Thursday, April 30, 2009
Making progress on Cookie A's Wanida sock, from the book Sock Innovation. I did end up finishing one sock.
As I suspected, the pattern does indeed knit up very quickly, and looks great with variegated yarn (Sundara Sock Yarn in Candied Chrome).
So without even meaning to be so focused or productive, I'm already half-way through with the second sock.
In other news, over at the Other Site I finally finished up posting all the critters that belong to J and R, the lovely couple who I mentioned had met on Ravelry. If you haven't seen the photos, check them out. Even though the puppy was the cutest subject ever, I think I saved the best for last with Keira the cat. She IS an orange tabby afterall. And we all know how I feel about orange tabbies...
Also, greeting cards will be going up for sale tomorrow!
Filed Under: Socks
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I recently finished up my Red Socks, just in time to wear during the post-season.
I used the always scrumptious Sundara Sock Yarn in colorway called Claret over Scarlet. Love.
I made up the pattern as I went along. I cast some stitches with the red yarn, did a corrugated rib with the white yarn, and then did some form of ribbing with the red yarn, and then I when I came to the heel I used the white yarn, but then red for the foot, and then last but not least, went back to white with the toes. Et voila, Red Socks! How's that for a description?
They are slightly too large. I am wearing them now and even as I sit here in front of the computer, unmoving for the last 10 hours straight, they are sliding down and bunching around the ankles. I should have used a purl gutter rather than a garter so that the fabric pulls in more. Other than that, these socks kick ass.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Red Sox
Friday, September 05, 2008
Thank you everyone for your kind condolences regarding my pinheaded mistake of knitting Rambling Rose in different lengths. Thank you. It lessened the pain. And then my non-perfectionist tendencies lessened it more. Or maybe it was laziness. Pragmatic laziness, though. I could have fixed it but then, life is too short to worry about asymmetry, you know? I'm asymmetric by design anyways - my right foot is slighter longer than my left, fingers on right hand longer than those on the left, right eye more myopic than the left eye, etc. It's all good.
As soon as the weather cools I'll do some proper model shots. I've got it all figured out. It needs to be a layered look. But it's so hot for that right now! I love it! Go summer go! Just a little bit longer please...
In the meantime I started a pair of Red Sox for myself. I made a pair a couple of years ago for a family member - and posted about them exactly two years ago, huh! - but I'm doing it a little differently this time by adding corrugated ribbing for the cuff so it looks more closely like the socks on the official logo. I made up the pattern as I went along, nothing crazy.
The yarn is Sundara Yarn in a beeeeyooootiful color called Claret over Garnet (.or maybe it's the other way around? Can't remember) and some undyed yarn for the heel/toe. I have this feeling these socks will only be drycleaned, or not cleaned at all. Once the cuffs turn pink they can no longer be deemed Red Sox. And I would cry.
Filed Under: Rambling Rose | Socks | Red Sox
Monday, June 30, 2008
Pattern: My own
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Sock in Limited Edition Peacock and Purple
Needles: US1 dpns
I modified a pattern found in my trusty Japanese stitch dictionary. It's basically a pattern of a pair of leaves, mirror-imaged at the "stems." I changed it to be mirror-imaged at the leaves (petals are back to back) (does that make any sense) and suddenly the stitch pattern looked like feathers to me, like a great plume you might see on a Vegas showgirl's headpiece.
The leaf/feather pair were then separated at the heel, with one half continuing down the foot. Threw in a stockinette runner so the beautiful colorway of the yarn wouldn't be completely obscured with complicated patterns, and some gutters in garter-stitch instead of the usual purl-stitch.
I won't lie: I mirrored the pattern after the Loksins knit for me last year by my Sockapalooza pal. I. Love. Those. Socks. Perfect color. Perfect fit. Perfect combination of yarn and pattern. I went through that stitch dictionary like a madman hoping to duplicate such a successful pairing for the Peacock and Purple colorway. Not sure if the stitch I came up with is totally successful...I'm thinking Pomatomus would have worked better...but then Pomatomus always works, Pomatomus looks great in all weather conditions, even humid ones, and besides I've filled my knitting quota on those. Very happy with these nonetheless. And you really can't go wrong with anything knit in Sundara Yarn, am I right? Right.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I recently scored a skein of Sundara Yarn in the most beautiful colorway ever.
It's called Peacock and Purple, and when I opened the box, the sheen from the yarn shot a sea-blue glow across my face, and I wept. I wept. Then I wound it into a shiny blue cake and I knit with it, I immediately knit with it.
Here is a preview of my so-far unnamed socks. It's going really quickly, so hopefully I'll have a finished pair to show in no time.
Yarn is awesome.
Filed Under: Socks | Yarn Stash
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Pattern: Pomatomus
Yarn: Sundara Yarn, Ltd Edition Aqua Over Lilac
Needles: US1 dpns
I decreased the shell pattern to a 10-stitch repeat, giving a total of 60 stitches overall.
* Also, you omit rows 10, 11, 12, and 13 of both charts. The pattern is now a 10-stitch by 18-row repeat.
Aside from a pair of socks, it's been a really unproductive week. I mean really. un. productive. I've had this stupid itchy dry cough that peaks between midnight and 5am, despite the barrage of syrups and pills. I'm all bloodshot, drugged up and still coughing. I don't understand the reflex of coughing when you have nothing to cough up. By the way, have scientist figured out why we yawn? And isn't it weird that cats do it too? Yawn, that is. But they don't cough. Now why is that. If you've ever seen a coughing cat please let me know.
PS Rambing Rose cardigan remains in a heap in the corner, waiting for me to just take the 30 minutes already to finish the button bands. I'm still not in the mood for it. I'm visiting my parents this week in ATL, so I might pawn the job off to my mother.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Pomatomus
Monday, March 31, 2008
For I have just knit the ugliest pair of button bands ever in the history of knitting.
Don't come any closer. I am ugly.
Poor Rambling Rose. What did you do to deserve such inelegant, pigeon-toed button bands?
All I did was pick up the selvege (slipped stitches) along the front panels, like we do when we pick up the slipped stitches along the gusset of a sock heel. Why did it pucker so much here? Did the ribbing of the button bands pull the fabric in? Should I have gone up a needle size? Should I occassionally knit into the front and back of a few of the slipped stitches to increase the pick-up count? Will you do this for me?
As far as mistakes go, this is pretty fixable. Easily fixable. In all the time I spent screaming "EFF! EFF ME! EFF me in the effing HOOHA," I could have ripped out the bands and redid them three times over. But for some reason I just so don't want to do it. I don't want to figure out how to knit a smooth button band when it shouldn't have required any thought to begin with. You're supposed to simply pick up the slipped stitches and, the end! But no! Now I've got to experiment with RATIOS and different needle sizes and whatnot so I've tossed it aside for the moment. I am angry at it. I am angry.
I'm seeking a little therapy by knitting socks again.
Pomatomus (or the Best Sock Pattern Ever) in Sundara Yarn "Aqua Over Lilac"
I'll finish the cardigan once I'm feeling a little more rational.
Filed Under: Rambling Rose | Socks | Pomatomus
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Thank you so much for all your comments about the kitchen. I'm looking forward to sharing more of the house. As soon as it's clean. We're in the process of hanging stuff up on the walls and I don't know WHY but the simple act of attempting to hammer in a little nail at various desired points has turned the entire living room upside down. You think oh, this'll take just a second to hang...until you realize this certain nail is not strong enough, or maybe invisible fishing string would work better - until it breaks on you - or you realize you need a ladder because the ceiling's much much higher in the new place, but you gave away the ladder to your brother-in-law because there was nowhere to store it here, so you have to wait until your downstairs neighbor comes home so you can borrow hers but she went away for the weekend. So three days later, all the tools are still out, furniture's askew, and nothing's been hung. Ergh. This is why I'm SO GLAD we don't have to do any major renovations. We really stink at house handiwork.
Hopefully knitting handiwork is another story.
I'm trying to finish up these socks by Christmas time. I have 3 mateless socks so far for 3 in-laws, each knit in Silk Garden Lite, each in their own colorways.
I was in pretty good shape to finish by Christmas until I decided I really wanted to finish my Malabrigo sweater first. Priority defaults to Me.
 So isn't this photo just...weird? Like I took a bad fall down the stairs and my front is now my back. Anyway, I finally settled on yoking it: knit two sleeves separately, in the round with dpns, then joined them to the body stitches to start knitting the round again. I'm doing raglan sleeves and added a little 4-stitch cable to the mix, for a tiny textural/visual pop against all the stockinette.
I plan to knit a cowl neck, not sure yet how wide or thick. I still have half a skein left to finish up the yoke and a whole 200+ yard skein after that so I have leeway to decide as I knit. Love the Malabrigo and the yardage. At the end of the day this sweater will only require 4 skeins.
The only thing that kind of bugs is that you can tell where one skein of yarn starts and a new one begins because the colors among the skeins are not the same. Ah well. Design feature. Aside from that, I am very very very pleased with the way this is fitting so far. Snug and warm but not too tight.
Filed Under: Socks | Tunic Sweater
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Pattern: Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang, from Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Yarn: 1 skein Koigu in brilliant blue (lost the band so don't have the exact info) & half skein Sundara Yarn in Bartlett Pear
These are brilliant. Entrelac in the round is so easy to do, and the colors! The colors! I am so in love with both these colors, especially together. If I had another skein of the Koigu I would have had the brilliant blue as the main color - I really love how that sock turned out - but I thought I'd play it safe do one in the blue and one in the pear. The results are very jolly and court jestery.
I kept these at average leg length, and also didn't go for the tassles. Although maybe I should have attached little bells.
After knitting the first sock (Bartlett Pear main color) in size 1 dpn's, I switched to 0's because the 1's were running kind of big. The 0's run a little small, but I'd rather them snug than otherwise. When I make these again I'll probably go back to size 1 needles, but knit 5-stitch blocks instead of 6, giving a total of 60 sts in the round. That's a good number for me.
Update: To answer some people's questions about whether the bumps on the inside of the sock are uncomfortable during wear, the answer is no! Not for me anyway. The bumps are soft, and in fact I really like the texture and the way the bumps squish against the skin.
Make sure you follow Eunny's suggestion of weaving the old color as you're picking up stitches in the new color at the beginning of every new round of blocks. (That barely made sense. Read her instructions.) I would imagine having to cut and to weave in yarn at every round would be a pain, and those bumps would not be comfortable to wear.
OK so now I am on a mission to redecorate our bedroom in these colors. I've been keeping an eye out for bedding, preferrably duvet covers, in exactly that shade of blue but haven't had any luck so far. Once I have that as the anchor, I'll really begin decorating in earnest.
Love these socks!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Entrelac
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
I finished the Marina Piccola socks some weeks ago.
Not particularly happy with these as they are probably THE sloppiest socks I've ever made. I don't know what happened but my gauge for the second sock was so off that the leg is more than an inch longer than the first, the heel and foot is loose, and as a result I ran out of yarn just as I was getting to the toe.
Yuck. Bleh. I wasn't even going to post about them but then last night Duck took this shot as I was lounging on the couch watching baseball and since it contains all the ingredients for a crowd-pleaser - some new handknits, some older handknits, some handknits in progress, plus bonus! a fat cat - I thought I'd share.
Don't we all look comfy, with our animals and our yarns? I am wearing the aubergine bolero - celebrating it's 2nd birthday! - and knitting the entrelac socks. Try to disregard the fact that the soles of my socks look like the underside of a Swiffer cloth.
Veebs is not usually a lap cat but lately he's been feelin' the love. Meanwhile, as he spreads out luxuriously along the length of my legs and purrs that gentle, bumblebee purr of his, my little kneecaps are slowly being turned inside out.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Marina Piccola
Thursday, October 11, 2007
I'm flipping on and off like a light switch here.
These are Eunny's Entrelac Socks from IK Spring 2007. I'm using Koigu in the loveliest shade of royal blue and Sundara Sock Yarn in Bartlett Pear, both given to me as gifts. La, I love presents. I love this color pair. It's now my favorite combo du jour, replacing green and purple which had a long and fruitful reign, especially in the old house. But no more. We had barely moved out when the new owners came in and immediately painted the green walls red, and now I must have royal blue and chartreuse in my wardrobe and my bedroom. Our new place has putty-colored walls that would look so much better in a Golden Delicious appley sort of color. Picture that in a bedroom with a rich royal blue duvet cover. Yummy. Anyway.
The Middle East-wrap cast on method for toe-up socks is so cool and so easy that it just about blew my mind. And after I did a couple of tiers of tiles I couldn't stop, giggling like a madwoman as I knit. Because I'm in on the secret: entrelac socks are the simplest things ever! And the outcome is so freaking cool. They're going to be finished in no time.
Filed Under: Socks | Entrelac
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
My Sockapalooza 4 socks arrived in the mail yesterday. The socks were impeccably knit and blocked, soft and clean and smelling sweet as a bunny after a bubble bath...For a few seconds there after opening the box I completely forgot how to knit and couldn't believe someone could make something so exquisite with their own two hands.
Knit by: Sara, formerly of knitwerk.com
Pattern: Loksins! I had never seen this pattern before.
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn. The red is actually more wine than true red. It's beautiful.
Bonus materials: French soap, cat treats, stationery and semi-solid Koigu! SCORE!
Now I know why my sister-in-law always gives me funny looks when I tell her knitting is really not that hard. It certainly looks hard, doesn't it?
A perfect fit. Swoon.
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
To prevent this blog from becoming the fetid pond of neglect and sorrow that it wants to be, I give you this.
It is called "A Sock and Hancock."
We match!
Marina Piccola socks, knit from my Koigu stash that before was in Grumperina's stash.
And that's all the Exciting News in Knitting I have for now.
