New tricks for an old dog

As a die-hard top-down sock knitter, I finally decided it was time to try some toe-up socks. I had tried once before, but my cast-on was such a mess, I gave up and cast on for the cuff. And why mess with something that's going so well? Top-down socks and I were BFFs. This past weekend I headed over to Border's with my 40% off coupon in hand and I picked up Wendy Knits' book "Socks from the Toe Up". I'm not afraid to admit it: I'm shamelessly hooked on these patterns. I love them, and the book is really pretty to look at too! The instructions are really clear, and I managed to whip up Judy's Magic Cast-on with no problems. Another thing I really like about the patterns in this book is that the lace patterns are really easy to memorize, and not some 18 row chart of sheer headache-inducing insanity.


This is the Diagonal Lace (Rav link) pattern and I'm totally in love with it. I'm also using some of our Yarnadoodledoo sock yarn in the Cerise colorway. Erin and I tried out a variety of yarn bases, and I think we've settled on the one we want. This yarn is so sproingy and funt to knit with! Awesome pattern + lovely yarn = KNITTING JOY

I've also been spinning and planning a sweater, because summer in the South is the perfect time to knit a sweater, right? Right. I'm thinking top down raglan with handspun yoke. I'll have picks of the handspun this weekend.

Oh, and we've been dyeing. Lots of dyeing.


Last night the mister and I watched that last episode of The Wire that we hadn't seen. No more new (to us) Wire episodes ever! I'm so bummed! That being said, when's the new "East Bound and Down" season start?

I found out today at the allergy clinic that I'm going to have to keep on going 3 times a week for 4 more weeks. A normal person would probably be discouraged by this fact, however I immediately thought, "More morning knitting time! Excellent!"

I love socks.

It's official. I love knitting socks. I can't stop and I'm hoarding sock yarn. I'm even spinning it. I may have a problem.

The latest project consists of two plain ol'vanilla socks, knit out of Noro Kureyon sock.


The only issue I have is that I have US size 11 lady feet. Some fun patterns aren't geared for my Northern European peasant DNA. I also feel that some variegated and self-striping sock yarn should just be knit plain without any pattern. Let the yarn be the centerpiece, not the pattern. I started these socks over a ton of times because I couldn't decided what to do. That being said, I'm currently knitting some lovely variegated sock yarn with a lacey pattern. We'll see what happens. If it's too tight on my feet, though, it'll be ripped out. Damn my large lady feet!

a cowl in sunshine

The wham bam thank you lamb (rav link) is one of the easiest projects ever, and has awesome results. Here it is, in all its handspun glory:


This was actually made up this weekend for my mother's friend. She was going to get a beret, but somehow I kept TWISTING when casting on, causing many profanities to come flying out of my mouth. Moral of the story: garter stitch cowls make fast and fun presents (esp. when using handspun! oh! the joy!)

Don't mind the wet hair:

Le Wimple

Better late than never for a Mother's Day present, eh? I finally finished weaving in the ends of the wimple I knit up for my mother. It gets cold up there in Buffalo, and she needs something to cover up her ears when she goes out walking! I ran a little bit short on yarn, but no biggie. You can hardly tell, right? Right.

Here are the stats:

Name: Wavy Feathers Wimple

Yarn: vanCalcar Acres Jennifer's FlockSock Sock Yarn

Needle: US 5

Colorway: Leaves of Grass

I received this in a yarn swap from Ravelry and wasn't so sure of the yardage, so with my large feet, I decided to go the route of the wimple instead of being devastated by having too small socks. I'm quite pleased with the results! This was pretty easy knit!


Now I'm off to finish my dad's socks for Father's day and catch up on emails. Ahem.

keep on knitting in the free world

The Yarn Harlot's visit to Nashville was most excellent! I was able to pick up her new book, "Things I Learned from Knitting... whether I wanted to or not" and got it autographed. There was a good turnout, and it was fun to be surrounded by that many knitters all at once. I must say, the Harlot is the Queen of the Deadpan and the Mistress of the Dry Wit. There is no one to equal her is humor. I had a blast. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my somewhat reliable digital camera was left with my somewhat tolerable camera phone.

