Sock Sniper





Just the colors the Belgian likes!

 I joined a group called Sock Sniper a couple of months ago. It's kind of a round robin game, just like Sock Wars only with a different name.  My target was The Belgian. I knew her sock size, her address, and what colors she preferred. If I could get her socks done and mailed, she'd be dead. (Out of the game, not actually dead, but we're trying to be serious here.)

Klaus, my cylon friend, poses with the socks in progress for the Belgian

At 9 am on September 1st, the pattern was released.  I knit socks for The Belgian as fast as I could, but ran into trouble. My arms started acting up, so I had to slow down. Too much.
In the meantime, 0058 was knitting socks for me. 0058 was nearing completion when she received her little package of death from Killer Bunny. (socks) 0058 immediately stopped work on the socks for me and sent them to Killer Bunny.
Now Killer Bunny had me in her sights. Too bad for me. As I struggled to finish socks for the Belgian, Killer Bunny's package for me arrived.(Cylon not included.) Now I'm out, too. But I've got a lovely pair of socks.

Guess you could say I died happy

And Killer Bunny has another pair of socks to finish. Nyah!

Colorama Mama finally got her completion. She looked a little weird with just a face and all that crazy color, so I embroidered stars down one side. (It may have been Olympic fever.) She's really my first completed crochet project, that wasn't a plain string bookmark or a little edging on a knit project.

I got heavily involved in the Ravellinics this year. (That's the new name for Ravolympics.) It's the yarnie event sponsored by Ravelry that is based on the Olympic games.  This is what I was doing for the Work-in-Progress event: the pattern is called Viper Pilot Socks. (I named 'em Callsign Required.)  You had to pick up something that hadn't been worked on for two months and finish it. This was a real toughie: I had started it in 2010--before I got a job! 

  It's got cables and complicated patterning. The real bummer was that I ran out of yarn. So I worked in this red. I tried to make it gradual so it wouldn't show, but it's pretty darn obvious.

 Not pretty, but I medalled in WIPS Wrestling.  And I think it really was wrestling. More like rasslin'.

And the darn thing is done.  Phew.

Big Pants and the Tardis

Meet Mr. Big Pants. I know that these bears are s'posed to be kinda skinny, but I had a little problem with guage. A lot of us do, in the pants department. So he's got a big bum. Me too. And he's still pretty cute. Me too.

We had a KAL/CAL  (that's Knit-a-long/Crochet-a-long) in my Fiberworks group to benefit The Mother Bear Project. So I got this little guy going.

 And this is Colorama Mama. She's crocheted. She's my first real all-crochet project. And she's almost done.

She's for the same KAL/CAL. Another fiber artist was having trouble with the pattern (the feet are kinda weird) so I figured I'd give it a go. I'm not saying Colorama is perfect but she's pretty decent for a beginner.

And Tiny wants a Tardis hat, after seeing lots of 'em at Comic Con.  (She's such a Dr. Who fan!) I couldn't find a crochet pattern for a tardis, unless people are wearing a tissue box cover on their heads... hmm... So this one's knitted. It's flying, too. Which I guess is appropriate for a time machine.

Kaleidescope Eyes

This pattern is called Garden Walk. I pulled it from Egg Money Quilts by Eleanor Burns. The dark purple and green flowers are all, believe it or slurp it, from the same batik fabric. I didn't realize that it would be so variable when I chose it. I used up every last scrap of leftovers from the front to make the back.

When I started to assemble it at PQM (that's Prayer Quilt Ministry, not Pretty Quilty Maidens, although maybe I should suggest it...), Therese happened by and said, "You want me to do that?" (She's the Big Kahuna of Quilt Assembly--BKQA for short.) My eyes got real big and I said "YEAH!" So she took over and put the thing together lickety split. (I'll try and get a pic next week.)

Swanee River

So I'm back to "Bird of Love." It's so much easier now that I've finished the white parts. The stitching was picky in those places. I couldn't do the quick down-up movement, you know, when you slip the needle into the fabric and right out the top again in one move. I had to actually pull the whole thread through the fabric down and through the fabric up. That was really slow. Also, the filet cross-stitch looks good with only a half-cross, so that's what I'm trying. You can see it in the swirly wave things at the bottom. If I like it, this little sweetheart will get done soon. We'll see.

Also, the Black Orchid socks have had some progress: one down, one left to go. So now I can say that I am knitting socks, not just a sock. Yay. I have 'em on size 0 needles (that's kinda like a long toothpick to the non-knitters out there). This way the socks should last a good long time. Tighter knit=thicker fabric=holes take longer to develop=less crying when I have to toss 'em.

Pictures or it's not Done

The Viper Pilot socks (Callsign Required) have jumped back into normal space. I remembered wrong and thought there was an error in my knitting. I must have spent an hour looking at the pattern and the socks trying to find the problem. I even tinked (that's k-n-i-t backwards) out three rows looking for the error. The error was there was no error. And the past me left no notes for the future (now present) me. (Actually now past, too.) I found my spot and got to work. The heel is now completed--although the pattern is a little vague on the heel flap--and I'm on to the foot. That means this project is 30% done.

