Triknitty Acres

Sockapalooza sock and holders

I just received these sock needle holders today.  I purchased them from a seller on Etsy, www.lunastrixae.esty.com .  (I would put in the link but I don't know how to do that yet, any helpers out there?)  I really like using these holders for sock needles, so many times I have had to push the needles back into the bag.   I would really hate for one of my nice wooden needles to break.  Plus they can certainly hurt someone.

I started knitting a pair of socks last night for my secret Sockapalooza pal  with one of the yarns I dyed yesterday.  This yarn started life as a cream colored skein of Louet Gems Pearl.  I started the Friday Harbour socks from "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush.  I am 'sailing' along so quickly! (pun intended)  I did have to restart as the cast on edge was far too tight, so I cast on with two needles which really helped.  I have a question though, would you like these, or are the stripes taking away from the pattern? I was not going for stripes when I was dyeing, I was hoping more for variegation.  I think I would wear them but would you?

Patience...

...was sure needed today!  Today was spent dyeing with a microwave and gaywool dyes.  Last time I dyed I used a pot on the stove.  Today's colours turned out to be much more intense than before. 
The really bright skeins made me think of macaws when I first saw it, but when I wound it into a ball it was much different looking. For that batch I used two balls of Scheepjes Invicta Extra (210m each) which is 75% New wool and 25% nylon.  Each ball was redone on a niddy-noddy, then dyed and placed in the microwave for 6 mins.  While the yarn was outside on the porch drying, it was getting kind of windy, so I thought 'this is great it will dry the yarn quicker'.  But no sooner than you can say 'black lab puppy' (Holly) she was able to acquire a stray skein that had blown off of the railing.  I did not get a picture but you can see below that the skein was a little tangled and I was unable to completely unravel the knot she made!!! AARGH!
 

The next batch was 2 skeins of Louet Gems Pearl 100% Merino Wool 185 yards/skein.  I was trying for greens and blues with a little of purple.  I don't mind it but was not quite what I had in mind.  It will grow on me I guess.

Then I used 2 balls (reskeined) of Lanett Superwash 100% Merino wool 195 metres/skein.  The colours are toned down pink, turquoise and purple.

What do you think??

I really should be knitting on my pals scarf, but I will do that tonight.  It was such a gorgeous day today, warm but with a nice wind.
Yesterday was also nice and I was able to get out in the garden to weed and prune a few things that I had not got to yet.  It makes me feel like I had very productive couple of days off.  I still have two more off, but have been called to see if I would work today and tomorrow.  It has been pretty bad at work lately,  not enough casuals to fill the sick calls so they are calling all the time.  I would go in but find it too hard to do 12 hours because of my RA and that is what they are calling for.  The temporary part time line that I am in is only 8 hour shifts which suits me just fine.

Found the pictures

Here is a picture of the yarn I spun and plyed. It is 70% Merino and 30% Silk.  When I first started spinning this I did not have a project in mind.  But one day just before I was about to go buy some special yarn for my scarf pal I took a second look at this and thought it was a great color for my pal plus it was  super soft for a scarf.

I started out with one pattern (below), but it turned out to be too long and just didn't cut it for me.  

So I ripped it out carefully and started another pattern.  So far so good! Picture to come when finished.  I need to start buying some goodies for my pal.  I'm on days off right now so will start today.  I need to go to town later on anyways as I am donating blood.  As a nurse I do give much blood to many needy patients, so am always on to people/family/friends to go donate.  So do someone a favour and go donate.  I love the slogan that the Canadian Blood Services use - "It's in you to give"  How fitting!
Also I forgot to mention that the yarn I used for the baby socks was some that I dyed last May when doing the Dye-O-Rama.  I used Louet Gems Pearl for the base yarn.  I really enjoyed learning how to dye yarn.  It's amazing the colours you can make with only three primary colours.  I bought Ashland Bays little starter which had yellow, blue and red only and made many colours.  Now that it is springtime I'm thinking about dyeing again.  I might even dye my sockapalooza pal's sock yarn once I know what colours she likes/dislikes.
 

Baby knits

These baby socks were knit for one of the girls at work who had a baby boy in February.  The baby shower was last Monday.  I was unable to go as I forgot and let Liam drive the car to school.  I also made a pair of the denim baby pants from last minute gifts and they turned out so cute.  They only took 2 days to make, so I see making a few more of these in the future for gifts! (I have lots of Den M Nit (? sp) by Elann)  Two more girls at work are also pregnant and two more have had babies! 

Here is a picture of the baby pants.

 

I also have a picture of Bella and Holly out on our front lawn. Also a couple of pictures of Cobble Hill Mtn. views.

I also joined Sockapalooza and my mystery sock pal left me my first comment. Yahoo and thank you so much!

Right now I am finishing up my scarf for the International Scarf exchange.  I can't find the pictures so I'll add them later.