Socks from my mom......for me

I send my mom lots of sock yarn, as a gift, since she loves to have socks on the needles for a random project. She has always knit us kids sweaters and mittens as we were growing up.

She absolutely LOVED this yarn and wanted to make me a pair of socks. They are so nice.....not only to wear but each time I put them on, I think of my mom.

I think it is a worsted Fortissima washable wool. She knit a 1x1 rib with sockinette foot.

I love my socks......and I love my mom.

So The Thing is........Blog

If you don't subscribe to anything else, you must subscribe to Barb Cooper's blog. She will make you laugh, cry, side with her, think about things you wouldn't dream about thinking and much, much more.
The one entry that really got me was "Socks and Life Lessons".
I don't have time to read books (stories) unless they are about knitting, however ~ I have time for her writings. I wish I could write like her so I could really say something that would perk your interest so you WOULD subscribe. She's fantastic.
Oh, did I mention she also knits?

Illusion Knitting

Look at that! You can actually see the word, V-rod, on that scarf.
When you look straight on at the scarf, it looks like it has just a striped design. It really is an illusion.
I designed and knit this in Cascade 220 a few years back when we DID have a Harley V-rod motorcycle.
I have seen illusion knitting on Knitty Gritty and visited various sites on the web. I just found a really good place, here, with FREE patterns. A really good book called 'Shadow Knitting' by Vivian Høxbro is a good source. The author really liked my scarf!!
There's even a yahoo group with almost 1000 members!!

My name is Maria......and I'm a Bag-A-Holic

This is my bag before felting.








This is my bag after felting, adding stars and a handle.
It's fun to knit a purse every month but it's not a requirement.
Come join the group! Not only can you see the materials list for my cute bag for July ~ you should see the project for August! Wow!
Besides......what would one more project on the needles hurt? ;-)

Many, many thanks to Terry Ross, a fabulous designer.

Mystery Stole Clue #4 finished

Wow! The knitting just flowed. This time it was easy to memorize. You can see my lifeline and remember, this isn't blocked so it doesn't really look like it is going to look. Did that make any sense? Hmmm.
Another thank you to Melanie, the designer. She's incredible. To be part of the next one, click on her name and join so you can be informed of the details!!
Before I start to knit lace, from a chart, I like to count the plain knit squares and write that number to the far right from where I read the chart. In other words, when there is a symbol and then blank squares - I write the number of the blank squares right after the symbol. That way, I don't have to scan across the row for the number and quite possibly lose my place - it's right there and waiting.
In order to keep my place, I place a magnetic strip ABOVE the row I am about to knit. I do this so I can see what my knitting should look like right below that row to make sure I place a yo in the right place, etc. I can catch errors much quicker that way.
I can breathe now as I wait for Friday and "Clue #5"......and knit on some other very important projects. I have bunches of socks for soldiers to knit and a summer sweater (or two) by Sally Melville.