Playing catch up

It dawned on me it's been awhile since I posted!

I recently bought a lb. cone of licorice twist (undyed) yarn from catnip yarns. I'm not sure what I think about it so far. I dyed up two balls for a gift for a friends daughter who is turning one here soon. For those unfamiliar licorice twist has one strand that absorbs dye more than the others. I have only seen Little Turtle Knits and their dyeing is fabulous so my opinion was already a tad bias. Mine isn't that great. Maybe it was my dye (Kool-Aid). Maybe it was the amount of yarn to dye ratio. Who knows? I do know my "dark" strand isn't that dark. The site also said this was a worsted yarn. Maybe a light worsted. I opened my box and was surprised they called this worsted. My Paton's Merino is thicker. So far it's knitting up very nice and even though. I've got gauge on my project and the yarn is smooth and just glides over my needles. I'm very dissapointed in my dyeing though so I'm not seeing this yarn for what it could be. After the project is said and done I'll take a step back to see if I really like it. I certainly hope I do cause I have a ton left!

Here's a recent Sheldon (from Knitty) done in Tatamy Tweed (leftover from the Monica tank top last summer). There are a few mods on this: shorter nose/head, legs are picked up stitches on the body and knit per directions, attachment panel is attached via whipstitching. I couldn't get the i-cord to work right so I gave up. I was tired of this thing. The eyes are once again acrylic just knotted up. This was done for the daughter of a client who was recently in the hospital for 5 days (20 months old) due to salmonella. The husband kindly offered up my knitting services BEFORE asking me. I must like knitting. :) Once again my shell seems out of proportion to the attachment panel. I thought it was just me the first time around but I know I have now followed direction to the t both times and had the same luck. Oh well.

Here are the MochiMochi land hearts I did for said husband for Valentine's Day. I used some leftover Manos from a pair of longies I did 2 November's ago (woah! that seems like a long time ago when i give it an actual time frame and not just picture the longies). I did these on size 8's if I remember right. He totally loves them. I had snuck them into his computer bag before he left for work that morning so when he got there he had a pleasant little surprise. They currently reside on his desk and he has forbidden me from moving them. He about died when I took them to a better spot in the office to get a picture and snatched them up, took the picture himself, sent it to my email, and promptly put them back on his desk. Like I was going to steal them. Because I do that all the time you know. Steal back gifted handknits.

My current sock. Note: SOCK. Singular. I was trying to be optimistic and when I posted this over on Ravelry I added into the comments section that I cast on the second sock that day. No way was SSS going to strike. Guess what? I haven't touched it since. So muchfor motivation. :) These are being done toe up over something like 58 stitches (I think). I really should start the second one soon because I am already beginning to forget what I did on it. I hope I noted everything on the ravelry page for them.

I have a pair of booties (Magic Slippers on Ravelry) currently going. It takes no yarn. I was worried I wouldn't have enough actually and then was surprised when my ball (that I had already split in half!) still had some left over. This wasn't a ball. This was a deer dropping and yet I still had too much! I got the first one done in something like 2 hours one morning (thank heavens my chitlins sleep in!) and then lost the desire to do the second one. I just crossed it off my to do list but haven't had the guts to take it off the needles. It's so simply I'll probably finish it. Just having it on that ever expanding list though makes it seem like a chore.

I whipped up 5 different Curly Purly eggs this morning/afternoon. They don't look like eggs. I have one more I want to do but overall not impressed. It's super easy and fast but I can't get them to look like eggs! I have done every possible yarn weight and needle size so far (that's a lie...two were done on 8's [one in a bulky weight and one in a worsted and the bulky is the most egg like], one on size 6's [the least egg like and done with a worsted], and two one some 3's [both worsted though on different ends of the spectrum]. I have done one in recycled wool (the bulky), one in a single (unwashed) ply personal hand spun, one in Donegal tweed, one in a 2-ply personal handspun, and one in the purple leftovers I have been trying to get rid of (this being the 4th time I've used it and it's finally gone!). I am going to do one in some sock yarn next but I don't have any hope. They all are such different yarns from each other that you'd think I'd have something more I like. Eh. At least the tot believes me when I say they are eggs. Pictures to come on that one. :)