Everybody Loves Saturday Night

i like socks

As much as I love having the option of air conditioning, I love not using it even more. The weather here has been lovely lately, a full 20 degrees cooler than last week. The AC is off, the windows are open; it's very pleasant.

Time, then, to show you what I've been doing with wool.

First, the finished Marigold socks (Ravelry link).

My camera has apparently lost its focus ability (either that or the socks are working their Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting soft focus look). It's an old camera and should be replaced. This can't happen for a while yet, so bear with me.

Let's try this shot:

Better. You get the idea, anyway.

I dig these socks. These are, believe it are not, the very first Koigu socks I have made for myself. Surprised? I am too. They really feel amazing.

These socks get a lot of credit for turning me around on a couple things. Previously I hadn't been an ardent fan of wearing lace socks. Knitting them has always been fun and rewarding, but I wasn't, up until now, really keen on wearing lace on my feet. (I've said as much, somewhere, but I'm not looking for that post right now.) But I love wearing these socks, and it's not just the Koigu factor.

The second thing...well, my sock knitting mojo has returned. I started another pair of lace socks, and I think I'm going to love these even more.

This is the Södera pattern (Ravel it!), worked in Regia Silk 4-ply. Also working the mid-80s soft focus look. I took this picture on June 12, after I'd reached the heel. Here's where I am now:

My legs are . . . well, I like them. I do. Got no bone to pick with my legs. But as a New York pedestrian, my calves are fairly well developed. In trying this sock on repeatedly to determine where to place the increases for the calf shaping, I've discovered that my ankles slope ever so gradually into my calves, but once my calves start, they bloom. Significantly. You can't tell from this photo, but I started the calf increases after 25 pattern repeats, then worked 8 rows before doing the next set of increases. And after a mere two rounds, I need to increase again. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just noteworthy in that way that only other sock knitters may get.

I started these socks thinking that with any luck they'd be done in time for crispy fall weather. At the rate I'm going though, they'll be done by July. The pattern is super easy to memorize, it's a cinch to figure out what row to do next, so I've been able to work on them everywhere from the subway to the couch. Of course, now that I've hypothesized an end date, the second sock will languish until mid-November. 2009.

Haven't decided whether I'm going to go with the ribbon at the cuff. I like the look, but I'm not sure it's really me. If I do, though, it'll be black ribbon.

hey, I finished a sock!

Today's post is brought to you by the color purple and KnitPicks, who knew I needed to get something good in the mail.

I started a lace project at the beginning of this week, but it wasn't going well. The yarn was too thin even for my 3.00mm needles. I have had this trouble before, and compensated by doubling the yarn. This time I decided to bend to the yarn's will instead of the other way around, but this required new needles.

I turned to KnitPicks, and given how slippery laceweight yarn can be, opted to go for the Harmony despite my general preference for metal needles. What you see above are 40" Harmony needles in sizes 2.00, 2.25, 2.5, and 2.75. I figured it would be wise to cover all bases, and wise to get the 40" so when I'm not knitting lace they can be used Magic Loop-style, and wise-ish to buy four needles for a little over the price of one of the Addi Lace needles.

And then I couldn't pass up the chance to get free shipping, especially since I could buy a sweater's worth of yarn and only just push my total over the free shipping mark. I am aware that I probably shouldn't be buying yarn at all in the first place, but you know, I wanted the yarn therapy (hat tip) and whatever. I justified it somehow. It's not like I'm buying Koigu cashmere. Onward.

I perused my Ravelry queue and came up with Thermal, so that skein on the right is Gloss in a new color: Cosmos. I had a hard time deciding between that and Parsley, flirted with the idea of getting both for the additional shopper's high, then rationally opted for only getting the yarn I knew would be used. And I do love the color, and I believe I have the buttons already. I also know that I'm going to start this sweater as soon as Dollar and a Half is done (I'm nearing the armhole shaping on the back).

On to the sock. Yes, I finally finished the ONE sock I started ONE MONTH ago.

