Tina's International House of Yarncakes

Long time no (mumble mumble)

2008-08-01T08:05:00.002-04:00

Maybe it would be kindest to let this blog die a natural death. It'd be a sad thing, but I've been amazed and overwhelmed how much writing a dissertation takes up one's time! I know it sounds obvious, but I'm still surprised. It's not so much that I write for hours, but I have to spend a lot of time looking up things I'd forgotten, and a surprising amount of time just _thinking_ about what I'm trying to say. Honestly, there's not much brain-power left for anything else. Sigh.

Still, it's an amazingly solitary exercise too, and I miss the community of knitters! I _have_ done some knitting:

It's Wendy Johnson's Summer 2008 socks (Ravelry link) in Cherry Tree Hill 'Life's a Beach.' It's a sign of how crazy and brain-dead I've been that these took me a whole month! On the upside though, this yarn was so pretty and soft that I felt like it was a reward and not a drag.

I've been working on some other things, but need to grab one more cup of coffee and run to the library, but I wanted to add that I have the pattern for Henry (below) available as a free download on Ravelry now. I don't know if anyone wants to knit a giant octopus, but I wanted to make it possible - I enjoyed coming up with it so much that it seemed sad to keep it to myself.

Anyway - I hope it won't be another month, but I can't make any promises. We're about to head off to Provence for 10 days, so who knows what'll happen?!?!

A pleasant surprise

2008-06-07T13:23:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time, before graduate school swallowed up all my time and/or mental resilience, knitting was a part-time activity that shared space with several other crafts. One by one those crafts have fallen to the wayside as they took up too much time, or were too fiddly, or took enough concentration and analytical focus as to be in direct competition with school rather than filling spare time.

The saddest for me to lose was beadwork, which I've been doing for nearly 20 years at this point (yes, I started when I was 12, though I've gotten a bit better since then). It lost its place because the kind of work I do requires careful decisions with the placement of nearly every single bead. Obviously a little too close to essays, and maybe more stressful! Early this week I achieved the coveted ABD (all-but-dissertation) status and as all of the little fiddly academic projects cleared away - granted, to make way for the mother of all academic projects - I found that my beading mojo was returning. I took some time at the end of the week to make this:

It's hard to tell scale from this picture, but the whole thing is about as big as my little finger. The beadwork is done over a piece of abalone a friend gave me years ago and called out to me finally this week. I really enjoyed beading again - though trying to photograph this piece REALLY has convinced me I need to invest in a decent camera! - and I think that with a little determination I can add it back into my life without risking my dissertation. Which is good, because I have half of a beaded life-size iguana that's been laying around for about 6 years that I'd really like to finish!!

I'm not making eye contact

2008-06-02T18:16:00.004-04:00

I figure if I just edge into the room as if I hadn't been away for 6 weeks or so, no one will notice that I was ever gone. I feel especially delinquent, since I was promising updates and exciting happenings, but if I just go on with things, no one will probably even remember. Bwa haha.

All I can say to justify myself is: you know that boss that has high expectations of you but will never tell you what they are, and that boss that is out of it and disorganized but always notices when you forget something, and that boss that expects tons of work and attention from you but never entirely manages to do the work you need him/her to do? Well, if you combine all those into one person and make that person the chair of your department, that's who I've been working for this semester. Truly a wonderful person and professor, but anxiety causing! And distraction causing. As was endless grading for the last month. But it's all done with for the summer - yay!

Here are some beautiful things to be distracted by:

These are Having Hope by Diane Mulholland, in Mama Blue's SeaMerino in Beekeeper. I bought the pattern when I saw that the sales benefitted cancer research, but it's a glorious pattern even if it only benefited the author. I'm definitely making a pair for the BikeJerk too.

This is the Asphodel Scarf I was working on before, and finally finished!

Look how lacy and cashmere-y! I have nothing else really to say about this project except: yay! the sun's back!!!

And, London, as promised - I love London, and one of my favorite things is how the modern and the not-modern coexist in the same place:

This was taken in the Tower of London, which would have been truly irritating, what with the approximately 50,000 teenagers crammed into a few rooms with us (and who paid less than the $30 a piece that we did), if it weren't for the lovely outdoor areas, which were filled with Beefeaters and ravens (as well as tourists). Ah, London.

This picture is from our hotel (and remains sideways here even though it's upright in any file I can find of it on the computer - why?). These guys are the primeval giants that were supposed to be in Britain before the Celts got there. Which returns us back to school and my research, and there we go...

Catching up

2008-04-08T14:33:00.005-04:00

Thank you all for your encouraging comments on my Fratello socks - I don't really _hate_ them, I just got frustrated, so it was nice to hear some positive views!

And as for the cat picture from my hit and run post - Chowder-cat was so intimidated by that huge ball of yarn (no trick photography, it really is that big!) that she couldn't tackle it right away! She slyly left the room before running in and leaping on it, then running away upstairs at top speed. I think she thought it might be a competitor rather than a toy!

So, after my own personal March madness (which had nothing to do with basketball, though plenty to do with college students), I'm beginning to catch up with things. I've picked up my dissertation work (why, fancy meeting you here), started to prepare the garden for incipient spring, and, in knitting, moved back to interesting projects from the simple 'keep my hands busy' ones that aren't really worth posting about.

I have much to talk about, including a whirlwind trip to London, but first, a catchup post, tying up the loose ends I left...whenever I left these hints:

These socks are Cookie A's Hedera in Yarn Pirate's BFL sock yarn in Solstice (from last summer's yarn club). I realize that it's hard to tell that this is the Hedera pattern, which looks so demure and graceful in a solid yarn, but for some reason this busy-ness I don't mind. Maybe because the blue(purple) is so very blue(purple)? In fact, I love these socks - they've been worn many times already. I think I may love BFL more than is entirely healthy.

This is the beginning of the middle of the Asphodel scarf, which is complex enough that I have only just picked it back up after over a month. It's a nice pattern (the projects on ravelry show it better than my picture OR the ones offered by Misti Alpaca), but the best best thing about it is that it's made in Filatura di Crosa's Superior, which is a silk cashmere blend. Around Christmas, Claire-who-has-no-clever-blog-name-yet bought me two balls of this glorious stuff when she noticed I couldn't stop touching it. I still can't, though I think it's slightly less embarrassing in the privacy of my own home. It _is_ a little scary to think about leaving the house with this scarf when I finish it - I'm going to be petted by strangers, I think! (oh, and I'd like to point out that the asphodel is the flower that grows in Hades. Perfectly cheery, no?)

This loveliness is the Three-cornered Shawl in Clover pattern, from Victorian Lace Today, in HelloYarn's BFL (are you surprised?) lace yarn. I'm really pleased with how it came out - I've never used such tiny yarn before (it's really 1-ply, though it calls itself 2ply (perhaps because there's nylon in the mix somewhere?)), and it made such a delicate fabric that I can hardly believe it. None of my pictures really do justice to the rich, variegated orange of the yarn, but what can a girl with a crap camera do? Enjoy a couple more pictures:

My only problem with the shawl is that I kind of feel frumpy in a triangular lace shawl. Anyone else?

Finally - I finished the Laila Estonian socks:
I'm entirely in love with these, with the variegations in the handspun, with the successful fair isle work (which I'm not used to), and with the fact that they actually, miraculously fit. What joy! I need to get to work on a new fair isle project that will actually be seen by people other than me now!

I hate to blog and run...

2008-04-02T16:35:00.001-04:00

But I'm doing it anyway. I swear I'll be back later this week. In the meantime, my cat contemplates a rather large ball of yarn:

A tiny fraction of my madness

2008-03-18T15:45:00.005-04:00

Well, the madness hasn't really let up, but I feel like if I'm going to take up the bandwidth (or whatever it's called), I should occasionally write something, just to pay the rent or show I'm still alive, or because I miss the old days where I actually had time and energy to devote to the joys of fiber. Also, I'm a little loopy from grading 31 midterms, mere days after grading 31 papers.

Anyway.

Thanks to those who guessed at what these are:

They are actually Fratellos (or Fratelli as the former Italian student in me insists on saying), and I actually got the kit, so the yarn is Wollmeise. The Yarnissima kits are totally cool, by the way, with the professional looking bound pattern, the laminated card for travelling, and a few little treats, all nicely wrapped up. That said, I don't think I like Wollmeise for this pattern. First, it's a little too variagated - even in real life you can't clearly see the twisted stitch pattern on the toe and ankle area. Second, IT'S REALLY SPLITTY!!!! I actually quite like the yarn - the dye is so vibrant and the many plies give it great sheen, but those very plies are the devil when you're doing a lot of twisted stitches with tiny needles. Not that I'm agitated about it or anything!

It also pools in the first gusset increase area, at least for me, in the small size (boy, don't my feet look TINY in this picture?!). Btw, for those who like twisted stitch patterns, have you seen this beauty?

Just one more quickie before I go back to going insane:

These are Laila's Socks from Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush. I've always loved them, but always hated the untwisting of yarn that comes with fair isle/stranded knitting. I decided to try again, but using the two-handed method of stranded knitting, and I love it. Suddenly a new path has opened up before me. Also, I used my own handspun for the orange, and I love that too. Look how it changes:

Coming attractions

2008-03-08T08:23:00.003-05:00

I have been, and _am_ insanely busy being the head teaching fellow for a largish course (in which the professor expects me to take over doing everything except giving the lectures), as well as personally teaching ~30 students and grading all their papers and midterms, etc. etc.

So I'm a little insane, and don't have the time to post, but here are some things I'll be posting about soon:

And now for something completely different

2008-02-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

The Yoga Hoodie, she is finished! And, more importantly, she fits! First the glamorous photo shoot, then the specs and pattern review:

(Look, at me, I'm FIERCE. Or confused?):

This is the Olive Branch Yoga Hoodie from WEBS, which is a $1.49 download. As I mentioned before, I got this pattern with the intention of finally taking the time to measure and try on and calculate to make sure a sweater I make actually fits me. I had to shorten the sleeves by a couple of inches, and I decreased from the 38" size to the 34" under the bust, and although it's very plain, I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I'll definitely be wearing it a lot!

This is the first time that I've used one of those cheap download patterns that a lot of the online yarnstores are selling these days, and I'm here to report that you DO get what you pay for. Not to say this is a bad pattern - there were no mistakes in it - but it lacked some things that you expect in a pattern. Pictures of the front of the sweater, for instance, and schematics with measurements. The pattern called for making 2 pockets, which weren't pictured. I had to make one, just to see what it looked like. (I decided it was too small (why have a pocket your hand won't fit into?), plus I couldn't decide exactly where to put it):

Frankly, I bought the pattern because I liked the design on the back, and it was worth $1.49 to me to get that pattern. I think it was also worth $1.49 to realize the shortcomings of the cheap download. The lack of a measurement schematic was annoying since I was trying to modify the fit. Equally irksome was the inconsistancy in the way the stitch count was presented - the sweater is a raglan style, knit top-down in the round, with markers at the raglan increases which divided the sweater into 5 parts (left and right front, left and right sleeve, and back) - at points where the pattern changed, a stitch count would be given, but only for one section, so it was impossible to confirm the count without doing math. I hate math.

