Socks for Everyone (except Dad) - Yay!!!

This will be known as the sock post!  I knit up three lovely pairs of socks recently, and for some reason, hand-knit socks make me so happy - especially when the socks are for Camden and Tiberius.  Something about wee hand-knit socks on little kids....

My fancy socks are the Kai Mei pattern by Cookie A.  (She is well-known for her awesome patterns, but maybe most famous (aha!) for the Monkey Sock, which is a free pattern - and which I have yet to knit.)  Kai Mei can be found in her book, Sock Innovation.  (THIS link on Amazon shows that you may have to buy it used, though I'm sure it can be found new SOMEwhere, LOL.....It is also available on Kindle).  I have knit one of her patterns before, but I can't, for the life of me, find a picture...and the socks were a gift for a friend.  There is errata for this pattern.  You can find a link on the pattern page on Ravelry and go from there.  In this case, where the pattern comes from a book, I just pen the correct information directly onto the page in the book.

The pattern is very easy, and with this particular pair of socks, I wanted to do them concurrently, sort of - LOL....I did the leg portion of each one first, before going back to the first sock to finish it.  I never cut the yarn, nor did I have to balls with which to work, so, I just knit from either end of the cake.

The yarn is Black Trillium Fibers, though I am only sort of sure the base is Pebble Sock, and I can't recall the colorway name at all, though surely the tag is somewhere in this house....It is a gorgeous blue with purple sort of peeking through.  I purchased it years ago, and I'm glad I finally used it!  The socks did take forever, though, in terms of the fact that I knit the legs months ago and only just got back to finishing them...like I seem to do with adult socks.  I stuck with the original cast-on amount, as that is a good number for me, and I did add a repeat at the end - and added a few stitches for my bunion on the right sock.  Of course.

Awesome!

As for Tiberius's sock, I can't remember the name of this yarn, either, as it seems it was an "extra" with something...I think it came with one of my Knit Purl sock club installments back in the day.  I do know I purchased the orange at a local yarn store...why I purchased one 50 gram skein, I have no idea, but it works for heels and toes, eh?  For his socks - and Camden's - I used Knitting Pure and Simple Easy Children's Lightweight Sock pattern, which is a paper pattern I'd picked up at a LYS back in the day.  I love that I can use this pattern for them through part of elementary school!  Camden's sock was knit using the orange and the Madelinetosh sock yarn used in socks I knit for Tiberius before he was born.  I will totally be able to get one more pair out of this yarn, I am hoping....we will see!  Even if it's just heels and toes for a sock for ME, LOL.

Tiberius's socks took six whole days, but Camden's seemed to drag on a bit...apparently, 52 stitches, as opposed to 44, is a difference of a MILLION :O  They took almost a month, but they ARE pretty stinkin' cute.  I'm noticing, though, especially with her socks, that my row gauge, as is always the case, seems especially tight when my STITCH gauge is on.  It isn't a big deal, normally - except that we have a whole instep to consider.  I really think I need to start lengthening the heel flap because of this.  I did lengthen it a row or two on Camden's socks, but it probably needs to be more like four rows longer.  The socks fit great around her foot and around her ankle/leg, but getting them up and over is a pain.  I'm sure a soaking will loosen them up a bit, but something I need to remember, anyway.

Chubbs!

I LOVE these!

On another note....poor Matt needs hand-knit socks.  I started some for him years ago....and have basically ripped them out and need to start over.  Sad times.  Soon enough!!!

And more family shenanigans....

Rock piles....good times

Seriously

For real....

His sister has a bike.  The end.

Good 'ole family reading time

Poor kitty...