Would you guess that this is Koigu? Look at that striping action going on! I didn't even realize how uniform it is until Juno pointed out that Koigu doesn't usually act like this. At least, not typically. Or are we both wrong on that?

At any rate, I started the second sock and have a sinking feeling that it's not going to turn out the same way. But the pattern is absolutely delightful. Again, it's Flint Knits' Marigold (Ravelry link to free download). Super easy to memorize, though there is a spot on the foot where I forgot to do a purl row, so it looks like an extra-wide band. Because of the color changes it's less noticeable, not that I would've ripped out and reknit had it been glaringly obvious.

mustering mojo

I was faced with actual subway riding time over the weekend (how rare!) and was still not feeling the love for the still-yet-unfinished Anastasia socks, but in the mood to try a new pair of socks, to attempt to regain a little bit of sock knitting mojo.

I think the problem with the Anastasia socks...well, there are two problems. One is that I can't seem to concentrate on the pattern and keep making mistakes. It's a very simple yarn-over pattern, and I'm on the second sock already, so the fact that I keep messing up is ego-bruising. And I have one way of dealing with ego bruisings. I run away. The second problem is that, much as I am still in love with the colorway, it strikes me now as too dark and gloomy for the early months of spring. The blues are still blue, in other words, when I'm ready for leafy green and sunshine yellow and lilac and rose.

And I just so happen to have a leafy green/yellow/lilac/rose kind of sock yarn, from the Koigu family. No surprise there. But what kind of pattern?

Once again, I turned to Ravelry and once again, spent the better part of a day searching for possible patterns. My Rav friends may have noticed an uptick in number of sock patterns queued that day, because in a fit of indecisiveness, I simply queued anything that looked like it might work with Koigu.

Like Cookie A's BFF socks, for example. Gorgeous ... but more a wintry sock pattern, I think. For Mojo-Generatin' socks, I wanted something light and breezy, even if the socks themselves would be warm and toasty.

There have been a couple excellent looking slip-stitch patterns that would work well with Koigu, like Anne Campbell's Show-off Stranded Socks (Ravelry link--it's a free download either way) and Knitfreak's Aquaphobia socks (fear of pooling. Clever!). But again, for springtime socks, I felt something frilly and lacy would be in order (despite my ambivalence about lace on my feet). Something to wear with a really cute skirt. (I have some STR that I plan to use for Aquaphobia, later).

What I love most about Ravelry (well, one of the things I love most) is that I can look at all the different incarnations of a particular pattern. What I've noticed about the knitting community is that there are a lot of people out there who have, at some point in time, knit a particular sock pattern originally intended for a solid color yarn in variegated or self-striping yarn, with varying degrees of success (and these degrees are entirely subjective). (The converse is also true, but with slightly more predictable results.) So when I came across the pattern for Flint Knit's Marigold Socks, I knew that by checking on the 67 people who have started and/or finished them, I could see how the pattern works with variegated yarn (completely forgetting that I've already drooled over the modified version Veronique attempted with Vesper yarn).

I was sold. It's a lace pattern that stays relatively closed up, so there's no danger of getting lost in the color changes, and the single purl round lends definition and the appearance of stripes even if the yarn itself isn't striping. But mine seems to be. Imagine that.

I started with a Turkish cast on for the toe, which has become my preference in working toe up socks. It's easy and fast and there's no fiddling about with provisional cast ons or short rows. And I think I've found my magic number for how many wraps to make around the needles (which is the first step in the cast on): 12. And now that's been recorded for posterity, should I forget the number but remember which blog post it's in. (ha.)

I may go in for a picot bind off to boot.

So yeah, sock knitting mojo risin'.

 

25 cents worth of a sweater

I did the only sensible thing to do when one faces a knitting rut. I started something new.

Actually, I started two new things, but I'll tell you about the second one tomorrow. The first new thing I had actually started last month, with a swatch. I had intended to work on the Dollar and a Half Cardigan (Ravelry link) while working my way through the BBC adaptations of George Eliot novels (which I bought as a boxed set for a song) last month, but that didn't happen. The swatch hung out on the front table for most of March. It occurred to me last week that, although the lace pattern in the sweater is not as intricate as I may have been looking for when I went on my hunt for lace patterns, it would probably be satisfying enough and, as a bonus, because it stripes with reverse stockinette, it won't get boring.

