Long Time No Report....

I still haven't purchased yarn for my sister's February Lady Sweater Pullover.  I'd still like to knit it for her (February) birthday.  Perhaps that will be my bit of Thanksgiving shopping this year....

I have, however, actually been knitting.  I am halfway through the 2nd sock from Socktoberfest.

I'm halfway through the first sock of my Tri-Cities Socks (aka Pittsworth by Spilly Jane).

The Fall 2009 Mystery Shawl is still stuck in Clue #1.  I went through a period where I screwed up every row I knit, so I put it aside for a while.  Once I finish my socks I'll pick it back up.

 Darning Pile
Not long ago, Yarn Harlot talked about her experience with Shoemaker Syndrome (or Cobbler Syndrome).  She observed that while she knits socks all the time, she tends to knit them for other people rather than herself and that her socks all tend to be of a similar vintage so they wear out at about the same time.  I have the same problem.

This is my pile of socks that need their heels darned. 

It's only four pair.  I've been trying to remember how old they are and, as near as I can tell, it's been five to eight years since these were knit.  I can't say that I'm terribly upset or surprised that the heels might have small thin spots by this point. On the other hand, I dislike darning socks, not to mention that there is only so much darning that a given sock can take, so I should probably start planning to crank out a stack of replacement socks for myself. Fortunately I have somewhere around 185 sock patterns stored on my computer (plus the hardcopy patterns on my bookshelf) and sufficient sock yarn in my stash to knit 30-ish pair of socks.  I think I'll be in good shape sock-wise before too long.

After I discovered the first pair of socks which needed darning, I when through the rest of my socks to check for others that needed repair.  I also grouped them all by color, just to see if there was a trend or pattern. Surprisingly there really isn't. The most common color is various shades of red. I have no handknit socks in the following colors: black, tan, white or yellow.  I could really use a pair of socks that is dark green (and of course I have no dark green yarn in the sock stash).  The closest match to my dark green sweater I could find today was a pair of socks that is lime green and purple (Lorna's Laces Jungle Stripe). Other than that, I seem to have most colors represented in some way. Mind you, I still have clothes that don't match any existing socks, but if people aren't used to seeing me wear socks that don't entirely match my clothes by now....

I haven't any idea what socks to knit after I get these two pair finished.  Heck, even if I did decide on something (as I'm sure I have done at least twice in the past), I'm sure I'd change my mind before I actually get them started anyway.  At the moment, probably because of the socks I'm currently working on, I'm rather enamored of patterns with twisted stitches. Perhaps something like Pamina or Lohengrin or Magic Mirror.  We'll see what I like when the time comes to actually pick something. :-)

Slight Change in Plans

I came across a pullover version of the February Lady Sweater and sent the link to my sister (she for whom I was going to knit a FLS for her Feb Birthday).  Personally I think the pullover would be more flattering on me and decided that I'll knit myself one soon.  Sis was initially wishy-washy about which she wanted.  I put my foot down and told her to tell me which one she really liked cuz I wasn't going to spend my time knitting her something that held no magic for her.  She laughed and said pullover.

Finally, Procrastination pays off!  I hadn't even purchased the yarn yet, much less cast on the sweater.  w00t!

One KAL frogged

Well, Crenellation is no more.  I got to a point where I couldn't get the chart to work for me and I couldn't figure out where I went wrong.  I also wasn't as enamored of the pattern as I had hoped I would be and wasn't terribly thrilled about the prospect of knitting the 2nd sock of the pair.  So I frogged it.

On the other hand, the loss of Crenellation leaves me with more time for the Fall Mystery Shawl and the Socktoberfest Mystery Sock.  The fourth clue for Socktoberfest comes out on Thursday morning.  I don't know if it'll be the foot and toe or just the foot.  I still haven't finished the first clue for the Fall Mystery Shawl (Clue 3 comes out on Saturday).

Sock KAL Progress! (Now with picture!)

I've gotten to the end of Clue #2 on the Through the Loops Socktoberfest sock.  Stayed up past my bedtime tonight to do it, but I think it was worth it.  I'll post a picture tomorrow.  I'm too tired to mess with it now. (Update: Pic posted.)

Next up: get caught up on the Solid Socks KAL (aka Crenellation).  I still haven't done more than a row or two on the first clue and I think the second clue might have come out this past weekend.  (I really need to put the clue schedules on a calendar or I'm going to get completely confused/lost.  I already thought the MMario MMystery started in November instead of January 2010.  Oops.)

I did start casting on for the Fall Mystery Shawl 2009 (FMS09) from Goddess Knits.  But then I got sidetracked by watching Castle on Hulu and needed to work on something less brain-intensive.  As soon as I get Crenellation up to speed I'll get cracking on the shawl.  The news on the FMS09 is that we're knitting a stole from each end, so each clue will need to be done twice and then the two halves are grafted together.  Some of the KAL participants aren't very happy about that since they don't like grafting.  I don't like it much either, but it's not going to stop me.  I'll just have to practice my grafting before I finish the shawl.  I'm absolutely NOT going to let grafting get between me and a lovely lace stole.

