Birthday Haul

Okay, I know the pictures aren't so hot, but this was the best I could get. (Yeah, yeah, I am going to play more with the camera later so I can pretend I know what I am doing.) But, can you believe that man I married? Now don't get me wrong. The man is not perfect. He seems to enjoy getting on my last nerve. But sometimes... he just amazes me. The colors are Black Watch, Tahoe, Jeans, Lakeview, Baltic Sea, Seaside, and Black Purl. So now I have sock yarn for the next 5 years!
So now that I have no excuse to be looking at sock yarn on the internet... guess what I have become obsessed with now? Yep, spinning. I have spent an inordinate amount of time just looking at spinning wheels and spindles on the internet. How long have I been spinning, you ask? Never! Yep, I have never spun anything in my life. It just looks like the next step to knitting for me. The class I was supposed to be taking on spinning was canceled due to lack of enrollment. So here I sit, trying to learn all I can, without actually spinning! There will be another class offered in the fall, so I just have to be patient. Not one of my virtues!
These colors are Cool, Bucks Bar, Watercolor, and Forest.

Pretending to be Ebert

Sorry about the picture, but the sun was reflecting off the needles something fierce! I have had a little while to knit with my new needles and I have to say I am still thrilled with them. I think these are a great alternative to Addi Turbos. The KP needles have the same speed and fabulous join as the Addis, but they are so much cheaper!
Everywhere I have seen Addis, they run between $12.50 and $15.00 a pair. The Knitpicks set is priced at $59.99 with the option to buy more cables and tips for the set. If you didn't want the entire set, you can just purchase individual needles with the cables for $8.00 to $11.00 a pair.

I do have a set of Denise interchangeable needles, but these are much faster to knit with and the cable is a lot thinner. Trying to do Magic Loop with the Denises is a little difficult, but these cables seem like they would be much better.
I even like the binder for the set since you can add more pockets for additional tips and cables. Now about the only problem I have with these needles is that I have a tendency to push the needles with the tips of my fingers and these tips are too sharp for that. So I will have to break that habit. The sharp tips are great though, especially for tight knitters.

So overall, I am very happy with this set and will most likely get more needles to add to it.

The other package I received in the mail included some new Regia Bamboo yarn for some summer socks. The colors are Passion on the left, Afrika on top and Papillon on the bottom. Woohoo!

I'm too excited!!

I just got my new Knitpicks "options" needles and I am way too excited!! I love these! My battery died on my camera so I will post tomorrow with a complete review but I just had to say something now. The join is great!

sock bag

sock bag
Originally uploaded by jalynr2.

I thought I would post a photo of my current favorite knitting bag that I carry EVERYWHERE with me. This is my Knowknits bag with my current project and my accessory bag peeking out. In this pic, you can also see the little loop on the inside that you thread your yarn through so it doesn't tangle. I love this bag because it is the perfect size for socks and the fabric is ripstop nylon that doesn't get dirty. So when I throw it in my car, I don't have to worry because I have my knitting and it's protected!

Sorry for the flash photo, but it actually shows the true color of the bag. And I am trying out this option from Flickr of posting to your blog from there.

Feeling my age

Well, my birthday isn't for another couple of weeks, but Oh My God, my back hurts! I have been trying to lose some weight, so I have been working out pretty religiously for over a month now. I don't know if it was the running or the weight training, but my lower back is making me feel thirtysomething. ( Huh, haven't thought about that show in a while.) I haven't been making much progress so I started working out more, but today I just can't. The weight is getting harder to lose and I don't know if it is the getting older part or maybe, just maybe, I'm not eating as well as I could. Enough whining, now onto the knitting portion of today.

I am still questioning whether I should have used the Wooly nylon now that some people on the Knitter's Review forum have mentioned their experience with it. Now I'm wondering if it was smart to use my STR socks as the test case. oh well. I'll leave ya with a picture of my puppy, Frankie.


Oh I almost forgot... I am totally inspired now to dye my own yarn. If I can end up with something even half as gorgeous as this, I will be incredibly happy.

I need help!

Okay, I need some serious help. The first step is admitting you have a problem, so...I can't stop looking at yarn online! I have plenty of yarn and I can't stop cruising the different sites, checking out anything new or interesting. I am also cruising blogs looking for anything other people recommend! And I still haven't finished my cedar creeks yet. I'm at the heel turn so it shouldn't be much longer now, but man!
Oh and the current obsessive question is: do I really need reinforcement with my STR yarn? I did go to Joann's on Saturday to pick up some Woolly Nylon and I am doing this heel with it. I figure these will be my test socks since one has the reinforcement and the other does not. I'll let you know how it goes.

Going to Tulsa

Well, yesterday we went to Tulsa because my DD wanted to go to the aquarium. I, of course, looked at this as an opportunity to visit another yarn store! The Oklahoma Aquarium was pretty neat, but for me, the highlight was definitely the yarn shop I visited. I knew Tulsa had quite a few and I also knew the family wouldn't let me visit more than 1 or 2. So I wrote down the address to a couple of yarn shops and hoped we would be close to one of them while visiting the aquarium. Boy, was I lucky! The one we were close to was Naturally Needlepoint & Knitting. I really enjoyed my visit because the ladies were very friendly and helpful. Also...they had a bunch of Koigu! The only downside to my visit was when the ladies told me that ALL of the yarn was going on sale 35% off from June 13-17! My DH convinced me that we would pay more in gas to come back and I should just get what I wanted now. The color numbers are from the left: P608, P113, and P121. One of my girlfriends asked me if the one day trip was worth it...Oh, yeah!!

I am an idiot

Oh my goodness, will I never finish this sock?!! I am a total idiot because I have cast-off about 3 times now and I am incapable of doing a loose cast-off. It's too tight trying to get it over my heel and ankle, so I redo it and redo it. I am so close!! You would think I would have learned by now not to cast-off so tightly since these are the sixth pair of socks I have knit. And what kills me is that I haven't had this problem before! Of course, I should have realized that since I am trying a new cast-off I might run into something like this. This is my first time with EZ's sewn bind-off. By the way, what is the preferred term: bind-off or cast-off? I'm just not sure.

This is the last of the Mother's Day yarn: 4 skeins of Koigu on the top and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Buck's Bar on the bottom. I'll probably take a picture of the finished sock tomorrow, when I have the ends sewn in. AArrghhh!!