Missed a Milestone

Well folks, I didn't notice that my last post was a milestone... 50 posts! That's not so many, but considering my 1 year blogiversary is at the end of April, I'd say averaging a post a week isn't too darn bad! I'm trying to think up some great contest... so keep your eyes open for it here!

Speaking of contests, someone from the Coffee swap is putting on a Malabrigo Contest! Go post a comment by 5pm EST tomorrow to be entered to win (mention that you saw this on my blog and YOU get entered twice!).

I'll post later with some more stuff, but honestly there hasn't been much knitting-wise since I finished my socks for SM2. The next pattern doesn't come out until April 1st. I'm doing some travelling this weekend though (going to visit C's friends/family) and so may get some in during the car ride or something.

Happy knitting!

On to Round 2! (and a Coffee Swap!)

I did it! I finished my socks and just snuck in to get to the next round (number 34 out of a possible 40)!! Horray! I have to say I was quite excited. I definitely didn't get as much knitting done as I had hoped/wanted last weekend, and with the numbers creeping upwards and not being able to knit Monday or Tuesday because of work, I was getting increasingly nervous that my goal of making it through Round #1 would not come to pass. But I put in a solid 10+ hours of knitting on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and pulled it out around 9am Thursday. I would of course love to make it through Round #2 as well, but I definitely am realistic in my chances. I think it might even be more fun on the sidelines since you actually get a chance to read the forums on Ravelry and Flickr!

And of course because I like to give (and receive) gifts... I joined another swap. I've been reading random people's blogs due to SM2, and came across a great one. The Spring Fling Coffee and Yarn Swap. I have to say... I love coffee (in it's highly cream and sugared form, haha) and who wouldn't love a swap that involved both coffee and yarn? So to my future swap partner, here is my questionnaire!

Coffee

1. What is your preference? Whole beans or ground?

Well, I guess I have to say ground since I don't own a grinder. I've heard that it's great from freshly ground beans though. ETA.. hahaha... ironically my boyfriend got me a coffee grinder as an Easter present! Now to find some whole bean coffee...

2. What kind of coffees do you enjoy? A rich, bold roast; a light, fresh one, or something in between? Leaded or non?

I prefer the milder roasts, with the exception of my love for espresso (I even have one of the stove top "italian coffee" percolators). I've always had "leaded" coffee... can't say I've ever tried decaf.

3. If you were headed out right now to buy some coffee for the house, what would you be picking up?

I have to say I'm a flavored coffee nut (probably blasphemy to all you die hard coffee drinkers). We've been drinking the Foldger's Gourmet selections the most, and also buy the "one pot" (though we get 2 :o)) bags from Steep & Brew (a -- I think -- local coffee company).

4. Do you drink for caffeine, pleasure, or both?

Both. At work it's mostly for the caffeine, but at home mostly for pleasure. Except those odd days where by gosh I need a cup to get functioning at home.

5. Do you enjoy flavored coffees? How about add-ins or flavored creamers?

LOVE flavored coffees. I just love the added dimension it gives to the flavor. Plus, who am I kidding, I have a LARGE sweet tooth. Anything that tastes like caramel, chocolate and hazelnut can't be bad in my book! I do also use the flavored creamers (yes, even if it's also flavored coffee!).

6. A large, lovely mug or a small, dainty cup?

Large! I love being able to wrap both hands through the handle and cozy up with it.

7. Describe your perfect cup - not JUST the coffee, but how you'd enjoy it!

Hmm.. I'd have to say a caramel coffee with hazelnut creamer poured into a large mug that I can warm my hands on while snuggling under an afghan and watching the Food Network. Oh man. Now I really want some coffee!!

8. You're sitting down to enjoy a nice cup in the local coffee shop, knitting bag in hand, iPod all tuned up - or maybe you're there with a few friends for knit night! What treat do you pick up to enjoy with your coffee? A sweet, rich brownie, or something more healthy? How about a salty treat? What goes best with that great cup and company?

Sweet. Always sweet, lol. But of course not too crumby or sticky if I'm knitting!

Yarn

1. Do you knit or crochet?

I knit. I've been trying to figure out crochet for the longest time. I really want to crochet (heh.. I wrote knit at first) Babette.

2. What are your favorite types of yarns to work with?

Hmmm. I really tend to like the natural fibers more than acrylic (though I've definitely worked with my fair share of acrylic). I tend to prefer the skinnier half of the yarn spectrum (sock and lace weight). Honestly, as long as it's soft and/or has amazing colors, I like it.

