Crazy Crazy

First, I'm headed to Seattle at the beginning of the week for a conference.  I just realized that I haven't even *thought* of looking up yarn shops near where I'll be staying.  I can't decide if that means that I've been very distracted or if I may have reached some semblance of completion with my current stash size.

With that said I did buy yarn today.  And my sister (the new knitting convert) said it was ok.

You see, I also got my first (partial) paycheck at my new job this week.  She said I probably shouldn't spend all at the yarn shop.  I told her that I wouldn't spend any of this paycheck at the yarn shop. She allowed as how that was rather wise of me to specify only this particular check was not going toward the yarn shop.

But you see tomorrow is a Team Battelle Project Linus work day. The local Project Linus website indicated a specific need for blankets in colors suitable for boys.  I didn't have sufficient non-wool worsted weight yarn in boy colors.  I had some pinks, but not even enough of those for a complete blanket.  So I went to Jo-Ann's and bought a couple one pound skeins of Caron acrylic (soft, but not so soft that it'll pill quickly). 

Then I texted my sister and told her that I did a bad thing for a good reason.  She allowed as how it wasn't really a bad thing if it was for a good reason.  She also agreed with my reasoning that it wasn't breaking my earlier promise in that a) I didn't actually spend any money at the yarn store and b) the paycheck in question is still sitting on my desk, waiting to be mailed to the bank so I didn't actually spend any of the money contained therein.

Not only is my sister a knitting convert, she's now heavy into the rationalization of more yarn acquisitions.  This is definitely a sign of a hooked knitter.

I'll see her next week.  I'm going to buy her yarn for the scarf she's decided to knit herself.  Something washable, soft, warm and periwinkle, I believe were the criteria she had. With any luck, it'll be done by the time it's cold in Chicago again. (It took me two years to finish my first project. I'm hoping she won't be as pokey about finishing things as I was.)  Speaking of Chicago....that reminds me that I need to figure out my airplane knitting.  Given that I just put holes in two socks this week, I'm thinking I need to get me some more socks knitted. Though I could probably finish sis' second sock during the trip and then I can knit for me on the way back!


Project Linus Blanket #1

Rather than risking boredom (and an eternally unfinished project) by knitting the same thing ad nauseum the entire duration of the blanket, I decided to try a Log Cabin style blanket as described in Mason-Dixon Knitting.  Up until the drive home from Jo-Ann's, I was committed to the simple same pattern throughout.  Now I've gone from a traditional Log Cabin design to adapting the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket to suit the thicker yarn and two color choices (rather than the four called for in their pattern).  I think it'll turn out well.

Yarn: Caron One Pound worsted weight in Claret and Midnight Blue
Needles: Size 8
Gauge: I have no idea and I don't think I care. I'll knit until it's big enough.
If this project goes well, I'll make more of them.  It's too bad the project won't take anything wool. I've got quite a bit of superwash wool that would make a decent blankie. Oh well.  Perhaps I'll make some log cabin-ish scarves or try a modular scarf.

Alpaca Show
Last weekend, I went to the Northwest Alpaca Showcase alpaca show.  I resisted purchasing any fiber.  I did, however, hook up with the local fiber guild, Desert Fiber Arts, and they seem like a nice bunch of people.  They have a spinning group that meets at the local library on the first Saturday of each month.  I might have to stop by there tomorrow.  I have to return some books anyway. Too bad I also have other errands to run.

Spinderella's Goodies and Creating Two Knitters!!

In an effort to simplify my move across the country, I shipped off the stockpile of spinning fleeces to Spinderella for processing.  Well, the roving arrived the other day.  Oh my goodness is it gorgeous and boy is there ever a lot of it.  I knew they were going to ship me 60-70 pounds of roving back, but it just didn't occur to me how much roving that really is until it was piled up in my living room.  Oh dear am I going to be busy spinning (and then knitting and weaving) for a good long time.

And to top it all off, there's an alpaca show in town this weekend *and* I discovered that the mother of one of Boy's co-workers is a spinner/knitter and raises her own sheep because she's picky about her fleeces.  I knew I shouldn't have told myself that I didn't really need to buy any more spinning fiber in the next year.

There is some bad news though: the yarn shop a mile down the road from where I live may be closing soon.  The owner needs to sell it by the end of May.  The big sale on everythign in the store starts next weekend.  I really don't need any more yarn or needles either, but I'll stop by anyway.  I'll be really bummed out if they close.  I was so looking forward to hanging out at Friday night knitting. *pout*

To end on a more positive note, I seem to have created a monster or two.  I taught my Niece to knit not long ago.  She picked it up rather quickly.  Of course she'd sat in my lap and watched me knit for quite some time previously, but then I went and bought her the Disney learn to knit kit (contains a pair of plain single point needles and a pair of single points with the non-pointy end bent into the Mickey ears shape, plus a few other notions and a how-to book).  We picked out a worsted-weight yarn in a color Niece liked and I cast on about 15 stitches for her.  Over two days, she knit up a couple inches of garter stitch.  My Nephew then wanted to try, but he figured out pretty quickly that he didn't have the fine motor control to manipulate the stitches and moved on to a different activity. 

Now my Sister has taken up knitting, ostensibly so that she can help my niece when she gets stuck.  Sis mentioned to me the other night that she had no desire to turn on the TV in the evening and just wanted to sit knitting or reading.  She also confessed to having picked up Niece's knitting to fix it and ended up putting it down 10 rows later.  Methinks she's hooked.  At the moment Sis is making a doll blanket while Niece makes a scarf.  Niece has planned "a sweater for daddy" as her next project and Sis is going to make a scarf, just as soon as she finds a nice soft washable yarn in a periwinkle blue.  I'm thinking a gift certificate to a yarn shop may be in order....

Traveling Purchases

On my great roadtrip across the U.S., I made a few fibery purchases.  I stopped in Champaign-Urbana long enough for lunch at the Courier Cafe (I had a Darcy's Burger with a Gardenburger and sweet potato fries) and a bit of shopping at Needleworks. I picked up some lovely sock yarn and enough worsted weight Plymouth Mushishi to make myself a nice cardigan for work.  I may end up using the February Lady Sweater pattern, again making the sleeves full-length and deepening the yoke to allow more ease in the armscye area.

I declined to stop at the Amana Woolen Mill in Amana, Iowa to purchase more merino roving. I used three arguments to bolster my resolve:

1. Stopping would have made me late to lunch with my Grandma and,
2. I have over 50+ pounds of roving headed my way soon from Spinderella, plus the 10 pounds of roving I previously purchased from the Amana Mill (and the other 30+ pounds of wool, silk, cotton and other spinning fibers in my spinning stash).
3. I have very limited space left in my car.

