DM Fingerless Gloves

DM Fingerless Gloves
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

Dirk is so thrilled with his new gloves and I'm thrilled they are finally finished. I can't believe they were so quick to finish and I just let them lay around for a year because I was too lazy to get them done.

If you are curious about the tattoos on his right forearm, they are some of my favorites.

I *love* antique keys so he had the key to my heart put there. It's green because it's my favorite color and the celtic-like scroll work at the top is because I'm Irish. (insert collective "awwwww")

The acorns below the key are similar to the acorns on my right foot...(insert another collective aww......).

I'll have to get a photo of the two large fighting roosters on his left bicep which he picked because I was born in the year of the rooster.

The fingerless gloves have been resurrected....

I started a pair of fingerless gloves for Dirk last November, finished one and then found something else more exciting to work on. He's asked me about a bazillion times about the gloves...

Anyway, I want to go up one needle size for the leg of my Baudelaire socks, so I went to get my no. 3 needle and couldn't find it anywhere. I was convinced someone must have stolen it. (laugh). Then, I remembered the fingerless gloves.....and that is exactly where I found the needle I needed. It goes against all my inner knitting rules to pull a needle out of one project to work on another and I wasn't going to shell out the bucks for a second Addi Turbo, so I am determined to finish the glove so that I can finish my sock.

On Tuesday night while watching the incredibly lame debate, I knocked out about 70% of the second glove. I have three fingers and the thumb to finish. I've got a Pampered Chef party tonight, but I'm planning to take them to knit night tomorrow night so I can have my needle for my socks!

Fiber Intervention

I need yarn like a hole in the head so when I saw the new Palatte samplers with *free* pattern from KnitPicks.com I had to get one ....and it makes no sense NOT to order at least $50.00 of stuff from KnitPicks otherwise you don't get *free* shipping.

So, I tell some friends I need an intervention....

And how do they help me? They take me to a yarn shop WITH A SALE this afternoon.

Nicole and Kristina, I love you both. My husband would hate you, but 1/2 the yarn I picked up today was to make things for him.

Place Sticker on Forehead and Smile....

Allie
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

Allie on the couch

Allie on the couch
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

And this is what Allie was doing while Maxwell snoozed in the background.....

Baudelaire Socks

Baudelaire Socks
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

Got the heels turned on both socks and am working my way up the leg. This photo is a little blown out colorwise. Though I took better photos, I like this one because Maxwell is snoozing in the background.

Koolhaas Hat Stress

Everything was going well....then I realized I had a significant error about 5 to 6 rows back. And that was 5 to 6 rows back through teeny tiny 1 stitch cables in a variety of directions...

Kristina held my hand over the phone and encouraged me to set it aside and what ever I did not just rip out the whole project.

So, I had a beer, watched some television, sat in the garden, kissed my boxers and then took a fresh look at the hat and started slowly ripping and working my way back to the row that was wrong.

I got everything back where it's supposed to be but then couldn't figure how which row of the 8 stitch repeat I'd ripped back to. So I stuffed the whole project into it's little baggie and moved onto something else.

Maybe later today I'll give another go at it.

Koolhaas Hat

Koolhaas Hat
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

I'm on a hat kick right now....

I started and ripped out this hat about a bah-gillian times, but now that I'm in my groove with it and got some tips from my friend, Kristina, it's motoring right along.

I have some errands to run this afternoon, then I'm going to sit on the couch to watch some movies and try to knock this hat out.

Heart Hat

Heart Hat
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

I wish it were easier to take a photo of yourself wearing a cute hat and not have the photo make you look like a dork.

This heart hat is to match the heart scarf and it looks adorable when on a head and not laying on the floor to have it's photo taken!

Halley's Comet Hat

Halley's Comet Hat
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

Yes, I took a picture of the top of my own head. :)

I made the hat awhile back and wear it all the time. It made with Cascade 220 Quattro which is a wool/cotton blend yarn and I love how it works up.

This pattern was super easy and quick.

Baudelaire Socks

Baudelaire Socks
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

I thought I posted this photo already, but it went missing from the blog. I love Cookie A's patterns - they are complex enough to keep my interest without making me want to jab my eyes out with a knitting needle.