3. What do you have on the needles (or hook!) right now?

Ho boy. Do I really want to admit all this, lol. I have 3-4 socks OTN that were put to the side when Christmas knitting started and haven't really been picked up again. I have an afghan that has been an ongoing project since Spring of 2006. I have a few things that were supposed to be Christmas presents but now have moved on to "other holiday" presents. And a cute little pig that I'm knitting for my sister but got hung up on the little bit of crochet for the legs.

4. What are your favorite colors in yarns? What about those that you'd never find in your stash?

I love most colors! I tend to lean toward the deep reds/burgendies or blue greens. The only color that I would absolutely dislike would be pinks (the only pink I have in my stash is for the pig for my sister!) and some purples. I'm not a very girly-girl in that sense.

5. What sort of needles or hooks do you enjoy using? Any you just detest?

I like metal needles. There, I've said it. I really am not very fond of bamboo, I always feel like they are going to break on me! For socks I usually use dpns and not circs.

6. Are there any particular notions you absolute do NOT need? Some of us swap a lot - are you sure that you have enough tape measures to last your lifetime? Enough stitch markers to mark every stitch of a 10 foot wide afghan?

Honestly, can't really think of too much. I do have quite a few stitch markers, but who can't use some more?

7. You walk into the yarn shop and have exactly and only enough money to purchase 2 skeins of yarn in their 2 for 20 special they have going..The choices are a soft, thick cotton/viscose blend in your favorite colors, slightly variegated..a beautiful sock yarn that's just squishy and sproingy in your hands.. a soft, worsted weight wool like malabrigo.. and a lovely bamboo blend with colors to just die for. Which do you walk out the door with?

Hmmm... tough choice. Normally I would say the sock yarn. But, given the size of my sock yarn stash, I may have to go for the Malabrigo-esque yarn. I've heard it's lovely:o)

Spring

1. We're starting sign-ups on the first day of Spring - is it already truly Spring-like where you are?

Hahahaha. Well, last week it was in the upper 40's and most of the record setting amount of snow had actually melted. Today however, it snowed another 7 inches!! Argh. I will be so happy when this is over...

2. What's your favorite spring flower? Do you have one?

I love daisies. They're so simple and pretty! I have to say though, that I rather dislike tulips, so please, do not send anything with tulips! I grew up in Holland, MI where we have "Tulip Time" every spring. It rather killed anything that could be beautiful about the flower to me.

3. What do you most look forward to about springtime?

Not having to scrape my car anymore :o). No, I love the smell in the air and the birds chirping and the random spring thunderstorms.

4. They've predicted a gorgeous day tomorrow - Sunny and about 65 with a nice breeze - how do you spend your day?

Walking with my boyfriend in the park, and then maybe knitting with the windows open to let in the breeze.

5. The day after, it's going to be cooler and pouring down rain - does that impact your mood? How do you spend that day? what helps cheer you up?

I love rain so it wouldn't affect me at all. Maybe make me feel less guilty about sitting inside and knitting!? haha. Knitting always helps me feel better though.. it's a great stress reliever for me.

Odds n Ends

1. Do you collect anything BESIDES yarn and needles?

I do have a collection of bags (that I use for knitting) that have various city names from around Europe on them. Otherwise I'm fairly collection free.

2. Are you allergic to anything?

Nothing not medically related :o)

3. Do you have pets?

Two gorgeous kittens Buddy and Kati (AKA Girlie)-- See adorable sleeping kitties in photo above.

4. Is this your first swap, or are you an old pro? What are the last 2 swaps you participated in?

This will be my 3rd swap. I participated in the Secret Pals 11 and also in a knitting swap on Facebook.

5. List 3 of your favorite blogs - craft related or not - and tell us why you love them.

Hmmm... only 3 huh. Well, number 1 would have to be BrooklynTweed. I love his photography and his adaptation of patterns is absolutely inspiring!. Number 2 is JanuaryOne. Her photography is also amazing and I find her posts to be interesting and fun. Lastly, hmm, probably Elemmaciltur. Another one with gorgeous photos (guess I'm a sucker for them). I find his content on spinning to be interesting, and plus I've met him and love hearing about his life in Germany.

OK... well I think that's it for now! Have a great Easter weekend.. I'll be working :o(.

Zombie Slime

Hi! Just a quick post since I'm at work (and SM2 has started! should be knitting if I'm not working! haha..). The first pattern is out and it is really cool! It's luckily top down with a heel flap (my forte!) so it's not too challenging construction-wise. It's full of (purposefully) dropped stitches... which gives it an interesting effect. I'll post more when I'm done!

Happy (speed) knitting!

