Snapdragons

2007-07-13T23:38:00.001-04:00

I am now blogging at:

snapdragons.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there. There is a lot going on!

2006-10-27T11:49:00.000-04:00

Missing me? Remember--if you can tolerate reading about the rest of my life (is there life after knitting? Ha!), I'm very active here. Would love to be watched--lots of good stuff is happening there. Like what? Well...

2006-07-27T12:25:00.000-04:00

I am not a worker bee.

I don't do things well if I have been given too many instructions about how to do them. I don't do things well if I'm being judged while my work is in process. Calm down: yes of course I can work, I'm just saying that supervised work never reaches the dizzy glory that things I do absolutely on my own do.

I started this knitblog because, well frankly I wanted some attention. In order to attract some attention, I joined various web rings with various rules about posting: how often, about what, yada yada yada blah blah blah. I was inspired by the truly great knitbloggers: Amelia, Eunny, Yarn Harlot, WendyKnits, Yarnstorm. I thought that maybe I could create an equally wonderful blog.

Now you patch the two paragraphs together. Having instructions about what to do on my blog--however scanty and however lightly enforced--killed my enthusiasm for it. The fact is, I am just a knitter, not a Knitter with a capital K, and the knitting content of my life is not enough to sustain a blog. I do lots of other wonderful things that you don't hear about. I'm a smashing good cook. I garden. I bake. I decorate my house. I stitch together quilt tops. Sometimes I sew by hand, or do a spot of embroidering. But all of that content got a big NO NO! from the webrings, so I've kept it off here.

2006-07-19T17:00:00.000-04:00

Sewing, instead of knitting. Little emery strawberry pincushions. How sweet!

Felt and cotton lawn, #3 pearl cotton, tiny seed beads.

2006-07-15T09:57:00.000-04:00

Being Knitty In London

I am just back from two weeks in Copenhagen and London (it was only mostly work-related). I took a sock with me, but didn't knit a stitch the whole time. I simply had tooooooo much going on. I did take some knitting related pictures, though.

The knitting group at Foyle's

Old books about "worsted manufacture in England" in the King's Library, a new exhibit at the British Museum

A brave KIPer on the London Underground

Tea at Liberty, because knitting and tea just go together

Liberty prints that are just too lovely to keep to myself

2006-06-28T15:47:00.000-04:00

Here is the first installment of Sundara Yarns' Petals Collection. As you see, it is Calla Lily. The picture doesn't do the yarn justice--it is absolutely lovely. It's all I can do to restrain myself from casting on straightaway, though I have four other socks to finish.

Update: make that only three other socks to finish. One pair of Old China socks, finis!

2006-06-09T10:46:00.000-04:00

Big Knitting News!

I finished a sock!

How's that for a plateful of cabley Koigu goodness? Mmm! This sock is positively scrumptious, and yes, I am going to knit a second one. I will call these my Old China socks, in honor of Charles Lamb. I had planned to call them my Delft socks, but really... I'm just not into Dutch pottery.

Stats: Knit of Koigu on two circular 2.25mm/US1 needles. Wrapped short-row heels and toes. Cuff pattern taken from "Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch, consist of 3x3 cables flanked with purl, separated by three columns of seed stitch. An awful lot of switching between knit and purl? Yep. An awful lot of tight, tiny cables? Yep. Worth it? Definitely.

Sorry for the lack of updates--there just hasn't been anything to say. My other active project is that little girls' short-sleeved sweater, which is just tons of stockinette. I decided that I had better make my first attempt at setting-in sleeves with it, instead of with Empire, and consequently Empire is on hold.

2006-05-23T13:40:00.000-04:00

How I Knit Socks

Here follows a detailed description of "my standard sock pattern." I cobbled it together from a lot of sources, using the heel and toe that I like best and the measurements that fit my foot and leg. These particular instructions describe my Soda Shoppe Socks, and so include instructions for the picot edge bind-off. More usually, I either do a couple inches of K2P2 ribbing and then use Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind-off, or I do K4P2 ribbing all the way up the leg and then use the sewn bind-off.

I knit my Soda Shoppe Socks using my own standard toe-up pattern. I use two circular needles, size 2.25 mm.

To cast on, I make a slip knot and put it around one needle. Then I wrap it around both needles, held together, twelve times. Then I pull one needle through the wraps, so it is hanging by the flexible part. With the other needle, I knit into those twelve loops. Turn the work, and using the other needle, knit into the twelve loops again. This is a version of the Figure-8 Cast On described on Wendyknits.net's toe-up sock tutorial, available on her own website and on Knitty. This method was also described in Interweave Knits sometime in the last year, and called the Turkish or Eastern European cast-on. If you do it Wendy's way, with a figure-8 instead of just straight wraps, you have to knit into the backs of the loops on one needle. If you just wrap the yarn around both needles, you don't.

I now have twelve stitches on each of my two circular needles. I begin to knit around, making one stitch (Elizabeth Zimmerman's way--the backward hitch) on each side of each needle, one stitch in, every row, until I have 24 stitches on each needle. So, on each needle, K1, M1, knit till last stitch, M1, K1.

When I have 24 stitches on each needle, I begin to do increase rows only every other row. This rounds the toe very nicely. I do the increase rows every other row until I have 32 stitches on each needle.

Now, I just knit the foot. For the Soda Shoppe Socks, I was very careful with how I handled the striping. I cast on the toes at the very beginning of a pink-and-white section--the one that comes right after the caramel-colored section. The toe increases took up the whole pink-and-white section and most of the dark brown section that follows it. I then knit the foot in the round past the next caramel-colored section and to the end of the plain white section that comes some time after it.

Then, I work the short-row heel on one needle, 32 stitches. I short-row down to 14 stitches, then work back up. At my tension, this took up a dark brown section, a pink-and-white section, and part of a plain white section.

When I am done with the short rows, I begin to knit in the round again, picking up one stitch at the beginning of each needle in order to close the holes that tend to form at the corners of the heels. I now have 33 stitches on each needle, 66 stitches total.

I then knit the leg through two more caramel-colored sections and the pink-and-white section right after, and one round in the dark brown section after that. To make the picots, I YO, K2tog around one round (to make this come out even, I transfer one stitch from one needle to the other, so I have 34 stitches on one and 32 on the other). Then continue knitting as normal, through the rest of the dark brown section and the pink one that comes after it.

Then, I bound off using a Chibi needle. I would sew through one stitch, sew through a stitch on the sock (count how many rows you have knit plain after the picot row; sew the stitch down to the row that is that many + 1 or 2 from the picot), and then sew through the stitch before that one, also on the sock. Then move on to the next, picking up the stitch from the knitting needle, sewing through its corresponding stitch on the sock, and then sewing through the previous stitch you sewed down. Doing this makes the sewing yarn loop around, which works extra length into it and makes the bind-off stretchy.

2006-05-23T13:20:00.000-04:00

Am re-reading At Bertram's Hotel, for the parts where Miss Marple shops. On page 84, "Window shopping in the general sense did not interest Miss Marple, but she had a splendid time rounding up knitting patterns, new varieties of knitting wool, and suchlike delights."

2006-05-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

I am so tired. Travel. Fear of flying. Fear of other people's driving. Fear of crazy big-city roads. Pathological difficulty sleeping with strange noises. Ergo, reliance on Tylenol PM. Tylenol PM hangovers. Long meetings. Late hours. Had 11 stitches taken out of my side this morning. Am glued together now, instead. Wash, rinse, repeat tomorrow. Today, a boring visitor who had to be handled. Car can't be fixed without replacing the computer. So I'm living without antilock brakes. Snatching a few precious, quiet moments at home to photograph two recent dye jobs:

Left: Rose Pink and Kelly Green, very tiny amounts. Anemic? Maybe, but the colors also have a poisonous, chemical quality that intrigues me.
Right: I guess it was supposed to look like a garden. Purple flowers, green leaves, brown dirt. A success? Not really.

