yes, i am a very bad blogger lately. and not just here, but on all my blogs. and i can't even use the excuse that i use ravelry so i haven't updated my knitting blog because i haven't updated ravelry in goddess-knows-how-long either. i should do that today.

let's see....what's on my needles? socks, socks, more socks, an unfinished clapotis, several dishcloths...i don't even know what else right now. definitely been working most on socks because of this crazy heat. been buying lots of sock yarn as well, which i really must stop doing because my stash is slowly taking over our bedroom and living room. i've been doing some sewing as well, making more sock bags to hold all my socks-in-progress. my list of projects that i want to do is almost as long as my list of wip's.

luckily i might get quite a bit of knitting time soon because i will be participating in blogathon 2008 the last weekend of this month. i already posted this in my personal blog but i'm posting it here too. i am going to be blogging with several friends in boston for 24 hours, making an entry every half hour, at surreal_prose. i am blogging to raise money for autism speaks since, as many of you know, autism and aspergers have touched my family in a couple of ways. if you can donate, please do because i really believe it's a great cause. you can donate at my page here. if you can't donate, i understand, but please consider passing my link around to your friends and family and getting the word out. my goal is to raise just a hundred dollars, and i'm already a quarter of the way there.

now that the serious stuff is out of the way...new yarn store!!! that's right. an awesome guy named josh decided to bless us up in plainfield with a yarn store. as if that wasn't great enough, it's also only a five to ten minute drive from my house. josh is really nice and seems really cool and even though there's not a lot of stock right now since he just opened today there is great yarn and needles and his prices are really good. he's planning to do classes and knitting groups and everything so i am so excited about it. it's about time we got a good knitting store here!!

i've been TERRIBLE about blogging lately. i've been terrible about everything lately. i have been leaving everything to the last minute and going crazy. it has to be the whole back-to-school thing. i'm still adjusting to having no jessalyn all day and enjoying the quiet time far too much.

let's see...i've been whipping out dishcloths and hats like crazy. of course, i've been terrible about taking pictures of these things but i have been making them. this week alone i made four train tams...the first one was for a hat swap...and i liked it so much that i made another one to save for an xmas gift...then i had to make another one for myself (although mine is a little slouchier than the others) and THEN i received my caffeine swap package (more about that in the next paragraph) which included two skeins of noro kureyon that matched PERFECTLY with jessalyn's fall jacket, so i used one skein of that to make a train tam for her. the other skein is going to be matching playground mittens for her. i LOVE that hat pattern...it seriously takes me less than a day to finish each hat and they all come out so nice.

okay, so the caffeine swap package...it was so freaking AWESOME. besides the two skeins of noro, there were also three skeins of sugar 'n cream (more dishcloths and tribbles!), a skein of austermann step (*drools*), three different kinds of roobios teas (i tried the roobios chai with my coffee press this morning and mmmmm....), a container of chocolate chip cookies that are to DIE FOR, a box of nerds, a bag of jelly bellies, a bag of werthers chocolate caramel creams, a nifty cool mug with faces all over it that has a matching stirrer/spoon, and two scarf patterns. i think that was everything but honestly, it was so packed that i might have forgotten something. i love swaps, it's a shame i'm going to have to stop doing these kinds of swaps for a while because i can't afford to make packages as good as the ones i've been getting. i will still do the swaps where i make things like dishcloths or hats because i can just use stuff already in my stash for that.

yesterday i also sat down and wrote a list of people i'm giving xmas gifts to this year and what i will give them. i'm making all of them. i know i've said that a couple of years in a row, but i mean it this time. i've already started some, and i'm keeping them all relatively easy so that i can get them all done in time. of course, i'm starting now so i should have enough time unless i let myself get distracted by pretty sock yarn...

oh yeah, speaking of sock yarn i got some tofutsies. someone had them up for sale or trade on ravelry so i messaged her asking what she was interested in getting for trade and she was so nice, she just GAVE it to me. it's pink and white and pretty :) i already know what i'm going to make with it.

oh yeah, and we're in desperate need of cash right now. so if anyone wants anything that i can possibly make i'll quote you a price and make it for you. scarves and hats are good because they're fast. i have a lot of yarn so chances are i will have something you'll like. please let me know.

