Summer goals and a contest heads up

Ali's having a contest. You can go to her blog and read all about it. She wants to know where you first read about her contest and a list of your summer knitting goals . It would be nice if I knew what mine were, but this will make me put them into words and on paper and perhaps I will actually accomplish them.

The plans in my head were a summer of socks, a pair every couple of weeks. I've got gorgeous yarns (Sock Hop Handspun, STR, Wollmeise, Jitterbug, Koigu, etc.), lots of patterns I want to do, most of them CookieA's, but there's a couple of Jeanie Townsend's in there, plus Sock Club from STR. There is a wonderful cotton/rayon nubby tunic that I almost finished last year, missing a couple of inches on the sleeves, a Fiddlesticks lace shawl in Sari Silk that lacks less than two rows, a ruana in Noro that only needs a billion ends worked in, a Sunburst Sari Silk purse that just needs the lining cut, a Clapotis in EL Silky Tweed that's half knitted, five or six pair of socks in various stages of knitting. It would really feel good to finish up a lot of UFOs before fall, clearing out the famous UFO chair.

So here is the famous chair, home to many, but not all, UFOs
Here is one of the unfinished socks, Ann Budd's pattern in Elann Esprit, and I love it. It's mate is missing an inch and a toe.
And here are several pairs at different points of completion. The STR Twin Rib socks on the right are actually finished and worn. We have STR, Koigu and Fleece Artist represented here.
And this beauty is a CookieA Baudelaire done in STR midweight, Rare Gems colorway. There are actually two of these at the same point. I ran out of yarn as usual (what fun to have size 10, high arched, long heeled feet) and had to scramble to find something with which to finish them that didn't look too awful. Darling G from our Sisters of the Wool offered up the remainders of a Rare Gem she had knitted up in order to finish, it's rustier, but should work fine. These will be done soon.

So head on over to Ali's, make your list, and good luck to you.

STR Heavyweight Stash Flash

STRHeavyweight, originally uploaded by angeluna1.

And a bit more Yarn Pron for your general amusement. STR heavyweight turns out to be a bit too "thick" for my high arches. Socks made with it won't fit down into my shoes, so these are becoming Chevron Scarves. Except I will use one for a new Cat Bordhi design that was made for this weight.

The beginning of a Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts in STR Heavyweight, Amber and Moss Agate, sz. 7 needles. I might even use size 8 next time to give it more drape. There is a beautiful Flickr group devoted to these. Completely addictive.

Advance SockMadness Stash

SockMadness Stash, originally uploaded by angeluna1.

A bit of sock stash that was organized for Sock Madness. Never got all that far in that frenetic speed knitting contest. Life and Camp Cockamamie with the infernal chicken flu I brought home got in the way. But it was great fun and I followed it to the end. Most people will sign up again next time around. Here we have Koigu, Green Mountain Spinnery, Lorna's Laces, Mountain Colors and Lotus Blosom Twinkle Toes. Hilariously, I ended up not using any of these in the competition. Once you see the pattern, it changes everything. Now several of those Sock Madness speed demons were knitting a pair of socks in under a day.