Oh I also started a sweater. A real sweater, with real meat too! But more on that later. We must pace ourselves. I will say that this fall, sweaters will be making a miraculous comeback into my knitting queue. This season, they're going to be the new socks. You heard it here first.
Filed Under: Socks | Marina Piccola
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Sockapalooza 4 socks - and some extras - are ready for their sendoff tomorrow! I'm sending them on the early side because they are going overseas...
And so are we. There will be sun, sea, olives, drunken bees in lavender ready for harvesting, lots of wine and good good food. And family. Ah yes it's been a tough lifestyle we've been living these past few weeks I tell you. ;) (Though I have to say, boy am I tired.) Catch you in a coupla weeks...
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower
Monday, July 30, 2007
Here at last is the pattern for the Drunken Bees Socks. Fair warning, the pattern is not laid out to a T. I've left out specifics like how to do a cable, how to knit a heel turn and the toe, and all those very macro details like how many stitches to knit across first before you start the heel, how to distribute stitches, etc. If you're an experienced sock knitter - as in you've knit at least one or two socks - you don't need to know exactly how, so I don't want to fluster myself trying to spell it all out!
All you need is the chart and you can work out the rest to your liking.
But feel free to contact me if something makes no sense or looks wrong.
For more photos, see here.
DRUNKEN BEES SOCKS
Yarn: Fingering weight sock yarn. To really show the pattern, use semi-solid to solid colors.
Needles: 5 size 1 dpns (or whichever method you prefer for circular knitting) for S/M foot, Size 2 for L foot.
Pattern is deliciously squishy and should stretch comfortably to fit.
For socks that pull in a little more, you can knit through the back loop of every yarn over that was done in the previous row.
CAST ON:
CO 69 sts. Distribute 17 sts on 3 needles, 18 sts on one needle
CUFF:
Repeat (k2, p1) ribbing until cuff is 1 inch long or desired length.
Begin last row of ribbing with a k2tog.
Now you have 68 sts to work leg pattern.
Slip stitches =
RS: repeat (sl1,k1) to end
WS: sl1, then p to end
LEG:
Work leg pattern chart 3 times, or to desired length (make note of where you left off).
HEEL FLAP & HEEL TURN:
Divide sts so that there are 33 sts for the heel flap, and 35 sts for the instep. Make sure you split in such a way as to allow two "honeycomb" patterns to continue down the side of the heel. I started the divide in the middle of a bee flight pattern. You might have to knit across some stitches to get to the start of heel.
Slip first stitch of every row. Except for the honeycomb patterns and the purl gutters, knit the heel in slip-stitch pattern, until you've worked 26-30 rows.
See chart above.
Follow flap with your preferred heel turn. I used a square heel.
GUSSETT:
Pick up the slipped stitches on side of heel flap, and continue chart pattern for instep.
INSTEP:
The instep is symmetrical. For the first and last 6 stitches of the instep, follow the first 6 stitches of the "bee flight" leg pattern chart (stitches 6-11). Or, just knit them in Stockinette. Or ribbed. Whatever you want.
Continue until desired length, then knit your preferred toe method.
Bzzzz!
Filed Under: Socks | Drunken Bees
Monday, June 25, 2007
Pattern: My own! I have christened thee Swarm Drunken Bees.
Yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight in Midsummer's Night
Needles: US1 dpns I finished them!
And then I sat for hours and hours more trying to think of a good name for them. Everything that I came up with was bee-themed, because I think the zigzag pattern looks drunk yet curiously deliberate, bzzzz like a bee in flight bzzzz, and the mini-cables on the side resemble honeycombs.
So I came up with
1. Bumblebee (too cutesy)
2. Honeybee (way too cutesy)
3. Worker Bee (too slavish)
4. Royal Jelly (too weird)
5. Beehive (maybe)
6. Swarm (hmm)
Yessss, swarm...I see a swarm of stitches swirling in and around each other. It's not the prettiest sounding word though, unfortunately. But a quick run through the thesaurus in my head came up with lovely words that conjured up such lovely pictures, such as locusts, plague, infestation...So back to Swarm it was.
Now I name you Drunken Bees! Back from a long day's work, intoxicated with nectar, buzzing and teetering and bouncing off each other just outside your honeycombed nest!
Close-up of heel: Slip stitch at the center, flanked by honeycombs which continue down from the leg, and purl gutter, and bordered by more slip stitches. Finished with a square heel.
At some point I will write up a pattern for these, probably after we
move (3 more weeks!). When I do it will most likely be a pseudo-pattern: more of a general
overview rather than stitch-by-stitch instructions. Really all you need
to know is the stitch pattern, and if you know how to knit a sock, you
can do the rest without explicit instruction, and use your favorite methods of constructing the heel, the toe, up or down...I just hate telling people what to do, especially when there's no right way or wrong way about it!
Bzzzzz!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Drunken Bees
Friday, June 15, 2007
First Socks that Rock purchase as possible yarn to use for my Sockapalooza socks.
Socks That Rock | lightweight | Midsummer's Night shaded solids
I had no sock pattern in mind when I bought the yarn, so I picked out a something from my Japanese stitch dictionary. It's got some mini-cables, some 4-stitch cables, and a whole lot of ktog's and ssk's.
It is quite an interesting pattern. A little fussy, a little whimsical at the same time.
For the heel, I continued the mini-cables and the purl gutter down each side, and knitted a slip-stitch heel using the stitches from the main "wave" pattern. Then I finished it with a square heel.
This is a fine example of the technique commonly known as Making It Up As You Go Along.
I think I like it. Not sure yet.
Another thing I'm not 100% about is them STRs. I really love the base yarn, love the way it feels in the hand and the way it knits up, but I must say the dye job is completely underwhelming. The colors are muted, unremarkable, doesn't induce me to want to eat the yarn the way Koigus usually do. But it's the pooling, my GOD ALL THE POOLING, that I just can't ignore. Even for a shaded solid it does that icky, diagonal pooling, the unintentional blotchy striping which seems to be its trademark.
Seriously though. What is up with the diagonal pooling. You know of which I speak, I know you do. I noticed it on the first STR I ever knit with, so kindly given to me by Scout. Since then I've seen the diagonal pooling all over flickr. I see it now with the solids. It's so consistent that it drives me crazy, because, wouldn't it be easy to "fix" if you wanted to? Now I say this without having ever dyed a single skein of yarn in my life, and assuming that others want it "fixed" too, which they clearly don't because those things sell out like kittens at the kitten store. But like, could you paint/dye shorter lengths of yarn in the same color? Dye the each color interval more randomly? Something? Then there won't be so much pooling? Maybe...?
I do wonder a little how these socks have achieved rock-star status. Kind of like Obama. Hmm.
******
Has everyone forgotten Dottie, because I sure have! Eeks oops sorry don't hate me! She's been reposing all this time in the office cubicle. Now she's finally enjoying the great outdoors, reposing on a bed of soft frilly peonies. It's one last hoorah before the flowers start fading away.
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Socks | Drunken Bees | Yarn Stash
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Pattern: Twisted Flower Socks by Ms. Cookie A. As if I had to remind anyone.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Burgundy, one skein
Needles: US1
For: My Sockapalooza pal xoxoxo
Modifications: I have a favorite toe thanks to knitting Meida's Socks by Nancy Bush - decrease at each side of the foot every other row until you have a total of 32 stitches (or 8 sts on 4 needles), then decrease every row until there are a total of 8 stitches (or 2 sts on 4 needles), then cut the yarn, take a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through and tighten the hole. I find this makes for a very natural fit that curves nicely over the toes, much better than the straight edge produced when grafting.
So after posting about these last week I immediately ripped the first sock up past the heel so they would match what I did with the second sock, which was to follow the lovely heel pattern as written and extend the foot by another leaf pattern repeat.
We match now.
If you were to take a peek at this pattern, at the heel and foot chart, every single row of them meticulously laid out from bottom to top, all those twisted cables, traveling in a precise direction, where the tiniest of missteps would derail the whole effect, you'd probably want to rip your eyes out before having to start over again.
But it really didn't pain me to do this. I was so zen. It had to be done. I hardly demand perfection for myself; in fact I practically revel in my own knitting disheveledness. But for Sock Pal, for someone whom I will probably not meet in person? My socks will be my proxy. They will be my Goodwill Ambassadors. And like Angelina J0lie they will have to be perfect.
(Maybe I will name my socks Angelina J0lies. They are beautiful, they are complicated, and Br@dPitt would want a piece if he met them.)
And in any case, I just really enjoyed knitting these socks. No second sock syndrome in the slightest. They went by so quickly, despite all the slow-downs of cabling and having to refer to the chart. I'm not normally this patient, but I think having that entire chart for the foot written out that you could tick off, row by row as you finished, kept me focused and paced so that I wasn't constantly badgering myself with Are we there yet? How much longer? Can we go now?
I'm really glad I picked to do these socks. Sock Pal definitely made things easy for me by specifying semisolid to solid colored yarns. Picking the right yarn out of a whole universe of lovely yarns would overload my processes, but when you can disregard the variegateds (ie the hardest ones to resist), the patterns to choose from for strictly solids become obvious. Twisted Flower was obvious. And not only did I have a great time knitting, I was able to do it in confidence, without worrying whether or not my Sock Pal will like them.
Unless of course she thinks Angelina J0lie is ugly.
The only problem I have is to not mail these off right now. I hope I don't misplace them in the moving shuffle!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Ah, if only these were truly finished. I used an eye of the partridge heel instead of following the pattern for the first sock, then decided while knitting the second sock that I should have just used the pattern as written afterall (much prettier), and also while I was at it with all the inconsistent knitting, I went ahead and made the foot longer. If I were to keep these myself I would consider these done and call it a day, but I don't think my Sockapoolza pal would appreciate my mismatched/lazy aesthetics...
Duck and I are still here in Rhode Island until this evening. Kitty and her crew left yesterday. Man I just hate to be the last to leave.
Newport, RI
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower | Travel
Friday, May 11, 2007
Pattern: Meida's Socks from IK's Favorite Socks. Pattern by Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Poppy, just under one skein
Needles: US size 1 Phew. I got a pair of socks with barely a skein of Poppy at my disposal. I actually decreased the stitch count by 2 for each pattern repeat, resulting in a pair of very small socks. They're too small for me (you can't see in this photo, but when I wear these the heel of the sock is practically at the soles of my feet), but just right for a certain diminutive mother whose feet are the size of a pixie's. I sent these off in the beginning of the week, and she's already received them, just in time for Mother's Day.
E-mail from her this morning: You are something, the gift is so marvelous, can't believe you have so much patient! Heh heh. So much patient.
And so much pink! Socks and spring are marvelous!
Dutch tulips from the garden
Flowering apple trees, Boston Public Garden
Pink blossom overload, Boston Public Garden
Meida's Socks, for Mom
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Life | Socks | Meida's
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Everyone, be proud of my unsocial, ungathery self, for I have done the previously unthinkable and joined a knit-along. Sockapalooza 4, everybody, Sockapalooza 4 and I are BFF's!! In fact I was so excited to get my pal's information last night that I immediately casted on and finished a sock!
Tada! Isn't it a beauty???
OK not really. I mean the part about having started the sock last night. It is definitely, without question, very beautiful, so much so that I will buy for my lovely little sock a little sparkly tiara and build her a little runway so that she may sashay her pretty self around the house for all to admire. You can thank CookieA for this brilliant pattern, called the Twisted Flower Sock.
I started it several weeks ago and have been knitting it very off and on. Through the first round of pattern I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to be too big for me. I kept chugging along though, one because the pattern is, well, so drop-dead gorgeous, and so fun to do, and second, I was hoping that perhaps I would be assigned to someone who might specifically mention liking
- sock yarns with that tight beady twist (as Cherry Tree Hill Supersock has)
- solid colored yarns (this one's in Burgundy)
- and had a slightly bigger foot than me, maybe half an inch or so longer and wider...
If all applied I would be able to just go ahead and knit this for my pal.
And wouldn't you know it: Check, check, and check on all three counts!
I didn't follow the pattern through to the heel, fearing it would too loose.
But I might very well change my mind. It is only May (May!?!) afterall...
*****
So speaking of swaps, I'd like to take this final opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the Knitterly Letter Swap. I hope everyone enjoyed writing and receiving their letters. I did. There was a period where I had a letter waiting for me in the mailbox for 4 consecutive days. It was better than Christmas! I owe several replies...Anyway, there were a few snafus with lost letters, returned letters, etc. and I tried my best to follow up with people, but of course it's impossible to police and to make sure every letter gets to where it needs to go. Last week I paired up all letterless folks who contacted me with a "savior," and they sent their letters out to you almost immediately (thank you saviors! and those who volunteered but didn't get used). So I really hope all of you who joined have received at least one letter, and that you've got your letter-writing juices flowing enough to continue writing more!
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower
Friday, April 06, 2007
I can't wait to finish these (Nancy Bush's Meida's Socks from IK's Favorite Socks). Fingers crossed that I don't run out of yarn. I've got only a skein of Lorna's Laces to work with. :-\ I figured if I was able to get away with these Child's First Socks using just a skein, I could probably do it with these. We shall see.
Filed Under: Socks | Meida's
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Oooo. I am in a foul mood. Today we are experiencing what meteorologists up here in Boston love to call a "wintery mix." It starts as rain, with flecks of snow thrown in. That goes on for a hateful amount of time until you add some wind to it to get a hateful mix of driving rain and snow. Add some more of that hateful "blast of cold air coming in from Canada" now you've got an all-out blizzard. It's April and I hate it I hate it I hate it. These shenanigans would never happen in Barbados. Or Santa Fe (right?). Why am I still here?!
In knitting news. Kooch is at a point where I can actually start seaming. And yet, instead closing in on my first FO in over a year, I have this:
The Triumvirate of Sock. They can not be stopped.
