Success!

I have finally finished those orange socks that were intended as my girlfriend’s Christmas present. At least she gets them in time for Valentine’s Day!

I think that they turned out pretty well, they are blocking as we speak.

I made the pattern up myself, which could have turned out interestingly, but luckily it went well (for the most part! - at one point, I forgot to write down an important number to make the socks match, but I figured it out).

And speaking of designing patterns, I got my first official pattern tester today! The first (and only) pattern that I have designed so far, which you can find here, “Dad’s Sunglasses Case,” had never been done by anyone but myself, so I decided to post it in a Pattern Testing Group on Ravelry. I though that this would be a good way to gain exposure, as well as to flush out any kinks in the pattern. I posted that well over a week ago, and hadn’t heard anything until today! A lovely person named Elizabeth in the UK said she would test the pattern for me, and I am really excited to see how it turns out!

I just wrote an exciting sock pattern! Remember those orange socks I made for my girlfriend for Christmas? I finally got around to writing up the pattern and have now posted it in a testing thread on Ravelry. I’ll let you know when it’s finished, and I’ll add it to my Pattern Downloads page when I can! If you want to test the pattern, go to the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry, and search “Toe-up Worsted Weight Ribbed Socks,” or comment on this post and I’ll hook you up!

In other news, I’ve also finished that black scarf for my mom! I’ll post a picture when I can. My computer is broken right now (don’t buy from Dell!), and so I sent it away to get fixed (for the second time). As a result, my files are sort of all over the place right now. 

Now, all I’ve got on my needles are those pretty purple gloves that I started in September 2010, with the wool that Kylie got me from Ireland. I’m on the fingers of the final glove!

       This past week has been filled with all sorts of knitting (and other) goodness. It was very exciting!

       First, it was my birthday on Sunday, so that was fun. I got a wool winder (which will be very helpful!), some yarn, a knitting book, two seasons of House, and a season of Criminal Minds (I’ve already finished one of the seasons of House!). We also had an excellent dinner, of pulled pork and cake! Not together obviously. Two of my best friends came over, we played Mad Gabs, and hung out. All in all, an excellent birthday!

       The next exciting thing is that, with the yarn I got for my birthday, I designed my own pattern for a knitting bag. I’ll post photos when I can, but I’m submitting it to be published, and so I can’t post anything yet. However, now I have a knitting bag! I’ve needed one for a while, I’ve been using Ziplocs and backpacks, and it doesn’t work so well sometimes.

       The next piece of exciting fiber-related goodness is I finished spinning a bunch of roving that I had with my drop spindle, and I died it with Kool Aid! I don’t have photos right now, but I’ll post them soon. I want to take pictures in the daylight to really show off the colour, a variegated red and purple. Luckily, the dye came out of hands after a while.

       Thirdly, I finished my pretty purple gloves that I’ve been working on since September of 2010. I actually of photos of these! They’re coming up next.

       Overall, an excellent week as far as yarn and awesomeness go.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of knitting over the past few days, including finishing my handspun convertible mittens. Unfortunately I haven’t taken any photos yet, but I will soon, I promise! I have been slaving over the cardigan Abalone by Beata Jezek, knit out of deep blue Bernat Satin. It has worked out wonderfully, besides an issue I’m having with the applied i-cord bind off, which was too tight for the drape of the garment. I’m trying to figure it out now!

In addition, my friend Kylie (of likepurlsoffastring) has published another pattern! It’s called Bisous, it is a pattern for “a lightweight hat with “x”s around the body, which converge into a star at the top,” and it is available for $2.50 in her pattern store.

In celebration, she is hosting a giveaway, where she will give away 5 copies to the lucky winners! To enter, check out the original post here. 

Exciting news! I’ve just published the pattern I wrote up for the JDRF Mittens I made! (see original post here.) In case you’ve forgotten, this is what they look like:

I’ve listed them as free in the Ravelry database, but a suggested minimum donation of $5.00 is listed if you wish to download or use the pattern. To donate to JDRF, you can visit their website here.

You can find them on Ravelry here, or download the pattern directly here.

Thanks again for your support!