A Friend in Need

Elizabeth Zimmermann, the amazing knitting genius I would meet if I could go back in time, once wrote, "Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."

This past weekend, I was OK, and my knitting was OK, but someone very dear to me was going through a personal crisis starting Saturday night. Rock bottom crisis. The good news is that things can only get better from here. (I'm hoping and praying!)

I jumped in and did as much as I could to help, and then I knitted.

What could be more hopeful during a crisis than baby socks? When finished, this will be a pair. The pattern is Super Quick Baby Socks, and the yarn is leftover Banana Cabana from Cider Moon. I'm using US size 5 needles to save my wrists and fingers. These socks already have a home lined up in the near future.

Readers, make sure your friends know they can call on you day or night if they are in need, whether the favor is big or small. Make sure they know you mean it. Then, make sure you're ready to go to their aid when they call. Remind your friends that everyone needs help sometimes, and it's OK to ask for help.

Houston, We Have Bananas

This is Banana Cabana sock number 2 this past Saturday night, while the kids and I had a campfire in the backyard. It has a heel and is partway thru the gussett, nearing the foot.

*Insert trumpet fanfare*

Banana Cabana socks TODAY! A finished pair.

Yarn: Cider Moon, Glacier weight. Color: Banana Cabana. Needles: US Size 3. Pattern: Garter Rib from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks.

These won't count for Summer of Socks, but they do count for the Sensational Knitted Socks KAL. And I'm always happy to have another FO! It's been ages, it seems.

Tonight Sarah and I went knitting at Vintage Yarns, another LYS. I cast on for another sock; The Victorian Lace Sock. Once again, I'm using Cider Moon. This time it's Blizzard, in the Morning Sky colorway. The owner there loved my Cider Moon yarns and may be contacting Jacki and Gail. She likes having things other shops don't!

For those of you wondering, I mostly behaved myself.

Insane... and Perfect

Knitters Connection Part One
How do I even begin to describe a day that so full of yarny goodness that it was insane? I think I am still high on the yarn fumes!


The wonderful Sarah Lou picked me up (almost) promptly and we hit Starbucks and then the highway south for Columbus. She drove down, looking all of 20 yrs old with her pony tails, while I knitted. (We had decided ahead of time that she would drive down and I would drive home so we would both get knitting time.) We gabbed and sang and made decent time. After parking we found the exhibit hall for Knitters Connection without incident and paid our teeny $5 entry fee.

That's when we got our first surprise of the day. Along with the admission, each person received a goody bag containing a Brown Sheep water bottle, 2 full skeins of yarn (each varied), an August 07 issue of Knit n Style magazine, and a mini skein of yarn (mine was Claudia Handpainted)!! The contents of the goody bag alone was worth over $20. The lovely lady taking our $5 then handed each of us a raffle ticket for door prizes. Remember that for later.

Sarah and I could barely contain ourselves. We needed to get inside that big room full of yarn! Originally we planned to cruise the whole hall and then make purchases afterward. That plan lasted for... ummm... less than half of one side of the room!

So when did it really get insane? Ask Jacki and Gail! It did not take us long to find the Cider Moon booth and the lovely ladies who dye all the yummy yarns! As promised, my Banana Cabana had been tucked away for me, along with some yarns Sarah had requested. Travis was sporting some killer socks! He also took a great shot of us Toledo girls with the Cider Moon girls. In our defense though, Sarah and I both bought gifts for other people. Gifts don't count!

Sarah going insane in the Cider Moon booth.

Gayle, Sarah, Jacki and Me

Another delight of the day was meeting Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Her yarns are amazing and they are all named after neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.! Sarah and I had a great time chatting with Karida and her booth helper, Karen. Then we found out Karen just recently moved to Toledo! Karen, please join us at Yarn Haven on Tuesday evening, OK?

Just after meeting Karida, Sarah and I decided we needed to make a run to the parking garage for a little more money. I hadn't brought all of mine in with me. We also needed some lunch, and decided upon sushi, salad and soup. It was perfect, and we knitted for a few minutes as well. While finishing lunch, I wondered out loud who won the door prizes. "I never win anything," I said to Sarah, and we headed back to the exhibit hall. "Look at this," Sarah said, "Whoever won this prize is one number off from my ticket." Sqeeeeeeeee! It was me! I won an orangey woven tote with bamboo handles. Inside was another hank of yarn (blue wool) and 2 books (one knit, one crochet) and a box of baby crochet patterns! You all know what knitting books cost. I received basically 3 of them, plus yarn and a tote.

You're probably also wondering what I bought. Yarn! (duh) Two necklaces. Stitch markers. A couple of gifts that I won't post about yet. A really awesome beaded scarf kit; Interlacements yarn, beads and pattern. I wouldn't have bought this normally, but the beads were already strung. I tried on the sample scarf, and fell in love. (Pictures of all of that will come soon!)

