Meanwhile, Amidst the Towering Textiles . . .

There has been sewing and knitting and not much blogging or photography. I'll be taking the camera home for a few days. We'll see what is documentable.

Tonight's a night for finishing. I've finished knitting the second jaywalker, but I need to graft the toe. I still haven't woven in the ends of Steel Penny, the combo-sweater, nor have I blocked it. I have two pairs of twill trousers that are long overdue for a machine hem. Yes, I've worn them trailing on the ground, rolled up at the waist, or temporarily safety pinned. Before the condition of the hem worsens, I must prove myself capable of taking care of my wardrobe. Hem, I say. And when I was about to wash and put away my peace fleece sweater, I found a few ends I'd neglected to weave in.

I had needed to get some things tackled and cleared before I had surface space for drying sweaters. And of course, once I had all that space, I really needed to sew. I have finished sewing a pair of pants that I started last summer. I made myself a summer skirt, all marbley polka dots. I even knit up a couple dish cloths, I did, while I did some traveling amongst the family. (Another reason why there are no photos. I'm a great one for NOT taking cameras on roadtrips.) Started two sweaters, but I'm having a debate, naturally, about one of them. Don't want to frog if I'm not sure.

Sounds like a good night for some finishing. Maybe I'll finish up the last of the wheatberry chili I pulled from the freezer. No cooking, just me and the needles.

Greens that aren't

There's a paradox. Two greens that aren't green. One is a delectable deep brown indulgence of Green & Blacks dark chocolate with orange and spice. The other is an AbsBloomiNutely BeYooTiful hank of Handmaiden Sea Silk. Not your average bit of sea greenery, that.

I took a pathetic picture because I had the camera in the same place as the package from my wonderful knitty sp7 pal - and all of this was in the same location as the computer - and I was going to have to have a bit of that chocolate or Know the Reason Why.



The color in this photo, as it appears on my screen, looks completely wrong. Too much colorific camera enhancement. It's beautifully subtle and rich, the real thing. Greys and silvers and plums and lavenders. I'll take a better photo at home, but this was the moment to be spontaneous, so here we are.

I feel delightfully indulged. What a treasure. And my pal mentioned that it smelled like the beach. She's right. Intriguing. What a fine mailbox find!

Proof I'm a Peasant

I ate radishes for breakfast this morning.

(That's it. Can't post more. Must finish a paper of sorts.)

Some Weekend Knitting

I live excitement. Here are some photos of a weekend of Steel Penny. They are small for ease of loading, but you should be able to click through for a clearer view.


Maybe it's because I was focused a bit on whether there would be enough yarn.


I was fascinated with the changing nature of the balls of yarn.


Worked on the neck and arm trim so I'd be sure that I'd know how much I'd have for length when I got to the hem.


I-cord bind-off - first try.


Used up all of this, save about a yard or two.



Switched to smaller needle for the Bad Penny contrasting hem. Ribbing looked big on the original size, so I frogged back and switched needles. Now of course, it looks like it comes in a little too much for my taste. I'm sure I can cure that with blocking, though.


This is the end of the charcoal. I'm not yet good at estimating yardage needed for I-cord bind-offs. Fingers crossed.

Enjoy what you have

I'd hoarded this jar of Branston Pickle for too long, I decided, so I opened it up some weeks ago and have been enjoying it steadily. Let's have no pantry hoarding, I say. Not safe, not thrifty, and not fun.


The jar is now in the recycling, but for its celebratory photo I plunked it onto a clean but well-used knitted item from a standard pattern you might recognize. This particular dishcloth was from last summer - leftovers from niece ponchos and a string bag I made for thomasina. Was amused earlier this spring when my mom caught sight of a knitted dishcloth near my sink. "You made that, right? And diagonal - very you." She was rather taken by the idea of my bothering to do something stylish with something so pedestrian. Isn't it great when you can be this old and your mom still thinks you do things with flair?

But you know, I'm a bit taken with the whole thing myself. I'm impressed with all the pedestrian and artful dishcloths and washrags and swiffer covers and everything else being knitted out there. Every day works and every day works of art are ways to do more than use what we have - we can enjoy what we use.

Big Cheater

So Thursday, when I kept myself away from all things work, I cheated on my socks.


Stash yarns. Sale yarns. Lana Gatto Feelings. Pretty indulgent, so thank goodness for shop closeouts. Three of the light, one of the dark, the latter purchased one year later, even. In the spirit of a little of this and a little of that, I give you a little bit Piccovoli and a little bit Bad Penny.

I'm calling it Steel Penny. I had one of those in my coin collection, you know.

And already I'm further than this. Very comfortable knit, this yarn.
(I'm not going to say anything about how I hope to win the yardage race. Not a thing.)