When I got my book signed, I brought up the fact that I understood cold (something she mentioned in the Q&A section of the evening - that Southerners just don't understand what it's like) as I'm from Buffalo. I didn't mention our respective hockey teams, (Sabres v. Leafs) as that is a conversation that may have ended in fisticuffs. We're two ladies, after all, even though there is a deep and vast rivalry between the Niagara Peninsula that can never be amended, I'm afraid. I was tempted to bring it up, though, especially because neither of our teams made the playoffs.

Update on the Nutkins: I think my gauge is whack. I think I knit too tightly! After looking at Melissa's amazingly blue Nutkin socks, I think I'm an extremely tight knitter, especially when it comes to pattern knitting. When it's an easy peasy vanilla sock pattern, who cares? Tight is fine. But patterns, oh boy! No wonder the blasted thing doesn't fit!

I found a sock I was knitting for Mr. Wheezy-in-87-days (oh my!), and I got a chunk of it done while listening to the Harlot. I finished it last night, and got another big chunk of it done today while they had us in the basement of the library during a tornado warning. Thank god I never go anywhere without my knitting. It's just like what the Harlot said, and I'm paraphrasing here: Knitters are not patient. We look it, but take our knitting needles away from us, and we'd commit petty crimes.

That's how I felt today. I would have started screaming at students who took up multiple seats while 80 y/o professor emeritus had to sit on the floor (someone else gave them a talking to, don't worry).

SevenThings

The lovely Melissa of Bridgman Pottery tagged me with a 7 random creative things meme of things I probably haven't talked about before, so here we go!

1- I knit. A lot. I once knit my friend Andrew a ZoSo scarf on a dare. He would taunt me with pictures of Jimmy Page's handknit ZoSo sweater during boring library school classes, so eventually, I gave in when I moved down to Nashville. It didn't take me too long, which was surprising, because the thing was MASSIVE. I guess you can get a lot done when you move to a new city and have no friends. Sad!



2- I used to have a radio show here in Nashville for about 2 years. It was called Karaoke Blackout. It was a lot of fun, but with wedding planning and work, it was just too much.

Here's the playlist from my last show:
bob marley and the wailers - i'm dreaming of a white christmas - destiny : rare ska sides from studio one
the left banke - i've got something on my mind - walk away renee / pretty ballerina smash records
neil young and crazy horse - everybody knows this is nowhere- everybody knows this is nowhere
petula clark - i wanna see morning with him - memphis
annette poindexter and the pieces of peace - mama - eccentric soul, v. 2 : twinight's lunar rotation
tanya tucker - delta dawn - delta dawn
the pastels - nothing to be done - sittin' pretty
maxine brown - whatever happened to our love? - one kiss can lead to another
low - just like christmas - christmas
george jones - treasure of love - the definitive collection, 1955-1962
the clean - billy two - anthology
joe tex - show me - greatest hits!!!
the essex green - mrs. bean - everything is green
the fall - stepping out - psykick dancehall
p.p. arnold - the first cut is the deepest - one kiss can lead to another
loretta lynn - your squaw is on the warpath - loretta lynn writes'em and sings'em
desmond dekker - this woman - the definitive collection
donovan - epistle to dippy - the essential donovan
the monochrome set - eine symphone des grauens - compendium
the shangri-las - give him a great big kiss - the very best of the shangri-las
bob dylan w/ johnny cash - girl from the north country - nashville skyline
harry nilsson- gotta get up - nilsson schmilsson
bob wills - buffalo twist -1000 greatest country hits
dusty springfield - bring him back - love songs
sloan -she says what she means - navy blues
the visitors - bliss - miss
desperate bicycles - smokescreen - desperate bicycles anthology
glenda collins - if you gotta pick a baby - this little girl's gone rockin'
tammy wynette - your good girl's gonna go bad - your good girl's gonna go bad
the maytals - monkey girl - the king kong compilation
the nashville ramblers - the trains - children of nuggets rhino Rock
the jam - that's entertainment - greatest hits
emmylou harris - bluebird wine - pieces of the sky
charlie rich - you can have her - the complete smash session
television personalities - this angry silence - and don't the kids just love it
tommy roe - sweet pea - greatest hits
tina turner - river deep, mountain high - tina turner : the collected recordings
phyllis dillon - perfidia trojan - reggae sisters
josephine foster and the supposed - all the leaves are gone - all the leaves are gone
the pale fountains - thank you - longshot for your love

