Muppet Redux and Planning Time

Would you believe me if I said I hadn't knit on a sock in four days? Or that I might even try to make it an entire week?

I finally dug out that second skein of Schaefer Nichole in the Janis Joplin colorway. It's been wound for a while with the intention of becoming skinny scarf. And I'm about 15" along.  And I still think it looks like ground up muppets.

I manage to find a stitch count that isn't pooling, though I think part of that is the dye job helping. The sequence is Orange, Teal, Purple, Pink, Purple, Teal.  With the orange doubly long and the pink only appearing as a short blip, it breaks it up nicely.  The hand on the base is really nice and I am enjoying the knitting. It does make me a little sad that this yarn is discontinued.  Also I may have contacted one of the people selling her skein of the yarn in a different colorway on Ravelry to see about buying it. Ya know, as you do...

The pattern is the Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf  and it's going pretty well. I have to catch myself from switching back into ribbing now and again but considering my usual zoning out while knitting, it hasn't been horrible.

This was a requested project, by one of those few people in my life who are allowed to do such things. That'll go in the gift bin for the upcoming holidays.

My immediate family all have birthdays in the last two months of the year and then we have Christmas and about a half a dozen babies due soon, so if I'm going to get any holiday knitting done I need to start thinking about it now.  Especially with all of the work deadlines currently hovering and getting in the way of my knitting time.

Are you planning any holiday knitting this year?

Lost in Shades of Purple

I pulled out the last two skeins of yarn I've purchased and noticed a very clear theme: saturated purples.  What with purple being my favorite color and all (the Philosopher's too, interestingly) and since I also occasionally knit things for people who cheer on Northwestern, the presence of purple yarn in my stash comes as little surprise.

The first skein I bought on my birthday, as part of dragging the Philsopher up to Wisconsino on a road trip. We'd gone to AeppelTroewe, which is a winery/cidery and sampled everything they had to offer. Sadly, we missed the mead this year. We're hoping to go back earlier next year.  Then it was into Artistic Fibers in Burlington.

It was an interesting shop, with a nice selection of Rowan and some Icelandic yarns I'd never heard of. I wasn't especially thrilled with the local stuff: too pricey and mostly alpaca.  I have plenty of alpaca sitting in the stash that I can't figure out what to do with. It doesn't bounce like wool and it sheds. But it's so very soft...

Anyway, I ended up with a skein from Zitron:



It's a nice red purple with white. I think it will need to be something of the cowl persuasion, though I'll want to find something really simple that won't interfere with the colors.  Lace will never show with this.



I don't like especially how Zitron had their skeins prepped



I ended up taking it out and twisting it as more usually expect my skeins to appear these days. It seems like it might tangle more flat.

Then, after a long week of conferencing recently, I found myself downtown at the end of the day and stuck my nose into Loopy Yarns. It's Chicago's 2 story yarn store.  I don't get in very often and of late, the stock seems to be trending very specifically to the really  big yarn companies: Berroco and Cascade. I always feel odd buying Cascade Heritage when I know there are so many other interesting indie sock wool dyers to buy from.  There was one smaller dyer I kept coming back to though and that was Baah!



The colors almost do it justice. It really has a vibrant glow that is just slightly ultra violet--which is nearly impossible to capture on my little point and shoot.

I picked this up after finishing up OAmy's last pair of socks and really being struck with the vibrant purple that was showing up in the KPPPM. Of course, I'm not sure I'll want an entire pair of socks out of this shade but it will be something to consider mixing with a darker color or some such.



And as you can see, Gypsy approves.



She and Pye have been very put upon as I won't let them chew on my knitting of late.  Not that they were ever allowed to chew on my knitting but apparently as it grows cold again I need to remind them that it's still not acceptable.

Hmm, maybe these pairs would make interesting hand warmers. My office has turned into a popsicle of late. It's something to consider...

