Back to the "C" word, finished socks and more socks

Thanks for all the compliments on my tutorial and my beautiful darning egg! I really love it and it makes doing Special K MUCH easier!

A lot of you asked where I got it and I'm sorry to say I honestly don't know! I found the artisan who carved it in a Net search about 3-4 years ago. After some moves, hurricanes and computer crashes, sadly I have NO IDEA who this talented artist was!

I've googled my fingers to the bone, hehe, but I cannot find anything on the Net like this beautiful object!

My only suggestion is to look at local craft fairs or fiber festivals if you want a new one like mine (and fear using a lightbulb is an accident waiting to happen!)

You can also find vintage darning eggs in local flea markets, antique shows/shops and there are LOTS on EBay and the prices are reasonable. I even purchased one for a friend as a Christmas present from Elann, right Ada?

Darning eggs aren't mandatory for sock knitting but they sure do make things easier so I hope you all find a darning egg of your own!

Speaking of socks, here are my Lacy Scallops that I will be sending to my Sockapaloooza pal in a few months. I hope she likes them!!

Specs:

Pattern: Lacy Scallops designed by Sock Bug

Mods: I used 72 stitches as the pattern called for and got the required 8 sts/inch but my sock pal indicated that her feet are on the fluffy side so I eliminated the calf shaping the pattern suggests. I also worked more pattern repeats for the leg as my pal likes a taller sock. I subbed *my patented* yo short row with mini-flap/gusset heel.

I used Twinkletoes yarn in an unnamed pinky-orange colorway and size #1 US (2.25 mm) Aero DPNs. I've had the yarn in stash for about a year and to be honest it was NOT as soft as I hoped altho it got much better after washing and a final rinse with some Redken conditioner :) Even tho the yarn wasn't great the colorway was glorious!! I actually contacted the artist, Mary Anne, and turned her on to Knitpicks Dye Your Own which is yummy soft because I felt her awesome talents deserved better yarn (and it's actually a few cents cheaper than the Henry's Attic yarn she had been using!) So the good news is if you want to sample some of the nicest dyeing expertise I've ever encountered paired with lovely yarn, head on over to Lotusblossom! Her superwash sock yarn is nice too!

Now for the crochet portion of today's broadcast! The additional Shine yarn for my Carnival Afghan arrived yesterday and I've already crocheted 4 more medallions for a total of ten! Here's the color scheme......


Isn't it pretty? I'm a green lover but I wanted some punch so I think the "apricot" and "sand" really work well with the greens without being dull or garish!

I love crocheting these medallions! They are so quick and cute and the Shine is so delicious!

Have no fear, I won't be going over to the "crochet side" and abandoning knitting but this sure is fun and different. Plus I'm gonna end up with the machine washable, soft, lustrous, cuddly afghan I've been seeking for a long time!

Just to reinforce that I'm still FluffyKNITTERDeb, I've cast on some new socks....The Embossed Leaves socks from the Winter 2005 issue of IK. See?


Pretty, autumnal Koigu and leaves, more of my favorite things!!

If anyone is making these or plans to, the instructions for the 1x1 rib cast-on the magazine suggests IS NOT the tubular cast-on shown in the pic in the mag!! I did the cast on 3 times as written and altho it's a nice cast on, it is NOT the stretchy cast-on the designer used for her pair! It makes a very solid, not so stretchy cast on so if you choose to use the instructions as written in the mag, I recommend going up a needle size (or 2!) for the cast on!

I also contacted the designer, Mona Schmidt, to discuss the disparity between the pic and the instruction and she sent me a link to her tutorial for the ACTUAL cast on she used!! If you want the links to the correct cast on, you can contact Mona directly. I'm not posting the links myself because as the designer she wants to know who is knitting the socks and any difficulties you're having and the pattern is of course copywritten so I don't feel comfortable posting even part of it!

Having said ALL that, I went ahead and used my standard German Twisted Cast-On cause I liked how it looked with the twisted rib of the sock cuff best of all :)

Whew, long post today....almost no room for the blog mascot yet I know his fans need their P-Man fixes :)

Here's my guy checking out his new digs from atop Mt. Computer Desk! He loves that he can hop on all the furniture and table tops now since all the "knick knacks" are put away because of the ongoing post-Wilma restorations!


This makes him feel like the Master of the Universe I think....oh wait, he is!! :)

Thanks for letting us into your universe, happy knitting!