Anna socks from Rowan 40 in Koigu.
Anastasia socks by pepperknit in Koigu again.
Meida's socks from IK's Favorite Socks, in Lorna's Laces.
LOVE this pattern.
What can I say. Tulips, magnolia and cherry tree blossoms and blue skies will not make their appearances here for another month yet. This is what I must do to tie myself over.
Desperate needs, desperate measures.
Filed Under: Life | Socks
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
In between a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I finished up another pair socks.
Pattern: Child's First Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Curious Yarns in Ocean, one skein. It came with Dottie. Thank you Hazel!
Needles: US1 dpns
These were originally intended for my BFF but halfway through the first sock I changed my mind, and now I'm giving these to my SIL. Baby blue is her favorite color (I think). These came out really tight but since the yarn has a 25% nylon component to it, I'm not too worried about it.
Just love this pattern. It knits up so quickly.
***********
Lately I've been thinking that I really need to change the url for this knitblog. When I first set it up I wasn't exactly thinking long-term, so I simply created a subdirectory under this existing domain, which I have used as an online photo album since 2001, and named it Clog.
I rather regret that choice.
It's supposed to stand for "Cat log." Weblog by Cat. When I see that clog in the url, or type it in, that's what I say in my head, and it's what a picture. Me, Cat, writing a log. Mew mew mew! Type type type!
But unfortunately that's just me and I alone have access to my brain, so for you, when you see the word clog, your mind's eye is probably conjuring something less savory.
A very unhappy toilet, perhaps? A drainage system gone awry? Arteries?
Dutch windmills?
Or maybe I'm overthinking this.
I do want to set up a dedicated knitblog domain though, if only to keep my original photo album site completely separated from this knitting one. A handful of personal friends and family have found this blog when they were googling for the other and hi if you are one of those people for the love of God please don't tell me that you're reading this. A good friend recently told me while we were socializing pleasantly at another friend's wedding that he had found this blog on G00gle, and suddenly it got real hot and my dress ripped off and there I was sipping my cocktail in the nude.
I have no problems being read (judged) by total strangers but in no way can I handle being read (judged) by people I know. (Unless of course you also knit. Then it's totally OK.) I feel completely open and vulnerable. The way I portray myself in this virtual universe is in many many ways completely antithetical to the way I am in real life, so having them collude out in the open is just all kinds of wrong. It would be like seeing Jerrica and Jem in the same room! Clark Kent and Superman hanging out! It just can't happen!
I know this makes little sense if any, but that is how I must live my blogging life in order to function properly in this universe.
Anyway. I'm thinking of possible domain names, and the obvious one is of course domesticat.com. Unfortunately it's already taken (and worse, it's not even being used) .net is also taken, and I don't want .org.
What name to choose, what name to use...I'll have to think about it more.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Child's First
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Pattern: None, just a 54-stitch stockinette sock with gusset heel and wedge toe
Yarn: Yarntini self-striping in Pure Fall
Needles: US2 for the top half of the leg, US1 for the rest
I just rediscovered these shoes while cleaning out the closet. Oh my god do I have a lot of shoes. Anyway I bought these four years ago in a San Francisco boutique for 75% off. Ah the thrill of a good sale! But strangely I have not worn these as much as I should have. I mean how does one just forget that she owns awesome tomato-red pointy-toed shoes with cylinder heels like these?!
Especially ones that go so good with new stripey socks, no?
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Friday, March 02, 2007
Pattern: Monkey socks
Yarn: Fleece Artist merino sock yarn in Autumn, one skein
Needles: Size 2 dpns
It is damn near impossible to decently photograph so much red, and in such dismal, rain-drizzled lighting it's that much trickier. I tried every setting on my camera but each time the reds came out super-saturated, so much that it obscured the pattten. At the same time the poor lighting muted the surrounding colors. Wacky combination! I ended up desaturating in Photoshop to subdue the reds.
This was a very fast knit, despite the fact that I haven't been knitting much in the last couple of weeks. I'll be honest, at first glance I wasn't really excited about this pattern, but it is very flattering knitted up and looks much prettier in person.
That Cookie. That mad genius of a Cookie. It is almost unholy the things she comes up with.
Some mods:
1) 2-stitch garter stitch gutter on either side of the heels.
I think I might start doing that with all my heels. It's pretty.
2) Very long toes.
Not intentional, until I decided to leave it the way it is. I tried a more rounded toe instead of the usual wedge toe by decreasing every 4th row for a couple of rows, then decreasing every 3rd row for a couple of rows, then every other row until there were 16 stitches total left. The result of that was a very long toe. The sock still fits just fine - it just looks a little goofy with the toe starting so early. But since my BFF is even less of a perfectionist than I am (right?), I'm OK with leaving the them the way they are. No sleep lost over that!
3) Cat-hair infused yarn.
Creates a lovely, soft halo around the socks.
A quick Soak and a dry, and off to NYC they go!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
I'm knitting Monkey socks in the FA merino sock yarn for my BFF. Originally I was making these for her but decided she really needed a pair of more vibrant socks (or, I really needed an excuse to buy more sock yarn). The autumn colorway is appropriately va-va-va-voom, and as a bonus, the yarn is covered in cat hair. More natural fibers for everyone! As soon as I untied the knots that held the skein together, the whole thing immediately tangled, and it was over before even a full revolution of winding could be made. It's amazing really, how a project can be so hopeless before it even starts. Only for the sheer love for my BFF could I have willingly spent three terrible hours untangling and winding. And out of sheer frustration during the three hours did I let the yarn drag itself all over the couch and the floor, picking up all that cat hair like a magnet. Oh those cats. How they shed.
Filed Under: Socks
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Simple stockinette stitch self-striping sock using Yarntini in pure fall.
And yes my toes. They are long. So very, very long.
Filed Under: Socks
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
It's just useless. Utterly, completely useless. It's so less than useless it's usenil. Usezilch. Usekaput.
Mwahaha, I win! Again!
I simply cannot stop knitting socks.
I give up.
Filed Under: General Knitting | Socks | Child's First
Friday, January 19, 2007
My last sock for this week, anyway.
Pattern: Child's First Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in poppy; just over 1 skein.
Needles: US1 dpns
I cannot believe how quickly these finished. 5 days of off-and-on knitting! I speak in the passive tense only because I hestitate to say that *I* finished these quickly. I mean did I? Or should credit be given to the Unseen Voodoo Sock Fairy living under my seat?
 Do you see? Do you see the mirror-imaged shells? For the second sock I read the pattern chart from left to right, instead of right to left, and changed all left-leaning decreases to right-leaning decreases.
But what charts, you ask? Because there were no charts in the instructions. WHY that is I will never understand. I drew out the chart myself because trying to read them as text made my eyes go numb. I will never ever understand why people insist on writing out patterns in text when a simple chart is so much clearer and more efficient, and less prone to mistakes.
Like, why write out sl1, k1, psso - which at first glance appears to be 3 whole stitches to work - only to have a time lag as your brain realizes, Oh wait that's a decrease, when you can just have one lowly symbol to represent it? All that's needed to comprehend is a quick glance. No mental translation necessary!
ANYway, the socks are not for me. It turns out I wasn't done with my Christmas knitting afterall, even though I kind of sort of gloated that I had. I know! Christmas is now way over! But because I was traveling over Xmas with my family, I didn't get a chance to give out the presents to the inlaws, and I also ended up shuffling the original line-up by giving some stuff to my immediate family that was intended for the inlaws.
At the end of the day I had the Pomatomus anklets to give to my SIL...but the more I looked at them the more I disliked them. I knit these things back in the summer when anklets seemed like a good idea. But who wants to wear anklets in the middle of winter? What's the point? One of the best parts about wearing handknit socks is pulling them up over your legs. Mmmm...scrumptious, warm socks all over. I thought it was a waste of a good pattern and good yarn, and that it wasn't good enough to be gifted.
So I tossed those silly anklets out, and with a few weeks extra buffer I was able to start something new. I definitely feel good about gifting these.
OK no more knitting socks for awhile. I mean it.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Child's First
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Child's First socks in Lorna's Laces, courtesy of The Wool Palace. So NO I did not buy the yarn this year.
Just started these yesterday.
WHY OH WHY is it so impossible to not knit a sock for just a coupla days?? What devilry have you done to me Socks, what devilry have you done?
Please help me.
Filed Under: Socks | Child's First
Monday, January 08, 2007
Pattern: Aran Braid Socks
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Purple Rain, 1 skein
Needles: US2 dpns
These puppies had places to go, things to do, people to see. They practically flew across the needles and knitted themselves.
Before I knew it I was at the heel. Then I was at the toe. Then they were on Duck's feet. And then, lo and behold, he was dancing the jig!
You can't tell from the photo, but that's two left feet you're seeing there. It takes a lot for the poor little feller to dance, it takes a lot. But thanks to a pair of purpley new handknit socks his feet are as light and fancy as Fred Astaire's! Lalalala! I'm singin in the rain! Maybe.
How I love to work with CTH Supersock. It's vibrant on the eyes, soft to the touch, light on the wallet, and generous on the yardage. I need to start knitting toe-up again so I can gauge my progress and use the yarn to its fullest - I have quite a bit leftover. I could have knitted another 2 inches on both legs and had enough to spare.
And I love the heels. I'll probably be knitting heels this way from now on.
And so, my quota for knitting for Duck is now complete. I can resume knitting for self for another 2 years. No more guilt! Yes more sweaters!
Filed Under: Socks | Aran Braid Socks
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Knitting wise, the biggest surprise of 2006 has been my unbridled love of knitting socks, which as I've mentioned a million times, began as something like unbridled hatred.
I love the yarns, love the little needles, love the portability.
And oh how I love to wear them!!!
My preciousessessss...
I cycle through these four pairs throughout the week, possibly throughout two weeks. Maybe even throughout the month. I wear each pair maybe three, four, five times before I wash them, lately in Soak Wash. My head is still trying to wrap itself around the no-rinse concept.
(Today I'm wearing my own Zephyr socks. They're currently the cleanest pair. Which means I've worn them only twice since the last wash.)
Despite the frequent wear these socks - made with CTH, Koigu, Sundara Yarn and Regia, left to right respectively - are holding up extremely extremely well. Especially the Koigu and Regia. Minimal pilling, still-vibrant colors.
I don't do any rough-housing like go running in them of course, and only once in awhile will wear them out of the house with "real" shoes. But while working at home - just about everyday - I do have them on morning to night, with slippers, and often straight to bed where I will kick them off unceremoniously in my sleep, and there they will lay crumpled under the sheets until the next morning. Or the next. Frankly I'm quite surprised and very impressed that they've held up as well as they have.
Is it gross to wear socks over and over before washing them? My feet don't' get terribly sweaty ;). Not even wool can defrost these icy brittle toes. Need more for 2007!
Damn. When am I ever going to knit a sweater again?
Filed Under: Socks
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
With my parents and aunt and uncle, we had a fabulous Christmas/New Years vacation, which witnessed above average amounts of cribbage, knitting, eating and drinking. Too much drinking. I will be more than OK if all of 2007 involved no drinking. But I'm not prepared to make that an actual resolution.
My aunt and uncle were a last-minute addition on our trip, and even though my family normally doesn't exchange gifts (these were all for the in-laws), I figured it would be fun to give them all a little something-something since it's so rare that we all spend Christmas together. So I had to scramble afterall to get some knitted items finished, and reshuffled the recipient list a bit.
I gave my mom the Mardi Gras gloves, my aunt the Yarntini Jaywalkers, and quickly finished these socks for my uncle, and knitted a simple ribbed hat for Dad.
Merry Christmas knits for everyone!
Over vacation I started the Anemoi mitts.
And abandoned the Anemoi mitts. I did myself and the pattern a real disservice with the colors I chose. Booooo!
So put that aside to be frogged, and started these Aran braid socks:
I was able to finish one sock over a couple of days, even while playing cards and drinking and knitting Anemoi at the same time. I mention that not to impress you with my mad knitting skills (a definite 2007 resolution is to learn to knit continental), but to illustrate how fast and easy knitting socks - even socks with braids! - can be. Especially when you use yarn that you just can't put down. So soft, so vibrant! So CTH!
When these are done, Duck will finally have handknit socks of his very own. Luckily he is secure in his duck manliness that he is nonplussed by the pinks, even as they all conveniently pool at the top of the foot.
Filed Under: Gloves | Socks | Aran Braid Socks
Monday, December 11, 2006
Behold. My Christmas knitting, actually completely and totally finished before Christmas! It's a Christmas miracle!
From top: Pomatomus anklets in Koigu
Jaywalkers in Yarntini
Red Sox in Baby Cashmerino
Cable Twist Socks in Socks That Rock
Since the Cable Twist Socks have not been given their official debut, here they are.
Then there's this, Ms. Clapotis, finished months ago...
No idea how to wear this, so hopefully my mother-in-law can figure it out! And wear it!
And I'm gifting the Mermaid Gloves as well.
Along with some other non-knitterly items, I am on time, on schedule, and 100% done with Christmas shopping. And I didn't step foot in a mall once! Let's dance! Or take more pictures!
Cleeeck!
From this post forward (actually from yesterday's post forward), all photos on this site shall be courtesy of my very advanced, rather heavy but TOTALLY AWESOME new camera and lens. Thanks - or no thanks! I'm broke! - to Kathy for getting this ball rolling. And many many thanks to brooklyn tweed for answering all my incessant emails with great info and advise. I've wanted a dSLR forever and ever but not too long ago they were for people who were either very rich or who were actual photographers. I wasn't any of those things, I'm still neither of those things. However technology keeps getting cheaper - and better - by the minute. And one of the funny side effects of knit blogging is the desire to not only become a better knitter, or even a better writer, but a better photographer as well. I don't know what's in store for 2007, perhaps not better knitting or better writing, but by Jove there will be better photos!