I'm crawling into bed now. Thank you for kind comments! The turquoise/tan/brown colorway is my personal favorite, so far.

2006-05-10T17:19:00.000-04:00

Almost Warhol-esque... each skein of KnitPicks dye-your-own sock yarn re-wound to a larger diameter, then immersion-dyed in three jars. In most cases, the yarn was redistributed partway through so there wouldn't be white spots in between colors. RIT dye.

1: Dark brown, fuchsia, and rose pink. Yarn not redistributed.
2: Cocoa brown, rose pink, turquoise.
3: Cocoa brown, turquoise, tan
4: Cocoa brown with some fuchsia, rose pink with some tan, and a tiny touch of tan.

2006-05-09T19:41:00.000-04:00

I am dyeing more yarn, tee hee hee. I'm so naughty. I bought some RIT dye, so I am working with "real" colors this time. Today's hard lesson: the colors do lighten a bit after the yarn dries. Still, I'm getting some unspeakably precious results.

So here's my problem. I'm using KnitPicks dye-your-own sock yarn. It's 100% merino and knits into a really delicious, buttery fabric--that is totally NOT strong enough to use for socks. I've knit two pairs with Sock Garden yarn, and they pill something dreadful.

So, what can I do with 100g of hand-dyed, fingering-weight merino yarn? Lace scarves come to mind, as do gloves and maybe, if I could find a good pattern, baby sweaters. Anyone have a better idea?

And Skylar, yes the socks fit perfectly, and the extra yarn you sent me weighs 50g... hmm... sounds like a pair of footies, to me...

2006-05-04T18:21:00.000-04:00

Hey! Hey! Hey Hey Hey!
I've got two socks! I've got two socks!

My Sockapaloooza socks arrived in the mail! They're lacy, and they have picot edges, eeeee! See?

SEE? I've got socks! Mine are from KnitKatGirl in sunny SoCal. Thank you so much! I love them!

2006-05-04T17:17:00.000-04:00

Uh oh. Something very exciting is happening at SweetGeorgiaYarns. There was supposed to be a shop update this afternoon, and instead the website has been offline all afternoon. Poo. I wanted to try to snag some of the sock yarn. I suspect it exceeded its bandwidth... with the right marketing, those beautiful colorways could be as successful as Lorna's Laces, in my own opinion.

So I consoled myself by finishing a pair of socks:

Yarn: Trekking XXL #107
Needles: 2.25mm
Pattern: Toe-up, Turkish cast on, Yo short-rown heels, plain vanilla except a bit of ribbing at the top.

I'm now starting another pair out of the Koigu I bought at PurlSoho in March. I already have a name for them. They're going to be soooooo wunnerful.

2006-05-02T20:31:00.000-04:00

Ohmygod! Waitaminute! I'm going to get socks out of this whole thing, too!

that hadn't occured to me, somehow...

2006-04-30T13:49:00.000-04:00

On the needles:

Empire
The mate of a Trekking XXL sock; turning the heel now
The short-sleeved sweater from Erika Knight's "Simple Knits for Little Cherubs." I started this yesterday, because I couldn't be bothered either to fix a mistake in Empire (gosh, that's going to be dreadful) or to continue turning that heel. I am knitting it in KnitPicks Shine Sport, color Crocus. Forgive no pix--I think your imagination can handle it. Go look at the yarn here:

Shine Sport

And the sweater. It is the lavender one, pictured twice in the top row.

It is knitting up at slightly larger than gauge, unfortunately, so though I cast on for the medium size I think I'd better follow the vertical measurements for the large size. I might have to order another ball of the yarn, because I'm only six inches into the back and the first is already wilting; I only have four. Bummer.

Put in an order with KnitPicks this morning. Four balls each of all three colors in the red/pink part of Palette, to make more of these little sweaters. Palette is supposed to be a true fingering-weight yarn, so I am hoping that it will knit to gauge and four will be enough. If not, I have to put my faith in the consistency of dyelot-to-dyelot in the modern world. I am thinking that I will knit the red into a sweater by itself, but I will tip the pinks with each other--just the cast-on and cast-off rows. I will almost certainly embroider a strawberry onto one of the sweaters. Here is the link to Palette, so you can see for yourself:

Palette

I am very much looking forward to finding darling little buttons, for the back neck closures. All in all, knitting for little children is the only thing I enjoy more than knitting for myself. It goes so fast.

I am knitting this sweater, I assume, for my own daughter--should I ever have one. Last night I had a big-time freak out about life in general and wondered if I shouldn't rip it all out, because what I'm knitting into this sweater (and feelings get caught up in knitting and in cooking, I do believe that) is uncertainty, rather than contentment. This morning though, with my head cleared out, I decided that knitting a sweater for a daughter now is not different from knitting one when I am married, because children are still not certain; not different from knitting one while pregnant, because one doesn't know that everything will go well; not even different from knitting one after the daughter is born, because who knows if she will refuse to wear it (what little girl in her right mind would refuse a pretty sweater knit in that pretty color, though...?) So, I am knitting on.

Here is a picture I forgot to post. The bunny hat I knit on commission:

In response to comments, thank you! Positive reinforcement is a sweet, sweet thing.

2006-04-25T12:14:00.000-04:00

Time for a great big knitting update, don't you think? I do.

First off, the big news: I have finished the Sockapaloooza socks! Woohoo! I didn't get into this week's update, but they are definitely done.

See? It's really a pair:

An up-close of the stitch pattern:

Statistics: Two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, not nearly used up, possibly enough left for a pair of footies. Size US1 / 2.25mm needles. Pattern, Mermaid Socks from Cool Socks Warm Feet.

Thoughts about the pattern: The overall effect of this pattern is stunning, and it is shockingly simple to memorize and to knit; it's really next door to plain old stockinette, in terms of mindlessness. It does involve YOs, though, so the resulting sock is rather lacy and open, just something to keep in mind if you think wool socks shouldn't have holes. Also, as Jaywalker knitters discovered before me, diagonal knitting doesn't stretch very much. I made these socks 66 stitches around the leg and 60 stitches around the foot, and they are very snug on my foot and ankle. I have to be careful getting them on and off. I think they will be perfect for my sock pal's slightly smaller feet, but if I knit this pattern for myself, I will do 72 around the leg and 66 around the foot.

Thoughts about the yarn: This was my virgin experience with Lorna's Laces. It is different from other nylon-enforced sock yarn because the wool content is merino. This makes a smoother, silkier yarn without the prickly "crunch" I so love in other sock yarns. The smoothness is quite charming, though, as are the colorways (and oy, do I have a lot of them stashed), so I will definitely be happy to use Lorna's Laces again in the future, both for myself and for others.

And I have one more knitting update. I am nearing the armhole decreases on the back of Empire:

Isn't she a beaut? I just love this pattern. It has an awful lot of cabling in every single row, but one quickly understands the logic and rhythm behind it, and no longer has to watch the pattern very carefully. A quick check at the beginning of each row suffices. Also, I am Cabling Without A Cable Needle a la Wendy, which makes the whole process positively fast. I love this pattern. I feel so smart when I am knitting it. I am also madly in love with the seed stitch border, which is deliciously textured and cuddly and beautiful to boot; it reminds me of hobnail glassware, which I also love. I am having wistful ideas about knitting a blanket all in seed stitch... but then I come round and remember that knitting blankets can't possibly be fun.

