socks and a sample hooking

I love knitting sock, and I love knitting children's socks even more- small feet= quickly finished. But the thing I love the most is knowing that the socks I'm knitting will be slipped on little feet that really need them. Children in Common is a wonderful group that gathers 100% wool socks (and sometimes sweaters and things) and sends them to a Russian orphanage. I've made a commitment (to myself, the group certainly doesn't require a commitment) to make one (or two) pairs for CIC in between every pair of socks that I knit for a friend or family member. I finished a pair for Dad for Father's Day (forgot to take a picture before gifting them!) then got busy on these:

The smaller sock is a pattern that is available on the CIC website (basketweave pattern). I didn't use a published pattern for the other pair, just cast on the appropriate number of stitches (divisible by 4) and did a basic broken rib pattern for the leg/top of foot. Odd rows: knit 3, purl 1 Even rows: Knit around.

The other thing that I've (almost) gotten finished is my sample rug hooking. Again, made with my handspun, I thought the colors would be perfect for a fall leaf, but needed to 'try it out' before embarking on a whole big ass rug, so there you go! Turned out rather nice, and helped me figure out what I do and do not want to do on my full size rug. The background will definitely be a solid color on the rug, I don't like how the variegation compete with the leaf on the sample. Once I've bound the edges of this sample piece, I'll probably sew it onto a tote bag. Any other ideas out there?

Handspun yarn

so, I finally got off my butt and took some pictures of my handspun/hand dyed yarns. Yea! I just love to look at them. And I really love knitting with them. It took a little while for me to get up the nerve to actually use my yarn, I'm not sure what I was afraid of, but it did take a while.

Now I find that I really don't want to knit with store bought yarn. And 'pay money' for yarn?!?!? Lord, why would I want to do that? I'd so much rather buy roving and make the yarn.

Yes, it makes the finished project a much looonger project, but purchasing yarn has never been a guarantee that the object would ever be finished anyway. I have a craft room full of purchased yarn to prove that point!

Le Tour de Fleece!

Wicked cool! I missed out on all of the Olympic knitting (I'm too slow of a knitter, didn't want to bring the team down) but spinning, now that I can do! I've been wanting to spin some yummy Alpaca/coopworth lamb blend to dye and knit a sweater for LD, and this competition makes the perfect motivator! I need to spin 1,600 yards for the sweater. The largest skein I've spun so far was just under 600 yards, so this will be a challenge. I'll be spinning the roving in its natural white color so that I can dye all the skeins at the same time.

gratuitous pup photos

sorry, yes, I'm afraid I will have to be added to the list of inconstant bloggers. I really intended to submit once a week, but, well, best intentions and all that. So today, you get pups. To your left, I'll start you off with Beau, the redheaded stepchild dog. (hey, I'm allowed to say that, I'm a redhead!) This is really a wonderful pic of him, very happy and relaxed at the park. He is a very good boy and has been super affectionate with me lately. He has a very highly developed intuition and can tell when his Momma needs extra puppy love. To the right of your screen is quite possibly my favorite picture of all time. Bailey has been riding in the car like this for a while, but we've never been able to capture it on film. Abbie is such a pretty girl, and I love how relaxed she looks, she doesn't mind at all giving her little buddy a shoulder to stand on. And Bailey, well, what else can I say about him? I think LD put it best when he asked "how can so much CUTE be stuffed into such a little dog?" :)

And maybe tomorrow I'll update all my spinning/knitting stuff.
teaser: I've got a new addiction- hooking! yep, just loooove saying 'I'm a hooker'. "Sorry dear, didn't get dinner ready, too busy hooking". ha! okay, well, pulling ya'lls dirty minds out of that gutter, my obsession is really Nantucket rug hooking (just like regular rug hooking, but you use yarn instead of wool strips). Tune in tomorrow for pics- same bat time, same bat channel.