Update

I'll be hitting the road in the morning, so there will be no WIP or finished news for a while. Three pair of socks are done, but that darn Cookie A Pirouette pattern has me stumped. I can see what the pattern is supposed to do, but I can't get there from here. It is going to stay in my knitting basket. The big bag of sweater materials will be going with me.

I didn't take something into consideration when I signed up for Tour de Sock. I had this goofy idea that it would be a stash busting activity. The event is sponsored by several yarn companies. They are just the kinds I like to support. They also are offering discounts to Tour participants. This is from Invictus Yarns in their Beyond base (can you say merino/cashmere/nylon?). I couldn't resist Jelly Beans:

FO Friday

I did actually finish something. This pair is called Rescue Me, Chin Boy, and Show Me the Stars (Doctor Who reference).

The color's more green in real life and it has silvery fibers throughout. The pattern designer had a couple of giveaways associated with the pattern. Not only was I able to give a copy away, I won the cost of my copy back. Fun socks with a bonus.

Check out other finished objects at Tami's Amis.

Using up sock yarn with benefits

Someone I follow on Twitter said she'd signed up for Tour de Sock. I had to go look it up and now I'm signed up for it. It's a speed knitting competition where everyone gets a pattern and tries to be the first person to finish it. I'm not that competitive or in need of yet more sock patterns. I am interested in something that results in donations to Doctors Without Borders. You pay a registration fee for the Tour de Sock and most of it goes to DWB/MSF. I think there are prizes, too. It starts June 1.

Tour de Sock has a sister competition, Sock Sniper. This appears to work a lot like Sock Wars did. Is there still a Sock Wars? You're assigned a target. Your goal is to finish a pair of socks for your target person and get them to that person before someone sends you a pair of socks they made for you. Again, the registration fees go to DWB/MSF. I signed up for this too. I'm playing as a non-combatant. I don't know if this means I'm getting the pattern or if I'm getting the pattern and working as a medic. Medics step in and knit socks for someone who never received a pair of socks or received an unwearable pair. I think this starts around September 1.

These games are both based in Ravelry, so that's where you go to sign up. Do a search in Groups for Tour de Sock or Sock Sniper. Registration's open right now for Tour de Sock. You can sign up for Sock Sniper now too, but only if you're also signing up for Tour de Sock. Sock Sniper only signups will happen in August, I think. The signups for both at once was a way for more money to go to DWB/MSF and less to PayPal.

Look, second socks

A little bit of progress has occurred on the sweater. Except for this little lace portion, the rest is all knitknitknitknitknit. I got bored with it and shifted to socks only.

The harder of the two Cookie A patterns this month was harder than usual for me. The yarn is 8 ply sock yarn. It's kind of loosely spun so I tend to split the yarn. Difficult pattern + difficult yarn = not happy Paula. I'm frogging it and switching to a different yarn. More WIPs at Tami's Amis.

FO Friday

With 5 pair of socks and a sweater in progress, it's hard to believe I finished anything. I did, though:

Back view of the East Meets West satchel. It looks better with stuff in it. The heavy interfacing did add a lot of shape, but it tends to fall over when empty.

Two project bags.

And a partridge in a pear tree pair of Staccato Socks.

Let's see what Tami's Amis are up to today.

Cookies in the Wings

WIPs are the Kelso sweater (blue on the circular needle), Rescue Me sock #2 (dark green), and Potpourri sock #2 (light yellow green).

New yarn and patterns from the Cookie A club arrived:

The club stuff is ready to start. I've got a second Cookie sock that hasn't started yet. I'm going to make myself finish some more stuff before starting any of them. We'll see how long that lasts.

Nope, haven't started quilting the quilt yet.

Time to visit Tami's Amis to see what the other kids have been doing.

Startitis unchecked plus a little venting

I went back and looked at the picture that inspired me to buy the yarn I posted about yesterday. The yarn's definitely got sections of green and purple in it. The yarn I got reads like a semi-solid blue. It's pretty, it'll probably suit the pattern, but it wasn't what I thought I ordered. ::sniffle:: It was March's colorway of the month.

I liked April's colorway of the month (Foggy Dew) enough that I bought enough for another sweater. Fingers crossed that it includes both the green and gray colors in it.

Another sweater, Paula? What in the world set that off? It was What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?. I got the ebook yesterday and found three patterns that I wanted to do: Counting Crows mittens(have yarn for them in stash), Fosco socks (have lots of yarn for them in stash), and The Jumble sale Kimono for the Widow Mayhew’s Daughter. That was the one I'm doing in Foggy Dew.

Yarn in the Mail

This is Berry Pie from Sheepy Time Knits. I'm going to make Kelso from Knit Picks with it.

Pro-Con List

Nope, no finished objects this Friday. I did finish the knitting portion of the East Meets West Satchel. It needs lining and interfacing to be truly finished. This may or may not happen today.

I was in a Gilmore Girls-themed swap recently. This reminded me of Rory Gilmore's decision making process. She often made pro-con lists, despite mocking of this process by her mother and various boyfriends. I shall use this process to decide if I should do another round of a sock club.

Pro:

1. I like getting things in the mail.
2. I enjoy the process of photographing the yarn, entering it into my Ravelry stash, showing if off, etc.
3. I like trying out new yarns and colors I might not pick.
4. I like having lots of different yarns at hand. It's almost like having a little yarn shop in my own home.
5. I like the bonus things that come with some clubs.
6. I'm using money that I already have and isn't earmarked for anything more significant. If I were to ask Suze Orman if I could afford another club, I think she'd say it was okay.

Con:

1. I may be close to SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy), at least with regard to sock yarn.
2. Storing completed socks is close to becoming a problem.
3. Sometimes I get club yarn in colors I would never pick and never use.
4. Sometimes I've gotten club yarn in weights I am unlikely to use.
5. Club extras include things I already have too many of (project bags and stitch markers in particular).

I signed up for another round of Mad Fiber's Geek Tour (Doctor Who) before making this list. I've decided not to feel guilty about it. I'm also in Cookie A's club currently. I'm in one from Space Cadet Creations that starts next month. I'll be signing up for another round of Time Traveler from Sheepy Time Knits.

I'm off to the sewing machine to finish some things. I can multitask: sew and stalk the letter carrier who yarn for me out for delivery. Will I finish any socks before casting on the sweater associated with that yarn? Noooooo, I've still got Startitis!

It's not Second Sock Syndrome, it's Startitis

I don't have a problem doing a second sock. I do have a problem with jumping in and starting a new project on a whim. I finished one each of Sake and Rescue Me, Chin Boy, and Show Me the Stars:

I've been reading this Van Gogh biography. It reminded me that I really want to use some of that Opal Van Gogh-inspired yarn that I just had to buy back around Christmas. I ended up starting Potpourri:

While flipping through books to find something to make with the Van Gogh yarn, I also found another pattern that I just had to make immediately. That's why there is also Staccato in progress:

My other "active" works in progress are the quilt (got the thread for it yesterday), the two project bags (got zippers for them at the same time), and the East Meets West Satchel: I got the interfacing so now it is a matter of using the unassembled pieces as a pattern for the lining then I can put it together.

That sounds like too much work at the moment. I think I'll go to Tami's Amis to see what other folks have been doing.