One Yard at at Time

Knitting is one of those things that I try very hard not to feel guilty about. There seem tobe plenty of opportunities where I could.  For example:

• Most of the time, I knit plain ribbed socks. I'm working on the 56th pair I've knit since I started and all but about 2 pair were 1x1 or 2x2 ribbed socks. That seems pretty dull. 
• I have a lot of stash that's been sitting for a long time. 
• I have several projects that have been sitting for a really long time
• I don't knit "hard enough" projects
• I don't also spin/weave/crochet/etc--though I have a sewing machine that I keep meaning to dust off and hem something. 
• I have little desire to write and publish patterns or start my own dying operation

And yet, for each of those, I have thoughts that pull me back around. 

• The Incredibly-Patient-Mother and the Philosopher and AudioGirl don't mind plain socks. They would rather not worry about lace holes that let in cold or wear into bigger holes. The Philosopher would like his wool socks to all be bright yarn; the IPM has two or three pair in plain black. The feet I polled to don't seem to have a preference beyond warm and fits pretty well. 
• I do have some old stash. Even purging as much as I did moving from Wisconsin. The stuff accumulates. But I hear the Yarn Harlot in my head "I have stash older than you" and realize that, as long as it's not taking up the entire living room, I'm okay with yarn that comes with memories even before I knit it up. 
• Those older projects are a minor guilt source. But I have to look at them also as something that makes me hopeful. I believe I will finish them.  It might be a few years from now but the intention is there. Now if I could just find a three week train trip that I need to take...
• Some of my friends and Sibling-the-Elder knit stunning lace. They enjoy a knitting challenge. Me? Well, AudioGirl likes to gripe about how many squares I knit. I'm a process knitter through and through, it's something to do with my hands.  Occasionally I have learned new techniques and taken a rare class and I've enjoyed that, but with most of my knitting happening in public, usually in public transit situations, I'm okay with dull much of the time. 
• I can become polycraftual any time I want. Or at least as soon as I get a little more yarn used up. 
• I can appreciate other people's spinning and dying and give them my money for their skills. It is okay to enjoy the talents of others rather than always needing to do it myself. 

Anyway, this philosophical meandering is to say that I haven't finished the baby blanket or the sweater; I've turned the heel on Sock 1 of Pair 13 for 2013; the stash keeps asking to be rearranged; and I'm trying to give myself permission to just enjoy my wool.  

One yard at a time. 

Sock Show Thursday: A Dozen Done

I finished Sock 2 of Pair 12. I've finished my dozen pair for the year. And it seems to have barely made a dent in the stash at all. Of course, that's only 12 skeins of yarn used up and I have slightly more than a few dozen more to go.  Casting off the toe on this sock also means I currently have no socks in progress. I owe you pictures of the two pair I finished at a conference a week and change ago.

These are the PhilosoNine Socks, knit out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Medium Weight Socks that Rock in a Fire colorway from one of Tina's Rare Gems tonal sales. It's got a base of reds, going from a dark rich red to a very very bright red and then a stripe of purple/yellow going through it.

Overall very pretty. I was going out on a limb a bit with the reds, it and yellow are the colors least represented in my stash. But there's still that purple lingering and the Philosopher is a fan of the bright colors.

The ends aren't woven in yet. But it still is okay to serve as a stocking cap for my deskhedgehog.

I'm hoping the Philosopher will wear them this weekend. We're driving over to Ohio where his brother is doing a hospital residency so I can meet sibling/parents. Now that I've finished these socks, I'll need to reload the knitting bags so I have something for the trip. 

A Few Rows Here, A Few Rows There, It's like a Sunday School Outing

Bonus points if you know what movie quote I'm mutilating.

There was a big spurt of progress on Monday and Tuesday; I was attending a regional conference--which surprisingly turned out to be more of a national conference than I had expected; and I spent the better part of 12 hours listening to people and charging through a sock.

At the end of that time, I'd turned the heel and was through the gusset of yet another pair of socks for the Philosopher. These are Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Mediumweight Socks that Rock and being knit up on size 1 needles. My only picture is a snapshot I grabbed during the conference on my tablet.

It's a little more red and less orange than that. I'm actually expecting to have those magic words "a bit of free time" this weekend and looking forward to taking better pictures for you. For now, know it's very red, intended to reflect a fire frame of mind (this was one of the Tina's not-perfect skeins). 

I took it with me this morning to work but knit only about ten rows on the commute in. I ended up playing Sudoku all the way home while I was listening to Terry Pratchett's Men at Arms. 