Little Victories

June brings normalcy to my sleep patterns. I go to bed at decent hours and sleep well, getting up in the mornings to do the simple homefront things that many other people do all the time. Thursday morning I enjoyed a few minor little victories on the homefront.

Put together the oats & sour milk starter for a small batch of scones for Saturday or Monday.

Made blueberry pancakes with the last of the milk and the last of last season's frozen blueberries. No food photo here. Pancakes weren't up to food-stylist standards, but they were up to eating standards. I ate a portion and cooked up the rest for the fridge, taking a cue from a friend who cooks up all the pancakes, even if they're not all eaten at the moment. Leftover pancakes aren't always that desirable, but as my mother said, leftover pancake batter REALLY isn't that desirable.



I was out of coffee filters, but I found the cotton filter. I don't use it much in my current residence. It takes forever to dry and shake out all the grounds, and this kitchen has no sink disposal for rinsing away the last bits. However, during the summer I'll use it. I started drinking more tea last summer, and I don't need to make coffee everyday, so the filter will have a couple days to dry out. I make a full pot when I do and chill the rest for iced coffee.

Dishes were washed, and I tended to some little bits of mending. Actually got this button back on within the correct cycle. (Worn, button came off, laundered, button's back on.)



While I was at it, I learned a bit more about this camera's exposure and capturing black textiles.

I had such a good morning, I stayed away from work all day. Even better.

And no, I won't lose my job. Technically, I'm on a partial year contract.
Career-soul, though, not clock-puncher, I'm working a bit every week.
Be assured, though, I'm taking a lot of time off.

One of these things is not like the other

One finished, two not.
One Hedera, two Jaywalker.
One without heel and gusset, two with.

AND BESIDES which, I give you a view so far of the fraternal dyelot skeins.

When a yarn company includes the statement "Due to the unique process....color variations may occur within dyelots." - they're not just making idle noise.

Curious, no? I can't believe I ONLY examined the labels for a match. I should have examined the yarn a bit more carefully. I could have seen this difference if I'd been paying attention. I blame the haste of that particular shopping trip.

Then again, a sock lesson isn't the worst lesson. Reminders all round about alternating skeins in other garments, hm?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained?

I tried to carve out some me time this weekend. There was graduation, after all, so that sucks up a fair bit of time and energy.

"Me time" seemed to become time for the unabashedly boring tasks of laundry, laundry folding, laundry putting away, cleaning of cat paraphenalia, vacuuming, pitching the science projects in the veg/fruit crispers, etc. Spring hasn't afforded much spare time for making screen window adjustments. The weekend's heatwave meant a quick catch-up there, and the payoff was great. Suddenly there was breeze and fresh air everywhere.

I did at least go for an errand walk of an hour and a half on Monday morning. I left right after I heard the NPR morning host utter some quip questioning any listener's choice to be up that early on a holiday Monday.

No new knitting ventures. I continued to work on the Hedera, and I switched needle sizes on a swatch I was pondering.

There were a few modest, gains, though. I found, in the depths of a couch and a chair, two pens, eleven cents, and a size 8 knitting needle. And I found a table surface that had been a sacrificial catchall for the past few months. I'm happy the sewing machine can now come out to play. Time for some summer skirts, I'm thinking.

Oh Yes. Socks.

Hedera is past the heel turn and onto the gusset.
Enjoyable knit. Enjoyable yarn.

The Jaywalker trudges along. Discovered (or discovered, forgot, discovered again, and remembered) that two skeins of Wildfoote in the same colorway and dye lot are definitely fraternal skeins. The overall brightness of colors and specifically the little sparkle of green between dye sections are missing from the second skein. I'm now extra glad that I used the end of the first skein for the top of the second sock. It will help me get over the fact that the rest of the sock will look a lot different.

Then again, who knows what will happen to the colors after a wash...

Wasn't I going to go home? Good thing the camera is not here. Otherwise I'd have duped myself into staying accidentally longer.
I'm going home.
Socks, shelves, or something Saturday-like.

Off the Shelves

I gathered up books to drop off at the library (overdue by a day), a couple of which were knitting books which I will check out again. Still, I don't know that I need to own them. Thinking about the one. The other was a fun read, but I'll hold off the shopping.

I've never listed en-blog my knitting library.
A knitter's catablogue? (Sorry.)

Thought I'd start with the books which are currently off the shelves, as I'd been looking at them.
Vogue Knitting Stitchionary
The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques, Nancie M. Wiseman
Knitting Vintage Socks, Nancy Bush

I'll add titles as whim suits me.

Perhaps the listing will get me to identify for myself which books might have a better life with someone else. Until then, though, I'll keep them.

