I have been rendered speechless and am over the moon in love with the mailman right now. Within a space of 36 hours, I have not only received the latest STR package (which the goth chick in me is loving), but also a shipment of yarn from Nordic Fibers (see below) as well as, most significantly, my Single Sock Swap package from Alice of Slipped Stitch. She has spoiled me beyond all belief--the sock is called Rambling Vines and was designed especially for this swap. The yarn is Wensleydale Longwool, from Yorkshire, my ancestral home! She even hand wrote out a chart on graph paper!
Aren't I lucky? Not to be all emo as Tween Thing would say, but when I opened the parcel I wanted to start crying. I couldn't believe that something so beautiful would have been made for me by such a talented knitter. And English chocolate bars and a lovely, baubly i-cord? Alice, you are a wonder. *sigh*
Now my most fervent desire is that my swap partner will experience a bit of the same joy as well...but the pathetic, insecure loser in me is worried that she's going to receive my sock and feel crestfallen, like in junior high gym when you're assigned to have Husky Jeans as your tennis partner and you say 'What???? No fair!!!!'. Flashbacks of middle school aside, I am hoping that my sock doesn't suck. Of course me being me I had to make the whole process 8 times more complicated than it needed to be. I cast on, in order, the Twisted Flower (rats my partner is knitting that for her partner!), the Winding Cable knee socks (knee socks, when you're on a deadline?!), Uptown Boot socks (just didn't look special enough), The Twisted Tweed socks (awesome pattern, wrong yarn) only to settle on the STR Central Air pattern (finally, a winner!). Now if I can just get to the heel...
Despite my fits and starts, I am enjoying the swap, but am also looking forward to future projects. That Cobblestone will be done soon enough, now can you guess what I'm going to be doing with the yarn pictured below?
Winter is coming people--I have just experienced it in Aspen and am so ready for it come to my home town. Things I love about Aspen: (visually) indulging in one's predilection for young, tan blonde dudes in wraparound sun glasses who use the word 'dude', seeing hippie chicks with whitegirl dreadlocks toting around their new age babies in one arm and juggling sticks in the other, witnessing the most phenomenal examples of plastic surgery this side of L.A., and of course, the incredible natural beauty that attracts all of the unusual residents that make Aspen the freak capital of the Rockies.
My work related trip afforded me the opportunity to knit like a mofo. Why? Because we were snowed in.
Dude.
I have made massive headway on the Cobblestone and hope to have that project in the can before not too long.
Yes, there was some serious fireplace knitting happening, and that was well, just really dreamy. But alas all good weekend wing dings must come to an end, right?
This afternoon I was lucky enough to come home to the first installment of the Woully Boully sock club:
This if Softie Sock Superwash Merino in Sea Grass and I love it. Jenny is not only an inspired writer, she also has an eye for color.
I can well understand why there is a Second Wave Clapotis kal as this pattern deserves one more round of attention from a brand new batch of knitters. It was an immensely satisfying pattern to knit as it is that happy combination of engaging enough to hold your interest yet completely memorizable. Of course by the end you are staring into the void and screaming 'Enough already!', but what pattern doesn't chew you up and spit you out with tedium when all is said and done?
The Specs:
Pattern: Clapotis, you know where to find it
Yarn: Brooks Farm Duet, a little less than one skein
Needles: size 7
Not to go all French teacher or anything, but since we've recently been clearing up some pronunciation misunderstandings, let's get another one out of the way. Despite what you might have heard from the knitters of Nascar, PA., Clapotis does not have an 'Otis' on the end of it . No, that's the loveable drunk from Mayberry . It's Clap-o-tee, rhymes with 'pee'. I am becoming more persnickety as I get older, I must say. Another sign that I am getting older? Tween thing was invited to her first boy-girl party. I am sure even using the expression 'boy-girl party' makes me seem very Jan and Marcia and hence necessarily middle-aged, but there you have it.
I am very excited because this weekend I am off to Aspen for a work-related event. Three cheers for feeding at the corporate trough! This means lots of airplane knitting on the DRMC's Cobblestone as well as some sock action. Next up is the Uptown Boot Socks pattern from Favorite Socks . I am bringing along my freshly-wound ball of Tess (pictured below) in order to make some progress on it.
