Pretend it is still May.  Just rewind your brain back to Wednesday!

PS Green Anklets
Yarn: Sweet Georgia Yarns (from the Sweet Shop)
Needles: Size US 1 metal DPNs
Pattern: Basic stockinette anklet with heel and toe instructions from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks

While you are at it, pretend that these are better quality photos… my camera broke, and we had to use the crappy office digicam.  We ordered a new one and it should be here by Tuesday.  A weekend without a camera is not my cup of tea. 

German heel detail - I love the little purl bumps on the edges.  The small things always make the difference!

Classic three-point French toe 

I love these socks, and I love this yarn.  Beautiful saturated colors, and very nice variegation.  The yarn was handpainted by the talented Felicia at Sweet Georgia, and given to me last October (right after Socktoberfest!) by sweet Kira.  I was waiting to make something special with it, and when Project Spectrum rolled around, I knew that this yarn was meant to celebrate the green!  Too bad I missed the month (by a few days…) but I am very happy with the results.

Now, just to prove that I am wholly devoted to blues (for the next few weeks at least)… I started my Carla pullover.  The pattern is in the Rowan book It’s a Tape Thing (2004). There are several other patterns in this book that I want to make, remembering the good ol’ days with Kim Hargreaves!

And since I have no camera to capture any new photos, I dug through the archives to find some “never before seen” blue photos…

Blue Forget-Me-Nots - part of our wildflower garden last year

Jellyfish tank at the Waikiki Aqaurium - part of our Hawaii vacation last October

Blue fishnet socks and blue/brown shoes (one of my fave color combos - second only to pink and brown!)

More details about my weekend when I hear back from the official photographer

Have a great Sunday!

Waking up without an alarm.  Cooking and eating a yummy breakfast with your loved one.  Getting your day started with a yoga class, and some laps in the swimming pool.  Going to the farmer's market.  Curling up on the couch with your knitting.  Sitting in the sun.  Talking to your neighbors at the community cookout.  Organizing the craft room.  Gardening.  Buying a new bicycle and taking it out for a spin.  Dinner with the family.

Such a beautiful weekend… and we still have an afternoon to go! 

Lilies - about to bloom!  I look forward to this every year!

Click on picture for the description of what is planted in each pot.

Turned the heel on my second anklet - is there any way I can finish this anklet in the green month of May? (Mind you, I have big feet!)

Arranged my knitting needles - including the circular ones.

My new bike!  The perfect purchase to enjoy the beautiful day.  Kris and I went on a 14-mile ride around Columbia and Savage. 

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A cool thing I just have to share:  I got an email from my friend, KnittingNurse, who shared information about Make the Connection, a cancer awareness and prevention group.  Right now, they are offering free bead bracelet/anklet kits on their website.  For every kit that is mailed out, $1 will be donated to cervical cancer research.  Go order your kit now - we can all have matching bracelets!

I hope you have a wonderful week - only a few green days left, and then it is all about blue, baby!

My first pair of socks were knit in Trekking XXL, colorway 101.  For the record, I did not fall in love with knitting socks right away.  The small yarn and needle gauge and my lack of experience with double pointed needles were probably the reason for this… it took a little time to grow on me.  Yet, by the time I completed my second pair of socks, the mismatched Opal socks, I quickly became obsessed. 

I am still a new sock knitter; I often opt for a simple ribbed or stockinette pattern because I know I can handle it.  Just recently, I began to look into new heel and toe patterns for my socks.  My first short row heel, my first German heel, and now, my first French (three-point) Toe, and a (different) German heel. 

I love this heel, every stitch of it!  Even down to the little purl column!  So, sock one is complete, and now I get to do it all over again with sock two.  The anklets are very nice to work on, and the yarn has created a sturdy fabric with the size 1 needles. 

When the green anklets are finished, I am going to cast on for a new pair of Trekking socks - just in time for the Trek With Me knitalong, and the Summer of Socks. 

These are the #107 and #108 colorways.  The prominent color in the #108 is blue, perfect for June’s Project Spectrum! Trekking is my favorite sock yarn - I love the variegations, and the element of surprise in the striping.  It is nearly impossible to match the stripes in this yarn, but that is really the beauty of it, in my opinion.

School is on break, for a few another week and a half.  Everything was set for me to finish my Library Science masters degree this August, until there was a last-minute schedule change by my university.  The only class I needed to graduate was moved to a (very) far away location - nearly a two hour drive from my house - on a weeknight (with work the next morning!).  The administration was not willing to budge, so I had to change my schedule. I will now complete my Library Science degree in December, and hopefully complete my History masters next December (2007).  I am feeling very “disenchanted” with this whole graduate school process, and this change is not helping the situation.  I need to reinvigorate the interest and passion that I once had for this field of study… I need to do it in order to get through this next year and a half of books, papers, and comprehensive examinations… 

However, there is a silver lining in all of this:  I am only taking one course this summer, and that means more crafting time!  I got an early start this week with thrift shopping for some supplies, and even got some inspiration for future repurposing projects.  Yesterday, my sister and her friend, Jami, came along for the fun!

I have been visiting the thrift store quite a bit lately, mainly to find cheap “in-between” clothes as I continue to lose weight.  Luckily, I found 5 pair of pants, and also some tops, books, jewelry, and some craft projects.  Among them:

My new necklace:  pink and gaudy.  I love it!

Two pillowcases for $0.49.  I think these can easily be repurposed into a tote bag, or even a tank top (if I can figure that out!) 

Thank you for reading!  I am hoping to get some good quality knitting time in over the next few days, pressing towards one more May finished knit… we’ll see what happens! 

…Now I am off to go check out the discussion on the LOST season finale (but only for a little while!) … what a show last night!  ;)  We’ll see if he answers my questions. [update:] He didn’t answer my questions! 

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! 

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.