Friday evening, my nieces spent the night.  As usual, when I broke out the knitting, the girls were spewing with interest.  Every time I knit in front of them, they want to help.  Until Friday, I figured they wouldn't be able to get it, however, I decided to let them both help.  It started with just letting them wrap my yarn around the needle, then I did everything else.  That went on for a short while, but Rachel (the oldest) wanted to do more.  So I let her bring the loop she just wrapped through the stitch on the left hand needle, and the girl picked up on it SO quickly.

She was so very happy to help me knit a sock!  It was the best to see the look on her face after she "actually" knit.

But that wasn't all she wanted to do.  So, I gathered up some old yarn,  and cast on a few stitches.  And I taught my niece how to knit.

I have never been more proud of anyone in my entire life.  She did such a good job on the scarf that she's knitting, and let me just tell you, she is a true knitter at heart.  Saturday morning, when I woke up, the first thing I heard... "Aunt Amy, can we knit?"

See the progresss?  I only one or two of those rows by myself, in order to fix some little mistakes.  She's awesome!!!

I am so very proud of myself.  When I came home from MDS&W, I felt a little overwhelmed at all of the yarn (yarn that I have yet to knit, by the way).  But at Rhinebeck, I restrained myself a bit. 

OK, so maybe I didn't practice that much restraint - as I'm not even showing you 1200 yards of something I bought for my Secret Pal.  But still... not SO much sock yarn.  And NO fiber.  I was very, very tempted, as I was travelling with a pretty seasoned spinner, however, I resisted.  In more detail, here's my stash.

This is the second-to-last skein of lightweight Socks that Rock (in the Lagoon coloway) from The Fold.  We got to Rhinebeck a little before 9, so we were able to get to the booth right away.  Heather and I snagged the last two skeins of lightweight that they carried.  GO US!  While we were there, I chatted with Knitty D of Knitty D and the City.  Pretty cool to chat with a blog-lebrity.

I also snagged these two skeins of mediumweight Socks that Rock.

Puck's Mischief

Waterlillies

I really wasn't going to buy it in the medium weight, however, I can always gift it, or use it.  I love the colors, so I am happy.

After that purchase, I wanted to be done, but I found this yarn for $2 a skein.

Brown Sheep Nature Spun in basic red.  This will make some great red scarves - as gifts or for charity.

Then I thought for sure I was finished, but Ellen's Half Pint Farm cannot be passed up.  So I snagged this yummy skein of sock yarn.

I love their colors, and the sock yarn is really nice.  I have yet to knit with it of course, but soon... very soon.

That was all I got on Saturday (besides the Secret Pal gift) and on Sunday, I found the solid sock yarn for Bayerische.

I think the socks will look awesome in this color.  Its plain, boring Regia yarn, and I love it.

So that's my haul.  I had a fantastic time with Andi and Heather!  And it was good to run into Amanda Cathleen, Sarah, Anne Marie, and to finally meet Carrie.  I was sad to not see a few people, but there's always next year.

Tomorrow morning (later today, actually) I will be heading off to Rhinebeck.  WOOOOOO!!!!  I'm so very EXCITED.  Since I'm a square on Saturday, I wanted to post a picture of myself before I left.

This is the best picture I have of me.  I might not be wearing the glasses on Saturday, though.  My hair is shoulder-length and brown.  My eyes are blue.  And I will be carrying this bag.

The flipside of the bag has the official "I'm a Square" logo on it.  Can't wait to meet everyone!

I got to go to the orthopedic doctor today.  He confirmed the break, which for some reason makes me feel better.  I don't know why, but I was afraid he was going to tell me it was all in my head.  He also told me there is nothing they can do except let it heal.  I'm not to lift my shoulder for six weeks.  SIX!  But that's not so bad, I guess.  I'm no longer sling-bound, and he said knitting wasn't a big deal.  He doesn't mind me using my hand or bending my elbow... just NO LIFTING.  If I lift it, he said I could separate the piece of bone that cracked and then I'd need surgery to repair it. So for now, I'm just to take the pain meds and take it easy.

I'm so appreciative of everyone that has wished me well.  It is such an awesome thing to see how many people out there care.  Really, I'm touched.

For those that are concerned, I'll still be at Rhinebeck.  A little thing like a broken bone isn't going to stop me.

I'm seriously thinking that I need to change the title of my blog to something like "I Heart Knitting... and I also Hurt Myself a LOT". Because Thursday night, I hurt myself. Badly.

