Monkey Business

I am woefully behind on the socks for the Monkey Sock Swap. I only just started the second one yesterday, and they are supposed to be in the mail tomorrow. Yikes!

I did dedicate myself to them this weekend, but seeing as how the weekend was spent at Silver Dollar City, I didn't get a whole lot done. They will get in the mail this week though. At some point. (on a side note I left my camera battery charger plugged into an outlet at the cabin we always stay at. My father-in-law called them today and told them to just hold it until we come back in December! Maybe I flatter myself, but I don't think you guys would be too happy if I didn't have photos for the next six weeks. I really hope they can mail it back to me).

The reason for my lack of progress on the Monkeys is this:

Love knitting this sweater. I am afraid of the cables though, God help me. I don't have much cable experience, and I am convinced I will get there and find I have made a terrible mistake in selecting this pattern.

One last thing before I get back to the Monkeys. I won a contest at Tres Chic Veronique! The prize? Yarntini. Sportweight. Fuzzy Navel. Yumm! And Halloween candy too. Awesome prize.

I'm Back!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the kind words and comments on both Leo and Yarnival. I had a great time putting both of them together, and I appreciate your support throughout.

Not a lot to report. I got my October shipment of the Brooklyn Handspun Holiday Sock Club. It's very difficult to capture the colors. They're black and bright green, and purple all entwined. It's called Spook, and looks appropriately creepy!

I started Tangled Yoke last week, and am still powering through the garter rib section. I went with Rowan Felted Tweed in Clover, which is a pink-y, rosy color flecked with specks of white, blue, and black.

In other news, I went to Ocktoberfest with my husband and my father-in-law. My father-in-law collects beer steins, and brings home several every year, much to the displeasure of my mother-in-law. See the guy in red? My father-in-law insists that every year, The Man in Red tries to cheat him on the price of the steins. So this year, he came armed with his own calculator, and he used it, too, getting The Man in Red to knock $25 off his purchase. Effective, yes. Also embarrassing.

Almost as bad as Paul chugging down the dregs of his beer on the way out.

Yarnival! The Yarnies Edition

Welcome to the October issue of Yarnival. Without further ado, I present...The Yarnies!

The Award for Biggest Sock goes to Mariknits for her Snowy Night Gansey Stocking (although maybe the award should go to her husband for his size 14 feet). Such a beautiful project, and it looks like a great one for the holidays.

Most Thoughtful Dissertation on Stash goes to Mishkaknits for her post about the constant struggle to come to terms with her stash.

The Seriously Bad Pooling Award goes to Lucy. Scroll down, this is really bad pooling.

Best Use of High School Curriculum to Describe an FO goes to Kristy. It's a well-rounded reflection on her finished Back to School U-Neck Vest.

Best Instructional Post on How To Start Your Own Farm goes to Loren for her very awesome photographic tour. This one is of special interest to me because I have always wanted a pet goat. Loren takes it further with goats, rabbits, a horse, and, of course a Border Collie!

Best Original Pattern Inspired by Literature goes to BigAlice for her truly stunning Cheshire Cat Stole. It's so wavy, so modern looking, so beaded! I'm a sucker for knitting with beads, and this is a gorgeous piece.

Amy is the lucky recipient of the award for Best Seasonal Instructional Post for her mitten tutorial. I haven't tried mittens before, but she makes it look so easy, I just may have to give it a whirl. And who doesn't love mittens, really? Especially purple ones!

Best Post Written Entirely in Pirate Dialect goes to Leone for her entertaining and useful Pirate Scarf Pattern. Love bright colors, stripes, and mismatched textures? Check this one out. I think she's well on her way to starting a trend.

Best List to Keep Handy When It's 3am And You've Just Placed Another Order at The Loopy Ewe goes to Maria for her very through list of reasons to stock up on sock yarn (like you needed an excuse). Bonus feature: Sock Yarn Stash Flash!

Best Tale of a Valiant Struggle goes to Miss T for her post about her encounter with The Very Bad Stitch--just in time for Halloween!

Best Attempt to Duplicate an Interweave Knits Photoshoot goes to Orata for her very showy photoshoot in her Tilted Duster (Step One: Get a better umbrella). There should be more attempts to duplicate Interweave Knits photoshoots!

The Honorary MacGyver goes to Emily for her seriously creative swift.

The Pink-Is-Awesome-HaHaHa Award goes to TheBlackSheep for her account of redemption after angering The Pink Gods. Let this be a lesson to you!

Scariest Tale (with Happy Ending) goes to Lara for her woeful tale of The Ripping of the Kyoto Sweater.

Closest Encounter With a Famous Knitblogger goes to Bertha for her fascinating post about how she ended up owning a sweater handknit by Grumperina. Bonus Award: Best Use of Striped Leggings in a Photoshoot!

The No-Animals-Were-Harmed-In-The-Creation-Of-This Post Award goes to Nia for her thorough documentation of her quest to put her cats in skirts. No, really.

Most Awesome Sweater goes to Kirsty for her truly awesome Wonder Woman Sweater. Seriously, this is not to be missed!

The Best Knitblog You're Not Reading Award goes to Sheepish Annie for her overall wonderfulness. Zombies, cats, trucks, hilarious crock pots--it's all here, folks!

Yarnival Hunk of the Month goes to Tienne's husband husband Matt. Lovely photoshoot in his very handsome Cobblestone Pullover.

That's it for this month's issue. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you. Remember, if you didn't make it in this month, be sure and try again next month, when Yarnival will be hosted by WryPunster. You can go ahead and send in your submissions here.

Happy Yarnival, everybody!

Happy Anniversary!

Leo is done, just in time for our 7th wedding anniversary.

Only problem is, the sleeves are way too long. But I knew they would be. The pattern says that after completeing the sleeve decreases, knit even until the sleeve measures 18 inches. Mine already measure 20 inches by that point. So they are long. Very long.
It's still a lovely sweater though, and I am amazed that it came out looking like a sweater at all.

Dear Paul, every stitch was made with love, except for that one area under the left armpit where you were falling asleep in front of a football game instead of vacuuming like I asked you to. I hope you love wearing this sweater, and I want to see you wearing it on our 30th anniversary.

And I am never, ever doing 5x3 ribbing ever agin.

My wonderful husband got me a substantial gift certificate to a LYS, so the plan for tomorrow is to go and try and get enough Rowan Felted Tweed to do a Tangled Yoke Cardigan for me. Yes, I like the sweaters.

Stay Tuned

Leo is blocking! My first sweater....

Socktoberfest! And A Garden Makeover!

Ah, Socktoberfest! I make socks all the time, but there's something so organized about Socktoberfest.

And to get everyone started, here's some inspiration:

Happy Socktoberfest, ya'll!

Some of you may remember when I posted about the sad state of the flowerbed in front of our house. Just to remind you, it looked like this:

Now, thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, Beverly, it looks like this: