Emptyknitster

Hubby is always on the lookout for new adventures when we visit Hawaii. This year he found a lava tube tour touted as the longest lava tubes in the world. Still thinking we are young kids he signed us up for the three hour tour.  Our fellow tour mates were thirty somethings from France calling themselves "Team France."  Let me just say it was quite a workout! I hadn't brought any sturdy shoes with me on this trip so we stopped and bought some cheap shoes. By the time our tour was over the shoes were chewed up and the soles had separated form the tops and they were trash! I'd recommend this tour. Kula Kai Cavern's are located on the Mauna Loa slope near the South Point. They are estimated to be 1000 years old, one of the youngest tubes, and are several miles long.  The next day I had several lovely bruises to show for my endeavors!

Our first day in Hawaii there were a few scattered showers but it didn't keep us from our favorite place on the island, Hapuna Beach. I started these socks for our trip, so happy we stopped a day or so in California to see family before heading to Hawaii. Quick vanilla socks with a few slipped stitches here and there whenever contrasting colors popped up on the sock and they were soon done while doing my beach knitting! Pattern: Dish Lips Kiss Heel by Sox Therapist Yarn: Regia 4-fadig 4 ply Colorway: 03707 Blue Needle Size: US Size 1

    "It was the courteous thing to do, considering the alternatives..."

Yesterday it was a record breaking sixty-eight degrees and today....three inches of snow in two hours, Montana weather! Just a quick pair of vanilla socks to finish the month for a total of six for the month! Pattern: Vanilla Socks with Fish Lip Kiss Heels by Sox Therapist Yarn: Regia 4-fadig Colorway: Raureif 01746 Needle Size; US Size 1

I had intended on naming these socks after my great grandmother, Emily Caroline Plowman but the socks ended up just to substantial. Years ago my mother shared Emily was a very dainty lady who wore lots of handmade lace which Emily had her daughter in law starch and iron each week! Emily definitely had illusions of grandeur! So as the socks were completed, I realized they should be named after my great great grandfather, Jonathan Plowman. They reminded me of the nice straight rows a plow makes in the soil as it is being tilled and great great grandfather did acquire many many acres of Illinois farm land in his lifetime. Pattern: Plowman Socks by Emptknitster, Fishlips Kiss Heel Yarn: Cascade 150 Sock Yarn, Cascade Heritage Paints Colorway: Cinnamon, Autumn Needle Size: US Size 1

The California Dreamin' Gal asked if I would make a quilt for a special friend's much desired new arrival. The baby is a boy and I think I've written about the difficulty I've been having finding material for boy's quilts. So with the one stipulation daughter choose the fabric we were golden.  She brought up several batik fabrics and we strategized their placement and cut the quilt pieced out. This week I settled into the fiber room and completed the unusual baby quilt and it's just absolutely perfect! 

I forget how much I like the look of mosaic socks until I see them on The Chick. I knit her a pair several years ago and she often wears them when I'm around, like this past Christmas. The main color is gray and the background is a variety of our family's Easter yarn we dyed together a few years ago, beautiful! (2015) The Grocery Girls sponsor a Sock Bash every year and the featured sock of the month is the mosaic sock pattern. I was all about it! SO these are my second pair for the month and to top it off, I decided to do a little designing and  I love the sock pattern! As I knit them I thought how I forget about mosaic stitch until once in a while someone reminds me just like I'm certain I got a nudge to find and remember my fourth great grandmother, Isabella Burritt, I love her name! It just seemed natural to name this pattern after her but as I finished this pair I was just a bit sad and realized I wanted to continue to try to design more mosaic socks and n...