Solo Sock Club

We are 6 days into 2024. On New Year's Day, I noticed this Instagram Post by the Yarn Harlot. She pulled 12 skeins of sock yarn from her stash and paired each one with an appropriate pattern, bagged them up and BOOM - she calls it her Self-Imposed Sock Club. This is such a GENIUS idea, and I cannot believe my luck that I saw it on the very first day of the year. I went to the basement, retrieved 12 forgotten favorites of sock yarn and then proceeded to my Ravelry favorites section and matched them up with patterns. I bagged mine up and put them under the Christmas tree.

In lieu of a subscription that will come once a month, I will simply grab a bag and get to work. Bonus, this idea also helps work down my stash of yarn that I already have, and it's budget friendly, too. I've collected all the bags on a wooden tray. My brother and sister-in-law sent us a Harry & David gift box for Christmas, and along with the goodies came this lovely little tray. I thought it would make the perfect spot to keep my makeshift sock club. Eventually, we will put the Christmas tree away, and I feel as though the tray is a place that provides a bit of organization to the project - and if it is determined to be "in the way" at a future point, the tray can be easily moved to a new home.

When I saw the original post and decided I wanted to do this also, I was mid-project on a pair of socks. I was determined to finish them ASAP so that I could dig into the first bag of my 2024 Sock Club. Never had a project FELT like it took so long. I did complete them yesterday, and immediately asked my husband to choose a bag for me. He graciously obliged, and I opened it to find this:

This is a skein of yarn that was hand dyed by me and was originally dyed for my Etsy shop. It never did sell, but it was always a favorite of mine, so I pulled it for my sock club. This is the only skein out of the year that I dyed myself. It is a blend of 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon. The colorway is called Caramel Apple. It works up with short bursts of mini stripes in the contrast color. I'm nearly ready to turn the heel on the first sock.

Due to the way that the colors in the yarn will work up, I opted for a vanilla sock pattern in this case. I find that in knitting projects, either the colors or the textures will pop. For yarn with lots of colors, a simple pattern will show them off. For a pattern with oodles of texture, a solid and light-colored yarn will really show off those pattern details. I am using a plain pattern here to allow the dye job to really shine in my finished socks. I will post the finished socks once they are finished. Follow along, as I will have updates on all of the monthly sock knits.

A Little Spring, Despite the Weather

Technically speaking, it is spring here in Maine. For the most part, though, you would never have guessed. It's been bitterly cold, and we've been ruthlessly pounded with snowstorm after snowstorm. Everyone here is....well, READY for spring to actually arrive (in the form of milder weather).

While I have continued working on my two new designs that I can't show here yet, I have also managed to squeeze in some other spinning and knitting as well.

I made some rainbow socks for my daughter, using basic sock math. No pattern to link. She loves them, and plus they are bright and cheery during this 2nd winter we are having. There is enough yarn leftover that I will try to make another pair for myself, perhaps a toe-up version so that I don't run out of yarn before I get to the toe. This way, as long as I get past the heel, I can just stop when I run out of yarn.

Around December, right before my surgery, I realized that I had lost one of the convertible mitts I made last year.

The convertible mitts are great for feeding the rabbits in the winter. I then had my surgery right before Christmas and inexplicably with all that knitting time on my hands did not give a thought to my missing mitten or perhaps replacing it. By mid to late January, I was reasonably healed and found myself having to venture out into the frozen tundra with no mittens...or at least, no mittens that matched. It was about this time that I was feverishly trying to finish my husband's Captain America sweater for his birthday, which was clearly no time to be selfish and knit something for myself to keep my hands warm (despite hubby telling me there really was no rush).

I finished his sweater on February 21st, and honestly I was concerned that it was going to get warm before I could get a replacement mitt. My options were:
1) Pay $27 for yarn and shipping to get the same yarn and knit one mitt to replace the one I had lost.
2) Knit a mitt out of a different yarn and live with mismatched mitts.
3) Knit a new set of mitts in a different color and have a new set.

I was convinced that all the cold weather would be gone by the time I could get the first mitt done, let alone a set. I did end up going with option 3, and I finished the set on March 10th. Let's just say that I have gotten PLENTY of use out of them so far.