2006-04-13T16:58:00.000-04:00

The Kool-Aid Experiment

With Spring come two of my atavistic urges.
1. Buy as many plants as possible (and kill them)
2. Dye stuff

Here is this year's crop of dyed stuff, so far. Two hanks of KnitPicks sock yarn. On the left, 1/4 Lemon-Lime, 1/4 Pink Lemonade, and 1/2 Cherry with one packet of Black Cherry for depth. On the right, 1/2 Cherry and 1/2 Tropical Punch, tied in the center to leave white spots.

I am really impressed by the depth of reds and greens. The pink lemonade, as you may be able to tell, produces rather a sickly shade of pink.

2006-04-02T16:07:00.000-04:00

I am closing the toe of the first sock:

My sock pal's feet are a little shorter than my own, so I am hoping against hope that this will work out. I did follow the instructions, and began 1.5" short of the total foot length. (bites nails)

There, by the way, is the last of my Pepto-Bismol Pink Pedicure, from NY.

2006-04-01T13:35:00.000-05:00

My sock yarn cabinet:

The top shelf is more "oddments" than sock yarn, really. But, there you go. I call this stash "adequate;" it has enough variety that I can always find what I'm hankering after, but it isn't a Sock Yarn Stash Of Epic Proportions like the one Wendy just sent out piecemeal. Oh, and Wendy? I forgot to include my blog address in the petition for the Sock Yarn Group Home. Ho-de-hum.

Empire is progressing nicely; I am working on it in favor of tackling the toe of the first Mermaid sock. I just loooooooove Empire's pattern. It makes so much sense, and doing so many cables so deftly makes me feel smart. I am of course cabling without a cable needle; not sure I could do the sweater otherwise. Also, I have made two mistakes: one in the seed stitch border, of all things, which necessitated ripping out six rows, and one in the cabling that I was able to drop down and fix. Pix tomorrow maybe?

2006-03-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

Indecision with regards to my Sockapaloooza socks, which (alert the media!) I began to knit.

It has to do with the short-row heels. I am determined to do short row heels, because it's just what I do. Now. After lots of tears and bewilderment over wrapped short rows, I settled into a routine of yarn-over short rows, with which I am very comfortable. This produces a heel with a very smooth bend--it looks, really, like the rows of stitches just bend. On the inside however, it creates rather large loops of string. They are not loose loops, but they are long.

I was left with the impression that wrapped short rows were somehow better than YO short rows, so when Wendy miraculously began to knit socks again--just in time!--I asked her how to pick up and knit the wrapped short rows, and miraculously--just in time!--she responded with the first explanation I've ever heard that works. So, wrapped short rows I have done:

And boy, am I worried. Look at those long stitches on the outside of the heel. Can this be right? If so, is it really better than YO short rows? If not, should I tear out the heel and do it in my old YO way? Here is how it breaks down:

For KEEPING the heel as it is:
1. This is how wrapped short rows look, apparently. Lots of people do wrapped short rows. So it must be okay.
2. Wendy (miraculously!) included a closeup picture of exactly the same piece of sock anatomy today, and it has the long stitches also: Wendy's long stitches. Wendy is a knitgoddess, so what she does must be okay.
3. It would be a major pain in the patootie to take this heel out and redo it. Notice the slanting stitch of the cuff? Yeah. That involves YOs and K2togs; those don't get back on the needle easy, lemme tell you.

For RIPPING out the heel and redoing it:
1. It would be done the way I'm used to having it done.
2. There wouldn't be these long stitches on the outside.

So, any comments?

2006-03-19T13:50:00.000-05:00

Sitting on my doorstep when I got home:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Parfait, Somerset, Glenwood; Socks That Rock in Cobalt Bloom.

I am so knitting the Mermaid socks for Sockapalooza.

May I say something? K2, YO, K2, K2tog.

Thank you.

2006-03-15T16:44:00.000-05:00

I am not Yarnstorm, and I am not The Blue Blog, but goddammit, I can go to Purl:

What can I say? It was small and somehow, seeing yarn in person is not more exciting than seeing it online. Cass Street Depot, in my parents' town, is exciting because it carries a lot of wonderful yarn that I never think to look at online. Purl had Koigu, Rowan, and Blue Sky Alpacas. Almost everything there that I wanted, I have already bought. But it was a pilgrimage to be made, all the same, and I made it and I have pictures so--there. And I bought two Koigu colorways that I probably could not have bought online, which is quite lovely.

2006-03-05T15:13:00.000-05:00

oooOOOOooo! I am so happy that I have Soda Shoppe Socks!

I love them passionately, curly picot edges and all. You can't imagine how long I've been dying to take that picture of them with the Brachs Sundaes candy.

Stats: Toe-up socks. Turkish cast on, short-row heels. Trekking XXL color 126. 2.25mm needles. Picot hems!

Now that that's over, I should either knit the second Embossed Leaves sock, or begin on Sockapaloooza.

Empire is going well. I am half through the first pattern repeat. It is a very intense sort of pattern to knit--there is an awful lot to pay attention to, in every single row.

2006-03-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

Picture, as a promise:

It's my first tubular cast-on ever, and it's so fabulous that it almost makes me feel patient and tolerant about 1x1 ribbing (something I have never done before). It really does look clean and professional. Only one warning to the uninitiated: it is advertised as a "very stretchy" cast-on, which I suppose it is, but it is not as stretchy as the ribbing that follows. Just so you're warned. Otherwise, I'm in seventh heaven over it.

I am all set to have a Very Tough Day. On top of my usual double-time consulting, I have to crapshoot a hysterical Russian's nonexistent crises, grade quizzes and assignments for my class, and try to get my damned kitchen clean--this time, in a mopping-the-floor kind of way. I hate trying to clean kitchen floors. It's so depressing.

I'm so depressed over this Very Tough Day that I departed from my salads-or-curry-for-lunch, unadorned-protein-and-steamed-veggies-for-dinner, oatmeal-when-ravenous routine, and made myself French toast for lunch. This is very special French toast. Please pay attention.

Kat's Very Tough Day Emergency French Toast

Ingredients: two slices of your standard sandwich bread, two eggs, a splash of milk, a splash of vanilla, a shake of cinnamon, 1 tbsp butter, some sugar, and a handful of pecans.

Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon in a shallow dish and set bread in it to soak. Meanwhile, heat your largest skillet with the butter. When butter is melted, put soaked bread in and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Now put the handful of pecans into what is left of the egg and milk mixture, shake them up a little, them spoon them out and onto an empty spot in the pan. Pour a spoonful of sugar over them. Turn pecans frequently until as sticky, crunchy, or caramelized as you like, then remove them from pan--they will probably need to come out of the pan before the toast is finished. Turn toast when the bottoms are laced with brown, cook till down sides are the same, scooting them around the pan's axis to soak up any leftover sugar and butter.

Pile pecans on top of toast, and enjoy. No syrup necessary.

2006-03-01T23:58:00.000-05:00

Yarn Porn

For the tipped Cashsoft sweater (thinking of making Amelia's pattern Pippa).

Ground: And tip:

And for the stranded colorwork sweater (I think I will do a standard yoke sweater)

Ground: And colorwork:

Began knitting Empire, this evening. Tubular cast-on rocks my world. Photos tomorrow.

2006-02-28T19:40:00.000-05:00

Went nuts and ordered an awful lot of yarn, last night. For the two sweaters I described--Cashsoft DK in "Savannah" for a plain raglan (or perhaps cardigan?) tipped in Cashcotton DK "Pool"; also, and here is what really makes me squirm in delight, Felted Tweed in "Treacle," that wonderful dark purply brown, and three colors of Yorkshire Tweed DK to do a little fairisle border--mint green, turquoise, and cream, as promised. I also have a supply of Cashsoft in pale blue to knit "Empire" from Rowan Classic #1, otherwise known as "The Menorah Sweater." I think I will knit it without beads... and I think I will knit it soon. I am all about brown beige and blue right now. I'm even considering navy, which is very fickle of me. Bad Kat. There, I've been punished. Anyway, I'm so excited, I had trouble falling asleep last night.