I spent the day with my mom, my sister, and my Aunt who is up from Florida. We went to my niece's soccer game in the evening, and nearly froze our bums off, so when I got home, heat was the first thing on my mind. Well, that's kind of a lie. Grey's Anatomy was the first thing on my mind - it was 8:50. With ten minutes to spare, I figured I could turn the heater on, change into some warm clothes, and maybe make some hot chocolate before Grey's started. As I tried to turn on the gas heater in the dark, I realized that light would be fantastic. I ran over to the light switch, and headed back to the heater, but as I came back to the heater, something happened.

Now, the details are a bit fuzzy, as I'm on LOADS of vicadin right now, but somehow I twisted my ankle. (FYI, not the one that I broke back in March) Was it a cat running in front of me that caused me to fall? Was it the new rug I put down? Could it have been the shoes that I was wearing? Was it possibly my own clumsiness? Whatever the case, down I went. The left ankle turned, and I tried to stop myself with my right arm. I hit the heater, denting the grate in the process, and then fell on my right knee. After I hit the grate, I must have bounced off of it, and down to the ground, because I remember hitting my hand, HARD, on the ground, and then, in my shoulder, I heard POP.

So I'm lying on the ground, and I know I can't really move my arm, but I'm more concerned about my ankle. I've sprained the right one so many times, I should start a frequent sprainer program. I didn't want the left one to be all weak and twisty like the right one.  I'm attempting to take stock of the situation, and I'm telling myself "You're fine. You're OK. You don't have to call anyone for help. You can get up on your own." The pep talk helped a bit, so I got up, and decided that I better get those warm clothes on before Grey's comes on. Well, as soon as I put some weight on my arm to help me get up, I knew I was hurt. I managed to get up, and I tried to change into warm clothes, but for some reason, I couldn't lift my arm up.

Now, living with your parents does have advantages in times like these. I went upstairs, and my mom immediately knew something was wrong. She told me we should go to the hospital, but no, I was alright, I just need to ice my shoulder and sit down and watch Grey's and I'll be fine. Well, by the first commercial, I couldn't stand the pain, so my mom, my aunt, and I piled into the car and went to the hospital. Two hours later, I learn that I've fractured my shoulder.

There's honestly nothing they can do except for physical therapy.  The way that I've broke it is kind of weird.  Basically, I've just jammed a bone into my socket bone (I think its called the proximal something or other) and "dented" it.  The doc put me on some pain meds and gave me a sling to keep the shoulder immobile.  I'm not 100% sure if I can knit because I've been too busy to try, and honestly... knitting and vicadin... not an ideal combination.

Yesterday, I received the most awesome package for the Knitters Tea Swap from Lu.

Inside the box is a bunch of goodies from Adagio Teas - blood orange, spearmint, chamomile, and roobios tea samplers, an AWESOME infuser/tea cup, and a guide to tea.

I also got two yummy looking Ghiradelli chocoloate bars (one Dark chocolate, one milk chocolate), honey stir sticks, and Chocolate Almond biscotti.

And the very best part of the package (though, honestly, its hard to top any of what I've already listed)??!  The yarn... Hill Country Sweet Feet Self-Striping sock yarn in the Project Spectrum May colorway.

I have been eyeing this yarn for MONTHS, and have resisted the call.  Ever since I started knitting socks I've wanted to make stripey red socks, and this yarn seemed perfect for that.  But I figured, I'd wait on it, and knit through the stash a bit.  But this yarn is fantastic, and I'm not sure I want to wait to knit it!

This is the most fantastic package!  Thanks so much Lucia!!!

I forgot to tell you something yesterday, when I answered my sock history questions.  Ya know the one that asks what sock yarns you like to knit with... well, I forgot to tell you about one that I'm currently using, though I'm not knitting socks.

I'm using Woolarina handpainted yarn.  Now, I'm not just going back and fixing this because Paula is my friend.  No, I'm doing it because I L-O-V-E the yarn.  I Heart It.  It is the softest I've ever worked with, and I'm dying to get another skein or two of Woolarina yarn.

And, um, isn't it beautiful?

I'm so sorry that I forgot to include this in the initial list.

I'm a little late in answering the Socktoberfest sock history questions, but better late than never, right?