So I started on a sleeve last Wednesday or Thursday, and now it's done. Wanna see?

I decided to work the ribbing for only 2 inches instead of 4, so I could get to the lace part quicker. The lace is really fun to work, and fairly easy to memorize, though I have been double checking--it's worked with selvedge stitches, and I have a tendency to forget that they're there.

I also decided not to make the sleeves as long as the pattern designates. For my size, I was supposed to make the sleeve 21.25" before starting the cap shaping. Measuring this fabric is tricky, because the reverse stockinette stitch stripes bunch up, so I basically had to pseudo-block the sleeve each time I wanted an accurate measurement. And from that I could tell that this baby is going to block way the hell out, so that in order to get a final measurement of 21.25" I only needed to work to 19.5"...but I worked up to 20" anyway, just so I could start the shaping after I'd finished with the last row of the reverse stockinette stripe.

I hit the bind off in the middle of the lace pattern, which required another slight modification. The stitch count changes from row to row, and the last row I worked before I was supposed to bind off was one that decreases the total number of stitches. So I wound up working one extra row of the pattern in order to bring the total back to wear it belonged before I bound off. This means I have yarn overs in my bind off, but I think it will be OK.

Here's a close up of the lace:

Complete with cat hair, as usual.

Going to start on the back soon. I think I'm going to be really happy with this sweater.

nope, no fools here

Rejected April Fool's Day post ideas:

* "Michael and I are moving." Reason for rejection: Couldn't pick a place that was believable enough where no one we know lives.

* "I got a bun in the oven." Reason for rejection: Might cause Michael to go into shock. Not to mention my mother, his mother, my aunt, and so on...

* "I'm shutting this here blog down." Reasons for rejection: 1. It's been done 2. It's too plausible, given my lackadaisical approach to regular blogging.

* Variations on "there's been an accident..." Reason for rejection: too cruel.

* Variations on "Did I ever tell you about the time..." Reason for rejection: I would actually have to come up with something to tell you.

So anyway.

Knitting. I'm bored. I have multiple projects in progress but I've stalled on every one of them. I keep messing up on the Anastastia socks, so those are stalled. The first flush of ecstasy I felt for Vinterblomster has dissipated upon the woeful discovery that if a pattern calls for stranded knitting where there are five or more stitches between color changes, I am physically unable to make it look nice. I ripped out once, started over with a new stranding strategy, but I'm still getting puckering and grossness, so the mittens are also stalled. I started the back of Flicca a few days ago but I am so not in the mood for mindless knitting.

I'm feeling the desire to work on something lacy, but also something small and quick. Something I can finish in a day, which is no longer possible today because I've spent half of it looking for something small and quick to work on (well, and working too. I have been working). I have over 100 things queued on Ravelry but none of them are calling to me.

Maybe this is just a sign that I should stop knitting or crocheting for a while, until this passes, but I have to have something to DO. You know?

a little hit of lace, a whole lotta love

I finally get to post about this. My fault, really--I finished this Flower Basket Shawl back in July, with every intention of sending it to my mom immediately . . . but then it sat around my apartment until this past Tuesday. Folks, this is what I mean when I say I am horrible about getting to the post office.

It's also been on Flickr and Ravelry since July, so some of you have already seen it. It deserves a spot on the blog, however, because if I do say so myself, it turned out incredibly well.

I used Touch of Twist Zephyr in Garnet, doubled, on US 7 needles. It went quickly--knit up in 8 days. I think it helped that I'd made the shawl before. I love, love love this yarn. It is dreamy to work with, it blocks to perfection, and it feels like gossamer. I have enough left over to make another FBS for me. It's either that or another Lotus Blossom.

Mom loves the shawl. I love it. I'm sure the color reads more pink here than it is in real life--a vibrant red, an appropriate color to receive on the 14th of February.

