Tying up loose ends

At work, this week has been dragging on, so I feel like I've barely been home. I've been planning this blog post for at least two days now, but it's just as well that I didn't get to the computer, as it gave me time to finish up some things. Like -- would you believe? -- another pair of these:

Pattern: Fetching (duh, you know)
Yarn: Valley Yarns (WEBS' yarn line) Amherst (100% merino), color Black, one skein with a fair amount left over
Needles: US 3 dpns
Started/Completed: December 11/December 13
Mods: Regular (rather than picot) BO at top, smaller needles

The recipient of these wristlets has tee-tiny hands, so I used smaller needles to wind up with a smaller finished product. For comparison's sake, here's one of the above wristlets with one made with the normal size needles:

This yarn was a very acceptable substitute for DB Cashmerino Aran. The resulting fabric was soft and squishy, and I know it will be nice and warm. Perhaps most impressive? From the stash. I wound up with two skeins of this (along with two skeins in a mustard-y gold shade) as part of the Stitch 'n Pitch giveaway goodie bag.

Now that those are done, I've returned to some unfinished projects, namely the long-awaited mate to my Pumpkin Pie sock, which made its return to my sock bag this morning. My goal is to finish up the mate before the end of the year. (There's another mate-less sock for which I'd like to finish a mate, but we're not speaking of it just yet.) Progress also continues on J's scarf. I joined the second skein the other night and was knitting along happily when unfortunately I happened to spy something that made me very angry -- a knot. Grrrr. Did I just have bad luck picking out knotty skeins? Or is this a perpetual problem with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran? I'd write to the company and complain, but I bet they have enough to deal with right now with the whole cashmere content controversy. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Go Google it and then come back.)

I've had some nice mail come to me the past two days. Last night I got home later than usual after a nice dinner with my future in-laws. Dinner was delightful, but that meant it was really dark on my drive home (I hate driving in the dark). Lucky for me, I had a Knit Picks box waiting for me! Inside was a little sumpin' sumpin' for my Sockret Pal and some additional Classic Circulars, along with this:

This would be my final yarn purchase before the beginning of the self-imposed yarn diet. This is all Telemark (100% Peruvian wool) in Alpine Frost (blue) and Snow Leopard (gray), destined to be my first official fair isle project. These will have to wait for a bit until I finish up some other projects and obligation knits, but I'm excited to get to them so perhaps they'll be a motivator.

This evening I got home and found another surprise -- a package from my Sockret Pal! She sent me a great book, which will come in handy for some comic relief when the wedding planning starts to get stressful. Thank you, Sockret Pal! This was so thoughtful of you!

Finally tonight I leave you with the promised shot of the inside of the hat I knit last Saturday. All you experienced fair islers out there can tell me how my floats look and what you think of my tension. Perhaps you can also give me some good hints on how to weave in the ends in fair isle. Is there a correct way to do it? I've looked through all my general reference book and none of them has any tips on this.

Irrestringible

Despite the fact that J and I spent much of the weekend running around (I'll get to why in a minute), I was incredibly prolific in terms of my knitting. First of all, there were these -- yes, another pair!

Pattern: Fetching from summer '06 Knitty
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 (100% merino) in color 1362, one skein plus a few feet of a second (probably could've avoided this if I'd be less generous in my ends left to weave in), purchased when Pittsburgh Knit & Bead went out of business
Needles: US 6 dpns
Started/Finished: December 8/December 10
Mods: none, other than substituting yarn

These are for my best friend from college, who will be my maid of honor at my wedding; her birthday is next week. I started these after dinner on Friday night, but got very little done as we were both beat and turned in for the night at 10 p.m. Most of the knitting was done in the car while we went computer shopping and while sitting in J's office yesterday while he took care of some business. Having gone through all the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran from my Sockret Pal, I stash-busted with these and used up one of the four or five skeins of Aurora 8 I'd bought way back when. I think this color is more her anyway, and I love how sproingy the fabric is knitted up.

If you're counting, yes, this is my third pair, and certainly not the last. I've already started a fourth pair, this one for a friend of J's who uses an electric wheelchair (which she operates by hand). We had dinner with her Saturday night and she was remarking how her hands cramp up in the cold weather. She mentioned that she uses those little self-heating packs, but lacks a good way to keep them in place (mittens make it difficult for her to steer). So of course I offered to make her a pair of wristlets. I started them this morning, so expect to see them later in the week.

If you're wondering about the title of this post, you're not alone. I present for your consideration the back of the tag from the Aurora 8. Take a look at the description of the fiber content.

Yes, you read that correctly: apparently this yarn is not only 100% merino, it's also irrestringible. I have no idea what that means, but it sure sounds funny. Please feel free to enlighten me if you are so wise as to know what this term means!

We were home for a few hours Saturday afternoon, during which J worked and I watched Everything is Illuminated and knit. The movie was good, albeit a little odd and a little slow, and my knitting? Well, for this knitter, it was a definiting moment:

Baby's first Fair Isle! You know I've been dreaming of it, so finally I just decided to give it a try. Not bad, if I do say so myself! Here are the specs:

Pattern: Basic stockinette hat with one inch of 2x2 ribbing at brim

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool (100% wool) in Bright Red and Winter White (leftover from the Elf Feets)

Needles: US 8 16" circular and dpns

Started/Completed: December 9

I made up the stranded design as I went along -- notice I'm not showing you the back, where there's one spot where the design didn't quite work. I did the colorwork using a two handed technique, with the main color in my right hand and the contrast color in my left (to practice for this, I knit several rows in red before the two-color portions continental). I'm actually very pleased with how this turned out. My tension was fairly even and my floats aren't too tight. I should have remembered to take a shot for you of the inside; next post, I guess.

Every year at work we do a toy drive of sorts for a center for underprivileged children: you pick a paper stocking for a child that provides the child's name, sex, age, and toy preferences. I had to pick my little girl because we share the same first name! She is 15 months old, so I got her some educational toys, but I always like to include an article of warm clothing as well, so this hat is it. It might be a little big on her, but that will give her room to grow. (I doubt she'll appreciate the knitting, but my knitting coworkers will and J was sufficiently impressed.)

So now, I've mentioned that we spent part of the weekend computer shopping, and I'm sure you're wondering how that worked out, aren't you?

This post brought to you by my brand-spanking-new laptop! (Sorry about the flash glare there.) This was my Hannukah (and birthday, I've decided) present from J. He'd had enough of me complaining about my old laptop and how slow it was and how it would freeze up. I didn't think of it as being that old, but it was more than four years old and had seen me through the last year of college and grad school; four years is a long time for computers! So now I'm blogging on my new toy, which is immensely better (although I keep bumping the scroll bar on the side of the mouse pad by accident, which is rather distracting; I'll have to get used to this keyboard). This is an HP Pavilion something-or-other. Aside from being much faster and lighter than the old model, this one has a built-in microphone and Web cam, so I can talk to my kid brother on Skype when he's away at school.

J returned to Chicago this morning, so tonight is a chick flick and work on his scarf (I did frog and restart with another skein, and the six inches or so I've since knit have earned his seal of approval). Happy Monday -- or what's left of it!

