Updates! Gale, Effie, and other new friends!

I know its been a while since I've posted anything. That's because I've been stuck under a pile of yarn and behind a computer desk.

So since I last wrote, I've completed two more patterns in my Hunger Games Tribute Series.

After a month of collaboration with Tami of Candy Skein (check out her blog here), we developed Effie Sock, inspired by Effie Trinket, the effervescent, bubbly liaison between District 12 and the CAPITOL.

We are having a KAL in the Candy Skein Addicts Raverly group from May until July, so please, if you like my pretty ruffled sock, come play with us!

In the meantime, I've also been testing another of my Hunger Games socks, Gale Sock. It just went live today after a month of vigorous testing, planning, editing, and headaches. Finally it is ready for the public. We had a little photo shoot for it today.


Here is the sock on the rocks at the Berkeley Marina....





...here I am looking coy for my "about the designer shot....

...and here is Charlotte Rose, hiding in the rocks. She really really liked the rocks and didn't want to come home for her nap....

....and here are the socks again, enjoying the spring poppies...

This is a fun, addictive knit. It includes 18 pages of thorough charts and descriptions. And only $3 for the month of May. Come on....you know you wanna knit some socks!

New Socks, Old Socks, updates!

NEW MONTH...new sock pictures~!

Here are my finished Peeta's enjoying some California sunshine in my front yard yesterday

Now its on to my next project:

Another Hunger Games sock, this one inspired by Gale Hawthorne, the third leg in the love triangle between Peeta, Katniss, and Gale. It will incorporate cables and A LOT of traveling stitches. Basically, expect a cyclone to wind its way around the leg. For this sock, I'll be using some very lovely Socks that Rock Medium Weight that I purchased at Stitches West. I plan to start swatching the wind pattern sometime in the next week.

In the meantime, I will continue working on my Mockingjay (Rebel 13) Socks

It took me a few weeks to really nail down the mosaic pattern in a way that I am satisfied with. Even now, as I knit up the first sock, I am finding ways to improve this chart, and the overall layout. I guess I'm not able to leave good enough alone.

I just ordered some more lovely Socks That Rock, this time in Lightweight. I've never knit with their Lightweight before...so this will be interesting. I'm planning on knitting a lace sock inspired by roses in literature--Snow White (whose name was inspired by a drop of blood on white snow), President Snow from Hunger Games (who carries a genetically modified rose on his lapel in a pure white to hide the blood smell on his breath) and lastly, but not least, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. I was going to title them "Roses for Snow," but instead I think it will be better titled "Painting the Roses Red." The colorway I purchased benefits Doctors Without Borders and can be viewed here on the Blue Moon fiber Arts Website. I am excited to star these socks next month for the Socks Knitters Anonymous "Literature" challenge.

April promises to be an interesting and prolific month :)

Until my next update!

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.