Let's Not Do That Again

I just hand wound a 1300 yard ball of lace weight yarn. It was supposed to be a center-pull ball, but apparently the yarn is sticking to itself a wee bit too much for that to work.  I will have to finally get myself a ball winder.  I've been meaning to buy one for some time, just never quite got around to it. (There's a 3300 yard skein of cobweb weight merino in my stash that has been languishing for about 5 years until I obtained a ball winder.)  It'll be a Strauch ball winder.  They make a good quality product that's well-built.  I've been very happy with the drum carder I have from Strauch, so I might as well own their ball winder too. 

The yarn I was winding is for the Goddess Knits Fall Mystery Shawl 2009.  I'm using Penny Rose's Carrie (80% merino, 20% silk) in gold.  It's a gorgeous warm butter yellow.  I expect it'll make the shawl feel that much warmer.  Clue number one came out today.  I expect I'll finish it in about twice the time the knitalong is scheduled to take, but that's just an estimate.



Sock KALs....
I thought I had Clue #2 of the Through the Loops Socktoberfest Sock finished, but when looking at the photos of other people's socks realized that I completely skipped the part of the instructions that said "repeat these rows 5 times".  Oopsies.  On the other hand, this means the sock length will be much more to my liking.

The Solid Sock group's Mystery sock has been cast on, but that's all the further it's gotten.  I'll have to check when Clue #2 on that one comes out.

And now I'm going to work on the TtL Socktoberfest while I watch Hulu and let the lace yarn sit and think about its poor behavior earlier today....

Ta Daaaaaaa!

I have completed Sis' Striped Socks.  All three of them.  Why have just two socks that don't match when you can have three?!

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Lobster Pinch (the red/pink) and Apricot Smoothie, purchased at Haus of Yarn.

Pattern: My basic sock top-down pattern knit over 64 stitches. K2, P2 rib for the cuff and instep.

Needles: Size 2 dpns.

I'll get these in the mail tomorrow or Friday, along with a t-shirt that reads "Will trade sister for candy".  Long ago, she probably would have too, except that I used to just give her all the Halloween candy I didn't like, which was most of it.  I'm the only person I've ever met that would have to dump out the previous year's Halloween candy in order to go Trick-or-Treating.

That reminds me, it's time to go buy another bag of Mary Janes..... (It's an amusing coincidence that the wrappers kinda match the socks!!)

Chemo Cap Done!

The chemo cap is finished!  It is currently tumbling around in the dryer after having a bit of a wash.

Speaking of Wash....
I talked to Boy a bit this evening. While we chatted, I happened to be browsing sock patterns on Ravelry and somehow managed to stumble across Wash's Sweater.  I mentioned Wash's Sweater, since Boy is a fan of Firefly.  He immediately Googled it and said that he had decided that he was going to start wearing sweaters in the winter again.  And that he would wear a sweater like that if someone happened to knit it in a size that would fit him.  When I asked if that was a roundabout way of asking me to knit him a sweater he said "maaaaaaybe".  I told him that I would consider knitting him a sweater but only if he picked out the yarn so that the color and degree of softness would suit him.  I also pointed out that an adult-sized sweater often takes me a couple years to finish.  He said it wasn't a rush and that I should knit the other stuff on my list of things to knit first.  (He's obviously not seen my Ravelry queue--there are over 300 items listed there now.)  Maybe, if the yarn has been chosen by that time, I'll cast on after the first of the year....

New Sock KAL

Since it was a depressingly chilly and dreary weekend, I decided to cheer myself up by joining the Socktoberfest 2009 KAL sponsored by Through the Loops.  This is the yarn I'm using for it. It's one of the three skeins of hand-painted sock yarn I purchased at the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in July 2009.  The yarn line is called Riot of Colors.  I hope I can get more of that next time I stop by the shop.

And, since I was still a bit mopey, I also cast on Crenellation, which is the October / November Solid Sock Group mystery knit.  Of course, I'm not actually using a solid color yarn (I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in a multi-color blue colorway.)  I think it'll still turn out fine and I'll knit the next Solid Sock pattern out of a solid color to appease any irritated sock knitting spirits.


In addition to starting two new socks, I got all the way to the toe shaping of Sis' Striped Sock #3, added a couple inches to the body of the Blueberry Sweater, ordered the yarn for the Goddess Knits Fall Mystery Shawl 2009 and darned holes in a pair of existing socks (two more pair to go).  All in all, it was a fairly productive weekend, knitting-wise. If the weather remains damp and dreary the rest of the week, I might get a lot of knitting done in the evenings too!