A Loopy Groupie at last

I'm officially a Loopy Groupie! I ordered some sock yarn to knit up for my friend at work. That made my 6th order. Sheri sent me a really nice package. I got the official Loopy bag, a Loopy key ring, peppermint candies, a sock pattern and some Cherry Tree Hill yarn in Old Rose. I was so excited that I didn't take a picture before I opened it, but I did take one later. Hopefully you can see the goodies.



Here are the two skeins that put me over the top at TLE. They are destined to become socks for my co-worker. I'm anxious to get started on them. I have another pair I also want to work on. One pair can be my carrying along project, and the other pair can live next to my chair in the living room.



I finished the BFF socks by Cookie A for my final pair in SOS08. The colorway is Moody Blues. I like the pattern, it is easy to memorize, but I had done a pair of them before and this time I got tired of them. Of course, I was working hard to finish them for the last period of SOS08. And I made it! Five pairs in all. That was the goal I set, so Mission Accomplished.



The big guy watered all the flowers and sprayed the tree this morning. The flowers are just about done for the summer. They are fading fast. Buster and Bunny got to play in the water hose, which is almost as good as a bath. The wading pool got dumped and refilled, and the birdbaths both got refilled. It is still hot here, but I can feel fall coming. (Just ask my allergies!)



I get a little nostalgic when fall comes. I love the colorful leaves and the cool nights. But I miss the flowers. I feed the birds and squirrel year round so I won't miss them. Guess I'm rushing the season; it's still August (for one more day).

Hope you all have a lovely Labor Day. If you do something special, I'd like to hear about it. Hi, Bobbie. You found me!

Stash Enhancement

One of my blog readers, or one of my friends on Ravelry recommended I look at Woolgirl's sock yarn. And boy am I glad I did. I found some really nice yarns there.



I ordered one Hazel Knits skein in the Alki Reflection colorway. Red and green and pink, what more could I ask for! I also ordered one skein of Dashing Dachs in the Lion Cub colorway. You know what I was thinking, don't you? Nanner socks! I think this one is perfect.

I couldn't have been more pleased with my purchase. She wrapped the order beautifully and enclosed some neat little extras! Thanks, Woolgirl! Can't wait until I "need" some more stash enhancement.

My co-worker has a birthday this week. I offered to take her to the LYS to pick out the yarn for another pair of socks. She really didn't want to make the trip to Utica Square, so we went online and shopped for the yarn she deemed was The One. Actually, she picked out two that were The One. So I guess she will get two pairs of socks (eventually) for her birthday. She picked Berroco yarn in two colors, a brown mix and a gray/black mix. We found them at The Loopy Ewe. I think they will be stripes, and that's what she wants. So I will happily knit them up for her. She has dainty little feet, but likes a 7" cuff.


Here is my last purchase from Knitpicks. I got these to make the Summer Pick 'n' Mix by Jane Lithgow. If you haven't seen these patterns, you can find them on Ravelry. I am still looking for some yellow, but it has to be just the right shade. I'm looking for a solid that is the color of butter. Then I'm going to mix and match the solids to make some of these cute socks.

B&B, my dogs, haven't done anything cute this week. The big guy said they were playing in the sprinkler today, but he didn't take any pics. Maybe later...

Jealousy on four legs

No pictures today. I've been lazy. Well, not really. I've been trying to get my socks for this two-week period finished. As was discussed before, I knitted past the heel before I realized that I had made a major mistake above the heel. It was frogged and reknitted, and I finished the first sock yesterday. The second one was cast on.

SOS08 will be ending real soon, and I'd like to finish this last pair. I had set a goal of 5 pairs, which is what this will be if I finish this last sock.

I'm looking into some other KAL's for when this one is over. I've really had fun, especially happy to see everyone's socks that have been posted on Ravelry. I've found several patterns that I want to try.

A quick funny story about Bunny. Our son brought his current girlfriend over to "meet the parents" over the weekend. Bunny always follows him around, goes where he goes, is his little shadow when he is here. He brought J in and sat down by her. It really ticked Bunny off. She turned her back on him and stomped out of the room! It was sooo funny. She wouldn't let him touch her, she wouldn't go outside with him, she wouldn't eat treats from him, she was jealous! We laughed and laughed. Next time J came back Bunny wasn't quite so mad.

Well, back to the knitting. I'm determined to finish this sock by next Friday.

Summer of Socks 2008, Pair #4

My cheater socks. Not really, the rules say at least a 2" cuff, but I feel like these with the 3" cuff are cheaters. They only took a week to complete. I'm pleased with them.

Thanks for encouraging me to put the blue ones down for a while and do another pair. I have picked up the blue one this afternoon, frogged back to above the heel, fixed the problem and started the heel again. The good thing is that these will be finished soon and maybe I can get in one more pair before the final deadline. (May have to be another fast pattern!)