Home Sweet Home

I am home, J is home, and I am so happy about that. Last night was horrendous. A combination of snow, cold, and a football game combined to make SJ one very unhappy commuter. After spending an hour in the car and only moving about a mile from my office, I was one big stressed-out mess. Assuming the road were okay (which I wasn't convinced they would be), it probably would have taken me another hour or two to make it home -- ridiculous when you consider that I live a mere nine miles from work -- so I threw in the towel and spent the night at my parents. Not the ideal situation, since all my clothes and personal items were at home, but there are still enough old clothes of mine there that I was able to put together a somewhat decent outfit for work today and spent time working on these rather than sitting in the car:

Yep that's another Fetching pair of wristlets, along with the leftovers from the one skein of Cashmerino Aran (noticeably less that last time, but I think that's because I was a tad bit more generous with the ends to weave in this time around). The specs are the same as the last pair. These are for J's brother's girlfriend, and -- more importantly -- these officially mark the end of my holiday knitting! (No nasty comments, please. Remember that I'm on my own during the week so all I've been doing is knitting.) You want a reminder of everything I've knit, so you'll be sufficiently impressed? Why, of course!

• Lady Eleanor for my future MIL
• Clapotis for my mother
• Socks for J's stepdad
• Socks for my dad
• Felted slippers for J's brother
• Socks for J (completed and blocked on Wednesday; can't show you the picture yet 'cause he might peek!)
• Ornament for family friends (with whom we'll be spending Christmas)
• Fetching for J's brother's girlfriend (see above)

I still have a few things to knit, but they aren't strictly for the holidays. The first is J's Cashmerino Aran scarf, of which I've already done about seven or eight inches, but I'm going to be frogging and starting with another skein of yarn. I've already encounted two knots in this skein, which is pissing me off, plus I've made a couple of mistakes (I was paying more attention to Heroes than to the scarf, apparently). J requested the scarf, and he's already seen the yarn, so it's not a big surprise. I've also just started another pair of wristlets (so fast, so addictive!) for my best friend, whose birthday is next week. Finally there's a pair of Broad Street Mittens for the brother -- another request. Yarn was purchased last weekend at Knit One (Dale Baby Ull) in semi-Michigan colors, but I can't really start until he comes home for winter break and I can measure his hands. He's 6'1", so I don't want to estimate, especially since this is officially the first time he's actually asked me to knit him something. (He says he needs these because he doesn't get cell reception inside his dorm, so he needs to go outside to make a call, but he can't dial his phone wearing regular gloves.)

Other news ... Well, the new Knitty is out/up, but you probably knew that already. I'm going to do these to teach myself Fair Isle with the Telemark I ordered from Knit Picks on Wednesday. And of course you know I want to do these as well, but, as I told Cookie, I really feel like I should make a mate to my poor lone Pomatomus and do a pair of Baudelaires first, as they're in my mental "socks to knit" queue. (Cookie has informed me, however, that she operates under the premise of knit what you want, when you want, so I guess I can do the same.)

While on the Knitty site, I happened to spot a banner ad for the 2007 Rockin' Sock Club. It took me all of about 30 seconds to register. I've been wanting to try Socks That Rock for months now, but never got around to buying any, so I figured this was as good a way as any to get my hands on some. It's a bit pricey, but probably no more than what I'd spend on yarn in that time, so I'm going to strictly enforce the yarn diet and only knit from the stash. Totally realistic, in my view. I've got plenty of sock yarn and enough yarn for about four sweaters. (An absolutely reasonable exception to the yarn diet, needless to say, is any fibery holiday gifts I might receive!)

I'm off to -- well, you know. Looking for something interesting to read until my next post? I suggest you see who was in my area yesterday (I'll bet they salted the roads for them!).

20 days and counting

Thank you all for your very kind comments on Lady Eleanor. I'm so happy with how she turned out, especially with the blocking -- she's now long enough to really wrap oneself up. J took a look from Chicago and has assured me that his mother will just love it.

So, as to the title. Even though it's not a holiday I technically celebrate, I'm still quite aware of the fact that Christmas is coming up quite soon. With that in mind, I've just finished up the last of my original holiday knits, and I'd like to share that pattern with you! Without any further ado, I present to you ...

Elf Feets!

These were inspired by Wendy's Pixie-feet slippers. These are a quick knit and make a great gift if you need to do some last-minute Christmas knitting. I whipped up the second one of these on Sunday afternoon during the Steelers game.

Materials

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool (100% wool) in Bright Red (MC) and Winter White (CC), one skein each

Needles: US 6 dpns, set of four

Crochet hook

Tapestry or darning needle

Gauge*: 23 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches

[*Note: gauge is not that important in this pattern, as you are not making a garment to fit someone. The most important thing is that your yarn is all or nearly all wool and will felt. If using a finer yarn, use smaller needles.]

Using CC, CO 45 sts and distribute evenly over three needles (15 sts on each needle). Join for knitting in the round, being careful not to twist sts.

Knit 10 rounds with CC.

Switch to MC and K 2 rounds.

Set up for heel:

K 11 sts from Needle 1, turn (transfer 4 remaining sts on Needle 1 to Needle 2).

Sl 1, P 10 sts from Needle 1 and 11 sts from Needle 3, turn. These 22 sts will be worked back and forth for the heel flap. Distribute remaining sts over other two needles.

Heel Flap:

Row 1: Sl 1, K 21, turn

Row 2: Sl 1, P 21, turn

Repeat rows 1 and 2 a total of 10 times (20 rows)

Turn Heel:

Row 1: Sl 1, K11, SSK, K1, turn

Row 2: Sl 1, P3, P2tog, P1, turn

Row 3: Sl 1, K to one stitch before gap, SSK, K1, turn

Row 4: Sl 1, P to one stitch before gap, P2tog, P1, turn

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until all stitches have been worked (note: on last two rows, you will Sl 1, K or P to one stitch before gap, SSK or P2tog -- this will be the last stitch).

Gussets:

K across 12 heel sts.

Pick up and knit 11 sts along side of heel flap and one st between flap and instep sts. (Needle 1)

With Needle 2, K 23 instep sts.

With Needle 3, pick up and K one st between instep sts and flap and 12 sts from side of heel flap, then K 6 sts from Needle 1.

(You will now have 18 sts on Needle 1, 23 instep sts on Needle 2, and 19 sts on Needle 3.)

Row 1: On Needle 1, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. K 23 instep sts on Needle 2. On Needle 3, K 1, SSK, K to end.

Row 2: K all sts.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until 44 sts remain (10 sts on Needle 1, 23 instep sts on Needle 2, 11 sts on Needle 3).

Knit even until foot measures 4 inches.

Toe:

Row 1: On Needle 1, K all sts. On Needle 2, K 1, SSK, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K 1. On Needle 3, K all sts.

Row 2: K all sts.

Row 3: On Needle 1, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K 1. On Needle 2, K1, SSK, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K 1. On Needle 3, K 1, SSK, K to end.

Row 4: K all sts.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until 10 sts remain (2 sts on Needle 1, 5 sts on Needle 2, 3 sts on Needle 3).

Combine the sts on Needles 1 and 3 onto one needle. You will now have two needles with 5 sts on each. Turn work so that yarn is at the right. K first st on front needle together with first st on back needle and continue across (as for a three-needle bind off). You will now have 5 sts on one needle.

Work Icord for 2.5 inches.

Cut yarn, leaving a 10"-12" tail. Pull through the loops on needle. Thread yarn through the center of Icord tube, pulling it out inside the toe. Weave in this and other ends.

Finishing

When you've made two of these slippers/socks, place them in a cotton pillowcase and close securely. Felt in a washing machine until fabric has reached its desired state. Shape toes by curling then back and allow slippers to dry. If desired, sew a bell or pom-pom to the end of each toe.

Using CC and leaving an 8" tail, crochet a 20" cord, pulling each st tight. Cut thread, leaving an 8" tail. Using tapestry or darning needle, thread one end of the cord through the back of each slipper at the point where you joined the MC. Secure end and cut. Tie a knot in the cord and hang it on the tree!

