Socks schmocks.

GRADUATION SOCKS
Falling Leaves Socks

Pattern: Falling Leaves Sock by Nancy Whitman
Yarn: Koigu PPPM in 2260, a lilac-ey sort of mix
Needles: US 1/2.25mm
Notes: These socks are named for a reason. I cast them on while driving (or rather, being driven) to my sister’s MA Ed graduation ceremony. Continued working on them during my other sister’s BSN commencement. (Not during the actual ceremony, mine. But there is always lots of waiting at graduations.) And then I carried them around my graduation, which was too rainy to do anything before, during or after but huddle beneath umbrellas, but the thought was there. And now they are done, after three graduations in one month. (My parents were exceedingly proud.)

However, I learned on these socks that I now get carsick if I stare too closely at kbls — and the socks are nothing but kbls! (The Merritt Parkway might not have helped. The Merritt and I have some disagreements.) So a lot of the car knitting I’d hoped to get done never materialized, and I found myself having eye-crossing moments more than once even when not in a moving vehicle. Of all the things to affect me like that, it turns out to be the humble kbl — who would have guessed? Unfortunately, it meant I had to take these socks in small bits, but they’re no less lovely for it.

Falling Leaves Socks

The pattern is terrific: well written and clever, and I recommend it highly. Whenever I needed a break I’d catch myself smoothing out the legs and admiring the leaves and the little cable twist growing out of the ribbing. It’s making me imagine all manner of garments with leaves now, in lovely autumn colors. If I pick autumn colors, you see, they stand a chance of being finished at a seasonally appropriate time.

There’s plenty else going on besides these socks — I have a tank that is in the last bits of finishing, and more socks (now with more traveling), and my one-hundredth Ravelry project, a Ribbon Lace Scarf in a luscious purple-green. But since I don’t have any pictures of them at the moment, I will instead show you Delicious Delicious Birthday Cake, as my family does it: chocolate with homemade marshmallow frosting. This particular piece was from my sister’s birthday cake:

Birthday cake

This is mean of me, and I apologize, because I got to eat some and you didn’t.

Wool Sightings

I got a surprise in my inbox this week, an email from my old coworker Kate. She shared with me some pictures of her beautiful baby Sameera, who is one of my Lawyer Babies — my personal nickname for the layette sets I knit for some of my old coworkers.

Look at this beautiful baby. I dare you to not smile at this picture:

Baby Sameera in her sweater

You smiled, didn’t you? Don’t lie, we all are. Sameera is decked out in a Baby Surprise Jacket and matching hat and Christine’s Stay On Booties, knit in Koigu PPPM and Dale Baby Ull. (And look at how well those booties have held up!) Kate told me in her email that Sameera’s grandmother thinks she has a kingly air in this outfit, and I have to agree, don’t you?

Baby Sameera shows off her natural fibers

The life of royalty is clearly difficult, having to put up with all this paparazzi, but Sameera is tolerating it in order to show all of all the beautiful natural fibers she’s wearing — that’s a cotton diaper to go with her wool couture.

It’s always a real treat for me, as a knitter, to get to see things I’ve made out in the world being worn and loved, and there’s something extra special to me when it’s for a baby. Thanks, Kate, for these pictures and letting me share them here!

Shetland

I’ve been up in Vermont quite a bit these last few weeks, although this past weekend was my little sister’s graduation, so I was too distracted to bother with traveling sock pictures. (Sorry!) On my last visit, though, I dragged my traveling companion (Mom) to yarn shops, because that’s how I roll.

Mom doesn’t knit but she gets a kick out of the different fibers and colors — and as a quilter, she has a crafter’s appreciation for raw material. I react much the same way when I go to quilting shops. We’re like a team. So when I noticed her peeking over my shoulder as I examined a shelf full of Malabrigo Lace, I stepped aside and told her to pick a color.


She did: Cactus Flower. “What are you making with it?” she asked me, and I just shrugged, which she took to mean I didn’t know yet.

