ready

It has been awhile since I last posted.

A long while. I seemed to have missed all of November. 

I finished these lovelies while the autumn sun was still warm.

And now it's cold and I'm ready to wear them.

The perfect boot toppers to these little yellow boots!

Toasty twist socks in BMFA 'overcast' yarn.

Modified with linen stitch heels.

I lovelovelove linen stitch heels.

Remember that everyone you meet 

is afraid of something, 

loves something 

and has lost something. 

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

out and about

I cannot endure to waste anything as precious

as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.

So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne 

Much like Mr. Hawthorne, I'm taking advantage of the beautiful autumn days

here in the Pacific Northwest.

The rains are here, so when it is dry I'm out and about.

Even when it isn't dry, you may catch me in the leaves.

Toasty twist socks by Teresa Fox in BMFA 'overcast'

autumn rainbow

Is this colorway gorgeous, or what?

It's 'Autumn Rainbow' from Lorajean of Knitted Wit fame!

This is her new Victory Sock yarn base.

And because I couldn't decide which sock pattern to do - 

I'm doing both Toasty Twist and Mad Color Weave

in the same sock.

Whackadoodly.

It's how I roll.

To say I love this yarn is an understatement.

A big understatement.

Big.

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky.

~William Wordsworth

heavenly autumn

Happy Autumn!!

My 'day' is finally here!!

Today is the first full day of autumn!!

I'm so excited I'm serving up a "double-shot" of coffee to celebrate 

the return of knitting weather!!

woot!! squee!! and PARteeeeee!!!

xoxo

In Heaven, it is always Autumn.
~ John Donne

be bold

Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. 

Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Just do it. 

Do it now!

xo

Toasty twist socks by Teresa Fox in BMFA 'overcast'

autumn prepper

 I'm ready for autumn.

Crisp days.

Rain.

Falling leaves.

A steaming cup of coffee to warm my hands.

Handknits on hands, neck, and feet.

Soon.

Very, very soon.

And I'll be ready.

Four steps to achievement: 

Plan purposefully. 

Prepare prayerfully. 

Proceed positively. 

Pursue persistently.

~ William Arthur Ward  

Willow Cowl in Kitchen Sink Dyeworks (no longer available)

yesterdays

The last days of August were warm and lovely.

I had the opportunity to wander around the city and riverside.

Per usual, I was accompanied by socks and camera.

You never know what you might come across!

papaver sock in Hedgehog Fibre 'olean'

toasty twist sock in BMFA 'overcast'

caliente

I'm always blabbing about breaking out of my sock knitting routine...

...I dood it!!

Jen showed me her Willow Cowl the other day, and gosh dang it,

I cast on ASAP.

Autumn is around the corner and I need to get my accessories in order!!

The yarn is a merino/cashmere blend from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks in 'Holly'.

Sadly, her company is no longer in business as she was a beautiful dyer.

This yarn is circa 2009.

There you have it -

A new project...not a sock.

Yarn from the stash...and the pattern is free on Ravelry!

Life is good!

Women are like teabags. 

We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

sorriso

This sock is soooooooooooooo bright...

...and sooooooooo happy!!

The burst pattern on the cuff is complete and 

we're moving down the leg of the indiegogo sock.

Elongated stitch motifs make awesome pops of color and play well with

variegated yarns; and importantly - are simple to do!!

This sock makes me smile whenever I pick it up.

I think I'll name it 'sorriso'...Italian for smile.

If someone is too tired to give you a smile, 

leave one of your own, 

because no one needs a smile as much 

as those who have none to give.

pattern by me in  Knitted Wit.'indiegogo to the studio'  yarn

of a cat and yarn

First, the yarn...

You know what that little ball of yarn means, right?

Of course you do!!

And now for the cat...

...my little helper.

Of all the umpteen shots I took, this was far and away my favorite, of course!

How could I not choose the image with his little paw in it.

The socks are finished.

There was actually much more yarn remaining than this (~15g), so don't fear

running out of yarn if knitting an average sized pair of socks (~85g), prob'ly even a largish pair.

Sometimes, when I'm using a new-to-me yarn,

I divide the skein into two balls and knit toe-up to prevent surprises.

And now I have 4 pairs of socks in the queue waiting for official glamour shots.

Sigh. Hope springs eternal that I'll get it done.

