Moving on to fun stuff

Here's proof that the fraking Detonator socks are in the mail.

Now I can move on to some big fun with my Slow Bee Mystery shawl, clue 1. I've already learned that marking it off into sections gives me a better chance of getting it right.

I'm also working on a swap on Ravelry. The LYS that should've had the things I was looking for didn't have them. I can find them online, but I feel guilty when I don't support local shops. Hmmm, not too much time left so I better put the knitting down and go look.

Half of Peggy's Doom

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Originally uploaded by Paula knits

Half of the other half is done.

P.S. I know the camera puts on 10 pounds, but it doesn't look anywhere near this big In Real Life. I used Tofutsies. I got gauge on size 0 needles. This sock still doesn't look quite right to me. Sorry.

P.P.S. I still don't have a dossier. I found my target in the database and got her address from her profile.

Sock Wars: final rant

Back in January, I posted some thoughts about what I thought might change about Sock Wars this time. One of the thought was that communication and organization would have to improve. I never thought it would get worse, but it has.

We all should've had our dossiers about 21 hours ago. This is the information that tells you what size socks to knit and where the socks are to be shipped when complete. I am one of dozens of players who do not have this information. If I had this information, my socks could've been shipped out when the post office was open this morning. Instead, I have two partially knit socks and an attitude problem.

My attitude would be much improved if only somebody could have posted something, anything, about this situation. I would've been satisfied with "We're aware of the problem but don't have a solution yet".

If I get a target, I'll finish the socks and send them on. I won't knock myself out getting them done and in the mail.

If I don't get a target, I really don't much care any more. If Sock Wars occurs again, I won't be playing.

The Merry Schaefchen Pommel is finished!*

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Originally uploaded by Paula knits

I saw this pattern while poking around on Ravelry. I decided that I must drop everything and knit it immediately. The problem is, the pattern's in German. I can read some German, but not enough to decipher a knitting pattern. I got translations via Babelfish and Yahoo both. Between the two of them and pictures of completed sheep on Ravelry, I got fairly close.

The original calls for a funny little tuft of hair. I made the cutest little knit cap with an eensy little pompom instead. My sheep is busy knitting a matching scarf. I plan to re-do the knitting needles when I've got better toothpicks.

*The title of this post came from the Babelfish translation.

Swatch

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Originally uploaded by Paula knits

This is the swatch for the Slow Bee KAL. It took several tries before I got it done, but it worked out in the end. The picture was something else: I tried it several tries and this is the best I could do. Some days I just cannot make that camera do what I want it to do. At least the beads all show

I ordered more yarn when I realized I'd miscalculated the amount I needed. Knit Picks really came through. It showed up in 5 days and was the same dye lot. That's some luck. I can't begin to guess how big this thing is going to be. I just did the math and I've got almost two miles of yarn.

I always have to drop a needle size to get gauge, but not with this pattern and yarn. This is also lucky because I should be able to use my one set of Addi Turbos for this project.

Berlin completed

skp2done
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

These are my SKP socks all done. Despite the fuzzy (size limitations in group postings) pic, you can clearly see which one had a few blasts of steam and which just came off of my needles.

I wish the pattern had been proofread. There was some confusion due to the pattern being translated from German to English. There's one stitch that I'm not 100% sure I did right, which is distressing.

My goal was to be better than last time (27th). This time I was 9th. There's one knitter in the group who is unbelievably fast and/or does not sleep. I was impressed to see her pair posted around the time I was starting my second sock. I'm kind of fast, but nothing like her. Since there were people just finishing their first pair of socks, I don't feel all that slow.

SKP Sock Pattern #2

I'm taking a little break from Sock Knitter's Pentathalon, second pair. The first sock is done. I'm half a pattern repeat into the second one. I'm estimating about another 8 hours until I complete it. This is what the beginning of the first sock looked like

My goal is to finish faster than I did on the first challenge. I think I was about 27th. I'll be back with a picture when I'm all done.