Garter Rib Socks

HSKS Trivia

Who are the two people speaking in this quote and what book is it from?

"I'm not trying to say what she did was sensible. I'm just trying to make you see how she was feeling at the time."

"You should write a book, translating mad things girls do so boys can understand them." Hermione and Ron, The Order of the Phoenix

An old FO

The details:
Yarn: Great Adirondack - Soxie, in a colorway I no longer remember the name of.
Needles: Knitpicks Classic Circular, size US 0
Gauge: 8 sts to the inch.
Pattern: None.
Notes: This is the second pair of socks I knit, and just like the first there was no pattern. I took elements I liked and threw them together.

These socks were knit toe up. I used a short row toe and heel and simply used the Garter Rib pattern instead of regular ribbing.

The yarn is nice, the colors deep, I'll be knitting with it again.

The sock blockers were purchased from Scout's Swag with a gift certificate I won a while ago in a blog contest. I absolutely love them! Thank you again Scout!

Surprised!

I ran home on lunch today and much to my surprise, there was a package waiting for me.

I tried to remember if I was expecting anything, but I couldn't think of a single thing.

There was no name on the return address... But then it clicked. I knew that return address. It was from my secret pal.

I tore into the box, ripped open the card:



So cute! And so what was waiting for me under the wrapping paper:



You might be wondering what's in the box?




And after opening all the little bundles, I found this:



2 bars of dark chocolate. Yum! Post-its in the shape of the letter H. A little clay pot hula girl! 4 little containers for stitchmarkers, tapestry needles and etc. And a beauitful hank of Tess Designer Yarns sock yarn. Thank you so much Secret Pal. I love all of it and am so excited to try out that Tess sock yarn, and finally have all of my stitch markers in once place and organized!

All this knitting, and finally.... Something to show for it!

There has been plenty of knitting here at Midnight Purls, and plenty of talking about knitting.... But it's been a long while since I've had an FO to show for it!

River Rapids Socks

Pattern: River Rapids Socks by Sockbug
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks That Rock - Lightweight in Blue Moonstone
Needles: Knitpicks Circular, size us #0
Gauge: 8 sts/inch
Notes: The pattern calls for a sportweight yarn and a gauge of 7.5 sts per inch. At that gauge, these socks would be too loose for my tastes, and I didn't have any sport weight yarn laying around. So I choose my old stand by of fingering weight, 8 sts per inch. I'm glad I did. These socks are the best fitting one I've knit thus far!

This was my first pair of top down socks, and I found the instructions both clear and easy to follow. The stitch pattern was easy to memorize, and fun to knit. Not only will I be knitting these again, but I'll also be knitting other Sockbug patterns.

Simple Sewing

A few weeks ago, I headed up to Knitxcore's for a relaxing Sunday. Our usual Sunday rituals involve coffee and knitting, but this Sunday we opted to sew instead.

With the help of Robbie, and his newly purchased book, I quickly sewed up a little gift for Janet, who won my blogiversary contest.

His new book is Simple Sewing, by Lotta Jansdotter, and to say the projects are cute would be a total understatement. If you get the chance to check out it in person and flip through it, do so. You will not be disappointed.

Janet's favorite color is lilac, so I decided I wanted to do a few things. The first was to have lilac be the main color of the bag. Then I decided I wanted a contrasting color for the bottom. I also decided I wanted to little applique somewhere on the bag.

I loved the finished product, and I'm glad to hear that Janet does as well!



A close up of the applique:




I had so much fun making this bag. I already have plans of making more in the future!

And since this is after all a knitting blog, here's some yarn pron!



That's Yarn Pirate in the Daisy colorway, and a Isobel. (I know, Isobel was previously pictured, but this one is more true to the colors.)

I am positively excited that Yarn Pirate is now available for special order, and if I wasn't under strict orders from Joe not to buy anything off of my amazon wishlist, or any yarn from Yarn Pirate or Blue Moon Fiber Arts because my birthday is coming up in two weeks, I'd be signing over my paycheck to Georgia.

June 4th. I'll be 26. I'm handling it much better than I handled turning 25. Last year I had what I called a midlife crisis. But this year, it doesn't send me into a panic when I hear the number "26."

7 things.

The particulars - Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog. I’ve been tagged by Sarah!

