I’ve always loved Sharon’s sense of color. She was one of the Yarn Love dyers and came up with some of your very favorite colorways (which we have carried since our first Loopy year) and she continues surprising us with beautiful color mixes through her Three Irish Girls company. This is Kirsty, done up in the March Mosaic sock pattern. (Pattern by Wendy Johnson and shared with our sock club last year.) As I mentioned in last week’s post, slipped-stitch patterns are great for mixing up multi-colorways and making the colors play nicely together. Of course I know there are many knitters out there who like pooling and letting the color just do what it’s going to do, but for those of you who don’t, watch for these types of patterns to add to your library.  One thing to note if you’re making socks with a slipped stitch pattern, you might want to go up a needle size. We have more fun things planned with Sharon and Three Irish Girls. We’ll keep you posted!

For those of you with cats and an iPhone or iPad, you might check out the Cat Toy app. Here, Gracie (right) and Zoe (left) are watching the butterfly fly around the screen. It comes with a Butterfly, Spider, Laser Dot, and Mouse. Generally, Zoe is too smart to be fooled by this toy (although she is more entertained by the butterfly), but Gracie wants the mouse on every evening, so she can try (once and for all) to finally catch that dumb mouse, as it runs across the screen. Gracie isn’t the brightest bulb in the pack, but she makes us laugh and she’s a sweetheart. She dives at the screen and talks to it. I’m hoping she doesn’t put a paw through it one day…  Does anyone else have a cat or dog that has more sweetness than brains?

Sheri goodbye70′s,hello30′s.
Somuchforspringweather.

These merino/cashmere/nylon blends really spoil a person. I have already cast on for my second sock in this. I’d say that I’m getting better and deleting my Second Sock Syndrome but that’s not true. It’s just the MCN Base that prompts me forward. The truth is, I want to wear them and not just display a single sock on the wall at Loopy. This is Smaller Yellow Ant in Bugga from The Sanguine Gryphon, and while I’m not usually an orange or yellow person, the colors in this just pop. I love it.  The pattern is Shur’tugal, and is free on Ravelry. Knit top down, with a very cool heel. (Click on photo to make it big – isn’t that a fun pattern?) We put lots of new Bugga and Skinny Bugga up on Monday night, this week. I know many of you found it! We also added in:

- more Lavishea in all scents and sizes (those gals worked hard to get us one more order before the holidays!)

- Madelinetosh Sock (80 more colors went up) and Pashmina (the wonderful merino/silk/cashmere blend).

- Jojoland Melody Superwash and patterns (check out Jojo’s scarf patterns. So pretty in this beautiful color-changing yarn.)

- Entrelac Stitchmarkers (my favorites, because they’re small and unobtrusive and pretty.)

- Addi Lace Clicks (we’ve worked our way through all of the pre-orders that we had for these, so now we can share them on the website. These have been popular!)

- Loopy Lite Kits (the remaining kits from our Loopy Lite Fall Sock Club, containing an exclusive skein of Madelinetosh Sock, two patterns written for this kit – socks and mitts – and a black and red Loopy Messenger Bag.)

We’ll have one more Monday Update for 2010 – next Monday. I’m anticipating Gale’s Art, Fiberphile, Lorna’s Laces, and more for you on Monday. We won’t have new things to go up on 12/27, since we are taking Thursday and Friday of next week to enjoy the holiday season with our families. No photo time.

On another note – I have a new Christmas CD that I’m really enjoying. One of my friends on Facebook suggested it, and I’m so glad. It’s piano music that combines Christmas Carols with Classical songs (like Silent Night combined with Clare de Lune, We Three Kings with Fuer Elise, Hark the Herald Angels Sing with Handel’s Largo, etc). If you’re tired of all of your regular holiday CD’s,  (or need some stocking stuffers or a couple more gifts for people on your list) you might give this one a try. It will put you in the spirit and relax you at the same time!

Sheri finallycoldenoughforwoolsocksaroundhere

I finished another sock this week and wanted to share it with you. What a fun pattern to knit up! In addition, it makes a cuff that stretches comfortably, but also stays in place once it is on your foot. I’ll definitely do this one again. (Froot Loop – free on Knitty.com) The yarn is Spud and Chloe Fine, which I also liked a lot. It’s a blend of 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Silk, which adds some warmth and a slight sheen to the finished knit. This would also make it a great yarn for shawls. The other plus – I had plenty left over from one skein, even after making a size 11 women’s sock. Two skeins will give you almost 500 yds. to work with, which is more than enough for most sizes, as well as knee highs for many sizes.

Since I have finished one in-progress project, I get to start another one, right? Never mind all of the ones currently in-progress. Let’s focus on the fact that one is FINISHED. And another needs to be STARTED.  (Yes, I guess I am yelling. To make my point. I’m sure it helps as you read along and is not at all annoying.) Finished (FINISHED!), equals the opportunity to get another started (STARTED!). Fortunately it’s still too hot to do much outside, so that means air-conditioning and knitting is on my list for this weekend. Speaking of hot, how hot do you think it is, when you have two furry beings on your lap, needing attention?  I was knitting my Wollmeise Citron, which I’d like to point out is also FINISHED. (Yelling again. Stop it.) Back to Gracie and Zoe, the cats – this can be nice in the wintertime when the house gets a little chilly, but not so much in the middle of the summer when the air conditioner is already working as hard as it can. Not that they seem to understand the difference. Or care.

Have a great weekend and I hope it’s nice and cool where you are.

Sheri allergictoheat.I’mconvincedofit.

