Shark Week 2017!

Another year of Shark Week, another shark-themed project to tackle (pun intended). Jimmy Beans Wool had a limited release of the Shark Bait colorway and stitchmarkers and the pattern I'm planning to tackle is by Lara Smoot. She designed the Jaws socks I knit last year as well as the Fright Night socks I made.

Little Man is ready for Shark Week too!!

New Shark Stitchmarkers!

Yes, I already have shark stitch markers. But, since shark-themed crafty items bring me joy,they're pretty inexpensive AND they take up no additional room because they all fit in my stitch marker storage...AND these were REALLY ingenious...I ordered them!

Silly Sheep Designs doesn't usually carry this set, they were created ahead of Shark Week. The were really fun to unwrap...everything was in a pretty cellophane package with a floral decoration. There were stickers and a bag of tea AND a shark water toy!

All the stitch markers were shipped on a storage ring to keep them together (love that) and I love the jaws marker...it moves! The jaws open and shut! It'll take some self control to keep from playing with it when I have it hanging from my knitting!

The Shallows!

You know me well enough to know I love a theme...so I just HAD to wear my Shark Bite socks when Hubby and I watched The Shallows! They my toes toasty warm during the chilling scenes ;)

Shark Bite Socks!

 I had a couple of do-overs with these socks, but I'm so happy with how these came out it was worth it! I had to restart the intarsia section because the shark was puckered...then the foot was off so I had to rip back and start it over. But you know what? It's worth it when you're happy with the project in the end. And these were so much easier than the Shark Week socks I made! I used the yarns called for by the pattern, and I love the colors!

Tennis and Pool Fun

How has the summer flown by so fast? I had so many plans for everything I wanted to do with Little Man, and it feels like I only did half of it! We were able to get out today and play some tennis together. And then we headed to the pool to cool off. I took lunch with us and I knit a little too.

I took a photo of my knitting and you can see the shark bag and DPN holder that matches it!

I love this set! It makes working on my Shark Bite socks so fun...and really convenient for carrying around!

I Told You I Needed More!

The sewing machine was already out...so it was nothing to quickly sew up this shark DPN holder!! And it's just in time to hold stitches on the needles of my Shark Bite sock!

Pictured below is the 2nd sock. I knit the entire intarsia (picture part)of the first sock, then planned to knit the entire intarsia part for the 2nd. But I changed how I carried the yarn on the 2nd sock and didn't have the puckering that I had on the first...and decided I needed to take the 1st sock apart and knit it again...because it would have bothered me too much to have a rippled looking shark on my sock...can you see the difference? I didn't carry the yarn on the better sock. It made the knitting a little more of a pain...but the shark looks SO much better!

No bueno...hated how this one looked! Glad I took the time to redo it and make it better!

Shark Cuddles

I am here to tell you...when I saw this huge stuffed shark I had to have it. It was at IKEA and it was soft and cuddly...pretty inexpensive too. So I picked it up. Bought it. We got it home and Little Man quickly wanted to make friends with it. I had to tell him it was mine. I share, but keep my ownership rights...he's the one who loves to cuddle it during Shark Week though!

Shark Bite for Shark Week!

While we were traveling North to visit my family we stayed overnight in West Virginia. We ate dinner and then came back to the hotel so we'd have some time for Little Man to swim in the indoor pool a little. Then, in a moment of pure bliss, I grabbed a glass of wine from the cocktail lounge and sipped it in the room while I watched Jaws on the iPad and cast-on my Shark Bite socks. I was hoping to get one sock done before Shark Week and then knit the other one during Shark Week...we'll see how that goes. I haven't made a ton of socks...but this pair will be different in a couple of ways. First, they have intarsia colorwork....so there will be a "picture" knit in them by changing yarn colors. Second, these you start by knitting them flat,then after getting through the cuff and the 67 rows of intarsia you stat knitting them in the round for the heel, foot and cuff. Then you seam up the leg portion. I'm so excited for another pair of shark-themed socks...and these seem like they will be SO much easier than my LAST pair. Which is a good thing!!

Beach Fun & Knitting

We took our last beach trip of the year. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful.  We never see them, but we saw a starfish!

I kept at my Italian slipper socks...hopefully they'll be finished soon!

And look how many shark teeth we found!  44!

It's Not Safe To Get Back in the Water!!

Because the Shark Week socks are finally finished!! These were such a bitch to knit. Thank God for Ravelry because some of the instructions I don't think I would have figured out myself. Every section is hard...and then, just when you think maybe you "get" the designer and how she writes things up she totally threw you for a loop. There weren't stitch counts for the majority of the knitting and you have to flip back and forth between multiple pages of the 50+ page booklet that is the directions...oh, and then I ran out of yarn...BOO. BUT, where there's a will there's a way, and I finished these bad boys and will wear them for Shark Week for years to come! They'll be a badge of honor...the hardest project I have EVER knit!

We won't talk about the issues with the socks...we'll just ignore them and focus on the fact that they look like sharks and socks!

Father's Day 2015!

Father's Day 2015 started with breakfast made for Hubby, and then some presents and cards.  Later we went to the aquarium (Hubby and I with our one-time visit passes and Little Man with his annual pass that we all received for the lake clean-up).

After the aquarium we actually split-up. We all went to the movies, but while Hubby and Little Man went to see Inside Out, I went to see a special showing of JAWS for its 40th anniversary. I'd never seen it in a movie theater (thought I've watched it A LOT), and sitting in a theater with every seat filled with a JAWS fan was awesome. They asked trivia questions before the movie, and it was great to hear all the people shouting out the answers.

Next post: BACK TO CRAFTY NEWS!

Shark Week!

 I'm a fiend for Shark Week! Every year for a week the Discovery Channel has all new shark-themed programming focused entirely on sharks.  My family and I love learning about sharks...and you may remember I love a theme...so a few years ago when I saw this pattern for socks called Shark Week...I knew I would have to knit them.  But unfortunately the pattern wasn't available for purchase.  As part of a club the designer posted that the pattern would be available in 2013...and then when it did become available (only as a kit) it was only if you could make it to a Northern fiber festival.  And then... the week before Shark Week...I received an email from the designer's mailing list.  At high noon, she would open up a flash sale of a limited number of kits that were available for purchase and would be mailed in time to start knitting for Shark Week.  It was a dream come true!!!  I set the alarm on my phone and was ready exactly at noon to snatch up a kit.  After some technical glitches I scored my very own Shark Week sock kit. (All the kits sold out in less than an hour) YES!!!

My huge pattern booklet, custom yarn dyed just for this kit, and misc other required items arrived in a package with everything bundled in a net-like bag.  

While at the beach...while watching Shark Week and Jaws I started them..over and over again.  This pattern is unlike any I've ever encountered.  I had to restart 4 times and get help from kind knitters on Ravelry in order to make it past this section...

to get to this section...

for every section I hold my breath hoping I get it right and don't run into any more issues.

but every night I've tried to knit a little further.

And while the fit isn't perfect

Sock #1 definitely is looking like a sock! Wish me luck!

Getting Ready for Shark Week

Next week is my favorite week of television all year...it's SHARK WEEK on Discovery Channel!!  Lots of fun shows and learning....we watched it when I was a kid and it's still something I look forward to, maybe more now than then.  Anyhoo....loving a theme the way I do...I ordered these little shark charms to make some stitchmarkers for shark week.

Stay tuned for the next part of the theme ;)