Where's the knitting indeed?

A week without knitting? Sheesh.
I'm ready for some serious knitting.

Yearning for fall

During the heat of the summer, I do rather yearn for fall. I have always considered myself to be an oily, sweaty person, so the summer is rather a time for giving up hope of feeling in the least bit dainty.

Here we are in October, and my work life has raced me through a month of the best of fall. I've missed the late summer tomatoes. In fact, today was the first in a month that I was able to hit the farmer's market. I have a few tomatoes to tide me over, but the splendor of today's market was clearly the apples. Bought some to eat. Bought some plums for baking.

Now I just yearn to knit more than the couple of socks I keep inching at on the train....

Insert Pathetic Whine Here

I'm having one of those days. Maybe you've had one? Where everything that runs across your path simply points to twenty billion more things you should have done and have to do, and the phrase whattaloser comes into your head more than you'd like but it's all self directed? Failure day.

That's today in my sandbox.

Maybe the problem is I'm only looking at the day's equivalent of those teensy little offwhite stitches that look like a tension flaw. Even though I know they'll even out in the blocking (and with tweaking), this day is like the kind of knitting day where you can't see Oh COOL, look at the forearm of the sweater. Cool. I did that.


Wish I could have seen the day like I can see the sleeve. Here's to maybe, someday, learning more from my knitting.

I did frog last weekend

Knitty sp7

Adriennec outdid herself in finding clever ways to spoil me. I am in awe. I'd write more, but there's a bus to catch. For now, pictures. I'll edit next week. The lovely lemon verbena soap was too shy for a photo. Imagine it on the beautiful washcloth.

Invisible Girl

Still here. Massive frogging. Sock knitting. More on the Equinox. SP7 beautiful things to share - adriennec outdid herself, and she has challenged me to step into some great new directions.

Meanwhile I'm invisible here in the knitting blogosphere. No pictures to air my progress. No stories that amuse me. No one is washing my dishes. My laundry started to catch up and then lagged behind again, lazy laundry. Fortunately cats are fed.

However, I'm keeping quite busy. There's singing and dancing and carrying on. There was knitting aplenty on buses and trains, but I gave myself a few days off from carrying too many things. I read last night. Today I gazed out the window and drank coffee. Enjoyed the anonymity of the urban commute.

More when I can whip off the cloak of busy invisibility.

Frog the darn thing!

Spitting Yarn mentioned it.

kt gave out the challenge.

I could do with a little guilt offloading.

I join late, but I think this is a worthy task.


I've been rehearsing the idea for the better part of a year.

This is what some of the unknit portion looks like.

I think it will be worth it.

Copycat, copycat

Seen over at SABLE:


My Personality

Neuroticism	72
Extraversion	68
Openness To Experience	92
Agreeableness	71
Conscientiousness	40

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report MySpace Surveys, Bebo and MySpace Layouts by Pulseware Survey Software

Interestingly, I think my levels of guilt and perfectionism (see Neuroticism above, *ahem*) take the conscientiousness factor far lower than I'd have expected. Quizzes are interesting beasts.

Labor Day Knitting

It's interesting to track where spurts of knitting start and where they lead. Interesting to me, I suppose. I'd been picking up some oddballs of Karabella's Aurora 8. It's a very soft, rather springy multiple of merino. I'd been picking up dark colors in the sale bins of a couple shops over the past months. Wasn't quite sure where they were going. Sunday afternoon I ran a bunch of errands in neighborhoods I can't get to during the rest of the week. Picked up a pair of shoes that I'd ordered. Stopped into a Trader Joe's. And I stopped at the yarn store to pick up the order of a book I'd been ogling. I caved under the pressure of a holiday weekend sale. I picked up enough yarn to make a sweater. Karabella, see above.

