Sock Madness 9

Some of you may or may not know about Sock Madness, a group on Ravelry that holds a sock speed knitting competition each year.

This year I signed up, hoping to expand my sock knowledge, and hoping my shoulder would get a nice strengthening workout in the process.

I didn't work on either of the practice socks, as I wanted to save my shoulder for the competition.
The first was The Stroop Stroop Socks.

Photo by Ros Clarke

The second warm up sock was Choose Your Own Adventure Socks.  I like the way it shows off self striping yarn, and with options to 'choose your own adventure' there are a few variations!

Photo by: Midwest Yarn, LLC

Sadly, I made the cheerleading team only.  My shoulder is not up to knitting on small needles, and after the two weeks from the start up of the round, I had all of one sock complete... but that was enough to qualify for all of the upcoming patterns!

The first sock was Alohomora, and here's what my first sock looks like:


I chose this yarn for the sparkles.  You may not be able to see them very well in the photo, but the yarn screams magic to me, and I absolutely love them. Since the pattern was for the competition, there were a set amount of stitches and rows you needed to complete to qualify.  That being said, they're a titch big on me, I could have gone down a needle size - if I could knit on needles that small currently.

Round 2 has just come out, and these gorgeous Cable Madness socks are the next sock competitors are knitting.

Photo by Karen Buhr

If competitors finish before the deadline then they have to option of knitting the bonus pattern, Duck-Foot Ivy.  For those who qualified to be a cheerleader (like myself), or anyone who doesn't knit the round 2 sock before the end of the round, the pattern will be available at the end of the competition.

Photo by: Hreow Beth

Once round 3 has started, I'll post what pattern has been released and my progress on other pairs.

Voodoo Dream Date Swap

My swap arrived today, and my partner received her swap yesterday, so now I can share!

This is what my lovely partner sent me!
My voodoo is adorable and perfectly me, anatomy is awesome!  Check our this lil gal in all her glory:

She has the cutest little heart on her bum too, she's based on the monster high logo!

Also included were:
Tea, Candy, Roving, Cat toys, notecards and buttons!

And here's the little fellows I sent out:   Buttons, pompom maker, stitch markers and an Olaf voodoo, a regular voodoo, and a mini gnome!

Mysteries Unveiled and Started!

I previously wrote about the CBD January Mystery Mitts, having posted clues 1-3.  The pattern is now available for half price, Tessellating Diamonds.

Here are clues 4-8, my finished mitt.

Clue 4:

Clue 5:

Clue 6 and 7:

Clue 8, Finished, inside and out:

There are a few more KALs going on that are still available for signups!
- The CBD Mystery Cowl is still available to join until the 4th (I think.)
- Phoenix Knits is holding a Mystery Toy KAL, the pattern is free until the kal is over.
-  Untangling Knots is still holding the Selfish Sweater KAL for the next two weeks, though patterns are no longer on sale.
- Susan Claudino Designs is continuing the Jan/Feb kal with 7 projects gaining you double ballots for a prize.
- Reddit's February Kal has 2 teams, one for each pattern (Oddity and Eugenia's Mittens)
- The Project A Month Group has two patterns this month as well, Stardust Mittens and Valentine Sox.

Feel free to join and mention other kals on Ravelry I may have missed!

Voodoo and Cats...

I previously mentioned I was partaking in the voodoo dream date swap.  I've knit and shopped and will be sending out soon, however after knitting the pattern and seeing all the cute little voodoos going about, I had to make one for myself!
Here she is:



This pattern is so fun to knit, and so cute when it's done, I'm going to have to knit quite a few more. I already have an idea for the yarn for one of them - a birthday gift! You may be expecting some pictures of the kittens from the title of this entry. Instead, I would like to forward you to the ever talented Valerie Johnson's (Wandering Cat Studio) blog. She's currently running a sale on her Ravelry store to help her friend bring some special little furballs to Canada (read the blog entry for details, or just great knitting and cat posts!), and until February 7th you can take 50% off your purchase with a coupon code found on her page. I wanted to help out with her incredibly generous gift, so I purchased a few patterns myself - I'm a sucker for a happy ending! Despite not being able to work on small needles for any length of time, I chose some of the sock patterns I've been wanting to buy since I messed up my shoulder. I figured it could be great incentive to slowly work towards getting back to those size 0 needles. I've been working on a sock on size 2 needles, but trying not to overdo it.

 Morning Glory:

Photo by Valerie Johnson

Photo by Valerie Johnson

The other is an e-book, containing 3 patterns:  
Garden Path, Garden Gate and Secret Garden.

Photo by Valerie Johnson

Photo by Valerie Johnson

Photo by Valerie Johnson

There are plenty of adorable patterns to choose from, and the pattern code is redeemable more than once, so head over to Wandering Cat Studio and check it out!

Mystery Mitts (1-3)

Last month, I signed up for the CBD January 2015 Mystery Mitts Knit-Along.

I'm definitely not as caught up as I should be - I've only just finished clue 3 of 7 or 8 - but it's knitting up quite nicely!  We've named the design Tessellating Diamonds (by vote), and I love how different colours make the design pop in different ways.