 I avoided any fibery temptations until I arrived in Pendleton, Oregon, home of the Pendleton Woolen Mill.  I stopped at their company store and picked up a big bag of worms and a cone of lace weight yarn.  I think nice rugs for the bathroom and living room are in order.

All Boxed In

Well, the fleeces have arrived at Spinderella's. Completely by coincidence, Spinderella has lowered their processing prices a bit and expanded their volume discount to cover the entire order, rather than just individual lots over a certain size. While none of my individual lots exceeded the minimum for the discount, the whole order certainly did.  That was quite a nice surprise.

The stash is now living in a series of cardboard boxes. Tomorrow it gets loaded on a truck and sent off to my new home in Washington state.  The drive to join my stash will take about five days of drive-time, plus I'll spend a day or two in Chicago visiting family before I go.  I have two socks, a scarf and my Kiri shawl (which has another hole in it) as my travel knitting.  I expect that I might get some knitting done while I watch the movers load the truck too.  I really wish I had someone to drive me across the country just so that I could knit all day each of those five days.  Oh well.... I do have a nice supply of books on tape to keep me company and that will just have to suffice.

77.8 Pounds

I spent today organizing and packing up my spinning fleeces. By my reckoning, there are 77.8 pounds of fleece in my garage, divided into 9 boxes.

 It's taken me a while to decide where to send the fleeces for processing, but I think I've finally decided on Spinderella's.  Looks like the turnaround time is about four to eight weeks. That should work out pretty well with the moving in between shipping and receiving.  They're also located relatively close to my new location, which should save on shipping.  Now I just need to print out the order forms, fill out the info and get the boxes over to Mary at the UPS store.

And figure out what I'm going to do with the 50-ish pounds of roving I'm going to get back.  Some of it I'll spin straight into yarn for which I already have ideas for thanks to Lisa Lloyd's book A Fine Fleece. Although I greatly dislike the poorly focused and sometimes poorly lit photos in the book, I do indeed like her cabled sweater patterns a great deal.  I'm also quite curious how long it would take me to spin 1600 yards of a nice 2-ply DK or worsted weight yarn.  I've never measured my handspun in the past.

Now that I have a drum carder, I might just try my hand at blending too.  I've got some lovely alpaca, angora and silk that could be a nice addition to some of the soon-to-be-produced roving or to the already existing Merino roving I have stashed away.

Final Final FLS Update

Sis has received the sweater. She was *very* surprised. She'd been expecting socks!  I'm hoping she wasn't still expecting socks when she saw the size of the box that UPS kindly delivered yesterday.  The report is that the sweater is gorgeous and fits perfectly.  It's good to know that I guessed the sleeve length well. Sis is three inches taller than me, so has longer arms.  I made the sleeves about 1.5 inches too long for me and apparently that's just right.

I told her that since I'd purchased a whole bag of Cascade 220 in Chocolate when we went sweater yarn shopping that I actually have enough yarn to make the February Lady Pullover too.  So far she hasn't replied to that.  Since I've already started the pullover, I'll pick it back up when I get done with the Sea Serpentine Socks.

Speaking of Sea Serpentine.... ripped them back out to the end of the toe shaping again and began working the smallest size.  The foot was just coming out a tiny bit too large at the medium size (after ripping out the large size).  I'm tempted with this yarn (Hacho) to go up to a size 3 needle. The fabric right now is a bit dense.  Will have to consider that for the next pair with Hacho.

Since I now have an official signed/accepted job offer, I have gone ahead and ordered my yarn for the Evenstar Shawl.  I decided on Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread II in Winter Solstice, just like the designer used.  I love the glowing silver grey color.  The second clue of the shawl just came out so I'm just a tiny bit behind. Perhaps the yarn will arrive late next week and I'll think about getting started.  I'm also going to sign up for the whole Lord of the Rings mystery pattern series.  The previews she's given look gorgeous!!

Final FLS Update!

After making the sleeves longer, I spent an hour this morning making the sleeves back to their original length and sewing on the buttons.  Of course, I failed to take any photos at all before packaging up the sweater and shipping it off to my sister.  The good news is that it will arrive on Friday and her birthday is Saturday.  I told her I was shipping her a quart of ice cream in a plain cardboard box.  She's very excited to be expecting a sticky, leaky box of goo.

Of course, I completely forgot to get her a birthday card. DOH!

Now I'll have to work on the blue Serpentine Socks and see how far I can get between now and the Olympic Closing Ceremonies on Sunday.

February Lady Sweater Finished, But....

I think the sleeves are going to be too long.  And they have a decided tendency to stretch out even longer while wearing them.  So after re-knitting the first sleeve last night to make it a bit longer, I will now be ripping out the cuffs plus an inch of actual sleeve in order to re-knit the cuffs at the original sleeve length.  On the other hand, I think the armscye depth thing will be ok, so that's good.

I picked up some buttons on the way home from work that I think will work ok. I'm not 100% certain about them being exactly right, but I think they'll do for now. Sis is perfectly capable of replacing the buttons if she chooses to do so.

Overall, I think I'm pleased with the sweater design though I'm not terribly pleased with the hand of the fabric. It's a bit limp and stretchy for my tastes though I did meet the gauge that the pattern requested.  If I make another one, I'll go down a needle size or two with this particular yarn (Cascade 220) to get a firmer hand.  I'll give Sis an option to have a less stretchy sweater if she's not so keen on the hand of her birthday present too. (If I do re-knit, I'll carry the raglan increases down a bit further too so as to avoid the armpit tightness concern I had.)

Knitting Pics At Last!

After agonizing over the February Lady Sweater and whether or not it will fit properly*, I decided to go ahead and finish it.  I'm just a few inches from finishing the second sleeve.  It seems like it's been like that for the past few nights of knitting.  Perhaps today I'll get it done and then I can get it blocked, wrapped and shipped to my sister.  Her birthday is next Saturday, so the package needs to be in the mail on Wednesday.

*I suspect that the armscye may not be deep enough to be comfortable.  The only way to fix this, however, is to rip back the entire body and sleeves and knit the yoke deeper.  I'm ok with doing that, just wanted to give the directions as written a try first. Perhaps it's just me agonizing and overthinking things too much.  It may fit my sister just fine too. She's smaller through the arms and chest than I am.  If it doesn't fit, I'll have her ship it back to me and I'll re-knit it. I think I can solve the problem by carrying the raglan increases to the end of the garter stitch yoke.

Also on the needles are the Crabby Socks for me.  I'm nearly to the gusset on the first sock.

