Show Me Your Knits

Spooky Socks

Yesterday was "Mismatch Day" at the kid's school.  I, myself, would have interpreted this as a day    to wear garish colors or polka dots with plaids and stripes, rather than the ugly tie as bandana with broken sunglasses look he opted for, but that's okay.  He's happy with it, and these days, that means a lot.

I've been having fun knitting these striped Halloween socks.   They're self-striping yarn hand-dyed Lovesticks sock yarn.  I had to custom order these two colorways.  The completed pair, are called "Toil and Trouble" and the almost completed black/white/orange pair are called "Trick or Treat".  These were very fast knits.  I got two pairs almost done in just one week.  In fact, I should have been done with the second pair, but I started getting distracted by other projects.  As tomorrow is Halloween, I need to finish that sock up.  These are fun, silly socks and they're totally cute.  (Ooh, I totally sound like a teenage girl.  Totally.)  There's something mindnumbingly soothing about knitting a simple striped stockinette sock where you don't have to think further than "ooh, look, it's another orange stripe".  I usually do a heel flap with a gusset, but with a wide self-strip, I like a short row heel.  I tried two different spots for the heel in the stripe pattern.  With the green/orange/purple         colorway, I started the heel after the thin green stripe.  With the black/orange one, I started after the thick orange stripe, which does give me a neat bullseye sort of heel, but then I get that thick double orange stripe on the front of the sock.  I can't decide which way I like better.  Anyway, tomorrow we're going to carve that bad boy pumpkin up.  The kid has greater faith in my artistic abilities than I deserve, as he was talking about intricate designs that I'm thinking are just not going to happen, but we'll see.  I remember my brother being really good at pumpkin carving.  (Yo, Greg, isn't that right?)  Me, I'm just going for the basic scary jack o' lantern design.  But I'll be wearing spooky striped socks.

More Socks Bite the Dust

This past weekend we took an unplanned roadtrip through southern Missouri, down back country roads to enjoy the fall foliage and the countryside views.  Our thirteen year old was less enthusiastic from the back seat, with comments like, "I can't believe you guys don't know exactly where we're going" and "what do you mean, we're looking at leaves?"  My sister said she even got a text message from him that said "This place sucks!"  Comments from the peanut gallery aside, we really did have a nice time.  We drove past tiny towns with odd names, like Coal, Missouri, and my personal favorite, Tightwad, Missouri.  (Population 63)  We busted up laughing when we drove past the Tightwad Bank.  I'm serious!  I wish we had stopped to take a photo.  I spent the drive knitting socks, except when the roads got really curvy and I felt barfy, which was probably a good thing (the sock knitting, not the queasiness) because I found this third pair of socks with holes in the heel and had to toss them.  My husband was sad when he saw them in the trash and wondered if there was any way to darn the heels.  I'm sure there is, but I'm not going to do it.  There's too many fun sock yarns out there and I enjoy knitting socks too much to worry about fixing holes like this.  I tried to explain this to my husband, and he was sweet and said that it just was hard for him to see something that he knew I worked hard on and had thousands of stitches involved in it just chucked in the trash.  To me, they had a good, useful life and now their time is done, I suppose.  I am  wondering about myself and my mindset, though.  I mean, these socks didn't spontaneously wear out while stored in the back of my sock drawer during the hot summer months.  I must have seen the holes at the end of the cold season last year, but why would I put them back in my sock drawer?  Did I not want to deal with them at the time?  Could I not bear to throw them out then?  Did I think the magic sock fairies would helpfully darn them over the summer while I wasn't looking?  What was I thinking?  I'd ponder this a bit longer, except I need to get busy knitting some new socks.

A Cold Rainy Day

It has been cold, rainy, and miserable outside all day long, so as a result, I can't take any of the outside photos of my new silk lace yarn that arrived today or my happily striped Halloween-themed socks.  I don't like how my camera makes inside shots look, so instead, I'll just post a picture-less blog today where I ramble on about lots of nothing.

The weather stinks here.  I saw an accident, or two seconds after it happened, out my window at work.  This poor elderly gentleman t-boned a police car.  I don't know if the police woman pulled out in front of him or if he couldn't get pulled over quick enough or what.  The whole front of his hood was crumpled and the police car's passenger door was completely caved in.  I really felt bad for both of them.  They were standing out in the cold rain for ages and then about six police vehicles showed up to inspect the damage and take photos.  No one was hurt, but you couldn't help but feel sorry for the older man and the police woman for having such a crap day.