It's too late to sign up for the mkal now (I dropped the ball there, sorry!), so I figured I would share my clues as I knit them! 

Clue 1:

This guy is knit first and left on a stitch holder (or in my case a dpn made of some sort of plastic - which I can't use because I bend them to the point they break!), and is used later in the design.  I know what for, but I'm going to leave it a surprise for those of you who don't!

Clue 2:

The cuff.  A simple 2x2 ribbed cuff, I knit mine in a pale pink - though I almost frogged it and started over in black once getting the next clue, I stand by my pink cuffs.

Clue 3:

This is where you can really see the pattern start to come out.  If you didn't choose the best contrasting colours the pattern is difficult to see.  Originally, I knit the colours opposite, but didn't like it as much.  Once I flipped them (using the pink where there purple was and grey where the black was) I really started to enjoy it, and finished clue 3 - previously I stopped after the first grey/black set of rows, frogged to the cuff and set it aside for a while.

If you missed the chance to join the mkal, the pattern will be available to purchase fairly soon, I would imagine!  Once you get the basic colourway going, the pattern is really rather intuitive and easy to remember.  I'll post again once I've received and knit a few more clues.

There is going to be a February Mystery Cowl KAL, and you can still sign up for it!
The pattern page is here,  to sign up just follow the directions on the pdf download.  I'm hoping to participate in this one as well, all depends on if I find the right yarn for it and have enough time.

Stay tuned for more clues!

Voodoo Dream Date Swap

The beginning of January I signed up for the Voodoo Dream Date Swap on Ravelry.


A little valentine swap using the Voodoo You Love Me pattern (seriously adorable!), and dressing them up into a dream theme.  For example, if your partner's voodoo dream date was My Little Pony related, you could knit the voodoo in a colour of one of the ponies, and add a cutie mark to it to tie it in.  You also need to include a card, a snacky treat and extra goodies are optional.  Going along with the mlp theme, I would then include a mlp valentine cared (or two, depending on what I could find), maybe some mlp stickers or pins, and likely some snacky valentine treats with tea.  It's not a huge swap, and there's no price range, the main idea is to knit and share a voodoo with someone else - and in return receive one knit by someone else with you in mind!

I, of course, left a fairly wide theme - something maybe a little gothy/cute creepy.  Mainly because I rarely have yarn I would knit myself a gothy voodoo from - I tend to knit for other people more than myself, however recently I've knit myself something and will share in a new update.  My partner, a fellow Canadian is fun to plan for - she likes Olaf and Sven from Frozen, Lilo and Stitch and anything by Joss Whedon (who I happen to be a fan of his work as well).  I have to be extra careful finding a treat for her, since she can't have gluten, but everything else I'm excited to put together. Her top colour choices right now are green, purple, red and pink; and she would love something gnome-y or Disney related.

I started the voodoo the other day, and here's a bit of a sneak peek:
At risk of spoiling the surprise (although I doubt anyone I swap with reads this), I'll let you in on a secret - I had a brilliant idea for a voodoo theme, but couldn't decide on which to go with... so I'm doing both!

I probably won't post anymore pictures until after I've sent out the swap and it's made it to my partner (unless I get too excited and post another sneak peek), but stay tuned for the reveal!  As usual, I will post once I've received my package as well!

Vampire Swap 2014 Has Arrived!

My swap package came earlier this week!

My partner sent me some pretty great stuff!
Fiber first!

The cowl is super soft and cozy, I'm not sure what yarn it's made from though - it's a single ply super yummy yarn at any rate! This yarn has sadly been discontinued, so I'll need to find the perfect project for it.  This is Merino Fine (100% Merino Wool) in colourway Hopeless Romantic by Kitchen Sink Dyeworks. The label says it won't pool or stripe, so I'm rather intrigued as to how it will knit up.  The skein is only 390 yards in fingering/sock weight, so finding the perfect project may be a bit challenging, I may end up pairing it with a solid colour for a small shawl, or a pair of socks... Though a Voodoo would be interesting! (More on the voodoo in an upcoming post!) Books:

Knitted Lace is a great little book full of great patterns such as Wakame Lace Tunic, Bettie’s Lace Stockings, Luminarie Skirt, and Oriel Lace Blouse to name a few!

The Passage is a supernatural type book (she stalked me well!), the first of a three part series.  I'm sure I'll love this one once I get a chance to sink my teeth into it!

Related to vampires and bats:

Some bottle labels, a pack of 8 - I'll definitely make use of these, they're rather amusing! This adorable little bat is super soft and I think will be keeping me company in my knitting nook, that or in my bedroom.

Scented:
Some lovely soaps from Wolfe Farms. The Love Bites is fresh orange and lime blended with berry and cherry.  I'm not actually sure what the other two are - I've kept the package mostly in its box until I can put everything away, so the smells kind of blended together!  The Hexies are filled with lavender, and go in your knitting project bags!  I must say, these I can smell without any issue from the soap, and they smell amazing.  As I pull out my wips over the next few days, whichever the first 3 I work on will have these in them!

Extra Goodies:
A great card, I love the design.  An adorable Lion measuring tape and some super yummy chocolates!

I'm in the midst of another swap, so I'll post about that soon!