Knitting Obsession

This is why I need your help.

First off, don't forget the contest! I will close this contest at 12:00 noon EST on May 3rd, and announce winners that night (if B and I can stop drinking the birthday Prosecco long enough to read the entries and figure out which one is most creative).
This is just some of my gorgeous handpainted sock yarn. This is why I needed ideas for fast sock patterns! I've taken some of your advice...am trying a garter rib sock now per Amanda Cathleen, and Becka noted that I should still make things pretty and consider a simple lace or slip stitch pattern. I've found two simple patterns for each (all of these are from Sensational Knitted Socks or More Sensational Knitted Socks, BTW. I love Charlene Schurch). I've tried Wendy's toe up pattern which was very easy and quick; however, I'm not a fan of the short row heel. I am going to try Judy Gibson's recipe for toe up socks with a gusset soon, and I understand that Wendy may be posting a pattern soon with same type of heel. And of course, there is the basic stockinette sock recipe much like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's. I have made this before with some success, but I can't remember if it was fast or not.
Enough chatter...here's the yarn!

This is from a new online yarn shop, Woolgirl. Left to right: Yarn Pirate in "Shiver Me Timbers." Zen String Lotus Toes in "Argyle." Union Center Knit's Whatnot Sock in "Daisy." Zen String Serendipity in "Woolgirl." Plus a new tape measure with a fun lizard theme.
Woolgirl is a fantastic place. Terrific customer service and she ships very quickly. Plus, look at all the goody extras!

Chocolate, stitch markers (the sheep one is on my Butterfly in Bam Boo from Knitscene), a sample of Soak, Hello Kitty stickers, gift tags...I think this shop will be around for a while if Jennifer Jett keeps taking care of people like this!
Next up, some lurvely Cider Moon.

Glacier in "Go Go." Glacier in "Jackie O" (25% of retail goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research and awareness).

Flurry in "Apple Crisp." Glacier in "Birch Bark." These yarns are amazingly soft and the colors sing. Plus, look at the very generous samples of other colorways:

These are Glacier in "Banana Cabana,""Pistachio," and "Pandora Rose" and Flurry in "Casual Friday" and "Peas and Carrots."

From left to right, we have Crash Into Ewe in "Pop Life," Froebe Fibers in "Watermelon Bombe," C*Eye*Ber Fiber Softee Sock in "Kettle on the Ocean," and Pureknits Ideal Sock in "Pop."

Shibui Knits Sock Fluids from Pureknits. Colors from left to right are orchid and spectrum. Talk about vibrant colors! These leap out and grab you.
All of this gorgeous yarn is all well and good, and then something like this happens.

I almost started crying when I saw this. It's my own fault. I've been wearing my handknitted socks everywhere, as well I should, but the shoes I wear to work slide on the heel (purposefully). These jaywalkers are made of 100% merino (SweetGeorgia handpainted merino in River) and I, of course, did not reinforce the heel in any way. I never had. When I darn these, I'll probably put some reinforcement in the darn and never wear them with those shoes again. I think I need to be more careful about remembering whether the socks had nylon or tencel in them. My mother has my grandmother's darning egg, and said I could have it to darn my socks. Thankfully I keep my remainders for just this reason.
Something to cheer me up...I received my April BMFA Rockin' Sock Club shipment and I'm fighting my way through the cast on now. Another toe up pattern, but this time with a gusset.
Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather (if you are here in the Baltimore area, that is). Here's hoping this weather holds through next weekend and the MD S&W festival!

Bleagh

I would love to have a nice long post here about what I've accomplished in the last few days, and how beautiful the weather is here in MD, and all of the new sock yarn I've acquired, but I am felled by a nasty cough and plague or something and it's all I can do to get upright in the morning and feed the darn cats. What is this bug that's floating around? It is mighty persistent and very frustrating since the weather is so nice.
So! Look forward to a nice long post soon about my pretty new sock yarns! Which leads me to another question...I have oodles of patterns that I want to use, but I also have so much gorgeous hand painted yarn. I think I need to just use a basic stockinette pattern to whip these out, so they will be knitted up before the next millennium. What are your basic sock recipes, the ones that work up fast and look great with hand painted yarn?
Don't forget the contest! I'm going to close it May 3rd at 120o EST. I've had so many clever answers but no one has gotten it exactly right yet. I have had my 100th comment though, so that person wins a prize automatically. Still 2 prizes up for grabs!

Rub my belly!

Socks in the Wild!

