just maryse

Potholder Swap 2011 Come and Gone

on potholder swap day, we woke up to snow.  yes.  snow.  i'm not complaining. i'm just noting it.  snow on april 23rd even in northwest massachusetts deserves to be noted.

anyway. snow or no snow, saturday was potholder swap day. and stacie, adrian, cheryl and i were on it.

this year the total package count was 94.  that's 470 potholders! 

the protocol was similar to last year's swap.  we've got it down to a system now.

this year we had to worry about the weight of the packages though.  although jesus loves potholders, it appears that the US Postal Service does not.*

        
  
and the menu was a little different too:  the pioneer woman salad and fresh summer rolls.

i hope everyone who participated this year, enjoyed themselves.  we certainly did. 

*the USPS raised their priority and first class rates right before the end of the swap so we had some postage issues.

 

A Potholder Swap -- How To's

So you are probably wondering how one (or 5) takes over 500 potholders and repackages them for 100+ people.  Well it's really quite simple.

1.  start the day off right with several cups of strong coffee and toast made of fresh baked bread, lots of butter and yummy homemade jam. 

2.  eye the 3 giant boxes in the corner of the dining room suspiciously.  drink more coffee for energy.  

3.  empty 3 giant boxes onto the dining room table and chairs and floor.

4.  open packages and cover the floor with stacks of potholders.

5.  admire potholders (see more here).

6.  take a break and sample a wonderful selection of salamis (heh) and cheeses.

7.  the rest is kind of blur.  i blame the liquor.

8.  eat cookies.

9.  prep new packages for the post office.

10.  DONE!  in celebration, adminster more cheese, salami, and alcohol.

Thanks to everyone who participated! Thanks to those of you who sent us surprises and snacks!  I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as well. 

Green Socks and Ham

ta-da!  my green socks are done!

not only are these my first pair of lace socks, but they're also my first pair of toe-up.   

i used the waders sock pattern by jennifer young from the january 07 issue of magknits.  (go check out jennifer's blog by the way.  she's an american expat living in korea).

for the toes, i followed adrian's  figure 8 cast on tutorial.

for the short row heel, i followed wendy's toe-up recipe. 

i kind of like green.

 

I'm Smokin'!

i've started 2007 with a bang.  not even two weeks have gone by and i've already finished 2 projects! 

these are socks i knitted for larissa's sock 101 knitalong.  i used a little less than one skein of manos del uruguay in magenta with size 10 dpns. 

so, now that i'm done with that...on to the next project. 

inspired by yesterday's lunch of split pea and ham soup, i'm joining lolly's pre-project spectrum green sock knit-along.

i haven't picked the yarn yet --- i'm a little surprised by how little green yarn i actually have -- but i think i'm going to give the toe-up sock a try. 

 

Meatheads, Meatheads, Roly Poly Meatheads

so i joined larissa's meathead knitalong, because it looked like fun.  knit a very cute hat and embellish it which ever way i want.  and if you're lucky, your hat will get included in a book.  these were parameters i could live with.

so i present to you my version(s) of the meathead.

naked, but with cat.

after considering a fibery embellishment or a crocheted flower, i decided to make some marble pins.  you know, where you take an image and glue it to a flattened glass marble type thingy.  (such a wordsmith, i am).

so here's what i came up with.

 

this one's my favorite though ...

i think you can guess why...

meatheads meatheads, eat 'em up, YUM!

 

SockNovemberFest

since august, my internal clock has been off.  time has been going by too fast and i haven't been able to catch up.  rhinebeck happened a week before i was prepared for it.  THANKSGIVING IS FRIGGIN' NEXT WEEK!!!!  my socktoberfest socks weren't started until halloween (for which i was woefully unprepared as well.)  (in my defense, having my parents around for 2+ weeks means that i regressed about 30 years and so maybe that's why i feel things are off.  i'm still trying to catch up.)

so, you may have read a few weeks ago that i only use DPNs when making socks. and i was quite forceful about it. 