Last night I purchased a cardigan pattern, Fair Enough, from the Knit and Tonic blog site.  It's the kind of cardigan that I would wear continuously, especially on cold, cruddy days like today.  It calls for Karabella 8 aran weight yarn, which is a beautiful yarn, but has low yardage and a higher price for such small skeins, so I thought I'd check out the yarn stash.  It seems like all my aran weight yarn is too rustic looking for this sort of cardigan, which I can see wearing to work.  Plus, I was confused about my mindset with some of my older stash.  I had several lots of a weird amount of older yarn, but nowhere near enough to make an entire sweater out of each bit.  You know, four skeins of Rowan Magpie (remember that yarn?  Yum.)  or five skeins of one shade of Donegal Tweed and three skeins of another shade.  This is old yarn, but what was I thinking?  Did I not know what yardage a sweater takes or was I planning on making sleeveless vests or weird color blocked sweaters or unflattering striped sweaters?  Why such strange amounts of yarn?    

Must Knit New Socks

Here are two pairs of socks that I had to throw away today.  They lived a good and useful life, but their time is now done.  I almost couldn't bear to toss them, so I dumped my used coffee grounds on them so I wouldn't be tempted to go "trashcan fishing".  These two pair are at least two years old.  I think they're knit out of Koigu, but I wouldn't swear to it, as they were knit pre-Ravelry, so I didn't keep records.  I think there may be several more pairs deep in the recesses of my sock drawer that are almost at this stage, too.   Fortunately, I have a few (dozen) skeins of sock yarn, so I can always knit more.  And this is the latest pair I've knit.  Except, they're not for me.  My friend, Colleen and I were at a yarn shop at the end of August.  She doesn't knit, but she really wanted a pair of handknit socks.  Our other friend, Rachel, piped up about my attempting to knit a pair of socks a week (okay, so we're at week 20 and I have 10 pairs done and two more almost done) and so I told Colleen that if she didn't mind waiting a bit and if she bought the yarn, I would be happy to knit her a pair.  These are out of Claudia Handpainted sock yarn, which I love to knit with because the yarn is so sproingy.  This colorway is called "Toast", which doesn't make sense to me, as I don't eat blue toast myself.  Honestly, I didn't care much for the colorway when Colleen picked it out.  I was sending her psychic waves to pick the red or pink shades, but she wasn't picking up on my brain waves.  I do really like  the colorway now.  It was one of those ones that you like better when it's knit up.  Of course, the important thing is if my friend likes them.  I thought she might be a bit shocked at the price of the yarn, but she took it all in stride.  She didn't think it was outrageous at all.  (Or at least, she didn't let on that she did.)  Since I count yarn as my entertainment when I knit, I don't think twice anymore about spending $20 plus for a pair of handknit socks, but if you're not a knitter, you might pause about that.  I remember once going into a fabric shop with my father and getting a little stack of quilting fabric for a project.  I don't remember the cost, but my dad was really shocked that I was spending so much on such a "tiny little stack of nothing".  I guess it's all your perspective of your hobby/craft costs.   

I Am Officially the Mother of A Teenager

     

Today my child turned 13.  Here he is, mugging for the camera, in his new birthday clothes from his aunt.  He also received his first cell phone from us.  He's been wanting a phone for almost a year, but my husband and I just couldn't see why a child would need a cell phone.  He's probably the last one of his peers to get a phone, so maybe it really is time.  He's involved in all sorts of sports and extracurricular activities, so maybe the phone will make it easier to coordinate all the after school events that I'm continually picking him up for.  We really debated about this phone.  In the end, we made him sign a family contract.  (Seriously.)  This is because we are the World's Strictest Parents, so I've been told.  The contract contains such basic tenets as "If I get detention, I will lose my phone for one week."  Pretty straightforward stuff to encourage responsibility.  As you can tell, he's pretty excited about the new phone.  Privately, my husband is trying to bet me ten dollars that he can't go ten days without losing it, breaking it, or having it taken away as punishment.  Although I want to have faith in my child's maturity, I'm not ready to take that bet yet.  At any rate, happy wonderful birthday, kid.  We love you bunches, even if we doubt we'll survive the next few teenage years with you.

