Exploring Ravelry & Casting On Christmas Presents

I finally got my invitation to Ravelry. Ok, I know. I'm sooooo behind the curve. I have a ton of excuses by I'll spare you. Needles to say, I've been totally absorbed in knitting and Ravelry. I've been filling in all of my information and taking tons of pictures. So, today, I'll just share some of the things I've got OTN.This is my friend Vee Vee's sock. It's going to be huge. He wears a size 13! I'm knitting on size 2 needles so it's going to take me a while. Also, he wanted the toes and heels reinforced so I doubled the yarn and gave myself hand cramps. Ugh! They're really beautiful, but I'm looking forward to doing a smaller project soon. Unfortunately, this was my first short row heel and I continued short-rowing (is that the right phrase) until there were 20% of the stitches for the heel left, as I thought the instructions were telling me to do. Well, it turned out that it was probably meant to be "continue short-rowing" (there's that funky phrase again) until there are about 20% of the TOTAL stitches left. I'm dreading ripping out those double yarn stitches and doing half of the heel again. I think I've discovered a carpel tunnel in my wrist. Or is that not an object that protrudes from your arm? Oh, wait...that's a dpn...nevermind. Ow!







Now, here is that single, pitiful lonely sock that I just kinda made up as I went along. I am so fully in love with this sock, I just want to wear it now. But without it's mate, it refuses to be comfortable. So, I've begun to knit the second sock and whenever I'm not busy...OK, OK I'll make myself do these and then I'll give them as Christmas presents. Pout. That way, I'll have enough motivation to finish them...but I won't have them.





I swear, after Christmas, I'm knitting only for myself.






Isn't this lovely? These Cheveron socks, I cast on for my mother. I think she'll like them. It's a truly fun pattern, but I'm a little afraid of the provisional or "after-thought" heel. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The pattern for these can be found in Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch.

Update & Back In Business

In other news, I've separated from "The Man" and moved into a very small little place about an hour away. There's barely enough room for myself and the wonder dog's crate. But we're keeping up with our fashion experiments. Unfortunately, the wonderdog tends to be more involved than she'd like to be merely due to proximity.

I hired my mom to take care of the business books and she's gone Etsy nutz. I should have known that Etsy would get under her skin. We now have several shops and are expanding as we speak. Check 'em out!

DeChon Desings

Princess Katie

South Paw Creations

Three Generations

Lot's Knot

Esther's Other Job

We've got one for grown up clothing, one for kids clothing, one for supplies, and one for all the items that we can't figure out their particular category. Then there's also my daughter's shop and my mom's quilted items too! Really, with Christmas comming up we've got something for everyone. I'm stoked.Since she's been in charge, sales have doubled and we've been in 4, COUNT EM! FOUR, treasurys!

Now I just have to clear off a small space to sew and I'll be able to contribute more. But first things first. HALLOWEEN! and costumes, costumes, costumes.....pictures to come.

Stitch N Bitch

Last night was our first ever Knit Night. 16 people RSVPd! I was over whelmed at the response. There was no way I was going to fit all those people in my tiny little place so we moved it to a friends house. All went well. You know something? I didn't knit one single stitch. LOL. But several people went home with new scarf projects and one woman was even inspired to buy some sock yarn! It felt great teaching people to knit. We talked about "the face" and how you couldn't possibly be doing it right if you weren't making a horrible concentration face. We also decided that knitting was now "in."

So, in preparation for last night's party I went through all my yarn. I thought I couldn't possibly have that much yarn. I was wrong. Here's a picture of only the yarn that I don't have ear-marked for projects. AK! I think these things are mating in my closet and multiplying! I have to make some scarves and sweaters, or something to use up all of the bulky yarn that's taking up so much room on my dining table.

Lately, I've been concentrating on socks. For some reason I've fallen in love with them and I've done nothing else. The sock on the right was done without a pattern. The problem now is that I can't remember what I did to make it look this way and I've got a drastic case of Second-Sock-Sindrome going with these now. So...I went and started the Pomotamus socks from Knitty.com. Pomatomus This is an amazing pattern. But those crazy people on the knitlist who are knitting them two at a time are into sick self-torture!!! No offense intended.