I started another pair of Serpentine Socks for my sister for my Knitting Olympics project.  I don't think I'll get them done before the closing ceremonies. Not with the final push for finishing Sis's sweater.  The yarn is Mirasol Hacho in the color Deep Blue Ocean.  It's a bit heftier than STR Mediumweight so I'm making a smaller size than for the Crabby Socks.  It's a nice squishy yarn though.  Should be comfy on the feet. Hopefully it won't be too thick for Sis' work shoes.

More February Lady Sweater! (Still No Pics)

It's really hard to take a picture of a one-armed sweater when you're wearing it.  I'm just not coordinated enough to hold out one arm while taking a photo with the other. At least not unless I'm hoping to take a photo of the wall or ceiling.  Yes, I could have just lay the sweater on the floor for the photo, but that isn't half the fun or challenge of taking action photos. :o)

Anyway, the February Lady Sweater for my Sis now has one completed sleeve.  That leaves me with approximately 15 days to finish sleeve number two, which is completely doable.  And find buttons, which may be a bit trickier. Finding buttons for things I wear is hard enough. Finding buttons for something for someone else to wear is harder.  I'm tempted to not put buttons on it and let Sis pick out and sew on her own. She's got a whole lot more choices for button shopping than I do.

I am pretty certain that the sweater is still a surprise.  Last week, when I was agonizing over what airplane knitting to pack, she did mention that I could always knit her more socks. (It was really cute because she specifically said she didn't mean to be pushy and I had just mentioned re-discovering the sock yarn she purchased just after Christmas.)  I did mention that I couldn't work on her socks just yet because I had one project in the queue ahead of them, but that I'd get to them very soon.  I made no mention at all of the sweater.  I think we're good.

Now I just need to figure out if a) I have enough yarn left to make the February Fitted Pullover too and b) if I'll make it for her or for me! I should have enough yarn for the 3/4 length sleeve version. The long-sleeve version might be a bit dicey.  She might wear the 3/4 length sleeve version once she tries it on.  If she doesn't, I may just have to claim it as my own.


New Job Prospects
I've got a decent chance of getting a new job in the next few weeks.  If things go well, I'll be moving most of the way across the country, which means packing up the stash.  I'm giving serious consideration to sending most of the fleeces off to be processed before the move and then have them shipped to my new address after they've been turned into roving.  That would greatly diminish the volume of stuff to pack in the fiber room.  It would also do wonders toward getting me to actually DO SOMETHING with the multitude of fleeces.  Let's face it, I've not managed to process a single one yet and some of them I've had for probably seven years.

The other cool thing about my potential new job is that the dress code is more relaxed.  Of course what's odd about that is that I suddenly feel the urge to knit a bunch of nice sweaters (cardis, jackets) so that I can dress nicely and professionally.  Making a point of knitting a little bit each day, I've figured out that I can actually accomplish larger projects, like sweaters.  I used to think they took far too long (1-2 years), but now I can see that isn't the case.  Heck, the February Lady Sweater is just one sleeve shy of completion and I only started it a month ago.  If I work on worsted weight projects that are mostly seamless, I should be able to manage 4-6 sweaters in a year without giving up my sock knitting or the occasional shawl project.

Speaking of shawl projects....I've promised myself that I can buy the two skeins of Silk Thread II for the Evenstar Shawl just as soon as I get an official job offer.  Hopefully things will progress fairly quickly on the job front since the KAL starts on the 12th and I don't want to end up hopelessly behind.

February Lady Sweater Update

I have finished the body of the sweater and am progressing on to the sleeves. I'm a bit worried that the sleeves might be too wide, but it's a bit hard to tell for certain until I knit them a couple of inches. I'll definitely be decreasing to the wrist, which isn't in the pattern, but we'll get it sorted out. I'm tempted to use short-row shaping at the top of the sleeve, but haven't really thought that through yet. I'll probably try it as written and then work on modifying it. Seems simpler that way, don't you think?

So far I'm on my fourth skein of yarn.  I'm not sure I'll have enough leftover to actually knit the Fitted February Pullover as a companion piece for my Sis's birthday sweater.  I'll know for sure after the sleeves are done.

Evenstar KAL
I've signed up for the Evenstar KAL with Susan Pandorf. I have, so far, managed to refrain from purchasing two skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread 2 in the colorway Winter Solstice. This is the yarn Susan is using for her shawl. It is BEAUTIFUL! It's a glowing silver gray color and is just perfect for something titled Evenstar.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy bunch of holidays, whichever ones you celebrate.  My sister loved her new Crabby Socks (shown here being displayed by my nephew).  My niece loves to steal my sister's socks, but this pair are way too large for niece to wear. Niece did, however, ask if I could knit her socks and also if I could teach her to knit.  I promised her knitting needles and knitting lessons for her birthday.

Sis and I hit Wool and Company in Geneva, IL on a day we got to hang out without kids.  She bought yarn for me to knit her FOUR more pair of socks and I bought the yarn for her February Lady Sweater.  I inadvertently bought enough Cascade 200 to knit both the pullover and cardigan versions, so I think I'll knit her both.  I initially cast on for the pullover, but then she said she was leaning toward liking the cardi better so I started the cardigan last night.  I should be able to get one of them done by the end of February for her birthday.

As presents, I received The Opinionated Knitter by EZ and Sock Innovation by Cookie A.  I really like the chattiness of EZ's newsletters.  I am thrilled by the extensive and detailed explanation of designing that Cookie wrote.  It helped solidify some ideas I've had about writing patterns and gave me some insight into a different way of thinking about designs.

On the knitting front, I added a couple inches to the default Yarn Harlot One-Row Scarf that's become my  mindless travel knitting.  I also managed to finish my Blueberry Sweater. Well, finish it except for the weaving of the underarms.  I'm happy that it's done, but I'm not as happy with the overall sweater as I'd like to be.  For starters, I think the arms might be an inch too short (which may or may not be fixable with blocking).  The other issue has to do with the shoulder "seams".  They stick out too much, giving the shape of the sweater an 80s big shoulderpad look that I really don't like.  Of course I have already sewn in the ends before I really thought about the fit and shape.  I think I was just so pleased to have actually finished an adult-sized sweater that I wasn't thinking clearly.  Now I'm putting off the underarm weaving until I decide what I want to do (if anything) about the sleeves and shoulders.  I've got plenty of yarn left (5+ skeins) so making the sleeves longer is definitely an option.

Future Knitting Plans:
I've had a blast with the new Strauch ball winder that Boy gave me for Christmas.  Being a wise Boy, he correctly deduced that buying me a handy tool like the ball winder might facilitate the production of more Foot Hugs for his feet.  He actually ordered the ball winder from Otto Strauch himself and it arrived on my doorstep just two days later!  I did spend the first weekend after its arrival winding a bunch of sock yarn, so Boy might be right about that Foot Hug production connection....