There will be!
Filed Under: Clapotis | Completed Projects | General Knitting | Life | Socks
Monday, November 13, 2006
Geez louise. Writing patterns is hard dude. You can fine-tooth comb what you write until the cows come home and then you'll hit PUBLISH! and then 6 comments too late you'll spot the glaring error that you missed over and over. Never again will I bitch and complain when I see errors in a pattern, even ones that I've paid for. Well no, maybe I will complain, because I mean money was invovled. But I just won't complain AS MUCH because damn. Writing patterns is hard.
Filed Under: Socks | Zephyr
Monday, November 13, 2006
ZEPHYR SOCKSThese socks are knit top-down with your standard slipped stitch heel flap and heel turn, standard gusset, and standard wedge toe.
The pattern is a 9-stitch, 16-row repeat.
MATERIALS
> Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn [420 yds], 1 skein.
> 1 set of 4 US2/2.75 mm dpn
> Tapestry needle
APPROXIMATE GAUGE
9 stitches in pattern = 1.125 inches (that's 1 inch plus half of a quarter inch), slightly stretched.
31.5 stitches = 4 inches in pattern stitch, slightly stretched.
Leg circumference is about 7 inches.
DIRECTIONS
I. CUFF
CO 54 stitches. Divide sts evenly onto 3 needles (18 sts on each needle). Join round.
Round 1: *k2, p1*
Repeat ribbing until cuff is about 1.5 inches
II. LEG
Pattern Chart
Note: The charts are mirror images, which actually isn't so obvious in the knitted sock. But just knowing I'm wearing symmetrical socks is enough for me! So you can knit mirror imaged socks, or just use one chart for both.
  
Work the 16 rounds of the Pattern Chart. Knit the Pattern Chart a total of 4 times, or to desired length. After last row is completed on Needle 3, turn work. Wrong side should be facing.
III. HEEL FLAP
Set up heel flap stitches as follows (WS): sl1, p17 from Needle 3, then p9 from Needle 2. Turn. (27 sts total on heel)
Move the remaining 27 instep stitches onto one needle.
Work heel stitches back and forth:
Row 1 (RS): *sl1, k1* to end
Row 2 (WS): sl1, p to end. Repeat these two rows for a TOTAL of 26 times. End with RS row and turn.
IV. HEEL TURN
Row 1 (WS): sl1, p14, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 2 (RS): sl1, k4, k2tog, k1, turn
Row 3: sl1, p to one st before the gap, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 4: sl1, k to one st before the gap, k2tog, k1, turn
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until all stitches are worked. 16 sts remain.
Divide these stitches onto two needles, 8 sts on each. They are now designated as Needle 1 and Needle 3.
Stitch count before gusset:
Needle 1: 8 sts
Needle 2: 27 sts
Needle 3: 8 sts
V. GUSSET
Needle 1: Pick up and knit 15 stitches along side of heel = 23 sts
Needle 2: Knit in pattern* = 27 stitches
Needle 3: With empty needle pick and knit 15 stitches along other side of heel, then knit the 8 heel stitches = 23 stitches
Round 1: Knit even
Round 2: Needle 1 - knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k.
Needle 2 - knit in pattern**
Needle 3 - k1, ssk, k to end of needle
Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 until there are 12 stitches on both Needle 1 and 3 = 24 sole stitches. ** When knitting the instep, omit a starting YO or an ending YO in
the row, and do not do its corresponding decrease. In other words, if
you are at a row that begins with a YO, just knit the first 9 stitches
straight. If you are at a row that ends with a YO, knit the last 9
stitches straight.
Continue in est. pattern until you reach base of toes. End with Row 8 or Row 16 of chart. On final row before toe, OMIT all YOs = 3 sts decreased = 24 stitches.
Stitch count before toe:
Needle 1: 12 sts
Needle 2: 24 sts
Needle 3: 12 sts
VI. TOE
Round 1: knit even
Round 2: Needle 1 - k, k2tog, k to end k to 3 sts from end, k2tog, k
Needle 2 - k, ssk, k to 3 sts from end, k2tog, k
Needle 3 - k, ssk, k to to end
Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 until 16 stitches remain - 8 on sole and 8 on instep needles.
Slip sts from Needle 3 onto Needle 1. Graft to stitches on Needle 2. Weave in ends. Wear!
Pattern & Images © 2006 Li W.
Filed Under: Patterns | Socks | Zephyr
Monday, November 06, 2006
Pattern: "Zephyr" socks, my own pattern HEE HEE!
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill supersock in Emerald City, one skein. Love love LOVE this yarn.
Needles: US2 dpns
I started these right before we hit the road, wound the yarn myself into an apple-shaped center-pull ball. The colors in this yarn are so gorgeous I could bite into it.
And then I had 2,500 miles to knit and complete a pair of socks.
I love the stitch pattern, it swirls and sways, churns one way and then the other like a wave, a breeze. I found the stitch pattern in one of my Japanese stitch dictionaries, but modified it a little bit. It's fast, fun and easy to remember, a great and productive way to pass the endless hours in a car.
There are some modifications to be made I think, one to the toe (don't decrease down so much), and one to the length, and maybe gauge. This stitch pulls both in horizontally and vertically, which annoys me a little because I don't want to be pulling up my socks so much. I can either go down a needle size, but I think increasing the length of the leg will do the trick, so it will hug the calf. Or maybe an elastic band would help.
The pattern fits perfectly around the feet though.
Pattern to come when I have enough time to write up something properly. If anyone's interested that is. I'm just so pleased to have constructed my very own pair of socks, hee.
Update: Thank you for all of your A++ comments! shuffle shuffle blush blush. I'm super swamped with work at the moment, so hopefully I'll have a pattern written up by next week. Or as soon as I can find my notes.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Zephyr
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Bleh.
Yet another mismatched pair, using Socks That Rocks. But these socks ain't so rockin'. The manly Poma using size 3 needles turned out much too big, so I decided to try out the stretchy Cable Twist Sock. Now it looks too small. Duck tried both socks and assured the fit was fine for both. Silly man, how is that possible? Meh. I'm not so happy with either at the moment.
And that's all the exciting knitting news I have.
Let's talk food again instead.
Pizza from Uppercrust Pizza, topped with Canandian bacon and duh, green chile.
There are only 5 days left in Santa Fe. 5 days to stuff our faces silly with as much green chile and sopaipillas as possible. Because we sure as hell aren't going to be able to find anything like New Mexican cuisine back home.
Here are our favorite restaurants in SF and our favorite dishes:
Maria's, for their spicy red chile salsa, steak and chile rellenos plate, and of course, their knock-you-out margaritas.
Guadalupe Cafe, for their ancho chiles stuffed with goat cheese and walnuts and smothered with more cheese and more chiles, their sangrias, and most of all, their sopaipillas. I've had sops in half a dozen places are so, and they're not all made the same! Some are too hollow, some are stale, some too crunchy. GC makes theirs with the perfect blend of doughiness and hollowness and crispness. I'm going to miss you guys the most!
Bobcat Bite, for their mouth-watering 10oz hand-ground-on-the-premesis-that-day hamburgers, topped with cheese and green chile of course! We were there for lunch yesterday and yet another small camera crew was on hand, filming back in the kitchen.
Green Chile Burger from Bobcat Bite. And a little grilled chile on the side. HOT!
The Chocolate Maven, for their chile hot chocolate, their desserts, their breakfasts, their sandwiches...
Mu Du Noodles, for their delicious pan-Asian menu, and for when you need a break from another chile-smothered burrito/enchilada/burger.
I'm not ready for a break from the green chile just yet though. Sigh. I'm going to miss those little spicy suckers.
Filed Under: Socks | Travel | Santa Fe
Friday, October 20, 2006
Well, they're gonna have to. I tried to knit something else, I did. A fast and easy pattern, but I was bored. I just didn't have the motivation to knit it, even though the sock yarn (Socks That Rock) are fast becoming my favorite. So I ripped out what I started and soon there will be another Pomatomus in this world. But for a man. Pomantomus. Heh heh.
Only 10 more days or so til we leave Santa Fe.
I have to admit I am starting to miss home a little. We went to see The Departed (aka The DePAAAHted. GREAT MOVIE by the way) recently and I can't believe I'm saying this but the Boston accents made me all homesick. The indescribable, almost unbearable, barely imitate-able unless you're from Boston, Boston accent. I thought about the state trooper and the city cop who live on either side of our cul-de-sac. They're accents are SO THICK and SO HORRIBLE, I always giggle and wretch at the same time when I hear them talk, but I miss them.
Those crazy Bwohston Myassachooosetts cwawps.
And I miss the boys.
Even if they may not miss me too much.
Filed Under: Cats | Socks | Pomatomus
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Last night:
A bottomless glass of wine, MI-5 and Matthew Macfayden on the tele, and good progress on your second plummy Ripple Weave sock. That's what is called a Perfect Evening. Although, it is a bit of a mental challenge to keep up with the complicated plot, the complicated pattern, while just barely maintaining sobriety. So if you try this at home, proceed with caution!
I wish I had a British accent. I wish I were a spy.
This morning:
Pattern: Ripple Weave Socks from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006
Yarn: Sundara Somewhat Solid sock yarn in "Plum Over Slate", one 350 yd skein with yardage leftover
Needles: US1 dpns
Love the socks, love the yarn. I am all over this twisted ribbing stuff. Are there any more out there, aside from Pomatomus? Maybe I'll sit down one of these days and come up with a twisted rib pattern of my own. Maybe. Til then, I have to think very hard if I will give these away and to whom. Sigh. No one is worthy. No one.
Mods: I did 2.5 chart repeats for the leg. It turns out 350 yds is plenty to have done 3 full repeats. (I have enough leftover which I'll use for cuffs and heels on variegated socks in the future.) I reduced the length of the heel a little bit and therefore picked up fewer - 15 - stitches for the gusset. It was kind of loose on the first RW sock I made. This pair now fits perfectly. On me. So I guess I'll have to keep it.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Ripple Weave
Friday, October 13, 2006
It will be a miracle if I can one day manage to finish socks back-to-back for a matching pair, instead of jumping from one sock yarn to another.
Ripple Weave socks, one in blue Wildfoote and one in plummy Sundara Yarn. I think I know which I like better between the two...
But what about these?
Poma vs Ripple in the World Series of Sock
Ripple and Pomatomus are very similar in design. Both have accentuated patterns from the raised bumps of the twisted ribbed stitches, both are yummy squishy to wear.
But if I had to choose, I'd say Pomatomus wins feet down (ha ha. sorry. ok bye). I've finally had a chance to wear my little rose Poma's since finishing them this summer, and when I do I can't stop staring at my own feet. I can barely walk. My gnarly, Smeagol feet are gooorgeous in these things!
I do like the way the ribbing continues all the way through the toe on the Ripple sock. I'll have to replicate that in my next pair of Poma's.
New additions in el yarn stashio:
Two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn from the littleknits.com sale. I can tell already that these babies are a home run. The yarn is soft, is wonderfully beady like Koigu and Sundara Yarn, except that it is oh so plump! So succulent! So US3 or US4 dpns!
So about to have another mismatched pair of socks in no time!
A new segment of Cultural Weekend is about to commence, once again. The weeks here are just flying by, so fast that before we know it the car will be packed and we'll be installed back East again. I've already convinced Duck that we need to stay in Santa Fe for an extra week. It wasn't hard sweet-talking him into another week of green chiles and carne adovada, but for whatever reason Duck was convinced we'd only want to be here for 6 weeks. Nuh uh! I haven't nearly had my fill of sopaipillas, chile hot chocolate, Tent Rocks, and of course the stunning, spectacular sunsets.
Since being here, blue and orange has become my favorite color combination.
So for this Cultural Weekend, we'll be experiencing some more fun and new things. First, we will get to see a lot of hot air balloons flying about in the sky over Albuquerque. I have only seen one balloon in the air at any given time, and even so that one was tethered to the ground.
Second, WE WILL BE GOING TO STRANGER'S HOUSE FOR BREAKFAST! This is a huge deal, being the jittery bug-eyed hermits that we are, so all-caps was necessary. Also I'm excited.
We haven't even stepped into her house and already she's all "Would you like another breakfast burrito?" and "One or two sugars with that coffee?" and "Stay as long as you'd like!" Scout is so super friendly I am in awe. It also highlights the fact that I'm super not. I mean I AM friendly. I mean I have POTENTIAL to be friendly,given enough sleep. And tequila shots. I know, too many parameters. So to be so naturally effervescent! To actively seek out people to befriend, while sober! That is something.
Let the weekend begin! Ooooo and happy Friday the 13th! Of October!
Filed Under: Socks | Ripple Weave | Travel | Santa Fe | Yarn Stash
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Plummy Ripple Weave sock in different lighting.
Left: taken outside Carlsbad Caverns
Right: Taken at the Bat Flight amphitheatre at dusk
Check out the plummy goodness. I'm making fast progress with this
Ripple Weave sock, mainly because I can't put the yarn down. I'm at the
toe right now, it will be finished today and I'll have a complete pair
of non-matching Ripples, hooray.
Here is some small progress on the Capelet Sweater:
I don't know why the stitches look so uneven between rows, as if
there were a couple of rows of twisted stitches thrown in. Maybe I had
gotten so used to doing ktbl's from knitting the socks? Boo.
But here are my initial impressions on Rowan's Tapestry: it feels
disconcertingly like human hair. Hair that's been shampooed and
conditioned with Finesse for that shiny, silky soft touch-me bounce. I
mean it's NICE. It's just a little too alive or something creepy. But
it's nice.
