One Jaywalker down...thanks World Cup!

Every four years there is an event that brings me close to missing my ex-husband--le Mondial! See, we were GREAT as pot-smoking buddies (it was the '80s), we racked up credit card debt on carefree, live now-pay later vacations to Italy, France and Morocco (4 times) like nobody's business, had so much fun spending our twenties letting the wine flow at late night parties in Athens, GA. with slacker pals and, most memorably, bonded over professional sporting events. Good times. (And I'm still paying for them, literally and figuratively). However, when children and responsibilities were introduced into the picture, the house of cards came tumbling down and the marriage went south...The World Cup was our primo event, we always had a blast together. His dad was a professional player, he had encyclopedic knowledge of the game and a lot of enthusiasm and taught me much about it. Gradually it became the only guaranteed stress-free period of our life together. That was a long time ago, and now we have both thankfully moved on and have negotiated a much better, healthier relationship as friends. He lives in Brooklyn and owns this store. I am married to the Darling Marxist Curmudgeon with whom I am much happier, he's truly the love of my life and I can't believe I get to spend every day from here on out with him. Nevertheless I have been enjoying the hell out of the World Cup and am knitting up a storm during the matches while I fondly remembering the parts of the first marriage relationship that weren't a problem.


I finished the Jaywalker this afternoon, and I have to say I am happy with it and feel energized and ready to start number two. I feared the second sock syndrome but instead the opposite has occured-- I fervently want to finish so I can have a guilt-free start on the Koigu socks. Go Argentina and Jaywalking forever and ever!

Summer A.D.D. : at loose ends

I don't get it--sometimes looking at other knitting blogs I feel so, well, inadequate. Log on to any knitting blog these days are you are likely to find avid knitters completing projects on a regular basis and proudly displaying their finished objects. I feel like they know something I don't know, perhaps they have some time-management skills that are under-developed in me. Maybe I am unbeknownst to myself actually knitting underwater, because there are some terribly speedy knitters out there. I assume that these knitters also have jobs and families and aren't on speed, yet somehow they seem to be able to knit around the clock and produce many, many hand knit garments. I am jealous.
For some reason this summer the A.D.D. has been kicking in something fierce. The last several weeks I seem to have a pathological need to begin new projects before finishing old ones--this is the lamentable story of my knitting life. Rather than actually complete a project during the great expanse of time known as summer, that time when academic types like me have a 4 month reprieve from lesson planning, advising students and daily trips to campus, I dilly-dally around and don't seem to manage to finish a darn thing. It's almost as if I need the pressure of a daily work schedule to actually get anywhere with my knitting--suddenly when I can knit all day, every day, I spin my wheels. How lame!
I will say that I have made progress on the Jaywalkers, although I agree with the Lone Knitter that they take forever. But I am liking them--trouble is, the second sock syndrome is kicking in, before the first one is even finished. Oy gevalt!

Because the Jaywalkers tend to require at least a modicum of concentration, I realized that I needed a no-brainer project that I could grab and take to the pool, so I impulse purchased a Lisa Knits pattern for a Ribbed Shell. I love the Lisa Knits patterns because they are so easy to follow and she is a localish (Latrobe, PA.) gal. I am knitting the shell in what has become my default yarn:Skacel Polo. The pattern requires the broken rib stitch, have you tried it? (row 1: p1 k1, row 2: k). Sounds easy, right? Not to be a complainer, but that broken rib stitch is kicking my ass! I have been working on that thing non-stop since Thursday and have only accomplished about 3 inches--it's taking.
If you have read this far and haven't stuck a needle in your eye because of all the knitting negativity, I thank you and promise not to be such a kvetch next time!

Princeton and environs yarn crawl

Part of being on vacation for a knitter is, obviously, checking out local yarn stores, right? If I were a stamp collector (which I used to be, 32 years ago--egads!) I would spend my free time searching out appropriate purveyors of all things philatelic. But I'm not, so instead I spent my evening visiting two stores and scoring some yarn that is not available within a 100-mile radius of my home--I include this info in case my husband the Darling Marxist Curmudgeon is reading this and wondering what in the hell his wife the A.D.D. Knitter is doing buying more yarn. The good news, honey: I spent less than $63! The bad news: Princeton is still the playground of the ultra-rich!

