J S I N S

Friday, January 18, 2008

TGIF - It's time to knit, knit, knit all weekend long!

Happy Friday folks!!!!!!! I am so ready for the weekend and some serious knitting, movie watching and chill out time. I cast on for the Evening Socks for a Young Lady from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush on Sunday evening. In the limited knitting time I've been able to squeeze in since then, I've finished the cuffs and completed 2 lace pattern repeats. I am knitting the modified version of the pattern to make regular socks rather than knee highs.
Here is a close-up of the lace pattern. I am using white Kraemer Sterling to knit these socks. I have to agree with Clara Parkes's review of the Kraemer Sterling. The silver strands are really cool and give a nice affect. The silk content adds a little sheen and it is an incredibly soft yarn. The nylon halo is a bit strange. If I didn't know any better, I would think that there was either mohair or angora in this yarn due to its fuzziness. The yarn is working really well with this pattern and I am excited to see how the finished socks turn out.
Here are some model shots of the Dublin Bay socks. It is incredibly hard to take pictures of your own feet! I am extremely happy with the way these socks fit. I wore them yesterday and they did not slouch.
My 2008 knitting goals are to complete 12 pairs of socks, 12 sweaters and at least 12 small projects (hats, accessories, baby stuff, toys, etc.) and to knit from stash until I have run out of yarn for one of the previously mentioned project goals. I haven't decided whether I will spend this weekend focusing on the Evening Stockings or on my Wicked. I've been on a bit of a sock kick starting out the year but, as the weather has returned to more seasonably accurate January temps, I could really use a new hand-knit sweater to debut.

In other knitting news, I purchased Son of a Stitch and Bitch by Deb Stoller and The Knitters Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes this week. In non-knitting purchases, I also ordered No Direction Home, Martin Scorsese's documentary on Bob Dylan that aired on PBS. If you are a Bob Dylan fan, this documentary is a must see. It has extensive interviews with Bob Dylan now as well as alot of performance footage. As a companion to Don't Look Back, it is amazing.

I also signed up for several new KALs that should hopefully keep me on target with my 2008 goals. They are as follows:
Socks from Stash Club (I definitely don't need to worry about running out of stashed sock yarns in the next 12 months.)
The Complete Jane Austen KAL (I have been looking forward to watching this series for months!!!! My Sunday evenings are pretty much booked for a while.)
Year Long Gift-A-Long (Knitting gifts all year to avoid panic attacks as the deadlines draw near, what a novel idea.)
Stashalong 2008 (Hopefully, this will keep me on the straight and narrow in regards to my knitting from stash goals.)

Hmm... why am I so dedicating myself to knitting from stash this year? Well, I am making a valient attempt to become debt free this year (with the exception of my student loans, those will be an ongoing process for the next 10 years or so.) I am also going to try to track my progress in becoming nearly debt free on the blog as well. I just haven't worked out the details of how to do that.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!! See you next week!
jsins

1 comment:

Kristina B said...

Those are great resolutions! Good luck on the debt free one in particular. Just keep reminding yourself that it will feel as though an anvil has been lifted from the top of your head... (that was my experience, anyway, when I cleared my debts a couple of years back).

Best of luck, too, on the knitting plan - it's ambitious, but I'm sure you can do it!

Have fun knitting this weekend. I'm hoping to be right there virtually next to you (on my couch, having laid in snacks and videos and yarn yarn yarn...)

Kristina