i'm a terrible knitting blogger. i have been doing TONS of knitting but, since having found the awesomeness that is ravelry, i've been putting everything up on there and not updating here at all. so here's some updates.

i finished several small projects...my multidirectional lace scarf (love the pattern, love the yarn, would definitely do it again), several dishcloths in various patterns (that's become another obsession of mine...they're so fast and easy and highly functional!), and several tribbles (and don't get me started on these things...i apparently can't make enough of them!). most of the dishcloths have been for swaps, although i'm planning to make a whole stockpile of them for myself and to save for xmas gifts. when my mother-in-law was visiting, she admired my tribbles and handknit dishcloths so i'll probably be making her a lot of them for xmas as well. on my needles...my second 'vog on sock (which i want to try to finish before this weekend, just to get it done...i love the pattern but i want to knit different socks now, and i've been keeping myself down to one pair of socks on the needles at a time), the clementine shawlette for my mother-in-law (i love the pattern, it's easy to remember and it's coming out so pretty!), my mother-in-law's afghan (yeah, that's gonna take a while), and a few more small projects that i just can't think of right now. but all are small projects, with the exception of the afghan. i like small projects :)

tomorrow should be nice. myindigodreams, her son, and confusinglife are coming over for a playdate/impromptu knitting get-together. i definitely need the adult company, i've been going nuts.

it's been super-hot up here. this heat wave stinks because it means no outside playing for the kids, which means they have more time and energy to drive me crazy.

the good side of that is that it's been very sunny most days so i was able to finally get some good pictures of some of my projects. i've been working a little bit on 'vog on, trying to get the second sock done. slowly but surely. i've also been working on a multidirectional lace scarf with the gorgeous yarn that mslindz sent to me from knitters connection. i LOVE that yarn, it is so soft and drapey and the scarf is coming out beautiful. i've also managed to get some work done on my mountain peaks shawl. still doing a lot of dishcloth knitting, since those are small and easy and by the time xmas rolls around i should have plenty of xmas presents done.

of course, i'm not sure how much knitting i will be able to get done next week because my mother-in-law will be visiting. my stepdaughter visited from the first to the third and that was nice... i ended up teaching her how to knit. she caught on really quick. i was only able to teach her the knit stitch but i sent her home with a book that i learned how to knit from, a skein of red heart yarn, and a circular knitting needle so that she could practice.

that doesn't even begin to describe her. i just got my second package and it was great!!! some really nice "j" stationary, an adorable daisy pen, a great sock pattern book that have some adorable socks that would be perfect for the kids, some handmade candles with our names on them, homemade brownies (mmmm...) and the best best best part...in the lj secret pal community they do a question of the week so our pals can get ideas from them. in mine i had jokingly said i would love an all-expense paid date night with eddie without the kids. well, of course she couldn't cover all the expenses, but she still did more than i ever expected. she apparently has a friend in the area who is an experienced babysitter and can provide references. my secret pal will pay for at least three hours of babysitting so that eddie and i can have a date. ohmygod. i almost cried when i read that. the friend lives in rhode island, which is why it would have to be at least three hours so the money she'd get paid would be worth the drive. i can't even believe this...i never would have thought of something like that. my pal is so thoughtful and imaginative and i am so very lucky. eddie and i will have to plan a night out together :) thank you secret pal!!!!!

i've been a soaker- and shorties-knitting fool lately. seriously, that's all i've been knitting. i just finished a pair of shorties and now i'm starting on another soaker. once i finish this soaker i am going to lanolize them and try them out.

i really need to do some more work on my rpm socks. plus i have a huge queue of stuff that i'm still planning to knit in the near future. PLUS a new issue of knitty came out the other day and i like quite a few patterns in it. so much knitting, so little time.

the weather has been so hot and/or humid that i actually haven't had much energy to knit this week. i've made progress on my rpm socks...i just finished the heel and gusset of the first one so it's coming along. i've also started another pair of shorties for zack from the ltk picky pants pattern (i love that pattern!) in some lion wool prints that i got on clearance at walmart. at this rate he'll have several pairs of shorties and soakers for the summer. eddie was in texas from sunday until wednesday so i had my hands full with the kids. oh yeah, the new magknits came out and there's a sweater in it called judith that i really want to make one of these days. i have to try to get through some of my stashed yarn first, before i go and buy a whole sweater's-worth of yarn :)

i finally have some finished objects! first, i finished zack's first shorties. i used the mystery wool that jennie from snb gave to me and the picky pants pattern from little turtle knits. i have enough of the yarn left to make a matching soaker :) the pattern is great, very adaptable and fun and easy to follow. the shorties fit him perfectly and are just too cute :) ( wanna see? )

i also finished zack's bucket hat. i used the pattern from little turtle knits and it came out great, although a little big but that's because it will shrink when i wash it. i used some peaches 'n cream cotton yarn and knit one, crochet too 2nd time cotton. i'm starting one for jessalyn today. once zack's has been washed and blocked i will be posting pictures of it on him :)

i got one more block of my lizard ridge afghan done, so now i have five. crawling along, that one.

all of my other knitting projects are in knitting limbo right now since i've been doing a lot of summer knitting. more pictures to come soon!

i got my first lj secret pal package today, and she did good!!! thank you, private knittery!!!( some pretty pictures )

not a whole lot of NEW things right now. i'm almost done with zack's shorties. i'm using some gorgeous mystery wool yarn that a friend gave me and they're coming out really cute. i finally broke down a bought a little bottle of woolwash stuff so i can lanolize them and the soaker that i already made, then they will be ready for him to wear :)

my friend eric is having a baby in november...i think...or october...this fall, anyways. so i promised them a sweater for said baby-to-be. i'm using daisy and some wool yarn that i can't remember the name of. i think it will come out really cute, although my friends are going to hate me when i have to tell them that it's not machine washable. oh well.

pomatomus are in knitting limbo right now since i've been trying to finish zack's shorties. i bought yarn on saturday to make bucket hats for zack and jessalyn so once those are started i will be pretty much working on those exclusively so they can use them...if the weather ever clears up, that is.

first of all, happy mother's day to the mommy's on my friends list. i had a pretty good mother's day, although i was a little disappointed. but i don't really want to go into that here.

my lj secret pal made me the COOLEST icon and a couple of banners for my etsy store :) i like her a lot already, she has been very good about keeping in contact and her emails are great :)

i am a little bit depressed. i ended up frogging my whole pomatomus sock because i came to the realization that it was waaaay too big. so i think i'll start them again using size 1's. it just about killed me when i did it.

i bought the bucket hat pattern from little turtle knits to make one for zack and jessalyn. now i just have to find some worsted cotton in the right colors and i'll be good to go. the pattern looks easy enough and they both need summer hats, so i figured i might as well make them myself instead of buying them.

i was really bummed yesterday when i went to walmart and went to the fabric section, hoping to get some flannel for baby wipes, and the fabric was ALL GONE. it was weird. i don't know if they're getting rid of it entirely or what but it looked like it since the shelves for it were even gone :( now i have to go all the way to joann's for fabric :(

on the same note, one of my buddies in the knitting group had the group at her house on saturday because she's moving soon and couldnt' come to borders because her husband was working so we all went to her house for one last big group. it was a lot of fun, and she was sweet enough to give me some organic velour to use for baby wipes. i'm planning to do one side of the wipes flannel and the other side velour to give it some scrubbiness. very exciting :)

i joined a summer blockbuster knitting swap that looked like a lot of fun. we swap a package that includes a movie-watching snack, enough yarn for a small project, and a dvd for our partner. this isn't a secret swap so we know who we have as our partners. my partner is awesome! i read her questionnaire and couldn't stop laughing because we have totally the same taste in movies and we're both sock knitters :) i already have great ideas for her package and i really can't wait to see how she likes it.

oh yeah, and i finished my first soaker for zack. it came out really good. ( some pictures )

i got another skein of noro kureyon today! so that will be block #4 of my lizard ridge afghan. at this rate, i will have enough squares to sew it together in about ten years. and then it will take another ten years for me to sew it all together, since that's my least favorite part ;)

i am a beta tester for the new website, ravelry. it's not open to the public yet, but it's awesome. it's basically a community crossed with a gallery for your wip's and fo's crossed with a virtual knitting notebook and database. i will let everyone know when it's officially "on the air". and if any of you end up getting onto it as beta testers, add me to your friends on there. my user name is purpleturtle.

last night i made about half a dozen flannel wipes to add to my etsy store. i had a lot of fun playing around with the different decorative stitches and they're so pretty :) tonight i plan to try out the shopping cart seat cover and the high chair cover. i will post pictures and links to them on my etsy store once they're done.

knitting done today...not nearly enough, i've been having too much fun playing around with ravelry.

i have a new baby. my anniversary/mother's day gift is a brand spankin' new gorgeous singer advance sewing machine. ooooh, it's a beautiful thing! so my etsy shop will get with the updating soon.

i had to give up on a soaker. something went horribly wrong and i think i miscalculated and it was beyond repair. i almost cried. but i have another soaker that's almost done except for the ribbing on the legs, and that one is pretty much perfect. and i have enough yarn to make at least one more...for now ;)

i don't want to talk about the sock, because i haven't worked on it....

so yeah...cloth wipes to be made tonight. and a shopping cart seat cover and high chair cover to be started. that will be a set to go up on etsy. i hope i start making some money with etsy so i will be able to buy more fabric :) i want to find some organic velour to use for cloth wipes and if the shopping cart seat cover/high chair cover set sells and gets a lot of interest, i'll be doing more of those.

pictures to come...someday...

i took a long nap yesterday afternoon so of course now i can't sleep. i did get SOME sleep but now that i'm awake i can't get back to sleep. so i decided that i might as well do some internet-ing and possibly finish the two soakers that i have on the needles for zack. yay, progress!

the soakers are coming out pretty good. i bought the hybrid rib soaker pattern from little turtle knits and love it. i've also been using the curly purly soaker pattern and like that one as well. unfortunately they're both daytime soakers, and he really needs night ones more, so i'm going to have to eventually get my hands on some peace fleece or bartlett yarn worsted for some nighttime soakers. all will happen in good time...

in other news, i don't know if i posted this before but i have finally started another pair of socks. i'm working on my first pomatomus using my artyarns ultramerino4. i like the way it's coming out so far, although i'm worried it might be a little big i'll be able to tell better once i'm further along and can try it on my foot.

i found tofutsies sock yarn at one of my lys's and i love the way it feels and the colors are so nice. unfortunately i haven't bought any yet but i plan to. the thing that sucks is that i really want this sock pattern that they offer with purchase of tofutsies on kpixie. oh, the agony!

have i mentioned that i finally found a sweater that i want to make for myself??? too many projects, not nearly enough money to get the yarn for them!

i've been kinda bad about updating this lately, but honestly i haven't been doing much new knitting. i've taken a short break from socks because every pair i started just wasn't cooperating. right now i'm working on a wool soaker for zack since i've started him back on cloth diapers. the soaker pattern is very good and i'm looking forward to seeing how the ones i make end up working.

i finally got to visit the yarn store in mystic yesterday and ohmygod, it's awesome and the women there are SO nice and i bought some nice worsted weight handdyed wool yarn for a soaker for zack. i will definitely be going there again.

oh yeah, and i destashed the other day and finally got rid of a lot of the acrylic yarn that i was never going to get around to using. i ended up getting rid of three garbage bags full. and then yesterday at the knitting group norwichknitter brought in a huge bag of yarn and declared that she didn't want to take any home so we should all help ourselves. of course, i HAD to do my part to help her out. so i left with two skeins of lopi (for more soakers) and about ten skeins of boucle wool/mohair yarn that's just begging to be a shawl. at least i managed to keep myself down to just that and i know exactly what i'm going to do with it. go me!

my sewing machine is still dead. i'm hoping the hubby will let me get my new one as an anniversary present (our anniversary is on the eighth). keep your fingers crossed for me. there are diaper covers and shopping cart covers and high chair covers that are dying to be made.

oh yeah, and i have to take this opportunity to use my new icon that kirin76 made.

well, first of all i finally listed my shawl on etsy. unfortunately, the weather has been crap here so i haven't been able to get very good light and the pictures don't do justice to the beautiful colors. oh well. i kinda hope it sells, because i could use the extra money, but at the same time i kinda want to keep it for myself :)

i finished the first monkey with the trekking. i followed the pattern exactly...something i rarely do, especially with socks...and it fits perfectly. i've gotten a few inches of the second one done as well. and i finally got some real sock blockers from the loopy ewe (the plastic ones) so i won't have to worry about the yarn snagging on my wire hanger sock blockers when i block them. i will have pictures when they are finished.

next on my socks to-do list are widdershins with the meilenweit mega boots stretch that my sockret pal, joan, sent in my first package. i think they will look gorgeous :)

of course, i haven't gotten any knitting done on my mountain peaks shawl lately. but i've gotten a couple more inches of zack's afghan knitted. and my knitting is going to have to be put on hold for a couple of weeks because i am making anime convention costumes for sylverice2 and thesilentpoet again. i'll be able to knit when the kids are awake and i can't sew, but at night and during quiet time i'm going to be wearing out my sewing machine :) i also have some baby projects in mind to make to sell in my etsy store...bib and burp cloth sets and possibly a few blankets. i'm going to be busy busy busy.

it's true what they say about yarn choosing what it becomes. i finished the cedar creek socks so of course i had to cast on another sock. the first sock yarn i got my hands on is my trekking pro natura that my sockret pal sent in the last package. i was originally planning to use it for falling leaves. but after getting the whole toe and one pattern repeat done, i realized it was coming out way too big and i wasn't crazy about the way the lace pattern looked. so i frogged it and tried a slip stitch rib pattern from my sensational knitted socks book. that one didn't come out well either. finally i decided to try to cast it on for monkey, even though i have some fearless fibers yarn i've been planning to use for those socks. i figured if this pattern didn't work i might just try something else entirely with the yarn. but i've finished two repeats of the pattern and it's coming out GORGEOUS. so apparently this is what the yarn wanted to be. the lace pattern is kinda hard to see because it's a dark-colored yarn, but the end result is still really nice. i'll probably still do another pair with the fearless fibers, because i really like the way it looks.

this yarn is great. it's a wool/bamboo blend and a little bit scratchy, but i think it will soften up a lot after i wash it. the color changes are very nice and subtle. i will definitely use it again.

still haven't finished those socks. i did work on them some this weekend, but i keep getting distracted by other projects. especially the shawl that i'm working on and have almost finished. oh, it's coming out so nice! :) i've decided that i'm going to list it on etsy, probably for about a hundred dollars or so (fair price considering the yarn alone was worth at least fifty) and if no one buys it i will keep it and probably give it as a xmas present this year. i already have plans for a similar kid-size shawl made with machine-washable cotton yarn that i have, which i will also list on etsy.

i've been so good about not buying any yarn or knitting paraphernalia. even though i was planning to buy mason-dixon knitting on saturday, i ended up leafing through it at the store and realized that although there are some really nice patterns in it, there just wasn't enough to make me want to buy it, even at the low price i would get it for. there are so many other knitting books that i want right now that have much more in them that i would want to do, it makes more sense to wait until i can get those. i did, however, order elizabeth zimmerman's knitting workshop through borders, because i've been wanting it very badly and i can have it delivered to the local store and not have to pay shipping charges so it will only be less than twenty dollars, which is cheaper than buying it online somewhere.

i haven't bought ANY YARN. in fact, i've resolved to go through my yarn sometime this week and put a lot of it up on freecycle. probably just a lot of the acrylic, since i've become so attached to knitting with natural fibers :) there is some acrylic i'll keep...i have enough homespun to make a blanket or a couple of shawls, which i could sell on etsy, and some really nice vintage caron stuff that i'm saving for something. but the stuff i'm not keeping will probably just get thrown into a couple of bags and given to someone through freecycle so that it can be used. otherwise it's destined to sit in my hope chest for a very long time.

i hope the weather clears up in the next couple of days so i can get some nice pictures of the shawl. i'll post them when i do.

oh yeah, and i just got three skeins of lorna's laces shepherd sock in the sherbet colorway...since there are three there i'm thinking about making something other than socks, but i'm not sure what. anyone have any suggestions?