Despite finishing several items in the past few weeks, I'm not experiencing any knitting slump.  Quite the opposite, actually.  Once I get Sis' February Sweaters finished, I'm not sure what I'll focus on.  Several of my family members have now mentioned getting socks again, so I suppose it's time for round two of socks for them.  The last time I knit everybody socks was probably 7 or 8 years ago, so I can't really disagree with them.  I still have two shawls in progress too (Errold's Grove and the Fall 2009 Goddess Mystery Shawl) and the Tri-Cities Socks.  Maybe I can knit two rows of the Goddess Knits Mystery Shawl a day, then work on the February Sweater....  At least my knitting energies are focused on getting projects finished, rather than starting new ones. :-)

Bad Computer, No Biscuit

I had some lovely photos of my finished Serpentine sock uploaded on my laptop Sunday. Apparently a power surge yesterday caused my laptop's brand new hard drive to lose its mind.  I think I deleted photos from the camera so I'll have to remember to take another pic.  Even worse is that I lost the before picture to my French Press Slippers.  The unfelted slipper was about 2 feet long.  The felted slipper fits a size 9 woman's foot quite nicely, albeit a bit loosely about the top opening. I love to document the huge differences between before and after with felted items.

French Press Slippers
These were a lot of fun to make.  I'd been enamored of them before the Yarn Harlot fell under their spell.  (They remind me of the ballet slipper-like house shoes my paternal grandmother used to wear.) Having had a not-so-fun day on that particular day, I used them as a spot of personal retail therapy. I used some stashed Plymouth Galway in navy for them.  I didn't whip out the pair in 90 minutes, but I did get them knit in perhaps 3-4 hours total knitting time.  I have neither put the straps on them nor purchased buttons. There's no telling how long that will take.

Crabby Socks!
I have started sock number 2 for my sister.  I foresee no reason I can't get these finished by Christmas.  I might not even have to work on them in front of her and pretend that they're mine. (She's used to seeing me constantly knit.)  I don't think I'll manage to get my pair finished, though I should be able to make a dent in getting them started. 

I think I have the hang of the magic cast on for toe up socks.  I had to look it up again for this one, but I think I've got it stored in my brain now.  The slip stitch goes on the top needle and the yarn goes round the needles from under/outside. 

The Russian cast off that Wendy describes in her book seems to be a winner in terms of stretchability and simplicity.  I like having an option I can use in case I don't ahve a yarn needle (making the sewn cast off impossible).  It doesn't always happen, but sometimes I don't always have extra tools available and I'd hate to get stuck with no way to proceed.

Pictures of all this stuff coming soon!!!

A Brief Update

A deceased hard drive in my laptop has rather cut into my blogging lately. It's just not as much fun to sit at the desktop computer in the computer room to blog when compared to sitting in the comfy chair with the laptop  while watching old movies.

On the other hand, I have gotten more knitting done....
The Socktoberfest socks are complete. They're a bit larger in circumference than I'd like but a trip through the washing machine this weekend helped that immensely.  From here on out, they'll primarily be handwashed.

I had a sincere go at the Fall 2009 Mystery Shawl and promptly made a mistake about three rows into it.  I'm in the process of tinking back.  I need to figure out where to put markers in it. There are some motif repeats, but nothing really sticks out as a Place Marker Here spot.  Once I get that done, I think progress will pick up dramatically.

The Tri-Cities Sock is past the heel and gusset shaping.  I don't remember where on the foot I am.  This is back to being a 4-5 row repeat so works pretty quickly.  I won't get both socks done by the end of the year but I might get them done by the end of January.

Taking precedence in the knitting queue is a new project: The Crabby McHappypants socks for my sister and me.  The yarn is Socks That Rock Mediumweight in the Crabby McHappypants colorway (corals and blues).  The whole idea came about when my sister commented that she was named  "Assy Jackass McSmartypants" at work one day for being a Smartass/Smartypants.  Later that week I stumbled upon the Crabby McCrabbypants and Crabby McHappypants yarns.  Since we've both been called Crabbypants before too, we thought Crabby yarn was a must have.  Both of us liked the colors in the Crabby McHappypants better than the Crabby McCrabbypants, even if we do like the latter name a whole lot more.

Now I need to knit at least one pair of socks between now and Christmas.  I'm not sure I can get it done.  I've got a lot of baking and some shopping/shipping to get done too. Ideally I'd like to get both pair finished, but I think that's definitely out of the question.

The pattern I've chosen is Serpentine Socks from Wendy Johnson's new book Socks From the Toe Up.  This is my first foray into toe-up socks.  It took a bit of extra research to figure out Judy's Magic Cast-On, but once I got past that, I figured things out quickly enough.  It was really fun to learn a new technique too.
 
The only thing I need to keep tabs on now is what numbers I use for cast on stitches, length to gusset/heel shaping, etc.  It's not going to be difficult to do, unless I start getting top-down and toe-up numbers switched around.   In hopes of preventing that, I'm putting an old index card box to good use and creating an index card for each of my sock victims recipients.  The front of the card will hold the relevant measurements while the back will hold the information about the actua socks I've knit for them.  Ideallly this would be kept on the computer, but a hard copy card system should work well enough for now.  I'll build a real database later if I get bored.

Update: I have finished the first of the Serpentine Socks. I'm totally sold on the toe-up method though I still prefer DPNs over 2 circulars.  I hate having to push the stitches over the join to get them to the needle tip. It feels like it slows my knitting immensely.

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!

Whatever Happened to Travel Knitting?

Had a 2 1/2 day trip to Nashville. Got very little knitting done.  For starters, I was the driver to/from Nashville (which is totally fine).  I also discovered that Pittsworth is one of those patterns to which you need to pay attention when you knit.  Each round is short enough that I don't really memorize a row/round repeat (only two repeats per row) and the vertical repeat is 49 rows long.  On the other hand, I do still like the pattern a lot for this yarn.  Anyway, it used to be that I got a LOT of knitting done on trips because I'd just hang out in my hotel room at night and knit.  I was in my room at night, but not much knitting got done, mostly because I was either talking on the phone or too braindead to follow a fairly complex pattern.  Next time I'll bring a less complicated project....

Socktoberfest!
I didn't mean to, but I stumbled across the Through the Loops Socktoberfest KAL.  I even cast on the sock last night, though I have since decided to switch yarns.  I wasn't sure that the ShibuiKnits Sock yarn had sufficient yardage to finish the socks and didn't' want to risk running out.  I'll cast on with the winning yarn momentarily.  I've decided to go with an autumn colored handpaint yarn called Riot of Colors that I purchased at the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, IL.  It was dyed by one of the students in a dyeing class.  I thought the autumn colors would be suitable for something called Socktoberfest, even if the pattern itself isn't really fall-like.  It's still gorgeous yarn.


