Presents from Kathy

Arrived home Friday (8/24) after a full evening of preparation for a weekend soccer tournament to find a package waiting for me! As I am on a strict yarn diet I knew I had not ordered anything. I tore open the package and inside I found a wonderful little gift. My pal, Kathy gave the sock a valiant effort and an effort I truly appreciate. She did a wonderful job with her start but those short row heals threw her for a loop. I love both the yarn that she worked with and the yarn she gifted - my older daughter has already tagged it for herself.

Thanks, Kathy for the wonderful gifts and heroic effort...

ETA: Thought this had posted last week...yes call me Dork.

Socks from Erika!

Erika has sent me these lovely, lovely socks a few weeks ago...but I am in town, with a camera, and computer, and here to thank her for these gorgeous, perfectly fitting Roza socks (pattern by Grumperina) , a magnet, and great yarn art/postcards!!!! Awesome knitting, and awesome colorway. Thanks, Erika!!!!
My puppy ate my own second sock that I knit for my downstream pal (yes, it's true) and after reknitting the second sock (with new yarn, of course!)...they're ready to be sent to my pal with some goodies...when I told her what my pup did to her sock, she was such a good sport for waiting! :) Kris in NH

Thank you dear sockpal!

I recived my socks from my secret sock pal today, thank you Rachel!!!

They are so beautiful, nice knitted and a lovely colour (I love green). I think that I will try to knitt this pattern my self. Thank you for all the goddies you sent me, there will be fighting in our family now, my two boys have already asked me several times if they can have the Kettle chips or the shewing gum.

This was my first sockapalooza and I cannot wait for the next one. As a beginner, this blog has given me so many links to other blogs and I have a long list of bloggers that I read continously. Thanks to all of you, but most to Rachel!!!

slow to post

I have been a bad Sockpal. My socks arrived on August 4th and I have yet to post about them. Emma at Stitch'n Sue did an amazing job with the color and the pattern. They are waving lace and I can't remember the yarn but it is absolutely wonderful and I love the colors. I love the additional yarn she sent me from East Wind Farms. I took photos right away of the socks, but did so on my (now, as of Aug 14th) MIL's camera and then had trouble getting the photos from them. Throw in a very secret elopement for my husband and I this past week and a brief honeymoon and you get one very neglectful sock pal!

Emma, thank you so much for my wonderful socks. Your knitting is amazing and every stitch so perfect. I feel so lucky to have received your socks. I am currently working out what pattern I want to use for the East Winds Farms yarn. I am tossing around a few ideas and have yet to make a decision. I love the colors and how the yarn feels. So soft.

Thank you again for making my first sockapalooza experience a great one!

slow to post

I have been a bad Sockpal. My socks arrived on August 4th and I have yet to post about them. Emma at Stitch'n Sue did an amazing job with the color and the pattern. They are waving lace and I can't remember the yarn but it is absolutely wonderful and I love the colors. I love the additional yarn she sent me from East Wind Farms. I took photos right away of the socks, but did so on my (now, as of Aug 14th) MIL's camera and then had trouble getting the photos from them. Throw in a very secret elopement for my husband and I this past week and a brief honeymoon and you get one very neglectful sock pal!

Emma, thank you so much for my wonderful socks. Your knitting is amazing and every stitch so perfect. I feel so lucky to have received your socks. I am currently working out what pattern I want to use for the East Winds Farms yarn. I am tossing around a few ideas and have yet to make a decision. I love the colors and how the yarn feels. So soft.

Thank you again for making my first sockapalooza experience a great one!

slow to post

I have been a bad Sockpal. My socks arrived on August 4th and I have yet to post about them. Emma at Stitch'n Sue did an amazing job with the color and the pattern. They are waving lace and I can't remember the yarn but it is absolutely wonderful and I love the colors. I love the additional yarn she sent me from East Wind Farms. I took photos right away of the socks, but did so on my (now, as of Aug 14th) MIL's camera and then had trouble getting the photos from them. Throw in a very secret elopement for my husband and I this past week and a brief honeymoon and you get one very neglectful sock pal!

