first pair toe up socks I made using the Turkish toe cast on. My friend Kathy gave me the yarn for my birthday last year so I took her class and made these awesome socks. I used a five stitch beaded rib pattern from the "book" The yarn is the medium weight STR in the color Hard Rock. I used a size 1 needle and 60 total stitches. I have a small foot and cannot make a lot of the other sock patterns out there, because they turn out too big. My feet are also not the same size as each other so I find a that a rib pattern gives me a good fit.
I love these socks, they are very special. The yarn was a present from a special friend, they are my first toe up pair and they fit like a glove, a foot glove that is. Store bought socks never fit me. My foot is small, my heel is small and I end up with the heel of the sock riding all over the place, it is most irritating. Well not when I make socks like this! These socks rock!

3. Wind yarn of choice. How beautiful, I almost hate to use it.
Okay, I said almost..... I cast on 16 sts on two 24" circular needles at the same time. I knit around even on each needle, for one round and then started increasing one stitch at the beginning and end of each needle every other row. This equates to an increase of 4 total stitches every other round. You will need to figure out your own formula for how many to cast on based on what you want in a sock, your gauge and your foot measurement. For example, if you have a gauge of 8 sts to the inch and are making a 66 sts pattern you will make a sock that is about 8.25" around. (Funny, but that is the measurement of my foot and it is my ankle measurement mmmm....) But it really doesn't matter, just figure out what number will get you to 1/2 your total number of sock stitches on each needle (using a 2 needle method or a 1 needle magic loop method.) It is a little bit of math but not bad. It is so worth it to get an absolutely fabulous, seamless toe, like this.
With the lightweight STR and Size 1 needles, I calculated that I could go up to 66 total stitches for my foot circumference, which then equates to a six stitch pattern. (there again, more math but worth it.) I started with 16 stitches on 2 needles and ended up with 33 stitches on each needle. When increasing I had to increase only once at the beginning of each needle one time, (instead of increasing at the beginning and the end) to get to my 33 stitches on each needle. After I increased to the total number of stitches I wanted, I knit a round even and then started the foot of my sock. I am using a six stitch, slip stitch (say that one fast 3 times) pattern that is based on a 3 x 3 rib. With the six stitch pattern I needed to be able to knit the first three stitches of the six stitch repeat at the end of my instep stitches so I can have a balanced pattern over the instep. That is why I needed 33 stitches on the instep needle (repeat of 6 +3.) Then of course, I needed the same number for the bottom of the foot which I knit in plain stockinette. This method works. (hard for me to explain so TRUST ME, it works) WOW - What a perfect fit. You gotta love this toe up method! Here is the toe from the back of the sock. Awesome, no seams.
The sock is started and is on its way UP. I did rip twice in the beginning and tried a couple of different stitch combinations before I chose this one with this yarn. So anal, but so easy when you start from the toe. I think I have the beginning of another great pair of socks! We shall see... More to come.

I leave you with a message from Dina aka "Little Princess"
Stop knitting and take me out to play now, please...

Monday, time for lunch. It is a beautiful day; out of the office onto the 16th Mall.
Just missed a shuttle; wait patiently for the next one.
Of course the wait is not usually very long.

Make a quick stop at Starbucks for an iced tea.
On to Independence Plaza to meet the lunch hour knit gang and KNIT!
Kathy and Sharon are here. Denise shows up a bit later.
On the left is the Kathy (http://mountainpurl.blogspot.com) who taught me how to do a Turkish toe up cast on and knit toe up socks. She has been knitting since she was 5 and teaches at String in Highlands Ranch on her "off" time. I was knitting in the lobby of another building, minding my own business, when Kathy and Denise walked by and Kathy said "what you making?" They just kind of picked me up and we have been knitting together ever since. It is so much more fun to knit with people that share your passion for knitting. I have learned a lot from Kathy. she is always willing to share her vast knitting knowledge. If you get a chance to take a class from her, she is an awesome teacher.

I used to work with Sharon and she knew how to knit but had not been really knitting a lot at the time, but she was starting to getting herself into it again so I invited her to knit with us at lunch. She definitely caught the knitting fever and has been going strong ever since. Kathy and Sharon are both going on the Sea Socks Cruise next week. I expect to see lots of pictures!

Look at Sharon with her beautiful shawl. It is absolutely a work of art. She should be very proud.

Darn, lunch hour is just too short. Like I always say work just gets in the way of my knitting. At least we have the hour in the middle of the day, it really helps to break up the day and keep me going.

What am I working on, you ask???? Long story, I will tell you about it later.

It is late so I leave you with some shots of the "Little Princess" who has suddenly become camera shy.
I am trying to wake up to go to bed.

I made it to the couch, what more do you want! Good Night!