Swept Away - By the Wind!!! A Shawl

My one phone picture

I was super excited to knit up the Windswept Shawl by Molly Klatt of A Homespun House as soon as I saw the pattern release!  Of course.....the starting of it took a while.  I just couldn't figure out WHAT to do about my yarn choice.  I thought maybe I'd go with some Quince and Co. Chickadee, but I couldn't bring myself to use a solid-colored yarn with no depth - for an entire shawl.  I'm still interested in trying it out, as I know it's a quality yarn and that people love it, but I think I'd use it for a hat for the kids, aha!  I was also interested in trying some Sundara sport weight yarn, but I never happened upon a colorway on sport weight in one of their daily updates (I DID miss out on one stocking that I should have jumped on right away).  I also REALLY wanted to buy some of The Fibre Company's Road to China Light, but I felt badly spending so much money, though the yarn isn't truly badly priced.

Anyway, I FINALLY decided on Rosy Green Wool in the Cheeky Merino Base - in the colorways Rose Garden and Sand, which I purchased from Warm 'n Fuzzy, who has great customer service.  I'd originally planned on doing the whole shawl in Sand, but I couldn't imagine myself wrapped up in that much neutral color, aha!  I was worried, too, about using the red, but Matt said to go with it, so, I did.  I have a few other Rosy Green Wool colorways on two other bases, which I'm excited to try, so, I was glad to use it for something right away!

Thank goodness her dad was making her smile

The pattern went along mostly swimmingly - I did create a problem for myself in the very beginning, as I wasn't sure about whether or not to hold my yarn in the back or front when doing a stitch...and then later, I was confused about a pattern direction.  I went ahead at that time, as I figured I was correct - and it turned out I was, and the pattern instructions were fixed in that spot.  I get so nuts about reading directions and worrying, though I know other people just zoom along, not worrying at all, aha!

The yarn was definitely lovely, though my hands were - and still ARE - feeling the pain of so much purling and yarn-in-front moves, so, that section seemed to take forever.  I flew through the red edging, and though I was worried it'd be too small, the shawl blocked out nicely.  It's definitely deep enough.  I am interested, though, since I mention it, in doing some more crescent-shaped shawls/shallower shawls, as I'm so short and want to see how they fit.  I'm still bummed my Bryce Canyon came out so small back when I knit that - totally should have gone up a needle size on that one, oops.

I have definitely entered into a few KALs with this one, though it's a wonder I finished it, as it took me so long to get started, due to the lack of yarn.  Turns out it took me three weeks to knit, which isn't too bad!

My lovely card from Camden!

First time back in Vancouver in five months...and hard at work!

Somebody thinks she is claiming my shawl

Our first date night in FOREVER

Sewn Up in One Day! A Music Class Set

I'm so glad I had prepped a few projects, tracing-wise and cutting-wise.  It makes it that much easier to start sewing when I push the kids and their dad out the front door.  Last weekend, they went to Skylight Cave for a couple hours while I got my sew on.  I pulled out the fabric for the Music Class top and skirt by Oliver and S.  I feel like it's the third time I've sewn the top, but it's definitely only the second time I've sewn the skirt.

First full incarnation of this outfit...Summer 2013

Other than sewing up the twelve pintucks, LOL, the outfit goes together quite fast.  I love that the skirt is stinkin' cute but super simple.  The top takes longer, of course, as there is hand-sewing at the collar.  I'm not sure if it's my cleanest finish, but I'm always trying to get that placket/collar join better every time I sew it.

I used stash fabric for both items... The Alice in Wonderland print is something I've had for a few years, and there was only a yard, so, I was never quite sure what to do with it, but yay - a solution!  I was originally going to pair the shirt with pink corduroy, but I couldn't handle all that blinding pink in one outfit, aha!

My, my, a little homeschool girl

As always, I lengthened the top by a full size or two, and I did lengthen the sleeves this time, too, even though they're short.

I will have to WAY apologize for the disappearing ink NOT disappearing.... YIKES.  I had "washed" it out before leaving the house for Camden's Community Day, but it reappeared, of course.  And I'm not a magical faery elf creature with fancy photoshop skills ;)

Simple as that, though - easy outfit, cute results, yay for one more outfit out of the way!  I thought I'd get a chance to sew up the Zonen Jacob pants, too, but that didn't happen....maybe this weekend!

And....recent times...

Second week of Community Day

A day at Shevlin Park