It wasn't a grievous burden to do the math, draw the picture, make a pocket, etc., but I have learnt that when you buy a pattern, in a book or magazine, or as a pricier download, you're not just paying for the creator's idea, but also the extra time and work that are required to provide the details that make it as easy as possible for the knitter. Of course, I've also learnt that it's not impossible, even for me, to do the math and make a pattern. (musing on future plans....)

Grrrr!

2008-01-29T15:45:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't you know it? The spring semester starts tomorrow* and I'm going to be the head teaching fellow in a large course, so in the midst of running around doing all the start of term administrative nonsense, I worked hard and finished my hoodie so that I could feel extra good for the first day of classes. And so I went downtown today and bought a zipper. And when I got home and had pinned the whole thing in preparatory to sewing... wouldn't you know I bought the wrong kind of zipper? The kind that doesn't separate at the bottom? Sigh. I just hope it's not a sign of how the semester's going to go!

* Yes, the semester does start at the end of January, what of it? Just because everyone else in the universe is sensible and has fall term finals BEFORE Christmas doesn't mean that we have to. This is a venerable institution we're talking about here (starts with H, rhymes with "cardboard"), nearing its 400th anniversary, and if horrible, horrible schedules have worked for that long, well.....

I never promised you a rose garden

2008-01-21T17:24:00.001-05:00

But I did promise some non-sock knitting.

First off, my long-term-early-morning-full-concentration-lace-project:

It's the Three Cornered Shawl in Clover Pattern from Victorian Lace Today, knit in Hello Yarn's BFL lace (and of course it's impossible to photograph well since it's very fine yarn, I lack a macro lens, and it's winter, but...). The pattern's fairly simple, but it's slow going because the yarn is so tiny. It's a single-ply lace (strengthened with a little nylon) and it tends to get caught on itself and the stitches hide under each other. I had to switch from my original choice of pattern because it was a true lace and had many areas where there was a single strand of yarn stretching over a great hole, which didn't seem like the best of plans for such a fine yarn! Still, the color is fabulous, and I think I'll actually wear this triangle shawl in it.

This is my semi-endless boring knitting:

As I mentioned ages ago, this is the first sweater I've made in a long time because I've been so disappointed with my efforts in the past. I've just been too lazy to modify the pattern to fit, and so (unsurprisingly), it doesn't. This one (the Olive Branch Yoga Hoodie from Webs), I've been trying on at every step, and measuring constantly, and it's very promising. (More on this pattern (and yarn) later! or, What I've Learned about Cheap Downloaded Patterns.) It's also very boring - all stockinette. But I do have a solution for that:

This is the view of my knitting-while-reading setup (with a quick stockinette cap for myself, in Malabrigo (mmmm!)). It's just a cookbook holder, but I can read while I knit this way - get some fun reading done while getting through the dull bits of my knitting. It's perfect. So perfect, once I'm ensconced with it, that's the end, nothing else is getting done that day!

Sock meditations

2008-01-13T13:01:00.001-05:00

First off, to all of you who left such kind comments on my last post: thank you! It really means a lot to me that you'd offer your thoughts and prayers to essentially a stranger - though I shouldn't be surprised since I see so much generosity in the knitting community! I'm not at all going to turn this blog into one on his illness and therapy, though with preventative chemo starting up in two weeks, I'm sure it'll sneak in here and there!

Now I'd like to talk a bit about socks and sock books. I want to talk specifically about Cat Bordhi's newest book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters, vol. 1. I don't tend to give book reviews, but I got very excited when I got this book - I (however boringly) knit mostly socks, and this book gave me a whole new way to look at them. Your basic sock is like a blank canvas - once you have mastered knitting in the round and understand the heel and toe, you can simply fill in any pattern on the leg and foot of the sock. It's intensely and satisfyingly simple, as has been capitalized upon in the Sensational Knitted Socks books.

In New Pathways, Bordhi lays out architectures that approach sock construction in whole new ways, mostly to do with the increases and decreases around the heel turn/gusset area - by moving these increases to new places (on the top of the foot in rows, in a spiral, in an expanding v shape), she entirely changes the types of stitch pattern that can be incorporated into a sock and expands the creativity a designer can build into her creation. It's not only an exciting development in design options, but she also includes endless numbers of good knitting tips - better ways to conceal the wraps in a short row, more hidden increases, etc - that can add to anyone's repertoire. Below is my first attempt at her "Sky Architecture," where the increases start at the center of the ankle in the front and move downwards in an inverted V shape (as you can see on the right foot). It's in Woolly Boully merino sock in Kelp Seahorse:

Here I will insert my caveat about the book: it's really not for beginners. Nor is it particularly for someone who just wants to knit some socks and not design their own. If you were to work just from her patterns (as I did here) rather than involving yourself in learning the architectures and applying them to your own work, you'd find yourself rather irritated. The patterns are intended to show you how to do it yourself, essentially, and constantly refer you to other sections of the book for heel constructions, gussets, toes, and how-to details for her special increases, etc. It'd drive a girl batty to just sit down to make a sock and have to do so much work for it (and most of the patterns are not really exploiting the full potential of the architecture either, just displaying it). Still, it's pure genius. Let a sock maker look at this heel and not be amazed - it's so entirely new:

Thanks for listening as I blather on about my sock crush! I hope it's of interest to others who knit too many socks. I _am_ working on non-sock items too, which I'll hopefully post about soon, weather conditions permitting!

It's been a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad month

2007-12-31T11:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I knew December was going to get crazy, what with the holidays and trying to finish up my prospectus for my dissertation (which has now been accepted - yay!), but I didn't account for finding out in late November that my 34 year old husband had colon cancer and needed surgery ASAP. That threw us and our families for quite a loop, and I didn't quite feel up to blogging about it at the time. He had his surgery on the 17th of December and was home for Christmas. He is now so well recovered that he is back to walking the dog and doing all the cooking (I do believe he couldn't handle any more of my ham-handed kitchen attempts). He is still going to be getting chemotherapy in the new year, but the doctors are very positive about his recovery and future health. That, and his swift recovery from intrusive abdominal surgery has made things seem more manageable, and I plan to be back on a more regular posting schedule. I hope no one missed me too too much. ;) I missed all of you and all the bloggers I haven't been keeping up with - I have about 500 posts to read now, so I've got my work cut out for me!!

I have been busy all this time, so I'll have a few photos to share over the next few posts. Here's some merino from the Yarn Wench that I spun into a nice, even fingering weight yarn:

I believe the colorway was Squash, or maybe Squash Blossom, but I was too hasty in tidying up my labels. I've wanted to make Laila's Socks from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia ever since I saw them, in their original orange and white incarnation, and I think that this yarn may be the perfect choice for that. I'm very excited, though I'm worried about colorwork and socks - I haven't had too much luck making colorwork fit over my heel... Still, it's worth a shot!

This is Zen String superwash merino in Splendor:

Ever-kind Angelina surprised me with an extra 4 oz. of this when I ordered it, due to a shipping delay, so I have enough for a scarf - I'm thinking linen stitch - which I can't wait to start on as the yarn is sooo soft and colorful.

Finally, I feel terrible that I lied on a post a while back - the things down at the bottom that I said weren't socks? Yeah, they totally were. Here they are, in fact:

They're Bellatrix socks from Socktopia/Gigi Silva (whose site seems to be down at this post), knit from Zen String Bambewe in the Blissed colorway. I love how the yarn behaved with the funny yarnovers in the pattern.

Anyway - I'll be back soon, and hope you have a happy new years!

My Mom went to Tibet...

2007-11-28T16:00:00.000-05:00

...and "all" I got was this crazy yarn:

It's a laceweight (2 giant hanks of it - what to make? so many possibilities!), with a halo sort of like mohair, but it sticks to itself more and is a little coarser. And it's probably yak, though there was a bit of a communications issue - apparently not a whole lot of western tourists in Tibet want to buy yarn! Silly them.

It does smell a bit like a yak (I guess), and something about it drove the cat nuts:

I set in on the floor for a minute and she came running in and started licking and biting it, like it was coated in catnip. She's a fan of yarn, but not usually like this!

Apologies for the short posts this month! It's that time of year! Hope everyone had a lovely holiday! (Both our pumpkin pie (which I made) and the cranberry tart (by the BikeJerk) were delicious, though the tart got eaten days ahead of the pie!)

I'm so thankful...

2007-11-22T14:46:00.001-05:00

That once a year this:

turns into this:

(that's a cranberry tart on the right...and YES, it is a weird 70's kettle!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it, and happy desserts to everyone else!

Just a quickie

2007-11-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

Here's my handspun as mentioned in the last post. Not perfect, but so pretty! I wish there was decent light so you could see the colors better, but what can a girl do?

It's a merino roving from Spunky Eclectic (bought at Mass. Sheep and Wool), in Toronto. The colors are pretty close to this, but in person it seems more....alive?

BikeJerk took me to the Mt. Auburn Cemetary today for the first time - designed by Olmsted, and ever so lovely. It's full of trees in so many lovely shades, I couldn't help but want to knit them....

My dog is shiny

2007-11-09T10:01:00.001-05:00

(Cute shiny dog photo to distract from knitting-free post)

It's been sort of a crazy week around here - I'm just realizing today that it hasn't actually been extra busy, it's just harder to cope with it. Because I Haven't Had Coffee Since Sunday.

The BikeJerk's been having stomach issues for a while (work-stress related) and has quit eating and drinking any number of things that make life worth living (tomatoes, wine, cheese, spicy food). He had no problem quitting those things (except the mental anguish of a food-lover deprived of his previously iron stomach), and so I had no problem continuing to eat them in front of him, trying not to _visibly_ enjoy them. But it finally came down to coffee. And he loves coffee. A lot. It seemed like a little too much torture to continue to brew coffee in the house (filling it up with its lovely aroma) with him not able to drink any, so I stopped drinking it. [I know that die-hard coffee drinkers would just stop somewhere to get their morning fix, but I'm not that die-hard.] I never even had caffeine on a regular basis until about 4 years ago, but let me tell you, that doesn't make it any easier to stop. I feel much better now, but Monday and Tuesday were a haze.

Anyway, I hardly know how I've spent my time this week. There are new piles of books, so I assume I spent some time in the library. There are two balls of yarn to make the BikeJerk a new hat, so I deduce that I bought that. There's a lovely hank of handspun, which I must have spun, but it's all a blur.

There's a decent amount of knitting going on around here, but no pictures (even of the handspun - perhaps this weekend when I'm actually at home during daylight hours?): almost half of what's on the needles is secret for one reason or another, and most else is just tedious to share (yes, my scarf is now twice as long as it was, but it's still a rectangle. Nothing to see here, folks, just move along.). But I'll leave you with something that struck me last weekend. A woman at the knitting brunch I sometimes attend had a wonderful insight - maybe others have already realized this, but it struck me nicely: buying yarn (or spinning fiber, which was her example) is not just buying to have, like a lot of things are, but rather buying moments of happiness sometime in the future, when you'll sit down with your angora (or whatever), and do something you enjoy very much. Even though the happiness is somewhere in the future, even the act of buying the yarn partakes of the joy, because you can picture how happy and relaxed you'll be doing that knitting or spinning.