Chemo Cap
I expect to finish the chemo cap this weekend.  I'm past the patterned section and only need to do the decreases at the top of the hat.  I haven't read that part of the pattern very closely, but surely I could manage to finish that in a couple hours of TV time.  It'll be good to get it finished and on its way to its recipient.


Holiday Knitting
I'm still planning to knit my sister a February Lady Sweater for either Christmas or her birthday (late February).  I still haven't purchased the yarn for that.  I'd like to finish the Critterknits for niece and nephew that I started last winter.  I still owe niece a hat and some mittens. (At least, I don't think I finished the mittens.)  I still owe nephew a hat and scarf.  One of these days I'll knit them sweaters too.  Also on the holiday list for 2009 are some dishcloths.


Boy Socks Received!
Speaking of gift knitting....Boy received his socks on Wednesday.  I told him they probably should be washed before wearing and explained the recommended washing process.  He said he's wash them over the weekend and wear them next week.  His resolve lasted less than 10 minutes.  He wore the socks to work on Thursday and he said they fit marvelously all day long.  I allowed as how I could be talked into knitting him more socks if he asked me to and if he picked out the colors for me.  He said he'd be happy to supply me with a list.

Chemo Cap Snafu

Remember a while back when I said I was going to knit the Santa Cruz cap?  Then I changed to Interlude and finally decided on the Snowdrop Beret?  I got a whole pattern repeat of Snowdrop done last weekend.  Didn't have much knitting time this week, at least not much knitting time for knitting that required any sort of brain function. It's very much been a K2, P2 or garter stitch kind of week, mentally.  Here's proof of that:

One night this past week I decided I'd work a couple rounds of the Chemo Cap just to be making progress on it.  So I did.  I got up to Round 13, which requires a cable needle that I'd put away, so I set the cap aside until today.  Today I knit three or four more rounds and finished the pattern repeat.  When I sat back to admire my work, I realized what was wrong.

I had knit seven rounds FROM THE SANTA CRUZ PATTERN on my Snowdrop Beret .

So I frogged an inch of hat.  Now I'm ensconced in my comfy chair with a mug of hot Sleepytime tea, watching Ben-Hur on TCM.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to make up the ground I lost.  The recipient of the chemo cap is probably a month into chemo at this point.  I need to get this finished before she a) finishes chemo and b) regrows her hair!!!  This hat needs to get with the program and STOP STRUGGLING TO NOT BE KNIT!!!!!  Bad hat!! No biscuit!!  (On the other hand, I have completely lost my sulky, crabby attitude about this project since it started misbehaving.  I am now completely determined to kick its soft blue butt and show it who is boss!!)

I would just switch over to the Tri-Cities Socks (aka Pittsworth by SpillyJane), but I'm ready to start a 49 round repeat cable pattern.  If I haven't the brain power for Snowdrop, I certainly haven't got enough brain left for Pittsworth.*sigh*

One thing I can say about Spa yarn by Caron.  It holds up well to repeated knitting and frogging.  I'm getting used to the splittiness of it and managing to not split many stitches now.  I'm also using some rather pointy Bry-Flex needles too, which I'm sure helps.

Chemo Cap Reborn

So I frogged the too small Santa Cruz hat and started Interlude by Marya Speton.  I got halfway through the ribbing when I spied the Snowdrop Beret on Marya's blog.  I liked Snowdrop so much that I decided to knit it instead.  I'm just about to start the lace pattern now.

I'm also reminded that it's really hard for me to get into knitting when I'm knitting because I have to, not because I want to knit.  I also realized that I tend to knit as a background activity while I read or watch a movie.  It's very different when I'm supposed to be knitting, then need to find something else to fill the background.  Too bad I can't figure out how to simultaneously knit and type (or surf the internet).  I am, at least, mentally re-ordering my Ravelry queue and sort of making a list of stuff to clean/declutter/fix/do around the house...

Project Pictures and Project Woes

First, for the good pictures, we have the Boy Socks (all finished save for the weaving in of the ends) and we have Sis' Striped Sock #3, just ready to turn the heel.

Now for the project woes....
The chemo cap is nice to look at, but only about 12 inches in circumference when unstretched.  Although a bald head is smaller than a hairy head, I suspect that it's not small enough to allow this hat to fit.  As much as I dislike this yarn, I'm not really keen on ripping out and starting over.  I had just talked myself into finishing the hat quickly by promising myself I could start the Pittsworth/Tri-Cities socks as soon as I was done too.  Grrrrr.  Now I need to figure out what to do with the hat--either change needle size or cast on more stitches

The other woe isn't a complete and utter woe.  This is a sock that I'm designing myself using Barbara Walker's Fractured Lattice pattern.

I had hoped the stitch pattern would show more stitch definition than it does.  I haven't decided if I want to rip it out and start with a new pattern I devised the other night or if I want to just keep going and get this pattern proofed/tested.  Just because I'm not overly keen on the pattern doesn't mean other folks won't like it.  I am, however, really excited about the next pattern idea.

A Productive Headache

I woke up this morning with a headache, probably of sinus origin, that left me pretty much uninterested in doing anything but sitting in my comfy chair.  Knitting on any of my current projects (stripey socks, chemo cap, Errold's Grove or blueberry sweater) wasn't even appealing.  The new Knitty did create some interest in knitting.  I have added Clandestine, Cathedral, Girl Friday, Kernel, and Zozo to my Ravelry queue.  I nearly cast on one of the sock patterns, but decided that it would be too much effort. (By that time my stomach was beginning to be upset too.)

So I decided to work on the sock pattern I started developing nearly a year ago. (Don't ask me how this is less work than casting on an already written pattern, because I have no idea. Brain said it was easier.) I had already written out the pattern on paper and had even cast on and knit the ribbing, then stopped.  Now I'm a few rounds into the pattern itself as I sit here and watch Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring on DVD and sip some caffeinated beverages.  The headache is abating.  Now I'll need to decide whether to continue with the productive knitting or move on to some productive yardwork or decluttering.

Boy Socks Done!

Well, I got the Boy Socks finished, but not, of course, while I was visiting Boy.  I got most of the way down the foot by the time I left Boy's house and all the way to the toe shaping before I got back to my house. (Gotta love a long flight for lots of good knitting time.)  Can't say I can complain about my progress.  I actually started my trip to visit Boy with a sock which was about 1 centimeter tall.

