Monkey socks past, present and future!

How I love knitting these socks! On the left are the Trekking XXL that I entered in the county fair, on the needles are Fortissima Colori Disco Socka Color (With metallic silver flecks! Funky!) and patiently waiting above that is my latest acquisition Austermann Step "mit Aloe Vera und Jojoba Ol." One quick fondle of that in a yarn shop today and I was smitten. I chose a subdued color in shades of gray. Should be a lovely pair of Monkeys!

Another acquistion is this nifty Viking Safety Pin, more commonly called a "penanular brooch" that I bought from a viking metal smith in the Viking Village at the local Scandinavian Festival this year. This one is stainless steel and quite simple. Others are more ornate. It works really well on this sweater and I hope it will be even niftier on the Arwen. And, I really look forward to wearing it on this next show and tell piece:

Not my mother's Clapotis!

At last, my own Clapotis! It was only a matter of time and money, really. (Isn't everything?) I had wished to knit one for myself and wanted it to be slinky and a bit shimmery, as opposed to my mother's worsted wooly one. I got my wish when I met this Lang Oasis yarn at a shop in Snyder (Buffalo area). It has white, seafoam green and periwinkle flecks of color and is smooth and silky to the touch. It drapes nicely! It scrunches up for a scarf and spreads out for a stole. I love it. I cast on for it about two weeks ago. It accompanied me to various concert venues and helped me through a day-long workshop (not a knitting one!) I used about 8 and a half balls of it, between 800-900 yards, I think.

Back to this little blue sweater with the pin, for a moment. I showed it last summer but almost never wore it because of a problem I created. Originally it had a self made button which looked quite cool until I put it on. Then it would flop, drag down the buttonhole and draw lots of attention to the design flaw that it was. It offended me, so I cut it off and attached the new pin. Now it is my new favorite .
I love what the yarn overs and short row shaping look like in the shoulder. It is called "Bridemaid's Choice" from Interweave Knits Summer 2001 and was designed for mohair. I knitted it from this mop string type of summer yarn that is nicer to wear than it is to knit and trimmed it in a linen yarn. Yeah, I mixed unknown yarns, but how often should I need to wash a little cardi like this?
Looking back over this post, I really SHOULD have joined the knit blue blog.

Oh, yeah, and now I'm moving up on the Ravelry waiting list:

• You signed up on July 8, 2007
• You are #15138 on the list.
• 5716 people are ahead of you in line.
• 11407 people are behind you in line.
• 34% of the list has been invite

Knitting Glory at the County Fair!

The blue tank on the left is my Brioche Bodice from IK Summer 2006 and that won a second in "women's pullovers." My Equestrian Jacket from IK Fall 2006 is next to it, sporting a blue ribbon in "women's cardigans, plain." The lovely tan pullover next to it isn't mine, but rounds out the picture, nicely. Mysteries and suspense abound! Will Harry live or die? Is Snape good or evil? Will Sue or Patti win the blue for socks?

Here are Sue's Jaywalker socks, wearing their blue ribbon! It is a shame that the entry tag obscures the zig-zag pattern on the cuff.
Here are my Monkey Socks wearing their blue ribbon! Oh, the red/white/blue was a mistake and actually belongs with the antique needlework, below.
It seems that she entered hers in the "bedsocks or slippers" while I entered mine in "any other not named" since there really wasn't a separate category for "socks." Mystery solved. I suppose that the judge could have decided to move one pair to another category but I prefer to think that she left things as they were so as to award a blue ribbon to each pair of deserving socks.

My fun Harry Potter "Weasley Sweater" won a third honors ribbon in men's pullovers. It was deservedly trounced by two nicely executed pullovers by Sue and another friend. It was fun to show it off during all of the Harry Hysteria.
Here is the entry that really won the special ribbon. These are two doilies that were entered in "best example of old family needlework" and won the judge's choice. These doilies were handed down to me from my husband's mother and they were made by two old Swedish aunts.

Last winter I purchased some Filatura Di Crosia Pom Pom at a posh yarn shop at Buckhead, in Atlanta. This became the button band, cuffs and neck of this pretty little yellow cardi for my little niece. It will probably fit her by next spring. It has a red ribbon for "children's knitted sweater."



