Six More Weeks of Winter KAL

Well the groundhog from hell has spoken and we will be having six more weeks of winter.  As you know, I love winter and next to fall it's my favorite time of the year.  This years lack of snow in our area pared with biting cold temperatures has been rather disappointing.  My friends in New England have gotten more than their fair share of snow and I would gladly take some of it off of their hands! 

To get us through the next six weeks, I started a Six More Weeks of Winter KAL in my Ravelry Group.  It's a casual KAL and you can even knit one of my patterns that you may already have.  If you want to purchase a pattern for the KAL use coupon code: Phil for 20%, good until the end of the day.  I'm giving away three patterns for prizes, all you need to do is post a picture of your FO from the KAL in the group to be entered.  I'm going to be joining in the KAL to help me with my goal of using 10 skeins before MDSW. 

Two pairs of socks knit from stash using two skeins of yarn.  I'm not counting the contrasting color on the Hearts in Owlantis since it was leftover from another project.

I didn't bother to check my gauge since Wentletrap is one of my designs (Do you think you are the only one who plays Russian Roulet with gauge????) and I wound up using more yarn than I planned and actually ran out on the toe of the second sock.  I put an SOS up in the Socks That Rock Group on Ravelry and Turtlegirl was kind enough to come to my rescue.  This was what was on the package when it came:

I finished up the toe and blocked them yesterday.  They are nice and dry this morning and I'm going to wear them today. Woot, woot! The yarn is Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Fire on the Mountain colorway.

I tend to get a little stir crazy when we wind up staying inside so much.  I rearrange furniture, clean out closets and generally drive Andy crazy.  We keep Iggy's crate in the living room during the day so that when we leave he can see Kiwi and not feel like he is all alone.  He is still way to young to leave unattended at this point.  The crate wasn't really an eyesore, but it really wasn't adding anything to the living room either.  I took some quick measurements and realized that it would fit perfectly under a repurposed sewing table that we had by the front door to keep our keys and other clutter on.  It looks much better and best of all didn't cost a thing.  We had been looking at coffee table crates on Amazon, and they are crazy expensive!  The table is a little taller than the crate, which I like because it will give Iggy plenty of fresh air.

Frost Bite

With winter right around the corner I thought now would be a good time to release Frost Bite.  It's a really fun knit that incorporates stockinette, reverse stockinette and some twisted stitches for a zigzag pattern that flows nicely from below the cuff and down the top of the foot. 

If you are like me, you probably have a skein or two of souvenir sock yarn that you picked up at a fiber festival or while you were traveling.  Ok, I know I have way more than that, but whose counting?  This is a great pattern to use with that special yarn.  The varying stitches really help to break up pooling and yet really show off the colors.  Shown here in Socks That Rock Light Weight,  Boobie 1.

 

Since it's still technically still our anniversary week, this pattern is on sale in my Ravelry Shop.  Use coupon code Dontgetbitten for 50% until Monday. 

Antarctica or it's Time to Turn on the Heat and Start Wearing Handknits

By nature, I am a cold blooded creature.  Most of the time this isn't a problem since I live in Virginia.  It's swealteringly hot here during the summer.  Spring and fall tend to be very mild and there are only a few cold months.  After spending a week in a tropical paradise where it didn't get below 70 degrees, the weather here seems rather chilly.  When I got up this morning it was THIRTY SIX degrees.  Quite frankly, this is unacceptable.  It means that car windshields need to be scraped and it's not even November! I'm sitting here wearing fingerless gloves while trying to type and hoping that the feeling in my cold to the bone fingers returns soon. I have given in and turned the heat on but only to 68.  It is far too early to have to do this.  I think we are going to be in for a very cold winter and I'm hoping it brings lot's of snow.  As soon as I can adjust to the sudden drop in temperature, I will be a much happier camper.

One thing is for sure, hand knits will keep you warm!  I tend to pile them on in layers in the colder months.  Ok, who am I kidding?  I wear my shawls all year long!  Speaking of shawls, Iridill my new design is shawl and shawlette pattern in worsted or fingering weight yarn.  It's currently being test knitted and should be ready for release by the end of November.  I have the worsted weight one (on the right in the photo) on right now and it's really helping to keep the chill off my neck and shoulders.  It's a super simple knit and perfect for that variegated skein of yarn that's been hanging out in your stash!

The shawlette (right) is in Miss Babs Yummy in Maryland 2013 and the shawl (left) is in Miss Babs Yowza in Perfectly Wreckless.

  
I also have a new sock design that will be coming out at the beginning of November, Frost Bite. Shown here in Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Boobie colorway.  I couldn't resist this colorway! Not only is it beautiful, but the name cracked me up.

I just finished reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.  If you are looking for a book that will scare the heck out of you, give you nightmares and you still won't be able to put it down - this is it.  I LOVED it!  Now that The Walking Dead is back on tv my week winds up being complete on Sunday nights.

Nikomedes

I'm so excited to announce the release of my new sock pattern, Nikomedes.  I really enjoyed designing these pretty socks and hope that knitters will adore knitting them as much as my test knitters and I did!

I used Shalimar Zoe Sock in Driftwood for the design.  The color and yarn really show off the columns of lace cascading down the leg and instep and on the heel flap. 

 

 

Beth used Zoe Sock in Silver Sage for her's. 

 

Shannon used Three Irish Girls Springvale Sock in Driftwood.  It's so much fun to see my patterns come to life!

 

 

The three of us got together for lunch and a photo shoot last week.  I had visions of us going out into the garden and maybe sitting on a bench for the pictures.  The rustic background of a winter garden would have been the perfect backdrop.  It wound up being only 20 degrees outside, with a wind chill of what felt like -100.  We opted to stay inside, have hot cocoa and take pictures by the fire.  We stayed warm and had a blast!  There was a lot more giggling going on than actual picture taking. 

 

 

I think we are all hoping that Punxsutawney Phill is going to tell us that spring is just around the corner.  With that in mind, Ive created a coupon for my Ravely pattern shop.  Use coupon code: Groundhog for 15% off of any of my patterns from now until February 7.  You can click on the link above, or by copying and pasting this address into your browser: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/lara-smoots-ravelry-store