• 10% cuff,


• 10% leg,


• 10% heel & gusset,


• 10% foot,


• 10% toe and weaving in ends.

Yeah, I know that's only 50%: there's a whole 'nuther sock to do. It was started in April of 2010 and seemed really hard. Now it's just paying attention.
These French Press slippers got done last year. I dove into my button stash to find a fun way to complete 'em. Yep, I know they don't match. I'm happy. I did the finishing touches back in November but POIND. (Pictures or it's not done.) Now it's done.
In a Garden got framed up and I'm very pleased with how it came out.

Now that it's framed it counts as done. I guess that's FOIND.

2011, All wrapped up

I read once that setting unattainable goals help you to stretch your limits. Hence 2011: The Madness. Mostly, I've been working my hinder-ender off. This job takes most of the creative time. That's not a bad thing: I've used my calligraphy skills to fashion signs for the chess case, my sewing skills to repair and replace game components, and my knitting to, well, keep me warm. Here, now removed from the side-bar, is a recap of

2011: The Madness

Socks: Make 12 pairs (5 down) Not bad, in my opinion. The last pair got finished on Christmas day!

Baby Booties: Make 6 pairs (1 down) 'Nuff said.
Sweater: Make 1 for me. Yeah, that's still in the dream stage.
Gloves: Make 3 pairs (see above)
Hats: Make 1 (done!) VICTORY!
Charity: Make 2 projects (1 down) 1>0 (that's not an emoticon: it's a mathematical expression)
New Baby Coming: make something (sorry, kid)
Non-charity quilts: Complete 6 --zilch (sewing machine mostly used to convert ugly boy uniform shirts into pretty girl uniform shirts so I don't look like a shlub at work)
Charity tops: Make 12 (3 down--there may have been more)
Morsbags: Make 30 + Zipper bags: Make 30 (grouped here to make it look like less)
Bonus: 1 apron (WOOT!)
Cross-stitch projects: Complete 6 (2 down) Well, that's somethin'
"Involved" beadwork: Complete 1 + Earrings: Make 20 pairs for sale No beads, no how.
S&SF/Asimov mags: read 12 (6.5 down--halfway there!) .5 refers to the one I lost in Costco halfway through. Meh.
Non-fiction Books: read 4 (2 down) Really? Just 2? Just checked. Yup. 2.
Classic Literature: read 4 (done)
Other Books: read 12 (done! +2)

So if we break all this down into what's really been completed:

• FIVE pairs of socks



• ONE pair baby booties



• ONE hat



• ONE charity bear



• THREE charity quilt tops, maybe more



• TWO cross-stitch projects



• 26.5 books and magazines read

So really, all this AND a thirty-hour job AND a home AND a teenager getting ready to graduate from high school: not bad. I'd be willing to bet that none of my co-workers at the game store made five pairs of socks last year. So there.

Think this is a bad hand?

Yep. I've hurt my paws. No blogging. No knitting. No quilting. Mostly exercise, ice, and whining. But let's pretend that I'm working as a supermodel in Rome and I just don't have time for those things.

I'll be back when this glamourous gig is over.

Santa's Back

Ooh, does this look like some kinda creepy shadow to you? It does to me. But behind the darkness... Santa Claus! Or rather, Avignon Santa. I glued the black felt on by spreading tacky glue over the cross-stitching on the back and setting it right on the felt. I let it dry overnight then carefully cut around it. Yeah, that's gotta be the most complicated instructions ever....

Finished... Well, almost

While going through my grandmother's possessions (some years back), I discovered a cross-stitch sampler I had sewn for her and given, unframed. There it was, exactly as I had given it to her, in a drawer. Not on the wall, like the pieces I had framed for her, not sewn into a pillow, just carefully put away. This was an important lesson to me. It's not finished until it's finished. A quilt top is just a piece of fabric. An ornament without a hanger is just a bobble looking for a place to be. With this in mind, I show you the latest progress on these pieces.For the longest time, the link to A Stitch in Time has gone to the "I got nothin'" page. Now I can show you. The embroidery is done and the photo has a minimum of fuzzy. It's tiny, so I intend to make this into a little Christmas tree ornament.Avignon Santa is nearly done. He's been cut out from the perforated paper he was stitched onto and just needs his felt backing. I plan to glue him to the felt, then carefully cut around it. A Bird of Love is holding my attention more than I thought. I purchased a pattern that claimed to be filet cross-stitch. I thought it was more complicated in the original pattern, but this one just said, stitch it normally but with only one thread. A little disappointing, that. But certainly do-able. Finally, In the Garden just needs to be framed. Looking at it just transports me! I very sneakily signed it inside the terracotta planter. If you look carefully, you may see "desi 11".
PS: I did frame the sampler from Grandma's house, and it's hanging in my studio.