That was not a lie, really. More like a sin of omission. I totally had a plan:


Shetland Triangle
Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark, from Wrap Style
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Cactus Flower
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm
Notes: Wow, was this a fast knit! I cast this on on a Saturday and had it finished by the following Friday. The pattern is easy and has a nice meditative repetition to it.
I picked this pattern mostly for the name — Shetland is a region in Scotland, and as I have mentioned previously in these pages, my mom is of Scottish descent and fiercely proud of it. Something in the traditional fir cone pattern seemed to be just the ticket. I’ve also seen this project beautifully knit up by Rebecca, so I knew what to expect — and I wasn’t disappointed.
The pattern calls for a fingering weight, so I threw in a couple of extra repeats before starting the edging. I had plenty of yarn leftover and could have easily continued on if not for the Mother’s Day deadline looming. It came out beautifully in the laceweight and blocked into a light, airy wrap.

Shetland Triangle

I decided not to block this before presenting it: partially because I knew Mom would get a kick out of seeing the transformation from unblocked lump to crisp lace, but mostly because Mom and I live together and the only good surface to pin this out on… is the room she uses for her quilting. There’s no way to keep a blocking shawl hidden, so I didn’t try. My plan worked, and it’s now blocked and beautiful.

In fact, I’m so taken with it…I think I’ll make myself one.

Skills

You know what’s awesome about being a knitter?

You can look at your pile of business cards, and think about the networking event you’re attending the next day, and say, “Self, I think I need something to keep these organized.”

And Self answers back, “You’ve got scads of leftover sock yarn, go to town.”

So you do.

Business Card Holder

That’s what’s awesome about being a knitter.

Weekend Update

(I surely can’t be the only person whose first thought upon hearing the words “weekend update” is Norm MacDonald. Or am I just showing how long it’s been since I last watched SNL?)

Anyway, to business! I had the occasion to attend a bridal shower for my cousin — the occasion, of course, being that she is engaged — and as has become tradition, I made her gift.

BRIDAL SHOWER MITT & POTHOLDER SET
Bridal Shower Gift
Pattern: Felted Oven Mitt and Trivet from Felted Knits by Bev Galaskas; washclothes in single crochet and seed stitch
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in White and Forest Heather; Sugar’n’Cream Cotton in Countryside and Summer Splash
Needles: US 11/8mm and US 13/9mm for the oven mitts and potholders; 5.5mm crochet hook and US 8/5.0mm for the washclothes
Notes:
I picked the colors to match the color scheme in the bride’s registry, completely forgetting that white never, ever felts as well as darker colors. The end result (which i attempted to skillfull hide with my artful arranging for the photograph) is a his-and-hers set. I think it adds to the charm and uniqueness of this set, of course, and there will be no mention of the adjectives I used when I was reminded of this fact of felting.

The oven mitt and coaster/trivet (what I call a potholder) patterns are my most used patterns out of Bev Galaskas’s marvelous Felted Knits book. I don’t do a lot of felting, but it just clicks for me in this pattern. You want a good, sturdy, waterproof layer between you and a hot pan, and felted wool is ideal for the task. I’ve used them for about a half-dozen wedding presents now, and it always goes over well — potholders and mitts seem to be one of those things that everyone needs but nobody thinks of until they’ve grabbed that hot pot with a bare hand. It’s an quick and easy pattern, and it’s satisfying to shrink it down. I tried a few yarns before settling on Wool of the Andes held doubled. It felts up very evenly and smoothly and has a nice heft. (Keep this in mind if choosing it for sweaters, as well, to avoid heartbreak.) It’s also economical, especially in a project like this where you’re going to wash the stitches into invisibility.

Crocheted Washcloth

I also felt comfortable with crochet to actually try a real project with it! This little washcloth is just a simple single crochet. Nothing fancy, no tricks. Just single crochet over and over and over. It went a lot faster than the other washcloth, which was in seed stitch, and came out with some very interesting patterns when it pooled. This crochet thing is starting to grow on me. I might even try it again!

