Sock Design...and other obsessions

May the odds ever be in your favor....

SO I guess its good I don't have a lot of followers, as they would probably think I fell off the edge of the world. Its been a pretty busy year, adjusting to having an increasingly mobile toddler (who is sitting in my lap "helping" as I type this...)

So if you ARE reading this you might be wondering, what have I been up to lately? Well the easy answer is lots of knitting and lots of running.

Recently a friend suggested I read the Hunger Games. I wasn't familiar with the series at all, but she gave it a pretty good review and so I thought, why not? Well I read the entire series in less than a week (took me about 4 days). It was a good and memorable read. Inspirational enough to get my designer juices flowing in my brain again. And so, I began designing. Since my latest obsession has been knitting socks, I am designing socks for some of the characters from the Hunger Games.

If you're on Ravelry, you can go check out my Peeta Socks. They are the first socks in what I

hope will be a collection of socks. I am not sure if these will be a for sale sock or a free sock, but I am thinking having them as a really inexpensive sock pattern once it's been tested and I get the pattern written up properly.

Today I hope to make it to one of my LYS-es to find some yarn for the next sock in this

collection--Mockingjay. I also intend to design a lacy pair for Katniss' sister, Primrose, and something similarly delicate for Rue. Later I may also do one for Katniss that isn't mockingjay related.

I am also currently thinking of designing a series of socks for the Kim Harrison Hallows Series.

Al definitely needs a pair of socks, and I think Ivy, Jenks, and Rachel herself would also make great inspiration. We will see how the summer turns out and what I come home with from Stitches West this year.

COOKIE A CLUB SPOILER ALERT!!!!

If you are in the Cookie A Club for 2012 and haven't yet received your yarn, you may want to stop reading here. I am about to post a picture of our latest yarn.

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This is my second year as a member of the Cookie A Sock Club, and this year, I'm a

moderator for her Ravelry group. Sadly, this doesn't mean I have any kind of special relationship with Cookie A

herself other than a working emailing one, but it's still pretty cool.

Anyhoo, the first recipes and patterns and cookies didn't disappoint. I now have a fortune cookie recipe, how cool is that? Also, I have a wonderful deep choco cookie recipe spiced with cinnamon and chili peppers. With a strong cup of coffee and a bit of homemade whipped cream these cookies are absolutely divine.

On the running front: I joined the LMJS women's racing

team and participated in their cross country events this past summer as part of their open team. I also reached new PR's in the Marathon(3hr 42min) and 12K (57min) distances. Yes, I am one speedy bunny. I am currently working for LMJS as a volunteer pacer for their Oakland Running Festival Training Program, training 1/2 marathoners for their even this March.

The picture on the left is from September, the team celebrated my birthday (and two other team mates) with cake after our 4mi run in Hayward.

Well this is it for me today, stay tuned for more updates on my current obsessions.

My week in pictures--Cookie A, Ysolda Teague, new knitting and new running

January is turning into a banner month for me :D

I got to meet one of my knitting goddesses: Cookie A, sock designer extraordinaire, and the amazing Ysolda Teague, designer of many super cute knits herself, including a new book set to come out soon: Little Red in the City. That's me in the center. I am trying not to geek out in this photo.

To be fair,I would have gone to the event for Cookie A alone (I own both of her books, adore her socks, and kinda worship her in a very unhealthy fangirl kind of way). In fact, if Ysolda wasn't visiting one of my favorite yarn stores (communknitty centers/fibertopias), A Verb for Keeping Warm, I might not have purchased my copy of Whimsical Little Knits 2--and that would have been a mistake because this little collection of patterns is full of real gems, like this one I'm knitting right now:

Here is 2 days worth of work on Damson. Ysolda knit hers out of Malabrigo Sock (always a good choice). Even though Verb had Malabrigo Sock in stock, I decided to go with something different:


The Sanguine Gryphon's Skinny Bugga handpainted sock yarn (80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon)
A luxuriously soft yarn with amazing hand and drape, it comes in beautiful handpainted colors with a lovely sheen. Its a real pleasure to knit, and at 450yrds a single skein is long enough to complete this pattern.

This will be the first pattern I knit for myself since the baby buns was born (and since a bit before she was born as I was knitting baby stuff before that).

In other news, I'm now officially signed up for the Oakland Running Festival's Half Marathon. I'm now in Week 3 of my training with the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders (LMJS). This morning, for my 5 mile training run I hit the El Cerrito Hills for a challenging run up Cutting Blvd to The Arlington, through El Cerrito, through Kensignton, down into Berkeley at the Circle, down through the tunnel and out to Solano for coffee at Starbucks. I should have mapped it before leaving--it ended up being closer to 6 miles than 5, but I still managed to complete my run in 1hr (1hr 2min). My goal for the half marathon is to break 2hrs. In my marathons I've gotten close, reaching the halfway point at 2:04-7. I am hoping that a combination of speed and hill work on my short weekday runs will help me meet this goal on the mostly flat course on race day. We will see. I'll keep blogging my progress, and hopefully get some new running pictures up.