Brown Eyes Knits

An outlet

2011-05-03T22:01:00.001-05:00

If anyone is out there reading this blog you'll notice there it's a gap of several years between the start and the current set of posts. I clearly did not make much of an attempt to keep up with blogging, partly due to not turning on my personal computer very frequently. I spend all day in front of a computer at work, so turning one on at night just didn't appeal. But now that I have a smart phone (HTC Evo rocks!), and I've discovered the blogger app, I've decided to give it another go. I expect the majority of my posts will be from my cell phone... As a working mother of 2 children (now), I feel like I need an outlet to write a little bit about my kids, my life, my knitting. I tried twitter, but 140 characters isn't quite enough. So my goal is to try blogging again, and to post at least once a week, though I guess more than once a month would be an accomplishment!

Time out for knitting

2011-04-27T17:53:00.001-05:00

"moooooommmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" screams my son. "i want to be done with time out!" He's 3, so even a minute feels like an eternity to him. I can't help but wish that _I_ could go to time out sometimes - I wouldn't scream; I would knit.

WIP: backstage cardigan in madeline tosh tmdk

Test

2011-02-03T20:48:00.001-05:00

Test

Super socks

2006-05-07T16:38:00.000-05:00

I got the best socks!!
Check them out....

perfect fit - perfect colors!!
fabulous!

Firsts

2006-04-23T18:03:00.000-05:00

NOT my first pair of socks....

But, my FIRST Sockapaloooza socks:

Which started as my FIRST toe up socks:

And went on to my FIRST short row heel socks:

And ended with my FIRST sewn cast off:

Specs:
Yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, color Deep Red
Needles - Addi Turbo, Size 1
Pattern - ~almost~ Beaded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks

And after all that work, Nina decided it was nap time!

Heels turned

2006-04-15T17:57:00.000-05:00

The heels have been turned. Yes, heels plural - I'm working both socks at once, but not on the same needles. I just switch back and forth to keep the progress going. I tried doing both on the same needles, but I really need longer needles to make that work.

Looking pretty good right? That's what I thought, but every once in a while it bothered me that the stitch pattern didn't look quite the same as the picture in the book. Here's mine and the book:

Notice how mine has a single column of knit stitches between the columns of knit, purl/knit, knit? Well, instead of P-K-P-K-P-P -K-P-K-P, I was just repeating P-K across the row - the difference being that important two P in the middle.

Am I going to rip?
No. I figure I've got my own pattern going on - I'll just keep it consistent! But, I will be knitting another pair of these socks at some point....and then I'll get it right!

Progress....

2006-04-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

Toe up? I thought I'd give it a shot since my pal's feet are a bit bigger than mine. I always have yarn leftover for me when I knit cuff down....but I'm terribly worried about running out of yarn for my pal's socks. So....toe up it is. I'm using the great guide from Knitty written by this fab knitter.
Looking good, right?

Hmm...not so much. I keep getting holes in the toes.

Yeah - I've done this 4 times now.

5th time's the charm? Finally - no holes!
This is the beaded rib pattern (over 5 sts) from Sensational Knitted Socks.

What? You don't expect us to help - do you?

Jaywalkers - finished

2006-04-07T19:05:00.000-05:00

Jaywalkers are done!
Yarn: Austerman Step (with Aloe Vera)
Pattern: Jaywalkers
This pattern is one of the best fitting I've made - love it!
The yarn was nice to knit with - first time with the added aloe vera - didn't leave any residue or anything. It felt nice knitting with and during the sock try on - we'll just have to see how it washes and wears.

Sockapaloooza - getting started

2006-04-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

Yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Bold Red

Pattern: ?? Maybe the Uptown Boot Socks in IK, Winter 2003 (right) or something from the fabulous Sensational Knitted Socks (I love this book!)

Flash your Stash

2006-04-01T18:59:00.000-05:00

Part 1 - the bookshelf

Part 2 - wire shelves - sort of organized by color
Part 3 - rubbermaid bins
Part 4 - stash out of sight:
under the bed- too much trouble to pull out - full 0f ribbon yarns

under the table in the living room

in the coat closet

Purchased last weekned: sock yarns and Rowan calmer

Socks and a haircut

2006-03-29T20:27:00.000-05:00

Jaywalkers x 2. I couldn't stop at just one pair!
First and finished:
Lorna's Laces, Gold Hill

Second and getting closer:

I love this yarn - has a little bit of aloe vera in it and it feels nice. I spent an hour waiting to get my hair cut and had enough time to finish the ankle plus start and finish the heel flap.

Next up - Sockapaloooza! I've got the yarn and I think I've got the pattern, but swatching is necessary first. My pal's got bigger feet than me, so I'm a bit nervous about ending up with something too big and then not knowing it. I'm also going to try toe up socks for the first time...and maybe two at once. Pictures to come!

Did someone say food?

...and back again

2006-03-21T19:32:00.000-05:00

On February 17, T and I left for Central America - El Salvador to be exact - and 8 days with his family in sunny and warm weather! Sure beats MD in February!

We did a lot of this:

And a little of this:

We came back to the States with my MIL, who stayed for 2 weeks. So some sightseeing was definitely in order. We had to find some "fake" snow at a nearby ski resort, since we didn't have the real stuff.

