Gnome Socks are out!

The Gnome Socks are out, right on time!Now you can wear gnomes on your toes! You've been waiting a long time for this!

These are the sock variant of my Gnome Mittens. You can grab the pattern here on Ravelry and in my Etsy shop (soon.)

Because as they say: "Happiness is a warm gnome."

Gnome socks: On the way

Gnome socks. If not tonight, then tomorrow. Regardless, in plenty of time for the long weekend.Stay tuned.

Acquisitions

I spent the "weekend" (in actuality, Monday and Tuesday) buzzing up to Niagara and back. The entire trip was soundtracked by Melodica, which, in my opinion is the ultimate travelling companion. Lovely, lovely stuff -- I never leave home without it.

Speaking of lovely stuff, I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of delightful yarn shops along the way. First off was Stitch in Jordan Village where I picked up a couple of delicious skeins of Malabrigo:And then I flitted on over to Stratford to pay a visit to Close Knit, a wee but very welcoming shop that's still relatively new (and will be carrying my patterns shortly!) I just had to get my hands on some of their locally-sourced, lanolin-rich sport weight yarns:I had a hard time limiting myself to two skeins each of only four colours. It wasn't easy.

And now for some Gnome gnews (sorry, I just had to) -- the socks should be out in a day or two. I promise.

Decade(nt)

It was ten years ago today that I woke up on my own in another city for the first time.Many things have happened since then. I learned how to knit, for one.And now I've been and done and felt and had. Met and said and seen and went.Onward and upward.

As for the future...the Gnome Socks' pattern will be out this week.

Gnome socks: first look

The Gnome Socks are happily tripping along,
but I fear if I don't make these wonderfully cozy knee socksout of this deliciously rustic wool/llama blendI fear I may very well perish (or something close to it.)

Still crawlin' along

With any luck, the Schnecken mittens' pattern will be released tomorrow (Almost typed "demain." That happens sometimes.)Keep those fingers crossed!

And after that, it's full speed ahead with those Gnome Socks:
(...and Clerkenwell.)

Surprise!

I was at home this morning, happily spending some quality time with no less than three new socks/mittens (left to right, that's the Gnome socks, the Flamittens and Clerkenwell,)when a mail carrier knocked on my door and handed me an oversized parcel from Knit Picks. I assumed that this must be the book and needles that I had recently ordered from them, but...well, isn't this box a little too large for just one book? Hmmm...

It turns out I was right to doubt the contents of the package, because I was hardly expecting to open it to find this:Samples of each new Fall 2010 colourway of Knit Picks Palette to play with! Let me tell you, the new colours are gorgeous!

I hardly knew what to make of it! Neither did Bubo...and Schnecke (have you met Schnecke yet?) was overwhelmed, to say the least!It is all so lovely and the fact that it was a surprise makes it doubly so. Thank you so, so much, Kelley and Stacey! I will definitely put the yarn to good use.

Strawberry Socks are out!

It's all true:There are socks, they have strawberries on them, and you can now make a pair of your very own! Get it here on Ravelry, and expect it to turn up in my Etsy shop sooner or later (the ol' Etsy shop is long overdue for a massive re-stocking.)

As the construction is simple and so is the strawberry motif, these socks would be a good first project for someone who is new to colourwork and/or fancy socks.

And now I'm off to work on some Gnome socks, and some Clerkenwell socks, and yet another pair of socks. Oh, and NEW mittens -- wait 'til you see THEM. This is multi-tasking at its finest.

I leave you with what I'm sure will be the first of several What-I-Did-On-(one of)-My-Summer-Vacations photo-tidbits. This is the mug that haunted me in NYC each day as I enjoyed my tea at Birch Coffee: Not exactly the piece of china that one would like to be greeted by each morning after one had recently heard the story of Lucy, as I had.

Cupcakes v. Gnomes: and the winner is...

Thank you to everyone who helped decide the outcome to of that eternal question: Cupcakes...or Gnomes? Because of your participation, we now have an answer, and that answer is...

Gnomes! The Gnome socks will be knit and published first, and will be followed shortly thereafter by the Cupcake socks.

Having used a random number generator, I've determined that the winner of the copies of each pattern (when they are respectively released, is...

The Bon! Congratulations! I will be sending you the patterns as gifts on Ravelry when they are available.

Thanks again!

Cupcakes or Gnomes? Answer and win!

ETA: The voting is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated!

The Strawberry socks are going to be finished today (and the pattern will be released very, very soon,) but one vital question remains:

Who would win in a fair fight..?

Cupcakes......or gnomes??I'm turning both mitten patterns into sock patterns (yup, you heard me!) and I'm trying to decide which to work first, but I just can't choose. I'm going to need your help on this one!

So! Leave your response to the question "Who would win in a fair fight -- cupcakes or gnomes" (and the creative reasoning behind your decision, if you like) below in the comments and I'll randomly select a commenter to win a copy of both sock patterns as soon as they are released (remember that each pattern retails for $6 USD.) The polls will close on Saturday, 24 July at 8 a.m. EST.

Who will it be? Cupcakes or gnomes?