First of all, let me say that in all my shallow glory I am completely smitten with Princeton, NJ. If you've ever been there, you know the intense cuteness that I am talking about. Shops with Lily Pulitzer pink-and-green togs on display in the window, completely buff lacrosse players with awesome tans (I know that thinking lacrosse players are cute is not politically correct right at this particular moment, but lacrosee players are undeniably HOT and although it's certainly a sure sign of middle-age to be leering at barely out-of-adolescence 20 year old boys, I stand by this obervation), super-smart Poindexter types coming off campus for a quick shot of espresso before they head off to their political economy courses, and well-preserved Episcopalian women d'une certaine âge strolling the streets with their wicker purses and patchwork pants--hey, I love it all.
There are several establishments that I want to draw your attention to, one of them is the killer yarn store pictured above: Pins and Needles. This store was definitely worth the trip! They are open late on Thursday nights and so had many customers to deal with, but both employees were terribly friendly and quickly apologized for being so busy. No matter--I am the kind of customer that likes to browse on my own, anyway. That whole early 90's Gap-employee-greeter-in-your-face thing is such a pain, in my book. After browsing around I zeroed in on some Koigu PPPM, I'd been coveting it for a while and wondering what all the fuss was about. I bought two colorways--#120 and #146--and am eager to wind it and get moving on some socks.
Just around the corner on Nassau Street there is one of the best bookstores I've ever been to, EVER. Somehow over years I've begun going to those big box stores like Barnes and IgNoble and have started to believe their bullsh*&^ about it actually being a good bookstore--this has happened because, as I have stated before, there are no independent booksellers where I live. But going to Micawber Books has reminded be what a good bookstore is all about--they have new and used titles and their new fiction selection is the best I've seen. The children's section is huge and caters to every taste--in my case, this taste is for reprints of books from the early part of the century. Love Micawber Books and the nerdy yet stylishly hip crew that works there!!
I visited another yarn shop near Princeton in Pennington, NJ called The Woolly Lamb. This is a very large knitting and needlepoint shop that has a huge selection of yarn and canvasses. I believe you can judge the overall economic health of an area by the number of needlepoint stores that it can support--let's just say that Princeton had a lot of needlpoint stores, and Nascar, PA. has, well, none. The owner slightly freaked when I wanted to take a picture of the store for my blog--apparently a blogger had written some unkind things about her shop and she was gun shy--but after convincing her that my pen was not of a poisoned nature she let me snap some pics--SUCKER!!!
Totally kidding, her shop is great with an excellent selection--the only thing I bought was a Monkeysuits Sweater pattern. I'd never seen these patterns before and am looking forward to getting one on the go when I go home.
All in all, this early evening outing was just what the doctor ordered for this knitter who has been spending all day grading AP exams and feeling depressed about the state of secondary language education in this country...

Jaywalker Dispatch from the Road

This dispatch is coming to you from the road! I am away from home for one week serving as a reader for an AP exam, which means that for one week I'll be correcting high achiever high school students tests and trying not to go mental. This is the closest I've ever been to an AP exam since, well, I wasn't really the AP type of gal in high school. The only advanced placement I achieved in high school was in gabbing on the phone and hanging out with the fun stoner crowd--I'm an academic late bloomer, so to speak. So I jumped at the chance to see what this was all about. I could give high fallutin' reasons for my reasons for wanting to be an AP reader, something about interest in assessment and testing outcomes or professional development, but mainly I'm just doing it for the cash!

Above you see the half-completed Jaywalker sock that I have been working on since Monday. Note the particle board table that it's resting on, proof that I am writing this from a dorm room! My goal is to finish it before the end of the week. I am loving this pattern! Grumperina is quite the designer, I must say. I am doing it in the Opal Hand Painted because a. it's the yarn she did it in, and I'm such a sad ass person that I try to imitate the designer's instructions completely and b. I had some in my stash, just by chance. I love the purple and green together. Once I got the hang of the double decreases, I was off and running and highly encourage anyone who thinks that this pattern might be too complicated to go ahead and give it a try.