I used a combination of the patterns for Broad Street Mittens and Podster Gloves. I really liked the pair I'd had before, but I decided I wanted the thumbs to flip open also. The yarn is Mountain Maple Sock, which is 100% superwash BFL from Highland Handmades. The colorway is called Immutable, and it was the January feature of the Snapshots of Maine yarn club. I've already received the February and March shipments as well, and I've been thrilled with each one. I would definitely recommend checking out the website. I've loved everything I've gotten from there.

As for spinning, I have finished my August 2013 Roving of the Month from Purple Fleece...4 oz  each of superwash BFL (what can I say, it's just been a SW BFL kinda month) in the colorways Mountain Laurel and The Grass is Always Greener.

I spun this up intending to knit socks with it, so it's got a generous amount of twist, and since I wanted to preserve the color changes in the Mountain Laurel fiber, they are chain plied. I am very pleased with how it came out...now to pick a pattern. Any suggestions?

In other (non-fiber) news, I have only 4 workouts left to become a Couch to 5K graduate. Hopefully I will be posting soon that I finally made it through the program...plus I am signed up for a 5K on April 13th.

I Think I Can; I Think I Can; I Think I Can...

Today's post has somewhat of a theme....I feel as though I am slogging through things that will never be finished. First up is knitting: The Captain America Hoodie. This is a birthday present (by request, no less) for my husband. His birthday was a week ago. He's a good sport and says that he is totally fine with having it finished after his actual birthday, but wowsa does it take a LONG time to knit a man-sized sweater...with a hood. Did I mention the hood? I am starting to wish my husband resembled Captain America before he took the super-soldier serum, also known as Steve. I have made progress, though.

Since these pictures were taken, I have actually finished and attached one sleeve, and I am about 5 inches into the ribbing on the second sleeve. The sleeves on this pattern have really long cuffs that get folded up to look like Captain America's gloves...12 inches of ribbing. Hopefully I will finish this sweater soon, because I have an embarrassing number of projects lined up behind it.

Next up....spinning. I am a member of the Roving of the Month club at Purple Fleece. I get 4 oz of the club colorway and 4 oz of the solid complement each month. I have been a member since June 2013. I am seven months behind in actually spinning the fiber. My goal for February is to spin at least 4 oz of my club fiber and at least 4 oz of anything else from my stash. Currently, I have some Game of Thrones themed fiber on my wheel. It is a blend of alpaca, merino, bamboo and a bit of angelina, and the theme for this one is House Lannister.

These batts are from Camelot Dyeworks. The finished skein of the first 4 oz is pictured here on top of the other two 2-oz batts. I am working on the last batt now. I actually finished this first skein months ago. I decided that I wanted to knit a Sweet Dreams shawl with it, but I wasn't sure if I had enough yardage. I convinced Stephani at Camelot Dyeworks that I just had to have another 4 oz, and she was kind enough to card up another 4 oz for me. Here's a close up of that finished skein:

The other area where I am frustrated with my progress is running. I used to be a runner. I used to run a lot. I used to run fast. Then life and work and kids happened, and I woke up one day not being a runner. Last spring, I started the Couch to 5K program so that I could once again be a runner. Thursday, I started it again for the 5th time in less than a year. I would like to take a moment to let you know that I am not a quitter. Quitting things really bothers me, and I will actually continue to do things past the point of ridiculousness just to avoid "quitting." So how is it that a non-quitter has started the same running program 5 times in less than a year without once finishing it? I was embarrassed to fire up that app yet again. I wondered how a 5th attempt with no finishes was possible. So I went back and looked at my workout log.

I started my first attempt at the end of March 2013. I didn't find it to be very challenging in terms of cardiovascular fitness...meaning that I do exercise occasionally, and I have great lungs, and I just didn't feel like I had to stop to walk. I did about 2.5 weeks of workouts, then I actually just ran two 5Ks during April 2013. I was slow and didn't break any records, but I was running, and I was quickly improving. Then shin splints happened. I rested for a couple of weeks, and started back up in May. I persevered through May, then started a group fitness challenge/contest where I work, called Big Bears to Little Bears. Your group meets twice a week with a personal trainer and you have several goals by which you are measured. It was a 12-week program, and it was very intense. Running was an integral part of the program, so I decided the Couch to 5K plan on top of it might be too much for my shin splints. I finished the 12 weeks, improved a lot, lost 8 pounds, but still struggled with shin splints. This was the end of August.