It's a lovely way to think of it, I think, though, to borrow a slogan from the liquor companies: Knit responsibly.

And what have we here?

2007-11-02T14:07:00.001-04:00

Things that aren't socks? No way!

[Notice how I'm not even mentioning that the Red Sox SWEPT the World Series here? No sense in dredging up the past, right? After all, this is a socks-free post, and I feel I've sort of given up my right to gloat and cheer by allowing myself to get distracted all week by all the medieval Charlemagne material I've been forced to wade through (stupid dissertation research - so distracting)...]

I'm afraid to type this in fear that if I say that fall is finally here, the weather will suddenly change and it'll be 80 degrees and humid again tomorrow. Please, no more summer, honestly! Proof that it's autumn? I made my first apple pie of the season on Halloween - local Gravenstein apples, and my best crust ever - and the sedum has turned the loveliest shade:

I never knit scarves for some reason (too boring?) and yet I love wearing them - partially because when I moved north to New England, I finally discovered that they were more than just decoration! Also, they're pretty. This one is made from Yarn Pirate's merino/tencel sock yarn in Butternut (Booty club September (?)), and is a chevron pattern not entirely unlike that in the Jaywalker socks. This yarn didn't call to me for socks, but I really like it in this scarf. and it'll be so nice and soft on my neck.

And another autumnal scarf, for my brother:

This is from that cake of handspun that I flashed last post. I swatched several things, but everything seemed to get eaten up by the yarn. It ended up being plain old stockinette with a garter edging (I steam-ironed it and everything, so I hope it won't curl too much), which shows up the color variation as well as the sort of rustic and charming size variation in the spinning (since I'm not so good at the thicker spinning). It's a Christmas present, so more photos in December!

Almost immediately after I finished the thick spinning for that scarf, I (very slowly) spun up a whole lot of very fine singles as an antidote:

Which I just finished plying:

It's merino I dyed myself, and it turned out to be a thickish lace-weight. I haven't figured out the yardage yet, but as it's about 8 oz., it might be enough for a stole...and I do love how the colors ended up working!

I swear, this isn't a sock. Totally sock -free post, definitely...

Sox and Socks

2007-10-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

OMG! First game of the World Series on tonight and the Sox are playing! I really didn't think they were going to make it this time! Of course, every year I say they're not going to make it, in hopes that I won't be too upset when/if they don't make it. Doesn't so much work. Game 7 of the ALCS was great, and I was knitting green (monster) socks, so they'll be coming out again tonight. Of course, we'll see if I can stay awake for the whole game - functioning on less than 6 hours of sleep doesn't work as well for me now as it used to...

Now it only goes to figure that the one time that I actually have non-sock items to show off, the weather's not cooperating with my taking pictures. All I have is some finished socks (that you've already seen singles of, alas) from the weekend, but at least it makes for a good post title. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow (bet your bottom dollar it's tomorrow), and I will be awake enough to exploit my natural resources...

Finished Firestarters, as mentioned before, in Zen String Harmony fingering, which I'll just say one more time, is perfect perfect for this pattern. This was a fun learning experience, with a different sort of construction (though I didn't pay quite as close attention on the second sock, so there are a few, not too noticeable errors). I do think that I'm all done with the magic loop method. I'm glad I stuck with it for the pair, and I feel comfortable using it, but I was so glad to get back to the dpns!

Here, of course, are the Scherherezade Slippers, finished while the Patriots crushed the Dolphins on Sunday. (I'm not really a huge sports fan, honestly, it's just a good time to knit!) They're in ArtYarns Ultramerino on size 2 (dpns, thank you very much). I think they're stunningly gorgeous - and they were another new construction for me), but since they come right to my calves, I do think I'll need to add a little elastic to keep them up when I walk...or I could just spend the rest of my life reclining gracefully in them...I'll have to ponder....

And finally, the Wine socks (really Nancy Bush's Whitby)! If all goes as planned, I'll be trading them for my case of wine on Halloween. Hopefully there will be pictures of them on the feet that fit them (instead of my much smaller ones!) as well as of a giant box of wine!

Go Sox!

Restless Me Syndrome

2007-10-16T17:08:00.000-04:00

This is getting to be a bad habit, I think. I was sad and embarrassed when I was only getting around to posting every seven days, but less often than that?! shocking. It's been, and still is, a week in which I can't seem to do anything for more than a few minutes and then I have to go do something else. It's not a manic thing, just a flakey thing, I think. In either case, I've been very very busy getting nothing much done!

To distract from my lack of content, here is a link to a very odd children's show that Claire shared with me. It's G rated, but there _is_ singing...

One thing I _can_ say I accomplished this week (other than eating an obscene amount at a BikeJerk family reunion), is finishing the first half of my pair of Maia's Mystery sock/Scherherezade Slippers:

Isn't it amazing? Don't you want to make one? I'm ever so pleased with how it turned out. It's very tall on me since I have a short foot, and I love the lace pattern swirling up and around my calf. It actually comes to a nice point on the back, but I'm not quite flexible enough to successfully capture the back of my own leg on film.

And one final thing. This is the yarn I spun for a scarf I'm going to knit for my brother:

As you can see, it's autumnal and also sort of busy, with the light and dark strands plied together. I'm pondering what, if any, stitch pattern I should use - stockinette and garter are awfully boring, but do you think that this yarn would just swallow any sort of texture I tried? (I know, I should swatch, but that takes some willpower/attention span.)

Argh! I've been doing one thing for more than 10 minutes now. I'd better run!

October, baby, yeah!

2007-10-07T08:19:00.000-04:00

I love October. It's somehow my favorite month. Partially because my wedding anniversary is on Halloween, partially because it's the first month that I can feel sure that it'll be autumn, which has always been my favorite season - the leaves, the lack of humidity, (new school clothes?), plus I love the peacefulness of the bare trees, etc. So I've been missing in action this whole first week of October because it's been just way too warm! I know many were glad for the weather in the 80s this week, but it made me cranky as all get out. Grr! Naturally, I'm ever so pleased that it's not supposed to even get up to 70 today. Ah! I'm happy, and the BikeJerk is happy, as he and friends are riding their bikes to Provincetown today. Hope it doesn't rain too much, guys!

So when I say 'missing in action' I mean that I haven't been blogging, or commenting on other peoples' blogs, or talking to my friends, or doing nearly enough of my research, but it doesn't mean I haven't been knitting. I started both my new sweater project and the orange lace project, neither of which is photograph-able yet, and I worked on these:

On the right are Boyfriend Socks for the BikeJerk. The Lorna's Laces is perfect for this cable-heavy pattern, and I love how they're turning out. At the same time, I'm working on the sock on the left, which I'm calling the Wine Sock. Even though it's Whitby from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road, it's the Wine Sock to me because when I finish the pair, I get a case of wine. Yes, a case. They're for a friend of ours who is the wine expert at a local liquor store. He's very excited for a handknit pair of socks, and I think these ones will be huge winners for his first pair - they're in Cider Moon Flurry, and they're SOOOO soft! Maybe he'll want another pair. ;)

Finally, above and below are socks for me, along with enormous produce from our CSA! Above, it's an art photo, below, you can see the sock

Which is the first of a pair of Firestarters (from Yarnissima, but available for free from the Loopy Ewe!) in Zen String Harmony Fingering in the Vitamin C colorway. I love this yarn so much - it's perfect for the pattern with its tencel blend making the stitches crisp, and the colors are so rich. I'm SO sad that I cancelled my sock yarn club membership with Zen String - I've never been unhappy with any of their yarns or colorways - silly me and not spending beyond my means!!

The pattern is certainly fun - toe-up with traveling stitch cables and an interesting construction - it's carefully organized and I love how the stitches flow up and around the gusset. It's written for the Magic Loop method....and....well, I decided to use it despite my previous frustration in it (with a needle with less than graceful joins). I have made this whole sock with the magic loop, and I don't hate it anymore. I feel comfortable in it, and stopped being annoyed by having to pull the needle up into place, but I just don't know how I feel about the method. It's sort of fine, but is it less annoying than dpns? I don't think so... As one of my students would say, I'm deeply ambivalent (because to college students, apparently, if you're ambivalent, you must be deeply ambivalent, just as any contrast has to be stark and any opposition has to be a binary one. Sigh.).

New year's resolution

2007-09-28T11:41:00.000-04:00

Sweaters and I have had what you might call a checkered past. The very first thing I ever knit was a sweater. Seriously - the first stitches I cast on were for the back of a cardigan - this is what comes of deciding (after midnight, at Wal-Mart) to teach yourself how to knit out of a handy Leisure Arts pamphlet titled 'Teach Yourself how to Knit, Crochet, Tat, and Embroider' (all in less than 50 pages!) using cheap, unbleached cotton yarn. I got casting on and stockinette quickly, and once I figured out that the yarn had to go between the needles (not under the bottom of the project) for ribbing, I just knocked the thing out. By the time I was done with the back, I was bored with stockinette and added some cables to the front panels. It turned out well enough that I ended up selling it to my boss for fifty dollars. Not bad for your very first knitting project!!

But within that first project were the hints of the problems that have continued to haunt me throughout my sweater knitting career: I was willing to sell this first proud sweater because it didn't fit me. It was too short in the body and too long in the arms. And pretty much every sweater (all 5 or so) I've made since then has had the same problems. My dad bought me a sweater's worth of a lovely shade of Cotton Glace just one summer ago - with which I made a beautiful lace cardigan - that's too short in the body and too long in the arms!! (Sorry, Dad!! On the upside, it fits my dear friend Claire perfectly, so it hasn't gone to waste at all!!) I have one Alice Starmore fisherman's sweater that I love, but it's a giant box of a sweater - pretty, but not flattering. Despite the fact that I know _why_ my sweaters don't fit (most patterns aren't written for short people with big busts), I guess I haven't quite managed the energy or attention or something to fix the problems.

But that's all about to change!! (cue dramatic makeover moment music) This year is the tenth anniversary of teaching myself to knit, and as a challenge to myself, and because it's embarrassing that I've been knitting so long without making a decent sweater, my resolution for this sweater knitting season is to knit at least one sweater that fits me and looks great. My eventual goal is to have a (perfectly fitting) Threepenny Pullover from Veronik Avery, but I wanted to start with something simple, that would be easy to modify and that I know I'd wear all the time. So I measured all the relevant places, and I found a great pattern from Webs: the Yoga Hoodie (oddly, no front views available). It's knit all in the round, so I can test my modifications as I go, and is mostly stockinette (for easy alteration) but not too boring, with that fancy back panel. And I love hoodies. I'm casting on this weekend, so wish me luck!!

And just so this post won't be too visually dull, here are two of my favorite dogs pretending to be cute:

WTF?