Sock of the month club

The Summer Sock Challenge has taken an interesting turn. After having finished the Eat Your Veggies Claudia's Hand Painted socks (see pic below), I had a little bit o' extra yarn, which should come as no surprise given my extreme impatience with the cuff. As I had yet to finish the baby sweater for the Sweet-as-Pie colleague from Iowa, I decided to whip up a pair of baby socks and achieve the dual goal of having a baby present for a baby that was born on Mother's Day and feeling like a thrifty knitter, the type that actually uses yarn up out of her stash rather than endlessly acquires it and leaves it on a shelf to collect dust. I used the Cabin Fever Little Speckled Toes pattern, which was so easy and required me to use 5 dpns for the first time (normally I go the 4 dpn route). Huge fan of all Cabin Fever patterns, they are well written and very easy to follow.I have to say that completing these socks was such a pleasure--they are so miniature and, well, perfect! Giving one pair of socks as a baby present seemed semi-chintzy (sp?), especially for such a nice gal, so I decided to enroll her baby in the first-ever, A.D.D. Knitter 'Sock of the Month' club, (not as choice as the 'Fruit of the Month' club, for sure, but it's better that a lot of other baby gifts, I suppose) which means that I get to make a pair of these adorable socks every month for a year. I am so excited about this! I know I need to get a life, but the idea of getting to spend a little time on these every month is very appealing.

Poll: What's your most indispensible knitting book?

I have accumulated a lot of knitting books--some more useful than others. Sometimes I go through phases of what the Darling Marxist Curmudgeon refers to as 'late-night clickety', which is basically ordering things from Amazon.com in the wee hours of the night when judgement is impaired and wants and needs are amplified. It usually goes a little something like this: Jane Q. Knitter raves about a certain knitting book on her blog, I follow the link and am instantly seduced by the lurid photo and salacious reviews on Amazon.com [N.B. I do not normally promote large multinational corporations and/or big-box stores and always root for all that is marginal, indie and local, but there are literally no independant booksellers where I live, so please forgive me.]. And then I order it. And I forget all about it until I arrive home from work (hopefully before the DMC) and pluck the package from my porch. After several moments my memory is jogged and I remember, "oh. it's that book". And then the package sits there for anywhere from 15 minutes to 36 hours, and I open it. Blah blah blah-blah-blah. Usually the book is somewhere between fine to mildly intriguing. The most recent late-night clickety produced a book that was so much more than that, as it is (are you ready?) literally the best knitting book in the entire world. I have been waiting for a book like this for a very long time. Charlotte Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks is nothing short of a miracle. It's amazing--everything about the book is helpful. Similar to the Ann Budd books, the patterns are all based on gauge, which is incredibly freeing. Like the Vogue Stitchionary series, there are close-up images of all the stiches featured in the book. Schurch also provides instructions for each pattern using 4 dpns, 5 dpns and two circular needles--again, totally useful. Her book is so strong because it can be adapted for use by any knitter, no matter what her style and ability. Simply put, this book is indispensible for any sock knitter. I [heart] Sensational Knitted Socks!!
My unbridled enthusiasm for this tome has me thinking about knitting books in general. Some are average, many are not worth the money, others are riddled with errors, many are all flash and no substance and a great deal of them feature impossible patterns. And yet somehow others are indispensible. What makes for a good knitting book? A balance of technique and artistry? Awesome photos? A big-name celebuknitter? Tell me: what is your most indispensible knitting book?

Sloppy Seconds

Sock #1 in Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn 'Eat Your Veggies'
The appeal of the Sock Challenge is wearing off mighty quick...and it all has to do with a phenomenon many will perhaps identify with, that of the mind numbing tedium of the second sock. That initial rush of pleasure and excitement provided by the first sock, that well-known first blush of romance that happens as you discover how the yarn reveals itself (what's coming next in the pattern? More stripes? A Fair-Isle motif?) is sorely missing and turns into drudgery, a form of knitting torture. From tout beau tout nouveau to familiarty breeds contempt. The difference between the first and second sock is somehow massive. Why is this? What's the big deal? I need someone to bitch slap me back into reality and remind me that I am not being held against my will at a secret CIA prison in Eastern Europe and being required under pain of death to knit as a way of saving my life. No, I am just trying to complete a pair of socks.To make matters worse, I have accumulated even more sock yarn since my last post. Yes, that's right, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, I said more sock yarn. How quickly innocent shopping, accumulating and collecting becomes pathological hoarding! More Froehlich Wolle Blauband Jacquard and a super cute little number called GypsyKnits Traveling Sock Kit purchased at my LYS. Like I really needed this? What is the point of trying to make a dent in your sock yarn stash if you're only going to keep buying more yarn? Uff-da!

