Blessed soles

I finished the Fiesta socks this morning. I've got to get ready for a conference. This also means that there must be packing of knitting project for conference. And culling of internet info about yarn shops in San Francisco. Photo, though a bit dim, was magically added as of August.

Saw a nice note in Weekend Knitting comparing the luxury of handknitted socks to nice lingerie. Nobody else but you might know how nice they are, but that doesn't mean they're not worth the having - or the knitting. Half deciding to use the Mountain Colors worsted in steelhead sent by the stunning secret pal from knittysp4! Of course, it's not nylon reinforced or superwash, so I'll reinforce what I wish and handwash them. Need to match up a pattern, if so. The last socks have been a smaller weight.

We'll see in August what I've done. Don't really feel like taking a full sweater project. Besides, I took a leap of faith and pitched most of the holey store-bought wool socks I've been wearing as 2nd pair socks for 2-3 winters. (Why, oh WHY do we let ourselves limp along on holey socks and ratty undies?!?) (I see another cleaning frenzy in August....)

Notes - children and socks

If you haven't been over to knitty lately, stop by to take note of a wonderfully engaging conversation about having and not having children in this thread on the knittyboard! I'm incredibly impressed with the wealth of responses, the receptive and accepting tone of the contributions.

Recently, in a box of childhood stuff re-claimed when packing up my mother for her retirement move, I found a cute, self-illustrated note my young (junior high) aunt wrote to me, a niece 5 years her junior. I remember that she used to write me quite often. We both did. I'm jumping back onto the letter writing bandwagon. My nieces and nephew are just at the perfect letter writing age. Time for Auntie to get back to her formerly prolific letter-writing habits. This is what all those fun office supplies are for!

On a sock note:
Nearly done with the Fiesta Socks. Hit the first row of the toe decreases for sock one. Skipped over to sock 2 to catch up the foot to the same point. I'm feeling confident about my sock making and have decided not to follow the Norling pattern for the toes - skipping over to a Jawoll pattern which has a lovely rounded toe with graduated decreases distributed all 'round.

Also (gulp) caved in to internet shopping and ordered a little bit of the solid sock wool from Knitpicks. Want to make a secret present. Shh. Secret.

As hot as it has been...

I'm still knitting. Made progress on the socks, hitting heel flaps, turning both heels, and zipping past the gussets. No photos today, but I'm pleased that I matched requested length of sock work with striping fortune. Almost half way along the foot on one.

I've putzed about in the AC today. Should go home now while it's cool.

I couldn't believe it either

While I was running between places out of state, I took an extra little run out to a new yarn shop I'd heard about through online resources. I hadn't had coffee or breakfast and it was about lunch time.

I made three slow passes through the store, looking at all areas, not really looking for anything in particular. I fondled, I flipped, I read labels, I took things off shelves, I replaced with care.

I left without spending a dime. Realized that no one had really approached me. I had a hi and a smile from the coffee meister when she thought I was lurking at that counter. See, here I thought I preferred to browse unpestered, hover-free. Turns out I'm bit more susceptible to staff/customer interactions than I thought. I might not think I want much, but touching base with this customer might have kept me from staying at arms length.

Bought Critter Coffee at the end of the shopping area. (I don't want to name names. Did I manage?) Who'd have thought it possible?

Fiesta Ware becomes Fiesta Wear

I packed one, imagine, just one project.  Naturally it begged for simultaneity.  (And naturally the balls were wound in opposite directions at the factory.)   I packed up my aunt's dishes a couple days before I began these socks for her.  She'll have to put her feet up on the table to show what a clever match I've made.

I will not overpack, I will not overpack, I will not overpack

I'm doing family things for a week. I should take the Peace Fleece. Of course I take knitting, regardless. I should take gift project #1. However, I will be very busy. I could take Cambio. There will be too much driving and family packing and family cooking and family reunion. I could take something small, and start socks for my aunt. I'm driving, so no knitting by the mile. I could take that other gift project #2, in case I run up to a stopping point.

How's this for logic. If I take too many projects with me, I can't go to any lovely undiscovered yarn shops....

Will report back in a week.

Steps forward & steps back

I went home last night and knit about 5 inches up on the Peace Fleece & Noro - spitting distance of the armscye, what with the choice to make this a quick knit on 11's. It was great, finally a little cooler, so I could enjoy knitting in a bit of a breeze. (It'd been a bit too hot to really enjoy knitting the Peace Fleece last weekend, but I was on a mission.)

This morning, sailing away, I discovered that when I started last night's knitting, I'd manufactured an increase in one of the rows of ribs. How could I not have noticed the shift in rhythm from 6knit 2purl to a sudden 7 knit? The increase cropped up right after the marker at the top of the round. Nuts.