I took this with my camera phone, shockingly. I am stuck here at work...unfortunately, I am back to doing some nights as one of our nurses quit without notice.
I'm almost finished with the Inside Out socks in STR Monsoon. After these, I am going to work on a couple pair of socks for family in NOLA (my cousin and her mum. My cousin starts chemo soon).
I was thinking about all of the pretty sock yarn I have and all of the patterns I want to knit. I made a decision. I really don't need more yarn. Plus, there are other things I want to save for in the future that I could put my yarn budget towards. So! I'm going to try again with a mini-KFYS but this time with a more reasonable time frame. I'll start the day after MS&W May 6th and go till Stitches East in November here in B'more. I think that's reasonable, and given the sock kick I seem to be having, I might be able to knock out 6 or 7 pair by then. I'll reevaluate everything then. I'm not making this super strict though...I gotta know that if Webs pulls one of these anniversary sales again I can benefit (oouuhhh...wait till you see what I got from this last sale. Pics tomorrow maybe). Anyway, I'm feeling pretty motivated this time so maybe that will help.
Don't forget my birthday contest! I also realized that I am coming up on 100 posts and 100 comments. The 100th commenter is going to be first, so I'm going to add them to the prize pool! 100th commenter gets a prize! However, you have to be making a guess on the contest. Please make contest guesses with that post so I can keep them all together.
Cheers!

You say it's your birthday!

Well, it's my birthday coming up. I like to have a big celebration each year, a tradition that started when I turned 30. Why not have a little contest?! Winner(s) will receive a lovely yarny or fibery giftie. My birthday is May 3rd, so the contest starts now and runs through then. Here's the question!

What is the meaning behind my url "a placid dutchman"?

Two winners: one for the first person to get it right, and one for the most creative answer. If no one gets it right, I will use a random number generator to pick the first winner. Most creative answer winner is as judged by me, B if I can talk him into it, and maybe the cats. You can enter through May 3rd.

Here is your one and only hint (maybe). It has nothing to do with the Lone Ranger!

Hey! I wonder if more than 4 people will enter this time?

Here's a little pink nose just for kicks:

Ah, technology!

Just for you, Tonia. Here are the Monkey socks! I love them very much. The fit is delish and nice and snug, just the way I like them. The yarn is STR in "Lucy" and I can't say enough about it as well. I was knitting the first sock with a set of splintering needles and the yarn held up very well. I can see why some people love the STR! I have several skeins marinating in my stash that I am looking forward to knitting up. And actually, my current SIP is...

Inside Out in "Monsoon" from BMFA, the February kit for the Rockin' Sock club. I have been wrestling with the dilemma of what to do about this pattern for some time in terms of the heel. I finally decided, after having much difficulty with the math, to knit the short row heel as written in the pattern and try the sock on right away to check the fit. The sock fits well enough, if maybe even a little big in the cuff since I am using 2's there for the cabling. My biggest concern, that I would have tightness across the top of my ankle, has been alleviated by the lovely ribbing on the foot and instep. So, I think overall I am OK with this. I still don't really like the feel of the short row heel...there's just something about a nice firm heel flap that I love. But this club is about trying new things after all. I just won't knit this pattern again, I'm guessing. But then, I'm not sure there are any patterns I would knit again...I like to change it up each time.
I picked up "More Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch while in PA cleaning out my parent's basement of my accumulated junk since college. The book is a slightly different format than the first one but the concept is the same, and there are several patterns that I love. I picked one out for Anne's socks...

Isn't this cashmere gorgeous? It's hipknits cashmere, a 2 ply with two definitely different plies that seem to take the dye differently. I got 8 sts/1" on size 0, which is my normal gauge, when I swatched. These will be started after I finish Inside Out.
Kerry's sleeves are progressing! I'm well into the honeycombs at the base. I'm looking forward to finishing and trying her on! Since I finally got my adapter cable for the computer and batteries charged for the camera, maybe I'll be able to document it soon.
Have a wonderful Easter, if you celebrate it!

Still no pictures!

Not only is my camera cable missing, but Tootsie chewed through my power cord for my computer so it is down. So, a quick post here from work and I am going to try to figure out if I can remotely post from my cell phone. Then maybe I can get a picture on here!

I finished the monkey socks (pictures soon, Tonia! I promise!) and I love them. I did go ahead and start the Rockin' Sock Club Monsoon socks and am at the heel. I was going to modify and do a heel flap but then when I thought about it it would be giving up the reversibility of the sock which is pretty cool. So I am going to try the short row heel but increased to 60% rather than 50%. With the ribbing on the sock I think it will help with preventing the tightness across the ankle that I hated before and hopefully I with the bigger heel I will be able to get it on well. If I don't like it, I'll rip and do the reverse heel flap.

I was on a big "it's all about Suzanne's socks" thing this year but I just found out upsetting news about my cousin. She has ductal breast cancer, and with 5 small children...she is quite young and the family is quite upset. This family lives in Louisiana and has just begun to pull themselves up by their bootstraps after Katrina. Anyway, my small way of contributing will be to knit my cousin a pair of hot pink cashmere socks (and her mother, my aunt a pair of her own). Knit with prayers and love to help in my own way! Please keep our family in your prayers.