Here are the obligatory before and after felting shots (pen provided for scale):

Enjoy!

In All Her Glory

Knitters and gentleman, tonight I have a very special introduction to make to you. Formally making her debut this evening, I present to you ...

Lady E!

Pattern: Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole by Kathleen Power Johnson in Scarf Style (Interweave Press)
Yarn: Paton's Soy Wool Stripes (70% wool, 30% soy), colorway Natural Geranium, eight skeins (approximately 110 yards/skein)
Needles: US 9 32" circs
Dimensions: 21" x 76"
Recipient: my future MIL

I am so, so pleased with how this turned out. After adding a few extra tiers (maybe four?), I blocked the hell out of this baby yesterday, as you can tell from the final dimensions. I put on the final row of single crochet this evening, and it's done!

Obviously, if you have this book and know the pattern, I did not use the yarn called for; trek figured out that to do so would cost a whopping $374. I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of money laying around and I think J would kill me if I spent that much on yarn for one project (we are saving up for a house, after all) -- not to mention that this was one of many gifts I'm knitting for the holidays. I was originally going to use Noro Kureyon, but I coulding bring myself to spend even the roughly $80 or $85 it would cost me for a bag on eBay. Then, when I stopped in a Michael's when we were out one day, I came across this yarn and thought it would be perfect. When I finally made my purchase, I got lucky and stumbled across a sale! For 12 skeins of yarn and a pair of needles, I only spent about $64. And since I have four skeins left from the original purchase, I'll get another project out of it, too.

The yarn is quite lovely. It's very soft and the color changes are subtle. I does get rather fuzzy as you work with it, but I found that blocking smoothed the fabric out well. One (potential) downside to this yarn is that is does not stand up well to frogging. Maybe this won't bother you if you're the kind of knitter who never makes mistakes, but I'm not that kind of knitter. There were a few instances where I wasn't paying attention and made a mistake like decreasing on the wrong end of the row, and then I found myself having to rip back the whole rectangle or triangle -- which usually meant literally ripping the yarn away from itself where it had kind of fused to itself. On the other hand, this property made for very easy connecting of new skeins of yarn -- felted joins all around.

I'm still undecided about what to do with the leftover yarn. I would like to see how this yarn felts up, so I am thinking perhaps of some felted pillows or another, bigger French Market Bag to hold WIPs. I won't get to either just yet, as there are still just a few more holiday projects to do!

Tonight, I leave you with a pictorial timeline of Lady E's life to date. You've seen some of these shots before, but now they are all lined up with a final shot at the end. Enjoy.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Apparently all it takes is a little bit of kvetching on my part and some of you decide to come out of the woodwork. Hello, new readers! (or perhaps you're old lurkers?) I know there are more of you out there, however.

How do I know, with such certainty? Because I've been playing with my new toy, Google Analytics. J directed me to it when I commented to him that I was curious how people were getting to my blog (I didn't mention the bit about no one commenting and wondering if anyone was actually visiting the site, but that was part of it). I keep reading on blogs that people have found that visitors have come to their site as part of a random Google search, usually some really bizarre phrase. Well, my new toy doesn't tell me that, but it does give me a report of how many people are visiting the site and breaks down that number into how many are new and how many are returning visitors, gives details on how vistors are getting to the site (for instance, from Google, the Sockret Pal blog, or Jen's blog), etc. My favorite is the info it gathers on where visitors are geographically. One report shows a map of the world with pinpoints for where visitors are, and another lists number of visitors by country. As I would expect, most of my readers/visitors/webstalkers are from the United States, but there are a handful from Canada as well. Most surprising? The visitors from Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and Kuwait. (Do people knit in Kuwait? I thought it was pretty hot there.) Fascinating! I hope that if you're one of these international visitors you'll leave a comment and share some international knitting content!

And to get back to my own knitting content, great progress was made on Lady E last night. To refresh you memory, here are the progress shots:

After two skeins ...

and after four skeins ...

And now here we are back to present day, most of the way through the seventh skein. You see on the right what will be the eight and final skein. You ever have that experience where you're knitting and knitting on something and you don't seem to be getting anywhere, and then all of the sudden the thing is huge? That seems to be what happened here. I kept measuring it and it never seemed to get any longer than about 26 inches -- and then suddenly last night it was something like 54". I figure that once I finish this skein and use up the last one, it should measure in the mid-60s, and a good blocking might get it to close to the 70-72 inches I'd like it to be. That will leave me with four untouched skeins and I'll have to come up with something interesting to do with them. A large French Market Bag to hold WIPs? A felted pillow for the couch? Slippers? Share your ideas -- I'm sure you've got some.

J is finally home now after being stuck in Chicago this afternoon. I've finished the ribbing on his second sock, so it's all smooth sailing from here (aside from the fact, of course, that I won't be able to work on them this weekend while he's around). Maybe I'll even get in a second pair of socks for him in the next two weeks!

Lady E calls ...

Where have all the readers gone?

Okay, so I either did something horribly offensive and scared everyone away or you lurkers out there are la-zy. No comments whatsoever? No one* has any suggestions about Lady Eleanor or a cable pattern? No one has anything at all to say? Perhaps you would like some more interesting things to read, or perhaps I've scared you all with how much holiday knitting I've been doing? You get what you ask for, so if my musings are not to your satisfaction, please share with me what you'd rather I write about!

In any case, for lack of anything else, I'll have to fill in this post with the usual business.

I haven't touched Lady Eleanor since Tuesday, when I worked on her furiously through the Stars Hollow Knitathon (go take a look at Crazy Aunt Purl's last two posts for screen shots). Last night I was too busy finishing up a sock for J, as I knew I was near the toe and wanted to start up the second one to take for my lunch hour knitting today. Sorry, can't show you the picture, J might peek. It's a charcoal gray color, and I've combined two Knitting Vintage Socks patterns -- manly patterns, that is. Tonight it's back to Lady E, who I'm hoping will see her completion by the end of the weekend.

On a more interesting note, I do have this unusual local news story to share with you, right out of the WTF?!?! files. Not only is this unusual for the area, but the house where this critter is found is one that' s on my way to work every day -- good thing I keep my car doors locked!



*To her credit, Jenn tried to leave a comment but encountered technical difficulties (what would Blogger be without them, right?), so she sent me an e-mail with a great suggestion. I nearly ordered the book last night, Jenn, but then thought I'd bettter take a look at it first before spending the $20 or however much it is.

First Day of Buck

Happy Monday, or, as one of the local news channels had on the screen this weekend, First Day of Buck. (A brief pause for translation for those of you who don't live in, as they say, Western Pee-Ay: today is the first day of firearm buck season. Which means many offices and schools are closed today so that folks can go out and shoot Bambi and his friends.) I'm guessing someone was a little hasty in typing in that headline and forgot a key word.

In any case, J left again for Chicago this morning and I had to go back to work. It was simultaneously a long day and a short day, what with the huge pile of work on my desk and the farewell party for one of my coworkers who's leaving the office for another job (the latter cut into my lunchtime knitting, which did not make me a happy camper). At least my feet were comfy, as I was wearing Siegfried and Roy with my mary janes. I got lots of compliments, but took the shoes off as soon as I got home:


So ... spent lots of time this weekend working on Lady Eleanor. As of right now, here she is, halfway through the sixth skein of yarn:

At this point, I have seven more tiers to add before the final triangles to complete the pattern as written. However, I think I've mentioned that I have plenty of yarn (six more skeins beyond what you see here), and I think I'd like this to be a little longer. I'm not quite sure about just how much longer to make it, as I can already tell that a good blocking will add significant length. What do you think? I don't necessarily feel like I need to use all the yarn -- I'd like to use any leftover to have some fun with felting (maybe some pillows or slippers). Is there anyone out there who's blocked this yarn and can give me a sense of how much it will grow? As a reminder, I'm using Paton's Soy Wool Stripes (SWS).

