I took lots of pictures! muha ha ha ha

So i finally got the camera battery charged enough to get the pictures off the camera and up on my blog. I am going to pretty much just post all the pictures at once! The blue pictures are me knitting in the Centenial Park on the 4th of July, and my new $3 on sale yarn from a LYS. I also splurged and bought some Bryspun size 2 needles. I usually go with the lovely Brittany needles, but am so tired of breaking them. So far the Bryspun are a thumbs up! Unfortunatley I did some internet searching and it looks like Bryspun is discontinuing them :(
I want to get knitpicks dpns... but haven't had the courage to order $40 worth of yarn for free shipping yet. I don't need more yarn.... and i don't need $40 of needles!
The yarn is regia, and the pattern is just a general toe up pattern with an "invisible" cast on. Instead of increasing in the stitches, such as a knit 1- knit into the back of the stitch, I decided to try a yarn over. I know... its silly they are socks, not a raglan pullover... but I wanted to see what it would look like and if it would still keep the reciever warm. I think it will be fine. Brian, my fiancee is the reciever of these socks... but I told him if they don't fit him they are MINE! (I am hoping just a little tiny bit that they don't fit him...)
The yarn below, the pretty pink stuff is some laceweight yarn I bought at another LYS about a month ago. I was going to make a beautiful lace shawl for a friend from church, an A/C shawl... But the pattern was just too complicated for my rather hurried personality. Perhaps when life is slowed down a bit more I will do it.
Anyway I decided that I would rather do Clapotis, which everyone on the internet has probably already done... I have started it a few times, but never gotten very far. I really loved the effect of the colorway pictured, but could not afford lorna's Laces. And honestly... as much as I love to knit, I am not spending over $100 on yarn. I can't afford to do that, and even when I can, I doubt I will be able to justify it.
This yarn is Nature Spun fingering weight by Brown Sheep Company- Peruvian Pink. I didn't dislike the pink, but if I was going to knit miles and miles of stockinette, I wanted something that would keep me intoxicated with color. So i pulled out a few yards and did some test dyeing... and oddly enough while I like the dye tests, the full colors it came out with are so much better than I planned.
I did the microwave dyeing technique which is super easy. I did soak the yarn first, which I think makes the colors more likely to ease into eachother.
I did a big bowl of water in the middle, and four smaller glasses of water and color around the outside.
Kudos to my 17 year old brother, who was sorta willing to help me skein the yarn. We used two chairs about 5-7 feet apart.
I am just so pleased with the way this turned out and I think it will be a perfect fit for Kathy, who isn't girly enough to like an all pink shawl. :)

I have also cast on for Tempting II- in a pretty green. I will post pics of that when I am farther along. I was kinda frustrated because the gauge swatch I did was correct. I even knit the gauge in the round so that I would be sure it was accurate. However, the gauge swatch wasn't big enough to deal with the weight of the TCL cotton blend I am using, and the XXL I cast on for came out over 10 inches larger than it was supposed to when I allowed it to relax correctly on a flat surface. Grrr.
So I remeasured. I decided my gauge was more accurate at 4 st/inch and have decided to use "negative ease" and go with 50 inches. (I am a big girl and have a 54" bust.) I hope it works, but if it doesn't I won't have lost too much. The yarn only cost about $20, which is a relief.
Well, hope to make progress and post again soon!
Sharah