This is how my lovely Arwen was displayed. I think they had someone new in charge of such things and I suspect that she wasn't a knitter. Arwen is wearing a second place ribbon for "Women's knitted cardigan, fancy." Last Friday night I purchased the perfect pin for this cardi. It is a penanular brooch that I purchased from a "viking" craftsman at the local Scandinavian Festival. Now, if I hadn't been all sleep deprived on Saturday I would have had that attached as a closure on the cardi and perhaps made the display of it easier for the person in charge. Oh, well.




I entered this felted bag I made last summer with yarn purchased on vacation in Kentucky as "shoulder bag" and it is happily wearing a blue ribbon.



I made these mittens on a road trip to Ohio last week. They are double knitted with a slipped stitch pattern that was passed along to me about twenty years ago when we lived where it is very, very cold. I modified it to have my name on one cuff and the year on the other and I use the two long tails from a two color cast-on to chain a loop on each mitten. This is very handy for hanging them up to dry. I love making these mittens and have made them almost annually for at least one or two members of the family for the past 20 years.

Here, again, the entry tag is obscuring significant parts of the pattern on the article.




My only other entry was a cranky sock knitting machine that won a blue ribbon in Antiques. I had hoped for a "most unusual entry" which would have garnered a special cash prize, but it is hard to beat a metal lamp/statue of a WWI doughboy holding a lightbulb aloft. Sorry, no pictures.

Husband entered many antiques and collectibles which also received glories and honors.

Monday we retrieve our entries. I'll try not to spend all my winnings in one place, unless it is at a yarn shop.

Everything Old is New Again!

When I explained to this little peanut that the thing I had in my hand was a sock, she tried it on right away. She is a clothes-horse-in-training, and has learned much.Have you ever seen a more adorable sock model? Oh, yes, the second sock is off the needles and both have been blocked and are patiently waiting for a ride to the county fair.

Now, when these children arrived from Atlanta they were fresh out of a southern heat wave and can be forgiven for not knowing it would ever be chilly again. The fact that their Ohio born and bred mother neglected to pack anything with sleeves when visiting Western New York only gave me an excuse to get out these golden oldies for another romp on a new body when temperatures dipped into the 60's:
Little Peanut is warming up in one of Son2's sweaters that I probably knitted around 1991. I know I made this one in every size the pattern offered because I really liked it and it looked good on my boy back when we lived in Northern New York. It MIGHT have been out of a Hayfield Baby knitting magazine. If I ever get my invitation to Ravelry I will look it up and document the whole family of them!
The Incredible Hulk is showing off a beautiful cardigan that my mother-in-law knitted for Son1 in about 1988 and both sons wore when they were about four years old. My late mother-in-law knitted beautifully and was especially fond of cables and knitting for grandchildren. I'm sure she was very, very pleased to look down from heaven to see this great-grandson keeping the chill away in a sweater she made! It was perfect for him and matched his eyes, too.
This guy isn't a sweater guy. Our family has two kinds of people: Sweater People (SP's) and Non-Sweater People (NSP's). Son2 was an SP when we lived up North but changed to an NSP down here in balmy WNY. This guy didn't really need the sweater, but he followed the program and put it on since everyone else was doing it. Unfortunately for him, I couldn't find the appropriate sweater for a six-year old son (it was a red aran, as I recall, from a Brunswick leaflet, not that remembering THAT could keep a child warm) and so he obliged and put on the one that I made for a ten year old son back in about 1993 (knitting ahead a year).He took it off right after the picture. Can't say that I blame him. He was a good sport about the whole ancestral sweater episode!

There, my friend, is one of the best lookin' socks you'll ever see. Your blue ribbon is mine! (You know who you are. Mwahaha!)

Some Shady Business

The elusive, camera shy equestrian blazer is in pieces, waiting for blocking before assembly.
This represents about five skeins of Brown Sheep Nature Spun in "Beet Red." It is a bit pinker than the red of the oriental carpet. It has a navy haze to it, as well, but it is the color of beets. I love beets. Nature's candy. I love this color, too. It will look good with everything in my fall and winter wardrobe.
First, a good soak in the tub. Everything feels better after that. People are a lot like sweaters that way, don't you think? This soaked while I prepared lunch and went about my business for oh, say, 30 minutes. Then it was blocking time.
I consulted the measurements in the IK magazine and came darn close. I used a sewing pattern layout board thing to pin the pieces to. Now the blazer is sitting in the shade on this warm, breezy day. Usually I pin things out on the carpet in the family room. (My pets do respect the work and tiptoe around it!) Then I set up a fan and come back later. Well, that fan went to camp yesterday but with fewer people at home no one is complaining about loss of the table.
Well, it is not dinner time yet...