MDS&W & Sock Pentathlon Sock #2

In case you are wondering, that's "Maryland Sheep and Wool". I wasn't able to go last year, but this year, I was SOOOOO there.

I took a half day on Friday and took the train down to Baltimore. I've never taken Amtrak before and I have to say I had quite a pleasant experience. And I met a couple of nice people too! Once I got there, I took a taxi and went to MamaE's Party! Sadly, I didn't take ANY picture! I was too excited to meet E and SweetSheep!!! But I did get a photo with them the next day!

Sneaksleep came and meet me up at the party, and after the party, I went back with her to her house for a nap cap and got up for the big day.

And see who we saw!!! :)

Zarzuela!!! She had move to Jersey a couple of years back and I haven't seen her since then! It was so great to see her there!

There were lots of sheep, llamas, alpacas, angora bunnies, and of course, there were food, yarn, and people spinning.

And while I was eating lunch, I noticed quite a bit of buttercup:

After the first day, Sneaksleep and I went to the Ravelry party - it was fun, and a lot less people than I expected. We stayed for a little while before we went and met up with the rest of the New Haven gang for some fondue at Melting Pot.

That was the first time I've been to a Melting Pot and it was so much fun! Although a little on the pricey side, but it was totally worth it, especially the chocolate fondue!

Yum. (that was the s'mores fondue, you should try it if you go!)

Sunday was a lot less intense, even the traffic was a lot less. Sneaksleep and I say goodbye after an hour in the fairground, and I left with Sami, Karen, Brenda and Beth around noon. While I was in the car, I was busy working on the Sock Pentathlon Sock #2 - Berlin Muster. I finished first sock while in the car on the way home, but the sewing needles were in the trunk with my overnight bag, so I couldn't finish the grafting, so what is a girl to do?

Use the buttons I got from the festival and parties! (and you call me crazy, collecting pins and all!) And since I couldn't knit while I'm at work, slowly, I finally finished the pair this morning, although, not without a hitch - again, that stupid little sewing needle. So the engineer in me took over, and fond something to use:

Twisty-tie!!! Yes, you read that right! And a few minutes after, I have these:

Pattern - Berlin Muster by Kristin Benecken
Yarn Used - 0.56 skein of Valley Yarn Franklin
Needles - Harmony size 1
Gauge - 8 sts per inch
Knit - May 01, 08 to May 07, 2008
Modification - I reduced the purl stitch so it's only 56 stitches, although I probably could still go down a bit since the lace is quite stretchy.

The pattern was fairly easy, although everyone had a hard time to get it started due to various reasons. The yarn was wonderful. I love it so much I want to get more of it! I have plenty of it left to do another pair of socks! You can read my full review here.

Well, now both of that are blogged and in the bag, it is time for me to rest my eyes. Good Night.

Anticipation

Look what came in the mail!!!!

This is MY original cube from Schrodinger. I totally forgot that today is the Sock Pentathlon pattern 2 release and I was suppose to be sitting around all day and knit that pattern until it is done! But with Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival being this weekend, I don't think that is going to happen! So I needed something that I can knit and walk with. After lots of searching Monday night, I decided on this cube. I absolutely love it! I can't wait to give it a test "walk"!

The other thing that came in the mail today is the summer issue of the Interweave Knits. I already saw the preview and I can't wait to be able to knit some of the pattern in it! So if you don't have a subscription, go out and get one when it's released in the stores!

So I've been reading on the Ravelry group of MDS&W and learning what to bring and wear, and I can't wait to go! I'll be taking Amtrak down to Baltimore, take a taxi to see MamaE's at her open studio, meet up with Sneaksleep, go to her house, chat/sleep, get up and go to the festival! I also plan on going to the Ravelry Party at Columbia if I'm not completely pooped out after day 1 of the festival. I still need to figure out where I want to go though - I want to try out some spinning wheel during this festival, and save up the $$ this year to get one next year. Oh I can't wait!!!

I better go get ready for that sock pattern. The next time I post, hopefully I will have some socks to show!!! And lots of pictures and loot I'm sure! :)

Sock Knitters Pentathlon #1

So I must be insane when AuntLizzy (Ravelry ID) messaged me and invited me to join the Sock Knitters Pentathlon (The Ravelry one is here) to celebrate the Olympics. At first I wasn't sure, but then I decided to join since I have two months to make a pair of socks.

But then, things changed. One of the knitters asked if the moderator would consider changing the pattern release time each time so it will be more fair to each continent. You see, the first pattern was released at midnight March 1st, so PST is still at 9pm and Europe just woke up, and Asia is in the middle of the day. If the moderator always release it at midnight EST, eastern US America will always have that disadvantage of not able to cast on right at the time of the pattern release.

I thought it was a legitimate question, but apparently not to some others. Some of the comments from these people are "Are you really that competitive? This is a celebration of the Olympics, not some crazy competition!" or "I'm just happy to participate and learn. There is no need to be so competitive!". And when one of the ladies from Sweden finished the pair of sock in 9 hours, the message became "Why would you stay up all night knitting it? Knitting should be fun and relaxing!"

So this is what I have to say - WTF???? Here is the definition of the Olympics:

Olympics Games: : the modern revival of the ancient games held once every 4 years in a selected country.

Need I say more? Olympics itself have many contests within it! Olympics IS competition and the whole point of a pentathlon was to compete on knitting socks! So I decided that I WILL stay up all night and finish those damn socks, just to prove my point!

Pattern - Jacobean by Julie Persinger
Yarn Used - Almost 2 balls of Regia Stretch Color in semisolid blue
Needles - Option size 0
Gauge - 8 sts per inch
Knit - March 01, 08 to March 02, 2008

Yes, you read that right. I stayed up Saturday from midnight all the way through, went to bed on Saturday at 11pm and got up at 9am and finished Sunday night.

I knitted these toe up with my usual magic cast on. I did modify the pattern to fit my itty bitty feet. Instead of cast on 26 stitches, I only did 22, and increased until I have total of 58 stitches. But I forgot how stretchy the yarn was and if I were to do it again, I would decrease even more to 54 stitches only. The pattern itself was pretty easy to modify - I just decease the side panel charts to 4 knit stitches instead of 5 specified. Since I didn't have to do a lot of increase or decrease, I left the center panel alone, but I can see how easily the diamond pattern can be modified as well. I originally did the decrease bind off but it wasn't as flexible as I needed since I'm more of a tight knitter, so I redid the bind off using EZ's sewn bind off, the first one came out perfect, but the second one was still kind of tight. Oh well.

This pattern would certainly be rated as beginner pattern in my book - all you need to know is knit and purl. So for all your sock virgins out there - try this pattern!

Until the next socks pattern release (May 1st). I'm out.

psst... I'm ranked #28 so far... But due to some people who can't follow instructions, there are some "In Progress" photos in the "Finished" folder. So I should really be 27, but I have a feeling that I will be stuck in 28. No, I'm not competitive at all. :P