Afghan Sampler Crochet-a-Long

Our local yarn store, Knit 'n Knibble, recently started a Crochet-a-Long using the Leisure Arts booklet entitled 63 Sampler Stitches to Crochet.  I have finished the first two of the 63, and I love them!!!  The yarn is Cascade 220.

This first one is square 5 and the second one is square 1:



I will be using random colors for each square, so it should be wild and crazy.  ;)

It's All About the Toes Today

I finished three socks today, so I have 2.5 pairs of socks to show you ...

First, I finished my Lace Rib socks by Charlene Schurch (from Sensational Knitted Socks).  They are much more lime green than the picture shows.

Then, I finished my vanilla Kiss in the Rain socks. I LOVE this yarn! (Opal)

And lastly, I finished the first sock in a pair that I started ages ago. This is a vanilla sock that I have named Green Lollipops. The yarn is Twin Cities by Wisdom Yarns.

Since I finished so much, I had Joe pick a bag for my Self Imposed Sock Club, and he chose this yarn for me. LOVE!

This pair will be my first pair of toe up socks.  I am going to do the Gusset Heel Basic Socks by Wendy D. Johnson's book "Socks From the Toe Up."  (I have knit a couple of toe up socks but I ripped them out.  This will be my first finished pair.  I want to master toe up as well as I have cuff down.

Brainless Dishcloths

My allergies went insane this weekend, so I was only in the mood to do "brainless" knitting.

I made 4 dishcloths while listening to knitting podcasts. I still need to weave in the ends ...

Self-Imposed Sock Club

Last night I took all of my self-striping yarns and laid them out on the bed. I have enough yarn for 22 pairs of socks!

(Sorry the picture is a little blurry.)

Then I put them all in brown paper bags ....

So, as soon as I finish a pair of vanilla socks, I will have hubby pull a bag out of the pile for me. I can't wait to see what I get to knit! Thanks to the Yarn Harlot for this idea.

Also, I found a Self-Imposed Sock Club group on Ravelry, so of course I had to join. ;)

Places I've Been

visited 20 states (40%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

I need to travel more often!

Knitting Plans

I have been obsessed with knitting socks for about three years now.  I have purchased a bit of sock yarn, and several friends have also donated to my stash.  I do like to KNIT fancy socks, but I prefer to WEAR plain vanilla socks, or at least socks that have little or no patterning on the foot. 

I ALWAYS have a pair of "vanilla" socks on the needles and usually also have a fancier pair going simultaneously (along with my myriad of other WIPs).

The Yarn Harlot has a "Self-Imposed Sock Club," and I think this is a brilliant idea.
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2010_01.html

She took 12 baggies and placed in them 12 balls/hanks of sock yarn.  At the start of each month she pulls out a bag randomly and knits that pair of socks.

I am going to do something similar, but I will use all of my self-striping yarn that I LOVE and put them in brown paper bags.  As I finish each vanilla sock, I will pull out a bag (randomly) and knit whichever yarn is in the bag.  This will be such fun!

I will take a pictures of the process when I do this (over the next few days).  I can't wait to see what I pull out first.

Another thing I will do is put some WIPs in the bags and force myself to finish them as I pull them out.  I currently have 2 pairs of socks that are in progress (barely started) that I can do that with.

Last night I started my first sweater.  It's the Ano sweater by Berroco.
http://www.berroco.com/292.297/296/296_ano_pv.html

I won the sweater kit last summer as a door prize at the Knit 'n Knibble birthday bash.  I would never have picked this color, but it is really growing on me as I knit it.  The yarn is a little splitty, so I have to keep an eye on my stitches.  This will be my first sweater, and I know I am going to learn a lot.

Here's my progress from last night: