a year in socks

I was surprised to see that I only knit 5 pairs of socks this year. I would have thought it was more than that. And only 2 were for me!

The year started with these socks:

"Commissioned" by my mom for my sister-in-law's Christmas gift.
(Raveled here.)

Next came a pair of Monkey socks for my mother-in-law's Christmas gift. Finished in mumblety-May-mumblety. Oops.

(Raveled here.)

Also finished in May were the Mystery Socks from Kirsten/Through the Loops. For me!

(Raveled here.)

Then, in early June, a pair of simple stockinette GREEEEEEEN socks for Kellee, as a thanks for several nice things she did for me.

(Yep, Raveled over here.)

Then, after a sock dry spell of about 6 months, I finished this pair, for me:

(Yo, over here, on Ravelry.)

I love my handknit socks. I'd like to make a few more pairs for myself in 2010. Maybe some from this yarn:


It looks like I have at least 20 sock yarns in the stash. Let's get cracking, self.

these are not just shoes ...

these are not just shoes ...
Originally uploaded by aswim in knits

No, they are a whole lot more than that. They represent discipline, pride, motivation, challenge, friendship, strength, and accomplishment ... all of the things I have gained this year through running.

When I added running to my workouts this spring/summer, it was mostly because I wanted to get in better shape, and knew that swimming wasn't enough (for me) on its own.

I didn't expect to love running so much.

On Thanksgiving morning, I will run the Feaster Five, a 5 mile road race in my community. No matter what my results are, I will be proud of what I have accomplished this year.

I am a runner.

Thankful Thursday

At the behest of Carole, I am jumping on the "Thankful Thursday" bandwagon ...

I am thankful for good friends. In the past year or two, I have learned how much I rely on my friends -- to celebrate with in times of joy and to lean on in times of sadness, to listen to and to listen to me, to give me a word of advice when I need it and a kick in the pants when I deserve it.

The best kind of friends are not necessarily those who I might have expected to walk into my life, but those who have changed my life in ways that I couldn't have imagined.



These flowers are from one of those friends. This summer, I spent a week in New York. When we got to the city, M (my friend and traveling companion for the week) decided we needed some flowers at the place we were staying, and left these on my windowsill. Sometimes, it's the littlest gestures that say "you are important to me."

To all of my friends -- including those of you who are part of my online world -- you are important to me, and I am grateful that I have you in my life!

Amy's yarn

Amy's yarn
Originally uploaded by aswim in knits

Dear Schacht,

Did you know that you can fit 7.75 ounces on a 4-ounce bobbin?

Here's what you need to make it work:
800ish yards of heavy laceweight yarn
1 WooLee Winder,
1 determined and competitive spinner
1 room full of friends *encouraging* me to make it happen and
1 MamaCate to manually turn the overly full bobbin for the last 4 yards or so.

So, Amy, here's an unbroken skein of about 800 yards for you. Have at it!

Love,
Danielle

Ishbel is finished

Ishbel is finished
Originally uploaded by aswim in knits

So, umm, maybe I'll blog more regularly if I post right from Flickr? Maybe?

Just because I'm not knitblogging doesn't mean that I'm not knitting. In fact, I'm so thrilled with my most recent FO that I've been inspired to *gasp!* blog about it!

What's so special, you might ask? Well, for starters, it's a cute pattern. Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague. It's also my first lace shawl. I've knit lace in socks and sweaters, and in scarves and baby blankets, but never in a shawl.

And I'm kind of in love with this particular shawl because it's knit from my very own handspun. I've knit plenty of things with my handspun before, but this skein just amazed me. It's a merino/tencel blend, and not even spun especially well, but it was just a perfect match for the pattern.

I just keep looking at it and saying "wow, I made this. No, I really MADE this." It's freakin' rad.

More photos and such on Ravelry, of course.

You know, I kind of miss blogging, every once in a while.

I'm swiping this meme from Carole. Who knows? I might blog a bit more frequently in the next couple of months. Or not.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 4:55 am
2. How do you like your steak? I don't eat red meat
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Ummmm ... ? I guess it's been a while.
   
4. What is your favorite TV show? Law and Order
   
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? where I live now.
   
6. What did you have for breakfast? peanut butter and jelly sandwich
   
7. What is your favorite cuisine? French
   
8. What foods do you dislike? nothing, really. maybe tripe?
   
9. Favorite Place to Eat? any fine restaurant
   
10. Favorite dressing? blue cheese
    
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Honda Accord
    
12. What are your favorite clothes? sweats (for comfort), black pants and heels (for looking good)
    
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Europe ... all over.
    
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full
15. Where would you want to retire? somewhere on the ocean
    
16. Favorite time of day? late night
    
17. Where were you born? Massachusetts
18. What is your favorite sport to watch? hockey
    
19. Bird watcher? no
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? night
21. Do you have any pets? nope
    
22. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share? nope - it's pretty quiet around here
    
23. What is your favorite childhood memory? Playing in the snow.
    
24. Always wear your seat belt? yes, always!
    
25. Been in a car accident? no
26. Any pet peeves? too many to list!
    
27. Favorite pizza toppings? mushroom
    
28. Favorite Flower? lilies
29. Favorite ice cream? anything with chocolate
    
30. Favorite fast food restaurant? Dunkin Donuts
    
31. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? none
32. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I have no idea!
    
33. Do anything spontaneous lately? Nope. And all of you who have met me will understand this :)
    
34. Broccoli? hell, yeah!
    
35. What was your favorite vacation? honeymoon cruise
    
36. Last person you went out to dinner with? my knitnight girls
    
37. What are you listening to right now? The sweetly humming a/c.
    
38. What is your favorite color? blue
39. How many tattoos do you have? none, and never will
    
40. Coffee Drinker? yes. iced, with milk and sugar, year round.
    

And there you have it. Did you learn anything new about me?

hi blog, I miss you!

Well, it's been a while since I spent some time around here. {Wipes a few cobwebs away ...}

I keep thinking of posts in my head, and then wondering how I could possibly catch up on everything I've done in the months that I've missed. Well, I guess I have to start somewhere.

So where?

Let's see ...

I taught myself how to crochet for the potholder swap!

After a four+ year hiatus, I started swimming again. And lost ten+ pounds. (Many more to go!)

I knit a sock.

And made some other stuff too.

I'm up to Day 191 on my Project 365 over on Flickr, and I'm having a ball with it. Drop by if you want to see what I've been up to! I do miss blogging, though. Mainly because I miss all of you who aren't on Flickr. I read your blogs, but I also like to tell you what I've been doing :) So, I'm going to try to pop in here a bit more regularly.

on blogging ... and knitting

Welcome, 2009! How ya doin'? Me, I'm good. I've been enjoying a nice few days off this week, and not looking forward to restarting life-as-usual soon.

In the meantime, I noticed that this here blog has been rather neglected (only 5 posts since October!). I've instead been spending most of my internets time reading your blogs, and playing on flickr and ravelry and twitter.

I mentioned a while ago that I've been doing a project 365 over on Flickr. I'm having a good time with it, and have finished the first 3 months or so. I've also started to write a whole lot more on my pics over there. Mini-blogging, I guess.

And then, despite my best attempts to avoid it, I got sucked into twitter too. Micro-blogging.

I really don't have enough time to be quite so socially-networked, or enough discipline to walk away when I shouldn't be playing around online.

Anyways, back to this blog, which is ostensibly a knitting blog. So, what have I knit recently? Lots of good stuff! (FYI, I'll spare you the details, and just post pretty pics. But if you want more info, it's all on my Ravelry projects page.)

I've been test-knitting Elinor's Grow Like a Weed Jacket, and it's almost done!

At my mom's request, I made her an eggplant hat. Of course, now she wants mittens to match!

Dad got a pair of socks for Christmas:


My FIL got a single mitten. I still need to knit the other one!


My MIL got some socks ... well, a promise to knit socks. She picked the Conwy pattern from Knitting on the Road, and I think it will work well with this yarn, although I'm already afraid of running out when I get to the toes.


I'm swatching for a sweater for my dad. I'm designing it myself, so it's not going anywhere fast.


I also started a pair of socks for my sister-in-law, with some yarn that MiniKate gave me for my 30th birthday last year.

Whew! I guess I have actually been knitting! I have lots of other projects calling out for attention, but I want to finish these ones first. Then, in 2009, a stranded yoke sweater for me, and some more socks. That's as close to a knitting resolution as you're going to get.

can't talk, busy knitting

Silly me decided to knit Christmas gifts for all 4 parents this year. I'm not sure how that's going to work out, but here are some sneak previews:

Socks for my dad:

A lined hat for my mom (click through to Flickr for details):

Socks for my MIL:
I think I need to buy yarn for these. See, she's a sock knitter too, so I want to make sure to use something really nice. And then I need to choose a pattern! Hmmm...

Mittens for my FIL:
These ones were a well-received gift 3 years ago, but apparently he doesn't wear them much because he's afraid of ruining them! I'm thinking of a pair of simple stranded mittens. Maybe these, no pompoms? Any other suggestions?

a triple win - you, me, and those in need

Around the holidays each year, my thoughts turn to charitable giving. I am blessed to live a comfortable life, and I am grateful that I have enough discretionary income to knit, spin, take photos, and travel to see my fiber friends. Yet I know that there are many who struggle to afford even the basic needs of life.

This year, with especially difficult economic circumstances, food banks are anticipating greater demand for their services this winter. In lieu of exchanging Christmas gifts, my extended family is donating cash to a food bank instead.

I thought this would also be a good opportunity to do some destashing. I've gone through my stash to see what I can part with, and I will donate 50% of the asking price to a food bank.

This is a triple win!

• A win for you, because you get some new yarn but know that half of that price will go to feed the hungry.
• A win for me, because I get to clear out my stash and make a bigger charitable donation this year.
• A win for the food banks, because cash is the most valuable donation they can receive. With cash, they can buy food at wholesale prices. Not only can they get more "bang for the buck" at wholesale prices, but they can also buy items that they need the most.
  

Take a look at what I’ve got for sale in my stash for sale page on Ravelry, and remember that half of that price will go directly to a food bank to help the hungry during the holiday season!

Lots of good stuff is there ...


And more!

PM/email for more info or shipping prices. Thanks for looking!