Even if you can offer no advice on Lady Eleanor, you don't get off the hook that easily. I also need advice on my mom's scarf! I probably won't be starting it until right around Christmas (it may wind up being my car project) and it won't be a holiday present, but I'd like to start gathering some ideas. It will be similar to this scarf in that it'll be a long, primarily stockinette tube, but the cabling will appear at each end rather than running the length of it. I'm looking for a complicated-ish cable pattern, not too big (it'll have to fit on half the stitches of the scarf or less, as the tube flattens on itself). It will also have to be vertically symmetrical -- and by that I mean the same from top to bottom as bottom to top -- as I'll be knitting one end from the edge of the scarf toward the center and the other end from the center to the edge. Anyone have some ideas? Or do you know of any good resources for cable charts or diagrams? Much appreciated!

I'm off to scavenge for dinner and work on a sock. Such is my life.

Cheating

I have a confession to make. I cheated on my holiday knitting projects on Thanksgiving. I didn't even knit on my second Pumpkin Pie Sock, as I'd intended. I was tempted by the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in the stash, so I made these instead:

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath (summer '06 Knitty)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (55% merino, 33% microfiber, 12% cashmere*), color 300006, one skein (with approximately 10 feet left over -- I measured!), gifted from my Sockret Pal
Needles: US 6 dpns
Mods: I did a straight BO rather than the picot BO called for in the pattern.
Started/Completed: November 23/November 24

I needed a quick project to provide some instant gratification, and these fit the bill. I justified the knitting time as a trial run, as I wanted to see if this would be a good project for a gift for the FBIL's girlfriend (who happened to see them and noted that she liked them when she came over for dessert). I wore these around yesterday and, aside from one snide comment by a guy friend (something to the effect of "Madonna called; she wants her gloves back"), they were a big hit.

I showed these off at Yarns by Design, where I stopped yesterday afternoon with my mom and aunt to take advantage of the "pick a pumpkin sale" (you picked up a laminated picture of a pumpkin when you walked in with a code on the back corresponding to a discount amount). I used my 35% off(!) to score more DB Cashmerino Aran in a light gray shade to make J a scarf at his request, plus some bright red sock yarn, as he's decided that now he does want red socks. My mother, who had been admiring my tube scarf all day, decided she wanted one of her own and purchased some DB Baby Cashmerino in a dusty pink shade for this purpose. Her scarf will be much simpler -- basic stockinette with a fancy cable, yet to be determined, at each end. (If anyone knows of a pretty cabled design that might be good, let me know!)

These were done last Tuesday, but were blocking when I blogged and therefore had to wait for their big debut:

Pattern: Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Dusk, two skeins
Needles: US 1 Addi Turbo circs
Mods: Doubled thickness of yarn for the cast on to make it stretchier
Recipient: My dad

As for the rest of the list, Lady Eleanor is still there and shows no sign of going away any time soon. I scrapped the big stocking for the family friends and decided to go back to my regular tradition. For many years, I've taken them an ornament. For the first several years, it was something cross-stitched, but for the past two it was something knitted (you might remember last year's mini sweater). So I thought I'd make a pair of felted elf shoes -- basically small socks with pointy toes. The first one is done, the second is forthcoming, and a pattern will be published here for anyone interested.

I think it's about time I updated my Flickr albums, don't you? I'll just take care of that now.

*allegedly

Movin' Right Along

Anyone else remember that song from one of the Muppet movies? Ahh, takes me back to my youth.

But this is a knitting blog, not a Muppet blog, so back to the knitting content. I am making excellence progress on the holiday knitting. This is mostly due, I think, to the fact that J has been out of town and I've been knitting pretty much every minute of the day when I'm home, from the 20 minutes in the morning when I drink my coffee to when I'm in bed watching TV right before bed. This evening I finished up my father's socks right before dinner, and they're blocking as we speak (as I type?).

Lest we forget her ladyship, Lady Eleanor, she has seen progress as well the past few days. As a reminder, here she was after two skeins of yarn:


And here she is as of last night, with just a little bit of the fourth skein used up (you can see the few yards that are left on the seat of the couch):

At this point I am more than halfway done with the repeats as called for by the pattern, but the piece only measures about 27 inches in length. I know that a good blocking will increase the length a bit, but as I have plenty of yarn (I'm only through a third of what I bought) I may do some extra tiers. My FMIL is petite and thin, but I'd like this to be long enough for her to wrap herself up in it.

So, let's review the holiday knitting list, shall we?

• Socks for FFIL - DONE
• Clapotis for my mother - DONE
• Socks for my father - DONE, BLOCKING
• Lady Eleanor Stole for FMIL - in progress
• Felted slippers for FBIL - DONE
• Socks for J - first one started this evening
• Felted stocking for family friends - in progress (but plenty of time)

J comes home tomorrow! At some point in the next 36 hours or so, I will cast on for the second Pumpkin Pie sock (my planned Thanksgiving Day knitting project).

I'm off to watch Gilmore Girls. Please, oh please, do not let it be as bad as it was last week. (Just who is this imposter pretending to be Lorelai?)

On Reliability

When life get really crazy, and there are days when you don't see if the sun ever comes out, it's nice to know that there are still things you can count on. Like last night, the regular monthly knit night at Barnes & Noble. Jen and I were joined by Amanda, a newcomer to our group, who I don't think quite believed us about 40 guy. We told her about his normal routine, and how we'd seen him every knit night for the past six-ish months, but she still looked dubious.

And then, promply at 8:20 p.m. EST, guess who made an appearance:

Although Jenn was not there to be inappropriate, Jen and I whipped out our cameras the minute he disappeared to find his graphic novel for the evening and gathered more photographic evidence. (She took a rather bad picture of me with the 40 in the background, which I'm really hoping doesn't show up on her blog. If it does, at least you've been warned.)

Another reliable thing that's always comforting? The fact that 100% wool will always felt. Here are the slippers before felting (I remembered the ruler this time!) ...

And after ...
Pattern: Loosely based on Fuzzyfeet (winter '02 Knitty)
Yarn: Cascade 220, color 9451, used one skein for each slipper and ended up with at least 1/3 of each left
Needles: US 8 dpns
Mods: Many. I really only followed two parts of the pattern: 1) I knit the cuff to be three inches long, as called for, and 2) I knit the foot and toe to be the recommended 1.3 times the length of the recipient's foot.

Thank goodness for what felting does. When I was in the middle of kitchenering the second toe, a knot formed in the tail of the yarn without me noticing, resulting in my tugging on the yarn a little, resulting in my pulling all but about three stitches off the needles. I couldn't really figure out where I was or which stitches went with which needle, so I just made sure I went through every stitch at least once and the toe was closed up sufficiently. Had the sock not been intended to be felted, I would have frogged and redone the toe, but fortunately felting hides many flaws. Honestly, now you can't tell the difference.

So that's another item to cross off the list. I also finished the first of my dad's socks last night, and put another two tiers on Lady Eleanor. And the weekend is coming!

