Return to Sixburgh*

So, I'm back. The Mister and I were away for the weekend in Deep Creek, Md., so he could do a little skiing. I do not ski (I've tried, and it doesn't agree with me), so I was happy to curl up with my knitting and watch some TV. I managed to get the entire sleeve of his Big Thaw Pullover done before we left to come home.

Unfortunately, it looks like this sweater is going the way of the Cambridge Jacket in its sleeve size. I'm beginning to think that men's patterns are written assuming a much more muscular build than my husband has. Perhaps those roomy arms are meant to be filled by large biceps? The Mister said he didn't mind the roomy arms so long as both arms are equally roomy, and I think it will work out okay as this sweater has a sweatshirt-y feel to it, but I think I'll stick with Elizabeth Zimmermann sweaters from now on.

We were home in plenty of time to watch the Super Bowl; thankfully we stayed home, so I didn't have to scramble to get things together for a party. Needless to say, we were quite thrilled with the result of the game, though I could have done without the anxiety at the end of the fourth quarter. I did finish the second of my game-day dishcloths (knit entirely during the playoff games and the Super Bowl) just before the end of the game, and I'm thankful that I wasn't working on a fitted garment, because I'm pretty sure my gauge was affected by all the excitement.

I took a vacation day from work yesterday, in part because I knew I'd be up late Sunday night but also because I needed a day to get some things done that I normally do on the weekends. Fortuitously, having the day off also allowed me to run over to Natural Stitches when it opened and sign up for Franklin's lace class. I know that I am already fairly experienced lace knitter, but I've never taken a real knitting class, so I thought it would be fun. It's also right before my birthday, so I'm considering it my birthday gift to myself. Plus, it's Franklin!

Once I got that and a couple other errands done, I returned home to spend the rest of the day in fibery pursuits. First, first I spun for a few hours while watching Juno on HBO, then I picked up my knitting and finished watching a disc of the first season of The West Wing. The knitting accomplishment for the day was finishing up Renata's socks:

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. (winter '06 Knitty)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, colorway Glenwood, two skeins
Needles: two 12" US 1 (2.5 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: January 26/February 2
Mods: changed all purls to knits, knit one less repeat on the leg, and inadvertently omitted one plain row in the lace pattern (but I can't tell the difference)

These, along with a fair amount of leftover yarn, will be delivered to Renata, weather permitting, at tomorrow night's meeting of the Hurricane Knitters (7 p.m., Waterworks Barnes & Noble).


*As if it weren't enough that our mayor already changed his name to Luke Steelerstahl, apparently we now live in Sixburgh, PA.

I Should Call Them My Debt Monkeys

Knit with the last of my non-sock club STR, these were completed shortly after I became a homeowner and acquired a massive amount of debt.


Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. (winter '06 Knitty)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight (100% superwash merino), colorway Stormy Weather, one skein
Needles: two 12" US 1 (2.5 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: June 5/June 15
Mods: my usual -- no purls and a slip-stitch heel flap -- and an accidental oopsie in the placement of the gusset decrease stitches that resulted from not having the pattern in front of me

I bought this yarn with a BMFA gift certificate that came as part of my final package from my Sockret Pal spoiler, Becky. I originally intended it for a pair of socks for The Mister, but I soon realized that the pooling would be way too busy for his taste, even if the colorway was squarely in his usual range of preferences.

Speaking of pooling, I'm quite pleased with how well the striping/spiraling worked out on these socks. They make me think of the old black-and-white jail uniforms, hence the moniker "Jailbird Monkeys" on my Ravelry projects page.

In a moment of almost-guilt for using yarn that was intended for The Mister, I cast on a pair of plain socks for him as soon as these were done. They're black and gray and extremely boring, but at least they'll knit up quickly.

* * * * *

Thank you all for your congratulations on the new house! I promise I will post some pictures eventually, once we're all moved and settled in. We've having a bunch of work done this week (new electrical service, some plumbing, new carpet, etc.), and the furniture and boxes arrive on Friday, so I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend we'll be reasonably unpacked and back to normal.