Received word today from my LYS that the Tempted Sock Yarn Club is ended as of this month. I guess the supplier (Stacy) has some new ideas she wants to try and being tied up each month with the club is tying up her time. I totally understand that. And SOS08 will be over soon. What will I do for a sock club or a KAL? I'm going to be looking for suggestions. So come on and help me out. Have any ideas?

On the other hand, this will release me to do some online shopping for yarn that rings my chimes. And the big guy is used to having yarn appear in the mailbox every month. And I do love The Loopy Ewe. So maybe everything will work out after all!


I love the way the pups look when they are happy and relaxing in the sun. This is one of their favorite places, in the dining room in front of the sliding glass door. Another place they like is in the sand box. Mom's babies.

Substitute Socks

This is the sock I started when I put the blue one in time out. It is being knit from Colinette Jitterbug in a pattern of my own making, with a short top and 2X2 ribs. The short top is so I can finish the pair before this 2-week period is up (cheating?) and because of my experience with the Jitterbug yarn. (Short skeins) The colorway is called "Summer Berries" and I bought it at my LYS some time ago and saved it for just the right project.

The sock shown here is totally finished and the second sock is past the heel. So I'm going to make the Friday deadline, I'm sure.

Next, I will frog the blue sock back to above the heel :( then decrease on the cable rows at the top of the heel, and pick up where I left off. Hopefully, I will finish it in time for the next 2-week period deadline. Whew! Thanks for suggesting I lay it down for a while first. That was a good plan.

Here are the dogs, Buster and Bunny, both wanting to sleep on the loveseat by the big guy. Neither one would give up, so they just slept in a pile which is what they really like to do anyway.



Today was a day off from work so we played golf. I did better than I did last week, and the weather couldn't have been better. No wind, temps below 90, it was a beautiful day. We are hoping that Friday will be as nice. The weatherman said maybe rain by then.

The kids in our area have gone back to school this week. That means summer is winding down. I've enjoyed having the flowers in the back yard this year, but they are fading. The petunias are all but gone. The hummingbirds are still active, I think there are three of them fighting over the two feeders. We will have birds at the feeders all winter, but I like the hummingbirds best. I'm always ready for the cooler weather, but the end of summer feels a little sad.

Oh, but think of the knitting we can do this winter!!

Trouble with socks

I'm having a problem with the socks I have on the needles. When you finish the ribbing at the top, you increase so you can cable every other rib. When you get down to the heel, you have to decrease back to the original number of stitches. If you are cabling on down the instep, you decrease those when you start the toe. Want to guess what I forgot to do at the heel? Yep. I forgot to decrease. After working the gusset (beautifully, may I say), I realized the foot wasn't going to fit. Duh! When your heel is many many stitches too wide, what would you expect.

So now do I stop where I am and frog back to the top of the heel, or do I keep going, finish this one and do the second one correctly, then frog it after SOS08 is over? I know, I know. It has to be done. But it will probably make me miss the two-week deadline to enter this pair.

I have seriously considered just stopping on this one and knitting a quick pair of short topped socks to enter this week. Cheating? Yep, I think so. I have a beautiful skein of Colinette Jitterbug that will not make a sock with a 6-inch cuff, so I will be using it for some short topped socks. I won't wear them, so I will be gifting them after I get them done. But they will count for SOS08 if they have at least a 2-inch cuff. (I was thinking more like a 3-inch one.)



Buster and Bunny had a good nap this afternoon. They stayed home alone while we played golf (poorly) this a.m. in the Oklahoma heat. The big guy has suffered for it all afternoon. We started before 7:30 and finished around 11:00. It's good exercise but it has gotten almost too hot to go out there.

Mom's little helper

Buster loves to help his mom. Here he is "holding down" my pattern so it won't get away. Also notice my needle with the stitches already cast on. He's holding that down too. Little Attention Junky. Notice the little white zipper bag. It has all my knitting goodies in it.



And here is Bunny in her favorite position: Face-in-Feed-Bowl. She is a chow hound. The vet did reduce her medicine again this week. Half a grain in the morning and half a grain in the evening. Maybe that will help reduce her appetite soon. He said if it is looking like thunderstorms, give her a whole tab in the a.m. and a half tab in the evening. And to continue that dosage for a couple of days after the thunderstorms are over. I haven't heard before that thunderstorms might affect seizures, but I'll try anything to help her out.



My third pair of socks for SOS08. The pattern is Diagonal Cross Rib Socks from Favorite Socks. Yarn is "Goody" by Tempted. Started 7/19/08, finished 7/30/08. I like this pattern. I've done it 3 times. It is easy to memorize and quick to knit.

Thanks to my readers who left a comment about the pastel yarn. I've had some good suggestions. Also, have any of you tried Louet Gems yarns? They have some pretty solid colors. I'm wondering if it is a nice fingering weight or is it heavier?