Summer Sock Challenge...

Warning: This Posting Contains Disturbing Images of Obscene Sock Yarn Stashage!
A few skeins from this yarn store here, a few more from this one there (not mention the ones from here and here and here), and suddenly the extent of this knitter's yarn gluttony becomes undeniably apparent. Yes, there's a problem. How can one knitter have so very much sock yarn and not feel mentally ill because of it? This is my question. So now that the semester is over, the grades have been calculated and submitted, the junior set is still in school for several more weeks and the Darling Marxist Curmudgeon is safely ensconced one mile underground in this Nuclear Lab doing unspeakable things to protons, I have courageously brought the sock yarn out from the nether regions of my overall stash, done a quick inventory and have come up with the following results: supposing that one skein or set of skeins will only make one pair (which with my notorious impatience with the cuff we all know that more than one pair per skein is indeed possible, but let's move on), I have enough yarn here for 33 pairs of socks!
Isn't part of the AA addiction credo owning up to what your reality is? In the spirit of this I present to you the official tally of the obscene sock yarn stash:
-10 skeins Opal (This highly addictive yarn was the gateway yarn to other, equally addictive sock yarns)
-5 skeins of Mountain Colors Bearfoot (so soft and seductive, it has a very special place in this yarn fetishist's heart)
-14 skeins of Fortissima Colori, enough for 7 pairs of socks. (I am a sucker for the bright colors featured in these colorways, esp. the ones with the disco thread that make it super '70s and shiny)
-4 skeins of Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn, enough for 2 pairs if I'm lucky. (Newest edition to stash and will remained unknitted for a shorter period of time than the other skeins as I am working on a pair right now, see below.)
-2 skeins of limited edition Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn created especially for Purl, my pathetic purchase of this has already been discussed here.
-3 skeins of Froehlich Blauband Maxi-Ringel. (I love orange so was immediately sucked into this yarn, not mention that any yarn with only German on the label is terribly appealing. Words like stricken and farbe make me week at the knees. Deutschland über alles!)
-1 skein each of Reynolds Swizzle, Plymouth Sockotta, Lana Grossa Meilenweit Inca, Zitron Trekking XXL, and On-Line (Have no idea where I got it and can't find a link. Note to manufacturers: don't name your product On-Line and expect customers to be able to look it up with ease on line...). These sad little lonely skeins that must be turned into socks in order to alleviate their feelings of alienation and solitude.
Grand total: 44 skeins
How sick is that?
In order to rememedy this untenable situation, I have set a goal for myself, I'm calling it my own personal Summer Sock Challenge. My goal is to knit at least 17 pairs before classes resume next Fall in order to make a dent in the Obscenity. I know this goal seems unrealistic, especially given the fact that I was completely done in by the sleeve of my Klaralund sweater during the recent Knitting Olympics flame-out, but I will be spending a lot ot down time at the pool with the junior set and my best pal Babs, and since I don't plan on getting into a bathing suit (which means that I should actually be setting other, more pressing fitness goals for myself, but one goal at a time, right?), I figure I should come pretty darn close. I am already out of the gate with my first pair (Claudia's Hand Painted, colorway: 'Eat Your Veggies-) started Sunday evening. I will keep you all posted on my progress and am wondering if anyone else has any similar, ill-conceived knitting goals for the summer?

Fruit loops!

Many of the appealing traits that make the Darling Resident Marxist Curdmudgeon the lovable lad that he turned out to be, can be directly traced to his mother, Jean. The way he bobs his head for emphasis in a conversation, his ability to chat about any topic, and his kindness to children and small animals are all aspects of his personality that the two have in common. She is a living doll and a one-of-a-kind gal, so I thought it fitting to make her something special for her birthday, which also happens to fall on Mother's Day. I chose the Sigma Tank from Knitty, which despite the math involved, was a quick and fun project. I did it out of Zitron Polo, a recently discontinued yarn distributed by Skacel. What is it with me and disconinued yarn? Perhaps my affection for a certain yarn necessarily dooms it to the close-out bin. In any case, my younger daughter claims that this colorway (#600) reminds her of everyone's favorite breakfast treat Fruit Loops. An interesting observation, given that to my knowledge she has never actually had Fruit Loops. As a mother, I've indeed devoted real effort into her having mainly Cheerios, but that's beside the point. Calling this tank the Fruit Loop tank is entirely appropriate, since the recipient of the tank is a little loopy herself. Jean is over 70 but has the body of a 23 year old (seriously), so I say say FLAUNT WHAT YOU GOT, JEAN in this tank! This is a woman who plays platform tennis, regular tennis, and bikes every day, plays with her grandchildren until they are tired, and was doing headstands on a regular basis all around the world (we have the snapshots to prove it) until several years ago when her doctor told her to cool it. Needless to say I love her, she's a real pip and making this for her was a lot of fun.

