flyinmysoup

i am finished with this semester!!  all papers have been reworked and submitted, all make-up work has been turned in.  i think that all of the non-knitting i've been up to may pay off with close to a 4.0 GPA for the semester.  finally, i can get back to knitting!!!!

i sent off my Sockapallooza pal's socks today...they get to go over the ocean.  i really hope that they make it to her! 
here the socks are all finished up and done.  i'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  and for any body that wants to know, you can totally knit the pompatomous socks with the magic loop technique.  whoot!

the sockapallooza socks represented the last thing that i had to knit, so i'm going to be doing some "me" knitting for a while.  i've got the Mamluke socks from Folk Socks in mind.  they are so beautiful. see?  aren't they just gorgeous?  the characters near the toes and heals (not the diamond shapes) spell out Allah, and that's gotten me enamored for some reason (i'm not Muslim, just a generally spiritual gal).  i'm also kicking around Calla from Magknits.  i've got the Svale, i just am sooo sock crazy....

i've finished the first Mamluke Sock!  wow...that was fast.  i think that i must be making up for all the non-knitting i've been doing!  i love how this sock looks...it's a tiny bit big around the ball of my foot but not too bad.  i'm using some Baby Ull in navy and Knitpicks dye your own merino sock yarn.  i loved the color combonation and figured that these socks will be worth having to hand wash.  the heel on these is kind of odd...it doesn't look or feel like an entire heel (it's the stripy part).  i'm really please how quickly this first one went--here's to hoping that Second Sock Syndrome doesn't strike in the completion of the second.  i think that i'm smitten enough with the pattern that it shouldn't be a problem. 

in other, non knitting news, i picked up some georgeous roses at Trader Joe's
tonight.  i've been trying to curb my flower-buying tendancies, but these babies were just to fabulous to pass by. 

are these not the best???  i was running around, squealing in glee when i opened up the package....Xavier was scared.  my sockapalooza pal Erin dyed the yarn herself; the pattern is the Mermaid socks from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks, Warm Feet , a book that i may have to pick up now.  i'm so jazzed!  the socks fit well, and they are awesomely colored, and they were made just for me!  how cool is that?  it wasn't all socks in the package though.  it was socks AND chocolate...deeply dark chocolate that i am nibbling on as i type this.  Sock Pal Erin, you rule.

i now own eight pairs of handknit socks.  what's a good goal number?  when should i start to worry?  14? 27?  huh...anywho, on to some pictures then!

Pattern:  Mamluke Socks from Folk Socks

oh, and for all you freaky fair isle inside checker outers (there has to be a better way to say that), a picture of my sock's innards. 

so, after finishing up my final paper for this semester, i had absolutly no desire whatsoever to come near a computer for a couple of weeks.  this brief techno-allergy was hell for the blogging but alright for the knitting.  (ps.  i ended up with a 4.0!  my yoga paper got a 95%!!!  whoot!)  First, some sock (suprise, frickin' suprise):

here is my almost finished sock based on the Curusoe pattern from knitty.  i am absolutely in love with how this yarn (hand dyed by moi) looks in the slip stitch pattern. 

and now for some lace (cause apparently i've got a thing for really fine yarn):

this is a Flower Basket Shawl from IK.  i'm making it in the Knitpicks color your own lace weight (i dyed it this strange tan...it's alright).  a good friend of mine will be receiving this as a gift (she's great to give hand made gifts to--she's always sooo appreciative).  i'm tweaking the pattern a bit (i think) by adding on a knitted on border.  i don't really like the border as written, so we'll see.

final pick of the day, the start of my Fir Cone shawl from the Folk Shawl book.  it's not much too look at yet, but the yarn, oh holy mary mother of god, the yarn.  this is Lacey Lamb and it is the softest shit i've ever worked with.  it makes the Knitpicks Merino that i'm working with feel like steel wool.  it's freakin' brilliant.

i've also nearly finished the Lily stole (pics of it would serve almost no purpose so why waste the bandwidth?).  i've got 5 more repeats and the edging then it's done.  it soooooooooo boring now, though!  and it sucks cause it's not utterly mindless, as i have to pay attention to all the damned nupps (I HATE THEM).  gah.  the sooner i get crackin' on it the sooner it'll be OFF my freakin' size 4 bryspuns and i can move on to other lacey things.