Finally, a reminder -- tomorrow is the third Wednesday of the month, so the Hurricane Knitters will be meeting starting at about 7 p.m. at the Waterworks Barnes & Noble. We'd love to see some new faces, so stop by if you can make it!

How I Spent the Rest of My Week

I printed and knit the first clue of the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl, a day earlier than expected.

I got to the lace portion of my February Lady Sweater.

I knit a heel, gusset, and foot of a Monkey sock.

I did some spinning and gave it a lot of good thwacking.

I bought a house!

My Funky Monkeys

Another piece of evidence for the argument that no-purl Monkeys practically knit themselves:

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. (winter '06 Knitty)
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug (100% superwash merino), colorway 85/Jay, one skein (267 m/100 g)
Needles: two 12" US 1 (2.5 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: January 10/January 17
Mods: did three pattern repeats on the leg due to limited yarn yardage; no purls!

It's a shame that this yarn is so pricey and so skimpy on the yardage, because it was a delight to knit with (especially after the last sock yarn). I'm no expert on base yarns, but this seems extremely similar, if not identical, to the base yarn used by Socks That Rock -- on the thicker side for a fingering weight, and with a nice tight twist.

I have no idea why one sock pooled and one spiraled, although I have a suspicion it might have something to do with the two knots I found in the skein in the middle of the second sock. Fortunately it looks like I at least got the same dyelot at the knots; there have been some horror stories on Ravelry about other knitters not only dealing with large quantities of knots but yarn sections that were tied together that were from completely different dyelots.

Whatever the cause of the strange color behavior in my socks, I do like the effect I got with it in the slip-stitch pattern of the heel flaps:

Pretty, no? I quite like these socks. I only wish they were a bit taller, but it turns out that I estimated my yarn usage rather well and ended up only with a small ball of yarn left. These have yet to be blocked (and they could use a good blocking), so I've yet to see whether my skein of Jitterbug will have the property other Ravelers have complained about: dye in the wash water.

Considering I can get the same yarn feel along with more yardage and less cost from a skein of STR, I think that's what I'll be sticking with in the future.

Last night's meeting of the Hurricane Knitters was just what I needed after an extremely stressful day at work. I did indeed work on my second mitten and am now ready to start the hand/thumb. I have a long weekend ahead, and I'm planning on using it to work on several WIPs. Perhaps I'll even resurrect some UFOs ... we shall see!

ETA: Help a knitter out, will ya? If you're on Ravelry, go vote for my friend WeirdyPants, who's been nominated for a Bobby!

Practice Makes ...

Well, not perfect, certainly. But better: Behold my second attempt at spindle spinning, done over the course of a couple of hours last night:

You can see it all got a little wonky toward the end there with some underspun portions, but trust me when I tell you that it was much more even at the beginning. I was certainly able to handle the spindle much better and no longer needed to "park and draft" to spin. I'm still struggling with adding more fiber, though some of my joins were better than others.

I was excited to pick up the spindle again after Jen let me try out her beautiful wheel over the weekend (we were talking fiber while the boys were playing video games). I felt a little bad about ruining her bobbin of very nice looking singles with my slubby mess, but she assured me she didn't mind. I will say that her wheel is quite beautiful and she was extremely nice to let me test drive it!

I'm still not sure if there's a wheel purchase in my immediate future. I'm going to wait until after my spinning class at the festival, once I've got the mechanics down a little better. I'm pretty sure that if I do buy one, it will be a single treadle. I just don't think I'm coordinated enough to manage two treadles in addition to what I have to do with my hands.

Lest you think I've spent all my time playing with roving, I present you with evidence that I have still been knitting:

The beginning of BSJ #2, which as you can see is being worked in the same striping pattern as the first one. I worked on this on Saturday afternoon while finally watching La Vie en Rose (I had to do something I could do mostly without looking; my French is not good enough to go without subtitles).

Oh, and I finished my first Jitterbug Monkey.

Mmmm, so nice and squishy and soft!

One Triplet Down ...

