A Package!

Remember last summer when I made socks for the sockapalooza exchange? Well, I got a package in the mail yesterday from my sock savior, Jaimi. The socks are gorgeous - I absolutely love them and they fit perfectly. And even though I knew who my sock savior was because she had been emailing me, I resisted checking out her blog, so they were a complete suprise (I love suprises!). She sent me an awesome package with two balls of the new Kaffe Fasset Regia sock yarn, hot tea, a really cute little stitch marker, post it notes, and a dish cloth in my favorite Peaches 'n Cream color (how did she know?).

The pattern she used is from More Sensational Knitted Socks, and she said she messed up the pattern and decided to just go with it. Looks fabulous to me. The yarn is Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino and feels absolutely lovely. The socks even have a picot edging, something I love the look of but haven't attempted myself yet. I am wearing them today and having a wonderful day! Thanks so much, Jaimi!

Sockapalooza Send Off

I sent out my Sock Pal's socks today, along with a couple other goodies - a little tote bag for her sock knitting that I made and some chocolate. I really liked how these socks turned out; I just hope she likes the sock. I am still a little worried that they won't fit... but I guess there's nothing I can do now. I sent the left over yarn in the package in case she wants to make them longer.

The details:

Pattern: Go With the Flow by Evelyn Clark (from Favorite Socks)

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM

Go With the Flow

Go With the Flow
Originally uploaded by wickjill

The finished pair of socks for my Sock Pal. I really liked how they turned out, but I'm afraid they will be too small. The pattern says to stretch the material as you measure because the socks stretch so much... so I did that. They fit me perfectly, but my Sock Pal has bigger feet than me. So I am thinking I might have to rip out the toes and make them a little bit longer, which I don't want to do. I feel like these took me forever to make them, mostly because I did other stuff inbetween. Anyhow, I just don't feel like re-doing them! I guess I will see how I feel in a week or so. They don't have to go out until August 2nd.

Rachel, my field assistant, is leaving at the end of July to pursue a Phd at the University of Massachussetts. She is a crocheter-turned-knitter. She knits a lot, but never makes anything for herself... so as a thank you for all of her help over the past two years, I am making her a pair of socks. They are the Cabled Footies from the book One Skein. The first one went super fast (about 3 hours of knitting) because they are made with worsted weight yarn on size 9's. I am using Paton's Classic Merino. I love how the first one turned out - they will be super warm, which will be good because she will be a southern gal in New England and I think she will be COLD in the winter! They will be great as slipper - socks.

Everything Under the Sun Socks

Sockapalooza sock
Originally uploaded by wickjill

I finished my first sock for my sock pal - and I really like how it turned out. At first, I didn't know how the pattern (Go with the Flow from Favorite Socks) and the yarn (Koigu) were going to go together. And I didn't know if I really liked the yarn that much after all. It seemed too pink. But now that I have one knit up, I really like it. All the colors pop for me, especially the yellow. I like that. I'm calling them Everything Under the Sun, because the yarn has every color under the sun in it. My pal has bigger feet than me, so I hope that they fit her. The rib pattern seems to stretch a lot, so I think they will.

Check out the new addition to the puppy family:

We found him on the side of the road, just about to get hit by a log truck. Its so sad how people just dump dogs out here. I don't understand it at all... I mean, look at that face! How could you just dump that on the side of the road?! Anyway, we picked him up, picked the ticks off of him, gave him a bath, and loved him up a bit. He's adorable, and snuggly, and curious, and all the other things cute little puppies should be. I think Matt & Rachel are going to keep him, as long as we don't see any signs around town that someone is looking for him. There aren't any houses near where we found him and since he was on the road, I'm pretty sure someone dumped him there (we put the collar on him). Oh, and by the way, he told us his name is Jed. So we're calling him Jed.

What I've been up to...

Can you tell I like pictures??? The top one is of part of our group from Relay for Life, which we did a few weeks ago with a friend of mine that is a cancer survivor (unfortunately, he's not in the photo). We made those shirts, though... we cut out stencils from cereal box cardboard and then spray painted them. Pretty nice, huh? My big project right now is the boxer shorts you can see in the picture - I'm making mine green... almost done with the first panel. The socks are for Sockapalooza4 - I'm not sure about them... What do you think? My sock pal said she doesn't want anything too girly or lacy. I guess they're pretty girly, although not too lacy. Should I try a different pattern? The yarn in the next picture is dyed with hibisucs flowers I got at the natural food store (for tea) and turned out a kind of purply color. I like it! And the bottom ... summer food - I love it! Veggie pasta salad and rice pudding. I don't know if rice pudding is really a summer food, but I always seem to make it in the summer. Its sooo YUMMY!