Oct 02 2005
SOCKTOBERFEST 2005
Whirlwind weekend! I intended to get a blog post out by the end of the weekend, and it looks like I made it in the nick of time.
So remember the clues I gave in my last post? All is now revealed…
Penguins
This was my view on Friday night. Nosebleed seats (hey, they were cheap!) and a little pre-season hockey action with my hubby and friends. Pittsburgh Penguins versus the Washington Capitals, baby! Kris and I are Penguins fans, but we live in the Caps city… so, when the Caps won 4-3, we were a little sad. Nevertheless, it was a great game! The official NHL season starts on Wednesday, October 5th, and we are already planning a few road trips to see some other teams in the region.
Lolly and Becca had to huddle together for warmth–brrr!
Other great things about the evening? Kris posing on the Metro (with vintage Penguins jersey) and the debut of my Trekking socks.
Crafty Bastards
I joined forces with the awesome Jenna Pink Monkey on Saturday morn for a little brunch action (we ate brunch at a biker bar(!)–it was vegan and SO good! who would have thought?) and some crafty fun in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC. It was time for the annual Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair!
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I wanted to go last year, but didn't make it, so this year was a must. The fair was so large I felt like I could have stayed another 3 hours and still not covered it all. |
The arts and crafts really ran the whole gamut. There was high end jewelry and fiber to recycled art. I got about a million ideas of things I wanna try and make myself (in my spare time–ha!). Things I want to learn more about now: sewing, making rugs, screen printing, paper making, embroidery… gosh, the list keeps going.
But the place that Jenna and I spent the most time: Woolarina!
Kate and Paula are so talented. They worked their butts off for this fair, and they had some lovely things to show for it. Handspun yarns, hand-dyed yarns, felted totes and purses, scarves, hats, accessories… and both of them have real jobs too! They deserve a big round of applause!
Jenna and I chatted with them and dug through their beautiful hanks for about 30 minutes before finally making our decisions.
Jenna samples the luscious Woolarina fare. They have some great stuff!
These babies kept on catching my eye over and over. I think it was providence. So, I got them.
1100 yards of laceweight merino lovliness. I have an idea about what I want to do, but I have to experiment before I can give any more details.
After the fair, I left DC and headed back to Maryland to meet up with Kris and his family for dinner and some birthday celebrations. It seems that everyone in his family has birthdays within a month's span, so it is better to celebrate them altogether.
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Here is Kris, and our niece, M, who turns 8 on Halloween. Our other niece, K, turns 4 next week. I am planning to get them some Hawaiian dresses for their birthdays on my trip. I hope to have some knits for them in time for Christmas too. |
And today? Today was a perfect day to visit my parents. We enjoyed the lovely weather, looked through my new knit books (more on that in the next entry) and watched a movie. I also managed to finish these :
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Opal Magic Socks
Pattern: Variation of the FiberTrends Hellen's Socks pattern.
Yarn: Opal Magic colorway 1043
Started: September 4, 2005 / Finished: October 2, 2005
Modifications: I continued a 2 x 2 rib down the front of the sock, and made the heel slightly longer to compensate for my big feet.
These will come in so handy from here on out. Maryland is having autumn right now, and it is glorious! These socks are my second pair ever–and my first official pair for the 
knitalong.
Tam mentioned something in her post today about knitting socks throughout October–and that got me thinking… how many socks can I knit in a month? (Of course I have some sweater projects that will get some love too!)
Who wants to make OCTOBER into SOCKTOBER?
Looks like you didn’t NEED to huddle to keep warm–you had your Trekking socks for warmth! =)
Lolly, I’m so glad you’re getting out for fun in spite of your crazy workload this term. What a great weekend! Love your Trekking socks and the gorgeous Woolarina merino. MMmm!! Have a great week, sweetie. And hey, we have hockey in Seattle, too… Go Thunderbirds!
I love the laceweight yarns you shown here! The colourway is soooo lovely! Eager to see what you’re going to do with them!
M is such an adorable girl! Happy Birthdays to your nieces!
Socktober sounds super-duper! Oh, and that yarn you bought is soooooo nice, loving the color, mmmmmmm! Seeing you knitting up in stands at a hockey game reminds me of me sitting in the stands at my husband’s softball games… I leave the girls with grandma and grandpa and knit the whole time, it’s perfect!