3- I knit a curtain for the kitchen of our new place! Every time I do the washing up, I get to admire my handiwork!



















4- Handspun yarn, and yarn dyed with marigolds! (the yellow yarn, obv.). The first two skeins on the left are some of my first attempts at spinning on my then new wheel. The yellow yarn was my first attempt at dyeing with natural dyes. It was spun by Beth of 3 Creeks Farm who hosted the Dye Day for our spinning group and sold me my wheel. I also dyed the purple yarn with some jacquard dyes at home.




5- The Papi Chullo I knit for my dad for snowblowing the driving in Buffalo! This was Christmas knitting for 2007. It's 100% alpaca, and oh so luxurious and warm.


6- I had a piece in an art zine called Swelt (we had a gallery opening and everything!). Alas, I have no more of my catalog card illustrations (I am a librarian, after all). I'll leave you with this:



7- And the last, let's see: I'm debating between socks and pies. I do make a lot of both, so I guess I leave you with a picture of each.

A lovely berry pie:



And the Waving Ripple socks I knit for my mother:



I guess I'm supposed to tag some more folks now. When I was tagged, I thought it was so sweet, but I hope it doesn't feel like receiving chain mail! So, Denyse, Marissa, and Hazel Evelyn, whaddya think?

i dream of a team of altidores

After a long weekend of entertaining a contingent of New Yorkers in town for the US U-23 Olympic Qualifiers, which I am happy to announce, that the US is a part of (for soccer), not much knitting and/or crafting got done. I was planning on knitting some socks during the tailgaiting portion of Sunday's events, but I was too busy eating ribs and making merry before the horrendously boring loss to Honduras. Also, we made pork pies. From scratch. Yeah, they took forever. We made homemade aspic and everything! Intense!

Well, things have since calmed down, and I'm making progress on the Nutkin socks, but I'm sad to announce that there is no way in Hades that they'll fit my US ladies size 11 (might I add painfully flat) feet. My sister has much smaller feet. Perhaps she will like them.

I noticed mention of this on Ravelry, and Mr. Wheezy-to-be brought me a print copy of this article today. Threadfest!


You'll find literally thousands of yards of trim, fabric and yarn, as well as quilt scraps, partially finished projects, crochet hooks and whatever other notions people in the community have donated.

COUNT ME IN.

Now, do I take an extended lunch on Friday on take Mr. Wheezy with me on Saturday afternoon? Oh, decisions!?

While I know I have no photos updating my progress, I do have video footage of my existence! Here are some highlight from the first game against Canada on Thursday night (I was helping to hold up the giant flag at around 2:35 - 2:38 in - NB my love hand knit bamboo scarf courtesy of my friend Kerry):

stress knitting

A year ago, when I first endeavored into the wild and crazy world of sock knitting, I never would have guessed that it would now be known as my comfort knitting. Last night, while watching the US men's under 23 soccer team team play, and I tried to sort out who to invite to the rehearsal dinner while I emailed the wedding photographer, in between crocheting those freaking wedding shower dishcloths, I looked longingly at Nancy Bush's Knitting on the road : sock patterns for the traveling knitter as it sat sadly on my shelf. So, what did i do? i stayed up, with my frazzled nerves and attempted to knit the sock that looked like a whiskey cask until midnight. Well, gentle reader, it didn't. The vikkel braid is not to be trifled with past a certain hour in the evening, I'm afraid.