It was about this time that I discovered that my ridiculously expensive shin-splint-preventing sneakers were actually causing my shin splints. I ran out and bought 2 pairs of non-shin-splint-preventing sneakers for half of what I had spent on the marketing-fail sneakers, and I started the old Couch to 5K again. About a week or so after starting, I climbed Mount Katahdin with my family. It is a very challenging climb. I was sore afterwards, but that was to be expected. My knees were hurting, but I continued my running/walking anyway. I made it through another 2 weeks before I went to see my doctor. I had tendonitis, an overuse injury, and it simply would not get better unless I rested. I was told to rest for at least 2 weeks, but not to resume activity until the pain had resolved. It took 2 months to stop hurting. At the beginning of November, I started Couch to 5K for the 4th time. I continued until about a week before I had scheduled surgery for an umbilical hernia repair a few days before Christmas.

Now here I am, recovered from surgery, with my doctor's blessing to engage in physical activity, still not a runner and starting the Couch to 5K for the 5th time in less than a year. I think I'll keep trying. I am signed up for the same 5K in April as the first one I did in 2013. My goal is to beat last year's time.

A Severe Case of Startitis

I've been knitting a lot lately. Big shocker, I know. I had a hernia repair mid-December. In the weeks leading up to the procedure, I was quite concerned about whether or not I would feel okay enough to knit or not. I mean, this was quite a gamble...I would either lose out on precious Christmas knitting time, or I would have extra time (and perhaps even knit something for myself in December...gasp). It turns out that I was knitting within a day or two, and though Christmas was soon over, my recovery was not as swift as I had hoped, and let's just say I had lots of knitting time on my hands.

You might think with all my unanticipated knitting time, I would be blazing through projects and turning lots of works in progress into finished objects. Nope. For some inexplicable reason, I cast on for a bunch of new projects. New year startitis, I guess. So what am I working on currently? Well, my husband has asked me to knit him a Captain America Hoodie, I have a Celestarium on the needles that I am knitting with my own handspun (more on that later), and also a pair of socks using the Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes pattern. I also have some leftover sock yarn that I can't bear to go to waste, which has become my portable project - a pair of Textured Tootsies baby socks - a free pattern available on ravelry. Here is the first pair that I made:

 I also just finished some socks for a friend. It's a basic sock pattern, and I used some Three Irish Girls Adorn sock yarn in the Nora colorway. The leftover yarn from this project is what I am using to make the second pair of baby socks. I also recently finished a super-fun knit toy for the kids...more to come on that later.

I also recently finished a sweater for my son:



The pattern is the Abernathy Sweater by Terri Kruse. The pattern was very well written, and it was a great knit. The best part was my son's beaming face because mommy had knit a sweater just for him, and he happily exclaimed that he would wear it forever. Melted my heart.

Welcome to my World on a String!

I have changed my business name from Elisha Cram Designs to World On A String Designs. It's just so cute and fun, inspired in part by the Frank Sinatra song.

Here is a sneak peek at my newest design, the Romney Ridge cowl...

It's a cowl pattern worked in 2 colors, and it's reversible. I love how the colors contrast, and it has the same pattern inside and out. Stay posted for updates. It should be released for sale in the next week, and I will update here when it's available!

Here it is! Romney Ridge Cowl

First on up the Christmas crafting list...

I have officially identified the first item on my Christmas crafting list. I want to make something for my niece, Madison, who is 3 years old. She's a cutie patootie, by the way. Her mom has recently started a cupcake business, so there's some serious baking to be had in that house. Now, what 3-year-old little girl doesn't want to be just like her mom? I think this little sugar pie NEEDS her very own girlie apron. I am thinking something like this: Tutorial by tidbits

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Maybe in a cutesy cupcake fabric.
But then, she needs her very own cupcakes, RIGHT? Check out these calorie-free indulgences...

Cherry on Top pattern designed by HappySeamstress and available for purchase at craftsy.com.

Yummy, right? Delectable knit and beaded cupcakes. Perfect for play and just downright scrumptious. You can purchase the pattern here if you just have to have some of your very own.

So, what's on YOUR holiday crafting list?