2007-09-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on my cephalapod creation! If I weren't still just amazed that he turned out so well, I'd be blushing right now! I have to say, he turned some heads at the wedding this weekend. It was a really awesome and beautiful wedding AND I didn't take a single picture. Well, I took one, but it was dark already so all you can see is a white dress and glowing red eyes. Which sort of summed up the evening, actually. ;)

The BikeJerk has been working really psychotic hours lately due to fiscal year ending madness, and when he's supremely overstressed and not sleeping, _I'm_ somewhat stressed and not sleeping as much as would be healthy. Which means I'm actually knitting a lot, but barely can keep my eyes open to photograph or post about anything. Except one thing:

This is a mystery sock that Maia is doing this month. The photo is just past the third clue out of four, so it's not so mysterious right now. I hadn't intended to do this project because I like making my sock choices from a well-informed position, but I saw some pictures after people had done the first clue, and I had to check it out. As soon as I saw it, I cast on for this instead of the orange stole that I hinted at in my last post (hence the title of this post!). It is SO much fun - the construction is fascinating, with increases in unexpected places and stitches that move in mysterious ways - I did the first two entire clues in one sitting because I couldn't put it down.

Honestly, it reminds me of when I turned my first heel. I remember reading 'turn work' and thinking that the author must be nuts, but then giving in and trusting something that seemed impossible, and being so amazed and gratified when my trust was fulfilled and I had somehow made a heel. I remember in the first clue and a half of this sock thinking 'really? does she mean that?' but doing what I was told. And it's looking (and fitting) pretty darn nice!

Oh, and one more thing: thank you to Peaknit for nominating me (ahem, back in August,
ahem) as a: . It means a lot to me - seriously, even though it took me so long to post about it! I'd like to nominate in turn: Beth, who not only knits amazing socks, but homeschools three boys on top of that; Nell, who had the guts to both go to nursing school AND unravel the first sweater she ever made; and Bookwoman, who gives great beer suggestions and information (among other things! ;)). Rock on, y'all!

Say hello to my little friend

2007-09-19T08:32:00.001-04:00

This is Henry the Octopus.

My friend Claire asked me to make him to hold the rings at her wedding.

I made up the pattern as I went along (writing plentiful notes), and I was so unsure that he was going to turn out alright that I also made a little pillow as an alternative in case my first original toy pattern turned out to suck.

I'm rather stunningly pleased, however. You see the well-dressed wedding octopus is wearing a dapper hand-knit tie in a cashmere-merino blend.

This is the bottom of Henry, just so's you can see how neat and tidy everything is. That ridge near the legs is where I bound off the bottom and the rest of the body together. The whole thing's worked in the round, so that's the only seam. It used some Koigu that I had lying around, though I had to emergency purchase an extra skein (that's why the right side of this picture seems like the yarn is lighter - it is!). He also has pipe cleaners in his legs, so they are somewhat moveable. That didn't work as well as I'd like: up at the top, the pipe cleaners can move around too much in the leg, so it doesn't hold its position as well as I'd wanted. I have some ideas on how to make it work, but didn't have too much time to fix it as the wedding is in three days! Talk about panic-knitting!

And here are my last socks for the Summer of Socks!

It makes my tenth pair since Jun 21. Not bad, though there are people participating who have made over 30 pairs in the same time! These seemed appropriate to end with as they're sort of autumnal and summery (surely there's a better word for that!). The pattern is just plain vanilla toe-up in Sunshine Yarns superwash merino (sock club colorway Fresh, which I bought a while back from ChickenKnits). That's Chowder, acting like a fool behind my feet.

And what will I do, now that the Summer of Socks is nearly done, and Henry is safely finished? Well, I won't say I'm not going to knit socks, but this is the next thing I plan to cast on:

Spinning my wheels

2007-09-12T18:18:00.000-04:00

but not my spinning wheel!

Not much knitting content (or any other kind, either) this time. Mostly I've been reading and writing for school. After my meeting with my advisor, I got the go-ahead to start writing my prospectus, which has to be accepted before I can start writing my dissertation. It's very exciting (though very preliminary!) news, and I've been spending my free time scrabbling around with books and notes and things, and realizing how disorganized I really am. Alas. Worst of all, I'm not really getting anywhere with school stuff either! There's always the dog to be walked, the furnace repairman to be let into the house, the last minute forgotten food items to be purchased...not to mention start of semester meetings and all that fun stuff. ARGH!

(Serenity NOW!!)

Ok. So, the nice stuff. My mom sent a picture of her with the Hidcote Garden Shawl. She looks like she's just _daring_ me to post it, but doesn't it look great with her coloring?:

And....um....speaking of SeaSilk....

I'm sort of embarrassed about these socks. I think they're very pretty (the pattern is Whisper Lace Socks), but well, I let my mother-in-law (for whom they will be a Christmas gift) talk me into knitting them in yarn I'm not sure socks should be knit in. You see, they're in SeaSilk! The silk is gorgeous (more sheen than in the picture), and they suit her to a T, but I'm worried about their durability. And sort of curious about their warmth. There's nothing to be done, I guess, and maybe I shouldn't worry...

Look: socks

2007-09-05T17:55:00.000-04:00

My meeting with my advisor is tomorrow, and my "clever" titles have abandoned me. Alas, alack, and woe is me. (Anyone want to hear about the Plantagenet kings of England and their relation to medieval Welsh literary conceptions of King Arthur and Charlemagne? Because _that_ I can talk about! Sheesh.)

There has been a very little sock progress. I think i may actually have been comatose for the entire Labor Day long weekend - we visted the BikeJerk's aunt and uncle in Connecticut, and it turns out that they may actually dwell in the Land of Nod. In a good way. I haven't been so relaxed in a long time!

Anyway. These are my River Rapids socks (by Sockbug), in Yarn Pirate's merino sock yarn. It's the Rum Runner colorway from the Booty Club. I haven't posted about belonging to the Booty club because I'm pretending to myself that I didn't join it (and because I can't take those luscious pictures of yarn that some people can). On the first day of her sign-ups I went over there, all innocent, just to check out how much it cost, and somehow I blanked out and lost several minutes, and now I get these cute packages with pretty yarn inside. I wonder how that happened?! ;)

Seeing this top photo, I'm sure someone out there is saying 'Ugh. She walked away from the Baudelaires in variegated yarn, but she stuck with this?!' And I say, but look:

I am just in lust with these socks. I love the waving texture of the pattern (which I think I'll probably do again in a solid yarn), and the yarn is just so jewel toned, I can't look away! Look at that Eye of Partridge heel. You can't say that's not just lovely in this colorway!

And to close, another walk down memory lane. These are (I'm mostly sure) the very first socks I ever made - in fact, they're the reason I learned, about 7 years ago, to knit socks!:

They're from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I'm not sure why I was so obsessed with them at the time, but I have to love them since they got me started knitting socks, right? They're pretty good for first socks - all in one piece - though they're knit so tight I think they could stand on their own.

I hadn't thought about these socks for ages, but this is one of those examples of how nice Ravelry is - a relatively new sock knitter asked me a few questions about socks, which led to me pulling these things out of wherever they were hiding and recalling my sockly origins. Yay!

Something old, something new,

2007-08-29T15:36:00.000-04:00

...something from the garden, and something blue.

Not much knitting this week - it's all the time I spend thinking up clever word play, you see...

Actually I have another dissertation meeting with my advisor, and I feel very close to a topic AND very confused at the same time, so I'm actually doing lots of reading (like I'm supposed to!). I'm also working on semi-secret (read: lumpy and experimental) knitting on something, perhaps an octopus, to hold the rings for Claire's wedding. I'm sure it'll be awesome when it's done, but right now it looks sort of like a potato, so I'm not going to show any pictures.

I will show you some tomatoes from the garden and my finished Charades:

Pretty (my first eye of partridge heel!), and look how bright in the sun!:

This is a nice pattern for variegated yarn - it's a nice, simple pattern, and the herringbone stitches make cool criss-crosses of color (I tried 5 times for a close-up of how cool they look, but my camera is just not up for it.). I got sort of bored with the pattern by sock #2 since it's only a 2 row repeat (I'm so jaded), but the finished look is great. As Carole noted in my comments, it does use up a good deal of yarn - I used most of a skein of Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 (355 yards), which may not seem like a lot, but I have really small feet! - and it makes a bit of a thicker sock than fingering weight usually does. Oh yes, and Beth (aka Baseball Knitter) asked about its stretchiness - it's quite stretchy indeed, with a lot of give in the herringbone bits, but they aren't baggy or inclined to flop at all.

My mom got her Hidcote shawl in the mail on Saturday, and she loves it so much she's wearing it in Kentucky in the scorching heat (I'm assuming only inside in air-conditioning - love only goes so far). No pictures yet though. While I'm being on top of things: Peaknit asked how much of the SeaSilk I used for the shawl. Answer: enough I'm almost embarrassed to say! (It's ok to drown in luxury when you're knitting something you give away, right?) The shawl took 2 skeins of Seasilk, in their (I think temporary) 150 gram skein. Gulp!

Finally, the something old, something blue of my opening line:

It's the first shawl I ever made! I pulled it out to air it, and the sun and shade looked so cool, I thought I'd post it. It's the Feather and Fan shawl from A Gathering of Lace, and the same cone of yarn that made this, made Claire's wedding shawl too.

Keeping it simple

2007-08-23T10:13:00.000-04:00

Dang! I really intended to post this weekend, but then the Baudelaires were so close to being finished, and there were chores, and well, it's Thursday again. Sigh.

On the upside, the Baudelaires are done, and I love them:

Pattern: Baudelaire by Cookie A, in medium with large instep modifications
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Navy
Needles: my handy bamboo dpns in US size 2

I love the socks, but I especially love learning a new technique, as I did with the toe-up heel flap. I'm sure I'll be trying all the alternative toe-up heel flaps now, but I do like this one: it looks and feels great:
Also finished, my mom's Hidcote Garden Shawl for her trip to China this fall:

I'm sorry that I don't have any good pictures of the whole thing - I wanted to get it sent off to my mom, so I couldn't wait for the BikeJerk to get home. I hope my mom will send me some of her wearing it that I can post. Trust me, it's gorgeous. ;)

Pattern: Hidcote Garden Shawl by Miriam Felton
Yarn: HandMaiden Seasilk in Forest
Needles: AddiTurbo LACE (yes!!!) needles, size 3.

I loved the pattern and the yarn. I haven't seen anyone else knit it in a variegated yarn, but I think it worked out nicely. It's not distracting in the body, and makes a neat wavy pattern in the final section.

Finally - handspun merino singles that I dyed myself:

It's on its way to being something gorgeous, I'm sure. I love how vivid the colors are. They remind me of the beach, or a meadow, or something natural anyway.

This is your brain on...

2007-08-15T18:11:00.000-04:00

...I don't know quite what, but it's crazy!

I know it's no excuse for not posting for a week, but last week was a real bummer for me, and it took me a while to snap out of it. Last Tuesday the water main going into our house burst, which was stressful, but ultimately not too big a problem, since the city's lead pipe replacement program fixed it for pretty cheap.

