The last two of my favorite self-stripers hold their own with creative color combos that always look good to me.

Sknitches

Photo courtesy of flickr user Wannabeknittin’

Take sknitches for example. Yes, I am clearly a fan of blue and brown, but don’t these socks look so good? Sknitches also has a wide array of non-striping yarn in beautiful colorways, so if you order from her site, you can get a great mix of sock yarns in fabulous colors.

Ravelry Yarn page

Knitterly things

Photo by Flickr user Wooly interlude

Some of the first handmade self-striping yarn that I ever heard about was Vesper sock yarn. As a spinner, the shop’s curator also has a beautiful assortment of hand-dyed roving. It can still be kind of a challenge to snag the sock yarn, but it seems like there are shop updates many Wednesdays, and the Ravelry Group can a be a useful guide to shop stalking.

Ravelry Yarn page

Speaking of ravelry groups…. a long time ago I started a Ravelry group for those that love stripes – Better with stripes. Pop on over and say ‘Hi’ if self-striping yarn is your sort of thing.

Through the wonders of the internet, an intrepid knitter has at his/her needletips an amazing selection of sock yarns. The indie dyeing community is expanding everyday with beautiful new color combinations and dyeing techniques. I do a little dyeing myself, and I am usually on a tight budget. This makes justifying yarn purchase a difficult task. If I spring for a $20 pair of socks (that might spend a very long time as yarn) it has to be something good. I have two favorites that I can justify purchasing at almost any time: Socks that Rock and indie-dyed self-striping yarn. You have probably already heard about Socks that rock, so let’s talk about some of my favorite indie-stripers.

Lovesticks

Lovestick’s yarn makes an awesome striping pattern using three colors… Two colors make wide stripes separated by a thin stripe of a third color. Here – just look:

Photo from Flickr user Sock-a-holic

And my favorite thing about her shop… she has Sport-weight yarn. Perfect for a quick pair of socks.
Ravelry Yarn Page

Twisted

I first found Twisted on etsy, but she has since graduated to her own site. There is always a wide variety of base yarns available from sport weight SW merino to merino/bamboo or merino/tencel blends. I like nearly every colorway that Meg has produced, and I don’t think there is anything else like her subtle striping effect. Now she even has coordinating mini-skeins of heel and toe yarn available with come of her colorways.

Photo from flickr user Meg of Twisted

I use the Twisted Ravelry group to stay in the loop about shop updates and fiber clubs.
Ravelry Yarn Page

i have too many favorites for one post, so stay tuned for one more installment

Everyone that commented was entered (only once) regardles sof which post you commented on. I write everyone’s name on little equally-sized pieces of paper, hum a little drumroll and pick a winner. And apparently I feel obligated to document it with crappy cell phone photos so here you go:

it says Flyin Needles!

As promised, a self-striping prize – Sknitches Syncopation in Dayspa.

woo-hoo!

Enter Moirae, whose blog is one of my frequent stops. She had a blogiversary contest that I won. And my prize… Sweet Georgia sock yarn

Oh man. It is good looking. I chose the colorway “rusted” and I think it really suits me. And for such an act of kindness on Moirae’s part, I am sure she has just amassed an awesome amount of good knitting karma. I try not to enoy the yarn too much since it might be all I ever get… kinda reminds me of the ribwich…

In other news, the Maker Faire and Bazaar Bizarre are happening this weekend (recent craftzine post contains all the links you might need), and I am very excited to attend. I immensely enjoyed the event last year, and by all accounts it should be bigger and better this year. i hope to start the day with a visit to Nine Rubies to enjoy being in the presence of yarn (and podcasters). I think that I might have some local Bay Area readers out there… I will be at the maker faire probably all day Saturday. I will also be packing a load of moustache and i *heart* yarn pins. So if you see me, say hi and i will shower you with buttons. I might be forcing them on strangers anyway. Have to spread the love of ‘stache.

Remember how I was bummed that I didn’t get a table at the Bazaar? Now I know that it was so that I could have a relaxing week this week (not caught crafting under a deadline). And the money I had set aside for registering at the Bazaar… Now it is spending money! Expect a full crafty shopping report.

The big ticket item in my shop right now is my Atari 2600 themed altoid tin.

complete with silver beads for levers and wood grain interior

I am wickedly proud of it. The price is steep, but there was just too much hand stitching in there…. There is also a tin just for SF Bay area commuters.

The button-maker (named Stampy) was put to work making treats for knitters

and moustache lovers.

There is also some roving and yarn, but I have been having a heck of a time trying to get good photos of it. Here are just a few:

I don’t know if I will be able to let this one go

see anything you like? If you buy anything leave a comment saying you are one of my blog readers and I will throw in something special for you.

Pincushions

I was lucky enough to have Monique send me a package for this month’s pincushion challenge swap.

The pincushion has an elastic strap so it can be worn on my wrist. I love the pink and white matching pins! I put the pincushion to work immediately.

I was trying to not spoil the surprise in case my package has not reached its destination, but I can’t resist. I used the swap as an opportunity to try out an idea that i have had for a while. I put a fluffy top on an altoids tin so pins can go in the top and notions can be stored in the tin. I also added some fishy shrinky pins.

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Hair clips
I hit the SF Craft Mafia sale at Craft Gym last month. Wow were there some good looking goodies there. I got a T-bone steak from Sweetmeats and some hair clips from Sprout Studio. The steak is at its new home, and I am loving the barrettes.

Yarn
Did you know you can get cones of dishcloth cotton yarn from Elmore-Pisgah (Peaches and Cream) for a really great price? Abby found this out and made a big order for all of us. then we divided it up. It is a lot of cotton yarn, and the colors are beautiful.

photo from abmatic

I am lucky because this weekend I thrifted two of the cutest aprons ever.

(that second one doesn’t have a stain, I just got it a little wet)

I am lucky because i got a Mr. Juiceman Jr. at the el cerrito garage sale for $3 and now I can use it to grind up cheap delicious apples for my enjoyment.

I know – you are probably wondering when I am going to quit mention Mr. Juiceman Jr. Well, it’s going to be a while. I love him.

And finally, I feel lucky because I finally got my issue of Craft magazine. i am rationing its goodness.

oops. I am already on page 112. I’ll just start over after that. you should head over there and subscribe! At the very least you should check out the Craft blog. It’s as addictive as crack. And while you’re there you might find the final reason I feel lucky…. i was mentioned on their blog. cool. totally cool.

Here we have Chuck’s socks (pattern here, story of the lunch box here). Briefly mentioned when I first started them, and then faded into the background. They are designed for a foot that is 8.5 inches around, and mine is only about 7 inches, so i sized down the needles and went at it. The result…. they didn’t fit. too small. Everyone that i told that they fit and were just a little small…. I lied. I mean, I could after about 3 minutes of wiggling and wrestling, force them onto my feet. but that isn’t really fitting. And if you know me you know i hate ripping things out, so i have been in a state of denial.
So I am ripping them out. Liberated by socktober!

Incidentally, if you are currently making forward progress on Chuck’s socks, you should join the knit-along.

I am in a bit of a state of denial about something else… stay tuned…. there will be prizes involved.

I added some more halloween and autumn sock yarns to the shop. From left to right: Unnamed red skein that refuses to be photographed accurately (leave a blog comment if you might want this one), Autumn leaves (this one is a beaut), two skeins of Jack-o-lantern, and 2 skeins of candy corn. I made these a long time ago, but spent many days waiting on the sun to shine when I was at home to be able to take a picture of them.
Remember, dear blog readers, that I will give you free shipping if you say “I read your blog” in the comments of your etsy purchase (then wait for an invoice from me).