I used the Equinox pattern to estimate yardages. When I got home, after some judicious browsing through magazines and books, I decided I might give that pattern a whirl. I'll see if I regret it: there are clearly some changes ahead. Among the obvious changes are my combinations of colors - but I'm enjoying that swap. So far I've been pleased with the mapping out I did - a one to one swap that still follows the chart. I'm getting close to a few points where I may do some internal swapping.

So while the magazine obligingly sang the praise of the care with which the designer worked out just the right colorways, I've pitched that out the window. Well, not altogether. I still have a brown body, a few warmish and light colors - just a different interpretation. And of course, the yarn I'm using won't provide the obligingly fuzzy halo described. Don't care. This yarn is incredibly soft and feels like a luxury. With the boat neck, it will be important, I think. Of course the yarn is just a teensy bit heftier than the designer selection. Sorted out gauge to suit myself - even gave a swatch a bath. I think I've found a gauge that will get me a reliable size, even if the hand and drape might differ a bit from the sample sweater. That's okay. I don't need that much cling. It'll be a cozy and warm thing, which is ultimately what I'd associate with a fair isle type sweater yoke.

More importantly, in hopes of identifying the creative spurt of which I spoke above, I should mention that I've embarked on a HUGE project at work. Very demanding. Naturally, one would think I'd want to stick with my recent bus and train knitting. Not this child. I started on Monday with the sleeve so I could really get at the color work.


Could be worse for a late night fluorescent lighting photo at work.

I've already missed my earlier train. I'm leaving early for the last one. I'm sure that I'll be returning to my regular soporific sock knitting later on in the project. For now, my parallel project is the Equinox pullover.

Long weekend knitting

There are Fetching mitts (Rowan tapestry is interesting....) in this long weekend of knitting, and 6 or more inches of colorwork knitting on the Equinox whatsit on the Interweave Knits Fall 06 cover. I am not using quite as fine a yarn, but I'm enjoying exploring some color experimentation in using some of what I have and some of what I picked up at the Labor Day Sale on Lawrence Ave. And there are socks in my bus and train knitting bag.

Oh. And I will miss the train if I don't leave.

ETA: I missed my train. Thank goodness there was another in an hour.

Bus & Train Knitting

Bus & train knitting:
A hat for a nephew who requested these colors for a hat, in which I tackled the jogless jog. Sadly, I didn't tackle a perfectly discreet carry along of the color from stripe to stripe. It peeks out. Still better than endless end weaving.

A pebble rib sock, in which I am so convinced I want the trekking to match that I purchase two skeins (for two pair) so as to start at EXACTLY the same spot, only to discover that this was a fairly regular colorway of trekking.

I also discover that I failed to count correctly. Mindless bus & train knitting was a teenytiny bit brainless. I wanted 64 stitches, and I had 68. This I discovered at the heel flap. Bah. It will be what it will be. They're comfort socks. I just have to remember to write down the "fixes" I did so the two socks will match. That's how this all started: buying a yarn reputed for not matching, I must find a way to make matching happen.

Must go catch my bus or train. Wonder which I'll take today?

Summer stuff / Semi sentences

Working on a nephew hat. Conquered the jogless stripe.
Lost a needle on knitting night.
  

Knit another one.
  

Started a sock for knitting at home. Nancy Bush's pattern has a repeat of more than a few rows. I may not remember it.
Here's the cuff and a little of the first repeat.
  

Finished Hedera socks.
  

Started another pair of socks.
  

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Question was posed. I hedged the obligatory mid-age response that was creeping round the corner - the one about having become old but I'm still a kid thing, because it is BOUND to come round that corner. It's real.

And it occurred to me.

Good company.

That's what I want to be when I grow up.

I can live with that.

She emerges ...

Such adventures since I've been gone.

I've gone to the theatre three times.

I've been out dining 5 or 6 times in the past weeks.

I've gone to a conference and have taken care of a major professional obligation without major catastrophe.

I've lost one car. Or killed it. Given up on it. Become a pedestrian and commuter. Walked more. Oh, and knitting on buses and trains? Who needs a car, at these gas prices.