And here, boys and girls, is a moral for you (since this blog contains so few, I know you will listen up): when I checked my email today, the big and reliable company that I ordered most of this yarn from (Jimmy Bean's Wool) had emailed me to say that neither yarn was in stock, so shipping would be delayed two weeks.

You know that I pretty frequently attempt to do business with a small company, and get angry when they can't fill my order and get it in the mail in a timely fashion--or worse, when they've let me "purchase" something that they don't have. I went with JimmyBeans, one of my favorite yarn websites, because they're so big that such things happen rarely. But, this goes to show that they do still happen. Yarn is apparently a precious commodity, judging by its scarcity and price. 50g of wool yarn costs several times more than 50g of wool, you know--even with machines to spin and dye it. So I am sitting on a bunch of yarn orders, I guess. Not only all that, but five skeins of Soft Lux in "Pearl" from a small company with a pretty website and great selection, but merely mediocre service, The Knitting Garden. I made an order with them last summer and first one color had been discontinued and was unavailable, then its (first) replacement got "lost" in the post. Now Soft Lux is waiting in the wings. I'll keep you updated on the drama.

2006-02-26T23:27:00.000-05:00

I finished the first Soda Shoppe Sock (my name for the pink-white-brown yarn) with a picot edging, which flares outwards... how does one prevent hemmed edges from flaring outwards? I don't understand. Elizabeth Zimmerman says to decrease 20% of the stitches, which is well and good, except that knitbloggers all over the internet are producing nonflaring picots with nary a word of changing the stitch count from outside to inside. I am left with the conclusion that it is something wrong with me.

I bought "Special Knits for Little Cherubs," which I have wanted ever since Alison of The Blue Blog knit the little denim jumper last summer. It was 30% off. It is just wonderful. The patterns are simple and really retro, as in lots of gray and oatmeal grounds, with sometimes small touches of colored patterns and always full fashioning, 1x1 ribbing, and button bands reinforced by ribbon. I absolutely love it, and am pretty sure that I will soon find myself knitting childrens' sweaters for no recipient in particular.

2006-02-24T10:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was struck by Single Sock Syndrome for the first time. Eeeek! The first Embossed Leaves sock (in green below) came off the needles. With two sets of sock needles, one occupied by the Fishtail socks (which, I am beginning to think, will be frogged), and a hearty overdose of knitting that requires mental power--I gave in to my instincts and started a new sock, in plain stockinette, with the delicious Neapolitan ice cream yarn. And look at how far I got in only an afternoon and evening!

I can't get away from it, I am just a plain stockinette kind of girl. I knit while I watch TV, so I like to be able to keep my eyes on the screen. I have now promised myself to always have something in plain stockinette going. And that YARN! Can you see how scrumptiously edible that yarn is??? I always want to eat the fabric that wool sock yarn knits into, but *this* is beyond anything. I actually licked it, just out of curiousity. Sadly, it is not flavored...

Which brings us to the question of my Sockapaloooza socks, still unstarted. The yarn is variegated. It is Lorna's Laces, which is known for pooling. Does it mean--as so many bloggers I know would agree--that I should do a very plain pattern? Nyeehhhh, not sure. Actually, I was very happy with the way my own Elfine socks turned out, and with the pictures of Amelia's in the pattern. It sort of cries out to be knit in variegated, you know? One thing is for sure, the contours of Embossed Leaves would be wasted on that yarn. So for now, provisionally, I have decided to do Elfine... unless someone has a lace pattern that looks more like grapevines, and that would therefore be more appropriate for the colorway.

In other news, it is my day to try out Bare Escentuals makeup for the first time. Gee golly I hope it really is as good as people say!

2006-02-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

Aside from plain old being-busyness, I think I have been avoiding my blog because of the Knitting Olympics thing. I am out altogether. I just am. I am such a spectator--never a competitor. Hate competition. Demoralizes me. Makes me queasy. Makes me feel like I'm competing for resources--in this case, time to knit. Don't like it. Therefore, I am out of it.

I am, however, an avid spectator. My two favorite Knitting Olympics projects are a pair of red lace shawls, one of which I had the pleasure of naming and one of which I am just proposing a name for now: Eunny's Fire Flowers shawl, knit from the Frost Flowers pattern in A Gathering Of Lace, and SweetGeorgia's Peacock Feathers shawl, which I rather predictably think of as the Fire Feathers shawl. Phoenix Pheathers? No, Fire Feathers. So I am watching Fire Flowers and Feathers. And enjoying every vicarious post.

There. I have that off my chest. Now I can go back to my Embossed Leaves socks. Phew! I emerged from an unconscious yarn diet this morning, and ordered five skeins of Rowan Soft Lux in Pearl, to knit the little beribboned hat and the little bebeaded scarf from Rowan Classic Woman. I have decided that I only want to wear black, gray, cream, and chocolate brown. What was I thinking with all that colors nonsense? I'm only really happy in dark neutrals, with perhaps some cream accents. So those are the colors I'll be buying in, until a new mood strikes me. I am sort of, kind of, in a fantasizing sort of way, thinking about buying Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in "chocolate" to knit my second, proper Lara of. I would love that sweater, if I knit it. But damn it would be expensive.

2006-02-15T11:29:00.000-05:00

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Sales clerk at a fussy junk shop, frequented by "rich women with too much time on their hands"
2. Clerk at the Interlibrary Loan desk at my university
3. Instructor of the introduction to linguistics class at my university
4. Consultant to an internet search engine

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. Moonstruck
2. Kill Bill
3. Gosford Park
4. As Good As It Gets

Four places I’ve lived:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Wichita
3. Fort Wayne
4. Trento, Italy (briefly)

Four TV shows I Love:

1. Good Eats
2. Barefoot Contessa
3. Mystery Diagnosis
4. Rebuilt

Four Places I’ve Holidayed:

1. Eureka Springs, Arkansas
2. Disney World
3. Paris
4. Monterey Bay

Four of my favourite dishes:

1. Chicken pepper stir fry
2. Tomato, spinach, and chevre pizza
3. Lasagna
4. Creme brulee

Four websites I visit daily:

1. Neopets
2. Bloglines
3. LiveJournal
4. The Straight Dope

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. Venice
2. Paris
3. London
4. In bed

Four people I’d like to tag:

If you haven't been tagged for this meme yet, congratulations, you have been now.

2006-02-12T15:11:00.000-05:00

Michelle Kwan is out, and so is my Flower Basket Shawl. Sorry, folks--I just don't like the pattern enough, don't like it in this yarn, don't want to be working on it right now. I might frog it or I might put it away for another time; I'm just not sure.

Does this inspire you? It doesn't inspire me.

In its place, I have chosen a proper Olympic sort of knitting project: one of the Norwegian mitten kits I bought from Nordic Fiber Arts a couple of months ago, when Wendy was knitting them.

Ahhh, now isn't that much better?

Now. Several years ago, I knit a couple of pairs of mittens with stranded colorwork on them. They were very cute; I called them a success. They were at true worsted gauge, however, whereas these are being knit on US4 needles--something like a light DK weight. Also, those were knit with a squishy-gooshy acrylic yarn (forgive me. I was young, and I did not know) on size six needles. This yarn is Wool with a capital W, scratchy and stiff and not particularly sproingy. I don't remember if I managed to knit with one strand of yarn in each hand, when I did those mittens, or not. What's for darn sure is that I'm fumbling this time around. Progress is slow and I fully expect the beginning of the mittens to look much messer than the end of them. They may not be objets d'art, but they will definitely be a learning experience.