Since it had to come off the needles, I snuck in a fitting - to see where the hem of this lovely soft and drapey boyfriend big rib sweater needs to fall. I hate a fitting that has built-in mid-age body-image sighing built into it. That part took an extra 3 minutes, I swear. And then the real troubles began. I'd thought I was using my noodle and had measured (and fit) the sweaters I wanted this one to be comparable to. This was always and ever going to be a large, comfy pullover, a jeans sweater to upgrade my least-dressed work days when I run between buildings without a coat. And this nice, drapey fabric would be fine, but without the strength of an upper body, it seemed REALLY big.

I remeasured. I spent part of the day playing hookey from my self-imposed work schedule and knit back about half of what I'd frogged, so I wouldn't go crazy and undo the whole thing.

Maybe it's having looked at too many pictures of sharp looking, curvy cropped and current summer sweaters. I must remember that this is not a summer sweater, it'd NEVER suit me cropped, and there is nothing wrong with knitting a simple big rib which of course widens tremendously when yanked off the needles and not finished. And I should just finish the sweater. It will be fine. I don't need to spend an extra half hour rethinking the proportions of the sweater.

Right? I do not need to keep taking steps back on purpose.

Of course, I'm also now fretting about the placement of the remainder of the Noro. I have 3 biggish stripes floating below the bustline. I think I'll have some amount of striping on the sleeves, and I'll continue to think about the contrasting dilemmas for the top of the upper body. Do I run a band across front, back, and top of sleeves when knitting set-in sleeves? Do I have an easier (maybe) time of striping while trying to do a whole lot of "knit the whole thing in the round" experimenting. Is the KISS solution solid upper body and upper arms with contrast accent around collar band?

(This blog business is interesting. I've usually had this fretful second-guess stretch privately. )

The original steps forward were toward a no-thinking raglan roll. I think that was late last winter. I was up to the last sleeve with what was really too tight a fabric and ran out of wool. I was supersizing the sweater (only the sweater, not me) and clearly over-estimated it. The thing sat for a whole winter, and I found an interesting mate in the Noro and a couple skeins of same wool different lot. They sat together for quite awhile. I frogged back the whole thing early this summer.

If it's not finished in summer, I'll never get to it by the chilly part of fall. By then I'll need it. If I'm going to have to look schlumpy on a regular basis, I'm at least going to do it with flair and with beautiful yarn!

Maybe I'll work on the Cambio for a couple days.

A lovely little swap

A modest skein's worth of black boucle on the cone, swapped with soapfibergal, became this.  Truly a swap and a RAK in one.

Pics of the Guilt Fleece Cardigans, size 4 toddler

The children who were to be given these, girls and a boy, I'm remembering, are long past toddler. Someone is interested in at least one of them to finish herself, so I'm posting some pics. Photography will be what it will be.  This is the jacket that's mostly finished.  This one has the mitten print flannel and maroon flannel.  Sleeves are not for knuckle-scrapers.  They were meant to have cuffs, rolled back and tacked so the blanket stitched edge would be a few edges from the rolled edge.  


This is the back view.  You can see where the blanket stitch ended.  I think I was using a too-blunt needle for sake of a generous eye, and it bugged me.  The appliques had enough webbed bonding to make stitching them a pain, and they're probably the real culprits.  (Beyond life distracting me, of course...)


The 2nd navy jacket used a teal flannel and a flannel print with snow people and some sort of house.  I seem to remember thinking this would be the LAST pocket with blanket stitch.  The underarm/sideseam stretches haven't been machine stitched, as the applique was easier in flatter form. 



Grey, same ideas.  Switched mittens to combine with teal and snowmen with maroon.  Pockets were stitched and turned, but some of the pockets are only pinned into place and haven't been stitched.  None of the garment seams are stitched, but many are pinned, and I can leave them that way.



Above you see part of the the back and front of one of the grey cardigans.  I prepared a couple extra solid flannel hearts, but I had decided to cut them from the original plan.

A June quilt

I'm getting a few things done this summer.  Started and finished a quick, tied baby quilt for Baby Alexandra.  Will be sending this along with a couple other goodies from the Gift Tub.  Found two other things I can mail away.  It's a fine thing when a baby gift which doesn't get sent off in a timely fashion can finally be sent away.  (These are the gifts that aren't expected, of course.)

Knitty SP4 - Sleek & Classic, in Blacks and Whites

Meet the fine package, from left to right.

The Brunswick Patterns are a pamphlet I believe I coveted madly during the 70's. It's quite familiar, yet I don't have it with any of my knitting.