Emma, thank you so much for my wonderful socks. Your knitting is amazing and every stitch so perfect. I feel so lucky to have received your socks. I am currently working out what pattern I want to use for the East Winds Farms yarn. I am tossing around a few ideas and have yet to make a decision. I love the colors and how the yarn feels. So soft.

Thank you again for making my first sockapalooza experience a great one!

I have a great Pal!

Today I went to check the mail, and lo and behold, there was a package for me from Anne (Natural Fibres) in Yellowknife, North West Territories. She is a sweet thoughtful woman who sent a totally wonderful package (more on my blog).

My socks are gorgeous ... knit in a beautiful turquoise Opal Uni Solid sock yarn (Colour #29), Anne said they were her first attempt at Lace knitting but I think she might be fibbing -- she has done a gorgeous job knitting Hedera (by Cookie A).

My socks are so soft, and the colour is so pretty ... and to top it off, they fit me to a T.
I will try to get a better picture (taken by someone other than me!) later or tomorrow -- they are gorgeous and I want to show them off, and can't seem to get a good angle while they are attached to me -- I am not bendy enough!)

Thank you so much Anne for the very thoughtful package! I love it all , and really do appreciate everything!

I have sockage!!!!!

And sooooo much more thank you Tonni.

See more here!

They came !

I got my socks and they are works of art ! The amazing pattern is Gothic Spires by Cookie A and my wonderful pal Norah knit them out of Regia Silk, a yarn I have always been curious about. She even included an extra skein and so now I can knit with it myself.

As you can see, my pal not only made socks out of luxury yarn, she also included luxury treats . Thank you so much , Norah, the socks fit perfectly and I love them .

And special thanks to the intrepid Alison, who can organize a sock exchange, have a baby and write a book, all at the same time - wow ! Knitters are incredible !

My Pal Received her Socks...not me sofar...

My sockapalooza mate JennaKate received her socks from me - and she posted a glorious review including the most important fact - THEY FIT... I am so glad she liked everything that I added in the box. It was fun spoiling a complete stranger. We had a bit in common, even though I am nearly twice her age... (age is a state of mind though)
My next question is who is my sock mate - I have not received a package yet, and I am starting to get a bit worried. I have had such good luck with my swaps, I am sure they are in the mail, or at least on the needles...
In other news - I spent 11 days at Disney World and it was the hottest I have ever experienced. I brought my knitting but it was way too hot to even think about knitting. Back to knitting today - my yet unfinished forest canopy shawl is going to be done soon. Its a gift, and I need to get it done. Picture to follow.

Socks Sent

I sent the finished socks to my pal on the 2nd, but forgot to take pictures. The USPS says that they have arrived on the 6th, but I haven't gotten any confirmation from the recipient. Hopefully she'll take pictured for me, so I can post them here!

I just wanted to check in with my sock status. Heidi, if you're readying this, let me know you got your socks, please! I'm worried they were stolen off your porch, or something!

No word from my upstream pal, yet... but I'm hoping for the best.

Thank Yoou Sockapalooza 4!

I had fun in this swap!

garden | Photo Albums | TypePad

garden Photo Albums TypePad

I am Done-apalooza!

As of last Friday evening at 7 p.m. ... they are finished!

SpecsPattern: BFF by Cookie A (the internet won't let me kink to the pattern! sorry! you'll have to google it yourownself)Yarn: Garn Studio's Fabel Superwash, Colour 677Needles: 2.75 mm Brysun, 5 inch length (I love them .... my total favorite needle. Ever.For: my SP4 Pal -- can't say who she is until she gets her package! I hope the colours and pattern suit her! The picture is a little brighter than the colours are live and in person -- but it is quite close.Mods: Just one ... I like the look of a wide cuff folded in half ... so made a 2 inch cuff instead of the 1 incher the pattern called for