Wish I could join you for Soctober, but I can’t knit socks!! at least not yet! How is your Vintage Bolero coming along?
Socktober sounds like fun! And sounds like my kind of month too!
I’m so glad that you had such a great weekend! Especially after all the reading last weekend. What an incredible fair that must have been. That laceweight merino is to die for. So beautiful! Can’t wait to see what you have planned for it. Your niece is such a cutie! Fantastic job on the Opal socks, too… Socktober, huh? Bring it on!
I love this laceweight yarn you bought and I can’t wait for you to reveal what you are going to do with it! The socks look great too!
I’m in for Socktober! I’m currently working on the second sock of a pair for my hubby.
What a lovely weekend you had. Fiber, friends, and fun…what more could a girl ask for?
Amy
I’m all for Soctober. I love your new pink yarn, that’s a gorgeous color.
The socks look great. I am glad that you finished them. I so enjoyed your visit yesterday! We had some good talks and I enjoyed every minute with you! I love your haircut.
Love love love all the pics…Hi to Jenna and Becca and Kris! I LOVE HOCKEY! I used to watch Hockey all the time. I was Flyers fan for Rod “the Bod” Brindamour. Dork! We’ll have to go to a game. Total fun.
Yay it was the weekend for socks! I love the pink ones..they give you a lot of yardage for socks with that opal. I’m spoiled…I am working with Koigu and it’s not a lot of yardage…eek! but man I am totally in for SOCKTOBER!!!!!! knit on! see you tonight!
Sounds like you had a great weekend – a nice break from all of your studying. And another great pair of socks. Maybe I should give socks another chance…
Lolly, I had no idea you were a Pens fan! Since it’s early in the morning for me, I thought for a second that I was on a Pittsburgh blog.
You should kabbitz with Jill about sport sock knitting. Any bad looks? Do knitting and hockey mix? I would think that with the constant action it might be harder than knitting at a baseball or football game.
Gorgeous socks. They match your strip-ed background.
I’m SO happy about the return of the NHL. I’m missing living a 2 minute walk away from GM Place (home of the Canucks), but we’re ordering the hockey package for cable. Get to some games for me! yay!
Your socks look great!!
I’m totally in for the Socktober!!
Socktober?!?!?! That would be fantastic!…. except I’m knee deep in mittens right now….grrrr. But I gotta get those christmas presents finished!
I love hockey! Look how much fun you guys had!!!
Much jealousy felt towards those who could attend Crafty Bastards! Craft fairs around here seem to include a lot of kittens and teddy bears. Your weekend sounds like it was fun, and the socks look great!
What an action packed weekend! I am up for Socktober! I have a bucket load of sock yarn that is crying out to be socks. The arts and crafts fair sounds like a lot of fun – I am kind of glad there isn’t one here though as at the moment I don’t think I need any more hobbies!
take care
I love to make socks too:) what a cool fair, with a very cool name!!!! glad you had fun at the hockey game, does Kris mind the KIP or is he use to it by now? my hubby hates it so i don’t do it anymore!
Sounds like a fun weekend! I love the socks!!!
Looks like a great weekend! I can’t WAIT until Wed.!!
I’ll even get to see my Sabres in action since they are playing the Islanders. The new socks look great too. 
I’d join you for socktober if I wasn’t itching to start Samus so badly.
Socktober sounds fabulous! I love the socks. Looking great:)
My brother and some of his work buds hit the game Saturday night – they had a great time and got a little lost leaving the MCI Center. Did they stop and ask for directions? Of COURSE not!
I really wanna do Socktober too, but my have to postpone it – too many things on the SuperSecretChrissiePressie list.
i think i sat in the exact same seat the last time i went to a caps game!! and my baby sweater is so quick and easy and, of course, it’s adorable! can’t wait to finish it and show you. i’ve just started on the intarsia, wish me luck!
Thanks again for the great time on Saturday. Don’t say I didn’t tell you that the food at Asylum wasn’t awesome – you can’t always judge by appearances. Next time, try the amazing french toast.