While reliability and predictability are nice and keep me sane, you know what really makes me happy? SURPRISES! Take a look at what was waiting for me when I got home tonight (and I didn't even see it at first because it was so dark and rainy and miserable):

My Sockret Pal strikes again! I don't know who she is, but I want her to be my new best friend. This gal clearly has been paying attention to me and selected swag that was so me. See that gorgeous yarn on the right? The color is brighter and more luminous in person, a gorgeous glowing teal that my pal dyed just for me. She calls this colorway Peacock Feather, because it made her think of the deep shimmery teal shades in peacocks' plumes. In her note (which was on top of all the goodies, so I read it before peeking under the tissue paper), she casually mentioned that she thought the yarn would be good for making myself a Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style, which I'd said in my questionnaire way back in September was a pattern I was dying to knit. I swear, I wasn't fishing -- but what you do you think was underneath the yarn?! All I can say is, it's a good thing J isn't home, because when I saw the book I just screamed with glee; had he been home, he would've thought I'd cut off my finger or something. There was also a great little zippered case inside -- that my pal SEWED HERSELF (she's clearly craftier than I) -- that was filled with even more goodies: locking stitch markers, a blue(!) Chibi (how did you know that my tapestry needles just disappeared, Sockret Pal?), a chic girly address book, and the most adorable gray sheep tape measure!

Sockret Pal, thank you so, SO much! You clearly put a lot of thought and time into putting this package together and I love everything in it! I'm just so impressed by your sewing skills -- I can't believe you even found matching teal thread! It will make a great bag for me to store all my notions, which I've desperately needed as I keep loosing things (just ask the fiance about the attack of hysterics I had when I couldn't find my thread scissors). As soon as I finish up the holiday knitting, the first thing I am going to cast on for is a Peacock Shetland Triangle!

Crossing Things Off My List

The holidays are just a little more than a month away, and I am making good progress in crossing things off my to-knit gift list. Case in point:

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert, fall 2004 Knitty
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly (55% nylon, 45% acrylic*), color 0356, three skeins plus about 10 yds. of a fourth
Needles: US 5 Addi Turbo circs
Mods: None, as far as the pattern was concerned, unless you count my complete disregard for gauge and needle size.
Recipient: My mama (*who claims she is allergic to wool, hence the high acrylic content. I just went for the softest yarn I could find -- in this case, a baby yarn.)

Next up, progress on the to-be-felted gigantic socks that will be slippers for the future brother-in-law. One sock is finished, and in case you think I'm exaggerating about the size, here you see one of my feet (in my recently completed Pumpkin Pie Sock) for reference.

I should've had the foresight to put a ruler in this shot as well. To get a sense of scale, I'll tell you that my feet are 9.75" long from heel to end of toes. That big green sock? A whopping 14.3" long. After weaving in the ends on this one, I immediately cast on for the second. I've got about two more inches of foot to knit before I hit the toe, so I estimate these will be ready to felt by tomorrow at the latest.

Other items on the list are also coming along. I've just started the heel of the first of my dad's socks, and I bought yarn over the weekend for the big stocking for the family friends. I've not cast on just yet for the second Pumpkin Pie Sock, but that will happen in the next week as it's the only project I can knit on Thanksgiving (because the recepients of the rest will be there).

Before I go back to the Giant Green Feet, here's your friendly monthly reminder that this Wednesday (11/15) is the monthly knitting night at the Waterworks Barnes & Noble. It appears that at least one-third of the usual group will be unable to attend due to an unfortunate intersection of vehicle troubles and Morse code (you'll have to ask her to explain), but the usual characters are likely to be there along with the rest of us friendly knitters. Won't you please come and join us? Pretty please?

Got Cute?

What a week it has been, and there's still another day left to go. Tuesday evening my mother and I went to meet with the florist for the wedding. He was delightful, and his dog sat in on our meeting and was just adorable (just go take a look). My dad was out of town and my mom was all alone, so I stayed at her place and we had a little girls' slumber party. Since I couldn't very well take her Clapotis to work on, I finished my first Pumpkin Pie Sock (pictures to come).

The other holiday gifts are coming along. I have a little less than two straight rows repeats left on the Clapotis before I can start decreasing. I'm also probably 2/3 done with the first giant -- and I mean giant! -- sock that will be felted for the brother-to-be. I also started socks for my dad, simple basic stockinette ones in a muted blue (same pattern as these).

I'm sure you're wondering just what cute thing I have for you this evening. I promise, it's good. Remember this sweater? We were supposed to get a chance to visit with baby Finn, for whom it was knit, but it never materialized. I was worried that I'd sat on the sweater for so long that by the time we got it to him he'd have outgrown it, but as it turns out I just have no conception of just how small babies are. J delivered the sweater to Finn's dad, and shortly thereafter I received a thank-you note with this little bundle of cuteness:

I know the photo quality isn't wonderful (I had to scan it, so it'd be all blurry if it's enlarged at all), but you can clearly see that there is plenty of room for him to grow. Is this a happy baby or what?

That's all the knitting content I got for tonight. I'm off to go do the happy dance, eat my extremely gourmet dinner of mac and cheese, watch celebrity Jeopardy!, and try to get through the rest of those straight rows.

Hail to the Victors

We are back from Ann Arbor and our visit with my brother. We had a great time, although it was not exactly a relaxing weekend. The highlight (other than seeing my baby brother, of course!) was an exciting Wolverines victory over Ball State. Here we are in the Big House, properly attired in our newly purchased U of M gear:

I may look like a blue marshmallow, but I'm warm!

At half time, after scarfing a hot dog and meeting up with brother, we made it back to our seats in time to watch the Michigan band perform a selection of favorite TV theme songs -- including the theme from Star Trek, which was led by a special guest conductor:

See the bald guy up on the ladder on the far left? It's a little hard to see since we were so far away (I enlarged the picture a bit), but that's no less than Patrick Stewart! Yes, Captain Jean Luc Picard himself (or Professor Xavier, if you prefer).

In addition to the game, we also had dinner two nights with brother and his two friends, who were also visiting for the weekend. Sure made the two of us feel old, hanging out with those young people (or perhaps young by proxy?). We also were able to meet my aunt and uncle for brunch yesterday before we headed home. I, for one, didn't sleep that much, but it was a fun weekend.

I did not get as much knitting done as I would have liked. Although I claimed I might have been able to finish the Clapotis for my mom on the trip, it was not to be. As of this morning, I was nearly done with eight of 13 straight rows repeats. It might have happened if I'd been monogamous to one project, but alas, the allure of the Pumpkin Pie Sock did me in; I couldn't resist its charm. You want to see what it looks like, don't you? Well here you go:

Yes, I know this isn't a great shot; my personal photographer left for Chicago for the week again today, so you're stuck with my trying to get a good angle of my own leg. As you can see, the first sock is almost done, and it fits perfectly. And before you start leaving me a comment telling me that my leg looks all lumpy -- those are the little yarn bobbins of the ends I have to weave in once the knitting is done. Which it should be shortly (roughly 1/2" more of the pumpkin and then the toe in cream).

Tonight I'm feeling generous, and Blogger is cooperating, so here's another shot so you can see the faux seam down the back of the leg:

Calf muscle is not nearly as large
as it appears

I'm very pleased with how these are turning out, especially as all the math I did to create the pattern seems to be working out. I can't really give you the pattern, as it's made to fit my legs/feet, but if anyone is interested I'll be happy to write up the steps to create a custom-fit sock pattern. Just let me know by leaving me a comment (c'mon, you know you want to!).

