Odds & Ends

*

I thought I'd catch up on what's been going on in my knitting world, including some recent purchases, as well as yet another new project.

First of all, isn't it amazing the oddball stuff you can get on ebay? I'd been wanting a styrofoam wig form in order to block and model finished hats, but after a little ebay-surfing, decided I liked this cobalt blue glass number even better:


Its head circumference is 22", which is perfect for most adult heads, including mine. (I actually have a 23" pumpkin head, but this way I know my hats won't be too big -- they can always stretch a little). And the thing is hollow, in case I want to fill it with... um... yarn, maybe? Candy? Knitting needles?

In the category of "I'm not knitting socks right now, so have no business buying sock-related items, but, by gosh, I'm stocking up for some future sock-knitting bonanza", here are some recent socky-related purchases:

Darning Eggs -- also purchased on ebay:

I suspect the one on the left is really an orange juicer,
but it's interesting, all the same
*

I bought these darning eggs more for their decorative, rather than functional aspects, although one of them might come in handy, if I actually had any handknit socks that needed darning. First, I'd have to actually knit the darn things. No pun intended. (Okay, maybe a little.)

And, if and when the sock-knitting mood strikes, I have a recently-purchased fantastic reference book to draw from:

Sensational Knitted Socks comes highly recommended
*

In the category of "I still have no business buying sock-related items, but I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, and oh-my-gosh it's madras plaid!", can you guess what these are?

If you guessed the Lantern Moon "Sox Stix" in Rosewood, you'd be right.
*

But wait, there's more!

More inappropriate sock-knitting related purchases, including this yarn:

BMFA "Socks That Rock" lightweight in "Fire on the Mountain"
*

Would you just look at those colors?!! Resistance is futile!

*

I fully admit that this yarn was purchased for the "collection", as I have no immediate plans to knit it. I've decided that even though I have what seems to be a sock yarn stash beyond my life expectancy, rather than feeling guilty about that, I just have to come to terms with the fact that some of it is just for "collecting". And I may very well have to add to that collection, if I run across any Colinette Jitterbug in the near future. Talk about gorgeous colors!

I also could not resist these adorable little kitchener stitch markers:

Purchased on etsy from this seller
*

In the category of "Thanks, but, Whoops!", the Denise folks very speedily sent me a replacement cable for the one that I broke recently. However, it's the wrong size:

I take the full blame for that, thanks to my poor communication -- I told them in my email that it was the smallest cable in the kit, but forgot that there's a cable smaller than 12". So they sent me a 9" replacement, (shown above along with an intact 12-incher from my other kit). In my defense, they did tell me to return the old cable and indicated that they'd ship the new one once they received the old. But in their defense, they shipped the new one before they received the old one, so they still come out on top. I've emailed them again with profuse apologies, in hopes they'll send me the correct one, this time. No word yet, though. Thus, the scintillating saga of the broken cable continues....

And finally, I've started another new project:


Can you guess what it is?

I won't make you guess. It's the Fiber Trends Braid & Bobble Hat. Shown above is one completed 16-row repeat. It's a fun pattern, but requires a lot of concentration, as each row is different. The pattern, as written, is very hard to follow, so I had to retype it in Excel to avoid the crazy back-and-forth between pattern A and pattern B. I don't have all the cable crosses memorized yet, either, so that slows me down as I have to continually re-read them.

The yarn I'm using is Cynthia Helene Superwash Merino in Jade, purchased at Sangeeta's yarn swap last summer, and I think it may have originally come from Cate's stash, if I'm not mistaken. So, Cate, I love this yarn, and it's being put to good use! Thanks!

Alrighty, then, I should finish this so that I can get ready to knit with my peeps tonight.

Later!

*