If I'm inclined I might make some kind of link in the sidebar. I'd have to figure that out, and right now I'd rather go home and knit - or go home and take another book off the shelves for a nice Saturday afternoon read.

ITCHY

It's not the wool. Funny, though, three people yesterday asked me if knitted socks would be itchy. They were surprised that the yarn was soft.

Nope, I'm itchy to start some bigger projects. I can't believe I have so little on the needles. (I've totally discounted anything that's in a box, as I expect to frog or treat it as swatch.) Must say that while it's nice to work on little sock projects and get them done, they're not exactly making great strides through the stash.

And much as I hate it, I shouldn't even be working on the socks. Grading. MUST. GRADE. GAH.

No wonder I'm itchy to start something big. Now THAT would bring some REAL avoidance.

Oh well. Back to the grindstone. Gradestone. Millstone.

Meanwhile, what do I have that I would like to use next? And what should it be, I wonder????

Change

As a change of pace from Jaywalker knitting, I leapt into Hedera, with some Regia Plus Cotton which I had purchased at Borealis between Christmas and the New Year. The marl includes a bright blue and a light blue, so it has a denimy look to it. Of course, I forgot to change the exposure.

Fortunately, the close-ups worked a bit better for white balance.

Speaking of change, I was only half paying attention to chatter about Callard & Bowser. Are they a done deal, or will they just be consumed by a larger corporate entity? My tacky little container for needle protectors and stitch markers has seen better days.

No, I did not have an ink catastrophe in my knitting bag. That happened when this was a sewing kit carted around in a backpack. No need to worry!

PS. The sock has changed since the photo. I have zipped through about 10 repeats. Change of pace is a change of pace.

Exposed

Elizabeth at SABLE quite rightly applauded her achievements at getting the exposure just so for capturing dark wools. I thought I should take a nudge.

I got past the heel on the jaywalker last week and tried to take photos on a grey morning. Changed the exposure in one direction, and caught a better sense of the colors. Still not the best.


I knew the label was unreadable, so I changed exposure.



This was all well and good, but the yarn itself? Bah.



Meanwhile I've finished this sock. It's snug going past the heel, I must say. I went for the larger size, and this after trying the smaller and recognizing that it would never go. Bah, again, I say. Nevertheless I have started the second sock.

I don't know if it's the yarn's slightly thinner nature, the size ones, or the pattern itself, but oh, it's a slow knit. I'm not that enchanted. Bah, I say, and again bah. Thank goodness the yarn is pretty.

Of Needles, Old and Off

I was working on a little swatch project on these lovely old aluminums. There's a bend in one, but the older needles with the ruler on them do amuse me.




And actually, it's now off the needles.

Counting

Seems to me that the last two years I launched into some serious knitting in May, just about at graduation. I hauled a significant project into graduation rehearsal each year. I get a fair bit of knitting time in before I have responsibilities which take enough time for OTHER PEOPLE to get a fair bit of knitting in.

Seems to me that last May I took a count of what I'd finished from one May to the next. Beats me where I recorded that. It's not on the blog.

However. Seems to me it's just about time for another count.

Last May I was knitting Cambio at graduation. Sidetracked. Should finish this summer.

Beyond that:

2 sweaters, start to finish
Finished up Bach 111 socks
6 additional pairs of socks, start to finish
1 niece poncho
2 hats
3 scarves just for me
one dishcloth (while I was on the late spring cotton path)
oh yes, t-shirt "chainmail"
and a single stuffed glove.

That's EVERYTHING.

Can't wait to see what the next year will produce!


(ETA: I found the list in the knitting journal. Took out two dishclothes and the string bag from this list, as evidently I'd finished them before the great memorial day count last year. My sock count may be suspect, too. Not quite sure.)

Soy Socks

Two balls of Knit One Crochet Two WICK = one pair of socks, toe up.











I'm content. I'm wearing them.

Alice's Rabbit

I'm late, I'm late, no time to say hello, goodbye, I'm late I'm late I'm late ...
I finished a Wick sock, even though I can only allow myself an inch of knitting at a time, it seems. I've turned the heel of the Burnt Sugar Jaywalker.
Why am I still here? It's tomorrow. I'm supposed to go home the same day I left.....

Having not purchased for a month....

... I bought a wee little May present on Saturday. Will photo post another day.

But I used what I had and finished the Seuss Socks. Started my first toe-up sock with the Wick (soy and polypropylene) (that is, Gortex-like moisture wicking yarn...)

Don't Tell My Neighbors What I Said.

It's cold and rainy.
I swear I saw snow.
I'm wearing my new sweater.
I'm not responsible, really.

Knitting is powerful, no?

(Posted the pictures after midnight. The wind turned cold between my locking up the shop, posting, and locking up the office. This morning? Weather and sweater.)