Look at who's at the other end of that sweet paw...Mr. Skittles, our neighbor's cat!

This is a rare moment when he held still long enough

for me to focus AND take the shot.

He's always on the move!!

Time spent with cats is never wasted. 

~ May Sarton 

pattern by me in Hedgehog Fibres 'verdigris'

yesterdays

I pulled some Hedgehog Fibre yarn out from my stash while organizing on Sunday.

I finished a pair of socks, so it's time to cast-on for a new pair.

I'm going a bit retro with these socks.

Yarn from the not too distant past...

...and a pattern, too. 

Papaver by Anne.

It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.

~ Lewis Carroll

a day in the park

A walk in the park should always begin with a good breakfast,

don't you agree?!

I finished these socks last evening.

I love all the pops of color provided by the twisted stitches.

I think it's a pretty good match of pattern and yarn.

It has been horribly hot in the Pacific NW. 

Just being by the river cools me off.

What about you...what do you do to cool off?

We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.

~ Helen Keller 

pattern by me in Hedgehog Fibres 'verdigris'

summertime

Check out this new skein of yarn!

Isn't it delish?

It's 'indiegogo to the studio' from Knitted Wit.

It's a special colorway.

The pattern is designed by me.

I haven't come up with a name yet...any ideas?

Bees do have a smell, you know, 

and if they don't they should, 

for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.

~ Ray Bradbury

spontaneity

Once we believe in ourselves, 

we can risk curiosity,

wonder,

spontaneous delight,

or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

~ E. E. Cummings 

And in an unprecedented and 'spontaneous' move,

we had a smoothie from greenleaf in the Pearl.

Yummy. Very Yummy.

But a little $$$ for a regular habit.

Back to coffee and looking for latte art.

Progress is being made on the 'back on track' socks.

This is a good thing, as I don't want to rename them!

I love Hedgehog Fibres yarn...the color change in the yarn 

plays well with the subtle stitch pattern.

That's it for now!

I hope you're having a great week!!

xo

pattern by me in Hedgehog Fibres 'verdigris'

greenleaf smoothie: classic with chia seed and coconut oil

different

The Toasty Twist sock modified with the linen stitch heel is one of my favorite knits!

But, you knew that already!

The linen stitch first appeared on my radar when I knit this sock.

If you have this book, it is also described here.

I've also replaced the heel of Monkey socks with this heel stitch.

Most any heel on any sock can be replaced with the linen stitch pattern or anything else you'd like.

For linen stitch, just use larger needles and fewer stitches, 

I use 3.25mm and 26 sts when knitting with BMFA STR.  

You're the boss of your knitting.

Try something different on  your next sock. I think you'll like it.

Happy knitting!

We all have different desires and needs,

but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, 

we will live passively and unfulfilled.

~ Bill Watterson

Toasty Twist in STR 'overcast'

breakfast of champions

Yep. Still stuck on photographing macarons and lattes.

How do you like my new props?

We were at the Astoria Sunday market this past weekend 

and purchased some old Japanese books. 

Tres cool.

I hope your week is treating you well!

Champion the right to be yourself; 

dare to be different and to set your own pattern;

live your own life 

and follow your own star.

~ Wilfred Peterson 

pattern by me in Hedgehog Fibres 'verdigris'

trials and passions

How fair is a garden 

amid the trials and passions of existence. 

~ Benjamin Disraeli

The first day of summer is tomorrow...

you know what that means, right?

Shorter days ahead and moving closer to autumn!

woot and squee!!!

Happy weekend!! I hope it's filled with few trials,

and much delight! xo

Toasty Twist in STR 'overcast'

kindness

Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, 

loves something 

and has lost something. 

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Max Monkey sox in STR 'ka-POW! pa-TINA!'

contentment

A smörgåsbord of shots this morning.

A little bit of knitting.

A little bit of the garden.

I'm an autumn/winter girl to be sure. But June holds a special place of love. 

Between spiders, ladybugs and dragonflies - I'm very content.

Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life 

and share with the people the same happiness.

~ Kahlil Gibran

hello

And for a change of pace, I bring you non-knitting today.

We had a little birthday celebration for my sisters this weekend,

and these yummy Lemon Brownies were party-pleasers to be sure!!

Is there a better way to say, "hello" to Monday than with bright lemon yellow?

I think not.

Make it a good one!!

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you. 

~ Annie Dillard