Socks! Socks All the way to Infinity!

So, I've fallen in love with knitting socks! (Except the heel....but that's because the instructions I followed were rather confusing....or maybe it's just because I'm inexperienced.


This isn't the pattern I used, but the first pair of socks I made (well, still working on the second one) was a pair of pedicure socks. My good friend (the one I made the Jayne hat for) found one of those tear-off free patterns they have in the yarn sections at Joann and she insisted I make them for her, so we got some Serenity Garden yarn that was on sale in Grass.



The colors look sorta camo-esque except there's no brown in them. One skein as made 1 sock and I've had enough to make a good bit of the second sock so far. Dunno if I'll have enough to finish the second one or not, but I have another skein if it doesn't. Once I finish both I'll post pictures.


About a year ago I visited a yarn shop in Little Rock, AR called Yarn Mart. It was my first time in an actual yarn shop. Needless to say I went crazy! I grabbed without looking at prices, and had to put back a LOT so I could afford the rest. I think I spent like $90....and I only bought one skein of everything I bought. Oh well. I can always go back! All that to say, one of the skeins I bought was a sock yarn called Jawoll Cotton, which I can't find pictures of in the color I bought. It's pink with green, yellow, and navy blue variegated and I'm using it to knit baby socks for my niece!! (Or if they're too small for my good friend who's just a few days from her due date with a little girl!) This is a weight 1 yarn and I'm using size 1 dpns. Very tiny work and it's my first time with size 1s. Good times, but I have a feeling my fingers/wrist (which is a mess anyway) will hate me eventually. Bonnie's socks are on size 3s with a weight 2 sock yarn.

So, I'm loving my new sock stuff! It's so fun because it's something wearable that doesn't take long! I just have the trouble of not wanting to make the second one. I get the "I just made that, and I have to make it again!?" mentality. Kinda bad I know.

Speaking of wearables, I finished the first ever wearable item I've ever knitted! (Not counting hats) It was a vest from the November 2009 issue of Creative Knitting magazine! And what's even crazier, I started and finished it (save for the zipper and end weaving) in one week! I started it on the car ride to Texas, worked on it all week (along with Bonnie's first sock), and finished it on the car ride back! Before we ever hit Arkansas!!!! This is saying a lot since I've been working on that jacket since last summer....but I chose Lion Brand Homespun for that pattern, its double knit, and I keep running out of the six-dollar-a-skein-yarn. So sue me.

That's my update and I'm sticking to it! Happy knitting!

OH! And before I forget, here's the pattern for my niece's socks. Baby Socks I'm not changing colors though.

A Few Shiny Things

For all my Firefly fans: I have made a Jayne hat! I made it for a friend who's been into Firefly much longer than me. (As I've only been watching it for a month or so.)


A couple of WIP pictures. (This hat literally took me about a day altogether.)





And the very happy recipient! She loves it and wears it everywhere! I'm currently working on my own hat now. (As according to a Facebook quiz I'm Jayne....weird....)

Jayne Hat
There's the pattern. I didn't have the right cable length, so I transferred it to size 10 1/2 dpns, dividing them into 16 stitches across 4 needles. My first ever project using a set of 5 dpns rather than 4. It was rather exciting. I used the Red Heart Super Saver yarns, and if you do that too bear in mind that it'll be a bit loose when using the dpns. Especially at the beginning try and knit a little tighter than you normally would.

On another exciting note: I'm playing with cooking! I LOVE it! In perusing Crazy Aunt Purl's blog, I came across this. It's a wonderful salad with blueberries and carrots!! It's so happy!






7. Grate carrots, toast some sunflower seeds, and toss with blueberries, olive oil, lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Sweet, sour, crunchy, soft.

The salad comes from 101 Simple Salads for the Season.

It's the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. I underestimated the tartness of the lemon. (I used half of an actual lemon, rather than bottled lemon juice. I don't know if it makes a difference, I just happened to have a lemon I'd taken from the school's cafeteria.)
I cut the lemon in half and squeezed all the juice out of it I could, and only added a little bit of olive oil. It made it rather tart, but it was still amazingly amazing. I am utterly in love with this salad. I also didn't use but a tiny bit of pepper because I've never liked pepper in salads. I didn't bother toasting my own sunflower seeds. They come toasted in bags at Wal-Mart. So its really up to you how you do it.

I did all of my grating, cutting, etc. by hand because I don't have a food processor, but one will easily work for the carrots. Just remember not to get the slices too small.

My favorite thing is that this salad is only 4 weight watchers points! (Which I am doing at the moment.) It's very healthy, very delicious, and has no greens so it's different and fun!

Give it a try, let me know how it turns out for you!