For this here Capelet Sweater I am following the instructions loosely. Even after all my number crunching,
the numbers on all the charts and illos still don't add up. There
is definitely one typo and perhaps a few more but can't verify if this
is so. All I know is that it's confusing. I mean if the Japanese
readers themselves can't make heads or tails, what hope does one have I
ask you? But whatever the construction isn't exactly rocket science, so
I think I can wing it.
***
We had a fantastic weekend. We drove all up and down New Mexico.
First stop of course was up an hour north to Taos for the wool
festival, on Saturday. Can I say I wasn't exactly into it? I will say
it quietly: I wasn't into the wool festival! Don't be mad!
I think if I were a spinner I would have found all the stalls of raw
wool much more interesting. Most everything was very raw and very
scratchy. However I did go gaga at the Brooks Farms Yarn's booth, with its rainbow colors of beautiful wools. It was by far the most popular booth. The two skeins I bought is their Primero Yarn in 100% kid mohair.
After Taos we came back to Santa Fe, packed a small bag and headed
south to Carlsbad - 4 to 5 hours drive - with an overnight stop in
Roswell. I thought we could take in some alien sights in the morning
but there wasn't much aliens to see unfortunately so we continued on to
Carlsbad Caverns, and made it there in time for our guided tour.
This place is very, very cool. My bad blurry photos doesn't do the
place justice. I deliberately tried not to include people in the shots,
but now I wish I had, just to give the place a sense of scale. The
caves and the decorations in them are just immense.
After several hours in the cave, we hung out back on land to wait for dusk, and the start of the Bat Flight, where the resident bats swarm out of the cave for their nightly insect feeding.
Oh you Bat Flight how I will never ever forget you! It is by far the COOLEST thing I have ever seen in my life.
You sit in this small amphitheatre constructed at the mouth of this cave
where the bats dwell, a ranger gives a pre-flight talk about bats,
first about bats in general - they are not evil blood-suckers, they are
not mice, they are not birds, etc - and then about these bats here in
particular. Mexican free-tail bats. From Mexico. And some other bats
from Brazil. Or something.
I was looking forward to this part of the lecture; I wanted to know
their history with this cave. Our ranger was about to go into all the
details when she turned and suddenly lowered her voice and whispered,
"Everyone shhhhh....they're coming..." and I swear all the hairs on my
arms and neck stood up on end.
Not my picture! Taken from the NPS site, I give them FULL CREDIT!
A couple of bats fluttered out, then within seconds it was a small
swarm, then it was a whirring CYCLONE of bats swirling around the
mouth of the cave for like, one or two rotations before they shot off
into the horizon. The sun was setting, the clouds were red, and this
was the backdrop for the black, roiling stream of bats flying far into
the distance. It was the most amazing and beautiful thing I've seen in
my life. And the more bats that flew out, the longer and dense this
stream grew, the faker it looked, like CGI rendering of locusts from a
documentary of the biblical plague on the History Channel or
something.
We sat there for 40 minutes, or as long as there was enough light to
see, and in that time the bats continued to swarm out of the cave
unabated. In fact the tornado seemed to get bigger and bigger each
minute. The exodus can last as long as 2 hours before the cave
completely empties. Can you imagine?? How many bats were in
there, that's what I wanted to know! The website says there are half a
million bats living in the cave, but I'd say it was much much more than
that. Bajillions! How much surface area do they cover when they're
hanging upside down in their cave? Imagine that scene?!
It's too bad we were not allowed to take photos. They banned cameras
this year, fearing "interference" with the bats' "echolocation."
Waaaah. Poor bats. I wanted to take a photo, many photos, SO
BADLY. I thought maybe I could turn off the flash and take a shot
surreptitiously from under my arm, but there was a second ranger there
playing the role of BADASSED BAT BOUNCER who stood with her sunglasses
on and shoulders and jaws squared at various points around the
amphitheatre, watching us. She was scary. So I didn't dare.
But you can see pretty cool pictures of the bat flight here.
Filed Under: Socks | Ripple Weave | Travel | Santa Fe
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Finished one Ripple Weave sock using Wildfoote. First time with this yarn, first time with the pattern. Wildfoote is not bad. Not the softest but definitely not the itchiest I've used. The fit of the sock is great save for the gusset. It's the first time I've knitted a sock where the gusset was too big. Will pick up fewer stitches next time.
The sock yarn stash continues to grow...
Sundara's Somewhat Solid in "Plum over Slate." I am head over heels. She ought to name her yarns Somewhat Edible. I wound it myself into a center-pull ball using a toilet paper roll. Worked great! I've already started knitting with it - another Ripple Weave sock on the way!
The yarn stash grows some more...littleknits.com is having a sale on Cherry Tree Hill supersock yarn, plus another 10% off on top of that, and as soon as I received the notification email this morning, I was ON IT. Two skeins in Purple Rain and Emerald City. Why not?! I gather more sock yarn in the spirit of Socktoberfest, and in this case, I am trying NEW sock yarns, for my own sock edification. Good thing I nabbed these colorways; within minutes they were gone.
Will try to post more again and more often. It's been a busy busy week. Can't believe it's October already. We've been in Santa Fe for nearly a month!
PS Backstory on the drunken post from last week (which was 100% authentic by the way). I don't know what possessed me to blog in that state except that I'm a loser or I was just in the really happy giddy drunken haze that I wanted to talk. I'm a fast typer, no looking at keyboard, but I was typing even faster when tipsy. Like wheeeee! Type type type type! There was no stopping me!
As soon as I logged off, a horrible "oooooOHluuurrAAACK" issued from the bathroom. My Duck, he got sick. In all the years I've been with him I've only seen him sick twice before, and that second time was earlier in the month. Fruitful month, September. Anyway, I myself did not get sick. The trick is to not let yourself lay down, no matter how dizzy or groggy or tired you get. DO NOT LAY DOWN! It increases the dizzy factor one million percent! Stay upright, drink water! I sat up half the night propped with pillows.
Despite the sickiness, that stuff we drank was so effective and so good that there was no hangover the next morning, at all, that we went right back the next evening. But only one drink per person this time...:)
Filed Under: Socks | Ripple Weave | Yarn Stash
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Left: Rowan Tapestry for the Japanese Cape Sweater. Ordered from yarn.com. I'm back into neutrals again. The color is "Country" with bands of the softest greens and browns. Beautiful.
Middle: Brown Sheep's Wildfoote sock yarn. Purchased from a yarn store in Taos this past weekend. It had teeny tiny selection, but this is the first time I've heard or seen this sock yarn. Two different colored yarn plied together. Cheap too! 200+ yards of superwash wool and nylon for just over $6. I couldn't resist. Like the name too. So old English. I'm going to name my next cat or child Wildfoote. Whichever comes first.
Right: Trekking XXL also from yarn.com. I ordered this before I came upon the Wildefoot. They look kind of similar, but there are more colors in Trekking, and it's softer. I've never worked with it before so I'm curious. It's destined to become a pair of man socks.
The pottery mug: It's Duck's handsome new coffee mug, handmade and handpainted at Rainbow Gate. We found this beautiful store over the weekend and my mom went beserk. She looooves pottery. Turns out, I do too. We were there for over an hour and she bought a very nice dinner set for six in all the colors of the rainbow. Duck picked out the goose mug, I picked out a few things as gifts, but nothing for myself because I couldn't make up my mind, mesmerized into indecision by all the different combinations of colors and paintings. There were a few mugs with cats on them, you'd think that would be a no-brainer, but I am more into REAL cats than I am into painted cats or cat whatever knick-knacks. Just so you know.
ANYway...
Ripple Weave Socks and Correction
Tell me the truth. Can you discern the ripple pattern in this sock?
I've used the Wildefoot for the Ripple Weave sock from Fall 06 Vogue Knitting. It might be a bad choice. :(
By the way, there's an error in the chart, which I haven't seen a correction for on the website yet. The 3rd row should look like this:
Capelet Sweater, or A Lot of Number Crunching That May Not Interest You
Thanks to Japanese reader Izumi for helping me to further make heads or tails of the Cape Sweater pattern. It is the total antithesis of Debbie Bliss patterns which are all words and no charts. This is all charts and even though I can pick out the basic words, the numbers still don't add up...
The top image are instructions for decreases the cape portion, worked bottom-up. According to Izumi, 31~1 for example means, "On row 31, decreases 1 stitch once."
But there are 4 numbers total. Bear with me here as I think while I type:
31 ~ 1 ~ 10 ~ 1
First number (31) indicates row, second number (1) indicates stitch, fourth number (1) indicates how many times. What I don't know is what the third number (10) is for. Is it stitch position? If so...
The chart below is the charted version (I believe) of the decrease instructions. Green portion is for my particular pattern. If 10 means 10th position, on the chart it looks like you do a decrease after knitting 16 stitches. And then there is a little note that I think says you repeat the *k16, dec* pattern 9 times.
The numbers aren't adding up.
OH WAIT!!!!!!!! Epiphany as I'm typing this! The numbers do add up! That 3rd number tell you how many times to repeat the decrease. You are really repeating that decrease on Row 31 10 times in all! The chart illustrates the first K16, dec. Then another K16, dec and that is where it says to repeat that 9 times. So 10 in all. OK so that is what the 10 means.
YES? Hmm I'm still not 100% sure....Like if the 2nd number tells you how many stitches to decrease, and 3rd number tells you how many times to do it, what's the point of the 4th number now?
And, why does the second dec. instruction say
24 ~ 1 ~ 11 ~ 1
while on the chart the second repeat row begins on Row 55?
But 79 rows in all MINUS 55 = 24. So 24 on the chart means 24th from the top? But 31 doesn't mean 31st from the top...Whut.
And what's with the multiple dec instructions for Row 8? (Or is that 8th row from the top?) (ERGH)
Heh, are you even following me at this point?
OH WAIT ANOTHER EPIPHANY! The math also works out this way: 31 + 24 = 55. The first number is the number of rows to work AFTER THE LAST ROW YOU DECREASED. So after row 31, work 23 more rows straight, then decrease on the next (24th) row. Or in other words, decrease on row 55 as illustrated in the chart.
YES!
Dang. I'm spent. Too many ways to write the same thing. Might have been easier for me to ignore the words and just follow the chart.
Just like it's better for you to ignore the words here and just stick to the photos. That's what I would've done anyway.
I LOVE NEW MEXICO
OK I lied about keeping this entry to knitting. Just look at these bizarre rock formations.
We took my parents to the Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks. It was an AWESOME surprise, and is now my favorite U.S. park. Better than Bandelier (which is just next to it), better than Zion, and possibly better even than the Grand Canyon!? Maybe it's apples and oranges. I say that only because Tent Rocks is accessible, small, but still incredible. And not overrun with other tourists.
I've never seen such rock formations. It is ODD. We were able to hike into it, at some points the foot trail was no wider than your foot, rock walls soared and closed in all around you, it was intimate and breathtaking. It takes a lot of effort to actually go into and especially to hike the Grand Canyon. With the Tent Rocks, you drive a few miles from the city and BAM you're right into the thick of it. We're going to make this regular, after-work hike.
Man. I can tell it's going to be hard to leave when the time comes. I'm working on convincing Duck we need to stay an extra week than he thinks we do.
Filed Under: Japanese knits | Socks | Ripple Weave | Travel | Santa Fe
Monday, September 18, 2006
Duck models knit-wear for the first time! And does a lovely job.
 
The sock is Lichen Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.
I followed the pattern as written but went up to size 3
needles for a more man-sized fit. The yarn is Regia
6 ply in "Crazy Midnight." I do not have enough of this yarn to make
the second pair because I was stupid and thought that one skein was
enough to make a pair of man-sized. Booo! Does anyone out there have
this yarn in this colorway? I don't even need a full skein, just half,
just half!
Veronica sent me this Japanese knitting book as part of her Freebie Friday. See!
I have my eyes on the sweater pictured on the right, without the
wrist-warmers. It's an intriguing capelet/sweater hybrid, and I likes
it. I'm thinking of using Rowan's new Tapestry,
but first I need to figure out what the yarn and gauge specifications
are for this sweater. Are there any Japanese readers out there who
could help me out?
And has anyone had a chance to use Tapestry? If so, what are your thoughts?
***
We just had Cultural Weekend this past weekend. On Cultural Weekend
you visit museums, visit national parks, visit pueblos, eat new
cuisine, and burn to a flaky crisp! This weekend there was not a single
cloud in the sky, and the sun was all ARRRRR! and my skin was all
SSSSSsizzle!
We drove to nearby Bandelier National Monument on Saturday.
Cliff-dwelling Indians used to live here, all high up in the rocks.
We were able to shimmy up a series of ladders, up 140 feet, to see
where and how these people lived. I didn't really shimmy up though,
because that implies speediness. It was scary, even though these
national park-sanctioned ladders were made of sturdy logs/branches and
tied/nailed securely against the rocks and I dared not to look down.
Back in the day they probably made ladders out of twigs and
twine and just propped them casually against the wall, and
went up and down on them all day long carrying boiling water
and elk horns and other sharp objects. Is it any wonder that they're
extinct.*
One thing is for sure, if I were them I would not have
survived long. I would not have been able to climb the ladders fast
enough to escape the grasp of a hungry cougar, and I would not
have climbed down the ladders fast enough to escape any errant fires
running rampant from the kivas. I would be doomed.
* Heh I kid around. I speak callously and ignorantly only
to express my own irrational fears of climbing ladders. Along a sheer
rock cliff. On a windy day.
The views in Bandelier were really spectacular, and even though I
was a big chicken when it came to climbing the ladders, it was
definitely a really cool hands-on experience. And did I mention the
views were amazing?
So imagine my confusion and anger when back at the visitor center, I read these consecutive entries in the park guestbook:
"We paid $12 to get in, and were charged another $1 for the guide. Robbery?"
and underneath that
"Not worth $12."