Happy birthday, mom--seven months late.

perspective

A little while ago I was complaining about waking up at 5:30 in the morning. After Rhinebeck I was able to sleep in until 6:30, even pushing 7:00 some mornings. But now I realize that I had a pretty good routine with the 5:30 wake-up time. I could read email, read blogs, write blogs, goof around on Ravelry, score an obscene number of points in Facebook Scrabble (muah ha) and still have time for showering and hair-doing (I owe you a shot of my new hair cut/color) and maybe even a row or two of something knittery. Waking up at 6:30 or 7:00 means I have to cut one or two of those things out, and I've gotten used to doing them, so it's been a difficult transition. Careful what you wish for, and all that.

And now with NaNoWriMo, I really need the extra time in the morning. Yesterday I was facing an incredibly long day of being in a car and various meetings, I had to leave at 8:30 am which meant waking up by at least 6:30 to get everything done. Instead, I woke up at 5:30 and had an hour of writing time, in which I got 1,012 words in. Not bad. Not ideal (I figured that I need to write round 1,666 words a day in order to make it to 50,000) but I'll take it.

I had thought that I would get home with enough time to write more, but all I wanted to do when I got home was drink a whiskey and shove a pizza in my face.

Today should be a better day. It is 6:46, I am finished with blogs, someone on Ravelry is going to take some yarn off my hands, and after a brief meeting in the morning I have the rest of the day at home. And I have more coffee in the kitchen, which I am going to get right now.

So, yeah.

CeCe has blocked. CeCe is too big. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, yay? On the other hand, will I get any wear out of it? I will take a picture soon and let you be the judge. One thing is for sure--the Moving Mud button is too big/heavy. It needs either a pin closure or a tie of some kind, but the sweater is too big for a button to make sense.

How did it get to be too big? I tried it on frequently. I measured meticulously. I blocked accordingly. All that should have worked for me. It does drape divinely, though. Maybe I just need to wear it with a particular kind of shirt underneath.

In other knitting news, I have already fallen behind on the Mystic Waters Mystery Shawl project. I am only halfway through Clue #1, which looks like this:

Pretty, isn't it?

oh, i've been around

If I go silent here for more than a week or so, it's a good bet that I'm blogging more over on the group TV blog (well, more like a duet these days, but that's fine. We're having fun with it). There's been a lot of really good TV to write about these days. I think my favorite new show is Pushing Daises, but I am also fond of Reaper, Dirty Sexy Money, and Journeyman.

Work--what else? has been taking up most of my waking moments.

I have been knitting, but my work hasn't been very photographic. Last month I started CeCe, and now it's almost finished, but it's hard to take decent pictures of it without exerting more effort than I can at the moment. The best picture I took is a cropped shot of the lace on the body, when I was about seven inches into it.

It is going to look much better blocked.

I'm using Karabella Frost, which is a cashmere/silk/viscose blend that has a gorgeous sheen and beautiful drape but is for some reason fairly hard on my hands to knit with. I bought 10 balls of it at a WEBS closeout sale a couple years ago--maybe a year ago. During my massive bout of stash cleaning I decided to see what I could use it for. I had thought to use it for Bonne Marie's new-ish Miss Dashwood, but I would only have needed half of the Frost for that. Then I looked at CeCe.

Now, this was a pattern that I thought was nice from the beginning, but it didn't grab me the way so many ChicKnits patterns have. Not sure why, really, or that there has to be a reason--some patterns speak to me, some don't. But there was something about the possibility of pairing THIS pattern with THIS yarn that again, like Kew, made sense. I knew I would have enough yarn to make CeCe with 3/4 sleeves, and add an inch or two to the body length.

It's a different relationship than I usually have with my knitting projects. This is probably fodder for its own post, but it seems as though they fall into different categories: the can't live without, love every minute of it, wear them all the time projects (Butterfly comes to mind); the Old Reliables (most of my socks); and the ones that start out so promising but come to disappoint (the Go With The Flow sock I started in Trekking...bad idea). CeCe in Frost is more like I started it not to have the sweater but to use up the yarn. I mean, I wanted the sweater, and I thought it would be a good early fall sweater, but I started it without the passion I can sometimes have for projects. And now that I'm nearing the end, I find myself really liking the way it's coming together. I am looking forward to wearing it, with jeans, skirts, anything. I think I'm going to follow fall fashion and pair it with a gold button.