Would I do it again? definately ... the pattern is not only pretty, but it is a really "quick learn" which makes it almost as easy as a Vanilla! I really like the look of the finished sock, and think they would be nice presents for Christmas. I would probably make a different heel, as the pattern calls for a stocking stitch heel, and i usually knit (and prefer) a thicker heel -- I knit it according to the patternI have several goodies to put in with the socks ... some treats from my area and some other knitterly things, which will all go in the post tomorrow (** Edit: it got reeally busy at work and in life, so I missed the post office and the store for paper -- but it will definately go ASAP.) It has been a lot of fun to knit the socks and a little challenging to try to get to know someone through their blog and via email, but it has been an interesting 'Palooza. I will be happy to finally be able to send the socks on their journey.

All done!

I made it, I finished my Sockapalooza 4 socks - but just about. Sheesh! These socks beat the heck out of me. I don't know why and how come, possibly my constant exhaustion was to blame - but for a fairly simple pattern - I messed up way too often. Boo! I re-knit the heels twice (oy), re-re-knit too many pattern repeats (double oy), I bound them off twice (triple oy!)... But - they're finished! And with all the agony involved - I like them a lot! The pattern is easy (despite my best efforts to prove the opposite), beautiful and unique, Lorna's Laces has become my favorite sock yarn - soft, cushy and beautifully colored. I hope my sock pal likes them...
I packed them up and shipped them on monday. I added a couple of my favorite chocolates (I love the Panda one sooooo much! And it helps saving endangered animals too! Double score), a hand sewn bunny, a great bar of soap (I hate to promote stuff we sell at work, but his products are incredible, and we met the actual Hugo who started the company makes the soaps himself still - and he's such a great guy he deserves the mention) - and a little letter from moi.
(Yeah, my pal's name is Lynn - sorry if that's to revealing)

Done and on their way..

I have not posted here before but because no one in my house truly appreciates that I have completed and mailed my sock pal socks to parts north of sunny Los Angeles, I felt that I had to tell someone...anyone that cares. It nice to not hear "Gooood" or "hmmmm...interesting" and you were the first that came to mind.

Thanks for listening.

ETA: I can not add the damn picture...any guidance would be greatly appreciated. That mystery box is a link to to picture (shakes head)

ETA again: Figured it out...perhaps I should look under "help"

My First post

I sent these out yesterday. They are Embossed Leaves in Lorna's Laces.


I had super fun with Sockapalooza! I cannot wait to see what my secret pal made for me.

Socks for Second Pal Done!

These are Oriel from Sensational Knitted Socks in Opal solid made for someone whose pal quit the game early. Next time I pick a 28 row lace pattern for socks I have to do on a short deadline will someone please hit me over the head with a heavy object? The pattern was a challenge and it had a new heel I'd never tried before. There was lots of frogging but I do think they turned out well. Hope my sock pal likes them.

Done!

I'm not sure I posted correctly on the knit pligg - I guess I'm a bit technology challenged! Anyway here is a picture of my completed socks. The pattern is Fluted Bannister Socks by Laura Gallagher and the yarn is Sheeps Gift from Joslyn's Fiberfarm in the Confetti colorway. I really enjoyed knitting these and have started another pair already! I hope my sock pal likes them!

Socks ready to go

I finished my socks a few days ago and I'm ready to ship them. They are monkey socks and the yarn is Colinette Jitterbug. I hope my pal likes them. Can't wait to get mine!

Help!

My socks have been done for a month, but I cannot locate my sock pal. I emailed her yesterday to confirm her mailing address, and the email bounced back! It looks like it's a bad email address.

I have been concerned because she replied promptly after my first email, but then didn't answer me again. If she were in the States, I wouldn't worry because the package would have a good possibility of being returned. But she's in the UK, and I don't want to lose her socks or Sockapalooza bag!

Any ideas?

Socks are done!

And just in the nick of time. Actually they have been essentially done for a week or two, but I just got around to finishing the toe. I can't wait! This is my first exchange and my first blog post ever! I really hope that my sock pal likes her socks.