Casting Off

I love the fact that the terminology for binding off has historically included casting off.  I am also probably writing the 838th blog post in the knitting blogosphere to that effect, but I don't care.

I am binding off the color affection shawl I'd been working on this fall.  Doing a slim i-cord bind-ff.  If it were here, I'd show you a picture, but it's in the car.

I am casting off.  Tomorrow I head out of town for some small Thanksgiving.  A little family, a little down-time, and a LOT of driving.  I won't get to knit in the car until the second and third legs of the trip.  I'm on my own for the first and last, me and a lengthy list of podcasts.  Will be done with weekend road tripping early enough to have one bit of weekend At Home.  Looking forward also to some playing hooky At Home on Sunday morning, knitting with coffee and pyjamas before heading out, at the end of that day, for a work call.

Tomorrow at 3:00, though, and traffic notwithstanding, I'm leaving the work behind.  NOT packing it. I'm taking one book, the historical novel Wolf Hall - don't know if it's frivolous or not, but it'll serve its purpose.  And the knitting.  I am packing knitting.  TONIGHT.  In fact, most of it is already in the car - the shawl and the green gloves are ready to go.

I need to be ready to go.  Not binding off.  Casting off.

Happy Thanksgiving.  (I don't pretend anyone reading this lives beyond the middle part of North America, or minds the myopia, US expats notwithstanding..... )

What Happened? When? Cleaning Questions

When you find a mess, do you need the backstory? Do you share the story? Do you hunt it down with questions? Why? Who did it?

I just looked at the blog. I had been in a habit of marking my knitting year with the start of a summer. Got away from me this summer. I don't think there's an interesting story in any of that.

Cleaning up: 
1 Pair Socks
Sunrise Blender  Sock  

1 Pair Gloves
Gorky Rustic Gloves

1 Garment
Baby Kimono - finished and gifted, though knit forever ago  

4 Scarves/Shawls
Dragon Lady Pogona Scarf
British Breakfront: a Frangiflutti scarf
Silver Square Scarf for nephew
A Sorta-Sontag (T.Y. Godey)

12 Hats
Linen Hat
2 Hats for Minneapolis Swatch Team 2011
Grey Bulky Hat
Entrelac hat
Urchin hat
Many Manly Hats, 6 actually

That cleans up the list on the side. It also leaves it pretty empty. I did a lot of sewing this summer instead, even if it was quick stuff. I'm not going to bother to add in all the links. If you stop by the blog often, you saw it and it's old news. Nothing very illuminating last year. The knitting was functional, and it did what I needed it to do, product and process.

Former UFO

Done.

This is a particularly odd section of the back.

But done! Binding done!

Where's the UPS? This sucker is outta here!

There IS Something to Small Steps

Binding cut, stitched and pressed.

No bias was used this time, as the fabric had a perfect stretch of on-grain already built into the leftovers from the first quilt.

That's right. There were two of these. One was done, 20 blocks worth, and well over twenty years ago. This one got to 12 blocks done and stalled.

This summer I framed and sashed the miserable set of twelve to get it DONE.
I cobbled together a proper leftovers backing and sent it off to be machine quilted.

It came back this fall.

It sat.

A forgotten piece of fabric used in the first quilt was in the box where the scraps went - surprise!

Binding was prepped. One step to go.

Playing, Two Minutes at a Time

- In the microwave
- Cleaning up past weeks of fabric paint and dye activity
- Very old yarn
- Used up the leftover koolaid from the pitchers
- tropical punch and cherry
- This didn't suck.

Wearing Socks Knit For Me!

Thanks, Elizabeth!

We have this great big cold hallway at work.

If I leave my office to go to class, I have to go to the next building. If I want to go to the shop, I have to go outside to a different door in the first building. If I am in the shop and want to find rest facilities, back out to go into the second building or into the front part of the first building. Lunch at the desk? Go next door for the fridge or microwave.

I am not complaining. We see the sun through the course of a day. And I look forward to wearing all the hand knit wool socks.

Here's to beautifully chilly autumn weather for sock wearing! Ooh, and yummy cabbage soup to heat up for lunch!

You Know This When That

You know you've been knitting socks for awhile when you look at the sock you are putting on and realize you cannot recall the name of the pattern anymore.

You know your housekeeping is suffering when you try to take a photo of a sock and have to do strange tricks to keep the worst of the floor out of the frame.

You know you are busy when you aren't posting a photo of a sock you've just but are taking a hasty shot of an old sock.

You know you are fortunate when this is the trouble of your day. Not water. Not power. Not shelter.

I know. Quite a turn there. Was thinking about the contrasts and the revelations a lot this past week. You know how it goes: smack up against successful plays and nice kids come funerals and heart breaking stories of PTSD. Angsty house hunting with silly self-doubt and self-recrimination stopped in their tracks to watch the devastation of Sandy. Watched houses topple, water surge, and fires burn. Breathed sighs to hear of friends out East that they were okay.

You know you are blessed with even a silly pair of socks.

You know you have thanks to give, and not just one day later this month.

You know you will find time and energy to get some important things done. Sock knitting will keep.