Swallowtail: fini

Remember this?

Swallowtail Shawl, from Interweave Knits Fall 2006. I started this right after finishing a shawl for my mom (which I was supposed to bring to her last month when I came to visit but I couldn't get away, so I will mail it, soon, ok mom?) and completed the actual knitting part very quickly--under two weeks, if memory serves. But then I held off blocking it because I wanted to get wire blockers.

Months passed. Still don't have the blockers. So I brought out the T-pins and blocked the sucker old school. And I learned something: blocking gray yarn on a gray board is a very painful process.

(those are squares #25 and 26 of the Mitred Square Afghan, by the way. Out of 80. Progress on that is slow, but steady.)

When I finished this shawl initially, I didn't think it would be something I would wear. I liked it well enough, but it didn't really grab me--and the color is a bit too...I don't know. Conservative? Neutral? Something. But then I wrapped it around my shoulders and looked in the mirror and wow--this shawl looks so much better on than it does off. Unfortunately, my photographer is at an early morning class, so you'll have to make due with a couch shot (with the ends hanging out there):

The Yarn is Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Smoke, double stranded. I used two skeins, but not all of them. I have quite a bit left over, in fact. It's a very, very soft yarn, and now it smells great, thanks to Soak Aquae.

Detail:

Nupps: absolutely worth it. They are so pretty.

Extreme close up:

I am pleased.

 

so what's new?

I finished Kew. Flew through the second sock in less than a week, then knit up a toe chimney (if you're as kitchener-challenged as I am and you haven't heard of the toe-chimney trick, hie thee hence, because it will change your life) and didn't quite feel up to actually grafting, so I let it sit. For a week. While I didn't blog. And then the completely finished socks sat around, waiting for me  to have the time to take pictures and all that so I could give them their due.

I do love them. It's a simple thing, but one of my favorite things about knitting is when a pattern pulls an edge into a scallop shape. I did toy with the idea of working a picot hem instead, but I'm glad I opted to stick to the pattern.

And now I'm in the midst of birthday knitting. The Michael has one coming up, so he's getting the requisite ginormous socks. Making OK progress on them; almost past the heel on sock 1.

Before Michael's comes Colleen's, so I've returned to a project I'd started back in February or so: the Endpaper Mitts:

I have a long, mostly unblogged relationship with this pattern. I bought Knit Picks' Palette a while back to make a pair of mitts for myself, and struggled with the first real Fair Isle + tiny dpns while visiting Juno back in...goodness, who knows when. The "click" moment finally happened, I am happy to report that I am now able to work fair isle two-handedly, and I finished my first mitt relatively quickly. Problem was, it was waaaaay too small. I planned on starting over, but then Colleen came over, saw the mitt, fell in love, and I promised to make her a pair to match the new winter jacket she'd bought.

I ordered the yarn--Rowan Soft 4 Ply in *mumble* and *cough*--and got to work when it arrived, but for whatever reason I did not use the Italian tubular cast on. I got all the way to the end ribbing and put it away to work on other things. I returned to the mitt just last week, finished, and then wondered what possessed me to not go for the tubular cast on. Was it because I couldn't figure it out? But it doesn't look that hard. Was it because it would've taken too much time? Probably.

Thing is, once I got how to do it, it doesn't take long at all. In fact, it seems to take less time and effort than any other cast on. So I started the second mitt with the tubular cast on, and that's what you see up there--finished. Tubular cast on = no problem at all. Tubular cast off, on the other hand, is a serious pain in the ass.

I should be able to get the second mitt done in two weeks, and I don't think I'll need to rip out that first mitt to make the second.

Fair Isle may be the next obsession for me. It's got a wholly different rhythm than regular knitting and it's a beat I can dance to.