DK Ribbed Sock Pattern

DK Ribbed Socks: Free pattern here.

We have a lot to catch up on. Up first and most excitingly: I finished my DK weight ribbed socks last night! The yarn has been in my stash for about a year. 

My stash

I keep my stash, minus dishcloth yarn which never counts as proper yarn stash, in this vintage crate from hubby's mom. I had to rescue it as he was going to pitch it. Can you believe it!? Back to the socks. I taught myself to knit socks two at a time. Very excited about this. I used a tutorial by verypinkknits, click here. She has great tutorials about pretty much everything knitting related.

Two at a time! Fancy filter via Instagram

Again back to the socks. I couldn't find a pattern I liked for this yarn. I didn't want anything busy because the yarn has a fair isle effect - that's fake color patterning for you non-knitters. I also NEED ribbing in my socks or I feel like I have to fight with them to stay up. Who needs to fight with their socks, right? I've knit enough socks that I know the basics: short row heel, gusset, toe shaping, etc. So, why not just make up a pattern? Here's what I did: I spent about an hour or so swatching to get the exact number of stitches I wanted and to figure out my gauge, which oddly was very, very, close to the gauge on the yarn band. When does that ever happen? Then I just kept track of what I did, typed it up, and viola! a pattern. I put it on Ravelry and am sharing it for free on my blog. Just click on the first tab under my heading. The pattern hasn't been test driven yet, so if you notice any problems please let me know.

Just click the first tab on the left called "DK Ribbed Socks"

I also put my free baby santa hat on a tab too. Since Christmas is coming...  but, let's wait until Halloween has passed to blog about it. Oh and the santa hat pattern has been test driven. Try to find the same yarn I used if you can. It's sooo soft and relatively inexpensive for a yarn shop yarn.

My first 31 party!

My next exciting news - I've become a bag lady! No pitter-patter of little feet kind of news here. Almost a month ago I joined Thirty-One as a consultant. My kids are older and don't need me as much, and I am a social creature, and I love parties, and I love bags, so this is a perfect fit. Too excited for that not to be a run-on sentence. I had my first two parties this week and am so excited about this company! How many times have I used some form of the word "excite" in this post, I wonder? Anyway, a friend was gracious enough to hostess my first party in her new kitchen. Above is a picture. There's not much of the kitchen showing as I was focusing on my bags, but it really is a fabulous kitchen. 

I have a 31 website where you can look at the catalog and see the monthly specials. If you want to do any shopping for the holiday I'm not blogging about until after Halloween, my contact info is on the site. Product can be direct shipped to you or if you live in West Michigan I can combine it with a party and save you a couple bucks toward shipping. Here's the site: http://www.mythirtyone.com/toppen/

Basket weave dishcloth. Fancy filter via Instagram.

I also started knitting dishcloths again. I'm giving them as 31 hostess gifts. Who wouldn't want to spend a couple hours with friends and cocktails to get a beautiful dishcloth knit by yours truly? I know. Love this safety orange yarn I found in my dishcloth yarn stash, not to be confused with my proper yarn stash. I dug up my old pattern books so I can make different types of dishcloths.

Well, this post is getting long and it's a school night so I'll sign off. I'll leave you with a few pictures of beautiful Lake Michigan via Grand Haven beach. We spent a few hours there last Sunday hanging out with friends and watching a kite surfing race.

Lake Michigan at Grand Haven Beach

Lake Michigan at Grand Haven Beach

Thanks for reading and please let me know what's new and exciting in your life. New career ventures, knitting adventures, holiday plans... Please comment :) Christina

Brazilian What?

Yep, teaser, more on that later... 

Pettine Shawl Project Details Here: Ravelry

I finished my Pettine shawl over the weekend. It became rather large after blocking (69.5" x 25"), but I am very pleased with the results. I’m still working out the blocking with wires thing. I seem to make extra loops in places where I don’t necessarily want them. I’ll have to surf YouTube to look for a video which will help me sort it all out.

Took this with my iphone and used Instagram for the fancy lighting effect.

I finished my shawl at the beach, where there was a pole vault competition on Saturday. Very fun to watch and great to see so many people enjoying the ever beautiful Lake Michigan.

See, I really do knit at the beach almost every weekend.

I have quite a bit of sock yarn leftover from the shawl. About 90 grams to be exact-ish. So.... I decided to actually knit footwear with it. Crazy, I know. I found a free pattern from the Purl bee for footies with pom poms, click here.  And, I have Noro Taiyo sock yarn left over from my Featherweight Cardigan, click here, to use for the contrasting color. I was also spot on with gauge. Since I’m using leftover yarn, I'm calculating the cost via the voodoo economics method and telling the hubs they are free. Not to worry, he doesn’t read my blog. 

Plenty of yarn AND gauge!

About that title... Those of you who know me personally, know I have been cursed with naturally frizzy hair. No, I’m not exaggerating. And, my frizzy tangle is not really beautiful ringlet curls that are to die for. I wish. Those who only know me from pictures, have seen me after much time has been spent with flatirons and anti-frizz products formulated by scientists from MIT and Harvard. Not an exaggeration there either. Check out the No Frizz product line by Living Proof: http://www.livingproof.com/

For years I’ve said, and I quote myself here: “Scientists can return shuttles from space and protect them from burning up in the atmosphere, can they not tame frizz, seriously?!” Well, apparently now they can. Finally, a salon in my sleepy little hamlet started offering the Brazilian Blowout (some sort of keratin and formaldehyde cocktail applied with a blowdryer and flatiron). I am, for all my complaining, way too lazy to drive to the bigger city 45 minutes away to tame my frizz. Here are my before and after pictures. The results are amazing! I actually hugged the salon owner, who is a complete stranger, when I saw and felt my hair. The real test will come next week as we head to the lovely, but humid state of North Carolina for a week on the ocean. I’ll report back on the status of the frizz.

Before (and somewhat behaved)

After: Can't believe that's my hair!

Thanks so much for reading. Am off to pack and find a few projects for the trip. Keep in touch. I sincerely enjoy reading and responding to your comments :)

 Signed, Christina with well-behaved hair for the next 12 weeks.