Then it was jury duty for three days. Which was both good and scarring. It was good because our deliberations gave me the tiniest speck of hope for humanity - I truly was amazed and pleased that 12 people of such different backgrounds, biases, and (let's be honest) intelligence levels, could manage not only to talk their way through some vague and complicated evidence and law, but do it in a polite and respectful manner. Still, it was scarring. Not only because of the long days and lengthy periods of enforced boredom where we had to be attentive but had nothing to be attentive to - that was painful, but in a familiar way that I can deal with. But the burden that comes with taking someone's fate in your hands, even as one of 12, is a heavy one. Our deliberations took as long as all the rest of the trial because, I think, we were aware both that the evidence was meagre to be making any sort of decision on and that our decision would affect the life of a young man who really did just seem to have made a mistake, and one that didn't hurt anyone in the end. We did eventually declare him guilty, which was the right outcome, but it still felt bad to be responsible for someone else's punishment. It wasn't such a huge case, but I still think about it. I feel a little silly about that, but there it is.

Oh, and I almost forgot: then, on Saturday, the basement half flooded because the guys doing the waterpipe repairs randomly and for no reason disconnected the washing machine discharge, so that soapy water poured everywhere. Awesome!

Things are better now (how could they not be?!), but my knitting/spinning life is still reflecting the madness that was last week. I just couldn't stop. First, a laceweight yarn I just finished plying up a few days ago:

This is the merino/tencel singles that I spun a while back (from The Sheep Shed at Mountain View Farm, Midnight colorway), which I plied with some tussah silk that I died a light blue. I was afraid I was going to be really disappointed because I really loved the merino/tencel singles, but had some trouble getting used to the silk, but I think it actually turned out pretty well. It came out at about 520 yards, so there's definitely enough for a lace scarf.

Here's my finished Shedir (pdf!) (sorry for not modelling it!):

It's for my mom's boyfriend, as I mentioned before. Which is a little weird, since I've never met him (they live 1000 miles away!), but my mom seems to like him, and hey - I'm a knitter! I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to knit a pattern I'm interested in just because I don't know the person who's getting it! Sheesh.

You might be thinking by now: this doesn't seem that crazy. Sure, she knit a hat in a week - who doesn't do that?
And the Baudelaire is progressing - no surprise, right? Btw, Cookie A isn't kidding - that lace isn't very stretchy! Mine is worked with the modifications she provides for the 'high instep', and it fits totally fine (and looks lovely, no?), but I could not have made it even one repeat longer, it just would have been too tight. Btw2, I love this heel for toe-up socks - it may be the new standby. A few more steps than the short-row heel, but it makes a real heel flap and fits great (pictures next time).

For whatever reason, the Charade socks are progressing slowly:

I think they look good - and feel good too, but this is as far as I've gotten on the whole pair. Why, you might ask?

Because I felt compelled, out of sheer perversity, to cast on for the River Rapid sock. Obviously. It was the yarn that made me do it! Anyone know what it is? This isn't a contest, I'll tell you next time...

And that's not all! I also cast on for this:

Which seemingly doesn't photograph at all well. It's from the Elizabeth 1 collection by JoLene M. Treace (which I think I got through KnitPicks, but heck if I can remember). I'm using the laceweight merino I got from Spunky Eclectic in the colorway Soylent. I haven't gotten to use my 'it's people line' but I will. I know it in my heart. I never was made consciously aware of how given to bad puns I am until I started blogging. Sigh.

Of course, on top of all this I'm working on my mom's shawl AND designing what may be an octopus for Claire AND spinning some really pretty roving I dyed myself (pictures later this week!). Oh, and now I'm obsessed with Jodi Picoult - whose Simple Truth I bought during the trial because I remembered a certain knit-blogger raved about her - so even though it's reading, I still say it counts as part of my knitting spree!

So, sorry for the long post...

[edited: The Jodi Picoult book is _Plain_ Truth, not Simple Truth. Sometimes you just need to look at the bookshelf!]

Law and bored-er

2007-08-08T18:07:00.001-04:00

Ugh. I hate myself for that title. Not enough to right the wrong I've done though!

This ghastly title refers to the fact that I have just been seated on a jury for a 2-3 day criminal trial. It's my first time having jury duty at all, so it's pretty interesting watching all the ceremony and lack thereof (as well as the ways in which it doesn't match up with my Law and Order watching experience!), but let me tell you, jury duty, like many of my previous jobs, consists mainly of being very bored while looking attentive. There are just a lot more gaps than they show on TV where they aren't doing anything that involves the jury, and yet the jury isn't allowed to pull out their knitting and relax. Oh, the humanity!

Anyway, I'm not sequestered at least.

I thought I'd give my Summer of Socks update while I was thinking about it (and before the media get ahold of me. Ha!). I've finished the Parashoots for the BikeJerk:

I think this is my fifth pair finished for the Summer of Socks. Not too bad, though I know there are people who are making at least a pair a week. Ah well. As I've said before, these are modified from a Charlene Schurch pattern. The modifications are on my last post, and I'm too hot and surly to repeat them, or even, apparently, link to them. Scroll down, my friends, if you're interested!

And this is my Shedir that I'm making for my mom's boyfriend:

It's made with the suggested yarn - Rowan Calmer - and it feels great! I'm close to being done, and the pattern has been fun.

I'm sure I have more to say, but my brain has been fried by the Suffolk County Superior Court!

Yes, it's my final answer

2007-08-02T16:18:00.001-04:00

Thank you so much to all of you for your input on my Baudelaire dilemma! I feel like I would have gone on for ages knitting one repeat and staring at the sock for 20 minutes, if all your comments didn't help me to crystallize what my problem with the sock was: it looked _cool_ with the Fleece Artist yarn, but (as Peaknits put it), I felt like I was gyping the pattern. After thinking about it for another day and reading comments, I decided I needed to knit a bit of the pattern in a solid color and then compare. I pulled out some Lorna's Laces and knit 3.5 repeats while waiting for the bus (which is much more a comment on the lateness of the bus than on my knitting speed!):

The amount of texture that shows up in the solid color made my decision easier. I just don't think I'd be happy with that lovely pattern being so obscured.

But the Fleece Artist start will not go to waste!

I'm pretty pleased with how it looks in the (now toe-up) Charade pattern. I _think_ it'll stay in this pattern! ;)

A cry for help, the beach, etc.

2007-07-31T16:13:00.001-04:00

No, this isn't a plea for a yarn-buying intervention, or advice on something to knit other than socks. I like socks! I need some input on this Baudelaire beginning. This is how it looks in a plain yarn, as intended by the designer, and here's mine:

I know mine looks different, and that it sort of obscures the lace pattern, but is it good or bad? I keep asking the BikeJerk, who says it looks 'fine', but I'm not entirely convinced. Opinions please!

To keep from thinking about it, I took the Parashoot when we went to Singing Beach on Friday (yes, I _am_ copying Claudia with this photo!):

I was a little embarrassed at first, sitting on the beach with sock knitting, my grad school tote bag (emblazoned with the school crest), and my New Yorker magazine, but then I looked around the beach and realized that a Massachusetts beach on a weekday is not the same as, say, a California beach on a weekend. I felt right at home, in fact - a guy nearby had a serious, thick, scholastic-looking book on his lap and was taking notes!

And finally - the Eleanoras are done, and they're fabulous!

The Louet Gems Merino worked really well with the pattern, I think, and I used my usual, trusty 2.75/us size 2 needles, despite being told to use a size 1 (my only act of disobedience, I swear!). I hope all will forgive me for wishing it were cool enough out to wear them!

I feel like the seven dwarves...

2007-07-26T17:38:00.001-04:00

or at least Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, and maybe Doc. I forget the rest of their names, actually, and the heat is making me much too lazy to look them up. See what happens when I ride my bike to school in 95 degree weather, and then actually do my schoolwork (because I realize my next meeting with my advisor is in ONE week and not two)? Sigh.

So, a short post today - before I go collapse in front of the fan again. One Eleanora sock is finished, and the other done up to the heel flap. I love these socks:

Look at the patterned toe:

I felt a little resentful when I was working on the toe late at night that I had to continue to pay attention to the pattern/decreases longer than usual, but I do think that the result is stunning. Yay for Eleanoras!

Brief knitting notes, unaccompanied by pictures:
1) On chart 10 of the Hidcote garden shawl! Just 21 rows and a bind-off to go, Mom!

2) Sockergirl asked in the comments about the Parashoot socks and how I changed the pattern to look like it's (apparently) supposed to. The only real important change is that where the written pattern says 'slip 1, k2tog, psso', which makes a left leaning double decrease, I used 'slip 2, k1, p2sso', which makes a centered double decrease as shown in the picture for the Parachute pattern (in More Sensational Knitted Socks).

Finally, I'll close with a familiar sight around here - yes, she sleeps like this:

Happy Birthday to me!

2007-07-22T18:07:00.001-04:00

Thank you all for your nice birthday wishes! Today's the real day, but the party was yesterday, and it was lovely. Not only was the weather terrific, and lots of friends there, but I also had two cakes! I should have taken a picture of the delicious carrot cake made by Claire (of wedding shawl fame) as it was not only yummy but also had a Kewpie doll creepily emerging from one corner, but I _had_ to take a picture of the other one, which was entirely a surprise to me and which took my breath away:

In case you thought you didn't see right, here's a closeup - not entirely PG rated, but the chef's three-year old daughter DID help her with the animals:

Yes, it was THAT kind of a party. ;)

Cloudy day blues

2007-07-18T12:38:00.000-04:00

Blues, simply because I've moved back into my color comfort zone: after all those pinks and reds, I give you blue and green! Not that I didn't love my dip in the warm colors, and I know I'll be back, but it feels like coming home.

Despite my slow start on the cuff, I've been zooming along on the Eleanora socks:

The pattern looks tricky because it's full of charts, but after the decreases at the top, it's just continuing in pattern - detailed textural pattern, sure, but look how nice it looks!

I realize that it's based on a Renaissance sock, but to me it seems more medieval. Maybe wishful thinking, but since I study the Middle Ages, I'm going to keep on thinking that.

At the same time, I'm working on a sort of brainless sock for the BikeJerk. He picked the yarn and the pattern, which is more than he'll usually submit to in the summer - he usually just says he can't think about socks until the fall:

The yarn is Austermann Step, which is enjoyable to work with even if I find myself skeptical that there's really Aloe in there. What are they? Magic? The pattern is very liberally adapted from the Parachute pattern in More Sensational Knitted Socks - I replaced the yarn-overs with make-one-stitchs to make it less lacy, and then found that the written instructions don't make the pictured pattern! The center of the pattern is a double decrease, but the written instructions give the wrong one. So I changed that too. It was a bit frustrating, but I'm calming down. As I should, now that I'm past the heel and just doing ribbing...

And finally, an unsatisfactory picture of some handspun (this is becoming a tradition, no?):

It's alpaca from Spunky Eclectic, in Macaw, spun to fingering weight. It was a dream to spin, and the singles were so even and strong that I could have skipped plying...except that there was altogether too much white. I cannot abide white, so I plied. Still pale, but not white! Whew!