On the first flight leg of my trip, my seatmate asked if I'd have a sweater by the time we got to our first stop and said he didn't know how long it took to knit things..  I replied that we wouldn't have a sweater but we would have a good bit of sock leg.  He thought that was pretty cool. Later on I amazed him because I was reading the airline magazine *and* still knitting. Apparently he'd been watching me for some time. Initially he thought I was just flipping through the magazine, but not really reading it.  Then he realized that I was actually reading and continuing to knit (while not looking at my knitting at all). He was truly amazed when I told him that I sometimes knit at the movies, even though I told him that I keep to simple, uncomplicated stuff for knitting in the dark

On leg number two, my seatmate asked what I was making and we chatted about knitting in general. Being a Union electrician, he understood the concept of paying more money for a high quality, long-lasting job. The idea of paying $20 for the yarn to make socks which might last me 5+ years was not absurd to him. He also admired the finished sock #1.  We chatted nicely the whole flight about various things, including the nasty face the flight attendant made at a fellow passenger who left the overhead bin door open.  All in all, it was a fun trip out and I got all the way to the heel turning by the end of the travel.

During my visit with Boy, I got a goodly chunk of knitting done, thanks to one road trip and a couple evenings hanging out at home.  I could have gotten more done on the boat tour we did, but I was too worried about dropping a needle.  I also took far too many pictures to have had much time for knitting.  Most importantly during the trip, Boy tried on the re-knit Sock #1 and declared it to be an excellent fit.  Of course I didn't really take good notes on what I did to make Sock #1 fit better the 2nd time, so I'll have to hope that Sock #2 mostly matches.  (I know that I made the toe shaping more gradual, but exactly what I did isn't documented. Fortunately "close enough" will likely be good enough.)

The flights back weren't quite as prolific in a knitting sense.  Leg number one was spent writing a summary of my trip.  Knitting on leg number two was interrupted rather frequently by taking photos of the landscape passing beneath the plane (I like flying over mountains).  And I took a bit of a nap too.  But I got the second sock finished on the day after I returned so that's pretty good.  I'll stick the socks in the next box o' cookies I mail to Boy.  He's very excited.

Yarn Souveniers!
There are two yarn stores in the area where Boy lives.  One of them, Sheep's Clothing, is actually just a mile or two away from his house.  I purchased two skeins of Socrates sock yarn there.  I picked out the colors Dress Blues and Navi's Blue. To my eyes these are more of a purple heather and a teal heather, but they're gorgeous regardless of name.  I'm favoring the Fisher Price socks by Loumms and the Naive socks by spillyjane for these yarns.

The other shop is Knitty Gritty and I found a skein of Misti Alpaca sock yarn there.  The colorway I chose, Maple Gray, reminded me of the colors of the landscape in the Tri-Cities area.  I've decided that this yarn will become a pair of Tri-Cities socks.  I've chosen the pattern Pittsworth by spillyjane.  I thought it would reflect the three rivers that run through/near the cities and the three cities themselves, plus the steppes, orchards and fields.  These socks are rather high up in the queue right now.

I find it amusing that I all the yarns I bought were alpaca blends.  I hope that they wear well.  I'd hate to end up with gorgeous socks that wear out far too soon.  I'll have to pay attention to having a proper tight gauge.

Sis' Stripey Socks
I'm working on the heel flap of Sock #3.  I might get past the gusset shaping by the end of the weekend. I've got a metric bucketload of house- and yardwork to do this weekend.  Part of it is getting back on track after travel and part of it is getting things squared away for some house repairs/maintenance and an impending upcoming move.

Chemo Hat
The chemo hat is trying to entice me with its softness and nice color.  I really don't like the splitty yarn very much at all.  The hat will be needed by the end of the week, but I've already let the hat organizer know that it'll be closer to the end of the month the way my schedule has been.  Unfortunately it's not likely the recipient will grow her hair back by then so I'm still in good shape time-wise.  So, if I get sick of the stripey sock, I'll have a crack at the hat and vice-versa.  Perhaps I'll stagger things so it's 15 minutes each project.  Wonder where I put the hat pattern.....

*sigh*

I hate knitting for an obligation.  It never ends up being a project I care about. More often than not, there are other things I need to be knitting instead (like the two socks that need to be finished in the next two weeks) and I usually end up having to knit with yarn I really dislike because whatever project it is rarely is knit with a decent wool or wool blend yarn.  I get to knit a chemo cap that's supposed to be delivered in <2 weeks.  Nevermind that I'm travelling for about half that time.  Nevermind that I don't have much knitting time at all right now with the burgeoning novel H1N1 flu outbreak. Oh and after I announced what yarn I was going to use (complete with picture), someone else when out and bought yarn in the same color then expected me to change things.  Since there are apparently several people making hats, I'm tempted to just bail on it except then I would a) feel guilty and b) probably be bashed by the other persons involved, which shouldn't bother me but it does.

Knitting is supposed to be fun. This isn't it. :-(

Gauge Issues

My sleeve for the blueberry sweater was nicely on gauge with the recommended size of needles. Actually, the sleeve was the gauge swatch. After getting the sleeve to nearly the appropriate pre-underarm length, I decided to start the body of the sweater. Apparently I am knitting more tightly now as I have added 1/2-1 stitch per inch. Now I have to figure out if I want to find a larger needle (I'm already knitting with size 11 needles) or if I want to re-figure the math or if I want to concentrate on knitting more loosely. I'd rather not re-figure the math for the gauge I'm actually getting. EZ actually cautions about knitting this sweater at a different gauge because the shoulder shaping doesn't work right. At the moment, I'm not terribly excited about the idea of going shopping for a size 13 needle. On the other hand, I don't know that I could consistently knit more loosely.

Gauge lately has become a problem for me. My sister's two striped socks are actually at slightly different gauges. I have no idea why. I used the exact same yarn and needles for both socks, but the second sock is tighter than the first. I don't recall being more stressed for sock #2 or knitting particularly tightly, but apparently I did. The difference in gauge means one sock fits more snugly than the other. It will be interesting to see how the third sock fits and whether it's of the tighter or looser gauge. Here's hoping my gauge issues sort themselves out soon and I become more consistent between knitting sessions. It would be nice to have a sweater whose body and sleeves don't have wavy sides due to inconsistent gauge.

Incremental Progress....

The third sock is now about 3 inches tall. The first sleeve is about 3/4 of the way to the armpit. And I'm already trying to figure out what I want to work on next--shawl, sock or sweater. It might be a shawl, but I would feel obligated to finish Errold's Grove first. (For some reason it feels "wrong" to have more than one shawl going at a time. Maybe I think I'll get confused between the two projects, though it's perfectly normal to have three or more socks on the needles.)

If the next project is a sock, I think I'll skip the Monkey Socks I cast on for myself and use the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the blue/gray colorway that I don't much like. I might make another pair of Zombie socks or Anita Williams' Firenze the Centaur socks. I definitely want to make With a Twist from the Knitters Brewing Company, but with a different colorway than the blue/gray Lorna's Laces. I might use one of the new yarns I bought at Fine Line in July.