Final thought for tonight: Unless you're living under a rock (or in another country), you should know what tomorrow is -- and I don't just mean the end of all those annoying campaign ads. Consider this a public service announcement and a friendly reminder to exercise your constitutional right to vote. I don't care who you vote for, just VOTE!

Under the Wire

Take a look at what I was able to complete last night, at the 11th hour before the end of Socktoberfest (literally):

Pattern: Gentleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern by Nancy Bush in Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon) in Navy, two full skeins plus a little bit of two more skeins
Needles: US 1 Knit Picks 32" circulars
Mods: none

These socks were the first pair I knit at the same time on both needles. I see the appeal (i.e., a distinct lack of Second Sock Syndrome), but these were not portable at all -- which in my opinion is part of the appeal of the sock as a knitting project -- and I felt like I spent a lot of time moving things around and making sure my two skeins of yarn weren't getting tangled with each other. I may or may not do the two socks on two circs thing again.

A detail shot for your viewing pleasure

This is a great looking pattern, but not the fastest. The lozenge pattern (sort of a faux argyle) is created by purl stitches in a field of stockinette. It's the perfect "man pattern" for those bored with nothing but stockinette and plain ribbing -- subtle and not too fussy. I think J would wear these, and that's saying a lot. Unfortunately, he won't get to, as they're for his stepfather.

I do want to say a bit about the yarn. Essential is my go-to sock yarn; it's not particulary luxurious, but it's sturdy and superwash, not to mention ridiculously affordable. I still have several skeins in my stash from the first batch I ordered, and I have to say, I think they've been playing with their wool, because this batch felt really, really soft. Like fuzzy, handwash only merino. The feel of the yarn while I was knitting it almost made up for the fact that the stitches were so darn hard to see. (Note to self: only use yarn this dark for stockinette, which I can do without looking.)

This is officially the first holiday knitting project I've finished. Here's a review of what I'm knitting and where they stand in their progress:

Projects already started

• Lady Eleanor Shawl/Stole (for future MIL): through nearly six of 17 pattern repeats
• Clapotis (for my mother): nearly done with increase rows (this will go in the car with me this weekend when we go up to Ann Arbor)
• Felted Slippers (for future BIL): just cast on this morning, 1"+ knit on cuff of first sock

Planned but not yet started

• Socks for my father (feet measured, will be started soon)
• Big felted Christmas stocking for family friends who have my family over for Xmas every year (see #72 from last night's post)
• Socks for J (he knows he's getting them, so he'll pick out patterns/yarns)
• Something for my brother, if he'll let me

I'd say I'm in pretty good shape. I think I can probably finish my mom's Clapotis this weekend, provided I make good use of my knitting time in the car. My father's socks are going to be pretty plain -- a ribbed leg and stockinette foot (he's not a fancy shmancy guy). The felted slippers are being knit on US 8 dpns, so they will go quickly. And I'm keeping Lady Eleanor near the bed, so I can usually get at least a row done during the last hour of TV before going to bed.

J comes home from Chicago tomorrow (hooray!) and then Friday morning we're headed to Ann Arbor to visit my baby brother (I can no longer call him little, as he's almost 6'2"). Progress report on the aforementioned projects, and perhaps a peek at the Pumpkin Pie Knee Highs, when we return.

A final thought for tonight: when my alarm went off this morning, I was dreaming that I was knitting something in fair isle. Besides the fact that I've never tried to do this, in the dream I was also easily knitting continental (I knit English). What do you suppose this means?

One and One Hundred

Know what today is? Other than Tuesday and Halloween, that is. No idea? Here's a hint: go take a look at the archives. Figured it out yet?

Yes, that's right, today this blog turns one year old. Happy blogiversary to me!

In honor of this event, I've decided to finally do one of those memes that have been floating around the blogosphere for at least the past year. Without any further ado, I give you:

ONE HUNDRED THINGS you probably didn't want to know ABOUT ME:

1) Since this is primarily a knitting blog, I'll start with the obvious: I've been knitting since my aunt taught me how when I was 7 or 8 years old.
2) The first thing I knit was a very misshapen garter stitch rectangle, made out of orange acrylic (ack!).
3) I knit nothing but garter stitch, stockinette, or ribbed scarves for years, until I discovered a yarn store around the corner from my apartment building in Philly when I was in grad school.
4) I've been obsessed since about this time last year.
5) I started this blog after J (then boyfriend, now fiance) found Jen's blog and showed it to me.
6) Since I've gotten serious about knitting, I've become a yarn snob. Although I used to use exclusively acrylic (poor me didn't know any better), I've been reformed and now only use it for baby items.
7) J and I have been engaged since this past June and are busy planning our wedding next September.
8) We met online.
9) We had enough mutual friends that we were able to "screen" each other first.
10) It took me several months to realize I had feelings for him, but after that I fell hard and fast.
11) I've lived in Western PA my whole life, with the exception of the five years I was in Philadelphia for college and grad school.
12) I have a bachelor's degree in psychology.
13) I have a master's degree in elementary education.
14) I'm not using either degree in my current job.
15) I taught third grade as a long-term substitute for a year after grad school. Then I couldn't find another teaching job.
16) I work as a proofreader/editor.
17) I don't really miss teaching, although sometimes I miss the kids.
18) I was once a voracious reader and have a personal library of several hundred books.
19) I don't read much for pleasure anymore, now that I read for a living. (I knit instead!)
20) One day I'd like to knit for a living.
21) I am a registered Democrat.
22) I've voted in ever election since I've been eligible.
23) I've yet to elect a president (see #21).
24) My greatest ambition is to be a mother (although not for at least a couple more years).
25) I've had two journal articles published.
26) Another top ambition is to one day publish a book.
27) I'm still not over the death of my childhood dog, Sugar, who died in 2003.
28) I think a mini daschund would really help me get over it.
29) I've auditioned for Jeopardy!
30) They still haven't called me to come on. At least I got a cool pen.
31) In college, I minored in art history and classics.
32) I've studied four foreign languages in my life -- French, Italian, Hebrew, and ancient Greek. (I don't include the tiny bit of Spanish I had in first grade.)
33) When I was in Kindergarten, I told my parents I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.
34) Sometimes I still want to be one, and occasionally I pretend to be one.
35) Last year I painted J's portrait for his birthday.
36) I was in a sorority in college.
37) I never participated in any pillow fights in my underwear.
38) I have the same name as a British jewelry designer, a former editor at Philadelphia magazine, and an Australian, er, adult film actress. Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson have also played characters with my name in movies.
39) I've been mistaken for someone else in two cities.
40) I always wanted a sister. Instead I got a brother, and next year I'll gain a brother-in-law.
41) I went to an all-girls school for 13 years -- actually, I went to two all-girls schools for a total of 13 years.
42) I wouldn't even consider a women's college.
43) I'm still really close with my roommate from freshman year.
44) In fact, she's going to be my maid of honor at my wedding.
45) In college, I planned to go on to grad school to get a degree in counseling psychology.
46) Then I had to take statistics for my major and promptly changed my mind.
47) I'm still not really sure what I want to be when I grow up.
48) I think I might like being a book editor for a publishing company.
49) I really love children's literature, and I still enjoy rereading favorites from when I was little.
50) I could never pick just one favorite book.
51) The two books I've probably read the most times are Pride & Prejudice and Jane Eyre.
52) Jane Austen is my favorite author.
53) I am petrified of flying.
54) I will still fly if I have to, and I do better when I'm flying with someone else. Or when medicated.
55) I've been out of the country several times, including to Europe twice and to Israel once.
56) I used to write regularly in a journal.
57) I haven't opened a journal in a while, at least since I started blogging.
58) I once got a shoulder rub from John Stamos (it's a long story, maybe another time if anyone is interested).
59) I cry easily, and just about anything can set me off -- movie, commercial, radio report, you name it.
60) I am also afraid of snakes.
61) I absolutely did not see Snakes on a Plane. I couldn't even watch the ad on TV.
62) My favorite color is blue.
63) For years I refused to wear anything pink.
64) I finally got over it when I got to college.
65) I have a great uncle named George Foreman. No, he doesn't have a grilling machine.
66) My mother has been one of my greatest female role models.
67) I'm a sucker for cheesy romantic movies. Yes, I cry.
68) I absolutely detest scary movies.
69) I've had a Netflix subscription since I had my wisdom teeth out last summer.
70) My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.
71) I'm not such a fan of the turkey.
72) I celebrate Christmas every year, even though...
73) I'm Jewish. (Another long story...)
74) Whenever J is out of town (and sometimes when he's not) I sleep with a stuffed elephant that I made out of old long underwear when I was a teenager.
75) I still have (but rarely sleep with) the teddy bear I got the day I was born.
76) I have read all the Harry Potter books.
77) I hate driving.
78) I don't mind taking long road trips, as long as I'm not in the driver's seat.
79) When I was a really little girl, I was afraid of "mans."
80) I'm still a little shy.
81) I'd rather stay home on a Friday or Saturday night than go out to a bar.
82) I love to cook.
83) One day I'd love to go to culinary school.
84) I have a subscription to Gourmet, although I almost never read it (see #19).
85) I've been known to get addicted to Food Network.
86) I listen to NPR every day in the car.
87) I have an uncanny ability to remember which actors were in movies I've seen, but I've forgotten the names of people I went to school with.
88) I am allergic to lilies.
89) There will be no lilies at my wedding.
90) I am extremely proud of my baby brother, who is know a freshman at the college he dreamed of attending for years.
91) I love to spoil my sweetie.
92) Largely because of my job, I catch grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage, etc. errors all the time.
93) Sometimes it bothers me to read blogs I like because I can't get away from these kind of errors. I do my best to ignore them.
94) As long as I am knitting, I think I'll always be knitting socks.
95) I have more sock yarn in my stash than anything else.
96) I wish I had more friends who lived near me.
97) I especially wish I had more friends who knit.
98) One day in the next year I'll be changing the name of this blog. I already know what its next incarnation will be.
99) I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never be rich or famous, but I'll do all I can to make sure that I'm happy.
100) I had no idea how long this list would take until I sat down and did it!