Also, here's a tip fr the day. Those plastic sleeves that the circular needles come in are perfect for storing your dpn's. (grin)

And my question for the blog-o-sphere: Has anyone ever used rosewood dpn's? I picked these up because I loved the look of them, but I haven't tried them yet. Do they break more easily? They sure are beautiful and they have a wonderful texture. I can't wait to put something one them...like I need another project.

Treasury! Treasury! Treasury!

DeChon Designs made it into our first ever tresury on Etsy. I tried to get a picture of it on the blog but I wasn't quick enough! Phew! Those things go so fast!

Please Stand By

DeChon Designs has MOVED! Our new location will not affect this site. Our workshop has moved to a new city however, and the relocation will mean some down time for new items in the Etsy shop and delay new posts for the blog. Please check back often as this hiccup is not expected to last very long.

More About Socks

Tomorrow is back-to-school day for my daughter and I'm very excited. Although it means that we'll have to get up earlier than God Himself, and since it's a new school she's all fah-clempt about being new, I think that this year is going to be a good one for her.

School also means, new school clothes! This year, no school uniforms!!! Yay! It also means that I can make new clothes for her. She's always been my perfect model but recently she's been more and more un-into what mom makes. Although, these socks seem to be OK so far.

I also make some socks for my step daughter but I underestimated the size of her foot and I couldn't get the darn thing back off. With a sigh, I frogged the sock off her foot and I'll start it over either with more stitches or with a bigger needle.

Here are some pictures of socks I've finished for myself and a scarf I've started for my dad too!

The tan socks are my very first pair and I'm totally n lo9ve with them. I made them on very large needles so they're not super comfortable. They're also made of cotten so they don't stretch very well. Also, I didn't use a stretchy cast-on so the ankle is all floppy; but I couldn't be happier with them. The deep red pair is the first pair of wool socks I've made and those are my complete favorites. With every wash they get softer and softer. I got that yarn from Etsy (Kindred Spirits Yarn) and it's hand dyed!

All About Socks

I recently bought and listened to the Yarn Harlot's two books (At Knit's End: Meditations For Women Who Knit Too Much & Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off) from Audible.com. WARNING: If you are without a hobby, and love funny stories, put your credit cards in a bowl full of water and then leave them in your freezer for the entire listening/reading portion of this experience. Knitting is extremely contagious and wool has addictive fumes that will melt your credit cards right out of your pocket. In these two books, Mrs. Pearl-McPhee has awakened my inner knitter and created a monster. I've been knitting for a month straight! I'm a seamstress, not a knitter! What am I doing? I'm now addicted to socks? Sheesh! Like I don't already have enough projects.
Here's how bad it's gotten. My husband and I decided that it's time for me to go back to school and he made a comment that if I go, I'd have to put down the knitting. You know, for a second there I actually considered bailing out on graduate school. Ha ha. One day, I almost stood up a friend for dinner so that I could rush home and check my mailbox for some new yarn I'd ordered. Good grief!
But, I love love love knitting. I love socks especially. I love self striping, happy colored socks. I love plain black dress socks. I love patterned socks. I love knitting, toe-up. I love knitting cuff-down. I even love kitchner stitch (that b*tch of a weaving nightmare that allows you to finish the toe invisibly).
In my head I know that I've got to eventually put the knitting down and get back to my business. I know that I've got to put it aside and study for the GRE so that I can get into grad school too. But I've fallen in love with hand-knit socks. Truly and whole-heartedly.
I've joined en email list or three. I've volunteered to knit socks for soldiers. And I'm planning a knitting party to teach my co-workers how to knit! I'm just in heaven! (sigh)

Update: Nikki the wonderdog has been de-furred. She's traumatized and very miffed at me right now. She wouldn't let me pet her for about 4 days. These days, she's sketchy about her tail too. I feel very guilty but it had to be done. For Pete's sake! It was 120 degrees here! She couldn't go out for a walk without foaming at the mouth. Ok, ok. I didn't have to shave her tail. My bad. I got over-zealous with the clippers.














OK, you can say it. I'm just an evil doggy mommy!