If the next project is a sweater, I haven't decided whether to find the Freedom Sweater or whether to start something new, like a Veste Everest or the Must Have Cardigan. Or I could do something completely crazy like finish sweater projects I've already started--like the purple vest or the orange tank or the green polo (that just needs seaming up). Perhaps when I start weeding through the boxes of junk in the spare bedroom, I'll weed through a box of yarn/knitting stuff and put all the works in project into a single labelled tote.

I'm becoming accustomed to knitting in the evenings at least a few nights a week. I've been too tired to do much yardwork lately and there's less of it to do anyway. It's been quite relaxing to knit for an hour or two while watching Hulu or a DVD. I've not quite gotten into listening to a book on tape while knitting, but I'm sure that would be fun too if I had the right book. Perhaps that will be my next task--find a good series of fiction audiobooks with which to knit.

Sis' Striped Socks Now With Picture!

Here are the first two socks.
The yarn is Colinette Jitterbug knit on size 2 needles. I cast on 64 stitches and worked in K2,P2 rib for the leg and top of the foot. Basic flap heel. This is essentially my generic sock pattern. (I prefer ribbed socks to stockinette stitch socks as I think they stay up better, being both a bit more grippy and stiff.)

Blueberry Sweater, Incarnation #2....
Some time ago I started knitting a seed stitch pullover in Cleckheaton's Drop Dead Gorgeous (DDG) yarn. It's a bulky thick/thin silk/acrylic blend yarn in blues and purples. I had started using the seed stitch pullover pattern in Simply Beautiful Sweaters but had to fudge the gauge. I wasn't really happy with the body of the sweater and I was really unhappy with the sleeves, so I ended up frogging it last winter. Now I've decided to make one of EZ's Wishbone Sweaters.

I started the sleeve three times last night. The first time I didn't cast on the right number of stitches. The second time I cast on the right number of stitches and started the sleeve in stockinette stitch only to discover that I really don't like this yarn knit into stockinette stitch. The third time I cast on the right number of stitches and have been knitting along in seed stitch. I still get 2.5 sts per inch (was getting closer to 3 sts per inch in stockinette) so I'll still be on target to follow EZ's instructions. It took me a couple of increase rounds to get the paired increases done in pattern correctly. At first I had three stitches in between the two increases, but eventually decided that a single stitch in between was the way to go. And I am absolutely not going to bother with a faux seam and drop the column of stitches down to be crocheted up after. I'd never find the stitches again with this yarn and if I did, you'd never see the "seam" anyway.

After a couple hours of television (and fussing at my increases), I have one sleeve that is about 5 inches tall. If I knit on it pretty regularly during my TV/Hulu watching, I ought to make pretty decent speedy progress.

New Beginnings!

I still haven't taken a good photo of the finished striped socks. I have, however, cast on sock #3. It'll be a helix-striped sock with one-row stripes.

I've also decided that I need to start a sweater for myself. I've cast on the sleeve (three times now) for one of the Wishbone Sweaters in Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmermann. At first I couldn't count right and then after knitting two inches in stockinette stitch, I have decided that I really like this yarn much better in seed stitch. The yarn is Cleckheaton's Drop Dead Gorgeous in the colorway Blueberries. I'm using size 11 needles which gives me a gauge of 2 1/2 stitches per inch, so this ought to go fairly quickly. If things go as planned, I ought to have a sweater to wear in a month or two.

My first idea for a new project today was to start in on the Must Have Cardigan, except I could only find the yarn in my stash and not the pattern book. Then I thought I could start on a Veste Everest, but I couldn't track down the yarn. After that, I thought I would work on my Freedom Sweater pullover but I don't know which bin the the sweater is in, although I do know where the pattern is. (There seems to be a trend here....) What I could find is the DDG yarn, so I might as well get the Blueberry Pullover going again and get a long-term WIP off my list of things to get done.

Sis' Striped Socks Finished!

I just wanted to make the quick announcement. I still have the ends to run in, of course, but as far as I'm concerned, the pair is finished. I'll post a picture tomorrow. And cast on sock #3 of the set. Might get a good chunk of it knit up too, depending upon my energy level and the weather. There's a lot of yardwork that I could get done too.

First First Sock Progress....

Since I was home sick over teh weekend, I got a lot of knitting done. The first sock of Sis' striped socks was ripped back to the end of the first stripe and I started to re-knit. I'm now working on the heel flap. Assuming my head doesn't asplode on me tonight, I might get past the heel turn and another inch down the food. If I feel like death warmed over in the morning, I may decide to call in sick. Oddly enough, I said that about this morning too, but I felt pretty decent until just before the end of the day.

Still trying to figure out the next project. I'm kind of thinking a nice cardi for work would be nice. Let's not talk about the unfinished adult-sized sweaters languishing in the WIP bins....

Second First Sock Complete!

Here is the newly made second first sock and what's left of the unraveled first first sock. Had I been thinking clearly last night, I'd have taken a photo of the two first socks before I unraveled the one that is too short in the leg. The sock in progress will have a red heel and an orange toe, so will essentially be the "opposite" sock of this one.

I believe I will have sufficient yarn left to make a third sock to go with the first two. The third sock of the pair will be a helix-striped sock with one-row stripes for an even less identical pair of socks on my sister's feet. (She already buys the mismatched socks that come in sets of threes, so this will make sense to her and won't bug her a bit.)

This weekend should yield quite a bit of knitting time. I feel myself coming down with either a cold or an influenza-like illness today. If I develop a fever in the next day or two, I'll end up stuck at home for 7 days or until my symptoms resolve. That makes for lots of knitting time, assuming I'm not too miserable feelign to knit. (I'd really rather just go to work, but given that I'm the person who sends out the public health guidance about isolating sick people at home for a week, it would be rather inappropriate for me to blow off the recommendations and work while ill.)

Now for the Important Question....
What do I knit next? Start another pair of socks for me? Finish Errold's Grove? Start a new shawl? Start a completely different project? Finish spinning up the merino/tencel roving from months ago? Decision, decisions....

Travel Knitting Redux....

I headed north this past week for my sister's graduation from nursing school. I had her try on the first of the striped socks and, as I feared, the leg was too short. I did, however, get most of the second first sock knit with a longer leg, though I just realized (now that I'm three hours away and on my way home) that I failed to have her try on the new first sock to verify the leg length is good. Sis is thinking that to lengthen the first sock that all I will need to do is add on to the top of the leg. That would be true if this was a toe-up sock, but it's not and I wouldn't be happy with the sock if I just tacked on an extra couple of stripes. I'm perfectly fine ripping out the entire sock and re-doing it right. But then, you knew I was crazy.