Just in time ...

for the (near) end of Socktoberfest, a pair of completed socks! I give you ...

Siegfried & Roy!

Pattern: My own -- basic stockinette with K2P2 ribbing at cuff, leg shaping, and a slip stitch heel
Yarn: Cascade Fixation (98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic), color 9967, two skeins
Needles: US 1 Addi Turbo 12" circs

These were actually finished Friday evening, but I haven't had a chance to post until now. I've named them Siegfried and Roy because the striping made me think of their white tigers, particularly the way it pooled near the cuff. Rrrrr.

Now that these are done, I've started a new travel sock -- another custom-fit design of my own, this time a knee-high stocking. I'm calling these socks my Pumpking Pie Socks, as I'm using the peachy cream and pumpkin colors of Jaeger Matchmaker I ordered from WEBS. So far the cuff is done and the first round of decreases have been completed. You'll get a peek when there's more of the leg to see!

ETA: In case trek is reading, I picked up some more Fixation on Thursday evening in order to make some Adult Wonkies!

Oh happy day!

What's the best thing about getting home late, after dark, to an empty house?

Finding yarn waiting for you! Yes, that's right, the yarn kleptos in Leetsdale have been foiled again. They tried to mess with me by sitting on it for a full day, hoping I'd forget all about it, but they don't realize the mental powers of the knitter they were dealing with. I kept checking that darn tracking window all day, and today my yarnstalking was successful! Up front here you see the two hanks of Gloss (not really purple as they appear, but rather a wine red) for my Sockret Pal. The rest of this yarn is for me -- all Merino Style, 11 skeins in Hollyberry and three in Rhubarb, to make myself a Union Square Market Sweater (Kate Gilbert, fall '05 Interweave Knits). I fell in love with this sweater when I saw Mari's (whose blog, by the way, I discovered relatively recently and love, but she hasn't updated since mid-August! Why is that?) It's gonna be a while until I get to the knitting of this one, unfortunately.

Last night I spent the first half or so of Gilmore Girls trying my hand at making some stitch markers. Considering I'm no expert with the wire or the pliers, I think I did pretty well:

These are for my Sockret Pal (who hopefully isn't snooping around, or she'll ruin the surprise!). These are all made to fit up to a US 3 needle -- perhaps a bit large/heavy for sock knitting, but if you only use one to mark the beginning of the round, you should be okay. One of my coworkers moonlights as a jewelry designer, so I may ask her for some tips for better finishing before I make any more.

Tomorrow night I'll be getting home late again (my "little sister" from my college sorority is in town, so I'm taking her out to dinner), but if all goes well I'll come home to yarn yet again, this time my Cherry Tree Hill. I am so ready for the sproingy-ness (that's for you, Jenn).

Somebody stop me!

Why is it that when I have a lot of projects on the needles, I can't stop myself from buying more yarn for more projects? Yesterday I couldn't resist the urge to order some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn -- hey, I've wanted to try it for a while, and I found it on sale. I couldn't not buy it, right? Then, of course, there's my most recent Knit Picks order, which seems to have once again been held hostage by the crazy kleptomaniac knitters in Leetsdale. According to the tracking on the Knit Picks Web site, it arrived there yesterday at 11 a.m. Doesn't appear to have moved since then, even though Leetsdale is less than an hour's drive away. I'm hoping for tomorrow (not that it matters anyway -- I won't get to the sweater the yarn's intended for for at least a couple of months!).

But enough with the negativity -- I made progress over the weekend! Especially on Sunday afternoon, which was as gloomy and depressing as you'd expect a fall Sunday afternoon to be. J wasn't feeling well, so he napped on the couch while I watched the Steelers game (that certainly didn't help me feel any less depressed!). Here's Lady Eleanor, who's approaching the end of her second skein of yarn:

And then there are the navy socks, whose heels have been successfully turned and whose gussets are complete! Now it's just the straight knitting (with patterning on the instep) for probably another 4-5 inches until I can start the toe. You'd think after getting this far, past the 10 1/2" leg especially, I'd be all gung-ho to finish up, but frankly I'm just bored. Hence the progress on Lady Eleanor.

Last night I swatched for my pumpkin pie socks, which will be my own design with the pumpkin and peach Jaeger Matchmaker from WEBS. They will hopefully be pretty darn close to knee socks, all depending on how long the pumpkin color lasts (it will be the main color, with contrasting toes, heels, and ribbed cuff). I may start them this weekend, when we're driving to Cleveland. I can't work on any of the holiday gifts, as we're going with both my parents and J's to meet and spend time with some of his cousins. (At least this will be a good opportunity to finally measure my father's feet!) I am also close to finishing my travel sock, which you haven't seen yet. They're in black and white Cascade Fixation; the first sock is done, the second sock is in the gussets.

I'm off to eat dinner (yay, tofu!) and get all the projects ready for Gilmore Girls. Ta.

Better

To start off, I must apologize for all the bitching and moaning in yesterday's post. I blame it on a lethal combination of high hormone levels, stress at work, lack of sleep, and being deprived from my once-a-month knitting get-together with other knitters (somehow knitting every night while J putters on his laptop isn't as satisfying). For lack of a friend or significant other to listen to me, you got to be the audience to my kvetch session. I hope I haven't lost any readers* because of it (not that I think I had that many readers to begin with ...)