Prior to all this showering, I spent a few days up in Vermont with my mom, visiting my sister. She’s about to graduate college, has a job all lined up and is staying up there — I’m very proud of her, if I might just mention that. We took in the beauty of Lake Champlain and the mighty Green Mountains:

Traveling Sock

and I might have visited a few yarn stores (o hai thar Kaleidoscope and Northeast Fiber Arts Center). My mom, who is a quilter, then got her revenge by dragging me with her to several quilt shops. We are a very multi-craftual family. I am really fond of Vermont, and I’m glad my sister is staying up there so I can keep visiting the yarn shops her. Hi, Sis! Thanks for humoring the yarn habit!

BSG Socks of Cracktastic Doom

Much like the Battlestar Galactica finale, these socks hovered between disaster and triumph the entire time I was knitting them. Unlike the BSG finale (in my ever so humble opinion, anyway), they most absolutely ended in triumph.

Viper Pilots
BSG Socks of Cracktastic Doom
Pattern: Viper Pilots by Glenna C, available on Ravelry here.
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in the Chinatown Apple Colorway
Needles: US 2/2.75mm
Notes: Oh. Goodness. It took me almost a whole week to get around to writing these up. I didn’t want to think or write or even have to worry about spelling; I just wanted to stare at these socks, knit by my very own hands, being worn by my very own feet, and be rather pompous about my abilities. To loosely quote the designer, you feel like a pretty badass knitter when these babies are on your feet.

Some thoughts, in no particular order:

-I wish it hadn’t taken me a sock and a half to finally figure out how the ribbed cable twists worked and stop needing to check the key every two seconds. Despite checking said key every two and a half seconds, there is one egregiously un-crossed cable (thanks to a missing row) and a couple of minor wobbles scattered throughout the socks. In keeping with the theme, I am declaring that to be part of the danger of space travel: even the maelstroms have maelstroms.

-Every error that happened in these socks happened when I was in a social situation (meaning, knit nites). If you enjoy tinking, take them along. Otherwise, leave them at home and work on them in the peace and quiet. Distraction leads to aforementioned dangers of space travel.

-Color. Glenna recommended blue colors, keeping with the space theme. That’s all well and fitting, but I put myself on a yarn diet for Lent and the only stash of DiC Smooshy in my stash was Chinatown Apple. (It hadn’t even been stashed that long; it was a Christmas present from my sister. Timing for the win.) So I stared at it for a bit and decided it evoked the colors of flightsuits and the racing stripes on the Vipers and the colors you get after a Cylon has blasted your poor little spaceship and scratched the paint job. And when I look at them, that’s what I see: old, battle-scared fighters. I love the color, and the twist it puts on the theme. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I would encourage people to consider expanding beyond blue. Especially if they decide to knit more than one pair. (What? Don’t look at me that way, you’d be tempted too.)

-These were my first ever test-knit, and what a way to begin. Despite the way they made my eyes ache and the annoyance of constantly jumping between sock and chart and key, I couldn’t put them down. Watching the cables grow and the little vipers narrow as I went was positively addicting. Then I got to the end and realized I (and my eyes) needed a break, and so promptly cast on a stockinette sock and knit on it until I got bored. That was my cue to cast on the second sock, which then took twice as long now that there was no deadline. Go figure.

-Cabling without a needle. This is not the pattern to learn on. However, this is definitely the pattern to exercise those skills on. I didn’t pick up a cable needle once in the knitting of these, and while it led to some hairy moments (and a lot of cursing, Starbuck-style) on the whole it worked out very well. I can’t imagine how much longer it would have taken had I been stopping and adding another needle into the mix four times in a single round. That being said, I’m still pretty astounded at myself for getting through the C7s without a needle. I am apparently better at cabling without a needle than I realized!

BSG Socks of Cracktastic Doom
Check out that awesome heel!

I didn’t get much else done in March — these took up a lot of time. But I really did enjoy the challenge so much. These are without a doubt the most complicated project I’ve tackled, and I’m awfully tickled at how well they came out, and the part I got to play in getting the pattern up to its release stage. Thanks, Glenna, for letting me play in your sandbox a little, and you know where to find me when your brain comes up with another fantastic thing.

BSG Socks of Cracktastic Doom

Of course, now that BSG and these socks are both done I have to find something new to amuse myself. Lee Adama’s off to a new show, but I think I’m more interested in Leoben. Anybody runs into him, send him my way. Tell him I can knit him an awesome pair of socks.

