Long time no (mumble mumble)

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?!?!

Say hello to my little friend

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

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

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!

Law and bored-er

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!

Congratulations, among other things

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?

The debil made me do it

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!

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....