WOW! WTF? What were these people expecting, a laser light show? Mr. Toad's Wild Ride? Bon Jovi?
The following are most definitely not worth $12:
1. Renaissance fairs
2. an evening showing of Hope Floats
3. any John Tesh CD
all which these hags have probably paid for.
And by the way, the entrance fee was per car, not per person.
Whoever wrote those entries were older women (flowery, cursive
handwriting as proof), were probably friends, probably came in the same
SUV, probably with their husbands, so really they paid $3 each.
So nonsensical. I mean this is nature! Beautiful,
soaring cathedral cliffs millions of years in the making, ancient
carvings and dwellings you were actually allowed to climb into, the
great outdoors! Trails were clearly marked, facilities were clean,
guidebooks were informative!
And there was this squirrel that looked like a baby werewolf, all
chubby and black with a white underbelly and tufted ears and claws and
the bushiest whitest tail you've ever seen! I'd pay another $12 just to
see that squirrel again!
Duck wrote his own entry underneath theirs. He called them idiots. No he called them idiots. Out loud, under his breath, he called them much worse.
Anyway. Don't listen to those old bats. Bandelier rocks, and is 120% worth it.
On Sunday we visited the Pecos Pueblo. I have no pictures to post of
that visit because I am too anxious to talk about this instead:
Hello, I am Sopaipilla! Eat me! I am delicious!
Taken at Guadalupe Cafe.
We've been here twice already and so far it's my favorite place.
I was wondering why at each New Mexican restaurant we've been to,
every table had a squeeze bottle of honey, next to the usual salt and
pepper shakers. It's for the sopaipilla that comes as a side with your main dish.
SOPAIPILLA! My new best friend, if you are so inclined to eat your
best friend. If you've been to any American state fairs, it is
like the unassuming but delicious fried dough. If you've been
to New Orleans,
it is like the beignet. It is very much like the beignet actually, in
that it is crispy on the outside, chewy and doughy along the edge, and
hollow on the inside. However the sopaipilla is lighter, fluffier, and
is eaten with generous drizzles of honey instead of confectioner's
sugar. I LOVE IT! I could eat them all! And it nicely cools
your palate after a spicy plate of enchiladas.
In fact, I will be eating them all again, tonight. Can't wait.
Filed Under: Japanese knits | Socks | Travel | Santa Fe
Thursday, September 14, 2006
This is where I knit...
...and this is what I'm knitting.
Man-sized ankle socks! Manklets! But these aren't for Duck (sorry Duck, you lose again!). These will be a Christmas gift for some other manly member of the family. I'm doing real good with the early Christmas gifting, people.
So the yarn is Regia 6-ply and it is horribly, horribly itchy and raw on the fingers. Love the striping, but officially hate the handling. The last time I knit with this stuff was back in April, and in between then and now my hands have come in contact with bunny-soft Sundara Yarns, Koigus and Yartinis, that I don't think I want to knit with this new wool ever again.
***
Santa Fe continues to be sunny and delicious to eat. Despite Duck's bumpy bullfrog of a cold sore brought on by the green chile (I'm looking at his lip right now and it's in that lovely in-between stage of bubbling and scabbing over, like someone back-kicked him in the face and then rubbed Crisco all over the wound. Hi Duck don't hate me! I'm just being honest!), we have not shirked away from eating more, oh no.
Look at this. Death in a Ziploc Bag. We purchased these roasted chiles at the Farmer's Market near the apartment. Whole Foods sells them too, albeit for exorbitant rates. We made a dinner with chicken and diced chiles - accompanied with generous helpings of cheese and sour cream - and for lunch today I chopped one chile and tossed it into the pasta sauce. Hot but manageable and very very delicious.
Last night after work we biked into the Plaza to catch the sunset at a rooftop bar. We took sidestreets through residential neighborhoods and were in the Plaza in less than 5 minutes.
We probably could have made it there in less time if
1) we hadn't gotten a little lost. Roads here are very Bostonian in that many end unexpectedly in dead ends or curve around back again
2) we weren't already out of breath in the first 30 seconds. This air still takes some getting used to, but the upside is that by the time we get back home I'm actually going to be in shape. For the first time in my pathetic, slothy life!
Here I am at the Bell Tower Bar at the top of the La Fonda Inn, having a drink and reading the NYTimes while we wait for the sun to set. The light changes were fast, dramatic and beautiful.
Afterwards we had dinner al fresco at The Pink Adobe. It was a little pricier than what we were expecting, and almost left but I'm glad we didn't because hawow!
I ordered:
Crawfish Enchiladas
Two blue corn tortillas filled with crawfish tail meat and goat cheese, topped with green chile crawfish bisque.
I scraped every last bit off the plate, and if you know me, I never do that. I always get completely, cannot-possibly-eat-another-bite full right before the last bite.
And if you know me, you also know that I hardly say no to crawfish or goat cheese. Put them together and it's guaranteed. I've just never had them together, and it would never occur to me to eat have them together.
French meets Cajun meets Southwest meets my mouth. It was 100% delicious.
Filed Under: Socks | Travel | Santa Fe
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Pattern: Boston Red Socks aka Madder Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Cashmerino Baby in red; brandless merino yarn in cream
Needles: US2 dpns
If I had waited to resume these socks once the Red Sox went on a winning streak, they would never have been completed. Despite the fact the team has fallen apart, we still have a winner in the Red Socks! I modified the pattern by casting on 48 instead of 60 stitches. The fit is perfect, the toes are pointy, and the horseshoe heel is cushiony.
***
SO. Thank you all for participating in the contest! I enjoyed discovering new blogs, and seeing what cities you had to guess. Some of them I definitely considered, particularly Santa Barbara, CA, as well as Savannah and Charleston. We've been to both Savannah and Charleston on short visits, so perhaps someday we can make it a little longer.
I decided to have a grand prize winner and 2nd, 3rd, 4th place winners and send off all the yarn. Why be stingy? The sun is out, the air is clean, and tomorrow we're headed off to...(drum rooooolllllll)....
SANTA FE!
Capital of the state of New Mexico, and second oldest city in the United States (who knew! I didn't). Sunny 300 days out of the year, hot in summer, snow in winter, 7000 feet above sea level, for a capital city it has only a municipal airport, cluttered with lots of art galleries and best of all, GREAT FOOD. How many different ways can you have green or red chili? I'm about to find out!
I'm sorry if this contest was too United States-centric, but I did receive a few entries from out of town, like ESTONIA, who were able to guess correctly. I mean up here in what, the "liberal", "Ivy-League educated" Northeast we had friends and family who had no idea where Santa Fe was.
California? Texas? Mexico?
My favorite response was from a certain someone who said: "Oh wow Santa Fe, that sounds great! So you aren't worried about the hurricanes?"
Um. No?
This was how I picked the winners. Names of those who commented or emailed with the correct city was written on a small piece of paper. There were lots of paper, you guys are so smart. With Bunny Bunnitons presiding, all pieces were gathered in a small box, shaken, and then thrown into the air. Whichever Bunny swiped at first would be considered "picked."
The only flaw in this method was the assumption that the cat would give a shit about flying pieces of paper enough to participate. Alas he was not quite so hands-on as I hoped he would be.
Whatever, looking instead of swiping was good enough. I have the four winners!
I'll let you know who they are once I get a response from them. (Most of them happen to be blogless!)
We're just about packed and ready to go. One last thing to do will be to take the boys to their favorite aunt's house in the next town over. I will miss them, but there's no way we could take them. The ten minute drive to Auntie's house is just short enough not to kill them. They're going to be in good good hands.
Thanks again for participating, and see ya'll in Santa Fe!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Contest | Socks | Red Sox | Travel
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Well, just the one sock. The actual Red Sox are the ones that are finished. Because of this the spirit of completing the Red Socks has left me, if only temporarily. I am sad. It is not fun to knit socks in honor of a baseball team that SUCKS. Don't you know I knit for winners only! So when they start winning let's say, ONE GAME IN A ROW, then I will start on the second sock. I don't think that's too much to ask. Or is it?!
I just realized that washing these bad boys may result in a dye-bleeding tragedy. How am I going to prevent the toes and heels from turning pink? Unless they never got washed, ever? Hmmm.
Filed Under: Socks | Red Sox
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Hello fellow Americans who are possibly still sans Rowan! I received my Rowan yesterday in the mail, hopefully you guys did too. And let me say, it...was kind of sort of only slightly worth the wait...? Maybe? The two items that caught my eye, besides the crazy KSH ballgown "Arwen" which no way would I ever make, is Aelf and Lorelai. The others are nice but just how nice I'm not sure yet.
It just doesn't quite compare to last year's issue, Rowan 38. Even though it was better known as The Issue That Was Universally Vilified, it was responsible for really turning me into a Rowan fan, whereas before I was frankly puzzled by its popularity.
 In fact, while waiting for 40 to arrive, I took another good look through 38, and find I love it even more. Aside from finally finishing Kooch (and I'd really really REALLY like to finish it. I was in anthropologie yesterday and sweater coats were everywhere), I want to start Miss Maple. Yes that beautiful sweater-poncho-cardigan enigma that will do nothing to accentuate my non-existent curves but whatever I still love it. It's trendy yet classic at the same time. No? Maybe.
Instead of Felted Tweed I could use the mounds of Peruvian Wool that has been sitting in my stash for nearly 2 years. So all I need are a couple of skeins of KSH. Which I will purchase at WEBS this weekend when we are in western Mass for a BBQ (this has been a fantastic summer, by the way). Damn you WEBS for carrying Rowan now! I am weaker than ever in your yarn-filled presence!
Anyway. I think I just reviewed Rowan 40 by reviewing Rowan 38. That's really helpful. I'm such a good knit blogger. And didn't I make a promise not so long ago that I'd blog daily? I should quit saying things I don't mean. Like "I'll call you right back" or "Yeah I'll do the dishes" or "I'm going to finish Kooch." Oh well, I've been really busy. I mean lazy. Sorry.
But I've been knitting! Check out what's been accomplished just in the last week:
 Boston Red Socks
I am LOVING the way these are turning out, like ACTUAL, official team-sanctioned socks!
The pattern I'm using is the Madder Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, and the yarn is Baby Cashmerino. I'm using US2 needles and have adapted the pattern for this gauge.
The Horseshoe heel looks interesting, like a coffee bean.
It's sad. These Red Socks are better than the actual Red Sox.
Clapotis
I needed something "brainless" to knit and this fits the bill, although what's great about this pattern is that it's not so brainless at all. I can see why it's been so popular. It's witty, if a pattern can be called that. I love the part in the pattern where you drop the stitch. The first time I had to really think about how to do this. I mean I've dropped stitches plenty of times by accident. Having to do it on purpose sort of messed with my brain. Knitting on the bias did that too.
I'm making this half the called-for width but it's still wide enough to be more stoley than scarfy. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden in #34. So pretty. So so pretty.
Filed Under: Clapotis | Rowan | Socks | Red Sox
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Pattern: Duh
Yarn: "Three Rivers" by Yarntini, sport weight
Needles: US3 dpns
These socks are for wife of brother-in-law, who made it a point to tell me the last time I saw her that she is a "big fan of socks" and that she "always wears socks, even in summer." Well, maybe she didn't make it a point to tell me, but I flattered myself into thinking so, so that I would have a good excuse to buy more sock yarn to knit another pair.
I modified the pattern so there were 13 stitches on each of the 4 needles = 52 sts total. I probably could have done 15 stitches per needles as these socks fit me pretty well, but they're destined for feet much bigger than mine...I'm counting on them to stretch to fit.
After knitting many pairs of socks toe-up/short row heel, I finally thought I'd give the ole cuffdown/heel flap number a revisit. And you know, knitting the heel flaps/short row/gusset takes three times as long, and three times more yarn, as it does to just do a short row heel, but guess what, I think I DO like the construction of heel flaps better.
The yarn is great, soft and perfectly stripey. I've never finished a pair of socks so quickly - thank you sport-weight yarn!
...But now instead of feeling satisfied and fulfilled from the instant gratification, I feel empty and lost. What do I knit next, yet another pair of socks? I squint and look into the knitting horizon and see...nothing. Nothing! I need a break from socks, but I don't want to finish Rose of England, I don't want to restart my mom's sweater, I don't want to finish Cate (remember her? No? Me neither), don't want to do nothin.
I'll feel better if these socks are grumperina's 400th finished Jaywalkers, heh.
I feel a sudden attack of the Knitting Slumps.
I just want to go swimming.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Jaywalkers
Friday, July 21, 2006
I have to knit socks with sport weight yarn more often. Only a few hours and I'm nearly done with an entire sock. Woooo.
Taking off soon to western Mass. again for a concert tonight at Tanglewood with the siblings-in-law. Mozart's Requiem is on the menu, as are deviled eggs, grapes, cheese, and wine that we're going to chow while out on the lawn. It's the perfect venue for knitting too, to be relaxing outdoors under the stars with your family, surrounded by music and fireflies, drinking your wine, knitting your sock. So many enjoyable activities to do, all at the same time.
Filed Under: Socks | Jaywalkers
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Pattern: Pomatomus, modified for anklets
Yarn: Koigu KPM, Dye code P823, one skein, plus just a tiny few yards of a second. So close to keeping it at just one!
Needles: US2 dpns
Shake your love. I just can't shake your love. Shake your love. I just can't shake. Your love.
I tried several times to knit something other than Pomatomus. Started various sock patterns, experimented with different stitches, only to rip them out and return to Poma. Why mess around when you've got something that works? Poma's beautiful shells flatter any yarn, and pair that with perfect levels of ribbiness and you've got socks the whole family can enjoy.
But WHO in the family will be receiving this? That is to be determined...