Another thing I'm bringing along: Tween thing's ipod, which I have secretly emptied of her treacly, crappy music and instead loaded with my better, less shitty music. In heavy rotation: the new Radiohead album which I command you all to download from their site immediately. It will accomplish the dual purpose of bringing you great joy and sticking it to the man because you're buying it directly from the band!
I was only in attendance at Stitches East from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon. But this period of less than 24 hours still permitted me to hear Kaffe Fassett talk about his newest book, take a very challenging 'Argyle Socks in the Round class', and do some major damage in the Marketplace area. But first, an observation: it strikes me that these knitting events are really no different from gaming conventions when it comes down to it. Instead of playing D and D or World of Warcraft, we are knitters, and this gives us instant rapport with one another. So when sitting down next to a stranger, instead of asking "Which wizard of the Netherworld kingdom are you?" we ask , "Oh wow is that the Swallowtail?" and then a meaningful, shorthand conversation ensues, one which would be virtually unintelligible to someone on the outside because of the specificity of our jargon. It was kind of fascinating to be present at an event where everyone was so focused on the one single purpose that happens to be my own own single purpose. It was exciting, but there was also a touch of bad teenager alienation as well, as while I love yarn with every fiber of my being (hehe), I am not prepared to be seen wheeling around a suitcase on wheels for it, nor will I ever wear any buttons in public, ever.
Kaffe Fassett, rhymes with 'safe asset':
First of all, what a huge relief that he doesn't have a fake British accent, even though he's been living in England a lot longer than Madonna. He talked about how seeing something like a stack of oil barrels in Portugal motivated him to do a painting, which became a gigantic tapestry, and then a series of smaller needlepoint canvasses. A small motif from the canvasses then showed up in a Rowan sweater, which then mutated and became something else. At one point someone from the audience asked if he steeked his work, and replied that he had never heard this word before and had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. This really made me realize that more than being a hardcore knitter, he is a practitioner of color. He told the audience that when knitting "...I really need to see a motif appear before lunch, that's just how I see the world" and that sock knitting was the most tedious thing he could think of. He also recounted a hilarious anecdote about being on a British radio show. He brought the hostess a tea cozy with a rooster motif on it, which caused her to exclaim "I am sitting here next to Kaffe Fassett and his glorious cock!". Yeah, I love this guy.
Argyle Socks in the Round:
Dipshit over here never knew that argyle always had to be done flat and that doing it in the round was thought to be unthinkable at one point. Our teacher, Suzann Thompson, was truly patient and nice and did an admirable job of helping all of us with her technique, which was somewhat difficult. Despite her expert help, my sock basically looks like our cat threw up some Cascade 220. I can't say that I rushed home to complete my sock as it was frustrating and did push me to my limits (which is what a class should do), but I will pick it up again at some point. She is an excellent teacher and I recommend taking a class with her if you can.
Marketplace Damage Report:
First off, I was glad to see certain yarns in person so as to diminish their hype factor and thus prevent buying them sight unseen. Lisa Souza and Interlacements were pretty enough, but I was not overly enthralled by them and most likely won't be jumping on their bandwagons. No matter that I have many, many skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock residing untouched in my stash, the inexorable pull of their booth took over, yarn gluttony kicked in, and I bought some more (pictured above). I also came home with more than a few skeins of Tess Super Socks and Baby yarn (first pictured below), which after the STR prices felt like a screaming deal at $15/skein. I was perhaps most excited about the Shelridge Farm booth--their yarn is unbelievably soft and the colors were stunning (last two pictures below). Also, they're Canadians which makes them just plain nicer than everyone else.
All told, Baltimore really was the Charm City for me, and I recommend attending this event to anyone who has the inclination, cash and time. I ended my visit at the location pictured below, which was the perfect, sweet ending to my jaunt:
I was going to entitle this post 'Sucktoberfest', but that would just be so me to go for the cheap, crass laughs, wouldn't it? Instead I'll treat you to a run-down of my sock knitting assembly line that is about as productive as a French national utility on strike. I am doing the best I can to roll with the punches, but this whole 'job thing' seems to be a great impediment to my sock production.