Owl Treats

I will confess, to you few dear readers, of a shameful period in my past. A dark time, when I… was a devoted fan …of Harry Potter.

Yeah, I know, old news, me and six billion other people, except the ones who think it’s a work of Satan, and Harold Bloom, but he only likes litra-chur, we hear. Anyway, I was all into it for a while and I pretty much overdid it, and by the time the last book came out all I could think was Thank god, I can find out how it ends and move on. (For the record, I quite enjoyed the last book, but the epilogue I shall pretend I didn’t see.)

As a consequence to that overdoing, I generally avoid all the Potter-branded media that has been flooding the market for years now. I kept the few interesting things, and my books, and that was that. So I wasn’t terribly excited when Opal came out with Harry Potter themed sock yarn. Especially not when the colors were released. (Attn Opal designers: In what universe does Remus Lupin wear pink? Seriously.) I looked them all over, shrugged, moved on.

And then I got a second look at the Hedwig colorway.

HEDWIG SOCKS

Hedwig Socks

Pattern: Basic Stockinette Sock with heel flap
Yarn: Opal Harry Potter sock yarn in Hedwig
Needles: US1/2.25mm bamboos
Notes: Teehee. These turned out lovely, didn’t they? So well, that I am actually considering getting more of this yarn (the Ron colorway, perhaps?) because having a good mindless stockinette project is one of the best stress relievers I can think of.
I simply cast on 62 stitches, did some ribbing, and then just went to town. I know everybody goes on about short-row heels to “maintain the integrity of the stripe pattern” or some such, but honestly? I wasn’t that invested in the stripe pattern, and I much prefer how a flap heel fits. So I did one of those, and I’m quite happy with the results.

Hedwig Socks

I really love the colors in this: varying shades of grey, nothing flashy, nothing complicated. Unlike some of the colorways in this line, which left me wondering what they were thinking, these socks absolutely evoke a sense of Hedwig the Snowy Owl.

As you might have guessed, I’m generally in the fraternal school of sock striping — you can see where the colorways meet up, and on one sock it’s the toe and on one it’s the center of the foot, and that’s…just fine with me.

Having a nice easy project was magnificent, since in the little bit I’ve also been test knitting these:

Viper Pilots Sock Viper Pilots Sock

This would be Glenna C’s marvelous Viper Pilots pattern. Continuing that fine melding of genre fiction and yarn, Glenna designed a pattern inspired by the viper pilots from Battlestar Galactica, which airs its final episode, uh, Friday. It’s all twisted stitches and cables and insanity, and all of those things are entirely appropriate for the theme. I’m into my second sock now and loving every second of it. Go buy it, knit it, tell your friends, tell the whole Colonial Fleet!

Ties that bind…

Seems like lately all my knitting time has been taken up by my family — or more specifically, my parents.

It started simply enough. At Rhinebeck this past fall I picked up a magnificent skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock lightweight, in Loch Ness. My mom is of Scottish descent, so as soon as I saw the colorway name I figured that one Christmas present was done.

Yes, I cheated. I didn’t even bother wrapping it. I just threw it in her stocking, which actually turned out to be hilarious, because when she picked up her stocking on Christmas morning, she turned and held it out to me. “I think this one is yours.” Everyone else already had their stockings, myself included, and I pointed that out to her. She sat down with it, looking confused. “But there’s yarn in it.”

After I stopped laughing, I made her read the label, and she somehow managed to see everything else on the label before she finally came to the color — and then it all came together. I told her it was her choice what she wanted me to make her, and that just opened the floodgates. (In hindsight, perhaps this was a mistake…) A scarf? Or a small shawl? Or a hat, or gloves or mittens or socks or a scarf or… It took the better part of a month before she settled on gloves.