2006-02-08T15:47:00.000-05:00

The first Embossed Leaves sock is progressing well, in spite of having to tink back for half of a repeat yesterday, after knitting one half of the chart twice in a row. D'oh! As stated previously, I am being hard-headed and using my usual toe-up design instead of cuff-down, as per the instructions. The leaves therefore go up instead of down... I am cool with that.

Also, this is pretty snug on my feet. Quite snug, actually, and I have to be careful getting it around my heels. This makes me think that if I use this pattern for my Sockapaloooza socks (and popular opinion tells me I should), I wouldn't have to use size US0 needles after all. If they're snug on my feet, then they will be perfect on my sock pal's slightly smaller feet... right? And how about, for my sock pal, I be a good girl and knit cuff-down? With a picot cast-on, perhaps? And that darling star toe? Are we all squealing in delight yet?

2006-02-04T15:15:00.000-05:00

I got the pink and brown sock yarn. It was there. The gods are smiling on my neapolitan socks. I also bought Lorna's Laces in purple and green, for my Sock Pal. I'm still not sure if I'm doing Elfine's Socks or Embossed Leaves... oooh, suspense. And they will be my first pair socks in Lorna's Laces, so we get to see how they pool--and since they will be lace, and since my sock pal has smaller feet than mine, I think I'd better knit them on US0 needles. How exciting!

2006-02-03T21:09:00.000-05:00

Triplets! (I can't possibly have three)

The yarn from SweetGeorgia arrived today, and it is wonderful. I have been holding it in my lap and cuddling it. It is soft and very nearly DK weight, if not actually--it certainly seems more substantial than some yarns that bill themselves as DK. It is three skeins of Speed Demon Sock Yarn in colorway "River." I know, from other blogs, that it will knit up even more lovely that it is in the skein, so I am very excited. However, the Knitting Olympics are coming up and I have another project to do for that... so... alas. Good things are worth waiting for.

I am turning the heel of the first Embossed Leaves sock. Two things about this pattern: one, the lace chart is much more mathematically pleasing than most lace charts. I really enjoy feeling that I know how things are going to work, just by looking at the digram. The second thing is: the pattern is actually far more lovely than the diagram would suggest, even lovelier than photographs suggest. You have to knit it yourself and put it on your own feet to understand. Just trust me.

Also today arrived a little pink volume of Madame Dariaux and the first and second Books of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel, bought on the advice of another knitblogger. It was good advice. Up to this point, the Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl from A Gathering of Lace was really the only largish lacy project I could imagine myself spending time on. These books have lots of breathtaking patterns, though, that make my fingers itch. I'm especially fond of the Thistle cloth.

One last item: Theknitter.com just emailed me to say that Trekking XXL 126 (the pink and brown sock yarn. The neapolitan sock yarn.) I ordered is no longer available, and the other color is still on backorder. I am not going to do business with them again. That pink/brown color was at my LYS ten days ago--can I hope that, tomorrow morning, it will still be there? Grrrr, how maddening.

2006-02-01T18:17:00.000-05:00

It's a wrap: my clapotis is finished.

I am very happy with it. It is thick and snuggly, with the dimensions of a generous scarf. Statistics: 3 hanks of Artyarns Handpaint Stripes, knit on size 8 needles. Clapotis pattern available from knitty.com. I omitted one increase repeat and did not count the repeats in the middle, only started decreasing with hank 3 where I had stopped increasing with hank 1.

If my knitblog is the only one you read, then you might not yet know that the new issue of MagKnits is up and that it includes Grumperina's Odessa hat. Do yourself a favor and get that pattern.

Also, Sockapaloooza is on! I received my sock pal information half an hour ago. There are very few restrictions on my knitting, so I think I am going to have fun--I will likely re-knit either Amelia Raitte's Elfine Socks pattern or the Embossed Leaves pattern (I am too attached to the toe I have knit to give it away). I do like big repeats of lace for sock patterns, they make it so much easier to make progress... unlike the miserable fishtail lace, which I'd like to give up on.

2006-01-31T12:24:00.000-05:00

Disaster surrounds me. Exhibits A and B:

A: My beloved white cashmere lace scarf, a gift three winters ago, worn almost daily since. No similar object has been spotted for sale since its receipt, and I really don't feel like knitting a replacement that will only be snagged and ruined also. I will sew up the tear, do something with the hanging thread, and probably cry a little. I do not feel that this is a small tragedy.

B: One of my dresser drawers, not at all beloved but it is sort of important to me that I keep using the dresser for another couple of years, until I can afford to buy myself a real bedroom suite. I have acquired wood glue, hoping that it will help, but it isn't looking good. Why did the metal fastener let go? Why?

2006-01-30T16:44:00.000-05:00

Phew. Crazy week is over. I am surrounded by nothing but piles of dishes and laundry, clear tables and floors but dusty rugs, and absolute silence. I indulged in some serious retail therapy to keep my Happy Place in view, but it's all wonderful stuff on incredible discounts. Now, I have to figure out how to live again: what to eat and when, when to work, when to exercise, when to knit. All of this was completely irrelevant for six days.

Picked up the clapotis again. I am now on the final hank of yarn, doing the last two repeats before I start decreasing. Sounds like I will finish it just in time for the start of the Knitting Olympics... or maybe early enough to get in a few repeats on the Embossed Leaves socks.

Laundry. I have to do laundry. All of my jammies are there.

2006-01-26T00:33:00.000-05:00

Today I was away from home for ten hours in a row. I know this would not be news for most people, but it is for me. I am really beat. Really, really beat. Work has kicked up a notch for the next few days, so I will not be knitting much and not blogging much.

So much time away from home does afford some opportunities to knit one's "travel" project though, and I have completed the toe and done half of the chart for the Embossed Leaves socks. Lace knit on every row makes me kind of giddy. The pattern is simple. It almost makes me think that I might *like* to knit lace... anyway... I consider it to be "training" for the Knitting Olympics (US Lace Team) and a candidate for my Sockapalooza socks.

2006-01-23T19:58:00.000-05:00

The clapotis marches on. I am halfway through the second skein. Surely--surely the blogosphere already has its fill of clapotis-in-progress pictures, but I am adding mine to the batch anyway:

I omitted one repeat of increase rows, for fear of running out of yarn. It looks like I am going to end up with a plenty long shawl, though. So, yay. The Artyarns Handpaint Stripes is beautiful, but knitting with it a little has taught me some things about it. Mostly, it is incredibly tightly spun, so knitting with it is kind of like knitting with twine, and the resulting fabric is knobbly and not smooth. The yarn itself is quite buttery, it just doesn't mesh into a luscious smooth surface the way other merino yarns I've knit with do. This yarn is a great choice for clapotis, but I am not sure I would want, for instance, a sweater made out of it.

In other news, the clapotis is too big to take places, so I let myself start a sock. Yay. It will be the Embossed Leaves socks from the most recent IK, but stubbornly done *my* way, toe-up, with Turkish cast-on and short row heels. By the way... there is something you should know about JaWoll...

The skeins all have buns in the oven. Spools, actually. Of matching reinforcement yarn. I had heard this rumor somewhere, so when I couldn't pull the end out of the center, I had to go excavating to extract it. I was *so* glad my office door was closed--I feel so obscene when I do things like that.

2006-01-21T17:27:00.000-05:00

After being crazy about pink and green and brown all Summer/Fall and into the Winter, I am now going crazy over robins-egg-blue and brown. Isn't it sooo pretty? Isn't it sooo fresh? I am wearing such a blue tshirt under such a brown lace and cables sweater, today. I even took a picture of myself but... alas... no amount of editing could get rid of the saddlebags, so it was sent to the recycle bin. I have, however, ordered yarn to match my new obsession: three skeins of Speed Demon Sock Yarn from Sweet Georgia Yarns in the colorway "River," which I have seen knit up on her blog and on others and it's just toooo fabulous. So there.

