Plath’s Adventures

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Chocolate Waffle aka Monster Man Socks Finished!
Originally uploaded by plath.

Even though this weekend was super-hectic, I still managed to finish my Chocolate Waffle/aka Monster Man socks. Here they are in all their glory.

Pattern: Blueberry Waffles with 66 stitches
Needles: Size 1bamboo
Yarn: hand-dyed from a SP. I believe it was a Knitter’s Review secret pal who never revealed herself

Not that I’m finished with Socktoberfest. After kitchenering these (I LOVE to kitchener), I promptly cast on for a new pair. I scoured all my old IKs and flipped through my sock pattern binder yesterday, and decided on the Retro Rib socks from the Winter 2004 issue of Interweave Knits. I’m not into the leg pattern yet, only the cuff, but here they are so far:

I’m using Socks that Rock, in the mediumweight. The colorway is Moonlight Revel. I’m not sure if these socks will be for me or for a Christmas gift.

Not to be outdone, Jason did a little stash busting as well this weekend. He turned this huge bag:

Into this:

and this:

Yep, my hubby makes an awesome apple pie. He spent all day Sunday replacing a window in our dining room, and then came in to make two apple pies. I’m so lucky.

Dimple Socks Finished
Originally uploaded by plath.

My Dimple Socks are Finished! I’m really happy with how they turned out. I did have a few design changes: I didn’t do as many repeats on the leg of the sock as the pattern called for because I was afraid the tops would be too snug on the calves for the recipient if I did. I also only used size 3 needles, instead of the called for needles 3 & 4.

Pattern: Dimple Socks from Designedly Kristen
Yarn: Super Glitz from Cherry Tree Hill, Old Rose
Needles: Size 3 Bryspuns

My next pair of socks are my Chocolate Waffles, which I pulled out of my WIP basket. I haven’t worked on them since last fall, so I’m really determined to actually finish them this time. Here’s my progress so far:

I’m actually a bit farther since I took this picture– I just finished the gusset last night. I’ve dubbed them my Monster Man Socks, as they’re huge in comparison to the last few pairs I’ve worked on. They’re going to be for Jason for Christmas.

Yarn in the dyebath
Originally uploaded by plath.

Here is my yarn soaking in it’s black walnut dye bath. I took about a dozen fresh black walnuts that I stole from the squirrels (not the rotted ones), put them in a pair of old panty hose, and tied it off. I let the walnuts soak in the water with a handful of rusty nails for about a week, then brought them to a boil and let them simmer for 2 hours (keep the lid on– it’s kind of sweetly stinky). Then, I pulled out the walnuts, and added my soaked yarn, that I soaked for about 2 hours with a little dish detergent and room temp water. I brought the water back up to a slight simmer and let the yarn simmer for another two hours. Then, I took the pot off the heat, and let the yarn stew overnight. The next morning, it was time to rinse:
And here is the finished yarn, after drying:

I simply love it. It’s a tad washed out in this picture, but it’s a delicious color of chocolate-brown, with a very slight color variation of a darker shade. This will become a pair of socks (as it’s Knitpicks Color Your Own Sock yarn– the 100% wool), but I’m excited to try dyeing with the black walnuts again. I think the squirrels may have swiped all our black walnuts though…

I’m moving along great on the Dimple Socks, much farther than this picture attests:

In fact, I’m just about ready to cast on for a new pair.

In house renovation news, we have a hole in our house:

The resident handyman (my dh) replaced a huge window in the living room this weekend. Too bad it poured rain all Sunday, or the other hole in the house (I failed to take a picture) would be fixed, too. Arg.

I also made a little jelly.
What started out as this huge bag of grapes from MIL:

Became this:

16 jars to be exact. I’m thinking it will make a great office gift for Christmas. Yep, I’ll probably still be here around Christmas-time. I wasn’t initially planning on working here for that long, but last week I got a promotion. It’s definitely not my dream job, but it’s a great opportunity (and I can get up to pee whenever I want LOL), and it is a bit more money. I started out as a temp, was hired full-time as the receptionist, and am now a legal administrative assistant. It’s amazing how much differently I’m already being treated. Isn’t that sad? Attorneys who would never say more than two words to me are now asking me how my weekend was, and trying to start a conversation with me. Grrrrr.

Finished RPM Socks
Originally uploaded by plath.

They are finished! I love the way they turned out, and they’re oh so cozy in my new Crocs. Yes, I joined the Crocs bandwagon. I’m such a lemming. They truly are very comfy, and incredibly light. And I love the bright green– my favorite color.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve cast on for a new pair using the Cherry Tree Hill Superglitz yarn, and I’m already past the gusset and on the foot. It’s a heavier weight sock yarn, so the knitting is fast, just the way I like it. I’m a little unsure about the yarn though. It has a strand of glittery yarn mixed with the wool, and it feels a little scratchy as I’m knitting it. I’m going to give them a good soak in conditioner when I’m done, and I hope that helps to soften them up. They’ll definitely need a good blocking, too, as the Dimple Sock pattern I’m using draws in a LOT.