I'm off to contemplate my birthday (this weekend!)! I'm a little worried because it's supposed to be raining on Saturday, which is the annual summer BBQ and birthday party (Tinapalooza is the BikeJerk's name for it, of which I entirely approve), but it's still my birthday, and although I'm past the age where people are supposed to be excited for their birthdays, I love it beyond all other days. Yay!

It's no more than I deserve

2007-07-13T13:20:00.000-04:00

Look, Miriam Felton is not a designer to be messed with. I don't mean that when you download one of her patterns, she comes over to your house and threatens to break your legs if you don't follow it to the letter (though this would have been helpful in my case). No, she's just a careful, detailed designer who means what she says, often in wonderful ways.

I know this, because I didn't listen to one of her directions. It comes from being a lazy, lazy, lazy person. Too lazy to read the five, yes FIVE, lines of pattern that would have told me why I needed a provisional cast on for socks. I read 'use provisional cast on to...' and barely even thought twice when I used a regular old long-tail cast-on. Then, 5 lines later, when the pattern said 'knit together one stitch from your provisional cast-on with on working stitch' the lightbulb went off. Aha! Right, yes, I should listen to the designer! Just to punish myself (and make less than half an inch of sock knitting take well over an hour) I unpicked my cast on edge rather than starting over. That's what I get.

Luckily, the sock is turning out very nicely, or I might just have gone mad:

In the midst of the unpicking, I took a break and spun this:

Yay! back to thin spinning! It's a merino tencel blend (much shinier in real life, but I couldn't take a good sun picture), and because I bought it before I really knew how I felt about tencel, I only bought 2 oz. WHY?!? It's so pretty, but two ounces? I want to make something out of it...I'm thinking that I could dye up some silk or merino in a light aqua (it's hard to tell in the picture, but it's just over half blue) and ply it with that. I think that would keep the colors clear and pretty and make enough yarn for a lacy scarf or something like that. Ah well. These are the good kinds of dilemmas!

Have a good weekend!

Sizzle!

2007-07-11T13:47:00.001-04:00

My radoactive Sweetpea socks are finished, and they're HOT! (to match the weather!)

The below pictures show the socks and the pattern better, but the color is closest in the frying pan picture. I'm afraid that they might catch on fire!

Pattern: Sweetpea needles: US size 2 dpn
yarn: Schaeffer Anne (no colorway name)

This was my first time using this yarn, and I really enjoyed it. It's amazingly soft, and the mohair adds a nice sheen to the fabric. It's thinner than some sock yarn, so on the size 2s I usually use, the fabric was pretty thin (though it matched the called for gauge). That, combined with my smallish feet means I used less than half of the skein. Yes!

The pattern is listed as 'piquant' on knitty, but I didn't find it that hard. Once you get the hang of it, anyway. I was carefully keeping track of my rows for the first repeat of the first sock, but then it just fell into place. I love the meandering lace!

And I finished Rebekah's crazy German socks. They're not really that long, I swear, it's just the angle...

Finally, I went nuts spinning on the yarn for my brother's scarf:

Inspired by Carole's Tour de Fleece spinning, and the desire to spin for myself again, I zoomed through it (3 full bobbins) in just a few days - it's a dark autumnal single spun with another in shades of orange. He asked for something in golds and rusts, and I think that it turned out pretty well. I'm not sure of the yardage yet, as it's still wet, but it's _almost_ always sport weight. ;)

Not bad for one week, eh? And why am I knitting and spinning so much? Because I was _supposed_ to be working on research for a meeting with my advisor today. Now that the pressure's off, who knows what I'll be doing...

Congratulations, among other things

2007-07-05T10:40:00.000-04:00

I won't name any names, but some good friends of ours gave birth to their first child on Monday. A healthy and very cute boy (extra bonus: his birthday is 20 days before mine. Go July birthdays!!):One of the pairs of below pictured angora blend booties will go to him. I love when other people have babies - I get to knit cute, tiny things, sometimes out of luxury fibers, and get some baby cuddles, and I don't have to change any diapers (not to mention I avoid the whole future adolescent hatred bit, and the paying thousands of dollars for them to binge-drink for 4 years. Not that I'm in the least cynical. And I'm sure all my friends' children will be perfect angels.) Ahem....

The hat is my handspun silk (Vine Leaf hat pattern from Knitting Daily):
I realize silk and angora are a little impractical for baby clothing. I'm no fool. But the angora is actually machine washable and, well, the silk will be for special occasions, I'm sure. It's cute anyway!

On to socks:
I finished the June Zen String sock yarn and pattern on the 4th. I love the socks so much! The yarn is really interesting feeling - almost buttery, but with nice firm twist. It's the Lotus Toes line, and is Blue Faced Leicester. I'm still getting accustomed to the colors, which are not my usual choice, but I love how they pattern on the sock, and will definitely be ordering more of this! The pattern is Perambulate, and only available through the sock club - sadly so, because it's a very nice one. A little lacy, a little cably, and the pattern goes down the heel flap, which I always enjoy.

Here's the next project, already underway:

Super bright Shaeffer Anne in the Sweetpea pattern. (I got this yarn from Nell's destashing sale - another unusual color for me, and it certainly wakes me up in the morning! (I'm writing all this in parentheses so that no one will notice that I seem, quite correctly, to have bought yarn outside of my workout plan. Destashing sales don't count, right?)) This may actually be the first time I've ever used the suggested yarn in a pattern. So I'm cool, right?

Out of this world...

2007-07-01T14:55:00.000-04:00

..is where I've been for almost a week! The heat melted my brain from Monday to Thursday, on which day we had a rehearsal dinner (BikeJerk was best man). Then Friday was the wedding - at Larz Anderson park and transportation museum in Brookline (which is stunning! everyone should go!) - one of the loveliest, funnest weddings I've been to (other than my own -ha!), and of which I took no pictures. Alas. On Saturday, which I spent recovering from the wedding, I did manage to take a picture of some fuschia bugs on the fig (see where my priorities are!?):
Luckily, I'm highly motivated by guilt, and not knitting or blogging (or doing anything else that I'm supposed to be doing with my time) inspired me to finish the Monkey socks:

Here's a closeup of one of my favorite parts - the only real pastel part on either sock:

As you can see, they are quite different from each other - the joys of variegated handspun. Another aspect of knitting with your own handspun that I just learned about - major anxiety about having enough yarn to finish both socks. The yarn is unique, no single balls lying around in a yarn store somewhere.
On the coriopsis, now blooming:
Finally, here they recline with the leftover yarn (not all that much!) and the next project I need my guilt to force me to finish!

(The BikeJerk has succumbed to the lure of the blog! If you're interested in bike trips, bike anger, lots of good cooking and recipes, check him out here. Not much yet, but if there's one thing that boy likes doing it's talking about food...)

The debil made me do it

2007-06-26T09:02:00.000-04:00

Made me cast on the June Zen String sock yarn. It came with a fun new pattern:

It's not SO wrong, except for the whole finishing what you start thing, and the following your own plans thing. Oh, well. The yarn is so delightfully springy - it's Blue Faced Leicester, which I've never worked with, but am enjoying very much. Not to think I've abandoned my senses altogether:

I DID finish one of my Monkeys out of my own handspun. I solved my problem with the bagginess of the leg by knitting the third and fourth leg repeats on size one needles, and the rest with twos. Worked perfectly.

The yarn is luscious - tencel is a new fiber I'm in love with. It looks and feels great. There'll be better pictures eventually, but it's grossly humid right now, and I can only bear to put on the sock early early in the morning. Side view:

Also, finally the BikeJerk was home in daylight, and took some Sarcelle pictures:

Finally, another project on hold until the humidity drops:

This is going to be a scarf for my brother, eventually. This singles is going to be spun with one that's orange and gold (and that I haven't spun yet). I'm having trouble consistently spinning thicker than sock yarn - I'm aiming for a sport or worsted weight, but my hands just want to make it thin!

I think it's really sweet how this project came about - I knit my brother a hat out of some of the first handspun yarn I ever made. It's all lumpy and weird (spun on a huge beginner spindle), but apparently he enjoys wearing it and telling people that I spun and knit it, so he's asked for a scarf to go with it. I think it's cute that he likes to brag about my fiber skilz!

Happy solstice!

2007-06-21T13:17:00.000-04:00

Oh, TOFUtsies! Parting is such sweet sorrow!

Yes, I finished them just in time for the Summer of Socks, which starts today! I love them - I put them on for the photo, and just smiled at how great they feel. They fit perfectly, and I'm rather smitten with the yarn. Some people aren't all that excited about it, and didn't feel strongly either way while I was knitting them, but the finished pieces just feel so goooooood!

Alright, enough with the enthusiasm. Only dourness here on out:In celebration of summer (and the start of the SOS), I skipped my usual morning session with my mom's shawl, and cast on a Monkey in my handspun yarn. Which is luscious. Here you can see the variation in color in the yarn:

So there will be some stripes or pools or whatever you want to call it. I just tried it on my leg though, as it was seeming large, and indeed, though it fits my calf, on the ankle it's baggy. I'll try a switch to smaller needles (gasp!), but the yarn may not be made for this pattern (also gasp!).

I also got this yesterday from Zen String (it's from a sock club, so I didn't cheat!):

Pretty sweet. And it came with a new pattern too. It's calling to me....

Finally, lifestyle change I can live with

2007-06-19T16:01:00.000-04:00

I have figured out how to fool myself into exercising AND it involves yarn! I can't believe it took me so long to figure this out - about 6 weeks ago I decided that I could only buy yarn if I exercised - for every week that I worked out 4 times, I could spend $10 on yarn. This was intended to get me in shape/lose weight, and cut down spending - it's totally worked (with a few blips on the yarn side - after all I had to buy yarn for my mom's shawl!) - I'm getting in shape and I got to order luscious yarn from the Loopy Ewe:

My own personal yarn pirate is keeping an eye on the loot. You'll be seeing more of this, as I can't wait to play with it! (And yes, I did go a tad over what I'd officially 'earned,' but that just means I can't start the next cycle until I work it off.)

And, I finished the Sarcelle:

The BikeJerk is working about 7 million hours a week lately, so no modelling photos just yet, but at least you can see the (upside down) butterflies. I'm quite pleased with it - just the right size and thinness (and gorgeousness) to go with a dress I'm wearing to a summer wedding in a few weeks.

Finally, almost done with the TOFUtsies socks:
I have to finish them ASAP, but I couldn't resist casting on sock #2. I felt sort of neutral toward the yarn at first, but I am rapidly growing attached to it. The feel of the knitted fabric is really enticing - smooth and pliable and, strangely enough, cool to the touch. Finished photos by Thursday - and then, let loose the hounds of the Summer of Socks!