Socktoberfest--Where we're at:
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I frogged that Twisted Flower/Fleece Artist hot buttered mess back to the ribbing and am engaged in a très low cognitive load pair of orange stockinette socks. See, all better now, no nausea inducing pattern insanity:
And I must say that I am very pleased indeed with how my little stalwart pal Louet Gems is doing its best to cooperate with Cookie A.'s pattern. Louet has not let me down yet, people! This sock now has a fighting chance at not completely sucking and thereby starting off some sort of blogging cold war between myself and my pal, who deserves a good sock. Have a look:
My Wollmeise RPMs are inexplicably taking forever. I have the impression of having been knitting these for far too long, as I distinctly remember beginning them at Tween Thing's junior high school orientation. Since then she has managed to 'go with and break up with' seven boys, one of them because he called her friend 'a slut'. Way to go with the sister solidarity! I was very proud, especially since most girls will sell you down the river for a boy, but I digress...Yes, these socks are making me feel old and pre-menopausal, but I love the yarn and the pattern is a hoot:
By the end of the week I will have one more sock on the needles since I am taking an Argyle sock knitting class at Stitches East. Woot woot! Please look at the Cascade 220 below and tell me which yarn should be the main color, which two should be the diamond colors, and which one should be that accent line-thing out of those pictured:
Check me out if you're going. I'll be the imbalanced person with sweaty palms trying to meet Kaffe Fassett and gluttonously grabbing as much Tess yarn as I can fit on my Amex card.
It's that time of the year when Nascar, PA. holds its annual Farm Show. Most of you weren't around for last year's jollies, but yours truly proudly took home a blue ribbon. Never mind that no one else entered my category. This was no doubt because they were all entering the crocheted toilet paper holder category (ok, slap me, sometimes the snark just needs to happen), but still, I won dammit. This year I am not so sure...there is some mega competition out there. I don't know, should I be concerned that the most talented knitter I have ever met, you know, the one who knits the Alice Starmoresque samples for our LYS, has entered all my categories? She is a doll and I love her to pieces, which is a good thing because if it were anyone else, I'd have to be breaking our my Moroccan evil eye routine. We'll find out on Thursday if my little Shedir and February Baby Sweater can bring home some Farm Show bacon. Fingers crossed!
Now, your input. I generally seem to know when something is or isn't working, but I feel that in this case, my desire for the project to work is severely hindering my ability to see if it is in fact working. Remember that I try to abide by the 'fancy pattern + plain sock yarn / plain pattern + fancy sock yarn' formula (hence my dislike for every Rockin' Sock Club pattern this year). Pictured above you see the beginnings of some Twisted Flower socks that I am doing in a swap. The swap part is key because a. I have terribly low standards for myself and b. I don't want my partner to curse me for getting stuck with a shitty sock. Is this Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Tangerine too busy for the pattern? Do I need to tone it down to some solid yarn in order to showcase the pattern? Please tell me what you think. It's still early enough that if I have to rip it (or start it in another yarn) I will...
Between spending the last few days obsessively watching 'Kelly' videos on Youtube (Text Message Break-up to be precise. Yes, I'm 13.) and getting my act together for the Mirepoix kal (Louet Gems? Check. Pattern? Check. Needles? Oops...), I have managed to finish Shedir, a hat which is nothing short of a sheer delight. This project required two solid weekends of don't-talk-to-me-I'm-busy knitting as there is a fair bit of attentiveness required. I love the pattern and have been marveling at this little gem ever since finishing it. The Rowan Calmer is a true fetish yarn, and I already have a dirty little attachment to it. It is so soft and cloud-like...
The Specs:
Pattern: Shedir, Knitty Special Issue Fall 04
Yarn: Calmer in sh487 'Refresh'. 1 ball exactly with none to spare!
Needles: Size 3 circs
Next up for me (after finishing le Clapotis, bien sûr!) is the Mirepoix. Doveknits jokingly wondered in a recent comment if I'm 'in enough kals already'. . . A valid question, as I seem to be joining them left and right. I am indeed a joiner par excellence. I mean, yes the Silver Belle is in the attic far from my sight and I will probably pick it up again in 11 years or so when Alzheimer's is in full swing and I'll have some vague recollection that I used to be a crocheter, but until then, hey, I'm staying in the kal, you know, to give the impression of actually working on the project.