1. I love to sew. So much so that I actually took sewing classes all through high school. I used to make clothes for myself and for my friends. Once high school was over, I quickly disregarded sewing as I didn't have a sewing machine at home to use. I've decided to get back into it and with the help of knitxcore, have successfully completed my first sewing project in a very long time. Look for fun sewing projects being added to this blog in the future!

2. I am a die hard Frank Sinatra fan. My favorite Frank song is "Satisfy Me One More Time." Apparently it is one of his lesser known songs. In fact, I've actually gotten into arguments with a few elderly gentlemen about whether or not Frank sang said song. Well he did. I know. My grandpop taught me well.

3. Music plays a very important role in my life. My friends and I are huge fans of karaoke, and it seems that every good moment in my life, every happy memory I have is set to a song. It's like I have my own eclectic soundtrack.

4. I have an indented skull fracture. It happened when I was a little kid. I flew out of a shopping cart that the wind had blown across a parking lot. Apparently the doctors told my mom I would need to wear a helmet for the rest of my life to protect my damaged skull, and that I needed holes drilled into my skull to relieve the pressure from my brain swelling. Someone must have been looking out for me, because as it turns out, I ended up not needing either.

5. I am the most accident prone person I know. I injure myself at least once a day, most of the time in the strangest of ways. Luckily they're never serious injuries and it provides everyone around me with a good laugh.

6. I paint. I don't paint still lifes or portraits. I more just slap paint around a canvas until I like the look. Sometimes I add things to them to make them more interesting. I've used tarot cards, glass marbles, mirrors. It's a great way to relieve stress, and despite the fact that I don't think they're anything special, a few other people do. Mostly my mom, and a few of our clients who have actually asked me to paint for them.

7. This one is something I've been keeping to myself for a little while now, but I'm so excited, I can no longer keep my mouth shut. I'm going apartment hunting at the end of this year. Well actually, Joe and I are going apartment hunting together. Ideally, we're hoping that if we put our names on the waiting list at the one apartment complex we really want to get into, we will be moving at the end of tax season next year. With my luck, it will actually be mid tax season, but regardless, I'm excited. I love organizing and decorating and the thought of knitting and sewing all kinds of things for our new home makes me happy.

I tag Leah, Monica, Andrea, Tammy, Rachel, Janet, and Robbie.

I really am one lucky gal!

This past Saturday, Joe offered to take me to Woolbearers, my just right outside of local yarn store that had just recently moved into a bigger space.

I have to tell you, at that moment, I felt two things. The first naturally being absolute happiness, after all, I am a yarn addict. The second, dread.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who can spend an hour or two at the yarn store, just looking at yarn, patterns, chatting with other people. I'm completely content doing so, but would Joe be perfectly content waiting around for me to just buy some damn yarn already?

Well as it turns out, Joe is awesome yarn store company. Not once did he rush me, roll his eyes or exhale loudly in an attempt to hint that I should hurry. In fact, he wandered around with me, pointing out various yarns, asking questions such as "Can't you knit socks with any yarn, does it have to be "sock yarn?" Why can't you use this? It's really pretty." He also offered up help in the color department, pointing out that I "need brighter sock yarn", as I always pick such muted colors, and pointing out that the skein of Cherry Tree Hill I passed up really would have brought out the color of my eyes. [It was cute.] He also helped steer me away from the yarns I'm allregic too, pointing out that I should not buy that skein I saw in the bottom shelf, because there was mohair in it.

But the moment that really floored me was when I spotted the sock knitting books and wondered outloud if they had a copy of Knitting Vintage Socks. Joe's reply... "Isn't that one of the Nancy Bush books you really want?" A man who knows who Nancy Bush is, now that's a keeper!

So with Joe's help I walked out of there with four hanks of sock yarn, two of Nature's Palate, and two of Claudia's Hand Painted in the Plumicious colorway [pictured below]:



After the yarn store, we spent some time wandering around downtown. There are some really cute shops in Mount Holly, including a teddy bear shop where he bought me the cutest stuffed porcupine.

Eventually we made our way to the Crow Bar, The waterfront bar part of the Robin's Nest Restaurant for a light dinner. Joe ordered the Salmon Cakes, and I ordered the Nachos. 30 minutes after we placed our order, they came out to tell us they were out of Nachos. So I then ordered Buffalo Chicken Tenders. Our food arrived shortly after that. Joe's salmon cake was really good, however the chicken was ice cold. Despite the bad food service, the bartender was great and the drinks were really good. I doubt I would be going back there again however. I'm normally not one to complain, but there were just too many issues getting our food.

