What does one do with an entire bag of Noro?

Well, of course, one must use all of it! I know! I know! I could use what I needed for a project and leave the rest of the bag for a later date, but that just felt wrong somehow. I began my Noro journey with an entrelac scarf for myself. I LOVE it! I was worried while I was working on it, because, let's face it, even silk garden (did I mention that I was using silk garden?) doesn't feel that great while you're working with it. But, oh my goodness, does it ever block up nice!

So, the scarf took four balls. Do the math, I have six left. This is a respectable number to leave in the stash, but I wasn't ready to stop playing with it, so a slip-stich scarf (again, for me) was next. Okay, I'm feeling a little guilty now, I haven't worn it yet, maybe it will go in the "gift box" for someone else. I don't know, I'll figure that out later.

Shortly after I got this done, (it took two balls, bringing me down to four) I realized that I was having a Christmas party the following night, and it would probably be a good idea to have something for my Dirty Santa Swap. (No, the gifts weren't risque, the "dirty" came from the fact that we could steal other people's stuff) So, I whipped up a Lotus Leaf scarf. Unfortunately, I didn't photograph it before the party, but here's a picture of one of the subsequent ones that got made. Three more, for a total of four, which killed off the rest of the bag.

And a family photo of what can be made with a bag of Noro Silk Garden (minus the scarf that was gifted prior to photographing).

I'm really digging the Lotus Leaf scarf pattern. It works up super quick and everyone has seemed to like them (I've given two away so far, but some of my other friends have put in requests). My friend, Kate (of Bean-sitting fame), requested that I make one to donate to her Mardi Gras marching club's silent auction, but instead of wanting one of the Noro ones, she wanted something pink, sparkly and fabulous, so this one, made out of Karabella Pima Gold, was born. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to make another one for her when she sees it.

Also, my friend who got the first scarf during my Christmas party called yesterday (while I happened to be in a yarn store, go figure) and asked if I would be willing to make one for her child's physical therapist as a belated Christmas present. So, I picked up some really pretty red Cascade 220 and made this one for her. Even made myself $20! I wasn't going to charge her for it, but since she was giving it as a gift, she wanted to buy it.

What else have I been doing? Well, I finished this really great pair of socks for my friend, Kelly's, birthday present (only two months after the actual birthday!). They are made with yarn from the Knit Witch in the Brewtopia colorway, which is kinda perfect since I call her "Beer Kelly". (I have two Kelly's in my near group of friends and when referring to them to Hubby, I have to clarify which one I'm talking about. She likes beer. The other one is short, so she's "Little Kelly". I'm not terribly creative.)

Also, I'm participating in Sock Wars V later this month, so I decided to test myself to see how quickly I could whip up a pair of socks that actually had a pretty complicated lace pattern to them. The good news is that I knocked out these bad boys in one weekend, the bad news is I really hurt my left hand. It was pretty sore after I finished up, most likely because I was holding the yarn differently to accomodate a new purling technique, called Norwegian Purl. I like it a lot because you don't have to shift the yarn to the front of the piece to accomplish a purl stitch, saving precious seconds when knitting for speed. These are called Flying V socks. I like that pattern a lot and wish I'd done them with a prettier color. I was just using the brown because they were practice socks and I just didn't care.

Sock Wars is a contest with about 200 knitters from all over the world. At the kick-off, you get a dossier with your "target". The point is to assisinate them by sending them a pair of socks from a specific pattern that will be released all at the same time before the person that had your dossier can assisinate you. During Sock Wars there is a side contest called Iron Knitter that I will also be participating in. During this, contestants will be knitting six pairs of socks. In each heat, a certain number of knitters who finish the pattern first will move on to the next heat. The knitter who finishes the sixth sock first, wins. So,wish me luck in the contests! I'm out to win a bunch of sock yarn from the Cocoa Beach Yarn Company.