Nearly all the progress made on the second first sock came while driving my Grandmother back to Iowa. Or rather, while sis drove and I knitted in the front seat. Grandma sat in the middle row, while the niece and nephew sat in the back row and watched DVDs. Niece is enthralled with my knitting (which she sometimes calls "sewing") and likes to hold the ball of yarn while she watches me. Perhaps I'll get her some needles and yarn for Christmas. She's just about to turn 6 years old. She could manage a garter stitch potholder/project, I think.

Travel Yarn Buying....
You may or may not remember that when Sis visited Nashville a few months back that she became enamored of the February Lady Sweater. We made a foray over to the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles. I figured we might at least settle on a yarn color, if not actually find the yarn itself. We very nearly actually got the yarn, except they were a couple balls short. Sis has chosen Brown Sheep Naturespun in Plumberry.

While we were at it, Sis bought a pair of earrings that a student in a lampwork class made and I picked up three skeins of handpainted sock yarn, plus a skein of lace yarn with a label entirely printed in Chinese. I was only going to buy two skeins of sockyarn but when I asked Sis to help me decide between two particular colors, she said she'd buy one of them for me and then I wouldn't have to choose at all. Gotta love a sister who not only wears, but also requests hand knit items *AND* enables fiber purchases. I'll post pictures in the next few days.

Travel Knitting Report...

I knit exactly one round on the travel sock. While killing time before my poster presentation. That's it. That is all the knitting I got done.

Now that I'm back home, I'm looking at a long weekend with very little work that I have to do. I have decided that I'm going to throw in some DVDs and knit myself silly. I have some socks to finish by Thursday and I'm only to the heel on the first one!!

Travel Knitting!

I've decided that the Eastery/Spring-y colored yarn will become Monkey Socks. I was tempted by the Spring Forward pattern too, but Boy thought the texture of the Spring Forward pattern would get lost in the variegated color of the yarn.

Coincidentally, I have decided that when I make Sis and I the Crabby McHappypants socks that they will also be Monkey Socks.

As the backup knitting project (in case I get to a stuck spot or something bad happens), I'm taking the striped socks for my sister too. They'll go in my suitcase.

Tomorrow morning I head to the airport. I should get a couple of hours of knitting in between the airport and the plane. The meeting starts tomorrow evening with the keynote speech and a wine/cheese reception that is, oddly enough, sponsored by Kraft. I wonder if it will actually be Kraft cheese that is served or if it will be just paid for by Kraft. The technical sessions start bright and early at 8am Monday. The meeting ends Wednesday at 5pm and I fly back that night. That will be a looooong day. Of course, that's also the day of my presentation. On the other hand, with travel on Sunday and a couple of long days, I will have put in a full work week by the time I get back to my house on Wednesday. After a conference call on Thursday morning and turning in my timesheet, I'll have to flex off the rest of the week according to company policy. (We're not allowed to accrue overtime or comp time.)

Travel Knitting Time Coming Soon

I'll be travelling part of each of the next two weeks. That means I get to knit on planes! and knit in the car when other people drive! Too bad I can't knit while I drive as I'll have two 7+ hour drives.

For travel knitting, I will be good and take my sister's striped socks. Errold's Grove is too big to travel well. I don't want to risk snagging it on something or dropping any stitches. Part of me really wants to start a new pair of socks. Like either another pair of Fawkes or maybe a pair of Monkey Socks or Pomatamous. I haven't had a new pair of socks for me in ages a month or two. *sighs*

The only down side to my sister's socks is that they're striped, so I have two active balls of yarn, instead of one smallish ball per sock. Maybe I'll have a plane-knitting sock for me and hotel-knitting sock for her. Then I wouldn't have to worry about accidentally yanking a ball of yarn out of my backpack and having it roll to the back or front of the plane, tangling up everybody's feet and leading to a mid-air yarn disaster.

Ok. That's it then. I'm knitting myself some new socks. I think I'll pick a cotton/wool blend and see about some pattern that reminds me of spring/summer weather.

Update: Just snagged a ball of OnLine Supersocke 100 in color 788. This is a self-striping yarn in spring/Easter-y shades of pink, purple, gree, yellow and blue. Now I just need to pick a pattern....I think something with a wee bit of lace perhaps. Any ideas or suggestions?

Checking In

It's been a while since I last posted. I have actually been knitting. Watching Eureka on Hulu and on DVD makes for wonderful knitting time. Henry and Carter have some really good lines. I made good progress on the Errold's Grove shawl getting through seasons 2 and 3. Now I'm ready for Season 4 to start and I'm nearly finished with the Bond Birds border. I'm currently on round 115. The Companion Tracks border starts at round 123.

On the occasional evening when I haven't got the mental capacity for lace knitting, I've been making progress on my sister's striped socks. I'm just starting the heel flap on sock number one. I've decided that these socks will be a graduation present for her. She graduates from nursing school on the 23rd of July. That should be plenty of time to get 1.5 socks finished.

I've decided that Sis and I will have matching Crabby McHappypants socks for Christmas this year. I'll order the yarn either late this week or early next week. That will give me plenty of time to get them knit.

Then, since I started thinking about Christmas knitting, I started to think about last year's incomplete Critter Knits projects for my niece and nephew. And the pullovers I was going to knit them too. The evil bargaining process is trying to begin. You know that process "If I start now *and* I knit three days a week for an hour..." I can usually avoid it, but for some reason I have this urge to knit for Niece and Nephew. *sigh*

World-wide Knit in Public Day!

I'm not actually doing anything to celebrate. The closest official gathering is >2 1/2 hours away. I have too much work to do around the house to go hang out at the local bookstore/coffeeshop and scare people with my knitting.

This evening, however, I will be watching part of Eureka (season 2) and knitting. That'll just have to be close enough to WWKiP for this year.

With regards to my current knitting progress, I am on round 103 and going strong. That puts me at starting the 2nd of three pattern repeats in the Bond Birds border. This is going pretty quickly even though all the rounds are getting longer every other row.

Finally A Picture

Of course, it's still not blocked or even stretched out. I'm at round 95 according to the pattern, though with the extra repeats I've added earlier, that's not really accurate. But it's what I'll go with for the purposes of keeping track of things and noting progress.

I'm working on the Bond Bird section now. This will make lace hearts. If I read the pattern correctly, I'll have three rows of lace hearts. Then there are 30 rows of Companion's Tracks (uncharted), which might give me a bit of trouble since I added extra repeats into the center. I may end up charting this section myself just so I can keep track of things.

Now that I'm closer to the finish than I thought I was, I'm really excited to work on this project. I'm actually as excited now as I was when I first started this project.