Other yarn aquired this week include but are not limited to:

Vesper Sock Yarn in the AquaMelon colorway:



And a hank of Yarn Pirate in the Isobel colorway that The Plucky Knitter was kind enough to let me take off of her hands for her:



My apologies about the crappy picture quality. I currently have no digital camera, all the cameras in my house are currently on vacation in Florida, along with the rest of my family.

Harry Potter Weekly Trivia

Trivia #1
What’s the name of this potion?
This potion has the colour of molten gold, and while exposed to the air, large drops will leap like goldfish above the surface without spilling.

Answer: Felix Felices

Trivia #2
Which book is this line from?
“Harry and Cho were now too embarrassed to look at each other, let alone talk to each other; what if Ron and Hermione started going out together, then split up? Could their friendship survive it? Harry remembered the few weeks when they had not been talking to each other in third year; he had not enjoyed trying to bridge the distance between them. And then, what if they didn’t split up? What if they became like Bill and Fleur, and it became excrutiatingly embarrassing to be in their presence, so that he was shut out for good?”

Answer: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Trivia #3
Who utters these words?
“Oh I am glad I’m not on duty. I wouldn’t fancy having to go and tell the Irish they’ve got to stop celebrating.”

Answer: Arthur Weasley

Ravelry!

Have you guys heard all the hype about Ravelry? It's being talked about all over the blogging community. And, everything they've been saying is true.

I was lucky enough to score an invite from Maryse! I quickly logged in to see if Ravelry was as great as everyone was saying it was, to see if it was as addictive as everyone is saying it is, and within moments I was hooked.

I don't know about you guys, but when I'm going to start a project, I google it to see what other knitters have to say about it, sometimes I google it for yarn recommendations, and I often google certain yarns I've accumulated for ideas as well.

Ravelry eliminates all that leg work. You can find all of that information out with just a click of a mouse. There's a section for your projects, a queue for projects you want to "bookmark", a stash section where you can keep your yarn information, and there's even a friends list for you to add people to as well. And it even works with your blog, allowing you to link posts to specific projects.

You can easily see what other people who are knitting the same project as you have to say, and you can easily search through patterns by type, there's even the option to search for free patterns. It's pure genius I tell you!

If you haven't yet, hurry over to Ravelry and sign up for an invite. Right now it's in the Beta Phase, and there are over 3000 people waiting for invites. They're getting invitations out, and they're also working on fixing bugs, and listening to the Ravelry Community's suggestions on how to make it a better site!

It's not just for knitters you know. It's also for crocheters, and there is talk of adding in some options for you spinners out there as well.

Speaking of knitting, I recently cast on for a pair of Charade Socks, using some Louet Gems Pearl I had laying around.




Unfortunately, now that I've knit most of the leg, I've realized that it is too small, so it's going into the frog pond.

But, I'm actually happy about that. I think the stitch pattern looks classic and clean in a solid yarn, but thanks to Ravelry, I found that it looks even more fun in a varigated yarn. Ravelry helped me find Sarah at The Plucky Knitter's version, and I'm seriously in love with the way hers is knitting up!

I can't say enough about this pattern, it's easy to memorize, fun to knit, and it knits up rather quickly!

Quidditch - Round One!

For the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap, we were given some trivia and some images to find. Here's my answers!

Trivia
1. Who isn't or hasn't been a Quidditch captain?
Cho Chang

2. Who are the Gryffindor chasers? (books 1-5)
Alicia, Angelina and Katie

3. Who are the Slytherin beaters? (books 1-4)
Derrik and Bole

4. What type of broom isn't made anymore?
Silver Arrow

5. The Slytherin team all ride the same broom, what is it?
Nimbus 2000

6. Which of these is not a Quidditch team?
Tudshill Tornados

7. Who is Head of Hufflepuff House?
Professor Sprout

8. Which Hufflepuff student is reported to have been one of the only people to have ever given Hufflepuff success?
Cedric Diggory

9. In Book 1 who was the first Hufflepuff student to be sorted?
Hannah Abbott

10. What is the emblem of Hufflepuff House?
Badger

And now for the images...

Harry, Ron & Hermione together.

Hagrid.