The sweater continues. I spent far longer than I expected picking up stitches for the first of the collars--it's a two layer collar.  I haven't decided if I'm going to do both collars or not, fortunately I don't have to make that decision until the first one is bound off in another 8 rows. Each row is running about 275 stitches and I have to pay a bit of attention so the ribbing doesn't get off, so that's taking a bit of time as well. 

The other two pair of socks currently in progress around here are sitting in their project bags looking at me reproachfully. Again, I'll have some downtime in the next couple of days so in an ideal world I may make some effective progress.  Or I'll have a fair number of half finished socks floating about, one of the two.  

Sock Show Thursday: Guilty Ends and Muted Rainbows

There's been a little less sock knitting, between different things at work ramping up, a lot of Hedgehog exhaustion, an entirely unnecessary paucity of Terry Pratchett in my headphones for the commute, and that whole "I'm knitting a sweater" thing.  Fortunately, socks are still the current knitting currency when visiting football tailgates and some train time.

This is pair 11 for 2013, from Lisa Souza in her Sock! base (superwash/nylon) in the Shade Garden colorway. When this yarn arrived I realized that I had bought a skein that matched about 5 other skeins in my stash.  At least I'm consistent right?

The colors are definitely muted and after the BMFA and KPPPM that I've been working with recently, they feel even more so. No eye-searing purples here. And no, OAmy's socks aren't done yet. They're in time out until we get our paper rolling again. She doesn't get those socks until we start sending out the manuscript. 

These are 60 stitches, size 1 (2.25 mm) needles and they're progressing slowly. Most of the foot was knit at last weekend's tailgate. Most people had headed into the game but the Philosopher, the Financier, the Drummer and I hung out in the parking lot until half-time, catching up in depth rather than trying to shout at each other over loud music and 25 people. They were drinking hoppy beers, which is not a preferred beverage of mine, so I got through some knitting.  

The Philosopher also reminded me that it's just about wool sock season. This means I probably need to get the ends woven in on a few pair of socks that have been piling up near the stash.  The current pile had 5 pair on it. One of those pairs I need to do some work on--they ended up being too long--but the other four pairs just need the ends woven in and a run through some wool wash. Two pair are for me, two are for the Philosopher. Hopefully I can get those done after I finish this post. 

September is for Sweaters

It's raining here in Evanston and the suddenly cooler temperatures make it a perfect sit by the window with tea and knitting kind of Sunday.  Of course, my to do list won't let that happen for too long but at least for a bit.

I frequently get a sweater bug in September. It rarely goes anywhere but in September I look at the stash, realize just how many sweater quantities I own, think about the increasing nights that are going to be cold and dark and where a warm and pretty sweater might make things much better.

In a fit of September Sweater Lust, I plowed through Ravelry, bought and downloaded a pattern, grabbed yarn from the stash and cast on. It's one of the more impulsive things I've done in a while insofar as knitting goes. I'm sure, to those of you who hang in there reading week after week of ribbed sock updates, it's a huge left turn.

Surprising even myself, I even took it with me on the train. That there were large swaths of stockinette to knit certainly helped. Me, an audiobook, and my row counter.

It started with a crocheted cast-on, which is a new technique for me. Fortunately, Lucy Neatby has a very straightforward video on YouTube so I could figure it out right away.  I haven't tried unzipping those stitches yet  but I'm hopeful.

In 9 days, I knit the body. And that's with it not being my only knitting. I forget, sometimes, how fast worsted weight yarn on regular size needles turns into thing when compared to light fingering weight yarn on overgrown toothpicks. It's hip length and ended up taking about 4.5 skeins.

Here is what I have left of skein 5. This yarn is Filatura Lanarota Wool Sprinkles that AudioGirl and I binge bought earlier this year. When you can get a sweater's worth of yarn for $12-$15 and it's in reasonable colors.... I think she ended up buying 3 sweaters worth, I bought 2. With the cost of the pattern, I should have about $20 invested in this sweater plus my time.

Maybe once I finish the sleeves and button bands, I'll think about getting out the pattern and toggles that AudioGirl bought me for my birthday last year to use with my cone of yak/merino yarn. I might be onto something here...