She's wearing it already....

......and it fits. I thought it would be a 3 month size but oops.....I'll have to get another one finished for later in the winter.

The matching socks......

Five yarn shops in two days.....

......and it was a little bit of over-dose but not really. I just got back from a visit with my friend Gayle in Seattle and she was kind enough to drive me around to a bunch of yarn shops. They're all about the same....but not.....but it's exciting to walk in and just look around and try and figure out what's different. I love it when the owner has time to talk and I always try to buy at least something from each of them but I went in too many so I couldn't do that this time but I got some pretty cool stuff that I'm excited to work up. I know I made a commitment to not add to my stash this year.....I'm busted. I did add to my stash but the addendum to that commitment was that I had to have something in mind to make and then make it asap....so that's what I plan to do. Seattle has a yarn shop on every street, or so it seemed, at least in every neighborhood.

Phyllis and I got to meet Debbie Macomber at a book signing in Salt Lake. She writes books and in some of them includes knitting themes, plus she's a professional knitter so she has opened a little village with the shops that she talks about in her books so it was especially fun to go visit these places and enjoy her very "classy" yarn shop. Believe me, I've seen all kinds and this is right up there as far as a real "shiny" one.

See that vest to the right of me....I want to make it. It's on my list of things to do in the next 5 years.

I love the creative names that yarn-shop owners come up with. I wonder what I would name a yarn shop?

Pretty basic, small but very good quality stuff. The name really needs to have something in it about knitting but since this is on a hilltop, I guess it's o.k. It would be like "St. George Yarn Shop"....how boring is that.

This one is right in Gayle's neighborhood but I can't convince her to learn to knit. What a waste....a yarn shop within walking distance.....but no interest. Someday maybe she will convert.

This was my favorite just because it was in an old building, upstairs, a little cluttered but one that I could go and feel comfortable because the owner was friendly and had time to talk to me....in fact, on the spot, she taught me to make two different kinds of heels on my socks. Now that's a good yarn shop. I'm purchasing some wooden needles with little pumpkins on top.

A new little sweater.....

....for my 13th little grand-child....4th grand daughter. This was really fun to do and I've had a hard time posting it because the picture kept getting turned but hopefully it will work this time. I'm making little socks to match and can't wait until the baby is here and I'll post a picture with her wearing it. This was a top-down seamless pattern that I absolutely love and can't wait to make another one. I have the yarn but left the pattern in Pine Valley.

What to do with the left-over yarn....

.....I've discovered a great new use for it. Mini-socks. They are so fun and go so fast. I love it.

Why do we do what we do?

......especially, I am still wondering why I love to knit socks. Why do people love dogs....or golf....or have passions for movies, or books etc. etc. etc. I still wonder to this day as I start a sock why it gives me such a thrill....and more....when I contemplate what the next pair of socks will be or when I get to finally block the finished sock and wait for it to dry flat....erasing all the flaws....it's like putting my signature on a painting. Anyway, I guess I will forever be wondering why. As we were in Panguitch, luck of all luck there was a yarn store called "Lilo in Stitches" just across the street from a gift shop we were in. But....we were out of luck as it wasn't opened. We bummed around for an hour waiting for it to possibly open...all the town folk said they thought she would open sometime soon....we kept waiting....but finally I couldn't ask Joyce to go back by it one more time so we left. As I was relating this story to Lauri, she said "that must be your hell".....and it truly is. Just as we were passing through a small town in Kansas and once again found a little yarn store (by the way, "I break for yarn stores") the same thing happened. It was called "The Red Door" and, you guessed it....it was closed on Monday and we were passing through there on a Monday, possibly never ever to return again. Pure hell....ya gotta know. I'm over it now....but always wondering what treasure I would have found in either one of those stores and continually looking at them and dreaming of owning my own. I know I never will but it's a dream, something to think about, what would I name it, where would it be, how is it really done....you get the idea. It gives me something to think about in an otherwise very ordinary, borderline boring life.

But I knit.....mostly socks.....and I love it. I'm especially loving the "self-striping" yarn and I'm getting pretty good at matching the stripes so if you don't mind my bragging a bit I've posted my two latest babies.

There must be others that feel the way I do. I really want to go to this. Click on the logo to learn more about it and if there's anyone out there interested in joining me, let me know.

So my "Year of Socks" hasn't been going well....

...but I'm still knitting them, just not posting about it. My biggest quandry right now is that I love starting things but not finishing them. Especially, if I make a sock and it's not perfect, I don't want to make the match to it....thus a bucket full of "one-sock one-ders" so I'm deciding that it's time to get back to the circulars and making two at a time which is how I got started....then I discovered DPNs (double pointed needles) and I love....love...love...them. So I think I will just stick with my DPNs but do two socks at a time, like make the cuff on both of them, then the heel on both of them.....etc. Maybe it will work, I'll let you know but for now, can't quite get motivated to do the circular thing. I have the same problem when I make hats. I have a hard time making hats the right size so you can't believe how many I've started and just left unfinished. I think I should have a "year of UFOs" (Un-Finished Objects). I've decided that I pretty much "live to knit". Every waking hour is devoted to either doing it or thinking about doing it or getting something done so I'll feel better about doing it or looking at new patterns on the internet or opening my cupboard and looking at my stash or dreaming of finding a knitting group that I can be a part of. Come knit with me....it would make me happy. (P.S. One sock one-ders have always been a part of my life like the cartoon above...it's just that now I'm guilty of not giving the sock a mate to begin with. Wish me luck in giving all my socks a partner before the year is out.)

A new year of socks.....

I just finished a pair of socks....a Christmas present for my sister so I decided I would start another "Year of Socks" and call these "January". They are made from a Baby Alpaca wool, very soft to the touch. I started finding other yarns besides the designated sock yarns to experiment with and some work out and some don't but these worked great for comfy bed socks. I'm sure they wouldn't last walking around in a pair of shoes but very soft and warm to the touch. I'm still having a problem with fitting. Can't quite make myself do the extra two or three rows that would make the difference but I'm getting better. Nothing like the thrill of starting a new pair of socks...wondering if they will be the "perfect" ones. These pretty much are about the most perfect I've made yet. Just wondering when I'm going to get tired of making these little critters.