An FO and secret pal goodness

I promised FO pics and here they are:

The specs:

Pattern: Pretty Comfy Socks
Yarn: 1.5 balls Elann's Sock It To Me Esprit in wine
Needles: 2.75 mm Brittany birch DPNs

It was a pretty easy knit and the stitch pattern was easy to memorise because it's so darn logical. Having said that, the thing that I don't like about this pattern is that within minutes, it starts to sag. I had hoped that the elastic in the yarn would prevent that. Maybe I just have fat legs. ;)

Parting shot:

In other news, I have pics of SP goodies! Yay! My SP included three lovely hanks of goodies I haven't worked with before, two hanks of a super soft silk 2 play in a wonderful eggplant purple and a hank of Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals in "Stormy Skies".

This picture is kind of dark, but you get the idea. And bonus! My head's in the mirror. Please ignore the frown. I was trying not to shake too much. Why are my hands so shaky??? Tips anyone?

Next, here is a picture of one of the balls of yarn I bought in Hong Kong:

The aloe vera plant is obviously hungry. Given our lack of green thumbs, it's a miracle it's alive.

The yarn? To be honest, I'm not sure of the manufacturer name. Fantasia Ski Yarns maybe? The yarn is called Calliope. Slightly darker than the picture but you get the idea. I also scored some Rowan Kidsilk Haze at a great price but I can't seem to find it. Given how messy the stash is right now, am I surprised?

And finally, I've finished knitting the Luna Flickering Flames skirt but ends need to be woven in and it needs to be blocked. This is what it looks like now:

There is only one problem... I don't think there's enough room in the apartment to block it! *smacks head* It may end up taking a trip to grammy's, who actually lives in a house! (But who am I kidding, I'd hate to live in a house. I love being a 5 minute walk from the downtown core. )

That's all for now kiddos.

I'm baaack...

I'm back and freshly jet-lagged (hence the 3 AM post)! Whoo hoo!

The restrictive Internet access (i.e. the lack thereof) was frustrating. However, it did mean that I ended up finishing some projects. I'll save the finished projects for tomorrow (or maybe later today?) when I get a chance to photograph them, but I will admit there were also a few projects that went to the frog pond. Notably my Lorna's Laces Jaywalkers (gauge was off and I didn't have smaller needles... grr!) and the padded footlets from Interweave Knits Summer '05.

A note about the padded footlets pattern. It's ingenious! You end up with a double thick sole and the author is nothing short of brilliant for coming up with it. However it is a PAIN to knit. It got to the point where I realised that it just wasn't worth it - it should have been a more mindless knit than it was. So rip, rip, rip...

I did also manage to go shopping in Hong Kong. Really, it would be blasphemous not to. You cannot go to Hong Kong and not shop. However this time going back the focus was yarn. I will post pictures tomorrow, but I certainly got some deals!

I wonder if I'll be able to sleep now?

Off to try catch some zzzzz...

Two week trip away!

Mmmm... I'm going to Hong Kong soon. I need to go back so I don't lose my permanent residency but I'm stoked. I'll hopefully be able to catch a punk rock show when I get back there and I'll be able to procure some Asian punk music. And I've heard rumours that Noro is cheaper there... (if anyone could confirm that rumour that would be rad!)

I was going to post pictures of sock yarn procured yesterday (I have a fixation with the word procure right now for some reason) but this bloody lab report is looming over my head... I'll show you all the Fleece Artist sock yarn I got later. ;)

Knitting charms even the thuggiest of us all...

I had an incident on the bus yesterday. I was working on my Pretty Comfy Socks when three loud, obnoxious twenty-somethings got on the bus. They headed to the back of the bus where I was sitting. One of them started watching me knit, then started talking to me about my project. Another reached over to touch the sock in progress, and the original guy wanted to touch it too.

I like the idea that knitting can touch everyone from middle-aged women to young tough-guys. They started being obnoxious (it was a Friday night and I was getting off work), but I like to think that they enjoyed the knitting. SO thinks that they weren't interested in it. He thinks that they might have been interested in something else. I maintain that they were interested in the knitting. I was working with stretchy cotton for goodness sake!

A pic of the socks in progress:

Another WIP. Gotta love the magic of blocking. This isn't looking so hot right now. It's the Flickering Flames skirt from the previous post.