I used to love to color when I was little. (Heck, I’d probably still like coloring if given the chance!) I am transferring all of those “love to play with colors” tendencies, to my knitting. I’ve had a lot of fun mixing and matching colors in this new Solid Series line. It’s like having a big artist’s palette to play with. Here is a sock that I knit up over the weekend, using Surf, Coffee and Mocha.

The pattern is easy – I started toe up and used this pattern:
16 rows Coffee
4 rows Surf
8 rows Mocha
4 rows Surf
and repeat.

On the heel, I alternated between just the Surf and Mocha (4 rows each) in the middle of my 16 Coffee rows. I love the color combination. I need your opinion on the second sock – should I make it just like this, or should I do 16 rows of the Mocha and sandwich the dark coffee color in between the Surf? Slightly different?

Of course then I had to come in to Loopy and play with more possibilities. (Don’t you wonder what the other people in our building thought, when I started sticking yarn in the bushes and taking photos?) For this pattern, I try to pick a light and dark color in the same family, and then a “pop” color. The socks take 1 skein of each color, although you’ll have leftovers of the colors in the 4/8/4 sections. Here are some other quick combos that I pulled this morning:

Blackberry, Mauve and Malachite:

Mulberry, Carnation and Coffee:

Serenity Green, Pine and Plum:

Black, Apricot and Orange:

Lake, Whisper Blue and Kiwi:

Strawberry, Slate Blue and Navy:

What do you think? It’s fun to play with colors, isn’t it? I thought I’d start in on my Norwegian Rose socks tonight, but I’m vacillating. I really want to start an old-fashioned granny square blanket, too. And I am anxious to start one of these patterns as well. Decisions, decisions.

Sheri it’shothothotoutside,butIstillhadcoffeetoday.
There’ssomethingwrongwiththat.

Remember when I showed you that pretty Alchemy Juniper sock last week, knit up with a fun pattern out of Carol’s book (which I love)? At that point, I could’ve cast on the second sock and been done with a pair, OR I could’ve started a brand new sock with another line of yarn. Knowing me (as you do), which option do you think I chose? Right. I started a whole new sock. The result is this Madelinetosh Sock out of Plum Tree, which is one of the colors that I immediately pulled for my own stash when this shipment came in a couple of weeks ago. And because I needed a no-brainer pattern so that I could knit and watch the Olympics at the same time, I used that same Braided Gem pattern that I had used on the Alchemy. (See? I told I could’ve had the pair done. Single Socks are a choice, and I’m glad to make them.) I love how the colorway stripes – bigger stripes on the foot, where half of the sock is plain stockinette, and smaller stripes up the cuff, where the pattern goes all the way around. So fun.

We added new things to the site tonight – come take a look!  We put up:

Huckleberry Knits Willow (the BFL base. This is the colorway/line that I went on the hunt for at Sock Summit!  Here’s the sock that I knit with the Mercado colorway)
Hand Maiden Swiss Mountain Sea Sock (one of my very favorite yarn bases from them. So luscious!)
Numma Numma Toasty (Allen sent us a big order with all of our favorite colors)
Perchance to Knit (restocked the Midnight Rainbow/Harlot’s Peacock in small and large skeins)
Soak in the new “Unleash” scent (celebrating Ravlery)
Shibui Sock (re-stock)
Through the Loops patterns (new and re-stocked)

We’re already working on things for next week. I’m happy that one of the new accessory lines that I ordered at TNNA has arrived. You’ll love it. We’ll get it photo-ed and up for you next Monday.

I did my monthly “80+ lbs. of chocolate kisses” shopping at Sams today, and had no less than 9 people make comments about it as I wheeled the cart by them. Surely I’m not the only person at Sams who buys 24 of the 56 oz. packages of Hershey’s kisses at a time, right? FPS. I know there are a bunch of chocolate lovers out there.

Sheri happytosayIdon’teatanyofthem.BecauseifIeatONE,IhavetohaveTEN.
That’sjustthewayitgoes.

Ok, so I stand corrected. We did get a LITTLE bit of snow the other day, when I was bemoaning the fact that the meteorologists are always wrong. Here’s the same shot, with a bit more snow. But notice that you can still see the tops of the grass peeking through, so it’s nowhere near the 3-6″ they predicted. And thank you to everyone who offered to send me some of their piles of snow. Unfortunately, none of you followed through and actually sent it, so we’re still low on snow in St. Louis. Or maybe it’s still enroute from your snow-covered house to mine.

Here’s a new sock, just off the needles. I really like knitting with Alchemy Juniper (this one in Aubergine). Great twist, great feel, beautiful color options, and comfortable socks. I’ll bet it knits up into gorgeous shawls, too.

The pattern came from Carol’s book, Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. I originally bought the book for two reasons – because Carol is a friend of mine, and because another friend stopped by Loopy one day with a sock out of this pattern and I fell in love with the way it looked. (So really, I intended to buy the book, but James’ sock made me go back to my computer and order it right then and there.) The pattern is Braided Gem Socks by Elizabeth Ravenwood. I’ll definitely knit this one again, as well as a few other patterns in that book. (Ok – first I’ll knit the matching sock for this one, and then I’ll use the pattern again.)

I still haven’t started my sweater for the KAL yet. There’s a reason for that. I had settled on a vest pattern and then another good sweater pattern came along. (Note to self: STOP LOOKING!) Now I think I’m back to doing a sweater and will do the vest next time. I’ll decide soon soon-ish.

Sheri stillhaveabout4sockson-the-needles.
Howmanyistoomanytohaveinprogress?