Exciting news: Babs has a blog now! Please welcome Purlfriend to our ranks. She's the knitter who taught me everything I know, except the bad habits, which I picked up all on my very own. Her mom, Big Babs, is also an amazing knitter herself. They are the real deal. Her first post is hilarious, check her out!
I just love the Internet. I really do--because it has proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt the sheer force of the power of suggestion. Who needs a behavioral psychology lab to tell you that if you see something, you will want it. B.F. Skinner would have delighted in the utter predictability of my stimulus/response mechanism. My mother always jokes that for my dad and me, need and want are collapsed into the same thing. And she is so right! Somewhere right now there's a former Soviet scientist from a top secret lab who is keeping tabs on my Internet clicks and is recording data about how all that needs to happen is for me to see a project on Ravelry for me to add it to my queue, and that certain yarns have a high suggestablilty quotient, meaning that if the name of the color way is something like 'Handsome Park Ranger', the statistical probability of me buying it is very, very high.
Above you see the most recent data to support the 'Power of Suggestion' research, Sophie's Toes 'Handsome Park Ranger'. Just go ahead and TRY to pretend that you wouldn't have purchased it, too!
After seeing Ms. Flint's utterly adorable EZ Baby Sweater in the ever so luscious Dream in Color 'Cool Fire', I was motivated to get my remnants of that very yarn and color way out and have another go-round with it. This yarn has million dollar yardage. After a pair of adult and baby socks, I still have enough left over to make a pair for my daughter. Hot damn! I completed the High Energy baby socks yesterday. If you are a sucka for a picot edge like me, I say give this pattern a whirl.
The Specs
Pattern: High Energy Baby Socks
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in 'Cool Fire'
Needles: size 2
From top, left to right: Embossed Leaves in Fleece Artist 'Moss', Jaywalkers in Opal Handpainted, and Monkeys in Brooklyn Handspun 'Jungle Canopy, High Energy Baby Socks in Dream in Color 'Cool Fire', Thujas in Artyarns Supermerino, and Chevron socks in 'Cool Fire, Thujas in Artyarns Supermerino, Conwy in Colinette Jitterbug, and Toe-Up Socks in Sundara 'Cherry Blossom'
The Summer of Socks escapade is drawing to a close, so I thought it would be useful to faire le bilan or do a final tally of where we're at with the whole sock thing. One of the unexpected outcomes is that I am massively over socks at the moment. But I loved doing all of these beauties this summer and recommend joining something like this to everyone. I just need a break from the whole sock drill, but when I get my enthusiasm back I'll cast on for the Firestarters. Hecky, I joined the kal so that means I have to, right?
Occasionally knit blogs will talk about things other than knitting, and this I don't mind. In fact if I like a blog, I am willing to read just about anything they fancy talking about. It could be sewing, something of which I know nothing but can nevertheless enjoy the visuals. It can be fabulous vacations to unexpected places--if the blogger is a great writer, I particularly enjoy such postings. It can be blood feuds with other bloggers and family members, I love having ringside seats for that. Or it can be about the most stupifyingly cute baby nursery in the history of the world. And sometimes bloggers post about things that immediately captivate me and I must try for myself. Now since I suck at sewing, don't have a sister-in-law who hates my blogging pal, don't plan on hitting Peru anytime soon and am not preggers, the Fig and Plum cake had my name written all over it. I love figs, the plum is in my top 5 fruits for sure, and my love affair with cake is well documented. What a delicious treat to enjoy right now! Babs made it and gave it her highest recommendation. You must act with alacrity as these ingredients will no longer be at their peak in several days, seriously. The DRMC says that he is now my slave for life after tasting it. Mwahahaha!
This weekend I was feeling the need to start and finish a project all in one day. Sometimes it just needs to be that way, and so I perused the new Knitty, hoping to find a dish on the side to complement my current Cobblestone/Clapotis/Shedir main course. Enter Foliage, a super quick project that only took several hours to make. Even the disaffected tween thing looked up from her manga obsession long enough to say "Hey, cool." If you feel the need to crank out holiday projects (which I don't), meet your new best friend, Foliage.
The Specs
Pattern: Foliage, Knitty Fall 07
Yarn: Rowan Cork, oh how I miss thee! 1 skein of Very Berry
Needles: size 10.5, hot damn!