Baudelaire Socks

Baudelaire Socks
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

Just cruising along on this pattern....

Heart Scarf

Heart Scarf
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

Completed this afternoon while watching a movie. Unlike the previous one I made, I did not make two halves and graft in the middle because I was just knitting and knitting and knitting and realized I'd gone to far on the first half.

Sock Meme

When did you learn to knit socks? Shortly after I learned to knit! Socks were the reason I wanted to learn to knit in the first place!

What's the first sock you ever knit? The basic socks from Cat Bordhi's Knitting on Two Circulars book.

Favorite sock pattern? I have my own generic structure that I put various stitch patterns into.

Favorite sock yarn? Wow -- there are WAY too many to choose from!

Favorite needle method? The standard for me is Toe-Up, Two at at Time. And I go 50-5o on short row versus gusset heels.

Favorite sock needles? Addi Turbo 47". My US 2 is usually my "go to" size.

Who do you knit socks for? Me and my husband. My father-in-law and my mother have each also received one pair.

How many pairs have you knitted to date? Quite a few, I'd have to count to be sure, but I'm guessing about 25 to 30?

What's on your sock knitting to-do list? My queue at Ravelry is ever growing...

What kind of socks do you like to knit -
Striped? Used to be a huge fan of self-striping yarn, but lately it's lost it's charm for me.
Colorwork? My third pair of socks were fair isle....I learned a ton!!!...and surprisingly they turned out pretty good! Look at them on Ravelry!
Plain stockinette? I don't think I ever have!
Cabled? Not yet, in the queue.
Lace? Yes.
Anklets? Yes, and footies, too.
Knee socks? Not yet.
Solid colors? My current choice in sock yarn.
Bright & crazy? Yes.
Faux-Fair Isle? Yes, I loved this sock yarn when I started socks.

Tag a few sock knitters here ~ Anyone who wants to play along and/or also has nothing to share.

Finished Result: Rinsed Hibiscus Dyed Merino

Rinsed Hibiscus Dyed Merino
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

It is now drying (in the shade) in the sunroom. I love the color and how it's darker in some spots, I prefer variations in color than one solid saturation, so while the yarn was soaking in the dye bath for the last two days I made sure that some was sticking up out of the dye a bit, while other parts were buried under the raw materials.

I kept the leftover dye bath and dropped some random wool into it this morning after I finished rinsing the Merino because I really liked how dark the Mission Falls 1824 Wool I used to tie this hand turned out!

Experimenting....

First I soaked 3,470 yards of 100% Merino in alum mordant
Then I made a dried hibiscus flower dye bath
Then I cooked the yarn in the dye bath, where it is still soaking.

Baudelaire Socks

Baudelaire
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

This pattern has been in my queue for quite a long time. This yarn was a gift from a friend and I had been waiting for just the right project, so I finally cast a pair of Baudelaire socks onto the needles the week.

On another note, in the kitchen I have over a pound of dried hibiscus flowers steeping in a giant pot on the stove to dye the 3,470 yards of laceweight Merino that I soaked in an alum mordant this morning. It's making the house smell divine and I'm really exciting to see how this experiment turns out!

Dark Navy Sock Yarn

I'm looking for a pattern that will show well on really dark sock yarn?

Heart Scarf #2

In the last two weeks I found out that a family friend, a 10 year survivor of breast cancer, found a lump in her remaining breast, underwent a biospy and is now scheduled for her second masectomy.

I wanted to give her something to remind her that she is my heart.

Dirk's Concert Socks

Dirk's Concert Socks
Originally uploaded by BoxerPixie.

WOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I finally finished these socks last night..... Using a US 1 for a men's size 10 EEE foot was certainly a drag!

I cranked through a lot of the cuff on Saturday night at the Rat Dog/Allman Brothers concert at Red Rocks. Even had some man come up and want to know all about the socks, how did I do two at a time, how do I know which is which, are they wool, could he feel them....etc.... Dirk was watching very closely as he was convinced the guy was going to take them from me.