The much anticipated socks have arrived!

The socks from my sockapalooza pal, Pam arrived today! I still don't have a clue how to give a link embedded in her name, but her site is here: http://bluemoonknitting.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_bluemoonknitting.html
She drew a cute pair of socks on the outside of the box, so I knew what it was when it arrived on my porch. The whole family gathered around to see what I got. (My children were dismayed when they found out I was mailing the Denmark socks off to someone else. I had already explained that I would be getting socks in return from my sock pal.)
I like this yarn enough that I would have chosen it myself. And I love stripes. (I took a trip across the country with 2 of my children a couple of months ago, and didn't realize that I had dressed all of us in stripes. A man behind me at the airport thought it was quite funny. I swear that despite my affection for stripes, we are not a family of jailbirds!)
Good going, Pam! Thanks so much for taking the time to knit for me!

Could I possibly complete it in time???

I want to be wearing this sweater to church on Easter morning, a week from today.It's supposed to go with a patchwork skirt that I'm making for myself, which will match my 2 daughter's dresses.
This simple sweater has had many false starts. I wanted to try out a new fiber, and something new is exactly what I got. It's bamboo! Who would have ever thought that bamboo could be made into such a silky fabric???
This yarn is soft, beautiful, and silky. So silky, in fact, that my first several stitch patterns didn't even show up when I knit them. The yarn is just too drapey, and it looked like I had knitted a bunch of knots and tried to pass it off as a design element. I started over (and over, and over) and finally came to the realization that this sweater would have to be primarily a stockinette affair. I knit several inches, and THEN realized that my gauge was off. (No, I didn't do a gauge swatch. And I think this was the first time that I've ever been that stupid. It's just that I've gotten to the point that I'm usually at the recommended gauge with the recommended needles lately, so I thought I'd save time by skipping that step. Didn't save time.) Ripped my progress and started again, with the correct gauge chart. Knit about 9 inches, held it up and thought, "HMMM, this looks a little small. AACK! It IS too small! I might have been able to get it on, but it would look like spandex. I guess all of the chocolate is catching up with me :-(
Ripped again. (I had hubby do it. I didn't have the heart to.) I've lost count of how many starts this sweater has actually had, but I'm finally cruising, and hoping that it'll be done in time. Maybe I should call the Stephanie the harlot, and Alison, and have them send some speed knitting vibes my way.

C'est Finis!

My sockapalooza socks are going out to my pal today. I'm pretty happy with them, and I hope she will be too. She's overseas, so I wish I had gotten them out a little earlier, but this was the best I could do. I tried my best to get them done before Friday, but it just wasn't happening. (The fact that Friday was mine and my husband's 10th anniversary probably had something to do with that!)
I really enjoyed this, and now can't wait to see what finds it's way to my mailbox!

Ahh, That's more like it!

The new and improved Sockapalooza sock:


The first sockapalooza sock was unwound (may it rest in peace) and replaced with this pattern, which I'm much happier with. It's "Denmark" from Nancy Bush's "Knitting on the Road".
I've got to make it's mate, but I think I'll be done in plenty of time, and now at least I have something that I don't dread sending!