I also have some yarn pr0n to share. The last I will be purchasing for quite a while, as we need to save money for new siding for our house.
Spunky Eclectic Super Sport in the I Love Fall colorway. Marzipan took an interest in this one. She couldn’t stop sniffing and licking it once I opened the package!

And 3 beautiful hanks of Socks That Rock:

All Medium Weight, from left to right:
Rolling Stone
Farmhouse
Moonlight Revel

I did not know that you could just email them and ask them if certain colorways were in stock. This may be a very dangerous thing to know! I really wanted a hank of Puck’s Mischief, but they didn’t have that one in stock, so they suggested Moonlight Revel, which is very similar. I love it!

BLOGLINES update already!!!!!

Socktoberfest Socks completed!

My socktoberfest socks are finished, and I’m super-happy with how they turned out. I’ve already cast on for my next pair of socks, but don’t have pictures yet. Be back later this week with lots of yummy pictures. I had a busy, busy craftaholic weekend with Jason out of town Previews on my Flickr page if you’re feeling nosey and just can’t wait

P.S. Go Tigers! I watched snippets of the game and caught the winning home run while flipping back and forth from the Nascar race. Jason was *in* the pit during the race in North Carolina, and I think I caught him on TV! I Tivo’d it so he can verify when he gets home. I’m not much of a sports fan, but I watched sports all day long on Saturday.

Snow in October
Originally uploaded by plath.

Brrrrr.

It is just the day to stay inside, cuddle up with some knitting and hot cocoa and watch tv. And that is exactly what I have planned for the weekend. Jason will be out of town, so it’s just me and the animals, and nothing special is planned except for the weekly trek to the grocery, and I plan on getting lots of knitting time. I’m also going to finally start on my natural dyeing process with the black walnuts I’ve had steeping all week.

Snow in October
Originally uploaded by plath.

More pictures of our snowfall yesterday. We didn’t get much, but it’s the earliest recorded snowfall ever for our area.

Going to try this again. For some reason, bloglines isn’t updating my blog.

Newest yarn acquisition
Originally uploaded by plath.

Here is my newest sock yarn stash enhancement. Sweet Georgia Yarn in the Speed Demon weight, English Bay colorway from Pickup Sticks. I ordered this with the Socktoberfest discount, and received it very promptly from Canada, with three free stitch markers included in my package. I highly recommend! I also purchased and downloaded the Dimple Socks and Flatiron Clog socks patterns from Designedly, Kristi. I’m planning on knitting up the Dimple Socks pattern next, but I may use another sock yarn stash enhancement that’s on it’s way to me first. Pictures forthcoming, of course! It would be perfect with the Sweet Georgia yarn, though, too, so I may have to knit that pair up for me.

Lolly’s questions:
Do you have certain patterns planned for some of the yarns? Do you buy yarn and then choose a pattern?

Usually I don’t have a pattern in mind for the socks (of course I broke the rules above!), just whatever looks like fun to knit at the time.

Does a certain sock yarn you have in your stash take you back to a certain event? (where you were when you bought/received it? what was going on in your life at the time?)

I really would like to get in the habit of buying sock yarn on vacation. it’s a great, relatively inexpensive souvenir. I regretted not buying some on our road trip through Northern Michigan last summer, and again in England in January. I just couldn’t find the right sock yarn in England (although I did buy yarn). I do have memories connected to the sock yarn I’ve purchased at fiber festivals though. This beautiful yarn I bought at the Wool Gathering Festival in Yellow Springs, Ohio last summer became these socks (read about them here), and this yarn from the Michigan Fiber Festival this year, waiting to be knit. I also have great memories of finishing these socks while in England in January. They’ve been dubbed my England socks, even though the yarn came from the States (more specifically Knitpicks– their Parade yarn).

Brand new Philippa Gregory book
Originally uploaded by plath.

I also received a new book in the mail recently. I’m fortunate enough to be on Simon & Schuster’s bookclub list, and they occasionally send me Advance Reader’s Edition copies of various books. I email them to give a short review, and let them know whether or not my book club would consider reading the titles. Imagine my surprise when I opened my mail to find Philippa Gregory’s newest book, which isn’t available until December! I’m so excited to be given the opportunity to read it before it even comes out. You can preorder it on Amazon–The Boleyn Inheritance if you’re interested. I can already tell you it’s a good one!