Things did get better last night, what with the wine, the good TV, and the knitting. I made decent progress on the navy socks, although the combination of the wine and the exhaustion slowed my knitting speed down a bit and I didn't get as far as I'd like. Setting up for the heel flaps was also really fiddly, as I had to use two dpns to move all the stitches to where I wanted them (as I said to J when he got home, do you realize how many needle points I was dealing with at that point? It's a wonder I didn't hurt myself, which I always manage to do in really odd ways -- like this morning, when I made my left thumb bleed by washing my hands.) But I digress, or ramble, or whatever. Since I had no photos for you yesterday, today I've decided to put in the obligatory and entirely unexciting progress shot on the socks:

Roughly six more rows to knit on the flaps before I turn the heel. I've been working these on both socks at the same time, but I'll turn the heels individually before moving on to the gussets. Should get in to them tonight, as J and I are having a quiet dinner at home -- a "real, adult" dinner, meaning at the dining room table instead of at the coffee table in front of the TV! -- and catching up on our DVRed shows, namely Lost.

An interesting coincidence has occurred as I've been knitting my socks. This is my first time doing both socks at once, and while the regular knitting wasn't so hard to wrap my head around, figuring out how to manipulate the right stitches to have them in the right position for the heels and gussets and then for the feet has been somewhat of a challenge. I've been referring a lot to Kenny's tutorial (technically for working both socks on one long circular, but the general concept is the same). Meanwhile, the past few days Kenny and I have been having an e-mail conversation about a good yarn for a sweater he wants to knit. I had commented on his blog about Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed (which you know I just bought a lot of for a sweater for J), and he e-mailed me back to ask some more specific questions. Fortuitous coincidence, no? Since he has helped me with this two-socks-at-once thing, I thought the least I could do is try to help him.

Here, dear readers, is where you come in. Please share your yarn opinions and expertise! Kenny is thinking of something tweedy, and fairly substantial (needle size at least a US 5 -- he doesn't want to grow old knitting this sweater!). He is not much of an Internet yarn buyer, as he likes to feel/pet his yarn in person before purchasing; however, he acknowledges that there are some good deals on the Web that just can't be had at an LYS. I'm sure that he'd appreciate any sort of review or guidance you can give him on specific yarns. Please, go visit his blog (see especially this post) and help him out if you can. Thanks!

I'm off to get dinner ready for sweetie. Have a great weekend!

*Sockret Pal, thank you for the sweet comment you left me yesterday! I can hardly wait to see what you're putting together. I hope you won't take yesterday's post as representative of this blog and come back again!

Aaargh

Last night was just a total bust as far as knitting was concerned. Bear with me, this is going to be a rant.

Last night was, of course, the regular knitting night at B&N with the girls. I was already going to be a bit late, as J and I were meeting a friend for dinner. We were scheduled to meet sometime around 6:45, which was a little later than I would have liked on a knitting night, but that was the time the guys were available (J had a meeting right after work) and as the restaurant was literally down the road from B&N, I figured I'd eat quickly and only be a little late.

I got there first, as usual (some people are always late; I am perpetually early). I got a table and played games on my Palm Pilot for about 10 minutes until J arrived. We waited a bit for the friend, who we figured would be along soon. At about 7:10, when he still hadn't arrived, J decided to go outside (where there was cell reception) to call him. Turns out there'd been a slight mix-up: we were at Walnut Grove, in Aspinwall, and he was at Shady Grove in Shadyside. Oops. He said he'd leave and come meet us, so of course J said we wait for him -- mind you, in the best of traffic conditions, it's at least a 15-20 minute drive from one place to the other. And traffic was bad last night. To make a long story short, he finally got the restaurant at about five minutes to eight. Fortunately J had had the foresight to call him and find out what he wanted to eat so that we could at least put in an order, but by the time the food came I wasn't hungry and only ate about three bites. Then I felt like it would be antisocial so leave as soon as the friend arrived. So I stayed. And stayed. And finally left the restaurant at about quarter to nine.

How late was I in getting to knitting? Put it this way: 40 guy was already there and had already left his liquid refreshment on a table and gone off to find his reading material for the night. I stayed for about 20 minutes, just enough time to meet The MWP (hi again!), let the ladies pet my Soy Wool Stripes, and knit exactly one end triangle and one rectangle on Lady Eleanor. I really shouldn't have bothered. Sigh, such a let down.

On top of all this, I got home and got everything ready for today (clothes, coffee, etc.) and was in bed in plenty of time to watch the Project Runway finale. Or should I say Project Wrongway. Come on -- Jeffrey?! What are you people thinking?! I think I have lost all respect for Michael Kors. Pardon me for thinking that the winner should be someone who designed things that real people would actually wear -- I guess "real fashion" is all about "real ugly." Yuck. That is not how I wanted it to go and it totally made the night even worse.

Tonight must, MUST make up for the crappiness of last night. J will be home late because he has to go to some tech awards thing, so dinner will be for one and will involve a nice big glass of sauvignon blanc. Then it will be all about the navy socks and (hopefully!) their heels and another installment of McDreamyness.

Sorry for the decided lack of pictures in this post. I'm in a bit of a funk and nothing looks good enough to photograph right now anyway (do you really want another picture of those navy socks looking exactly the same as last time?). Starting next week I should be a more productive knitter, as I will having much more time on my own. J is starting a new role/project at work that will require being in Chicago every week for potentially the next six months. He'll be home on the weekends, and some weeks he'll only be gone two or three days, but most weekday evenings I'll be on my own, so the stash will have to keep me company. In yet another example of how well this man knows me and my knitting, I present a snippet of last night's conversation:

SJ: Just don't leave me alone too long -- because you know what happens when I'm by myself for too long.
J: You buy more yarn?
SJ: Yup.

Need I say what I did at lunch today? Let the stalking of the Knit Picks Web site commence!

A Trick and a Treat and Ubiquitous Socks

Seeing what [intentional] felting does to wool never ceases to amaze and excite me. Case in point: pumpkin before felting ...

and after ...

Pattern: 12:01 by Nathania Apple, October '06 MagKnits
Yarn: Cascade 220 (100% Peruvian highland wool), color 7824/Burnt Orange (2 skeins) and color 2445/Shire (1 skein)
Needles: US 8 dpns and circs
Mods: Many. To begin with, I used much smaller needles than the pattern called for (US 8s instead of US 13s, which I frankly didn't have on hand). I also doubled rather than tripled the yarn, which was hard enough on the hands, and added a few extra rows in the middle for some added depth. I have a feeling that this adorable bag turns out much bigger, even after felting, if you follow the instructions as written, but I like this size. It'll stand in for my candy dish on my desk at work for the rest of the month and then might show up as a decoration for Thanksgiving.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, it's back to the holiday knitting. Specifically, I'm focusing on these right now:

Color is off, as usual (I guess the camera couldn't handle navy yarn against the red rug as a background), but here are the nearly complete legs for the socks for my future FIL. They're relatively slow going at 80 stitches -- well, I guess 160 -- per round and a purled pattern, but at least when I'm done there's no second sock to knit.

Tomorrow is knitting night at the Waterworks Barnes & Noble with, I expect, all the usual characters. I'll be a bit late, as J and I are meeting a friend for dinner down the road, but I will be bringing Lady Eleanor and her pretty wool/soy yarn for attendees to pet. Hope to see you there!