May Day Sock Swap

Susan has been rethinking publishing her pattern so we might get to see her May Day socks soon.

One of Lynne’s socks is complete but it might be a photo finish on the second one.

Kat has switched from Twisted Tulips to Sleepwalker Socks!

The last time I checked, Carole’s socks were three inches underway - as fast as she knits I am sure she is finished by now.

Denise and I were in the same boat - one sock finished, one to go. But now hers are are all finished up and ready to mail!

Katie has rounded the heel of the second sock and is on the way to the toe.

Keri has complete pair in the perfect pattern for spring time.

Tonni has gone and finished up her socks too - they are such a great color!

The Parade of Family seems to be over for the time being! Which means that there is finally enough time for an update post. I’ve been keeping track of everyone’s progress over the past few weeks so I invite you to join me in a trip down Memory Lane!

Tonni’s socks (two at a time from the same ball of yarn) were going swimmingly until she hit a small snag.

Lynne hasn’t been putting up with any kind of monkey business. Get it? Because her May Day’s are monkey socks?

Denise is also working on a pair of Monkeys - it must be addictive! No wait! It took me so long to publish this that the socks have changed!

Kat’s socks in progress are still Super Secret - but at least we know the pattern!

Susan has found her sock pal the in spite of illness) to completion! They are beautiful!

Anita is answered some of her Pal’s burning questions and her May Day Socks are also finished and ready to go!

Keri picked a great pattern to match the unexpected colors of her Sock Pal’s yarn.

There’s a little contest coming up, so be sure to post progress on your blogs (or at least mention your socks if they are Top Secret) to gain eligibility!

As we are nearing the close of the May Day Sock Swap, I have to admit it’s been fun seeing your updates, and sensing your excitement about this first swap. With one little contest complete already ( and Tonni, I PROMISE I will get your package to you soon!) Emily and I have another little something planned before our socks get mailed on May 1st. SO be sure to give us an update post so that you can be entered in this next contest. You never know when we’ll be stopping by your blog.

Elizabeth has one beautiful blue sock complete!

And Darlene has finally decided on the most incredible fun bright socks and they are on the needles! GO GO Darlene!

Emily is trying to choose between knitting a romper, knitting her May Day Socks, and, well, there’s baby Ellie that needs her, too! I would choose Ellie in a heartbeat!

Karen has finished her May Day socks! Don’t we all wish that we would be the one getting those pretty blue socks. Good work, Karen!

Marisol is hoping to finish sock number one before her trip so that she can knit sock number two on the plane. That sounds like a plan!

Someone is getting a pair of Red Dwarf socks, knit by Valerie. She has finished them, and they are gorgeous.

Writing these update posts are sort of an on-going project for me. As y’all post, I add the links and descriptions to a draft in WordPress. On Sundays, I edit my draft and check it for accuracy. I accidentally deleted this week’s post a few days ago. What follows is a reconstruction - I hope I haven’t missed anyone in my group!

Anita’s Pal’s socks have been on a trip! Traveling socks are the best!

Denise’s socks have taken a detour but hopefully the latest re-start will be the last one!

Tonni is turning the heels!

Katie has abandoned making both artichoke socks on one giant magic loop. Instead, she is going for a slightly more traditional two socks at a time each on it’s own set of dpns.

–Emily

**This post is actually by Lynne, but we can’t figure out why she can’t post! Just suffer with us until I can remember to ask Michael if it’s something obvious that I am missing. -Emily**

Becky has decided to make it very difficult for any of us to guess who the Embossed Leaves Socks are for. All of her May Day Sock photos will be in a very secretive black and white format.

Darlene has finally decided on the yarn for her socks! Hooray! A beautiful Cherry Tree Hill yarn, “Jewel”. Even though Darlene hasn’t found the perfect pattern yet, she is happy to report that the goodie shopping has begun!

Elizabeth has been knitting on the road, and she has one sock almost complete! It is a beautiful blue Double Eyelet pattern, and she is knitting it with size 0 needles! And that is size 0 needles on the road, ladies!

Emily has managed, even with new baby Ellie, to start her swap socks. They are baby blue Shi Bui, and could it be that Em is knitting them at 3:00 am each day?

Poor Karen is having a heck of a time deciding on the right pattern, and then getting it to work! We can’t wait to see what this blue yarn will become, Karen!

The time changed today. It’s 6:30 in the morning and STILL DARK. I find this Offensive on so many levels. On the bright side (if there IS a bright side when it is STILL DARK at 6:30), many of the May Day Socks have also sprung forward in production!

With her usual dedication, Tonni is working on both May Day Socks at once, finishing up a good chunk of the legs before a pair of Easter socks diverted her attention.

Katie is also making both her May Day Socks at one time! She is making Meg’s Artichoke Socks.

Darlene is picking goodies for her Swap Pal faster than she can pick out yarn! I completely understand.

Kat has picked a perfect spring pattern and started her Pal’s socks in a yarn that makes me weak in the knees!

