B is for Buttons - stored in a box

I have a lot more buttons than I thought. I found them last night when I was scouring the house for items to photograph that start with the letter B. The obvious choice was Brad, my husband, but he wasn't very excited to pose for a picture. So in the spirit of the game I tried to search out something more creative rather than put his mug on my blog today. Now granted, buttons aren't going to start an revolution, but out of the pictures I took last night - it came out the best. I tried a lot of different stuff - bubbles, batteries, beans, beads, and even Brie. I really liked the idea of the bubbles and might have pursued that further if it was summer. But being cold and not having any of the cool tools to make really big bubbles I opted to try soap and the kitchen sink. Needless to say it was very underwhelming. So buttons it is!

In the spirit of this ABC Along, I'll share a link to Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey.

A is for Alpaca - that hides in my stash

This alpaca joined my stash after an impulse buy on a business trip to Portland last October. It is Sierra from The Great Adirondack Yarn Co.; the color is called chilipeppers. I love how soft it is so I bought all they had - it was only two skeins. So I have 1200 yards total. I think it wants to be a cardigan, but it isn't sure yet.

No, this isn't a lame attempt at an alphabet book, I've joined the Knitty ABC Along. I'm actually hoping that taking these photos will improve my camera skills and create some interesting blog content. So every two weeks or so I'll be posting a picture for the next letter. But as usual, I'm joining in late so B will follow shortly.

Wait, I'm joining too!

I have finally decided on a project for The 2006 Knitting Olympics. I've decided to knit socks. I haven't picked a sock pattern yet, but it will definitely be a pair of socks. That was to be a goal this year to actually knit some socks. I have the appropriate needles. I have dpns and Addi Turbos in the right sizes. I even learned to knit using two circular needles for small diameter items.

I've been planning on knitting socks for a long time. I even have the yarn. Oh, do I have the yarn.

Sometime last year I decided I would love to knit socks.So every time I saw sock yarn - into the shopping basket it went. Never mind I have never finished or even started a single sock. But I had the right spirit - of course I can knit sock; I just haven't yet. So of course I should get that lovely sock yarn! I have so far managed to stash away a collection of sock yarn that contains Koigu, Opal, Trekking XXL, Regia, Mountain Colors, Lorna's Laces, Online, Wildfoote, Blauband.....

Well you get the idea. It's not right that all that yarn is just sitting in my stash and I haven't even knitted one sock.So, by the end of The Knitting Olympics, I intend to have a completed pair of socks to wear. If the socks are not complete, I will seriously consider trading away all that sock goodness hiding in my stash. Watch this blog and the Knitty swap thread for updates.The pictures here show some of the Koigu that I have hoarded away for socks. I don’t intend to use this for my first pair – but hopefully I’ll get to it soon.

Sherman and the Magic Purple Hat

Okay, you got me, the hat isn't magic, but it is purple and felted! That makes for a pretty okay hat.

The hat was knit with Lamb Pride's bulky in three shades of purple following a fiber trends pattern. The hat has dried over a medium sized mixing bowl.

The scarf is a mistake rib scarf in Noro Kureyon #90. I think I used about 4 skeins for the scarf.

Both were big hits with my mom, who was the intended recipient. She decided to dress my dog up while we were visiting for Christmas.

Sherman was a good boy and very tolerant of being dressed up, but he looks really silly. He is a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. He was two this October. He's a big boy, but very sweet. He weighs in at about 130 pounds, so he is no dainty thing. But he's a keeper.

All this for a scarf!

I can't believe I order all of this to knit one scarf! But what a scarf it promises to be. I am planning to knit the Color on Color scarf by Kathryn Alexander in the scarf STYLE book. The KAL started today.

I ordered this online and had it shipped to the office - the most asked question was "Why all those little skeins?" "Can't you get bigger ones?"

Now, I'll admit it is a little intimidating seeing all those little skeins - but look at all those little skeins! And all the great colors!

This is probably the biggest project I've started to date. I've been knitting for almost a year. This is also the first blog I've ever done. We'll see if I can finish this scarf and keep up with the blog. I've never been good at keeping a journal so this will probably be a bigger challenge than the scarf, but we'll see how it goes. I'm starting the scarf tonight and will try sprucing up the blog over the weekend.