Socky Summer Anticipation

2007-06-15T08:25:00.000-04:00

Everyone seems to have a sock technique that makes them happiest - probably a combination of how they learned, what fits best on their own feet, and what's funnest to knit/looks best to them. This is awesome, but it can make for comedy when sock knitters collide: the circular needle crew just do not understand the staunch dpn-ers ('People, you can make TWO at a time!'), while the dpn boosters perhaps enjoy the defensive possibilities of 4-5 pointy little needles. There are toe-up lovers and cuff-down aficionados, and never the twain shall meet (this is the opportunity for someone to invent a heel-start sock and start a war). I won't even go into the intricacies of the methods of negotiating a heel turn. To gusset or not to gusset, that IS the question. Meanwhile, of course, the non-knitters and sock newbies stand by and gaze in perplexed wonder. What bliss!

Yes, Summer of Socks 2007 is about to begin, and I am reviewing my sock thoughts. Before I get into that too far (or people stop reading because they're sick of socks - horrid thought), here are some nice garden pictures:

Does anyone know what the first one is? It was here when we moved in - it comes back every year, but doesn't introduce itself. The second, I'm told, is called a maidenhead, which seems sort of risque, but that might just be me.

On to socks! First, the two sock projects in progress that need to be finished or sidelined before June 21. Rebekah's crazy German socks are halfway done:

Stylish, or what? In case you were wondering, it's posing on the chimney - those lines on the side aren't some futuristic art project, just siding. The best part about this sock is what the flecks of red did on the back of the leg. Am I the only one that thinks of Curt Schilling's famous (Red Sox win the World Series) sock?: And the June TOFUtsies sock club sock:

I'm really enjoying this project - the pattern is very nice (see how the ribbing goes into the pattern?) and easy to remember. I'm sure I'll use it again. And the yarn is very cool to work with. Because of the direction it's spun and because I'm a continental style knitter, it tends to untwist a bit, but it has a really nice feel, sort of cottony, but with a lot more drape to it. Hard to explain, but I'll definitely be using this yarn, even after the sock club is over. I even think I like the pink. Every now and then I see it and do a double take: 'man, is that pink!', but it's growing on me, and it's good to embrace change, right?

Now, projects for the SOS! This is the yarn I spun from the ZenString roving:

So shiny and soft and yellow and purple (which is sort of washed out except in the first picture)! I think I want to use this for my first sock of the along. I'm thinking Monkey, since I've been wanting to try a Cookie A pattern for a while (and then knit them all), and since I haven't yet made TheOneThey'reAllTalkingAbout!

Then . . . . . do I dare to Baudelaire?:

That's a Fleece Artist skein in Indian Summer that's been calling out for something special. And I did say I want to knit them all!

Finally (for the starting lineup), I'm thinking the Eleanora sock in this louet gems:

I saw the originials in a museum in Florence last summer. They're stunning, though a bit corpse-juice imbued. These shouldn't have that problem, though it would be cool if they lasted as long!

Better than nothing

2007-06-12T14:53:00.001-04:00

Neither the weather nor my camera are completely cooperating with me today, but I did manage to get a picture of my little footlets from my handspun yarn before the clouds came in:

I like that they're sort of cousin socks, rather than twins, and also that, mysteriously, the ribbing at the top ended up being the same color on both. I was inspired to finally make socks from my handspun after seeing a number of great lookers on various blogs, and I'm sure that it will be as Karen warned me and I'll never stop wearing them. I'm already plotting the next pair!

Not from this though:This is the SE Mahogany merino/tencel roving that I was spinning on the spindle. I'm pretty pleased with it overall, though you can see up at the top that there were some lapses of attention that I could blame on the spindle or the dog, if I need somewhere to place blame. Honestly, I'm still not totally at ease with the spindle, though it's growing on me. BUT, what's a girl to do with 2 oz. of fingering weight? A very thin scarf? Ideas?

Would it be weird to mention that as I was spinning this mostly pink, but with black areas, roving, I was put in mind of a girl in a phone-sex ad that appeared every week (until recently) in Boston's Weekly Dig? I only ever noticed this picture because she looked so boringly, sweetly wholesome, and I couldn't imagine what she'd talk about if someone called her. The lavender cashmere twin-set that she was thinking of buying at the mall later on? The recipe for white-chocolate chip cookies she'd just clipped from Home and Garden? Perhaps the cozy scarf she was knitting for her elderly grandmother? Anyway, the combination of a mass of sweetly pink with hints of black made me think of her, and in her honor, I name the finished yarn 'Keegan's dark secret.'

I tried to take some pictures of the garden and of the TOFUtsies sock, which I started despite all my attempts to hold off until June 21 so that it could be involved in Summer of Socks 2007, but conditions forbade it. Perhaps tomorrow...

Socktacular!

2007-06-07T13:48:00.000-04:00

On a nice sunny day, filled with socky goodness, it's hard to remember the past. The rain and broken toes (though I remember that one each time the dog steps on my foot!).

Here's the footlet that I started the other day, made from my own hand-dyed, hand-spun merino (posing in our new blueberry bush!):

Not bad, eh? Here's the bottom, so you can see the nice color changes:

Someone needs to invent touch-o-vision, because it's so soft and springy and delightful. AND, the best part is that there are 22 grams of yarn left, and the footlet weighs in at 18. All is well.

I'm excited about this pink yarn hiding in the strawberries for several reasons:

1) it's TOFUtsies, and I've been wanting to try that stuff for a while now. And, in case anyone was wondering, as I was: no, it doesn't smell like seafood!

2) it's a sock of the month club (run through my LYS and TOFUtsies, as far as I understand), which is exciting because I get a new sock pattern, and get to try cool colors that I'd never buy for myself. Like this pink, to which I have a redhead's natural (_I_ think) aversion, but I'm excited to try. Who knows? Maybe what I can't stand to wear on my body will look FABulous on my feet.

3) it's proof of the wonderful yarn store my LYS is becoming. Like most knitters these days, I shop online and at several yarn stores around town. I've always felt ambivalent about Woolcott and Co in Harvard Square - they had some awesome yarns that I never saw anywhere else, but not enough sock yarn (could anyone have enough though?), and supply was patchy at times. They're under new ownership now, and all of a sudden there's a sock club, and Addi lace needles, and a blog and an online store. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

And this final, horrible cameraphone picture:

You can't tell what it is, but I had to post it anyway because it's a historical moment. That blur on the left is Rebekah's german sock, and that teeny blur in the middle is Bill Clinton. Yesterday may be the first time EVER that a half knit Hundertwasser-inspired sock intended for a displaced Arkansas girl was in the audience for a Clinton address. I'm not sure, but I'm willing to bet.

Silver lining?

2007-06-05T18:32:00.001-04:00

My Sunday and Monday this week can only be described as craptastic (I stole that word from someone else, but it's so apt). Sunday I realized I had broken my toe on Saturday and it hurt (it's not as bad as it sounds, but it does put a cramp in my imaginary ballet career). And Monday I realized, on my way to school in the pouring rain, that the (admittedly 10 year-old) raincoat my dad made me was no longer waterproof. I realize I can fix that, but sitting in the library damp and grumpy, even that thought was no cheer. I didn't get anything done, and I was sullen and morose. About many things. Often.

But, although there's supposed to be a humongous, hail-throwing thunderstorm today, all that glumness is gone. Firstly, I started knitting a socklet from the merino I dyed and spun not long ago (sorry, forgot pictures of the yarn):

I'm not sure how/why, but this is the first sock I've made out of my own yarn. And I think it's just dandy. The yarn is so sproingy! (The pattern is very slightly modified from the Padded Footlet in Favorite Socks.) I only hope I have enough yarn to make it around two heels! Fingers crossed!

Random neat thing - the pot in front of which that socklet was pictured holds this plant:

Which, if you look closely, you can see is growing some figs. Yes, figs in MA. Not only that, but this tree is grown from a cutting we got from our neighbor who grew up right here, who grew her tree from a cutting that her grandfather brought over with him from Italy. And she gets figs every year. I'm so excited!

And further cheerful goodness:

The very start of the Awaken roving I got from Zen String. It's so very iris-y and purty. And I was spinning it on my porch while the sun was setting (or getting covered with giant thunderheads). How could that not cheer me up?

And finally, a happy pup and lobelia (which I didn't _really_ believe I could capture on film. In pixels?):

(Also: finally got a good bit of research done. Woohoo! Anyone else like medieval manuscripts? You can see some neat ones here.)

(Someone else's) Blogiversary

2007-06-04T08:16:00.000-04:00

Happy Blogiversary to Hope! She's running a contest (you can win yarn!) at her blog to celebrate. Why not stop by?

Socks and rants

2007-06-02T21:53:00.001-04:00

I'll start with something I love. I love toe-up socks. I love knitting socks anyway, but toe-up is so great. No Kitchener stitch, you can try them on as you go, and they look so satisfyingly sock-y from the very start. I also love this crazy German yarn. It's crazy bright, and I love it. I hope Rebekah loves it, too (sorry for polluting your sock with my foot!):

After all that love, I'm allowed to hate, right? I'm really, really lucky to live in a place where I can ride my bike along the Charles River to get to school/work from my house. There's this beautiful river path, and I feel so happy during the summer when I can use it to get to work. Other than being the quickest way in, it's also lovely. More happiness and joy, see? And note that I say 'river path' and not 'bike path,' which is the way I usually refer to it in speech. But I know that it's intended to be a multi-use path, unlike all of the people very slowly roller-blading with baby strollers and iPods, meandering all over the path without looking behind them and then screaming when a bike passes them, even after the person on that bike has called out 'On your left' 75 times without them hearing. Public space, people!

Ok, sorry. I'm channeling the BikeJerk. Speaking of which, here are his completed Uptown Boot Socks:
They're really lovely (I'm proud of the heel-flap/gusset join). The KnitPicks Gloss looks and feels great - the fabric is smooth and the texture is luscious. I like the way the sock looks and feels (the BikeJerk says they're the best socks I've ever made for him, but he does say that every time), though I can't imagine knitting them if I had to use a cable needle for all of those cable twists! Two mini-rants/modifications about the pattern: 1) I don't understand why any pattern would suggest breaking the yarn and rejoining before the heel flap - I just knit the 16 stitches from the center back. 2) I don't want to be uppity, but I was rather frustrated by the instruction to knit a certain number of inches from the start of the gussets, rather than a certain number of inches less than the desired length - this doesn't allow a knitter to modify the length of the sock. For future reference, the toe is two inches long in the proper gauge, and if you end after a row 3 or 7, then your sock will look great.

Bookplate

2007-06-01T16:45:00.000-04:00

This is entirely random, but I got such a kick out of finding this today that I had to tell more people than just the two I knew would appreciate it. I'll keep it brief:

I've been working in my university's library this week, pulling old books off the shelves so that their bibliographic info can be updated. Pretty exciting, I know. It's not the most stimulating work I've ever had, but that IS the point. Anyway, I opened up some old book on D.C. and saw a bookplate in the front, dated in the 1930s, that said:

This book was stolen. It was recovered, and the thief was sentenced to two years hard labor.

Zowie! If they won't come after ME, I'm stealing that idea for my own books!

Sunny day loveliness

2007-05-29T18:01:00.001-04:00

Buying all that fiber got me energized, and I finished up the silk I was spinning on the spindle:

It's not the best yarn in the universe, but it's kinda pretty, AND it's the first decent thing that's come off the spindle for me. Luckily, I seem to be on a roll:

The merino/tencel in Mahogany from Spunky Eclectic is spinning up gorgeously. I'm actually considering keeping it single-ply. Madness!