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

I finished this Swallowtail Shawl well over a week ago, but I was hoping that someone would photograph me artistically with it while I was frolicking through the woods, but as it becomes abundantly clear that this isn't going to happen, you get photos of it propped on our front step railing, with the artistic view of the cat food bowl we feed the neighbor's cat with in the background.     I cast this shawl on the day that my Wollmeise Sock club shipment arrived.  This colorway is called "Hollerstaud'n", which I think is a Bavarian German translation of "elderbush".  Normally, I am truly ambivalent about the color purple, but I can't express to you how beautiful this yarn is--there are deep depths of purple and blackish purple throughout the skein.  It's quite breathtaking.  A regular sized Swallowtail shawl has 14 repeats of the lily-of-the-valley lace portion and takes 516 yards of fingering weight yarn.  My skein of Wollmeise has 574 yards and there's a larger version of this shawl that uses 19 lace repeats, but I didn't know what yardage that would take.  I asked on the Ravelry lace boards if anyone had gotten the larger version out of one skein of Wollmeise and I couldn't find anyone who had, but the general opinion out there was that it was probably doable, but it was going to be close.  (I'm sure that you're sensing foreshadowing here.)  I threw in two lifelines   at crucial points, in case I had to rip back because I didn't have enough yarn, but when I got to the LAST 3 ROWS and I ran out of yarn, besides wanting to cry, I just didn't have the heart to rip it back.  It was just so pretty.  All those nupps in that deep purple looked like juicy berries.  I'd just look at the lace and feel happy.  (Except for the crying because I was out of yarn so close to the end part.)  I went back to Ravelry, this time to the Wollmeise board, and made a desperate plea for a little bit of leftovers from someone's sock club skein.  The problem was that I had cast on this project immediately and finished it (almost, save the last three rows) so quickly, that most people hadn't cast on anything with their skeins yet, let alone had leftovers.  But, I was crafty.  And really desperate.  I noticed that there was a like-minded knitter on the Wollmeise Ravelry list who had also quickly knit up a Swallowtail Shawl, but was much smarter than me and only did the regular version.  Her name is Lyn and I don't know her at all, but  I was desperate.  I'm not proud of this, but I contacted this perfect stranger and told her my sad, sad tale and asked for about 10 or 15 yards of her Wollmeise leftovers.  Okay, if we're going to be perfectly honest here, I begged.  Pleaded, even.  I can't tell you how horrified my husband was about this.  He kept saying, "You asked someone you didn't know for yarn?"  It was akin to me standing at the street corner with a hand written sign and a begging cup.    This lovely lady, Lyn, being a knitter, understood my yarn desperation, and graciously sent me the yarn I needed to finish those last lousy three rows.  She truly saved the day.  And saved my shawl.  And if any of you out there ever need a few yards of my leftovers to finish your special project, just call me.  Swallow your dignity and don't be too proud to beg.  I did it.  You can, too.

Yarn Harlot Says Kansas City, Here I Come

Just got home from a lovely evening out with my friends and the Yarn Harlot.  I almost felt like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is one of my friends.  When we got to the spot where she would be speaking that night, I saw her through a window in a side room, signing extra copies of her book, and I had to resist waving to her like we were old friends.  Just because I feel like I know her through her books and her blog, doesn't mean she knows me from Adam.  I bet celebrities, knitting ones and otherwise, get that a bunch.  I really enjoyed her talk and book reading.  (Note to the mother holding the poor crying, continually croup-y coughing little baby behind us in the audience--not a great idea on your part to bring your little barking cough baby out on such a rainy night when he obviously felt lousy.  Yes, I'm totally judging you here.)  It was a very funny talk and the entire audience was laughing, especially when she was telling her story about getting locked out of her hotel room wearing only powder blue underpants with "Cowgirl" written across the butt.  (Or "arse", as she said.)  She was very self-deprecating, yet endearing, and she had spilled water all over her front in the bathroom right before she came on and she was certain that we would all blog about it.  (Sorry, Stephanie.)  After she spoke for a bit, she read from her new book, Free Range Knitter, and then at the end, she had a question and answer portion, which I enjoyed immensely and was sorry when the book store organizers started the book signing.  I was the only one in our group who wanted her book signed, but two of my friends waited in their seats and knitted while I was in line.  At one point, I looked over at them and they were doing a two person "wave".  I shot them the "L is for Loser" sign, but truthfully, I was completely amused.  Here I am with the Yarn Harlot, a lovely woman.  I made a conscious effort in this photo to hold my eyes wide open, so you could see that I actually have eyeballs.   

