Hibernating for winter/FO Friday

Winter has been brutal for us on the East Coast.  Record breaking cold temps and a good amount of snow.

We haven't been able to do much outdoors, but we have been doing A LOT of knitting.

I finished my confetti cupcakes socks in time to wear for my birthday.  I love how they turned out.  I want to make more Hermione's Every Day socks.

Hermione's Every Day socks in Candy Skein confetti cupcake

I also knit a pair of vanilla striped socks with some Desert Vista Dyeworks Strawberry Shortcake

I knit 3 test knits (2 of which haven't been released yet so pics will have to come later)

Doctor Ewe by Susan Claudino Designs

I transformed a Voodoo You Love Me? Into a custom Castiel from Supernatural for a swap in the Susan Claudino Designs group. 

Ysolda Teague came out with another MKAL.  Jen and I both participated and here is my Follow Your Arrow 2.  I used Fearless Fibers, which I loved, was super soft, however if I knit this again I would go with a solid color so the arrows show up better.

I have a few more things to share, but I will save them for next week.  Jen and I know we have been slacking but we still want to continue blogging so we will try to be better about keeping up with our scheduled posts.

This winter feels never ending! The hubby and I bought another house in the Northeast last year and decided we had to find the fun in winter or it would kill us. The cold has been too much, but we had a particularly warm day (in the low 40s) after some snow fell and we had some fun.

We built a snowman (who has a knitting needle for a nose, finally found a use for those 25mm plastic needles), button eyes and mouth and a lemonade stand.  It was fun out playing in the snow and enjoying activities we wouldn't have gotten to do in California. If it could just stay warmer and have less ice, winter would be much more enjoyable heh
All the cold weather has been good for knitting time though. I am working on a sweater right now and when I move it on my lap I realize it is acting like a blanket, and I love it. I will probably finish it up just in time for spring.  

I finished up a pair of socks for John that I gave him for Valentine's Day so I can share them now.

Mr Pitt Socks - The Cyborg's Craft Room - Softwear - "Journey"

I wanted to make him a pair of more colorful socks so went on the hunt for indie dyers. This yarn was dyed up by The Cyborg's Craft Room and the colorway was inspired by the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai.  John and I have been to a few Cirque du Soleil shows, but Varekai was the first for me. It was magical, and beautiful.  I love when the yarn has a story to it too!

The next was the first pair of socks that I started and finished in 2015. Each year Jess and I do the Odd Ducks Winter Madness swap, but with just the two of us.  In that swap you put together a package for someone that contains everything you need to make a project. You pick out a pattern, the yarn, needles, project bag and notions.  We always include an ornament and some goodies to snack on too.  Last year Jess got me a skein of The Cyborg's Craft Room in a colorway that I had favorited on Etsy called Prey. It is a deep red wine colored tonal yarn. The pattern that she gifted me was My Cup of Tea on Ravelry.

My Cup of Tea - The Cyborg's Craft Room - Assockilate - "Prey"

The pattern was easy to follow, and I love that you get the detail just along the top of the foot. I had a miscount of stitches and my pattern is off on one of my feet, but it is not noticeable when the socks are on (thank goodness!)

I also transformed a Voodoo You love me for the swap in Susan Claudino's group. We were to make a dream date for our partner based on their interests. I received a Voodoo that looks like Hedwig (from Harry Potter, not the Angry Inch :-P) and made my partner one that looks like Aubie the tiger, the mascot for Auburn University.

I have another pair of socks (man I knit a lot of socks) to share that I made for me. Again these socks have a special theme, an indie dyer I follow on Etsy offered sock yarn based on your favorite NFL team. I ordered this skein to root on my 49ers next season (let's hope they look better than this year). Fittingly, I cast them on at a Super Bowl party.

Vanilla Latte Socks - Purple Goddess Designs - Stuff a Sock in it - "Nothing finer than a 49er"

I have a birthday gift that I can share next month and a swap project that I can share later in the year too. My Follow Your Arrow is still on the needles, although I am almost done with clue 4. I have about 20 rows to go and it is done! I am hoping that Jess and I can get back in the habit of blogging and sharing all our fiber fun with you all :-)