Again I knit this toe-up with the Sherman short row method. Same approach as for this pair, except this time I knit on US2 instead of 1.
I didn't like how the holes looked at the edge of the instep, so this time I replaced all the beginning YO's in Chart B with a ktfb (for the first YO on the first row I did a M1).
After working the toe, I did two repeats of Chart B, knit the heel, then did half a repeat of Chart A (rows 1-12 only), then knit 3 rows of 1x1 ribbing, then did the knit1-purl1 cast off with a tapestry needle.
So fast, so satisfying! I've knit Pomatomus so many times now that I can finally spell it correctly the first time around without having to look it up!
Thanks so much for the advice on how to neatly join a round. I will try this out later when I cast on for Jaywalkers. YAY!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Pomatomus
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
On the left: GEMS Opal merino yarn in teal, bought at a lovely yarn store (Loop) in Philadelphia. They stocked a variety of colors but this one was the only I came away with. When faced with so much variety, I freeze instantly with indecision, until of course I get home, 500 miles away, and then do I think, Oh why didn't I get that or that or that when I had the chance? I'm wishing I picked up a skein of red to make my Boston Red Socks. This is some nice yarn.
On the right: Self-striping sport-weight yarn from yarntini in colorway "Three Rivers." Yay! I've been coveting yarntini's goods for awhile, admiring from afar...Finally broke down and asked her to dye me up some in sport-weight when all the stock from her store and pureknits were gone. That's of course when I wanted it the most. What a pretty, pretty skein, so pretty I could eat it.
So now that I have more than enough inventory (including these yarn here that I haven't yet touched - except for the blue Koigu) for Christmas socks, I have to go through the task of determining WHO is worthy of receiving socks made from which yarn. The obvious answer is ME, but me is not the right answer.
I started knitting another Pomatomus with the Opal, and since it's sport-weight, I had to adjust gauge and rewrote the chart to be a 8-stitch by 14-row pattern repeat (as opposed to a 12x22 pattern repeat). I decided I would finally do this one cuffdown for once.
Help me.
But look how ugly it is. I always have a problem joining the round after casting on. I can't avoid the little gap or a having a sort of tier form between the first and last stitch on the cast-on round. Usually I go back with a tapestry needle and sort of tighten it shut, but it still doesn't look clean, and this tier here is particularly bad and annoying. Waah.
I cast on long-tail, and usually doublestrand with the long tail for the first two stitches when joining the round...what else can I do neatly join a round?
Filed Under: General Knitting | Socks
Friday, July 14, 2006
The scene from last night:
I knitted for the first time at Fenway! I'm bashful about a lot of things but for some reason I'm not bashful about knitting in public. (I do draw the line at taking pictures of myself knitting in public though, especially at a jam-packed Red Sox game. How cooky would that have looked?)
I was knitting the mate to this:
YES it is the Pomatomus again and again and again, but now in anklet form. I bought the yarn while in Lenox a few weekends ago, and yes I said I wanted to take a break from the multicolored but I just could not say no to this purple and gold-flecked Mardi Gras colorway. I knit this anklet while on the train to and from Philly, and while sitting out waiting for the fireworks. Love the quick knits. This will be a Christmas gift.
So pleased to be starting the Christmas gifts early. Might as well put my sock craze to good use. Everyone's getting a pair!
 It occurred to me while at the game, staring at the Red Sox logo on the wall, that I should knit that. Red socks with the white toes and heels (pointed toes and gusset heels, see!). There are plenty of fans in the family who I think would get a kick out of Boston Red Socks - including my cousin in Taipei who is the BIGGEST Sox fan you'll ever meet. As is his new baby. Just not by choice at this point. Poor thing.
Filed Under: Life | Socks | Pomatomus
Thursday, June 29, 2006
I started on another sock, bad, undisciplined me. I thought I'd do an anklet version of the "Bed Sock" from Knitting Vintage Socks, and try a tubular cast on. I can see why people get giddy at the sight of tubulars. It's so clean, so mesmerizing, so clever.
I don't like this sock pattern though. In fact I don't think I much like anything in this book, except for "Child's First Sock," and that's only because it looks like Pomatomus, with smaller scales.
That's all the knitting I've done in the last 24 hours. Kind of hard to update every day or every other day when you accomplish too little to report on...
...so here is a completely unnecessary picture of Veeb's famed BCB's (Bi-Colored Ballz).
Veebs, ready for his early physical.
Filed Under: Cats | Socks
Friday, June 16, 2006
Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me.
Pattern: Pomatomus
Yarn: Koigu semi-solid in colorway I don't know, 2 skeins
Needles: Size 1
Maybe you are sick of seeing another pair of Pomatomii. I dong care. I love Pomatomus. It makes such lovely scallops.
Also, I am drunk.
 Why am I drunk? Because I am sad. I am compensating. I am supposed to be drunk in a lakehouse next to GOOSE POND in New Hampshire right now with my bestest friend from high school, before she leaves for Mozambique for years and years. But the stars were aligned against me today. I got up early this morning to finish up work, got a backpack ready, cut a bouquet-full of mint from the backyard for mojitos by the lake, got the car packed up, made sure I plugged the satellite radio correctly to all the orifices so I could listen to Howard on the way, blah blah blah, ready to go at 3pm. And then realized, Where is my wallet? Where is it? I can't find it. Wallet where are you?
I turn the house inside out all the while knowing I most likely left it on the train yesterday on my way back from jury duty. I hate you jury duty, civic privilege be damned. Let me tell you, I have actually been selected as a juror once and your right to a fair trial was totally dismantled by one that was SO uninteresting, with the lawyers SO bumbling and ineloquent, none of us had ANY idea what was going on. We never made it to deliberations (defendant ended up plea-bargaining, as he had incriminated himself during examination. Not that any of us had noticed), but if we had, oh god. Does a fair trial involve vacant blinking and blank stares and silence? I don't think so.
Luckily yesterday we were all dismissed, after hours and hours and hours of waiting around to die.
Pomatomus against Japanese paper.
Maybe that's why I like this pattern so much.
It reminds me these stylized clouds.
On the other hand I got to finish Pomatomus. Jury duty is good for knitting at least, if not for a fair trial. This chick sitting next to me, though, did not have knitting, nor a book, nor nary a hangnail to pick at. She just stared straight ahead the whole time, and let me tell you it drove. me. crazy. I don't know how many times I took a quick peek to my left see if she was doing anything to keep herself occupied, but her glassy eyes stared straight ahread. For five. Miserable. Hours. Shoot me!
After I ransacked the house for my wallet and called all credit card companies to make sure there were no funky charges in the last 24 hours, I finally went to North Station's lost and found to see if they had my wallet. And they did! YAY!
But it was locked up and the guy who had the only key was gone for the week. SUCK! No one else has the key? No one?
The guy behind the counter was very nice but totally unhelpful. "I don't agree with the policy, if it were up to me I'd give you your wallet right now, but he's a union man....a union man...a union man..."
He must have said this 5 times as if I would nod in sympathetic agreement, but I have no idea what signifance a union guy would have over being able to turn a key or not. I want my wallet now damnit! My license is in there! I have to make it to New Hampshire!
I walked out of the train station empty handed, and stopped at the usual liquor store for some rum, for my sad, uncelebratory mojito. I was frazzled and in need of a tall minty drink. But of course it was not to be! Of course this was the one day of all days I get carded!
I walked out of the liquor store empty handed. Had to get Duck to pilfer some alcohol for me, like some common tenth-grader.
Stars. And planets. All misaligned.
So Goose Pond in NH was a bust. I was/am sooo disappointed. There were to be loons (i love loons) and owls (i love owls) and grilling and drinking and a lake and stars. And my BFF.
I dig the tubular bind-off.
But not the nasty chicken skin legs.
But I have another pair of Pomatomus. I love these puppies. I knit them toeup.
Here are the details:
1) I provisionally casted on 30 stitches for the toe.
2) I short-rowed down to 10 stitches, then back up to 30.
3) After picking up the stitches from the provisional cast-on, I have 30 stitches for the sole, and 30 stitches for the instep.
4) I start knitting in the round, increasing one stitch at each end for the sole until I have 32 stitches, and one stitch at each end for the instep, every other row, until I have 36 stitches. So sole = 32 sts, instep = 36 sts.
5) I start Chart B on the instep for 2 full chart repeats.
6) Then I start the short-row heel on the sole, going down to 12 stitches, and then back up to 32. (2 chart repeats plus short row worked nice and snug for my size 6 US feet)
7) As I'm working the last row of the heel, I pick up 4 more stitches on the sole to get 36 stitches, and rearrange the stitches so to get 24 stitches on 3 needles. Then I start Chart A and work that for 3 pattern repeats.
8) I do 20 rows of ribbing for the cuff, and do a tubular (knit one, purl one) bind-off.
I'm wearing these now. They are comfy and snug and covered with cat hair already.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Pomatomus
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Pattern: Pomatomus sock from knitty.com
Yarn: Merino wool I bought on ebay
Needles: Size 0 dpns
I consider this pair a practice pair. After declaring I would never knit socks again due to bad first sock experience, I couldn't help myself and thought I'd try these. The first sock I knit per instructions - top-down, gusset heel, wedge toe, grafted toes.
The second sock I did toe-up, with a short row toe, short row heel, and tubular bindoff. Except for the scallop pattern, they're really two entirely different socks. But it's all good - I have mirrored scallops!
Different heels, same fit
I love this pattern. I have one more pair to complete, done toe-up, and this one will definitely be matching. After this I'm thinking I might go back to the top-down, gusset heel flap method. Fitwise I can feel no differences between a gusset and short row heel. They're both comfortable. I was only sold on the short row for awhile there because it's just so easy. But the gusset is pretty...and it's nice to change things up a bit.
Pretty tubular
One method I'm definitely sold on is the tubular bind-off (Vogue Knitting as reference). Nice and elastic and really neat-looking too, especially with the 1x1 ribbing. I'll have to learn how to do the tubular cast-on next.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
A couple nights ago I was relaxing on my parents' bed, watching TV and knitting (another) Pomatomus sock, with Mouse the cat alongside keeping me company. Every now and then I'd stop to show her my sock progress and she seemed duly impressed.
"Cool huh, Mouse? Don't you wish you could knit?"
Then I left to go to the bathroom.
"I gave it a whirl while you were gone. Bored now."
I was gone for maybe two minutes.
So disrespectful.
Filed Under: Cats | Socks | Pomatomus
Friday, April 28, 2006
I've started another pair of socks using the other skein of Sundara Yarn I have, in colorway Troubador. Again the colors are super saturated and super shiny, like silk almost. How'd she do that?
And yes I'm on a sock-knitting rampage ;)
Well it appears that this skein of yarn is much less variegated than the one I used for the Spring Anklets (colorway Fern). In fact the color changes aren't quite so random and are more distinct, so much so that I was getting quasi-striping in the toes.
Striping on the sole
Then as I got to the foot, massive external bleeding of the color blue. Gah! I suppose this is what you sock experts out there call pooling?
My initial start of the sock had the blue pooling precisely on needle #1 and only one needle #1, every single round. Couldn't have done that if I had tried.
I ripped it out and tried again, this time casting on at a spot several inches further in, to maybe break up the pooling or at least to have the pooling be distributed on two needles like an instep and a sole. This time I got a diagonally traveling blob of blue, pictured above. Kind of cool.
The original stitch pattern I was going to use to with the variegation didn't work with Troubador, so I switched to the Pomatomus pattern. It looks funky no?
We're flying South tonight. I'll be in Atlanta for nearly three weeks. It's been nearly a decade since I've been home that long. (Oh god really is that true? I'm so old.) But I'm going home with a new attitude, my friends. I'm going to treat my hometown as a tourist attraction. Me the tourist, Atlanta and environs the destination. In reality I don't know anyone who would ever voluntarily pick Atlanta as a vacation spot - it's so corporate and new and flat despite all the Coca-Cola carbonation - but I'm going to overlook that sad fact for this trip. The goal is to see/learn/do/eat/appreciate things I never did before.
I will have to find some yarn stores too.
My mom is a knitter and a fantastic seamstress. Perhaps I'm ready for her to teach me how to sew as well...I want to make a needle case, especially with all the DPN's I've aquired lately. Hm.
Nah, on second thought, I just now searched deep within my soul and am not yet truly ready to learn how to sew. I'll just commission one from her, heh.
Filed Under: Life | Socks
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Spring Anklets
Yarn: Sundara Yarn in Fern, one hank at 185yds with several yards left over.
Size/Needles: 30 stitches instep, 26 stitches sole = 56 stitches on US2
Here before you are my own Spring Anklets, using Sherman Heel and a leaf pattern from my Japanese pattern book. Leaf pattern is obscured by the variegated color which I knew would happen but decided to do it anyway. I had started off using a mini-cable pattern that looks like the stitch from My So-Called Scarf I've seen floating around the internet. It was really flattering with the variegated yarn. The way one stitch stretches and crosses over another made the individual colors pop, but it was a total pain to execute. I think I'm going to try it again though on my next pair, because I'm still rather 'eh' about the way variegated yarns knit up straight.
The yarn was scrumptious though. Colors were shiny and intense and the wool so soft.
I will also take care to really decrease for the ankle area. It's a bit roomy, even though I went down a needles size and did a 2x2 rib. If I decreased the number of stitches as much as 20% it would be nice and tight.
Check out the pretty Sherman toe and heel. No holes!
There was more than enough yarn in the one skein to make a pair of anklets. The colors of the greens in the yarn are the same shade of those of the spring blooms popping up, hence the name. Fresh, vibrant and new.
Today is my and Duck's happy 4th anniversary! As usual we have nothing planned. So romantic!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Aw yeah I finally have a finished matching pair of socks.
Jaywalker socks. The stripes don't match.