I am one skein into my poor clapotis, have dropped three lines of stitches, and need to wind the next hank to continue. Somehow, I cannot get myself into a winding state of mind. Instead of winding, I took myself out for a little shopping trip and bought the glass beads to go on the hat pattern that Grumperina is promising to release soon. Go look at the one she knit. Isn't it great? Love it. Almost makes me want to get rid of my own ever-present bun, so that I could wear hats.

2006-01-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

The Knitting Olympics are on, and I am in. I will use up the twee pink-and-green Supermerino pictured below, in dramatic dappled sunlight, to knit the largest Flower Basket shawl it allows. The challenge? I will have other obligations that eat up significant amounts of time on some of the days, and also, I have serious ADD problems with lace charts. But I feel pumped up! I am ready!

Maybe I should have joined the Knitting Special Olympics?

2006-01-18T11:10:00.000-05:00

When scandalized by the amount of trouble they cause as adults, we often look back longingly on how sweet they were as children... thus is my state of mind regarding Lara. She was a very sweet baby, indeed.

Less than three balls of CashSoft DK on size 6 needles, "Ribbed Jacket" from Special Knits by Debbie Bliss. Note that the pattern is written for Aran gauge, so I followed the instructions for the largest size and ended up with a sweater that is approximately the dimensions of a medium size, somewhere between six months and one year, which is precisely what I wanted. Ted models the sweater like a good sport, though it's very much too big for him and the collar has to be folded over like a shawl.

And we have moved on to brighter things: clapotis!

2006-01-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

Life is very good today. It is so warm that I have windows open! Fresh air! Aaahhhh!

This morning at the grocery, I finally gave in to my age-old urge to buy lots of the pickled/marinated/brined vegetables in bottles, and brought home artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, kalamata olive tapenade, and pesto--and also roasted turkey breast and fontina cheese, and Greek pita. With these ingredients I plan to make a neverending variety of paninis. I have tried already, and the experiment is good. Tasty and easy and surprisingly filling. When my mother and my aunt and I were in Venice, we found a little bakery where I insisted on buying some panforte, then we grabbed paninis and lemon soda at a little kiosk close to our hotel, and we took it all the deliciously air-conditioned hotel room. It was just wonderful, and I've always wanted to try making panforte since then... and find a place to buy Italian lemon soda (honestly, I'm sure I haven't found them because I don't really look)... and figure out how to make similarly good paninis. I did try a couple of recherche experiments, by filling the bread with a mixture of cubed fontina, chopped olives, and roasted garlic. It was not right at all. But this--just taking the straightforward approach and mixing and matching--has so far proved extremely satisfactory. I toast the panini in my big skillet, with my small skillet sitting on top to provide the weight. I do not need a fancy panini press.

And, the really good part of today: it is a national holiday, right? There is no mail delivery, right? Ahhhh, but for private carriers. The squirrels actually alerted me to the package. I sat down at my desk here, in my work room, which is at the front of the house, and there was a big commotion outside. I stood up to try to see exactly what kind of animals were making those startling sounds, and when I turned my head to look towards my front porch, voila! Two big fluffy squirrel tails attached to two cheeky squirrels who were actually sniffing at *my* package.
Inside is the ArtYarns Handpaint Stripes and, oh! How happy it has made me!

The red colorway is just the most gorgeous yarn I have ever seen in my life. Really. The color is deep and rich and glowing and sexy and the yarn is *so* soft. I have not ever seen Axelle's handpainted cashmere in real life, but this yarn--*this* yarn is a 10 out of 10 in my book, I cannot imagine better, I no longer need Axelle. It is soft and lustrous and dyed very richly. Oh, bliss. I threw a scarf around my neck and ran outside, to go to my LYS to buy some really *nice* size 8 needles and cast on for my clapotis. Then I remembered that the LYS (perennially unhelpful) is closed on Mondays. I swore and went back inside to write this entry.

2006-01-16T11:32:00.000-05:00

The sunny and not-biting-cold weather has also inspired me to begin thinking about what I am going to knit this summer. After being confused by the stash in my work room, which did not contain rather a lot of summer yarn that I *knew* I had, I remembered--some months later--that my coffee table has storage and that once upon a time, I put some yarn there. Aha. There we have it. The second attempt at my One Skein Wonder Shrug, which is actually going to take five skeins, as well as cotton yarn.

Top left: Three balls of Sockotta sock yarn. Yes, the same kind of stuff I just knit the Out Of Season Socks from. But isn't it exciting? Isn't it great?

Top right: Teeny tiny little yarn for the "wash bag" from Sarah Dallas's Knitting. It will match my bathroom, which has blue-and-white porcelain things sitting around.

Lower left: Yarn bought to knit the hot water bottle cover, also from Knitting. Inspired when Jane knit one, I think. Rather late to be knitting a hot water bottle cover even now. Rather late to be using hot water bottles, actually, on the scale of decades, since electric heating pads are so well established...

Lower right: My favorite. Rowan Handknit Cotton to make the Vintage Camisole designed by Artisokka. It's going to be *lovely* on me after I lose those twenty pounds... tee hee.

2006-01-15T11:41:00.000-05:00

I went on a trip, and I took knitting with me. The particular knitting was the Fishtail Lace sock, still the first one. The idea was that with nothing more interesting to work on, I was bound to make progress there. Wrong. I did one pattern repeat and that was all. Why am I having so much trouble with these socks? Hm? I absolutely love the yarn--it's one of the loveliest shades of koigu I have ever seen. I think it is the pattern that is the problem. I am knitting a lace row every other row, for a total pattern repeat of six rows (three lace, three plain). This is too scrunched together. It needs to have two plain rows between every lace row. As it is, the socks look sort of like... ankylosaurus skin. They look reptilian. They are also going to be pretty baggy. In short, they will not be entirely successful.

And speaking of Not Entirely Successful, I got Lara seamed up enough to try her on, and the TROLLOPE is too small! The sleeves are the right length and the hem, if it had the curl pressed out, might be an acceptable length, but I cannot close the thing across my chest at all. I could let it hang open, but that isn't the POINT. I bought three pins to wear with that sweater, and they've been mouldering in my limoges box all these months it's taken me to get the little tart knitted up, and now she won't close across my chest. Wailing. Gnashing of teeth. Steely, determined anger as I order a lot of yarn that we hope will knit up at the *proper* gauge--no more of this DK nonsense, no sir!--and prepare ourselves to knit her AGAIN, this time in the largest size and at proper gauge.

Aaauuuuggghhh. Hate it. I haven't yet managed to knit a garment that I would wear out of the house. And I don't have any pictures to show you, either, because I haven't made any progress (I am a bad, bad knitblogger, and I don't deserve the four subscribers I have). I'm sorry. I don't even have yarn porn for you, because out of that wooooonderful order I made nearly two weeks ago, all that has arrived is my least favorite of the sock yarns--yes, just ONE ball of sock yarn, and ZERO hanks of the Artyarns. The new Lara yarn from Elann, on the other hand, is here in its entirety.

I'm going to go sulk over Baby Lara, now. I do hope *that* pattern works out.

2006-01-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

Does this look like a fishtail lace sock to you?

No, it doesn't look like one to me, either. It looks a lot more like the baby version of Lara, by Debbie Bliss, from her book Special Knits... and oh yes, being knit at DK gauge instead of Aran. I really have to face that problem of mine head-on, some day.

The yarn is Rowan Cashsoft Baby (DK weight) in a lovely sage green, being knit on size 6 needles. I am following the directions for the largest size, which is coming out to the measurements of the 6-9 mos. size. Lovely. And fast! And it looks like I might have a ball of yarn left over, even. Three cheers!