Busy Weekends

We went out of town this weekend to attend a country wedding and a Shotgun Festival.  (Surprisingly, not the same event.)  Actually, every member of the family went their own way this weekend.  The kid had a two day campout with the Boy Scouts that included a lot of first aid training.  At one point, two helicopters landed at the campsite for a mock disaster drill.  Parents knew about this event beforehand (Parents-we are omnipotent!) but it was a surprise for all the scouts.  The kid said that it was supposed to be an accident where a helicopter lost control and hit a bus.  He described the "fake blood and fake intestines" with great gusto.  His age group watched the proceedings, but he definitely learned about triaging.  I went to my husband's cousin's   wedding, which was beautiful.  It's odd to see the little girl that you used to mail   Halloween stickers and fancy pencils to, grown into a beautiful and gracious bride.  Do you like the Missouri mules-drawn wagon for the bridal party?  This is how we do it here.  I especially liked the extra special touch of the autumn leaf garlands around their necks.   One of the things I would have liked to do this weekend, but there wasn't enough time, was to take the yarn design class offered today at the Yarn Barn in Lawrence, Kansas.  I'm really in love with spinning, and I've actually gotten to where it's usually relaxing, but I'm still not as good or as accomplished at it as I'd hoped.  In fact, often times, I'm still quite shocked when I end up with workable yarn after a session of spinning.  Right now, I'm spinning this hand dyed Blue Faced Leicester fiber from Spunky Eclectic.  I'm spinning it as thinly as I can, because I'm hoping that when I double-ply it, it will be thin enough to knit into socks.  But I don't know at this point.  My spinning is often (always) a crap shoot.  I'm hoping that the technical spinning class will help me out.  It will be nice if I can take it the next time that it is offered.   There's so much that I'm clueless about in the spinning world.  Three-plying?  Never done it.  Not quite sure how you go about it, either.  Navajo plying?  Not even sure exactly what it is, let alone how to do it.  I want to gain enough proficiency in the spinning world so that I can run with the cool spinners who say things like, "Jessica's N-plying is so rad!"  Actually, I don't think anyone really talks like that, but I'll let you know for sure if I ever make it into the "really cool" spinners clique.       

More Detention, Or, My Child's Days Are Numbered On This Earth

The kid has just finished vacuuming the entire house and is now practicing his tenor sax enthusiastically and without being reminded (much) as a way of kissing butt, I mean, doing penance.  Our child is not a very popular person around here right now.  Let's just say, that during an important work phone call, my cell in my lab coat begins to ring and it was the vice-principal of his middle school.  Again.  This woman and I are almost on a first name basis by now.  No doubt, another couple of phone calls and we'll be BFF's and I'll be knitting her a pair of socks for Christmas.  Anyway, our child is once again serving an hour of detention after school on Monday for basically goofing off during a class with a substitute.  I swear that the vice-principal asked him if he would have been doing his work in class if his regular teacher had been there and the dummy answered, "yes, she's stricter."  I'm quite possibly speechless.  Tonight at dinner, he casually mentioned that a teammate on his football team would also be serving detention on Monday, but he has a two hour sentence, for "hocking a loogie down the stairwell".  (Have I mentioned lately how utterly disgusting I think boys are?)  I think this comparison was meant to make us realize how positively angelic the kid is in comparison with only one hour of detention.  It didn't work.  We don't fall for that.  Anyway, I just thought I'd share my current parenthood woes with you all out there.  Those of you with perfect children, I'm thinking hateful thoughts your way.  (Not really.  Well, maybe just a tiny bit.)

Big-Headed Babies

I just got a lovely thank you note from a friend for her soon-to-be-born son's baby sweater and hat, so I thought I'd share the project.  This sweater is called Get Ziggy from a talented designer  from Canada.  She seems to specialize in baby/child knitting patterns, which I love to knit.  I've purchased several of her designs, but this is the only one I've knit so far.  I really love the lap shoulder design.  As the mother of a big-headed baby, I appreciate this.  I wish I'd used this design feature years ago when I was knitting for the kid.  It would have saved me several instances where I had to rip back necks and add button closures, plus one painful intarsia acrylic number with a sparkly snowman on it that never was worn because it didn't fit over his head and I never bothered to redo the neck.  The lap shoulder is a bit thick with double material, but if you're using a soft yarn, like the Cotton-Ease I used here, it's not a problem.  You sort of get Baby Shoulderpads, but it's kind of cozy.   One of the  things that I appreciated about this pattern is that the designer is brutally honest about the matching cabled hat.  She says that the pattern is much cuter off the baby than on the baby.  I appreciate that kind of honesty, so I just made a simple rolled brim, knotted top hat to coordinate with the sweater.  I think the whole ensemble came out quite cute.  I've got a friend due with a girl in December, so I've already bought pink Cotton-Ease to make a girlie pink/chocolate brown trimmed one.