And a few progress shots of the shawl for my mom:

The first one gets the true colors of the Seasilk, and the sheen, but the second one is more of the pattern. I was worried that the color change in the yarn might be obscuring the pattern, but I don't think it is, after all. Or is it?

Victory and pretty things

2007-05-27T15:51:00.000-04:00

Frost Flowers and Leaves (henceforth Claire's wedding shawl) is finished, and it's gorgeous! And big!

I used the Jaggerspun superfine merino from Halcyon Yarn for this, and it turned out really nicely. It's a pretty cheap as far as lace yarn goes, but very nice quality. I'm so proud of this shawl, as it's the biggest lace that I've done, and was a real learning experience - namely, I learned that I shouldn't try to knit lace after a martini!

And speaking of martinis: the ginger vodka infusion turned out really nicely - it manages to have the full flavor range of ginger, not only the bite, but the plantiness of it, if that makes any sense. The mint was gross and tasted like rotting leaves, and we have to wait a while to taste the lemon. Maybe when Claire gets her shawl we can celebrate with that!

Here's the Zen String Awaken roving I got last week. It matches the irises that are starting to come out:
I really loved the MA Sheep and Woolcrafts Fair. There were a lot of little kids showing and grooming their sheep, a lot of craftspeople with great things they were selling, and a lot of crazy sheep making hilarious noises. I love them so. I was having so much fun that I didn't take any pictures, alas, but I got some great stuff (mostly rovings). From Spunky Eclectic came these beauties. I love them all, but I'm especially pleased that that green lace yarn is in the color 'Soylent' so that I can make terrible jokes the whole time that I'm knitting it:

Unsuspecting curious person: What are you knitting?
Me: It's people!

It's a terrible joke, but I know I'll make it. Again, and again, and again.

These are a merino/silk and a merino roving from a lovely shop whose name I can't remember. Each one is about 8oz. and I'm thinking to spin one or both (together?!) as laceweight for a shawl. Should be fun to try, anyway:

On the left below is angora from Acker's Acres Angora. Their pamphlet says it takes an hour to comb out an ounce of angora, but since an ounce only costs $7, I'm guessing the bunny caressing might be part of the profit! The other one is a merino tencel from The Sheep Shed. I honestly can't believe I only bought one thing from them, they had so much loveliness! I think it may have been a hunger-related decision.

And the actual knitting? Well, on the way to the fair I made great progress on the Urban Boot Socks for the Bike Jerk, as anonymous husband decided to name himself. Just the foot of the second one left. But I'm a tad distracted by this:

Which is the beginning of the Hidcote Garden Shawl in Forest Seasilk for my mom. The pattern is delightfully complicated, and it's clear that the designer put a lot of energy into it. And the yarn is so scrumptious I can hardly stand it. It's a little thicker than most of the laceweight I've used before, and has a really lovely sheen that doesn't show up in the photo (mostly because the sun went away as soon as I snapped the picture).

I'm sort of embarrassed to go on. I'm usually a 2-3 items in progress sort of knitter - just one for paying-attention knitting, one for bus-riding, maybe another one for during a movie - and it feels weird to have so many things (5!) on the needles at once. How did it happen? These are socks for my friend Rebekah. They're a bit garish (Opal yarn, based on art by Hundertwasser), but in the best possible way:
And finally, the first one of the alpaca booties. One of the cutest things I've knit. Ridiculous. (Oh, and yes, that IS a duck with a ribbon around its beak in the background. Don't you have a pair of Korean wedding ducks?)

Grrr!

2007-05-24T11:36:00.000-04:00

Amazing things are going on around here, and my camera is off in D.C. jaunting around at a conference! Frost Flowers and Leaves is currently blocking (and perfect timing too, with it supposed to be in the 80s for a while), my lovely silk singles are plying up nicely, I've started several new things, AND I got a gorgeous roving from Zen String! And no pictures! Oh, the humanity!

Well, we're off to the MA Sheep and Woolcraft Fair on Saturday, but Sunday will bloom with so many pictures! Including some, I hope, from my husband (whose request to be referred to as 'Boozo the Clown' in these posts is still under consideration), of the Mall, the tourists, possibly our old home...

Otto, the nihilist

2007-05-21T09:21:00.001-04:00

Meet Otto. He's a recent addition to the family, and clearly a nihilist:

I'm not sure that his original incarnation was a nihilist, but this guy definitely is. Look at his eyes:

He's all made from my own handspun yarn (his scarf is Kool-Aid dyed) except for the beige, which is something from the stash, long ago de-labelled.

These were the first things I made entirely from knit-blogger sources (can my legs really be that white? I know winter's just ending, but c'mon?!):

Jaywalkers, in Black Bunny Fibers sock yarn (there's nothing for sale right now, but Carol's blog is lovely as well) . Which is a delight to work with! I had to keep watching my hands, just to see what colors were coming next. Below, the Jaywalkers pose in romantic soft focus with my other skein of BBF yarn (merino).

The only thing in this posting still on needles:

It's Sarcelle, in Claudia Handpainted Yarns Silk Lace in Sea Dreams, and getting close to being done. I almost never knit in light colors, and I don't think I own anything white or even white-ish, but when I saw this yarn I had a flash of brilliance: Hey! If I knit lace in a light color, then when I wear my dark clothes under it, it'll look great. I may be a little slow, but you can see how nicely the coreopsis shows it off!

Stash enhancement from the friendly folks at The Knitting Studio in Montpelier, VT, where we roadtripped this rainy weekend. My husband wasn't going to come into the shop at first, but I'm glad he did: the Louet Gems was my idea, but he bought the angora. It's for baby booties for a couple of friends. Lucky kids!

And, finally, a non-fiber related photo:

These are vodka infusions my husband is making (L-R ginger, mint and lemon). It's a first try, inspired by a visit to a local Russian restaurant. I'm especially excited to try the ginger. Mmmm....

A breakthrough!

2007-05-18T17:00:00.001-04:00

I know I already posted today, and one doesn't want to go overboard with this whole thing. BUT, I've been having a cruddy day involving banging my knee into things (HARD), spilling liquids on papers, and other minor disasters, along with frustrations in summer job searches and pre-dissertation work. So, being frustrated all around, I decided to do something else that's always frustrated me (because I'm a genius, and that makes perfect sense): spin on a drop spindle. I don't know why I can spin on a wheel, but drop spindling always makes me want to throw things. Anyway, inspired by Kristi over at Knitters Anonymous, armed with some of her advice and my own decision to stop using the cheap, learner's wool and go nuts with silk, I came up with this:

Yowza! I don't know what happened, except that maybe caring about what came of the fiber made me do better? It's so nice and even, I couldn't be happier. Yay!

Rain, Rain, go away...

2007-05-18T10:39:00.000-04:00

..so that I can take some better pictures. Ok, maybe I do need a new camera - one that allows me to focus how I want to - but here's a rainy day picture anyway:

Which it's the plied yarn from the onionskin dyed singles. This shows the color pretty well, and at least you can see that it's pretty fine. Maybe when the sun comes out, I'll post a better picture of it, because I love it! Turned out to be about 450 yards, too, so socks aren't out of the question.

This is the beginning of the purply merino roving. I wish I had more of it than I do! It's turning out so nicely. I'm usually more of a greeny-bluey person, but this is cooooool!

And here's a pair of mittens that I finished just in time for it to get warm enough to not wear mittens:

Nancy Bush calls them Hilja's mittens in her Folk Knitting in Estonia, but I call them Super-virtuous mittens, because they're entirely from my stash AND I used up 3 of those tiny leftover balls that just don't seem big enough to finish anything. Which they weren't, of course: neither your monitor nor my lighting is wacky - they are two different colors. The one on the left is mostly Koigu that's been sitting around (the remnant of TWO pairs of socks) for several years, the other is something else entirely. I sort of like the contrast. And I think this is enough colorwork to last me long time.

Also, just for update's sake, the Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl is halfway edged, though I won't burden you with another shrivelled shawl picture. Suffice it to say that I've upgraded it to the status of "work," which means that it gets to supercede things that other people might think are more important, like, oh, research. I'm just trying desperately to get it done before it gets hot, and if that means I have to spend 6 hours on a miserable rainy day watching Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version, of course! I'll take Colin Firth over Keira Knightley any day.) and edging a shawl instead of schlepping to the library, so be it!

Not knitting, but it could be...

2007-05-16T13:00:00.000-04:00

Pictures proving that the animals in this house have a drinking problem:

Where did they get beer boxes? (looking entirely innocent.)

I was going to post these eventually anyway, but was inspired to do so now after looking through the most recent Interweave Knits. Where I saw, hidden in the back ads, a place where you can send your animal hair sweepings and they'll spin them into yarn for you. Now, I'm sure that non-sheep animal fur of some sort makes its way into everything I knit or spin (since it seems to show up everywhere, even in food inside the fridge), but the thought of yarn made from what I sweep up on Saturday morning?! (shudder)

It's Me!

2007-05-15T12:36:00.000-04:00

I never even knew about knitting blogs until about a month ago, and now I have one. I couldn't resist once I saw all the great stuff going on and the sense of a knitting community. In real life I'm a graduate student, in something other than knitting, which means both that I have limited knitting time AND that I really need it when I get it. Hopefully I can figure out my camera and the intricacies of dealing with pictures on a Mac, so that this will work out!

Here are some of the things I'm working on:

Yes, it's Frost Flowers and Leaves from A Gathering of Lace, not that you can tell, of course. Oh the joys of circular lace, and its consistently looking like a tangled mess! Still, this one has 1/4 of its edging done, which is the real reason to show it. It's for my friend's wedding, and this photo shows it might be done before September (I've been working on it on and off for a year!).

Also, I dyed some purply rovings:

I'm just starting to explore dyeing, so I'm trying to stick within a colorway, but do it differently and see what happens. This is (L-R) merino, mystery wool, and silk. Both the silk and the mystery wool were supposed to have large white areas, but I didn't do as well with the mystery wool. It leaked.

This one is also mystery wool (I lost my labels for the undyed roving - I've had it for a while). You can't really tell from the picture, but it's rather violently orange in places, and sort of pinky in others. It was supposed to be for a scarf for my brother, but I don't think he'd approve of the color combo. Which is all for the best, as it means more yarn for my own evil purposes.

This is a singles spun with a roving I dyed with onionskin. I can't believe it came out so orange, but I love it. Also mystery wool! It's some of the thinnest yarn I've been able to spin, which is exciting. Maybe socks?

This is the beginning of a pair of Uptown Boot Socks from Favorite Socks (which I love! I have a total sock obsession, which is why I'm discreetly putting the sock last. That way no one will catch onto my sickness. It worked, right?) . It's using KnitPicks Gloss in Pumpkin, which feels great to work with, though we'll see how it wears. It's for my husband, which means a lot of foot to practice the very simple cable pattern!

That's it for now! I'll be back soon, with some more WIP and FOs...