By the way, Koigu is on sale for $8.80 here:
http://www.personalthreads.com/newsite/colorpages/Koiguwool/index.cfm?showtable=YES

2006-01-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

I have a new FO for you, today: my mother's socks, dubbed the Out Of Season Socks. They are knit of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Fantasy, which is a distinctly summery yarn, in colorway #801, which is distinctly beachy-peachy. In January? In the Midwest? It felt extremely odd to be knitting them, let me just say that, and I am hungry to get back to proper, stretchy, springy, soft and lovely wool. I am back on the Koigu fishtail lace socks, now.

Poor Lara has not undergone much seaming since we last checked in with her. I sewed up one sleeve and when I got to the body seam, was stumped. All I have to do is look it up in Vogue Knitting, but somehow, I've had more interesting things to do. The truth is that I have Fear Of Finishing: first, I hate seaming knit garments and can't do but four inches at a time and even that gives me a pounding headache. Second, I feel so sure that she will be too small for me, all measurement aside.

Amelia Raitte (http://autoscopia.com/amelia/) has won an award for having a lovely blog, which she does. And she knits the most lovely things, too. When I grow up I want to be Amelia.

2006-01-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

Do Not Buy Cherry Tree Hill Sock Yarn

Jane is having a lot of trouble both with the yarn and with customer service, there. Read a post that encapsulates the whole sad saga here:

http://yarnstorm.blogs.com/knitblog/2006/01/squishy_lemon_c.html#comment-12687555

I am itching to whip up a blogworldwide campaign to punish CTH for their trespasses, but I don't quite know how to start. Making a button for people to post on their blogs? Just say NO? It's the sort of thing that has to be taken up by a lot of people relatively quickly. I *did* get one comment on my last post (someone's reading! someone's reading!), but somehow a minority of two doesn't seem like it'll quite do, either.

Anyway. I'm not buying any more of their yarn.

2006-01-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

I have nabbed the pictures of all the yarn I have on order, to post them here so they can be admired by all. I do hope the places I nabbed them from don't mind.

First, my order of Trekking XXL sock yarn, from theknitter.com:

And second, my order of ArtYarns Handpaint Stripes from yarn.com:

2006-01-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

The twelfth day of Christmas ends tonight--so saith Pepys.

And Lara is all knitted up. Here she is, spread-eagled, waiting to be seamed:

One wonders if she will fit. One really wonders. She looks quite suspicious, right now, but there's nothing to do but sew her up and try her on. If she doesn't fit, she'll just be given to a smaller person, and that's all there is to it. No sense crying over spilt alpaca.

Very nearly to the heel of the second sock for my mother. I have lost the yarn tag, but it is German yarn, and one of those cotton/wool/nylon blends. I'll photograph the socks when they're finished of course.

I also bought sock yarn, today, continuing an extremely naughty trend of ignoring all my New Year's Resolutions. I was pointed to http://www.claudiasblog.net/ , which has just posted the most delicious sock confections I've seen in a long time--neapolitan-striped socks. I must have. The same stripey pattern also came in pink-green-brown-white, which I had to have, and then there are the famous slow single-ply gradations that Trekking XXL is known for, so I had to have a ball of that too--in pink and green. So, pfffffft. At least the-knitter.com doesn't charge shipping, hip hip hooray. I think I will make Jaywalker socks with at least one of them.

2006-01-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

Well, my de-stashing resolution has been shot to heck. I just ordered three skeins each of two colorways in ArtYarns "handpaint stripes" yarn, which is new for Spring 2006! This yarn is too cool--their usual worsted-weight merino, but it knits up in stripes of a solid color, and of a handpainted melange. It is just tooooooo beautiful; do go have a gander:

http://yarn.com/yarns-knitting/artyarns-handpaintstripe.html

Isn't it just luscious? And it is the right weight to knit proper clapotis... which I shall definitely do with at least one of the two. Phew. I can finally unravel the start I made with Koigu (all wrong--allllllll wrong) and do something proper with *that* yarn. I am so happy. I could pop.

I am also going batty about the pile of little handpainted baby sweaters at Two'>http://two_pointy_sticks.blogspot.com/">Two Pointy Sticks. That's what got me looking at ArtYarns. I am nuts to knit baby sweaters; but for a June baby? And unwashable wool on a baby in general? Eeennhhh... well maybe not. Poop. I could knit such a pile of sweaters just as an artistic object. How about that?

I am almost finished with the knitting on Lara, t'ol' trooper t'ol' doll. Just a cuff to finish. Then I get to SEAM. Aaiiiiiiiieee!!!

2006-01-02T11:25:00.000-05:00

Here I present to you the Safe Asset scarf, knit with four skeins of Noro Kureyon color 138 on size 8 needles; 44 stitches across in K4P4 ribbing.

Does anyone get the joke in the name? "Safe asset" is used a pronounciation guide for "Kaffe Fassett." And the colors in the scarf are exactly the colors he uses. So there.

I am now very bored with knitting scarves, for a while. I have too many of them, they are neither interesting nor mindless knitting (the ribbing irritates me, and the back-and-forth), and I have too many other things on the needles and waiting in the wings: that pair of cotton socks for my mother, Lara, the Trinket scarf, and Koigu fishtail socks... and *then*. Then we start Knitting Vintage Socks.

2005-12-31T15:07:00.000-05:00

My First Punchneedle Embroidery

Awesome!

2005-12-30T13:21:00.000-05:00

Continued reckless indulgence. Went to the local quilt shop. Now understand: my parents live in the second largest metro area of the state, which comprises three quilt shops. None of them hold a candle to *this* shop. *This* shop specializes in reproduction fabrics. They have a whole Civil War section, a whole 30s section, a whole Vintage In General section, and then they carry lots and lots of lines of Moda fabrics. Seaside Roses. Buttercream and Fig. Wuthering Heights. Rhubarb and Ginger. Cinnamon Stars. It's pretty much dangerous to go in there--especially since these fabrics sell for around $10 a yard.
Remember the bundle of yarn-dyed plaids I bought last summer? Pink and green and brown? Let me jog your memory:

Those. Adorable. And I had no idea what to do with ten fat quarters, until around Christmas. Then I decided to make eight-pointed stars with them, and fill in with a big rambunctious matching print. That's why I went to the quilt shop--to find the print. Well, they are sold out of those particular prints, and will get them in in February (Charleston II, by the way). Soooooooo we're in the quilt store, and we have looooooooots of fabric and don't need more, so we're juuuuuuuuuuust looking, but feel guilty because the owner is so attentive. So we buy a punchneedle kit. Hooray! Punchneedle! How much is that going to be? All that embroidery floss I bought in high school will finally go to good use. Phew!

2005-12-29T14:24:00.000-05:00

The two balls of Felted Tweed arrived. Ginger really is ginger--as in the hair color. Red-orange-brown. Not particularly lovely. At all. Treacle, on the other hand, is really something. You know that color that might be dark brown, or might be dark plum? It's that color. It's quite lovely.

2005-12-27T15:27:00.000-05:00

Home again home again, jiggidy jog. Time for some pictures!

Left: the Gryffindor lion on the front of my Weasley sweater! Hooray! Looks much better in the photograph than it does in real life... hmmmm...

Right: The Woman in the Water scarf, post-blocking, as promised.
Everything a-okay inside the house. Sudden urge to tidy the place up...

2005-12-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

I got three knitting books for Christmas, and I am passionately in love with them all. I even ordered a bunch of solid-color sock yarn, in their honor.

Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush: what is there not to love about this book? More sock and heel variations than you can shake a stick at, gorgeous allover patterns appropriate for socks, and to top it all off the book is spiral bound, so you can leave it open while you work.

Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch : another really great sock book, one I didn't ask for but Amazon gave a two-fer discount on the Nancy Bush book, apparently. Has libraries of ribbing patterns for three, four, five, six, eight etc. stitches wide. Many of them are absolutely gorgeous. Sooooo excited to try some out.

A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen: the Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl is the first lace shawl I have seen that I would actually consider knitting. 'Nuff said.

2005-12-24T23:21:00.000-05:00

Silent Night indeed; and all is quiet in blogland.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

2005-12-23T11:45:00.000-05:00

Made some progress on the sweater yesterday. Am now past the 2/3 marker; just have the lion's head left to knit. I am thoroughly ready for this to be over--the pattern is lumpy and bumpy where I haven't left long enough floats on the back (the lion chart is so complicated, I have to combine intarsia with stranded knitting), and the yarn is sooooo stiff... sigh. I am having more and more impure thoughts about Felted Tweed. If only it wasn't so expensive! I molested some of it at the yarn shop yesterday, and not only are the colors absolutely *lovely*--deep and alive, but well behaved at the same time--but it is sooooooft and niiiiiice. One thing that does concern me is that it looks more like a sportweight yarn than a DK; I'm afraid that even on size 5 needles the fabric would be quite open. I am a loose knitter, I guess. I am also concerned about being able to order colors from websites, based on the balls I saw in real life yesterday. The store had the herb-green color, but also a deep and lovely red and a deep and lovely brown. Both made my mouth water. But what color is the red? Rowan labels don't say and the color "Blaze," which looks most red on websites, is discontinued. Could it possibly be "Ginger"? Ginger looks orange, on computer screens. And the brown is, I think, "Treacle," but JimmyBeansWool has it called "Cocoa" while other websites say Cocoa is quite a pale brown. Question questions, so many questions. Obvious solution to ALL problems? Order two or three balls of differen colors from JimmyBeans. Then I can play with gauge and everything. *Then* I can commit the $90 to a sweater.

2005-12-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

My mother kidnapped me for the third day in a row, this time for a long list errands which included, funnily enough, a trip to the yarn shop. I finally managed to think of a real project and to buy yarn for it--a baby sweater for Stephanie's as-yet-ungendered tadpole. I bought four balls of Rowan CashSoft DK in a lovely sage green; never mind the pattern is for Cashmerino Aran. It is the same sweater as my dear long-suffering Lara, which I am knitting at DK instead of worsted/aran, so I have practice with this. Anyway, it's CashSoft! It's sage green! I got to buy four balls of it! I get to knit them all up! Yaaaaay!!! Never mind the kid's going to be born in June. Babies always need to be bundled up, right? Naaah. I'll make the 6 mos. size.

Now: because I feel so guilty that I can't show you pictures of the progress on my Gryffindor sweater, or of the sock I started knitting (toe up with lifted increases. Lifted increases look much neater than half-hitch, BTW. Creates the same structure, but lifted increases are much tightier and tidier), I will search back in my other blog to find a post with lots of pictures in it. Aha! There's one:

Top left: The bedsocks. Knit from Cashsoft 4-ply, color "Spring," and inspired by a Rowan pattern that had beads instead of purl stitches. Toe-up, Turkish cast-on, short-row heels. Needles US3.

Top right: The DREADFUL bed jacket. Knit from KnitPicks Shine "Cream" from the bolero pattern in summer's Vogue Knitting; my own dreadful crocheted edging, obviously. Might be marginally better worn over a short-sleeved nightgown. Needles US6.

Bottom left: The chocolate-peppermint scarf. Knit from Ejido 160 "Shell" purchased from handpaintedyarn.com. 2.5 hanks total. My own pattern. Needles US 7.

Bottom right: The Harry Potter socks, knit from Opal Rainforest "Owl." My usual toe-up pattern, Turkish cast-on, short-row heels. Needles US 1, 2.25mm.

2005-12-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

I have begun to knit myself a Weasley sweater. I am using Tahki/Stacy Charles Donegal Tweed. It is not nice yarn, at all, in my opinion: it is rough and stiff and not at all elastic, and the colors of the tweed flecks just scream "IT'S THE 80's!" I mean, bright red yarn with navy blue, teal, and yellow flecks? Uuggghhh. Rowan Felted Tweed was used for the sweaters in the first movie, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is what I should have used. But, I am now seven inches into the front of the sweater, not to mention the $80 of yarn, so I may as well push ahead. I am planning to do the Heraldic Lion on the front, for Weasley aficionados... and I cannot take pictures, though I have my camera with me, I have not the software for my new laptop, nor the cable, and thus is there ever a chasm betwixt them.

2005-12-12T12:08:00.000-05:00

Voila The Woman in the Water, blocking wrong-side-up. More glamorous pictures when she is dry and I am back home--might be after Christmas.

Four skeins of Noro color #164, knit in K3P1 ribbing on US8 needles. Knit two rows with one color and two rows with another. Inspired by Jane's scarves, which were inspired by Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

2005-12-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Here is one wristwarmer, completed. I think that the remaining yarn from that hank of Koigu is more than enough to make its mate. Size US3 needles. Forty stitches round at the wrist in K4P1 ribbing, then KFB in every stitch to increase to 80, then one sixteen-row repeat of Leaf Lace and bind off. This should look nice, peeking out from the wrists of my black coat.

2005-12-08T15:25:00.001-05:00

Some presents for you:

On the left, my Christmas table decoration, against a lovely background of brown cardboard shipping box (that's full of my Weasley yarn) and the slightly wilted Autumn table decoration. On the right, my big order of Kureyon-on-sale from Webs. I am going to knit those scarves where you work from two balls, and knit two rows with one and two rows with another. The long variegations each last for several of these bars, and the two balls each changing colors independently look reeeeally cool. I need this brainless, large-scale knitting. My three ongoing projects are 1) a lace sock, 2) the Trinket scarf, and 3) that darned Lara, whose sleeve decreases have to be calculated all over before I can proceed. But can I knit anything? No, I can't.

That Noro yarn looks, to me, like a sparkling golden patch in an otherwise joyless state of mind. But I can't touch it. God forbid Kat be left alone to do what is easy and pleasant and *productive*. No. She is a modern woman. She has to have a goddamn career, and spend her life being terrorized by nitwits into doing difficult and hateful things that have no value to anyone.

2005-12-08T15:25:00.000-05:00

I am having a Guacamole Day. It is my second. On such a day, I make a batch of guacamole sometime before lunch, and it eat on chips all day--and nothing else. Sometimes it's a sort of cleansing ritual, and sometimes it's just greed and I suffer for it... I think I am suffering, today.
Here is some eye candy:

Courtesy of the weather which, after raining buckets in the morning, consented to shine just a little in the afternoon. On the left, finally a photograph of my Trinket scarf. On the right, thirty-five piles of tiny squares that I cut out this afternoon (instead of working on term papers) to use in my own Crosses quilt. Somehow, they just don't have that Kaffe Fassett flavor...

2005-12-08T15:19:00.000-05:00

I love memes that tag everyone. No specific knitters know that I have a blog, so it's the only way I ever get tagged. This meme: show your favorite knitting spot. Can do!

A: Current work-most-in-progress
B: My imprint in the sofa
C: Spiffy multi-level jar full of knitting tools
D: Knitting light
E: Knitting bag, filled with needles and random hanks of yarn I like to tote around
F: Pile of knitting books and hanks of yarn I intend to use soon
G: Pile of works-less-in-progress
H: The antidote to knitter's ass.

2005-09-23T16:11:00.000-05:00

Here is my Hourglass Sweater, in Noro Silk Garden #84. Finished fifteen days after I cast on. It needs some blocking to straighten out the seams, but... yay! It's my first sweater!