Sockdown Knitting Mode

So happy it's May already!  Summer is almost here...tennis, swimming, and outdoor time for me.  My son recently discovered that he likes to play tennis, so we play together.  He's getting pretty good.  I had an excellent Mother's Day.  My son made me a cookbook and a card listing all the things that make me a special Mom.  I melted....he is the most loving little person:-). 
I'm in Sockdown knittng mode right now. I'm currrently on track to actually finish an SKA Sockdown on time, and that kind of goal means that whatever knitting time I can carve out has to be devoted to the socks I am knitting.  For the May Sockdown, I am knitting the Cables and Lace Socks by Allison Sarnoff.  I'm using Red Heart Stardust in the color green-which looks more like a yellow-green and has sparklies in it.  It's going along ok...I'm getting to the "I'm bored" phase, so I have to really focus. I love the pattern, and it's the first time I've ever used the yarn, which I am liking.  Pic of what I've knitted so far: 

Giveaway winner!!

The winner of the yarn giveaway is Knit-Chat!  Please email me your mailing address--will msg you on Rav as well.

Spring Yarn Giveaway!

Spring is here and to celebrate, I'm having a giveaway of a skein of Socktopus Sokkusu Original sock yarn in the colorway "Slice of Orange."  It's a sunny yellow color, perfect for a shawl, socks, etc. 
To enter, all you need to do is either:  post a comment to my blog OR post a comment to my Rav posting about this contest OR post about this post on your own blog OR follow my feed on Twitter - knittingmama OR retweet about my contest on your Twitter.  Good luck!!

I will choose a winner on Friday, April 20th--this coming Friday :-)

Sock-in-progress

It's April 10th and apparently spring has decided to take a little break here in NE Ohio--currently it's sleeting outside...and to think 3 weeks ago, temps were in the record-breaking 80's.  Oh well.  The cold can't last forever.
We spent Easter weekend in Chicago--had a wonderful time.  We got to explore some of the neighborhoods around town, which was really nice.  It was a very nice way to spend the holiday weekend.  The 6 hour drive from Cleveland was a little tiring, especially on the way back, since we left Chicago later than planned.  Well worth the trip and I can't wait to go back later this year.  Vogue Knitting Live will be holding an event in Chicago in October and I am hoping to be able to go!

Sock knitting has re-commenced after a self-imposed break since finishing my plain vanilla Wollmeise socks.  I'm knitting plain vanilla socks using SWTC Tofutsies--a blend with chitin, which is made from shrimp/crab shells.  It's pretty stretchy and I'm liking the fabric it's creating so far.  I'm 75% done with the first one, as seen in the pic below.  At the same time, I'm working on Cookie A. Elm socks in Lorna's Laces Solemate, and contemplating Kandahar from Socktopus, using Sokkusu sock yarn, for the Socktopus KAL on Ravelry.

FO: Plain Vanilla Wollmeise

Finally finished!  These were begun in July of 2009 and finished yesterday.  Why did they take so long?  Second sock syndrome, I wanted to try other more interesting patterns first, and lastly, I wasn't thrilled with the yarn. The colors are to die for, but for some reason, the Wild Thing 80/20 wanted to keep twisting back onto itself, making knitting annoying and thus pushed aside in favor of other, more cooperative yarns.  The color is Poison Nr. 5, which I have lusted after since I first saw it on a fellow Raveler's project page.  The socks knit up into tiger stripey stripes, which I think look very cool.  After a run through the washer and dryer, the socks are super soft and feel very nice against my feet.

I Need A Nap

It's 11:15 a.m. and I'm about to fall asleep...literally.  I'm at work and could totally use a power nap right about now.  Went to sleep *relatively* early last night, but was awakened around 4 a.m. when a little night wanderer (AKA my son) wandered into my room and turned on the light before crawling into my bed.  I don't mind him coming into my bed once in a while, but I could have done without the light in my face at 4 in the morning. 

Checked my email earlier and had an email from Knitpicks announcing that the new Felici colors are in!  My favs:  Minty and High Tide in the fingering weight, Depths and Dapple in the sportweight.  I like the Building Blocks colorway in the fingering weight--those would make some nice socks for my dad--kind of a retro feel to that colorway.

5 and 1/2 half hours to the weekend!! 

TGIF!!!

Thank goodness it's Friday!  It has been a crazy week...full of busy.  Monday-- started at my new job plus the first day that my son was back in his school's aftercare program.  So the whole afternoon from 2:30 until 5 p.m, here is what was running through my head:  I hope my son is behaving, I hope my son is behaving.  He is well-behaved almost all the time, but he is a 5 and 1/2 year old boy.  Tuesday--repeat of Monday.  Wednesday--repeat of the previous 2 days with the exception of a car problem thrown into the mix.  I got into my car to drive across the street to grab some lunch during my lunch break, and my check engine light came on in my car.  I was like, WTF.  So on the way home, after I picked up my son, I drove out to the car dealership, which is 25 minutes away from my house.  I was able to get a rental car, and got my car back the next day, problem fixed thank goodness.  Thursday-rinse and repeat.  On Thursday night (last night) I finally had a chance to get to the gym, which felt really good after not having been there since Sunday. 

I haven't had a chance to knit much this week, except for a few rows on a mindless sock that I carry with me for occasions such as sitting in the waiting room at the car dealer.  The sock is just a mindless plain old vanilla sock, knit using KFI Indulgence, a 75% merino/25% nylon sock yarn that I purchased last year from an LYS near me, Fine Points in Cleveland, Ohio.  At first, I didn't like this yarn; it seemed way too splitty.  But after working with it for a while, I'm sold.  It is making a pretty nice sock, with good stitch definition and a self-striping pattern that I'm actually enjoying.  I would get this yarn again.

On Monday, in a town called Chardon, Ohio, about 25 minutes from my house, there was a school shooting that took the lives of 3 students at the high school.  I have some friends who used to live in that town, and when I was younger, I spent a lot of time there.  It is a quiet place, a town that is known for its maple syrup and record-setting snowfalls every winter.  It's the last place that I ever thought would have a terrible tragedy like this happen.  When I got home from work on Monday, I gave my son a bunch of extra hugs, because things like this have a way of reminding us to treasure the time we have with our loved ones, because tomorrow is never guaranteed.