I did, however, through the glory of ravelry and its free pattern browse, find the Nutkin Sock and shall start on that this weekend. Even though my sage coworkers are advising me to keep on keepin' on with the dishcloths, they do not understand the soul-crushing power that working with that much cotton can bring. Also, there's some sort of peace and solace that concentrating on starting of on that first sock brings, before you get the pattern down. It's just really nice and calming, and just what this over-stressed, planned-to-the-max lady needs!

This + a cup of tea = heaven, this weekend

love in the retail trade.

i think it's time for an intervention. someone call the authorities stat.

i can't stop knitting or crocheting with cotton.

the latest offenders:


i also just completed a giant cotton granny square. i think i'm in love.

i tried crocheting a wool heart. it just didn't feel right. my fingers were crying for cotton. should i be concerned?

epic knitting project, cont'd.

so, i skivved off a work a bit early today to head off to buy an insane amount of cotton yarn. "how much is an insane amount?" you ask. well, dear reader, 29 skeins of Peaches'n'Creme and 2 1 1b. cones is an insane amount of cotton yarn. the cashier clearly thought i was a bit batty. now, nothing can get in my way of providing delight to all those who attend the wedding shower.





oh, and my mother sent me a text asking if 44 invites was okay. so, officially have 6 dishcloths done (soon to be 7), and only 38 more to go.

even though i have this massive task ahead of me, my mind is already wandering on to what i can create next. no, not to the socks that i've abandoned or the hybrid seamless sweater that i've haplessly thrown aside, but to sewing projects, and learning how to crochet. my coworker and lovely friend ramona made me this absolutely stunning pineapple doily, which makes me want to crochet doilies. en masse. and then i want to frame them. but more on that later.

i also want to dust off the old sewing machine, who, aside from providing me with some lovely marimekko-esque curtains, hasn't done much as of late. clothing, people! i'm talking tops! skirts! even dresses!

le sigh.

back to my dishcloths.

40 days and 40 dishcloths

So, it's been a good while, hasn't it? Well, let's just say I have a wedding shower coming up (for yours truly), and I volunteered to knit 40 dishcloths for favors. My mother is sewing some really cute and functional drink coasters. When she mentioned this, my crafty DNA kicked in, and I volunteered to help out. Who doesn't love handknit items? Anyway, I did the math and this means I pretty much have to crank out one of these suckers every night.

Here's the thing: it's the easy peasy dishcloth pattern my grandmother taught me.

Thus far I have 4 done.

36 to go.

Wish me luck.

sock it to me

This sock is taking me AGES to finish. Mind you, it's my first sock ever, and kind folks have told me this is normal. Tonight, I plan on focusing on my heel, with no distractions. Starting the heel 4 times would be embarrassing. I think it's inevitable, however. I tried knitting it during the library staff picnic today, but had to keep putting it on the picnic table whenever someone won a prize (which happened once every 30 seconds, really).

I happily mastered the Continental stitch, thanks to a video on the modern internets. I learned a slightly different way from my aunt, which wasn't conducive to purling.

woe is me

I feel like the way I originally learned how to knit has put me at quite a disservice when trying to knit on circulars or dbpns. I originally learned the "Jam it under your armpit method!" which was great for me to knit dishcloths, scarves, mittens, etc. But now I dream of knitting SOCKS, and after this past weekend's debacle involving US 2 needles ("OMG THESE NEEDLES ARE TINY!"), I feel I must relearn my method.

About 2 years ago, my aunt taught me the Continental Method, which was favored by my grandmother. It worked really well for the ZoSo scarf I was knitting on circulars, for a friend. Ahem.



Am I have such a hard time with practicing due to the fact that I have the long needles? Oh me, I'm so forlorn.

Hopefully, though, the books I'm picking up from the public library will bring me joy and motivation, especially the one on ESTONIAN KNITTING!

frogging along

I find that when I have a ridiculous knitting project in front of me (usually for someone else), I have no problem cranking it out. But, when it's for me, or it's fairly mundane (a regular old scarf, perhaps in the ripple stitch), I become board and start knitting ballband dishcloths. Perhaps this means I should start on my cardigan.