Sock Madness

Well, SM2 starts in a little less than a week. I'm getting excited, but also a little nervous. I have to work the day before and night of the first pattern release (Thursday 3/13). I just hope I can make it up Friday-Sunday when I don't have to work. I guess they've decided to do it a little differently this time around in that the first x number of people to complete in your division move on to the next round instead of pairing knitters up. I have a feeling this is a lot easier for the organizers of the group-- especially with 200+ knitters!

There's been lots of talk about what the patterns may be though. An organizer has already said they will mostly be toe-up (eep!) and there is one with a Japanese Short Row Heel. I have to say at this point my only goal is to make it past Round #1... though that may not even happen! Mostly I'm in it for the camaraderie, new techniques, and new patterns. I've been told it's still fun from the sidelines... which is good because that's where I'm going to be spending a lot of time.

I'm going to have to go through my sock yarn stash Monday and Tuesday and figure out what yarns I'll be using. There's a lot to go through as you can see from the last post (ca. 12 miles of just sock yarn), but I'm looking forward to it. Swatching and winding are in order. These are the requirements-- with yarn used for test knitting as a suggestion:

Yarn
Needles
Gauge

A
About 360 yards of fingering weight yarn - Louet Gems Merino/Claudia’s Handpaint
US Size 1
8.5 st /inch

B
1 Skein fingering weight – Colinette Jitterbug/Opal Handpaint
US Size 1
32 st /4 inches

C
350 yds fingering weight - ? /Socks That Rock Lightweight
US Size 1
8.5 st /inch

D
400 yards of 2 shades of laceweight – Knit Picks Shadow Heathered /Tess Designer Superwash Laceweight
US Size 2
35 st /4 inches and 40 st /4 inches (2 slipped stitch patterns are used)

E
340 yards fingering weight - ? / Socks That Rock
US Size 1.5 (2.5 mm)
8.5 st /in

F
2 skeins fingering weight yarn – Knit Picks Felici/ Dancing Leaf Farm Sock Hop
US Size 1 (2.25 mm)
8 st /inch

G
Odd balls of fingering weight yarn (leftovers) and 225 meters of solid fingering weight
Us Size 1 (2.5 mm)
9 st /inch

* Optional Round
400 yards fingering weight – Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
US size 2
?

There are some exciting teasers on the SM2 website (here, here, here, here, here, and here) so it's getting me pretty excited to try to guess what the socks are going to look like.

OK, that's all for now. I will probably post a picture of the yarns I've chosen for the competition, but may not post much else until the first pair is finished :o).

Happy Knitting Everyone!

P.S. Anyone who reads this in SM2? I'm in the UConn Cast Ons.

Hi my name is KnitEurope and I'm a Yarnoholic

So I joined a new group: Stashalong. This post is also posted on their blog, but I figured it would be good to have multiple people holding me responsible.

This is most of my stash (minus the yarn for 2 afghans and what is with several UFOs):


But this is the main reason I joined the group (sorry the pic's so blurry):


That's all sock yarn. Hi my name is KnitEurope and I am a Sock Yarnaholic.

I am a member of Ravelry and have been busy entering my stash into the database. I looked at it one day (after exporting it to Excel... Ravelry is really an amazing thing, if you're not signed up go jump on the waitlist!) and saw that I had a little over 12 miles of yarn. I was quite astounded and searched around trying to find stashbusting groups. At the same time I realized that I didn't have all of my yarn cataloged yet. Doh. At the present time the total is just under 20 miles. This does not include a BUNCH of yarn earmarked for an afghan I'm about 40% done with. Or the 2 skeins of Malabrigo lace weight that I ordered (hey, I needed to get above the free shipping point, and it was my birthday :o)) last week.

Anyways, on to the goals:

Goals through Mid-Year (end of June)
- Knit a pattern from my knitting books/magazines (1+ pattern per month)
- Knit 2 miles worth of sock yarn

Goals for March
- Knit 3 large squares worth on my Rambling Rows afghan
- Finish the pair of socks for my future MIL
- Finish the pig for my sister
- Complete the first pair of socks for Sock Madness 2 (pattern which comes out 3/13)

Exceptions

- I can buy knitting books/magazines/notions/needles

- I can buy yarn for a specific project (not socks!) IF:

- I still end up with a negative outcome for the month

- It's on sale

- The goals for the month are already met

- I will give an exception to sock yarn IF:

- It is yarn for a pattern in SM2 and nothing from my stash works (ie I know there is a pattern in laceweight which I do not have appropriate yarn for. If I'm still in for that round, I am allowed to buy yarn).

- OR it is on sale and a yarn I have never bought before.

- I still must end up negative for the month

- I knit an extra pair of socks that month.

Totals
grams yarn in stash: 10580.75
yards yarn in stash: 34568.9 (that's 19.6 miles!!)

So yeah. No more yarn buying!