And of course, sightseeing in DC:

She went home, and then I needed a week to recover and get my house and my work back in order....but I'm back and will be going for the blog full force. I decided I wasn't too pleased with my server (?) - trouble uploading pictures among other things. Since I've seen ALOT of nice blogs coming from people using blogger, I thought I'd give it a shot. Of course, I'm lacking the appropriate knowledge to transfer my old posts properly, so I just copy/pasted and here they are. I still need to go back and put in the pictures again. So....blog in progress.

And knitting in progress too. The Eris hasn't moved (I'm getting into spring mode, what can I say?). The first pair of jaywalkers are done and another pair is on the way (pics to come soon!). In the meantime, I've picked out some yarn for my Sockapaloooza socks, but I'm not sure I like it (well, I do, but will my pal?), so I'm going out to my former LYS in VA on Saturday. We'll see what I find!

2006-03-21T19:04:00.000-05:00

Originally published February 14, 2006
So - am I too late? For the jaywalker bandwagon? I know the knit-a-long just closed and all....

but look!

Although the start was not so good...I thought I must be stupid, 'cause everyone else was getting good Jaywalkers. But somehow, I spent a good amount of time at this point - give or take a row.

The first row of the zig-zag pattern to be specific. I knit it again and again (and again and again), but each time, I'd end up with 3 extra stitches and so it was tink, tink, tink. All the while I'm cursing myself for being stupid, wondering if there was a jaywalker secret hint I was missing somewhere, thinking surely all those people who knit it must know something I didn't, surely this fabulous pattern by coudn't be wrong.....or could it? Was I the smart one? The one to find the mistake that no one else saw?
Uh...no. Basically, I was right the first time. I was stupid. Somehow I kept reading the pattern repeat wrong and I was skipping one of the kfb stitches. Ooops! But, I worked it out. And the pattern really is fabulous! I'm having so much fun seeing the way the pattern of the Lorna's Laces (Gold Hill) is coming out.

Mail rocks!

2006-03-21T19:03:00.000-05:00

Originally published February 2, 2006

It's been a big week for me and the mail - USPS, FedEx, UPS. I think the only delivery truck I didn't see was DHL.

First up:UPS
Oh boy was this a good one. I've been wanting a dress form for quite some time. I missed out on a used one from JCPenney when the local store closed and then just last week I missed out on a used one from Casual Corner (but I scored some great new clothes at 80% off!). So, I did what any smart person would do....I turned to ebay. What a selection! And I got a mannequin form on a stand - better than I would have gotten from JCPenney or Casual Corner. I put it together right away and it's already modeling my current project...Eris cardigan.
Next: FedEx
This involved a trip to the FedEx facility. CompUSA requested a signature in person. So I grabbed my handy map and off I went. Pretty soon I was home again with THIS. The Kodak V530 Easy Share. It's our first new digital camera in about 4 years. We haven't even used the old one for a couple of years and actually bought an SLR film camera two years ago. I love that camera, but sometimes it's a little too big and I just wanted something to slip into my pocket. Plus, I knew I could never start blogging without a digital. So far I love it! I still need to buy an extra battery and a memory card - next paycheck! And the best part is what a great deal we got...it's now sold out just about everywhere I look, including CompUSA, where we purchased it for way less than the current price! We are thrilled!!! It takes video too! I have lots to learn to make sure I use it to it's advantage. But without it, there would be no pictures in this post!

And finally: USPS
Another ebay purchase. It was not the greatest day, so finding this waiting in my mailbox was just what I need. It's Lorna's Laces in the color Gold Hill and it's gorgeous!
Just what I need to jump on the bandwagon and start these.

Day 1

2006-03-21T19:01:00.000-05:00

Originally posted on Friday, January 27
This is it. The big day. My very first post. I've been reading knitting blogs for a couple of years now. And like many, I've been reading the best of the best, as well as some of the lesser known, and watching the projects fly off the needles (or stagnate and stall - we've all been there).

I've thought about starting this blog for a while now - but there's always the hard question - what do I call it? I think I like the name for now - who knows, maybe I'll change it in a couple of months. We'll find out. I'm hoping this blog will make me a little more accountable to myself. I often sense some guilt from other bloggers when there's no picture of progress to post. Maybe this will guilt me in to finishing more projects - like not letting the 75% completed cardigan sit here on the side table - unworked - for the next week. Maybe this isn't necessarily the best reason to start a blog, but I'm guessing (hoping) I'll find more reasons to keep the blog going later.

We start with uh....no pictures. Yeah. I really prefer to read knitting blogs with pictures. But, seeing as how I've not yet advanced into the world of digital cameras, well...the pictures are not so easy. I'll get some film developed in the next week and work on the digital camera problem. I think we actually own, but it's at least 5 years old (that's really old in technology) and I'm not really sure where it even is.

In the meantime - my current WIPs:
Branching Out (for the Red Scarf Project) - just cast on (yeah, I know - deadline looming)
Red scarf #2 - seed stitch pattern
Eris cardigan
OK - that's really not all the WIPs I have (I have LOTS), but that's all I'm actively working on.