Socky Wednesday with the Richmond Knitters

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It's Sunday, so it's time to blog about Wednesday, right? (What's the saying about being so far behind, you're in front? I only wish...).

Anyway, I had an errand over near Willow Lawn on Wednesday afternoon, so afterwards I decided to join the Wednesday night knitting group that meets at the Panera there.

Here are Monet, Beth and blogless Lou:

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You may recall that Beth & Lou were kind enough to let me tag along with them in their rental car up in New York when we were there for the Knitter's Review Retreat last November.

And here's Marie:

casting on for a Jaywalker
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All four of them were working on socks, and Lou even brought some finished socks to show:

BMFA 2007 Rockin' Sock Club "Inside Out" socks in "Monsoon"
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a 2006 Sock Club pattern & STR yarn -- I don't remember specifics
(Pattern: Winter's Eve; STR Colorway: Mustang Sally)
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Close-up: Gorgeous! Beads!
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And here's another 2006 Rockin' Sock Club sock Lou is currently working on:

Pattern: "Titania's Revenge"; STR Colorway: Titania
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Lou is trying to get caught up on her backlog of Sock Club patterns, so that she can bring them all with her to Camp Cockamamie. Doesn't that Sock Camp (<- pdf file) sound like fun? I believe the Yarn Harlot is going to be one of the camp counselors....

Monet was a purpley girl on Wednesday, wearing several of her purpley handknits, including this luscious long & skinny scarf knit in Debbie Bliss cashmerino:


And her first ever handknit socks:

Hooray, Monet!
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Maggie also came and brought a knitting friend, Frances, with her. (I'm sorry Maggie -- your friend's name has slipped my mind. Please forgive me!)

I haven't seen Maggie since she returned from China with her newest wee one -- the beyond-adorable Betsy! Congratulations, Maggie, on a wonderful addition to your family. :-)

Maggie worked on seaming up a cardigan, while Frances was knitting something (a scarf, maybe?) a MDK linen hand towel in a multi-color chevron pattern.

In keeping with the unofficial socky theme of the evening, Maggie was wearing her handknit Jaywalkers:


We laughed because we were more concerned about getting breadcrumbs on her beautiful handknit sweater than the fact that her shoe and sock was mere inches from her food. Knitter priorities, I tell ya!

Take a look at this gorgeous sweater she's seaming:


I don't remember the pattern, but I do believe she said the yarn was Jo Sharp (silky aran, maybe?) Perhaps the pattern is Jo Sharp, as well. I just love that sweater -- it is one of those sweaters that will be come a staple in her wardrobe for years and years. That's what knitting is all about, I think....

I worked some more on my own LMKG chevron scarf, which makes for really good public knitting, because it's just so easy -- almost mindless. And I, too, was in keeping with the socky theme, because I'm using sock yarn, after all!

It was fun to knit with these ladies, and I hope to do so again sometime soon. Thanks for having me, Richmond Knitters!

And now I'm off to sit on my front porch in my rocking chair and enjoy this gorgeous weather and... you guessed it... knit!

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A Week's Worth of Knit Happenings

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This is becoming quite the knitterly week for me.

Tuesday, I went and knit with my TNK peeps, as usual, at Barnes & Noble. And although there were several beautiful FO's displayed that evening, I took no photos whatsoever. Jane took quite a few, however, so she may post those to her blog in the near future. (I decided that it's sorta silly for both of us to blog about the same thing, so I'll probably step back a little bit on blogging about TNK, unless I'm the sole blogger in attendance that evening.)

And speaking of TNK and blogging....

Ahem. I know there are several of you TNKers who read this blog on occasion. And yet not one of you delurked the other day.... What's up with that? Why the withholding of the comment love? Was it something I said?

Seriously, though, I continue to work on my Scarf Around for the Red Scarf Project, and the clock is ticking. It should be finished and ready to mail out early next week. I will post pictures after it's all done.

Wednesday, I decided to go knit with the Richmond Knitters that meet at Panera at Willow Lawn. It was probably my last chance to say goodbye to Mira and meet her new baby Drake, before they pack up and move to San Antonio. I've been reading Mira's blog for maybe a year now, and got to meet her, along with several other Richmond knit-bloggers, last spring at Maryland Sheep & Wool. I've since gone to knit with the Wednesday night group a couple of times, although not as often as I'd like.

Anyway, I brought Mira a little sumthin-sumthin I made for baby Drake:

Specs:

• Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic 100% mercerized cotton
• Pattern: Knitting Knonsense's Baby Feet Cloth
• Needles: US size 8 wooden straights

Here's Mira holding baby Drake, with fellow knitter Beth looking on:

Such a cute boy!

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Today, I went on a yarn trek with another local knit-blogger, Suzanne, out to Holly Spring Homespun. We live relatively near each other, and she was gracious enough to drive. (It's a 45-minute drive for us, each way, so that's no small favor.) I was restrained and bought just a few patterns, a couple hanks of Art Yarns Supermerino and a ball of that newfangled Tofutsies sock yarn, [a blend of wool, soysilk, cotton and chitin (which comes from shrimp and crab shells)]. It's incredibly soft yarn -- the softest sock yarn I've ever felt. I'm such a sucker for novelties.... Kathy threw in a free pattern that goes with the sock yarn, so I may try that one of these days....

This weekend, (Friday through Sunday), our knitting group is having a retreat at a hotel down on Buggs Island Lake in Clarksville, VA. The very organized and crafty Robin H. pulled this entire thing together, and there will be about 25 people attending. There will even be vendors! (W00t! Knitting! Yarn! Shopping! Bliss!) Should be a good time, I think. I was a little iffy on attending, worried that business travel might interfere, but that's not an issue at the moment. So, off to Clarksville I go! I will be bringing my laptop and will try to post pictures each day.

Happy Knitting!

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Stitch 'N Bitch

Hooray! I've found a local Stitch 'N Bitch group that meets on Tuesday evenings and am celebrating by buying myself the first book -- I hear it's pretty good for beginners. Yay!

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Update: there's also a "Richmond Knitting" group that meets on Wednesday nights.