Peasant feet alas..

Another realization to add to my recent accumulation of narcissistic observations: not only am I not now nor have I ever been an aristocrat, I am endowed with peasant feet. Mine are not the long, delicate pieds that one could only suppose that say the Mitford sisters surely had. No, my feet are cloddish, even block-like. Perhaps even Clydesdalesque. Bruegel the elder would have felt perfectly at home painting them. They would no doubt have been suitable for field work, standing for 18 hour stretches spinning or weaving in a cotton mill, or spending long days hanging out laundry, all jobs that my Lancashire great-grandparents did without complaining. My feet are lacking in grace in every possible way. No matter, I will still subject the gentle reader to them—turn away if you fear your idealized image of the A.D.D. knitter cannot withstand the sight of her clodhoppers. They are pictured here because I finally completed the second sock of the Mountain Colors in Ruby Red, completed just in time for sandal weather! The first sock was feeling awfully lonely, forlorn, and without a purpose. And I was in need of a quick sense of accomplishment, so I sucked it up and finished it. I have a heck of a time finishing that second sock; it’s a perpetual issue for me. The romance of the first sock (how will it turn out? what’s coming next in the self-striping pattern?) fades quickly and somehow the second sock seems tedious, chore-like, like I’m a teenager and my parents are asking me to clean my room or mow the lawn. But I soon got over that bout of recurrent adolescent ideation, only to be faced with another crisis: for a frantic 10 minutes, I thought that I had done the unthinkable—lost my 98 % completed sock that only needed to be kitchener stitched! After madly rifling through the DRMC’s (Darling Resident Marxist Curmudgeon) office, convinced that he and his piles of papers had something to do with it—again, blaming and shaming are also a part of my m.o. — I remembered to look on my Kountry Krafting table, and beneath a pile of knitting magazines and patterns, there it was. Fancy that! I can now begin a new pair or socks without fear that the Knitting Police will shut me down and issue me a citation! For those who prefer to see the socks not on the peasant feet, they are pictured below...

Rowan Taste on a Red Heart Budget or, my friends call me the Contessa!

Yo people, this weekend I had a minor realization: I am about as snobby as they come when it comes to knitting and all the various accoutrements and ancillaries that make it possible. Addis and Lantern Moon needles vs. Takumi Bamboos and those metal jobbies you see might see at a Kountry Krafts with a 'K' shoppe? Clearly the former win out. Cashmere/Merino vs. anything acrylic? Do I really need to answer that question? Rowan and Colinette vs. Red Heart and Patons? Please...There is a lot of excessive spending that has been happening here. Case in point: my needles. Let's just say I have a lot of them. And there are many, many duplicates, like at least 4 16 inch size 8s, which will come in handy if I ever invite some triplets over to make baby hats. I went through this weird phase where I would buy new needles for every project, even if I had them at home, Hell, I usually wouldn't even check. I got over that real fast, but I did a lot o' damage. Bottom line: I don't have the bank to be spending what I spend on knitting. I'm a French teacher, not an entrepreneur for crying out loud! This fact was pointed out to me ('80s credit card ho, student loan debt the size of the g.n.p. of Lesotho) by my husband, the lovable Marxist curmudgeon (zero debt, big time saver, HATED the '80s). I made the terrible mistake of asking him to grab a pair of Addi turbos for me from my Kountry Kraft Table, where they are all neatly packed away in their original packaging--yes it's a sick fetish, I know--and he got to have a first hand look at the sinfull excess that is my needle stash. Flipping through those packs of needles (with the price tags regrettably still on the outer package) the way an executive flips through a rolodex, I can only imagine the horrid moment of recognition he suddenly experienced: Mary Mother of God, I am married to the Devil. He accused me of thinking I was an aristocrat. Despite the fact that as a child I always did believe that I surely must have been a member of some royal family somewhere, I most certainly am a peasant in every way. But you wouldn't know that to look at those Addi turbos, that's for sure!