Dear me, that title sounds bad, doesn't it? What I mean to say is that the knitting for the first of the triplets is done (and modeled very kindly by our lava lamp):

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Cascade 220 Tweed (green), color 7601, one skein, and Cascade 220 Wool (brown), color 9465, approximately 1/2 a skein
Needles: 32" US 5 (3.75 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: January 3/January 10
Mods: none

What can I say? This knit is not only fast and fun, it's an adorable baby sweater (and trust me when I tell you it looks a lot better on a baby than it does on a lava lamp). The pattern was much easier to follow the second time around, mostly because I knew what to expect. I slipped the first stitch on each row, as EZ recommends, and I just love the smooth edge that resulted.

The next sweater, for the other boy triplet, is going to use the same green and a light gray for the stripes. I haven't yet figured out the colors for the girl triplet's sweater, but all three are going to have the same buttons (somehow I managed to buy three sets of the same type -- unheard of!).

This next picture gives you a better idea of the striping, and it reminds me strangely of Beaker.

I'm going to cast on for the second sweater tonight. The garter stitch has reeled me in!

Oh, and Yvonne was right: After the Noro, er, experience, I couldn't resist the siren call of the no-purl Monkey.

Ahhhh. That's better.

Finished: Monbras (or is it Zekeys?)

Cross another project off my holiday knitting list:

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A (winter '06 Knitty)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (80% superwash wool, 20% nylon), colorway 101/Shadow, two skeins
Needles: two 12" US 1 (2.5 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: November 5/November 15
Mods: no purls in the stitch pattern, and I used a slip-stitch heel

Is it just me, or do these look rather

like zebra butts?

These are for my mother-in-law, who luckily has feet very nearly the exact same size as mine, which makes it very easy to knit socks for her (and even easier to model them for blog pictures -- don't worry, they'll be washed before she gets them).

Would you belive that this LLSS is the very first Lorna's I ever bought? It was an impulse eBay purchase about two years ago, and it had been sitting in the stash waiting for the right pattern ever since. It turned out to be perfect for this pattern, just so long as you don't look too hard at them while intoxicated.

There's not much to say about this pattern that I haven't already said. I think I've gotten the Monkey business out of my system for a while, but these definitely won't be my last pair.

As soon as these were finished I cast on for what I'm calling Very Boring Socks Indeed -- plain stockinette socks in navy blue, for my father, by request. Only for someone I love would I knit such a boring sock! At least it will go quickly -- and at least my father's feet aren't as long as my husband's.

Enhancements

First things first: Jenn and I both wore our recently completed Central Park Hoodies to the meeting of the Hurricane Knitters last night, and we took the requisite shot of each other:

We had our usual good time, and towards the end of the evening we got a bit punchy. But it was just what I needed to cheer me up after a stressful day at work. What also helped were the packages waiting for me at home.

Remember the test knitting I did back when I was fresh out of the hospital? Well the designer sent me a package of goodies as a thank you. There was a gorgeous skein of yarn, some edible treats (pumpkin seeds and hot cider mix), and a beautiful wood inlay box that will serve perfectly to hold these gorgeous stitch markers:

My less-than-stellar photography skills have failed to capture the real color of the beads -- a beautiful indigo with an underlying silvery sparkle.

The other package was a shipment from Knit Picks. The original reason for the order was to get the book (you know, since I had the stitch markers all ready) and some navy sock yarn for the socks my father requested. Then I decided I really wanted to try some Felici, and then I noticed that there was some Shine Sport on clearance (for less than $10, it'll make another Pea Pod set!). At that point I was so close to the free shipping, I threw in a skein of Telemark with no particular project in mind. I'm sure I can find some use for it -- suggestions, anyone?

I got a surprise package in the mail today, from Miriam. Inside was my Adamas, which she'd borrowed to photograph. As a thank you, she sent me two jars of homemade jam. Yummy! Thanks, Mim!

Now that the CPH is done (and I promise a full write-up with photos will be up in the next day or two), I'm not feeling the same sense of urgency to knit any particular project. I resurrected a very old UFO for knit night last night; I'm hoping to have it finished for my mom before it's a full year old. I did work a little on The Mister's sweater when I got home last night, but I'll spare you the picture of dark brown stockinette. Then there are the socks I started for my mother-in-law:

More no-purl Monkeys, in Lorna's Laces. Would you believe this is the very first Lorna's I ever bought? It's been living in the stash for a couple years now; I thought it was about time I used it.