On Thursday I went to the Ravelry meetup at Unwind Yarn. I wish I had some pics, but I didn’t even think to bring a camera. D’uoh! It was really fun. I got to meet Casey and Jess, and talked to Casey for a while about programming. He’s very cute and kind of shy. Go figure, a shy programmer?!

The place was packed when I got there around 7pm. I didn’t know anyone there except Stephanie. I was hoping I’d run into a friend, but I guess I should have brought one. My brain just doesn’t work that way.

After a while I decided that I just wanted to sit and knit so I took out my RSS (Really Simple Socks). Here’s a pic of the leg. It’s a little hard to see the detail. Right now I’m at the point of starting the heel. These socks are my own design with a little help from a pair of store bought socks that I’ve had for years. I’ve been looking at them since I picked up knitting again and I’ve been wanting to try the pattern. Well, they are finally wearing through the heel, so I thought I’d give it a go. These are one repeat shy of the store bought ones. The yarn they use is much thinner.

Designing is a goal I have for myself this year. This is the first project, other than the Sky Wrap Scarf that I designed quite by accident. By the way, I have uncovered the directions for the original Wrap/Scarf that I thought just couldn’t be what I saw at the store. Attached were directions from the web that I used as a start, but even they are not what I ended up with. I will write up what I did. I remember most of it, but I’ll have to make a sample just to be sure.

Back at the Ravelry party, as soon as I whipped out my socks, I got lots of comments and compliments. I talked to Laura, tinkknitter on Ravelry who I hadn’t seen for a long time. She works at Unwind sometimes. I met Lucky Penny who I can’t find on Ravelry right now, and a couple of gals from a church across town. One of the women was really outgoing and saw that I was knitting two socks on two circulars. She was intrigued by this and asked if she could watch because she had always wanted to try it. Her friend is a crocheter that she’s trying to convert into a knitter. As we talked we discovered that we know some people in common. The choir director at our church used to give lessons to their kids and a woman that started the walking group at our church are friends of theirs. Small world, huh?

After the crowds thinned out I was able to move around and bought this beautiful shawl pin and these yarns. I’m trying out the wrap again in this Tough Love sock yarn from sweetgeorgia. The color is just gorgeous! I’m not sure it wants to be the wrap though. I think it may be calling out to be Pomatomus. The colors remind me of a beautiful Hawaiian ocean, crystal clear water and the scales of a fish. We’ll see…

I’m not sure why I bought the Manos de Uruguay except that I kept picking up the skein. It’s so soft, and the colors… Alright, you got me. I bought it because it was love at first sight. I don’t know what I will make with 175 yards yet. They only had the one skein because it is a prototype. I think it might be a spring scarf of some sort.

The shawl pin was complete impulse. Ummm, weren’t the yarns too? Anyway, I needed a shawl pin. I have a wooden one, but I never wear it because it needs finishing.

So silly of me. I was telling the ladies that I was trying to use up my stash yarn before buying any more. That was before I saw these wonderful yarns. Also, the entry fee to the party was to be used toward any purchase made that night. I couldn’t let that go, could I?