Happy Birthday

Saturday September 29 is Sensei's birthday, but since he has a crazy work schedule, we are celebrating his birthday all weekend. Last night we went to a movie, something that we have not done in a while. We went to see The Kingdom. All I have to say is WOW. The opening credits and graphics was a quick history lesson about the USA's relationship with Saudi Arabia (The Kingdom.) There are shocking scenes that will be embedded in your mind from the minute that the movie starts right down to the last scene. I found myself with my mouth open in shock half the movie. There was so much that goes on in the movie that I want to see it again so that I can take it all in again.

So this morning we are going to do another of our favorite things, golf. Not sure which course we are going to play, its his birthday, he gets to decide. After golf I will be getting in some more knitting time. I am done with the first sleeve of my Ribby Pulli, now I have to cast on for my second sleeve. I want to get the first sock of my green Dream in Color Smooshy sock done today also, I am hoping.

And finally, yesterday, Notre Dame, I don't even have words. I honestly don't have any idea what is going on. The amount of error, lack of rushing and passing yards is staggering. There is always next year.

Best Red EVER

So I go to my LYS Purlescence Yarns and they immediately toss this hank of loveliness at me knowing that I was going to scream, "This is it!" They know me too well. I have 4 hanks now. This version of red is fondly known at the store as "Lisa Red."

In my humble opinion, this is the best blue/red sock yarn ever! I am always in search of the best red colored yarn and this is definitely one of them. Now if I can just find the perfect red lipstick, then I would be set! I drug my mother all over San Francisco one afternoon on the hunt for the perfect red lipstick, the hunt is still on!

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug Colorway: Vatican Pie

I tried to show was a rich blue/red this is and the photos really does not do it justice. I did a little tweaking and still could not get it just right, it is much more blue/red than it looks here.

I also just got the new sock book, More Sensational Knitted Socks. I am looking forward to using this yarn with one of those patterns!

Even more socks!

I love my niece and nephew, my younger brother kids. To me they are the cutest things in the world EVER. They actually resemble what my brother and I looked like when we were little. So I knit them socks because I can. Here are the socks.

No your eyes are not deceiving you, above, the sock on the left is a bit bigger. I finished the one on the right and then started the second sock days later and used a different size needle by mistake, oops!
And this is how I packaged them up and sent them to Bakersfield...

I have posted pictures of the niece before but not much about the nephew. So instead of just a photo, I thought that I would share a little video of him from Thanksgiving 2006. Little background, he LOVES the Disney movie Cars. And whenever he sees a camera, he immediately says, "Cheese" I am pretty sure that when he grows up and this gets replayed, he will hate me. But I am ok with that, he'll get over it.

Socks Finished

Since I joined Ravelry, I have not been posting my finished projects here on my blog. Ravelry is a fantastic tool and I am really looking forward to more people joining and making the site an even more valuable resource. My latest completed knitting project, socks for my best friend Gina. If you have a Ravelry account, then these are not new to you. It was Gina's birthday August 23 and we went to her house Labor Day Weekend for a BBQ where she received these...

I am actually quite proud of these socks. They are my second pair of socks that I have knit and they are 100 times better than the first pair. I did have a bit of trouble though, I knit the first sock to short on the foot part. This was realized when I was knitting the second sock. I decided to complete the second sock with the correct foot length and then fix the first one. So I picked out the toe and frogged the first sock back to the gusset decreases because I also made a few to many on those too (shhh, don't tell) and re-knit. As you can see the sock in the photo above on the left has a wonky section on the bottom of the sock, that is the frogged yarn re-knit. I took the photo before I washed and blocked them.

Yes, it was a very warm day when I gave them to her. Yes, she was wearing sandals. And yes, I made her take her sandals off and try them on for me. I was not able to get her to wear them long enough to model them in a photo, I will have to wait for cooler weather.

Details

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks That Rock

Colorway: Mustang Sally

Needles: Knit Picks circular needles 3mm

Pattern: Elongated Corded Rib, Sensational Knitted Socks, Charlene Schurch

Hopefully modeled sock photos to come!?!?

I don't want to talk about it...

I really don't want to talk about it. My offical statment to anyone that asks will be:

"It is a rebuilding year."

I still love my Fighting Irish, there is always next year.

Progress

Knitting progress has been steady, but not fast. I completed my niece's pair of socks and I am on the second sock for my nephew's pair. I will post pictures when I have them all done.

Purlescence Yarns anniversary is coming in October and they have decided to gather all knitters that have knit a Ribby Pulli for a photo. Here is my progress, I have a lot of knitting to do if I want to make it in time for the photo!

And these are the current socks that I am working on. Have I mentioned that I LOVE knitting socks? I am using Dream in Color Smooshy and the pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks, Corded Rib. Some of you may remember that I posted about these kimono project bags that a friend of mine makes. Well she has her site finished and you can now see and choose your own fabrics. They are really great for sock project bags. Her store is is Tsuyosa Creations, take a look! This past weekend at Cindy's was supposed to be the Great Sock Race, part deux, but Hannah conveniently forgot her yarn. My gut feeling, she was just scared and was not up to the challenge. Did you hear that Hannah? I know you are out there, I will be waiting. :)

New Look

Not sure what I wanted the blog to look like completely, I just knew that it was time for a change. And since I do not have the guts to whack off all my hair like I did a few years ago (over 15" of hair length, thank you very much) I decided to change something that was completely painless and could be fixed immediately, not in 2 years when it finally grows out!