Spring has sprung...

Spring has finally arrived in NASCAR, PA. and it is a joy to behold. When my kids were younger we would always take afternoon walks and look for signs of Spring: daffodils, pussy willow, robins and gnomes (man do I miss Zoloft!). Anyway, nowadays signs of Spring include a dwindling tax refund, dealing with student supplications usually involving phrases like 'extension on my paper' and 'needing to graduate', not being able to fit in last Spring's already unstylish capri pants let alone contemplating buying new ones, and rushing around like a mad hatter from choir concert to orchestra practice to soccer game. But no matter, these things I take in stride because I love Spring. I must say it's primarily due to my affection for the color green and all its many hues and shades. Here you see pictured the back of a baby sweater that I am truly enjoying--note the chartreuse green bush in the background. At first I was attempting one of those '5 Hour Baby Sweater' jobbies, but I quickly discovered that any knitting pattern that has a supposed time limit stated explicitly in the project's title is a recipe for anxiety,frustration and feelings of inadequacy, so I frogged it and am leisurely working at my own pace on this one, which is inspired by the 'Even Danielle did it, again' Sweater from the Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits book. I am doing mine in Jo Sharp Aran Tweed, one of my all time fave yarns. I am very excited to finish this and give it to my assistant, who is a lovely, solid Iowan embarking on motherhood for the first time. I know as a native Minnesotan I am technically not supposed to hold Iowans in high regard, but she is just so darn nice! In any case, I suppose that knitting a baby sweater is an appropriate way to auger in my favorite season. Knitters: Do you find yourselves motivated by a particular season?

Yarn gluttony, or the treachery of the trunk purchase...

For those of you wondering what the devil a 'trunk purchase' is, it's basically a situation where when bringing a newly purchased item into the house would cause your spouse so much tsorris (if he's Jewish) or agita (if he's Italian-American) that the best thing to do is to leave it in the trunk of your car until the coast is clear and you can sneak it into the house without causing him pain. How thoughtful of you!
When does stash enrichment become gluttony? When is too much of a good thing not a good thing? In continually acquiring yarn because a. it's on sale b. so perfect for some imagined future project c. terribly fabulous/soft/unusual/hard-to-find or d. you see some other intrepid knitter who must know something you don't buying it and suddenly have to have it, are we setting ourselves up for a lifetime of excess, awash in projects that will never become realized?
I am a yarn glutton and am on the verge of experiencing yarn gout.
The yarn you see pictured above is one hell of a trunk purchase, all gleaned from my playground pusher errr LYS which was having a mega-sale this week. Note it's location: the trunk of my car! Most of it is Swiss Chalet (discontinued!), Landlord (also discontinued!) and Two-Two (discontinued as well!) and unless I plan on spending the summer in Australia where the temperature would necessitate heavy woolens, these projects are all going to be for next year...

Pittsburgh Yarn Bonanza!

Anyone who is even slightly paying attention should know that I have no business whatsoever engaging in any sort of yarn bonanza, esp. after my recent trip to New York. But I went to Pittsburgh to pick up my parents at the airport and felt that a trip to Knit One was justified because a. I'd never been there before and b. I was in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood anyway and not going would seem weird, like I was trying to prove something. So I went, and I am so glad that I did--what a fantastic place!They were buzzing with enthusiasm after an in-store appearance by the Yarn Harlot herself and the staff were quick to describe in interesting detail her visit. The space itself is large and airy with a great view. Knit One is replete with many inviting, comfy nooks to knit and browse in, and the people who work there are among the friendliest and most knowledgable I've ever encountered.
In any new yarn store I am always first drawn to the sock yarn--for some reason it helps me gauge (ha,ha) what type of store it is. Knit One's sock yarn offerings did not disappoint--what a killer selection! I was finally able to purchase some Claudia's Hand Dyed Sock Yarn--this is 'Eat Your Veggies' and features my all-time favorite color combo of lime green and purple. Love it!
My daughters were immediately drawn to several (expensive) shawls and the staff was quick to suggest cheaper, more kid appropriate versions. My elder daughter chose some Mohair Kiss and is anxiously awaiting her mother to knit it into a shawl for her. Check out Miss Buttermilk in her special Easter Shawl done in Cascade 'Pima Mélange'.We had a great time at Knit One and I especially appreciated the staff's welcoming attitude to my daughters in tow--so frequently LYS types can't deal with the junior set,so I found their attitude refreshing. Two thumbs way,way up for Knit One!

