Mother’s Day was very special this year. We celebrated the day with a yummy brunch, a visit to see my grandmother, and finally some knitting time before we left to see Kris’s family.
I did not snap a picture, but I purchased a big felted bag kit for mom – lovely purples and greens. It uses both Lamb’s Pride and Noro Kuryeon. I hope she likes it! Dad bought her the beautiful handwoven basket pictured in the photograph. He chose it from one of the artisans at the Sheep and Wool Festival, and it is already storing some of her (growing) stash of lovely yarns. She cast on for another bag pattern, this time using Cascade 220. And you can see that I started a new project too…
This is the Sweet Georgia Handpaint yarn, and it is knitting up so well! Beautiful variegations, and a nice texture. I originally planned to try the “Magic Loop” method with this yarn, but I found that I needed longer needles. I tried with 32″ and found it cumbersome. So, next trip to the LYS (I need to stay away for awhile – I spent a lot at the Festival!) I will buy the 40″ circulars. In the meantime, I went back to tried-and-true DPNs. I opted for the anklet length: perfect for summer! (plus, my friend Heather just made some adorable anklets, so that reminded me that I wanted another pair!)
I am experimenting with some new heel and toe techniques, outlined in Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks book. I tried a German heel, with purl rows on the edge, and a center garter stitch in the middle of the heel. I love the look! I am planning to try a new toe technique as well, although I have not chosen one in particular. Any suggestions?
As I knit mindlessly on these socks, my mind wanders to all of the other projects in my head… I have some lovely green skeins in my stash – not enough to make large projects, but perfect for those “one skein” creations. Perhaps mom’s new love of felting is rubbing off on me, because the minute I saw this Cascade 220 in my stash, I was ready to felt!
Luckily, I came across a wonderful new felted cloche hat pattern, designed by Lani at Isis in Life. This is just perfect for this random skein! and I have some great little scraps and buttons that would make nice accessories for the hat!
The new Project Spectrum MAY colorway is available through Hill Country Yarns - and I am so excited about it! The colors are so vibrant! I got the “Instant Gratification” yarn, which is larger gauge, and uses a US 4-6 needle. I have seen many sportweight sock patterns, so this will be a great chance to try one out. (I used HCY for my Strawberry Swirl Socks, and I loved knitting with it!)
… and here we are in the second half of May – how did that happen? – and I am also thinking ahead to some of my projects for June. I love blue. I have lots of blue in my stash, so it will be another month of knitty creations. I have some socks in mind, a tank, and maybe even a sweater. Seems like I am setting myself up with all of these projects. I am not the only one thinking about JUNE though – Mama E just unveiled her new blue colorway for Project Spectrum: JUNE BUG!
She is taking orders now!
As you know, I love socks, and I am always happy to see other knitting them too! Socks continue to be a very popular knit on many blogs, and Jessica decided to start a summertime knit-along specifically for socks!
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She is planning some fun contests and has some cute summer-themed buttons too!
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Make sure and sign up for the SUMMER OF SOCKS – you’ll be knitting them anyway! 
Remember to save up some sock love for the 2nd Annual Socktoberfest in October though! Socktoberfest is a month-long sock celebration right here at Lollygirl.com!
As you have probably gathered, Project Spectrum has a lot of participants. About 2/5 of the participants are also a part of the Postcard Swap, the monthly color-themed card swap between members. However, from the first month, this swap has been riddled with problems: incorrect email addresses, unanswered emails to/from swap pals, participants dropping out without telling the administrator… and last week, it even escalated into some nasty emails.
Please understand that I am not responsible for your pal not writing back to you. I do my best and return emails and make another match for you in a timely manner, but it is inevitable that some of these emails go unanswered, and for that, I am sorry. However, you must remember that I am also getting emails from other “disgruntled” swappers whose pals have disappeared as well. At one point, I had over 100 emails in my Inbox about the Postcard Swap – and I had very little time to devote to it because I was studying for my course finals, and was bombarded at work. When my computer problems started in the beginning of the month (my site crashed, and I had major problems with my mail server) I was ready to pull the plug on the Postcard Swap altogether – it was just causing too much stress. Thankfully, Kris offered some amazing technical support, and I can say now that the Postcard Swap will continue, but there are MAJOR changes in the administration.
There were problems in May, and I know that some participants did not receive a pal’s name. As this is the 17th of the month, and time is short, I ask that we start with a clean slate, ready for JUNE.
The new system is on a month-by-month basis. This means that you go to the form, and fill it out every month that you want to participate. Please be certain that the information provided is complete, and spelled correctly. If the email you provided bounces back to my inbox, you will not be included in the swap. There are no longer ** next to the names of participants, so please remember that you signed up for the monthly swap.
The other rules are:
- You must be willing to ship internationally. Most postcards ship internationally for less than US $2.00.
- You must sign up for each month you wish to participate. If you cannot send out a postcard this month, please do NOT sign up.
- All postcard swap partners are assigned randomly. Please do not request a different partner once assigned.
- The sign-up period for each month spans from the 16th of the previous month to the 10th of this month. (i.e. Register for June’s postcard from May 16th to June 10th.)
- Postcard swap partners will be assigned and mailed out by the 15th of each month. If you have not received your partner by the 16th, please email Lolly.
Signups are available through THIS FORM, written by Kris, who really saved the Postcard Swap. Go ahead and thank him – he reads the comments
Thank you for your patience – I hope that this system makes it easier for everyone participating.