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I started making socks in August of 2005. I was inspired by my wonderful knitting group down in Maryland, as EVERYONE there made socks, it seemed. I honestly thought I'd NEVER want to knit socks, but then I thought about my father, who really would NEVER want anything hand knit. Except, well, the man loves socks. For Christmas, we always get him socks, and he has requested "funky" socks in the past. What's "funky"-er than making them yourself. So I took a class at Woolwinders. And really, I just took it to learn how to make him a pair of socks. I did, but I've not stopped making socks since.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair of socks I knit shortly after my class. As a matter of fact, I think I started them while the class was still going. I finished them in less than a month.

They've held up pretty well over time, though they are a bit fuzzy. They're comfy and soft, though, and I love them. As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to wear them today.

What would you have done differently?

I don't think I would have done anything differently. The socks look really good, in my opinion. I like really tight knit socks, and I think I did well getting tightly knit socks. I guess, if I could have, I would have started on two circular needles, rather than using DPNs.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

I can't really say. I have so much sock yarn, but I haven't knit that many socks. (I think I should answer these questions in a different order) I've used Trekking three times. But that's just because I bought like five skeins of it in NYC last October and I'm insane and trying to use up my sock yarn in the order I bought it. I don't know if that's going to happen, but I'll try. I have used Socks that Rock, and wasn't thrilled, but I used the medium weight. I think I'll really enjoy the light weight (which, when going in chronological order of acquisition, is second on the list to be knit). I like the look of Vesper sock yarn. Mama-E's yarn is dyed beautifully. I can't wait to get to my Fleece Artist, and I love Regia's striping yarns. There are so many amazing sock yarns out there, how can I love just one?

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

I'm pretty much an exclusive 2 circular girl these days, however, I have used DPN's (my first four pairs) and I've used the Magic Loop as well. 2 circulars just seem to make the socks go faster. I know how to crochet, but I don't think I'd ever crochet a pair of socks. Crochet has its place in the world, but socks is not it.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I guess that it all depends on the sock. I'd rather do a short-row heel, but sometimes, it just doesn't make the heel deep enough. My baby cable rib socks are a good example of this. The pattern is right on my heel, and I'm not really digging it. However, I could have completed more rows in the short row, and it would have turned out alright. I'm still learning, though I think I do a pretty nice short row.

My socks in photos:

That's all the socks I've knit (minus my Trekking sock that I'm currently working on).  That's actually more than I though!  Good for me

I know that I wasn't going to buy any new sock yarn, but who could resist? Not me, that's who. When some Vesper self-striping yarn became available, I snatched it up as quickly as I could.

And the other... well, that I bought a long time ago. Its part of the Socks that Rock Sock club, so it doesn't count as being recently purchased.

I have been good enough to go through some of my stash. I've given some yarn away as gifts or prizes, and I've used some up. However, I've still got more sock yarn stash than I know what to do with. And I love every skein.

I found this in a magazine and I thought it was appropriate.

I am very sad to report that Bayerische will not be knit this month. I just don't have the right yarn. I got about four rows into the cabling and decided that Lorna's Laces, lovely though it is, is just not the right type of yarn for this project. It really needs to be something more... wooly. Something with some stretch and some staying power for when I do the cabling. This yarn would be fine if I weren't trying to cable without a cable needle, but every time I did this, I'd end up losing parts (otherwise known as plies) of the yarn. It was starting to get a halo effect, and it really didn't make the cables look nice and crisp. I looked through my stash for more appropriate yarn, but really couldn't find anything (shocking, right?) appropriate. Since I'm really trying not to buy sock yarn for myself, and have succeeded at this since JUNE (well, minus one little mishap with some Vesper last week)I figure I'm not going to buy the yarn for this sock right now. It isn't the right time. I'm going to Rhinebeck in a few weeks, so I can look there. So very sad about this sock. But no worries. I will be knitting this sock as soon as I can get my hands on some solid sock yarn that is wooly-er.

I'm still knitting socks, but I did take a little foray into Fetching. I was at my niece's soccer game the other night, and the ONLY thing that was cold on me was my hands.  And the whole time I was thinking "I could go for some cashmere gloves".  So here we are.  I'm almost done with Fetching the left.

I know... it isn't a sock.  But its *like* a sock, just for your hand instead of your foot.

To satisfy the sock lovers of the world, I did finish one sock knit out of Trekking (I love this yarn!!!)

Once I'm done with Fetching the right, I will cast on for the mate to this sock.  It pretty basic, so really it'll be done by the end of the week, I think.

One other thing that I keep forgetting to mention.  October is not just for a celebration of socks.  It is also National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   My blog background reflects my interest in this.   We all know of someone who has been affected by this terrible disease.  I'm just trying to show my support.