Knitting Pals
Peeper-Lou and her pal joined me in the back garden yesterday for some afternoon knitting. Her pal called and asked to come over because "...your mom is fun, she knits....'. So after a cup of tea we sat down for a knit, only disturbed once by the old bag next door who crankily complained that 'our laughter was disturbing her'. I am normally deferential to elderly people, but I have recently given myself permission to act out my rage and hostility toward her and it feels GREAT. In any case, here's a transcript of our conversation once we got down to the matter at hand:
Me: "So, why do you like knitting?"
The Pal: "Well, it's just so much fun I mean when you're on the airplane and you're knitting and someone says 'hey whaddya doin'?' and you say 'hey I'm knitting' and you think to yourself, 'wow, I'm knitting' and you start with a bunch of yarn and then after a while you make something and you think to yourself 'hey I'm a knitter' and it's so much fun to hear the needles clicking, too."
Wow.
When we were driving her home she suddenly realized that she'd forgotten her knitting at our house. I suggested that my daughter bring it to her tomorrow and she said "Oh please, please can we go back and get it? I just won't be able to sleep knowing that it's not with me, and I'm planning on knitting tonight after dinner, after swim practice, and before bed". Ok, so she's an addict at age 10. I hope I don't get hauled in on some corrupting a minor charge. First one's free, kid!
WIP update
I am experiencing a major love affair with my Clapotis. This is my first one ever and it is a sheer delight. It turns out a lot of other knitters have rediscovered this old chestnut from waaaay back in Fall 04 as there is a new second-time-around KAL for the Clapotis, called The Second Wave Clapotis KAL, thanks to Tiennie for pointing this out!
From the Lemming Dept.
Apparently all I have to do is see a yarn mentioned on a blog and I will madly search the web until I get my grubby little hands on it. Luckily the Loopy Ewe is equipped for such moments, and in less that 48 hours and I had some Fleece Artist Somoko in my possession. It's gorgeous, natch! And a lovely combo of merino, kid, silk and nylon. The color here is fruit punch, and I can't wait to give it a whirl.
What is the only appropriate course of action when you are awash in newly casted-on projects and struggling to keep your head above water for fear of drowning in a sea of WIPs? Why, going to a yarn store with your best pal and buying more yarn of course! Yes, Friday Babs and I made a seasonal sojourn to Kathy's Kreations in Ligonier, PA. See the sensational designer extraordinaire Kathy Zimmerman and soon-not-to-be-blogless (nudge, nudge) Babs pictured above. Yeah--we came, we saw, and one of us spent waaay too much money. It wasn't my fault, you see...
I have three LYSs in my geographical region and I am trying to share the love between them. There is one located less than a mile from my house, one right on my route to work, and this one, Kathy's Kreations, which is at the very western border of the arbitrary boundary I am calling my geographical location. Like any good polyamorous knitter, I love each one for its own special reasons. But oh how I love K2, not only does it have copious amounts of Rowan and other non-available yarns at the other two, but Kathy Zimmerman knows how to sell some yarn. She has a knack for making great recommendations and is patient and helpful when substitutions are necessary. She is ultra talented, and I highly recommend her store if you are in the Pittsburgh/Central Pa./Northern West Virginia area.
Kathy clued me in to the fact that my favorite color combo--brown and blue--is actually now known as 'chocqua'. Ok, well I guess if it has a specific name now, that means I need to buy it, right? Pictured above you see three skeins of Zitron Lifestyle, a yarn I first saw at MD S & W and had to have both then (in green and yellow) and now. This weekend took a break from my Cobblestone/Clapotis/Silver Belle knitting chain gang and made a simple pair or fingerless gloves:
The Specs:
Pattern: Knitting at Knoon Fingerless gloves
Yarn: Zitron Lifestyle, color 1861 (MC) and Rowan 4 ply soft, color 389 (CC), 1 skein MC
Needles: Size 2 dpns
Mods: Because the pattern is written for a worsted weight yarn, I cast on 48sts rather than 36
If the heavy burden of all your Big Projects is weighing down upon you, I highly recommend doing a jaunty pair of these fingerless gloves as it will restore your knitting soul to begin and complete something so useful so quickly!