Sheesh!

Is it any wonder that I can't get anything done with this type of monkey business going on? Honestly! I know that talking about my cat on my blog puts me at risk of entering a new pathetic category of woman in her 40s that talks about her cats as if anyone really cares, but why do cats feel the need to interfere? Granted this Irish Hiking Scarf happens to be taking up space on his special piece of living room furniture, but still....
I am happy with this scarf and it is certainly a lot o' fun to do, but I feel like somewhat of a dipstick when I see that most people have been doing this scarf on big-ass #10.5s and I'm plodding along on #8s. Damn you Filatura di Crosa 501 and your seductive ways! I could have been done with this a long time ago, but then again I wouldn't have been able to find this particular shade of chartreuse in another yarn, I feel. I am forever second-guessing myself with my projects, thinking "why didn't I do X project in X yarn using X pattern?". My best pal Babs declares that she is suffering from Knitting Asperger's Syndrome, which means that as a knitter you become totally overloaded by sensory input which causes you to shut down as a knitter and have to lie down whilst a maelstrom of potential knitting projects swirl about you. I can relate, Babs!

Knitting at work

Sometimes I really am reminded just how much I desperately need to get a life--seriously. You know you've crossed a line when you're knitting at work. I had the sudden realization that I think about knitting and yarn about as much as your average high school guy thinks about sex or beer--which is to say ALL THE TIME.
The picture you see here is my Mountain Colors Bearfoot sock in Ruby River, it's almost done. That's my desk you see it on. Yes, my desk--that place where I'm supposed to be grading papers, writing exams and generally at least pretending to look busy. During a mid-afternoon lull that no amount of caffeine or chocolate could cure (esp. when you're too lazy to even think about hauling your a$$ down to the coffee cart) it suddenly dawned on me that my new cell phone has a camera on it and that I could be using precious office time to post on my knitting blog! Eureka! Another tale of American workplace productivity done in by technology...So now that I've completely crossed this line of acceptabilty, perhaps I'll soon cross other lines, like 'knitting while driving'. My friend told me of a co-worker who saw a therapist that we all know and loathe who was actually crocheting during his therapy appointment. As much as I can't stand the woman, I totally understand how she got to that place. Does anyone else feel like knitting is starting to seep over into areas where it clearly should not?

OK, this can't be good...

The inchoate mess you see pictured above is what's remaining on the ball of my (beloved, discontinued!) Maratona. I'm not quite sure how I got here, but there you have it--one giant mess. As we say in Minnesota: Uff-da!!Pulling the loose strand from the middle seemed like a good idea at the time...In any case, I've got other more pressing issues to address as I knit up the Union Square Poncho from Weekend Knitting. My use of the expression 'Knit up' is rather misleading as it would seem to imply a quick, effortless even casual action--which is not at all what the Union Square poncho experience has been to say the least. It is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r...and patience is not my strong suit.
What you see pictured above is only about 8 inches, and being the size queen that I am, 8 inches just isn't enough! I've been working on this project off and on since mid-January and can't imagine this ever becoming a poncho. A tea cozy, maybe. Or a cape for my cat...but a poncho? Ponchos will have gone out of style (not that they were every really in style, but let's move on), come back in style and gone out once more by the time I get this completed. How does the sound of Union Square Scarf grab you?

NYC Yarn Bonanza!

NYC Yarn Haul!
This weekend we were in NYC for the opening of my ex-husband's new store, a très hip home furnishings store in Brooklyn called Hasker--if you're on Smith Street, check it out. "That was so nice of you to come all this way..." people remarked. Those of you who live in a small town and are beholden to the whims of your LYS owners and their inscrutable ways could probably guess that there was more to this trip that altruism. Yes, this was an opportunity to enhance stash. So, without further ado....let me present my 18 hour A.D.D. yarn tour of NY:
Stitches East
Stitches East: Nothing spectacular, but at least it didn't live up to its reputation as 'Bitches East'--maybe the heavy hitters don't work Saturdays. I found the employees to be helpfulish although not overwhelmingly friendly. Their selection was fine and they had some killer needlepoint canvases, but this store didn't overly appeal to me as I was already familiar with most of the yarns they carry. The pleasure of a new yarn store is a combination between having brands you are familiar with and ones that you've heard the buzz about but have never seen before. At Stitches East I bought some Filatura di Crosa 501 to start the Irish Hiking Scarf with, you can see my progress below. All in all, Stitches East was fine, not great, just fine.