Buckbeak.

Sirius Black.

Uncle Vernon.

Stash.

I've always had an addictive personality and once I started knitting that transfered over to yarn.

I buy yarn because it's on sale, because I'm having a bad day, or because it just looked so amazing on someone else's blog, that I had to have it right then.

I'm fine with it, other people might not understand it, especially non-knitters. But I have come to terms with it, and I realize that it's one of the healthier addictions out there. Besides, I tend to look at my stash as a collection. It's not just for knitting you know! It also serves as decoration, and personally I think that a bag of Noro, those ten perfect skeins all lined up neatly and packaged together, makes a great throw pillow! ;)

I've tried explaining it once to Joe. As a collector himself, I thought if I likened it to his poison (Comic books and action figures) that he would understand. He didn't.

But think about it. What is the purpose of a collection? To me there really isn't any, other than it's pleasing. Some people collect things that will increase in value, others collect rare limited edition items, in my mind, collecting yarn fits all of those descriptions. Do a simple Ebay search for Sweet Georgia Yarns. I saw a skein of it auctioned off for $40! It's discontinued and hard to come by, and it's value has now nearly doubled.

But, if I thought I had addiction issues before, I don't know how to categorize the new level that knitting socks has brought it to. Looking over the past few months stash enhancements, I have come to realize I bought nothing but sock yarn, and my yarn intake increased. Drastically.

There are a few things I have come to learn about my personal preferences when it comes to sock yarns.

I like my sock yarns handpainted, especially if they're solid colored yarns. I love that slight variation you only get with a handpainted yarn.

I like pure merino or superwash merino sock yarns, despite the fact that a nylon blend would help the yarn hold up better over time with wear and tear, I do not like knitting with it.

My choice in colors are completely different with sock yarns than with other types of yarns. I tend to buy in every color in the spectrum, even colors I normally wouldn't buy, like yellow. And I find myself oohing and ahhing over insanely bright colorways that I normally pass over.

I also have three favorite sock yarn dyers that I love for completely different reasons.

1. Sundara Yarn. I love her Semi Solid colorways. It's just enough variation to make the yarn interesting, but subtle enough to be used for a more complex pattern. I'm currently knitting a pair of Pomatomus with a hank of Redwood over Sage I was lucky enough to snatch up on her last limited edition update. If you haven't had the pleasure of knitting with her yarn yet, you are surely missing out. And lucky for you, starting on May 1st, she changed the way her yarn is sold. Now each month she adds two new multicolored colorways, two new solid colorways and two new somewhat solid colorways that you can order in any of her yarns at any time.

2. Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is about their sock yarn and their colorways that I just love. But if I could only buy sock yarn from one place for the rest of my life, this would be it. Their price is amazing. Under $20 for a skein that makes a complete pair, and their colorways range from safe to wild. [The links take you to their two newest colorways posted.]

3. Hello Yarn. This is where I go for my fix of bright, funky colors. The sock yarn comes in generous sized hanks at 395 yards which is more than enough for a pair of socks, and Adrian's eye for color is just amazing.

And now, as a reward for reading my yarn related ramblings... A picture of my latest additions to my collection.


From left to right, that's Socks That Rock in Mustang Sally, Beryl, Lovers Leap, Socktopus and Knitty Rocks. Please excuse the crappy picture quality, I snapped it with my cell phone as soon as the mailman delivered them.

I also was lucky enough to score a hank of Hello Yarn's Sock yarn in the Sprout colorway:



And I'm currently stalking my mailman for the hank of Hello Yarn's Sock Yarn in the Crush colorway I ordered earlier this week:

Harry Potter Trivia and Questionnaire.

"You will have your reward, Wormtail. I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of my followers would give their right hands to perform..." Who is speaking?

Lord Voldemort of course!

And now for the Questionnaire!

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Slytherin

2. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
I don't use double pointed needles. I prefer Magic Loop. But if I was going to use dpn's, I think I'd like something other than metal.

3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
Maybe Addi Turbo Lace Needles. I'm contemplating a 32" size 0.

4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

5. If your pal decides to send candies or chocolates are there any that you don't like?
I'm not a huge fan of nuts. Other than that, I'm not picky.

6. What are your favorite scents?
Buttercream Frosting, or Citrus scents like Lime or Orange.

7. Do you have any allergies?
Angora. That's about it!