better late than never!

at long last, i have completed the task - i have knit socks with all of the yarn from the 2008 rockin' sock club! it only took me a year and two thirds but, hey, who's counting? and i didn't exactly use all of the provided patterns but, here they are in all their splendor!

first up - 'serendipity' by adrienne fong with bmfa str lightweight in dragon dance. a delightful, fast moving knit that created a lacy pair of monochromatic madness! feel like dancin'?

'leafling' by jc briar in bmfa socks that rock mediumweight in the colorway 'lucky'. indeed, these socks certainly were lucky and quite lovely! the pattern was smashing with a lovely vine of leaves twining down the fronts. what a way to welcome spring!

more monochromatic goodness in shades of violet moving from blue-violet back to red-violet. i wasn't blown away by the intended pattern with this shipment so i deviated!! i used the pattern, 'spring forward', from knitty.com by linda welch. a lace sock that undulates around the leg and looks really, really complicated but is really, really simple with an easily memorized pattern stitch! it even worked for my brain!! the yarn is bmfa socks that rock lightweight in the color way, the incredible shrinking violet - absolutely, no shrinking on this one!!!

next up - 'gumdrop socks' by jc briar in a pastel!! wow, a pastel, pretty out of character for this cowboy as well as for the depraved dyer, tina. the coolest part about these socks is that they are reversible, should one so desire to do so!! the color is called 'sweet tarts' and is a bmfa socks that rock lightweight with pastel shades of a variety of colors - very easter eggey!! in hindsight (and now that i have knit one) this would be a great color for an ez bsj! can't you just see it on a new born babe?

now we're talkin'! my kinda color - yum! yum! yum! gold, burgundy, blue-violet and pond scum! yum! yum! the colorway: tide pooling; the pattern: 'cloning anemone rib' designed by team blue moon - i'm over the moon with these - i love, love, love the color - so rich and saturated! yum!

last but not least - muddy autumn rainbow, a mediumweight bmfa socks that rock. a color way that called out 'fall leaves' so once again i deviated and knit these socks in the pattern, 'embossed leaves' by mona schmidt. i think i accomplished my goal - these truly remind me of fall in the great northwest!

one last look at the gang from rockin sock club 2008!

and one last sock! this yarn wasn't part of the 2008 group (it's a mill end from a bmfa sale) but the pattern is. it is the 'sweet tart anklet' by hot flash (aka marilyn kaleikilo). a great sock with a yarn that is a tad bit zippy! i like it!

so, now that i have finished this race, am i done? heavens no, i'm already 4 socks behind in the 2009 sock club mailings so i had better run, i've got another year of socks to start!!! yippee and yikes!!!

ez's bsj!

well, surprise, surprise!! and indeed it is!

how can an unrecognizable blob like this

turn into an adorable little baby sweater?

it is magic, absolute magic!!

furthermore, it also begs the question - how can this sweater come to fruition with the slightest of pattern information? i am truly amazed and dumbfounded! but, that's elizabeth zimmermann! a one of a kind wonder - indeed the knitting world needs to bow before her as she is definitely 'the oz' of knitting (sorry, barabara walker - but you are a real close second!!).

i whipped this little puppy together in no time, flat! a fast, fast, fast knit provided you throw caution to the wind, trust elizabeth and knit on! and why did i knit this sweater? because the pattern advised me to do just that before launching into an adult surprise jacket so i did and i'm glad i did! now that i've got this one under my belt and i understand the up's and down's of this pattern, i think the adult version should be a piece of cake, except for the oodles and oodles of knitting garter stitch which could become exceedingly boring. i intend to use yarn from my stash and leftovers bin which should add some interest to the whole dog and pony show!

and, you ask, does this cutie have an owner yet? since all of the recent births in my world have been multiples, i guess i'll have to wait for someone to have a single! the miracle of the whole situation is that i've got a gift at the ready - ahead of time! yes, indeed, that truly is a miracle and a surprise!! yippee!