I've discovered that I've knit a sock NOT to gauge. There will a brief interlude for second sock syndrome on that pair.

I've (ahem) shopped for yarn. S.E.X. And I've managed to carefully stow it away properly, though I haven't catalogued it. That seemed like overkill at the time.

I've had a summer cold, and the farmer's market is well on its way to curing me.

I've discovered that the only appealing knitting while having a summer cold is the cotton dishcloth.

More another day. Much to catch up off-blog.

All work and no play

I have to be away. I have a work event, another work-related event, and some company. It won't be ALL work and no play, but I just can't play in this park for a little bit.

There will be some knitting though, if the trains and buses are chilly enough in this heat. I'm back to being car free. I am not excited about car shopping.

But is it bad that I bought little teensy bit of yarn in the town where the car died? After all, I will be taking public transport for awhile, and public transport means good knitting!

Back to the blog in a week or so!

Petit Pacquet

Such a lovely phrase - petit pacquet - a gift from my fine Knitty SP7 secret pal.


Beautiful chocolate. Will be holding off on this until Monday, by which time I'll be in some desperate need.


From New Zealand, Merino & Fur - some NZ possum! The yarn is amazingly soft. This will need to become something warm and snuggly.

Colourmart Cashmere - and I'm having trouble loading the photo of yarn beauty. This was a grey day, so until repairs, imagine what a wonderful teal the kingfisher cashmere is - because it is. This will become a lovely knitted accent - scarf, lace, something. Knitters with a mission may pooh-pooh the scarf, but I WEAR them. It is a signature accessory and a necessary indulgence, in my mind. (More on that another day.)


Little cinnamon sweeties from Greece. There were five, but one dodged the camera and hid in my mouth.


This is a wonderful set of indulgences. What a thoughtful and wonderful secret pal. My goodness!

What's in the knitting bag?

Still alternating socks in the little sock bag:

Big knitting bag is sharing its knitting storage territory with a big ceramic bowl in my dining room/studio/storage room. This sweater is hanging out in the bowl and I've been making some fair but slow progress on it.

The brown is creating a slip stitch dash that alternates with dashes of brown garter stitch. The multi alternates in longer stripes.

This is the high contrast photo of the side-ways knit slip-stitch sweater.

I was drawn to a garment I'd seen which had a less dramatic contrast than the photo. I'm liking the fabric. It's heavy on the garter ridge, but there's that little bit of something. Bought the yarn without a clue as to whether I'd find the pattern or have the right amount. I did find. I might have enough. We'll see how it goes!

What about that mistake?

There's the s-curve mistake on the cable.
My niece was right. I'll let it go.

Seed stitch swatch for a sweater

Actually, it's a double seed stitch - or double moss.

Working back towards making myself a sort of traditional aran knit with the blue wool pictured here. May actually use the vintage Brunswick cardigan pictured here.


Just want to find the Vogue Knitting issue(s) which had varied approaches to knitting selvages. I don't mind flat knitting, but I'm not much interested in making seams happen where the bumps and lumps of the aran textures aren't accounted for and prepared for.

That was a lousy sentence, but I'll be clearer another day.

Oops.

Here I finished the huge fuzzy feet, all delightfully pink and maroon, and I went and sealed up the envelope Friday before I had a chance to take a photo.

They weren't that glamorous, but it's not on that account that I won't open up the envelope. I'm just not keen on looking for more tape.

Meanwhile, I will upgrade my sock count. They count, even if they were fast. And wow, were they fast. That's a curious thing about knitting in the summer. Done is good. Just not in the mood for lots of detail.

You know, some time I'm going to have to take back the knitting reins. I used to cable a fair bit. I have two sweaters with varied sizes of cables upon them. One of them I wore even past the comical "why did I make the sweater out of THIS" point. That one is now officially destined for a new life. I'll get around to that story one of these days.

Oh, Gracie, look at the time! I have to go.