Susan is pondering whether or not to try to have her May Day Sock pattern published (like in MagKnits or Knitty)! Unfortunately for us, Knitty requires pattern submissions to have Never Been Seen Before, so we may have to wait a bit to see what she’s up to!

–Emily

I love google reader. I’ve got my blogs sorted into all kinds of folders, the most useful one for me today is “May Day Emily” which has everyone in my group sorted into it! While this might sound like nothing to you, believe me when I tell you that it is a relief to see hat I only had to sort through 26 posts (”May Day Lynne” has 16) to see what every one has been up to instead of a 692 (about 150 of those are flickr feeds). This post was actually started last Sunday - y’all know how well that turned out - but now it will cover two weeks of May Day Sockiness.

Ready? Here goes!

The age-old question, “What’s for supper?” can be answered in one of two ways: you can start with ingredients or start with a recipe. Either approach can get you the perfect meal.

• Anita has picked out her yarn and provided luscious photographic evidence.
• Denise is scouring the country side (or at least her local yarn shops) for the perfect yarn. She took a small detour with some cupcake knitting - but who could resist?
• Kat has picked yarn and pattern, but between one thing and another has yet to share the details.
• Katie has some Opal in her shopping bag for her sock pal.
• Lynne went on an Epic Yarn Shop Adventure where all she bought was yarn for her swap partner! What restraint! What control!
• Susan is way ahead of the game with both her yarn AND pattern selected!
• Tonni has her yarn, her pattern and has already started her pal’s socks!

Lynne’s group has also been pondering the marriage of fiber and pattern!

• It’s a good thing Darlene is stuck on socks! She can’t get enough of knitting them these days, so she is more than ready to knit up some super socks for someone special!
• Becky is still deciding on patterns and yarn for her socks…Hey Becky, we would all love your most recent Embossed Leaves Socks…they are sooooo pretty.
• With this being the first swap for Karen in a long time, we know she will never resist a sock swap again! I wonder if she will use that new Spunky Electric “Mash” yarn that she spun???
• Marisol has chosen Elfin Socks in a beautiful Sock Pixie Buttercup yarn for her swap partner. Don’t we all wish Marisol would knit these socks for us?
• Red Dwarf Socks knit with gorgeous Schaeffer Lola will be the surprise socks for Valerie’s partner. She’s already started a practice sock.

We are well on the way to May Day!

THIS JUST IN

Lynne took the names of every one who has added the may Day Sock Swap button to their website/blog and tossed them into a hat. With the help of her Lovely Assistant, TONNI is the lucky winner of a little prize! Watch for it in the mail!

Welcome to the May Day Sock Swap!  We’ll be using this blog to post general information about the swap, progress updates, contest information and anything else that comes up.  I suggest that you stick the RSS Feed information in whatever reader you use (it’s at the bottom of the sidebar if you browser doesn’t have that little blue “rss” by the URL).  I also encourage you to visit all of the participants’ blogs (listed in the side bar) - you never know who might be knitting for you!  We decided to keep this swap smaller so that everyone would have an opportunity to meet new people and keep up with everyone’s progress. The “rules” for the May Day Sock Swap are pretty straightforward:

• The identity of your swap partner is a secret.  Subterfuge and surprises are fun!
• Be sure to post about your sock progress on your blog.  There is a generous amount of time for this swap, so you might feel like you have nothing to say for a while except “Oh, hey, I bought my pal some yarn.”  But that is good enough for us.  Especially since…
• …posting your progress will qualify you for the contests!  We’ve got several in mind and they can happen at any time so stay on your toes!  (Get it?  Because it’s a sock swap?  I’ll be here all week.)
• Sock packages should be mailed on Thursday, May 1, 2008.
• Additional goodies in your box are encouraged!  Especially floral themed ones (it is May Day after all), but please keep the treat spending under $25.

When we were matching y’all up with your swap partners, Lynne and I split you into two groups (this involved names on strips of paper and closed eye drawing so the groups are randomly selected).  She matched up half of you and me and I matched the other half and her.  This way, we still get the fun of participating in a secret swap.  We will each be writing the weekly update for our own group but I know we’ll each be reading every one of your blogs! Weekly updates will be posted on Sunday.

Lynne had some great ideas for fun add-ins for the boxes:  yarn, bath stuff, candles, lotion, tea, a mug, swizzlesticks, drink mix, floral title sock pattern, candles, project bag, nail polish, pedicure goodies (sandal weather will be right around the corner - or in my case already here), notecards, garden books, coasters, sachets, and last but not least, that staple of every swap known to man:  good things to eat!

As always, if you’ve got questions, concerns or anything to add, just email Lynne or me (if it needs to be kept on the down low) or leave comments on any post and we will respond as quickly as possible.

–Emily

PS  Remember, it’s a secret so be careful with whom you choose to share your identity.  It might give someone an Unfair Advantage in an up coming contest!

At least I de-uglied the colors!  This is the best you get for now since I have to go and fix dinner for Great Gran.  Grandmothers cannot live on hand-knit cupcakes alone.

–Emily