Gauge? What's gauge?

First off, let me say that I did not knit these. Those who know me know that I am not too fond of the gauge swatch. So far I prefer to knit things that have a certain flexibility in their sizing. =)
I bought these longies off of Mothering Dot Community a few years back before I knew too much about either knitting or proper sizing of wool soakers. Shortly after these arrived in the mail they were dubbed "The Clown Pants." They are just so wrong on so many levels.

They measure 17 inches. Everywhere. No matter where you are measuring. The rise? 17 inches. Legs? 17 inches. Width across? You guessed it....17 inches. They are HUGE!!! Like ginormous. Like you could fit TWO 4 year olds in these at the same time. It made me a little bit sad today when I found them while cleaning out my sewing room. Obviously whoever knit these had knitting skill. They used short rows in the seat, nicely done cuffs on the bottom, no dropped or missed stitches anywhere, and an I-cord for the drawstring. I'm not sure why they didn't notice the SIZE. So I decided to unravel them to at least save the yarn. I love the colors, from orange to teal and purple, and back again. (Not too fond of the pooling, but maybe a different pattern or project would knit up differently.)

I am wrapping it around one of my widest quilting rulers for right now. The colors really are very pleasing. Kind of reminds me of goldfish for some reason...

Spinning Wheel

Here it is. My new Ashford Traditional. I have looked a few times on Craigslist, but never managed to find anything before it was already sold. I got a call on Saturday from a friend who said she had been at a moving sale and saw it there. She wasn't in the market for one, but wanted to make sure her friends knew about it. So I went and looked at it on Sunday (with Sabbath along as my expert!) and I bought it on the spot for a heckuva deal! Now I have to learn how to spin...

I also got this box of extras-- spools, flyer, repair/tool kit, etc.

And this Lazy Kate. That I don't know how to use. Yet. Can you say roving???

Blocked Sock

Here's sock #1of Los Monos Locos laying out blocked. I think it would block up much nicer with sock blockers. Maybe I'll buy myself some for Mother's Day.

Here's a 32 stitch toe waiting for a pattern. I've been through 5 pages of Ravelry and haven't found a pattern yet that is calling out to me...

Knitting Night

A sugar cookie crust fruit pizza....

A sock in progress...

Some wine...

Winding up a new yarn cake.... It was a good knitting night.

Toe-Up!!!!

My first toe-up! Using the Turkish cast-on. Which was chosen after spending way too much time on the internet, but do I feel is the EASIEST one out there. Maybe Sabbath or Liberty can explain the "provisional cast-on using waste yarn" to me. Why??? Sounds tedious and unecessary... This pattern is Los Monos Locos which are the "no-purl" Monkey's. I have a pair already from Sabbath and LOVE THEM! I am knitting these in Dream In Color Smooshy Punky Fuschia that was a gift from my friend Jen. Which, at the time she gave me the yarn, I was barely knitting dishcloths. =) So I had to get my game on pretty quickly so I could deserve this beautiful colorway! I cast these on (alright I actually knit the toe 3 times obsessing over perfection on Saturday and plan to be down to the heel after knitting night tonight. It knits up super fast! It's got an 8 row lace pattern repeat that is knit only on one of your circulars, easy enough to keep track of even with kids jabbering at you!

Here's an updated picture on my Sock of Kindness. I stopped when I got down to where I need to start the heel. Which is why I cast on for another sock project. =)

Socks of Kindness

So, here is Queen Mab again. I had to tear out the last pattern I was trying because I couldn't make it work. Even Sabbath couldn't make it work. Which tells me there might be a technical or mathematical error in the pattern as it was written. Since I can barely follow a pattern at this point, I wasn't feeling up to re-writing it. I do love this new pattern I'm knitting though. Socks of Kindness is really easy, the pattern shows up early (for those impatient folks among us) and as long as you have a row counter you can stop and start fairly easily. This picture shows two repeats of the finished 12 rows. Zipping right along....

Queen Mab

Here is my next work in progress. (Don't worry I'm still doing the 2nd blue sock right now too!) This is Queen Mab from Liberty's Yarn. Not sure yet what pattern I'm going with, I have 2 or 3 picked out. We'll see what I feel like after I have the ribbed cuff done. I went up a needle size too because I knit tightly (which is awesome for a sock knitter!) but would like a little bit of a looser feel to my socks. This is a size 3 with fingering weight. Patterns in the running so far are: Monkey, Nauset, and Twisted Waffles. (If those links don't work for you, that's a sure sign that you need a Ravelry account!)

Spring Socks

Here's my new Stripey Spring Socks. Finished last Saturday morning at 7:30 just in time to wear to the Natural Living Expo. Which had been my goal for completion all week. This yarn knit up super fast. I am glad I got another colorway in it too. This was the 1st pair of socks I knit to completion for myself. And they are darn near perfect, If I do say so....