Purl Purl : Wow. The Robin's egg blue door on this joint was basically a gateway to paradise...Luckily I was on a budget at this point in my day because I could have done some serious damage here. I'm talking about the kind of damage that maxes out Amex cards and causes irreparable marital strife...Here I got some special Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn created just for Purl Soho (sad how I'm such a sucker for this type of marketing ploy). The employees were two totally adorable slacker/twee kids that were cheerful and helpful. My experience here was very positive, two thumbs way, way up!
Knitaway
My last visit was to the yarn store in NY that I am most familiar with, Knitaway on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn. This store has a fantastic selection and is very large, esp. compared to the tight quarters at Purl. The owner is friendly albeit slightly nutty (don't even think about using her swift unless you have been trained by some sort of specialized winding guild, she's very touchy about that and don't ask to use the bathroom, ever). But I like her wiggy ways,she has a huge variety of yarn and she works her ass off every day of the week to give bratty knitters like me something to blog about! I bought some Cascade 220 Tweed from her and I can't wait to start in on it--after I wind it on my own, of course.

Sock therapy...

I'm still on a small side project detour that I have to say I am truly enjoying...Above you will see the second of a pair of socks that were started, let's just say, at a previous moment in time. The yarn is the most beautiful sock yarn I've yet to work with, Mountain Colors Bearfoot. This particular color is called Ruby River and is gorgeous. Sometimes I just sit and contemplate its most perfect form, a type of devotion I usually reserve for certain loveable Sanrio Characters. I have also recently started the 'Cables in Chamonix' sweater from the Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics book. Why this sweater? Well, being a French teacher and all and having a love for all things après-ski, this sweater just screamed Catherine Deneuve in 'Belle de Jour' so OF COURSE I'm doing it. It gives me an opportunity to explore my recent cable-obsession as well as knit with my favorite (discontinued!) Rowan yarn of all time, Cork.

Pinewood Derby=fabulous KIP opportunity!

For the first time in the history of the testoserone training ground that is the Boy Scout Pinewood Derby, Girl Scouts have been invited to participate, at least in our little corner of Nascar, PA. So Daughter #1 and Resident Marxist Curmudgeon crafted a car appropriate for the times, simply called "the Clicker". Built to resemble a t.v. remote control, the Clicker was apparently built for looks and not speed as the other cars in aformentioned daughter's heat had gravity on their side and defeated the Clicker with alacrity. You would think that a Physicist with two Ph.Ds could design a vehicle that would cross the finish line before the other cars (at least once!), but winning isn't everything, right? Of course you wouldn't know that from the uber-competitive parents at the Pinewood Derby. There was more than a little over zealous competitive spirit in that rec hall this afternoon. But daughter #1 handled her defeat with aplomb...
During the race I was able to make major progress on two little rinky-dink side projects that are providing this knitter with a mental break from other larger, more annoying projects. I finished the hat shortly after the race began, it's called the Cable and Rib Cap, a pattern taken from the the Knitting Pattern-A-Day Boxed Calendar. This particular pattern (Jan. 30) is just what the title says--a simple cable and rib pattern. I did it in some leftover Rowan Cork yarn in 'Very Berry'. Some of you might know that this fantastic yarn has been discontinued for reasons that do not make sense to a simple yarn enthusiast like me. But I enjoyed working with it again, it always feels nice to find a yarn in your stash that is suitable for a quick, fun FINISHED project. Doesn't the Resident Marxist Curmudgeon look positively adorable in the finished product?
The other project is the Lopi-Lace Scarf from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick. Despite the ridiculous cover of the book which features a bonny redhead with a skein of yarn wrapped around her neck, this book is a fantastic resource with excellent patterns. I am enjoying this scarf immensely and am hoping to finish it before the end of winter. The rough Lopi is a perfect counterpoint to the lace effect of the pattern. Loving it!