Mom's Loch Ness Mittens
Pattern: Basic Glove Pattern, from Ann Budd’s Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight in Loch Ness
Needles: my trusty US1/2.25mm bamboos
Notes: These turned out adorable, if I may say so myself. Mom’s hands are pretty much exactly the size of mine (that is to say, very tiny) so these were a nice fast easy knit, and I could use myself to judge for size, which helps tremendously in speeding things along. As always, Ann Budd has made my life a million times easier by having numbers right there for me so I didn’t have to stop and constantly check to make sure I hadn’t suddenly started knitting something elephantine. Her pattern book is probably the most-consulted book in my knitting library.
I’m also very happy with the way the colors worked up; the little bits of pooling (literally, in watery blues) have a nice shape and seem to float along the fabric. I have quite a bit of leftover yarn so we’ll see what else we can eke out with what’s left.

Mom's Loch Ness Gloves

It doesn’t end there, though, since then Mom decided she wanted a hooded scarf, because her hair doesn’t tolerate hats well, but her ears still get cold, etc. etc. Since she asked so nicely, how could I say no?


Mom's Hoodie Scarf
Pattern: Mimi Hooded Scarf from verypink.com (pattern found thru Ravelry)
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Amber Heather, with edging in Lion Brand Polarspun, understandably discontinued
Needles: US7/4.5 mm circular (used my KP Harmony interchangables) and an H (5.0) crochet hook for the edging
Notes: Fun pattern that wasn’t as tedious as I’d feared to knit. The scarf did stretch on for just about forever but the basketweave pattern kept things interesting (although it took me a few repeats before my clever self figured out which side was actually the RS). If I made this again, I would pick up stitches for the hood and knit it directly up from the scarf rather than doing it as a separate piece and seaming it. Worked out fine, looks great — I just abhor seaming.
I used Polarspun to single-crochet the fluffy edging around the entire thing. The original calls for some Italian yarn I’ve never heard of, and the Polarspun’s been living in my stash ever since I picked it up at a Smiley’s hotel sale a couple of years ago, and there was no sense in buying something new when I had a perfectly good yarn in the stash. Well. Let me tell you how amazed I am that anybody would ever use this yarn for a full garmet. It catches on itself and sticks and pulls and is generally just a pain in the ass. That’s not to say it doesn’t look and feel amazing, because it does. But I wouldn’t want to have to use this for anything other than an accent. It’s just too frustrating to work with.
I’m happy with the overall effect, and it looks great on Mom — so warm and cozy, in fact, that I’m contemplating making one for myself. I’ll probably even use the Polarspun — after all, I still have two and a half skeins of the stuff in my stash!

I figured that would be that and I could get around to ripping out my February Lady sweater, which I have finally admitted, after a month of knitting, is just…too…big. (Don’t ask. I am currently conducting a cold war with my gauge.) But no! Dad decided he was being left out, and insisted on some Fair Isle mittens for himself. I handed over my Selbuvotter book and he found a pattern he liked, informed me precisely which shades of grey and red he wanted, and sent me on my way.

Well, I’ve shown him. I cast on for a hat for myself first! So there, family.

Road tripping

I went up to Vermont this past weekend to visit my baby sister, who is finishing up school at UVM. (I might be having some issues with the fact that my baby sister is about to finish school. Just a few.) Since it’s a bit of a ride (seven hours, give or take traffic…) I had plenty of time to knit. So I did.


Baby Surprise Jacket

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket; Christine’s Stay-On Baby Booties by Christine Bourquin
Yarn: Koigu PPPM, colorway P511L, picked up from a Rav destash
Needles: US 4 (3.5mm) and US 1 (2.25mm)
Notes: I love this pattern like crazy, and it’s always fun to knit up. It also makes great traveling knitting, since it’s all one piece of fabric: nothing to drop or lose or have get stuck underneath the seat for two hundred miles. A million people have waxed rhapsodic about this pattern so I will just say that it’s my stand-by for a good reason.
Christine's Stay-On Booties
I love these booties possibly even more than I love the BSJ. I refer to them as moon booties, and I think they look adorable on and off baby. They are also easy to memorize (I haven’t looked at the pattern in, oh, five pair or so) and and I have yet to hear of them not living up to their name. The blockiness matches the square lines of the BSJ well, and together they make a nice little layette.
This particular pair is heading off to an old coworker expecting next month, and I hope her baby wears them in good health and happiness.


