Tricia

Cotty my Cotty

Another pair of socks done! This pattern by Irish Girlie is a wonderful way to show off any variegated colorway. The fun and simple lace can be easily customized to a toe up formula as I did.

Also, I did a bit of a short cuff and needed the hugginess of a rib at the top. I worked with the Cotty lace pattern and my Cotty rib goes something like this:

after the last lace row.
Row 1: *K1, M1, K2, M1, K1, M1 [repeat from *]
Row 2: *K1, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1 [*repeat from *]
Repeat row 2 until rib is desired length.

I think I’ll try the picot edge cuff next time (and I will be knitting another pair). I recently found a great technique in Wendy D. Johnson’s book “Socks from the Toe Up.”

Pattern: Cotty by IGK available for purchase
Yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight
Colorway: My Blue Heron (I dyed it at Sock Camp!)
Modifications: Toe up, My Cotty Rib (see above)

Oh – Joey would like you all to know that the photoshoot did not go unsupervised.

Quick knitted handwarmers – my new favorite portable project

I’ve knitted 3 pairs of these Toasty handwarmers out of baby alpaca yarn and I love the soft warmth they provide. Toasties are my new favorite gift to give. Here in the San Francisco area they keep the chill away during our foggy mornings and evenings. So even my pals that have August birthdays can use them right away.

Knit in the round on size 7 needles (I use two short circular needles because the yarn stays on better when I throw the project in my purse.)

Pattern: Toasty by Leslie Friend available for free on her blog – Thanks Leslie!
Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande Hand Dye
Colorway: 7 (Teal)
Modifications: I knit the cuff a little shorter on this pair and I had leftover yarn from one skein. I’ve done a pair with the exact specifications of her pattern and it takes exactly one skein of yarn. I knit one then weighed the remaining and they were equal.

BlogHer 2009 – Thanks be to all

Thank you to every single person who made BlogHer 2009 possible. Founders, staff, panelists, and sponsors – you are all an essential part of what has become my favorite gathering of the year.

The Right Stuff

This year there seems to be a huge amount of talk about the “stuff.” I am overwhelmed and grateful for the many items I received, but what I will keep forever are the genuine hugs I got from people I’ve never been in the same room with before in my life, the enthusiastic greetings from those I only see once a year, and the great conversations and sharing of ideas with new friends.

As a BlogHer veteran, – I have been present at every BlogHer since the very first in 2005 – I have seen the conference and organization morph and grow. Just like me. I am not the same exact person I was in 05 and neither is the Blogosphere. We all must change to grow, to remain fresh and relevant. And to survive. I wish all organizations would take the time to follow BlogHer’s practice of evaluating each conference and wholeheartedly embracing what works.

She’s Geeky

The GeekLab was new this year and I don’t think I’m the only one who found it to be a great fit for BlogHer. I attended a couple of advanced sessions: one on WordPress and another on PHP. The sessions themselves help me understand more of the nuts and bolts behind my blog and also provided me with resources to continue to learn more. (I’ll probably be posting more about this geeky side as I learn.)

I came away mulling the possibility of a photography “Lab” group of sessions. There could be something on craft photography, food photography, portraiture, capturing family moments, etc.

Why didn’t I remember my tissues?

This is only the second year of the Community Keynote but I cannot imagine a BlogHer without Eden Kennedy’s labor of love. It is a very special time for us all to laugh and cry and cry with laughter. Together, in real life, sitting side-by-side showing one another what we do when we read the posts in our homes, our offices, our local cafes.

Thank you so very much for sharing it all, and thank you BlogHer for being the place we can go to find each other.