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? dpns  baby.  5 of them.  i tried magic loop and wasn't all that convinced.  besides, why fix it if it ain't broke.

hmm ok.  in the above photo, you'll notice ... yeah ... magic loop.   see, one day last summer, wendy i think it was, tried to show me how magic loop worked and i was a bit dismissive because my brain had trouble getting around what she was showing me.  (i'm also a bit of a weirdo in that i don't like asking people for help. and have i  mentioned that i can be stubborn?)  anyway, after having to crawl on a commuter train floor to find a wayward dpn, i said fuck it.  i'm going to figure out this magic loop thingy or die trying (have i mentioned that i can be stubborn?)  and figure it out i did.

it's not perfect.  it can be awkward at times, and pulling the cord through has cut down on my speed a bit but at least it's neat and orderly, and stitches down't fall off the needles when the sock is crammed in my bag,  and i'm not on my hands and knees in public places. 

(yes the original sock had ribs.  i frogged, it was too big).

the yarn is plymouth sockotta, color 12, knit on size 2, 40 inch addi turbos. 

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on a totally unrelated topic.  anyone else think those charles schwab animated ads with the people who look real but aren't are a bit freaky?  brrr.  they give me the creeps.

And Then There Were Socks

i've been quite the little joiner this fall -- with the socktoberfest and the warm hands -- but with the parental visit, since i've lost pretty much the will to live, planning projects has been at a standstill. 

but i still have enough presense of mind to be able to give lollygirl the low-down on my sock history.  (that's when i'm not in a corner in the fetal position rocking.)  it's a short one really.

• When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? -- I started making socks less than a year ago.  january, 2006 to be exact.  it's funny because i've been knitting for most of my life and yet i was very very afraid of knitting socks.  WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?  anyway, i'm cured of that.  i taught myself.  it was like an ephiphany.
• What was your first pair?  How have they "held up" over time? these were my first pair.  i followed the sock pattern from hip to knit.  for socks since then, i've followed ann budd's sock pattern.  i used some yarn i had dyed with kool-aid.  they've held up fine as i've barely worn them.  they're too thick for shoes.
  
• What would you have done differently? nothing really.  i cut myself some slack for my first pair.  i love the colors and was just pleased as punch (what does that mean by the way) that i had gotten over my fear of socks.
• What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? i have a stash full of gorgeous sock yarns -- socks that rock, sundara sock yarn, opal, regia, claudia handpaint, cherry hill -- and all i've used except for a couple of exceptions is sockotta.  i do that.  i save the beautiful skeins.  because i'm afraid of ruining their perfection.  yes i'm a big weirdo.  i hope to work through that dysfunction in the coming months.
• Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? dpns  baby.  5 of them.  i tried magic loop and wasn't all that convinced.  besides, why fix it if it ain't broke.  those dpns by the way -- bamboo.  the yarn sticks and the needles don't go flying.  you could poke an eye out that way.  i doubt i'll ever crochet socks.  too thick to fit in shoes.  but you never know.  i've learned not to say never.  a year ago i was anti-handknit socks because i couldn't imagine working on something that i'd stick my big smelly feet into.  yesterday i wore a pair in shoes.  i wanted to show people, i was so proud.
• Which kind of heel do you prefer?  (flap? or short-row?) flap.  it's all i know ... for now.
• How many pairs have you made? 10 i think.  you can see them all in my album to the right there...under  "i finished this in 2006."

the parentals are leaving saturday.  i hope to be my old loveable self (ha!) oh maybe about 30 seconds after we wave them through security. 

Hey Beyatch!

here are my bitchin' mittens. 

i know, they aren't pretty.  and i haven't even bothered to weave in the ends.  but i made them from my very first homespun on my louet.   yes, this is the monster yarn.  ha!  they're crazy looking, but they make me smile.

so does this guy.

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totally unrelated, i'm cleaning "house" by unloading some books and such.  i'm going to be posting some old crochet books on ebay -- i don't think most of you would be interested (except maybe stitchy)  -- but someone might be interested in this.

if you're interested in the book, just write me a comment.   if more than one person is interested, i'll put names into a hat.  let me know by friday noon, ET.