Feb 28 2006
Project Eve
Project Spectrum Eve! Can you feel it!? I can’t wait to see the explosion of pink and red over the month of March! Thank you for your enthusiasm about the Project - I simply can’t wait to see what you create! There are nearly 400 participants, and remember, you can join at any time (through the end of August!) so, if pink and red don’t float your boat, check us out next month!
…and I warmed up this weekend with my Strawberry Swirly sock…
I am about two inches away from a completed sock - just about to start the toe decreases. This Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet is great to work with - a simple and soft merino that stripes so well! I chose a generic 3 x 2 rib pattern to show off the yarn’s colors, and experimented with a new heel: the German heel detailed in this Basic pattern.
Mama E, my generous neighbor to the north (about 20 miles north!) sent me a lovely skein of her own hand-dyed sock yarn. Notice to amazing sunshiney color - I don’t think I can wait until April (the yellow/orange month) to cast on. Thanks so much E! This brilliant yarn put a huge smile on my face! (Here’s a closeup!)
Project Spectrum is about many things for me… and sock knitting will be one of my major contributions for each month’s colors. I am planning many other crafts as well, but I am really enjoying looking through the free sock pattern repository that Amy Boogie set up searching for that perfect pattern for the sock yarns I have in my stash. A great resource and completely free!
My weekend was so great - jam-packed with fun! Saturday morning, Heather dropped off the beautiful Pixie girl at my house for a few hours. We played Play-do, went to the park with my dogs, played on the swings, and had lunch all before her mom came to pick her up! She is so much fun - just like her mommy!
Then Heather and I packed it up and headed down to Virginia to meet up with several DC Metro knitbloggers - Ann Fidget and Heather coordinated a meetup and a Stash swap! Ann held the meetup at her lovely home in Alexandria, and there was a great turn out. We had such a great time catching up with each other, seeing each others’ knits, and swapping the different yarns.
(l-r) Isel, Jenna, me, Shelley, Sarah, Rossana, Erin, Liz, and Ann.
Unfortunately, this is not everyone who was at the party, but too good of a group pic not to post! Photo compliments of Heather.
There was a lot of yarn to swap - a whole table full! Lara, Rossana and I check it out (well, that is the back of my head, and the black/red is Rossana…)
And there was even more on Ann’s kitchen island! (Thanks to Ann for the kitchen pics - guess who did not have her camera?) I bet we had about 50 miles of yarn right there! After swapping, we sat around in the living room and stitched and bitched. It was so much fun. I hope there is a next time!
…and those who eluded the camera - unphotographed but not forgotten: Paula, Holly, Chelsea, Amy, and Kel! Great to see some of you again, and to meet everyone else for the very first time 
Thank you Ann for hosting us in your great place!
Then on Sunday my little Hawaiian sister came to town!! Mimi is here in Maryland, and we spent some time together over the weekend! It is great to have my sister here on the mainland
… and tomorrow if the big day!! Get your scissors, needles, thread, hooks, glue guns, beads, fabrics, paints, and mixing bowls (and don’t forget your cameras!) ready, my friends!!!
Thanks for the great idea, Lolly!! I have my thinking cap on… Looks like you had a fabulous fibery weekend.
What fun!! It was nice meeting you.
Great progress on your socks.
I should cast on for my knitted Project Spectrum project tomorrow. Not sure what it’ll be yet.
i love the small striping effect on those socks. that list of all the sock patterns is the greatest! something for everyone.
with the whole craziness of the olympics now over, i guess i better start thinking about ps for march!
The socks look great Lolly! I love the stripey effect of the yarn. Looks like you had a great weekend.
I’m almost set for project spectrum, I’ve just got to get a dye pot! Red and Pink from natural dyes.
That is a BUNCH of yarn OMG! WHOA!!
Aaaaannnnddd… Dat’s a shyadellic shock there baaaaybee! =)
Cool sunny stuff too — yaay!
Your socks are beautiful! I need to go check out that sock pattern link. All the yarn!! I wish I had more knitterly buddies up here to swap with. I need to go figure out what I want to make red and pink. I’m all set for the green month, lol.
Thanks to you Lolly, I think there will be a lot of fun in blogland for the next few months…
Happy Project Spectrum Eve!! I’m SO excited, Lolly! Cruising around the blogs tonight, I saw so many yummy pink and red yarns in preparation for Project Spectrum…and even nicer, so many other crafts in addition to knitting. You conceived an amazing concept and there’s so much excitement in Blogland because of your wonderful idea and inspiration. Thank you for such a fun and creative outlet! I can’t wait to get started!! Your red socks look beautiful and the pattern really accentuates the yarn. And what lovely yellow yarn, too! That stash swap looks AMAZING!! You guys had more yarn there than some of our LYS’s!!
So glad to hear you had such a fantastic time! Sending you our love…take care, Miss L! 