I am trying to get through my two current projects but hopefully they’ll be finished by midmonth, meaning that I’d be totally IN for Socktober!! Woo!
YEAY Hockey!!!!!!! cant wait until wed!…If you are coming up to NY for a trip we should meet up…
Wow! Sounds like you had a great (and busy) weekend! Love your socks! Can’t wait to see what you do with that beautiful yarn!
Hey niece M — I’m an M too and my birthday is on Halloween too! Love it! I too am a big Pittsburgh fan, though more so with the football. I was born there. What makes you two champions of the (former) Steel City? The hockey game looks fun. Even though Husband is mad about the hockey and plays about 2x/week, he never wants to go to the games because “I can see it better on TV.” ;( I would join you for Socktober, but I’m still Sock-phobic!
Wow that craft fair looked like tons of fun. Friends and fiber = Fun! I’d love to join you for Sockoctober but I’m stuck knitting samples for my up coming workshops. Maybe by the end of the month I’ll be able to whip a quick pair up
I love that your niece shares the same birthday as me. Tell her that I said that Halloweenies are rare and wonderful people
Tanya
Ah man, the Caps – my husband’s favorite team!! He is anxiously waiting for the season to start. I like hockey, but not as much as him (duh he plays!). We are even getting a second tv so that he won’t miss any of the action!!
Can’t wait to see what you are planning with that beautiful yarn!
HOCKEY!! HOCKEY there’s hockey this year?? YEAH!! Go penguins!!
D
Oh man….when you said Penguins, i forgot it was *you* the hockey fan. My first thought was “March of The Penguins”, but yay! You meant hockey!
Randy’s favorite team is the Pens too. He can’t wait till Wednesday night! We wanted to go see them when they came out here this season, but alas, they aren’t coiming anywhere near us
hockey, hockey, hockey!!!! i am so excited to get back into the game this year! can’t wait til the flyers/rangers wed. night. Go Flyers!
Hopefully you were only knitting during the intermission! I’d never be able to pay attention and knit at a hockey game. I’m always jumping out of my seat and yelling at the ref!
ooo, ooo! I’ll do socktober with you!
We must be on the same wavelength or something because I had the same idea!
Your socks look great! Count me in for Socktober, hopefully I’ll be finishing my first pair this month.
oOoh…Socktober fest in october, huh? me likes. and seriously feeling sooooo jealous regarding large craft fairs. we have some here, but seems like most of it is the same stuff every year… huh. yet, one fact remains: i’ve never seen wool at these craft fairs. hm. the merino is LOVELY. i’m totally digging your trekking socks…i might have to go pick up some trekking i saw at an LYS…i’ve heard lots of good things about it and feeling like that’s a sign that i should try it. ahaha! your opal socks are so cute! yes, i believe i’m looking forward to SOCKTOBER. yup!
You got it BAD, got it BAD, got it BAD, you’re a sock knitter. You got it BAD, SO BAD, you’re a sock knitter. (sung to the chorus of ‘hot for teacher’ by van halen). Tee hee!
All I did all summer was knit socks. 12 pair so far this year. Don’t you just love the pink Opal? I have lots of fun wearing mine. Knit more socks!!
socktober sounds good to me…
Looks like you had a great time. YOur socks are beautiful! I can’t wait to see what you do with that laceweight yarn.
Yep, you’ve got pulled over to the dark side of sock knitting! Your Opal socks look great! Glad you had fun this past weekend.
Lolly, that laceweight is gorgeous!! What is it that you have in mind?? Of course, since you didn’t say, I’m now dying to know. The color is just so pretty!
Count me in to Soctober I have always have at least one pair on the needles
Ooh! Me too me too! I have 3 pairs of socks on the needles right now – I will finish at least one of them for Socktoberfest. I peek at your journal often enough to finally add you to my list of nifty peeps – hope you don’t mind!
[...] Of course, I needed one of the pomegranates from my collection to remind you just why I call this sweater "Pomegranate" – the color is a dead ringer for the fruit! It captures the three-way color blend of pink, orange, and red so well. No wonder I was drawn to the yarn at the craft fair, nearly a year ago… [...]
[...] happened that I started working on some new socks in October while at a hockey game… and by a few little words at the end of a post, Socktoberfest was born. What is [...]