While up in Vermont, I prevailed upon my traveling companions to stop at one of my favorite yarn shops anywhere, Kaleidoscope Yarns. The shop is in a lovely little house in the middle of Essex Junction, notable for a large intersection (the Five Corners) and swift responses by AAA. (The car battery died. It was totally not my fault.) Retail therapy is a beautiful thing:
Loot
I was going to stop at the Piece of Vermont bamboo sock, but then I spotted the Starmore book, and by then I’d walked past the wall of Koigu three or four times, and then it occurred to me that buying Euculan in person means that I’m not shelling out for shipping, so there you have it.
If Kaleidoscope were any closer I’d be in real trouble. I am pretending they don’t have a very efficient and wonderful website, but if you go look I won’t tell.


While putting my new yarn away I decided it might be a good time to skein up my first attempts at a drop spindle, which have been sitting on said spindle, for, um. Months. It’s hideously over/underspun (depending on where you look) and broke several times, and is generally pretty wretched and unknittable. I really don’t care. It is my first yarn, and I’m calling it artistic and letting it live in its skein.
Handspun
It’s not exactly fine fiber (actually, it’s scraps that I picked up cheap at Rhinebeck) but for a first attempt it’s really not half bad. The real question is, how will my second skein look?

Disney’d out.

I returned home from a trip to Disney World last week, which was a wonderful opportunity for regaining my sanity, post-thesis-meltdown. I love Disney, and there’s really very little I’d change, outside the ridiculous amount of walking in Animal Kingdom. Really, the only thing Disney doesn’t already have is yarn! Perhaps in the UK pavilion in Epcot, I mused. Or maybe yarn in every pavilion, for a little international flavor. Canada could stock Koigu and Paton’s, the UK could stock shetland wool and Rowan, France could stock…well, whatever the French are knitting these days. I honestly can’t name a single French yarn off the top of my head — Italy and Germany are easy though, with all those Filaturas and Sockengarn…

And Norway? Well, that’s easy, right? Dale of Norway. So imagine my amusement when my friend grabs my arm as I’m admiring one of the (very expensive) Dale sweaters in the Norway gift shops, and hauls me over to see THIS:

Epcot

Yes, Disney now sells Dalegarn Learn to Knit kits. In the event of a fiber emergency, Disney is now equipped. Truly, the perfect vacation.

I found some other adorable and vaguely fiber-related amusements, such as this little yarn Mickey keychain:
Yarn Mickey!
He’s all wrapped string, right down to the tail. They also had Minnie, Donald, and Jack Sparrow, all from wrapped yarn. I wavered and almost got Donald, but in the end I’m a Mickey sort of girl.

I also found, in the China pavilion, this marvelous recycled cotton tote bag:
Sheep bag.
I saw it, walked on, and went back five minutes later. The idea of carrying this around fiber festivals was just too good to resist. (I am not actually born in the Year of the Sheep, but that can be our little secret…)

And after I came home from Disney? I finished up a hat that I’ve had on my to-knit list for a year now, and I’m super happy with the results.
Northern Lights Tam


Pattern: Northern Lights Tam by Mary Jane Mucklestone, Interweave Knits Holiday ’07
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette
Needles: 3.0mm for the ribbing and 3.25mm for the colorwork
Notes: I loved this pattern from the moment I picked up the first IK holiday issue a year and a half ago, but not the colors — they were too bright for me. I went with the following: Nutmeg, Apricot, Tan, Sunlight and Peach for the greens; and Blue Note Heather, Iris Heather and Clematis Heather for the Reds. I’m very happy with how they all came together. I also went up from the recommended needles sizes, as the pattern says it’s for a 18″ head size, and…well, my head’s bigger than that! I was guessing and was too lazy to swatch, so I’m very relieved that the sizing worked out.
Northern Lights Tam
I have a ton of yarn left over and there are visions of matching mittens dancing in my head, which I think I should start working on post-haste, because it’s awfully cold out there!

(PS…If anyone’s interested, I have a ridiculous amount of pictures from Disney posted here.)