Love ya, c.
I’m ready!! In fact, I realized the vintage headband I’m working on now is pink - a perfect start to the month!!!
Looks like you all had a fabulous time on Saturday! The great thing about blogging is that it connects you to people from all over. The bad thing, though, is that everyone is too far away to organize frequent meetups!!
Waaa hoo, can’t wait to get started on all my red and pink crafts!!! Thank you so much for your great idea and all the work you put into organizing Project Spectrum. Ooohhh, that yarn from Mama E is so pretty. What a wonderful cheery colorway. I’m glad you had such a fun weekend, how nice to have your sister visiting.
wowie…we did have a lovely saturday.
project spectrum DAY 1…woo! I can’t wait to show my March project…I am so excited about it!
Love those strawberry socks! The stash swap looks like a blast.
Oh, Happy Project Spectrum Day!
Yowza that’s a lot of yarn for a swap! Did you bring home anything exciting?
What a fun idea! Looks like you had a great time.
Wow! Look how far along you are on the orange sock! That looks like a fun get together “Stash Swap”!
Wow look at all that yarn! Wish I lived closer! I may have to join your project spectrum…hmmmmm….
It looks like the knit blogger meetup was a lot of fun & filled with a lot of yarn.
Let the red & pink madness begin!
The yarn swap must have been so much fun. Looking at all of that yarn gives my heart a little pitter patter.
Amy
Yay! It is finally here-Project Spectrum!! I have my pinks and reds all ready. And all that ‘yarn porn’ made me swoon this morning-looks like a lot of fun was had!
Take care!
xo
-T
Bring on the pink and red!!!
Mmmm… The colors of all sock yarn is yummy. Nice and springy! A yarn swap sounds like so fun!
Tehee, I wonder why it is called “German heel”….lovely socks, meine liebe Lolly!
The colour is so pretty - love it.
I have started a project, too. Wie du dir vielleicht schon gedacht hast, stricke ich in PINK!!
Viele liebe Gruesse,
Mona
Wow…that stash swap looked like fun! I really need to get together with some knitters in Bmore…I feel like I am missing out.
I’m ready for Spectrum! woo hoo!
So much loveliness all in one post. What a great pair of socks to be working on!!!! I love the yarn you received from E. Fabulous!
Question,
How do you handle the yarn swaps so that it is done fairly??? Do you swap skein per skein? Is there “bargaining”?
How do you handle it???? I want to set one up but I want the ground rules so that it’s a win:win.
Thanks!
Oooh, that party looks like a whole lotta fun. I’m excited to start project spectrum, but I’m kind of stumped on the postcard.
Yay! It was so much fun!
Okay I am LOVING that sunshine yarn. What a wonderful antidote to cloudy days. And your sock! WOOT!
Is it too late to join Project Spectrum? I just realized the sweater I’ve started for my daughter is mainly pink. I want in! (I want one of the cool buttons, too!)
Can you let me know? Thanks.
The pattern has been selected, the yarn has been purchased and the needles are ready for cast on. Can I finish a sweater by the 25th?
Hey Lolly! By the way, my March Project Spectrum in Pink & Red is done and posted! That was fun!
Awwwwww…that seems so much fun! And whoa! You’re so fast with your sock! I’m only about 6 cm into my JayWalker…might post a photo tonight or tomorrow…but I’m loving it!
Stash swap! What a great idea. It looks like it was a bunch of fun.
And your socks are just the cutest, as always.
I too would love some more information about how your yarn swap was organized–ground rules, etc. I would love to arrange one locally.
yay! I have lots of crafty plans for project spectrum and I can’t wait to start! I have a date with sime packets of Kool-aid this weekend
I wish I could participate, but I really just don’t have the time. At least I’ll enjoy all of the colorful projects everyone has in store! I already love the sunshiney yellow! I’m thinking I can’t wait for April either!
Lolly, your strawberry swirl socks are delicious! And I love that sunshine yellow yarn!! You’re gonna have the prettiest feet around!
I think there must be something in the air, I too am crocheting for the first time in many many years! I can’t wait to see what crochet projects catch your eye!
[…] This is my first big Summer of Stash project. This yarn, a lovely slate blue, was acquired last February’s yarn swap at Ann’s. It just so happens to be the same colorway as the Virtue beret I made last August. I really enjoyed working with the Cotton Tape last year, so I know that this will be a good project as well. I am planning to follow some of the notes on the Carla-Along blog, a knitalong that happened back in 2004. […]
[…] I got this yarn at Ann’s Swap last February. We threw all of our yarns in a big pile and then everyone went through and found what they liked. We used the “honor system” for the trades, taking what we thought was fair, depending on how many others took the yarns that we brought. Because this yarn was essentially free for me - even though I traded a lot of my stash yarn for it - I would like to pay it forward to another knitter or crocheter. […]