Two fiber friends, spending the day fondling yarn and enabling each other. Totally insane and yet... perfect. We had to finish the day by doing this. After all, it was World Wide Knit in Public Day!

Banana Cabana, step away from the beer!

3-2-1- Cast Off!!

Last night I finished Banana Cabana sock #1. (It was a very productive night at Yarn Haven with my knitting bunch.) Really, though, this sock is the garter rib pattern sock from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I have just renamed my sock after the wonderful colorway I'm using from Cider Moon. Before trying to get some sleep, I made sure I cast on and got started on the ribbing for sock #1's mate.

Mayhem and Absent Minded Professor both ooohed and aaaahed over the sock. I think on the bus ride to Washington I will be starting a pair for Mayhem. I have some Cider Moon GoGo in my stash for her. A plain ribbed pair should go quickly.

Here's Banana Cabana sock #1 for your viewing pleasure.



While we're on the subject of socks, please go welcome a couple of new sock knitters to cult, I mean club! Johari just completed her first sock and Mark is so close he can almost taste the success! The process has not come easy to Mark and he has blogged about it quite a bit. Maybe some cheerleaders will help.

A week from tonight I'll be making sure I have everything packed for the trip to Washington. I have to decide on a couple of small knitting projects to take on the bus. I know the Baby Surprise Jacket is going. The baby shower is in 5 weeks. I know I'm taking one pair of socks to work on for sure, maybe two. The question is, which socks? which yarn?

Yarn P0rn

Plain and simple. Yarn p0rn today. It was an absolutely perfect day to take photos outside.

I have Cider Moon's Glacier yarn in two different colorways for your viewing pleasure. Nope. Make that three. My sock in progress begged to be included in the photo shoot! You know how pushy socks can be. I tried to hide the sock in the daffodils, but that pushy sock kept forcing its way to the front by the time I grabbed the camera.

Presenting Jackie O (partial proceeds of each sale go to the Komen Foundation)...

And the brilliant Go-Go...

The two together... my crabapple tree is ready to bloom.

Last but not least, the pushy sock in progress, in Banana Cabana.

That's it for today. I spent the day outside, knitting, reading, playing, got the car washed. Hope it was beautiful in your neighborhood.

FO's and New Projects

Warning: Knitting content ahead!

First of all, I have a couple of little, quick, FO's to show you. The first is a cute, little knitted bunny that I made for Mayhem for Easter.

See the Longaberger baskets?

It's a quick knit, any slightly fuzzy yarn will do the trick. Best of all, you knit a rectangle and then stitch it together almost like origami. After that you knit a couple of ears. Here's the pattern if you want to make some yourself: Knitted Bunny. (Kelli? You reading this??)

Friday night, when I couldn't sleep, I completed a small hat. This is made from superwash sock yarn and will be headed to The Loopy Ewe's Quarterly Challenge, and then to an orphanage in China. As you can see, the hat is lovingly modeled by my old friend Humphrey. Humphrey came to me from Germany as a gift from my oldest sister when I was 4 yrs. old. The pattern for the hat came out of Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Having finished my Just Ribbing socks, and taken them for a test run by wearing them all day at school on Friday, I can officially say they are real socks! I love them. They received many compliments. Even our home ec (excuse me, Family and Consumer Science) teacher proclaimed them fabulous. Today I am casting on another pair of socks using Banana Cabana yarn from Cider Moon. This link shows you colorways. Banana Cabana isn't there because it sells out! There's a photo on my blog in another post if you read.

Last but not least, some of you may still be wondering which big project I decided to cast on next. Clapotis? Log Cabin? Well, here it is. In Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb (wool and silk), color Tuscany:

The beginning of my Clapotis. The color isn't accurate at all. It's more red than pink, a wine color, with blue and sage green and tan.

This week I'm checking out a new yarn store in the area called "Yarn Haven" with a fellow blogger Sarah Lou. Watch for the scoop on that after mid-week.

If you're lurking, de-lurk and leave a comment!

Evidence of Spring (to convince myself)

If you have any doubt about it, Spring really is here. The calendar says so, and I have found signs of Spring outside. Photographic evidence follows. This is in attempt to convince myself and give encouragement to anyone else suffering from cabin fever and/or the Winter Blahs. I hope it helps.

So, without further ado, I present to you:

Crocuses in my front yard.

Cider Moon icicle in Mardi Gras along with those crocuses. Hmmm, maybe "Crocus" would be a good alternative name for this colorway. (There's a link to Cider Moon in my sidebar!)

And mud! Plenty of mud in my backyard. Notice the absence of the cold, white substance known as snow. Yep. All gone. If you look closely you may see many large-ish doggy footprints though.

What have we here in the corner under the kitchen window? Daylily sprouts! Only about 2"-3" right now,but keep the faith, my friends.

In June and July they will look like this:

Hang in there!