Disappointingly Small

I'm still prepping yarn for my show and last week I ordered more undyed yarn, 170 skeins, about $1200 worth.  It arrived today in two disappointingly small boxes.  The boxes are 17" x 17" x 14".  It just seems like that much yarn should take up much more room.

Oh well, guess it's time to get back to work.

My first socks

In a previous post I showed you a picture of a sock I was working on and told you to expect to hear more about the socks as they progressed.  Well, here is some more :)

If you didn't read the article I am working on the pattern Mindless Socks by Mary Fellman.  Here is the picture from the previous blog post.

Mary's pattern calls for size 0 needles and 9 rows to start her toe.  She says however that she is a very loose knitter.  I apparently am a very tight knitter because when I first started these socks on size 0 I got past the increase section and found they would maybe fit a little child, definitely not me.  So then I tried size 2's and they were to big so I went to size 1's.  I also had to do 10 rows before adding the other needles becauseI just wasn't getting the inch and a half strip with 9 rows.  However, once I figured out those two things the rest of the sock progressed nicely.

Here is what I have so far.

I have a few more inches to go before I have to start the heel.  I've never done a heel before so this should be interesting.  The great thing about Mary's pattern is that she makes it easy for you to figure out how to adjust her pattern to fit your knitting style and foot size.  It's the sign of a good pattern writer who allows for the fact that not all knitters knit the same way or are the same size.

The yarn I am using is Regia's design line by Kaffe Fassett.  This particular one is the Mirage Twilight color.  It's a very nice yarn and I got it on sale a few years ago, its been hanging around my stash with no purpose so I figured I might as well give it one :)

Stay tuned for more progress!

Such Doge, Much Dyeing

Here are the two color ways I worked on this week - Night Sky on the left and Fandango on the right.

Doge appears courtesy of a free app I found on iTunes.  It cracks me up.

As you can see, I am still working hard on getting ready for my show in June.  I just ordered another $1100 worth of undyed yarn as I am starting to run low from my previous order.    I'm going to be a busy girl.  However, if you want yarn now, don't let my show prep stop you from ordering.  After all, I have to pay for the yarn I bought somehow :)

FEATURE - SnarkyLlama Creations

This week's featured artist is Melissa, THE SnarkyLlama of SnarkyLlama Creations.  Her tagline is - So Good You'll Want to Slap Your Llama.  Now, I don't know about you but I know how ornery llamas are - and something has to be pretty damn good to make me want to slap one.  So when I saw this tagline I had very high expectations for what I would find.

I was not disappointed.

Melissa makes some of the cutest stitch markers I have seen, and I make stitch markers so I have seen a LOT of them :)  Melissa's Etsy shop is SlapYourLlama and she has loads of stitch markers with both large and small loops depending on what needle size you knit with. They're also available in a locking form for crochet or areas in knitting where a locking marker is more desirable than a sliding one.

These are the stitch markers I got from her.

Aren't they adorable?  They say I knit so I don't KILL PEOPLE.  That is so true for me.  Melissa does a great job of packaging too;' it was like getting a little present in the mail.  

Melissa packs each set of markers in a little organza bag, her business card has another little locking marker on it and her invoices have adorable llama stamps.  Altogether it is a package that makes you feel very special for having bought from her and shows a great deal of care.

I am using a couple of her markers to help me with my a pair socks.  I have never completed a pair of socks before and I am convinced it is because I didn't have cute stitch markers.  So, let's see if these actually get completed :)

This sock pattern is the Mindless Socks pattern by Mary Fellman, the subject of last weeks blog feature.  You'll be seeing more of these in future posts.

These markers are perfect.  They dangle enough so they are obvious but not enough to be annoying while I work.  They are also light weight so don't add a lot of weight to the needles and they don't snag the yarn which is very annoying when you are trying to work on a project.

Melissa also makes jewelry.  She has a custom charm bracelet that she will make for you using any images you want (that you own the copyright to or are in the public domain);  there is a fantastic pair of earrings featuring the anatomy of the eye, and if you wish, she will make you your own custom charm to use as a keyring, zipper pull or whatever else you might want.

Melissa also has a Facebook page where she posts about sales, new items for sale, and events she is going to be at.  You can find her on Facebook as SlapYourLlama.

Melissa has been so kind as to extend a special offer to my readers.  You can get 10% off your order on her Etsy sight by using the code HEATHDES2014.  This code is good until the end of the year.

So, what are you waiting for?  Why are you still here?  Go, Buy, Save!