Yarn: Regia Crazy Color 6ply
Needles: US3
I knit these toe-up using short row toes and heels, 13 stitches each on 4 needles. The first sock I did the usual wrapped stitches method; the second sock I used the Sherman Heel method, which was so much easier to execute and looked much neater. On the first sock I bound off normally but loosely, however it was still a little tight. So on the second sock I tried the knit two, purl two bind-off as described in Vogue Knitting. Is this a tubular bind-off? It was definitely much stretchier but I'm not sure I like how it looks.
These socks have been perfect for the chilly weather we've been having lately. But from now on, any socks I make will be ankle socks. Completing 6 inches of the leg even on big fat size 3 needles still felt like an eternity, I tell you.
***
Last year, my knitting raison d'etre was all about finished sweaters. As many sweaters as humanly possible in the least amount of time. I was going at a rate of one completed sweater per month, and accessories like scarves, hats, socks were deemed an inefficient use of knitting time.
And now, this year, after finishing Cabled Toad, not only have I not even wanted to complete another sweater, I have knit five whole socks (only one matching pair, see above), two half socks, and am about to dive headfirst into the geriatric world DOILIES, TABLE RUNNERS and TEA CLOTHS!
For chrissakes what's going on?!
Enter Thistle, Daffodil, and Rose.
 
Modern Lace Knitting is what's going on. While at a fellow knitter's house for dinner this weekend, our hostess brought out these knitting books for me to leaf through. Wow. WOooooOOoooow. The lace is so unbelievable that it doesn't even look like knitting anymore. It looks like...a station wagon. A grizzly bear. A sunset! Might as well, it's so ridiculous.
She let me take the Second Book home and I have been carrying it from room to room like a teddy bear, never far from my side, leafing through it more than occasionally while I try to decide which I would like to try.
And I don't even like table runners or doilies! But that's not the point anymore. It's about making works of art, which these lace pieces definitely definitely are. I accept the challenge!
What kind of yarn should I use (and which pattern?)? I don't want to turn any of these into shawls. I'll never wear them, and draped decoratively on a table is better than being hidden away in a closet. But I don't want to use cotton thread. I know I won't enjoy working with it, even if it is more appropriate as a table cloth, etc. Would a silk/wool lace blend work? All silk? Hmmmmmmm.
Filed Under: Lace | Socks
Monday, April 17, 2006
This has suddenly become a sock blog.
This weekend the Easter bunny (me) left sock yarn in someone's Easter basket (mine). Presenting more Koigu, more Regia sock yarn in various crazy colors. These are from C0l0rful St!tches in Lenox, Mass. I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket since Christmas. Only one skein of each color because I plan on making footies/ankle socks from now on.
Progess Shots:
Second Pomatomus and Jaywalker sock
Pair almost complete. The toes are different. On the finished sock I used short row shaping with wrapped stitches. On the second sock I used the Sherman short row shaping.
Again drastically different toes. On the finished sock I knit cuff down per given instructions. On the second I knit toe up, using short row shaping with wrapped stitches, which gave a rounder toe. So when I finish I'll have a matching pair that don't really quite match. Heh. The scallops are nicely mirrored though.
I do prefer working the Sherman short row over the usual wrapped stitches short row. More on that later.
Socks + Domesticat = BFF
Filed Under: Socks
Friday, April 14, 2006
The sound of the postman's truck got me out of bed early this morning. PACKAGE!
 
Sundara Yarn, in Fern and Troubador ordered from pureknits.com. It came fast, packaged all nice with a pretty little ribbon and a lovely handwritten note. Hooray for supporting small online businesses, hooray for partnerships, hooray for me, hooray for DELICIOUS, CANDY-LIKE SOCK YARN.
Holy crap.
Must...restrain...self...Must...not...eat...sock yarn...
Filed Under: Socks
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The bad news is it's snowing, the biggest, fluffiest snow all year. Hi it's April.
The good news is, I have heel, and it's a short row heel!
I had been following this pattern for the toe-up Jaywalkers. I was 2 rounds into the gusset directions, when I thought to myself, Blah blah blah so much instructions for the heel. Must I have a gusset/turned heel/heel flap? Just because the original pattern had it cuff-down, must it be mirrored toe-up?
'Course not! I'm a rebel!
So I ripped back the two rows, and using these great instructions for a generic toe-up pattern, started a short row heel. It turned out great, fit great, and was so EASY I couldn't stand it. Hells yeah I'll do another short row heel! Give it to me! No more finagling with heel flaps, or picking up stitches.
However, I didn't much like knitting the wrapped stitches - TWO wrapped stitches really - which you do when you start increasing back to your original number of stitches. Knitting three stitches together was a pain in the ass and didn't look all that great. I still had little holes.
Gappy short row heel.
I quick search on the Internet and I found another short-row method called the Sherman Heel that works for both the toe and the heel, and involves only 2 wrapped stitches. (There's another tutorial here, for knitting cuff-down.) I'll see how it works on the matching sock.
La la la la I love you short row heel!
Elemmaciltur called it way back when, he did, when he said that I would unevitably be bitten by the sock bug. I really doubted it, but I underestimated just how big and virulent this bug would be. So OK YOU'RE RIGHT I ADMIT IT SOCK ARE FUN YOU HAPPY NOW?! Hee hee. And no I haven't increased my sock stash any more. I did trade in the two skeins of lavender Koigu I bought last week for two skeins of CORAL Koigu. It's lovely and the color is so strawberry-daiquiri edible.
OK I have got to get back to work. The sock has been banished to the next room to avoid distraction and temptation...
Filed Under: Socks
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
It's a dreary spring day out, but inside it looks pretty cheery, with my vase of daffodils, and new Jaywalkers, toe up!
I wanted to see how the Regia crazy color would knit up, and just had to try the toe up method, so I set aside starting my second Pomatomus sock and casted on my first provisional cast on for the toe. What fun! Before I knew it, 4 episodes of 24 had passed and I had nearly an entire foot.
I give knitting toe up a big toes up. See how I did that there? Heh heh. I like being able to try the sock as I go along, but most of all I like that I'm starting right off the bat with the actual "socky" part of the sock when knitting toe up. Part of my problem with knitting socks, besides the toothpick needles, is the ribbing for the cuff - so slow and boring - and then working down the leg when I all want to do is get to the heel, foot, toe already. The juicy meaty parts of the sock.
Changes I made to accommodate using 6ply yarn and size 3 needles: I casted on 24 stitches and short-rowed to 8 for the toe. For the sole I have 24 stitches and for the instep I have 26, which means I work chevron pattern over 13 stitches. When I reach the cuff I plan to have 52 stitches total.
So far it fits well. Actually it fits amazingly well, considering I dived right in without nary a swatch, heh heh. My approach for better or for worse is that while I modify every pattern I do - yarn change, needle change, width change - I never swatch before I do it. I eyeball a little, guestimate a little, scratch out some algebra a little, then jump right in a lot, and the end results almost always come out fine. That is my one little knitting superpower :)
I am approaching the gusset now. I might have knitted the foot too long before getting to this point but we shall see. And we shall really see if my haphazard pattern modifications hold up. If all goes swimmingly I will have a MATCHING pair of socks in record time, and might even begin to admit that I enjoy knitting socks, heh.
In case you're wondering about the progress of Cate, there hasn't been any. At all. Sad face. Soon Cate soon.
Filed Under: Socks
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Not a matching pair, but a pair.
The toes on the Pomatomus sock is a little crazy. It's very pointy/triangular and I've got dog ears. Hmm. These socks were looking real good and I was feeling great about them until the toes. Oh well, practice practice. I'll do less toe decreases with the mate.
I might give these away to my sister-in-law (who is a general sock lover) for her birthday and make one for myself in a solid color. Still not totally into the variegated colors, even for Pomatomus.
It's been a beautiful Spring weekend. Friday afternoon we went biking on the Minuteman Trail and I did my usual pit stop at W!ld & W00ly, which is just off the trail. I traded in the one skin of Regia Miniringel in that hideous rainbow bright colorway you see up there, for another Miniringel in a much less controversial colorway. They only had that one skein, but it'll be enough for a pair of low cuff socks.
Also tomorrow I think I'm going to exchange that lavender Koigu I purchased for one in greenish-yellow. Or something else. I have too many purpley/bluey yarn.
And tomorrow since I have to go into the office for a meeting, I will be 3 blocks away from Winzdor Bu++ons. Oh I know all about the WB. I think their yarn selection is starting to rival their button selection. Very impressive.
Filed Under: Socks
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Clearly something has happened and I now love socks, right, because how else do you explain this little pile, this little pile that some might call the beginnings of a stash, of sock yarn?
Regia Crazy Color in Bonbon and some Koigu
At the same time, why do I find myself again straining to finish the rest of my first PotamtowoasjfsPochahontas sock? (Maybe because I can't ever friggin remember what it's called??)
Look at my pretty pretty scales.
For whatever reason I am just determined to make a pair of socks. It. Must. Happen. Truth be told I'm enjoying Potomac quite a bit. Thumbs up on the merino sock yarn (so soft), love the twisted ribbing, love the scallops. My problem seems to be when I turn the heel, I feel like I'm on the home stretch, woooo yeah a finished sock is in sight! but really the party is only getting started. One is in for the long haul when one finishes the heel and the gusset, and is faced with finishing the rest of the foot. That part is murder on my psyche. It's where I am now.
But I will finish I will I WILL.
So what's up with the yarn stash, you ask. Well for one, I am super obsessed with self-striping yarn. Even though I'm not 100% about knitting socks, I am 100% about self-striping sock yarn. I approve of the concept. That you see up there is Regia Crazy Color in Bonbon! which I got on sale at littleknits.com. The good thing about this yarn, aside from the color which is like hundred million gazillion times better than the first sock yarn I bought, is that it's 6 ply. Yes my friends, read it and weep. I can knit fun socks in well-mannered stripes using #3 or #4 needles and my knuckles will be happy.
I also recently bought Koigu sock yarn. I will admit this was more of a "charity" than a gotta-have-it purchase. Sigh. Do I even want to get into this...? OK, long story short, I was out walking on NewburyStreet and decided to duck into N3wbury Y4rn$. (Sorry for the f'ed up typing but I don't want this page to come up on a search. Because I might say some sad things about the store. Henceforth I will refer to it as NY)
I go in this store, praying that there is at least one other patron in there so that I don't feel totally guilty if I walk out of there empty handed. Does that happen to you? Go into a tiny store, two pairs of eyes watching you, wondering what you'll do next, and you feel obligated to make some sort of move that will ultimately involve an exchange of money? Or am I the only sucker here?
95% of the time I go in, NY is devoid of patrons but stocked to the ceiling with yarn. On this day, the store was empty save for the owner, her daughter who was at the table planning her wedding, and her mother who was knitting. The owner's on the phone with a supplier, telling supplier to "hold my order on such-and-such because it has been so slow and I'm not moving inventory. I'm sorry to have to do this to you again."
A little family business without any business! It makes me upset.
So there's the Koigu sitting in my stash.
Seriously I don't understand what she's doing wrong. But something is amiss. W00Lcott & Co in Harvard Square isn't much bigger, isn't any better stocked than NY. But there are always people in there. I'm actually not a fan of W00Lcott because they never have what I'm looking for, and most of all, their inventory/cash register system is a bloody nightmare. Lady spent 20 minutes once trying to process a return of a single ball of yarn because she couldn't find it in the system, and this for Cashmerino Aran.
She's like, "I'm sorry, people just enter yarn names differently and so I'm having trouble finding it." I'm like, WHERE IS YOUR LASER BAR CODE READER? Why is there SO MUCH TYPING?
Anyway, what is NY doing wrong? Aside from arranging her yarn by color so it's hard to find shit? Can that be its only downfall? It's in a great location, center of town, steps away from the subway, coffeeshops, antique shops, and other fine stores like...Cartier and Burberry. Is that the problem? All the people roaming up and down Newbury won't give a little knitting store even a single glance, among all the 'glitz'?
Whatever the case, I'm not married to any one local yarn store in my area, so I might as well try to go to this one more often (I have definitely said this before). And curb the online purchases.
Maybe you area knitters could patron NY a little now and then too? You know, before your lunch date at the Armani Cafe?
In some fun, positive, feline news...Kitty has finally gotten with the program and started writing about her knitting endeavors on her blog. Check it out. It seems like just yesterday that she showed me a picture of her wobbly stitches, and now she's already making her first adult-cat sweater. And some other cool stuff. You just know that as a kitten she was the first in her litter to climb to the very top of the tree. Makes a mama cat proud.
Filed Under: General Knitting | Socks | Pomatomus
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
How do you guys do it? How do you guys start a sock on a Friday night and have a finished pair by Saturday morning?
This lone sock took two loooong weeks. It just wouldn't finish! I think I despise working with size 1 dpns. I probably won't like size 0 or 2's. Which makes me think that my sock knitting days are over.
Just let it be known that my lack of fun while knitting this sock has nothing to do with the pattern. Besides the toothpick needles, it might have to do with the color of the yarn. But only slightly, really. I have some cashmere fingering yarn (I have no idea when/where I got them) that I had thought about turning into socks, like to wear on long plane flights or something, but I shiver now thinking about going through the process again and wrestling with tiny needles.
I'm happy to have made it through one though. At least the construction of socks themselves is no longer a complete mystery, even if the pleasure of knitting them eludes me.
Don't look directly into the light, Veebs!
DAMN it's so bright!
Filed Under: Socks
Friday, February 24, 2006
 I gave the sock another go, and look! Heel! The color of the yarn still gives me the heebie jeebies, but I love how the mini ringel stripes up.
This was last night's worth of work, and right now my neck and shoulders are killing me. Knitting socks is a labor of painful love.
Filed Under: Socks
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