The Jack Frost sock patterns really are for two needles.At first glance, I thought it was a strange way to identify needle size. (Many of the first patterns are done on size 2's.)The patterns really do call for a pair, though. Fancy doing some seam stitching along the bottom of the foot and up through the back of the leg? Nor I. I think they'll be quite adaptable to knitting with dpn or circ. Lots of variety. I will be trying one soon.

The large black BagSmith Needle Case Portfolio was empty for about an hour.  Once home and cats fed, the case was filled. You'll see below.

Sitting atop the needle case is a classy little tin of postcards - all reproduced vintage maps. I'll make great use of those. And I would be the sort to travel with the tin.

Below Ms. BagSmith is a handstitched notebook of natural toned ricepaper.  Stunning.  Is the fine SP a paper artist, to boot?  She clearly has a fine eye.

This was a wonderful set of treats.  Really.  The more I think about starting again to find, make, or find a substitute for the aran sweater pattern I've had in the wrong box for the last 6-10 years, I am convinced that the 10 year old pattern was chosen because it was a classic on the order of the one on the Brunswick pamphlet.  I'm not kidding.  I was not skilled enough in high school to have tackled it, but I would have wanted to in the worst way.  Inspirations don't always happen from thin air, you know.

Fill 'er up

The bag closes like a portfolio or can hang open.  I promptly filled the lower portion with dpns & bigger dpns, though the left sections are tall enough for 14" straights.  Used the right pocket for cable needles and stitch holders, and you can see an inherited u-shaped cable needle getting ready to escape, having moved about during the grand photo shoot.  To the right are snaps suited for holding circs (see the blue set tucked into the pocket that is behind the actual pouch/pocket with the accessories.  "Is that the only circular needle?" the viewer might well ask. 

The Rest of the Circs, in the top part of the bag

Chocolate Banana frozen pops

I have to report today's frozen treat experiment. My sp had sent a container of mexican chocolate. I decided to double the recommended choc. amount so they'd be extra fudge-a-licious.

Heated 2 c. milk (soy today, because I'm on a fridge emptying mission), added 8 wedges chocolate, whomped in blender. Changed clothes. Soothed minor scalds. Cleaned the complete mess I made when I forgot to take out the center of blender lid and hot steamy milk and choc bits exploded everywhere.

Chilled the hot choc. Returned chilled choc. milk (remember, doubled choc.) to blender with 2 frozen bananas. Poured into pop molds, yogurt containers, tiny solo sauce containers with lids until I ran out of mixture.

Even though I knew they wouldn't be ready until later, I ate one tiny sampler container after it'd been in the freezer for a couple hours. Semi-freddo something or other.

It was pretty knee-weakening. I can't wait to have one this evening. I will, however, change out of my white shirt before I eat it. I couldn't bear to have two sets of chocolate spattered garments in one day.

Ribs in the Round

Must admit, I was torn. I spent several hours Saturday leafing through every magazine and book on the shelves PLUS one more from the library to see what clever pattern inspiration I'd find (in the newly swatched gauge) beside just doing the big old ribbed pullover in Simply Beautiful Sweaters or whatever that book is. The search for something like that but naturally gave way to doing the first one in the first place.

I sorted out the sizing, convinced myself that sizing divided by gauge equalled fit I could stand. No more torn there than the usual angst about mid-life sizing.

I began on the whopping long straights, convinced that I wanted the consistency of thickness for the gauge, some old-fashioned aluminum clicking, yaddita-yaddita. Knit 4 inches of the Front (or the back) and one band of Peace Fleece turning into Noro. Lovely. Took a break and control freak set in. What would the irrepressibly random and slow color changing in the Noro do by the time I reached the Back (or the front)? More importantly, would I be able to stand it if I didn't LIKE the seam at the sides abrupt shift in colors, even if it is a multi-hued band of multi-hued plies?

Right. In the round it would be. Or could be. I could swap the old-fashioned aluminum for the 20-30 year old nylon circ. But wasn't there a hitch about ribs in the round?

Found E. Zimmerman, guru of round. No warnings there, but not much big old rib, either. I looked at the recent Bach socks, ribs listing ever so slightly. SO. Gave it a whirl.

Monday? It definitely lists. More so in the Peace fleece, which holds its own more than the wifty Noro. I'm deciding that I'll want to rethink this strategy on the next big old ribbed sweater, but I'll live with it for now. After a little tugging, the gauge is loose enough that the ribs square up a bit, so I'll warrant some blocking and some living, and voila. Fingers crossed.

I don't know what I think about the sleeves or the top of the sweater. I can think about that tomorrow.

Sunday Morning Peace Fleece, mit flash

Sunday Morning Peace Fleece, by the window

Peace Fleece & Noro - pretty, pretty

Noro in a Bowl

Monday Morning's Peace Fleece Progress