matahari spinning fiber, grey cables

First and best, thank you all for the comments on my grandma's Lizard Ridge afghan. I am so pleased with it and had a great time knitting it, not only for the end result and being able to give something like that away but because of how fun it is to share it with yall too. Thanks for the feedback, it made my day. :)

Speaking of, my day's been made all over the place... first sn and now a surprising package in the mail:


Spinning fibers from Matahari Spinnery
clockwise from top:
Corriedale handdyed in Noel, Noel colorway
Baby Alpaca/Silk in Fawn
Natural Corriedale
Dark Blue Faced Leicester

I won a fiber sampler pack from Arianie's birthday contest and she sent me these lovelies from her shop... so so nice. I am just drawn to the baby alpaca/silk, its ridiculously soft and wonderful!! The dark BFL was a surprise too, its way soft and I love the natural brown color. I'm going to order some more fibers from Arianie soon, maybe some more dark bfl for a pair of natural colored socks? Kristi has me jonesing for natural handspun socks... (Anyone have recommendations on where to find "unusual," naturally colored fibers/fleece suitable for sock yarn? Someone special needs a pair of handspun, natural socks... think the brown is cool enough?) She also has natural blue faced leicester on sale during November for $14/lb, which sounds like a really great price.


Baby Alpaca/Silk in Fawn.
(this is what love feels like. this and !!! that.)

How much fiber do you buy at a time? Just enough to spin a little, or for projects? I always think any project will take at least 4 oz, but I never know how much to buy.

I do know how to knit me some rad socks though. :)


Boyfriend (dad!!) Socks by Alice Bell
M size
Started: November 3, 2006
Finished: November 18, 2006 (?)
Interlacements Tiny Toes, pearl grey
US 1 (2.25mm) dpns, 4


(i need a haircut!!)

Lovely, just like last time. I'm definitely making myself a pair from my red skeins of Tiny Toes when the holiday knitting dies down... They're the same specs minus another paired cable repeat, sized for a man's foot (these and a pair of reknit Fuzzy Feet will be my dad's holiday gift) but they still are comfortable on me-- I love the range that the pattern has as far as fit goes. I'll make a smaller pair for myself, just so they can be all mine :) I had yarn left over in grey and prolly will for the reds, the grey & red leftovers will make a great pair of stripey socks for the little one. (I predict you'll see a lot of stripey socks around here soon!)

Previous posts on boyfriend dad socks...

November 4, 2006
November 10, 2006


The holiday knitting is still in full force though...


Celtic Cap by Girl from Auntie
Started: November 20, 2006
Patons Classic Merino Wool, grey mix colorway
US 5 (3.75mm) 16" circular, Addi

I spent Saturday & Sunday trying to knit this cap in Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky (#505 I think) on US 8's and it just wasn't happening... from missed cable crosses to super thick yarn on smaller needles hurting my hands, I folded and put that yarn away for this one and I'm very glad I did. (Now I have a bag of really beautiful grey DB Merino Chunky... maybe a kid's longish coat, like a pea coat? Something.) I really like the Patons; I picked up this ball on a whim just to have after enjoying using it for the Lizard Ridge crochet edging, perfect use of stash, eh?

The pattern's great with a huge range of yarn weights and head sizes, plus worksheets to customize fit for the hat. The hat's for my uncle, who gets up even earlier than toddlers do to go work fixing and tinkering so other people can build skyscrapers and jacuzzis, a to z... cold weather stuff seems appropriate, thinking of those early mornings. I'm thinking if I have time I'll knit him a pair of mittens in the same yarn, except those with a "flip top" that exposes the fingers underneath like these? Maybe not with fingers though, or would that be weird? Or maybe a scarf... something :)

Happy early Thanksgiving yall! I'll be sating myself with some Honeybaked Ham and the true world's best mac and cheese, despite what the competition claims...

i've got nothing.

In order of importance, today... winners of my socktoberfest contest?

Koigu (or any other sock yarn from Article Pract) to Becka, the knitting wounded
Crazy hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy yarn to Laurie in Maine

I have about half of the other h2g2 roving spun up, hopefully will get the rest done this weekend (to relax)... :)

***

I'm really off my game the past week, and its echoed into me becoming a bad blogger and knitter and general community member as well. I haven't replied to my blog comments, which I always do if I can (read: if you have a blogger account and have "show my email address" checked in their profile. Anyone else who leaves comments via blogger's comment system-- I can't hit "reply" in gmail and have an email go out to you so I can't reply to your comments in email. I know I could use haloscan or some other comment plugin, but I'm 29 now and have decided to be ornery already.)

I'm sorry, I'm just in a funk. I've been spending just about all my time this week hanging out with my son, trying to burn this time into my memory to revisit later when the times aren't so good to come. I tend to do this, store up the good things and live off of them in my lean times; cache, cairn, other c-words of memory and rememberance, grief and loss. That won't be on the lower 48, so I don't feel as dirty now.

Should have had the 4th panel done, but here it is 2/3 of the way...


Lizard Ridge afghan, 4th panel of 4

Looking at it, right now, I'm totally thinking what Cookie guessed I would-- if I hadn't overknit this thing, I'd be done by now! :) I actually have a super secret pipe dream of having it done today (Friday) so I can start to seam it up over the weekend-- and wanted to ask some advice on that if anyone has some to give :)

I stink at finishing. I don't even know if I do it "right" most of the time, and its probably why I like the tiny projects knit circularly from one skein of yarn over all others. How do I go about seaming these panels together? I mean, I have books and books and the intarweb to teach me, but I don't even know what sort of stitch to use to do it. (Usually I'd be too embarrassed to admit this, but hey! There's got to be some upside to be so down.) The panels are both stockinette and garter, and the stst will line up with the stst & the garter with garter. If anyone could just point me in the right dx of what stitch to use that'd be wonderful :)


The boyfriend dad sock has a heel but no cuff. Just like Rachel says, the foot works up SO fast. I set them down to work on LR... hasn't been much, admittedly.

I've also narrowed down my choice for when I knit some manLace (hypotenuse, by anne of knitspot) for myself...


Schaefer Anne (red's not color correct and you can't see the variegation/tone on tone)

Not sure which. At first I immediately thought of the orange and black, but then the red really started to creep into my brain and just sit there like-- you're going to pick me, why are you even thinking of something else? Not only the crowd favorite, but your favorite. Admittedly, red's gotten under my skin lately but its hard letting go of the once favorite for the new. I don't have time yet to knit it for myself soon, but at least I can stop "worrying" about finding yarn for it (though I still think ryc's cashcotton 4 ply in Vivid would be so perfect, too).

That's it! That's all I got for yall :) Hopefully I'll be back on my game soon, but apologies in advance for not replying to comments via email or commenting on blogs (I have been reading, but not commenting.) I think I'm going to be using my "get out of jail free card" and not do any of it for a bit, just going to withdraw and read and play with my kid and knit for now-- but I do read everything and appreciate all of you reading and writing along with me.

To show just how offkilter I am... a meme. I am in the camp that you should learn drips and drags about a person by reading what they put out there and not in lists, perhaps why I get all long winded about stuff sometimes, but I just... yeah. For someone else more than me, for things easier said than done.


48 things.

1. FIRST NAME? aija

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? yes. a korean stage dancer in las vegas, a dear friend to my mother who died before i was born. really, and of what i don't know.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? sunday.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? yes, and i think it's awful and indecipherable on its face most of the time. i think anyone who takes the time to try and read what i've written (longhand) truly loves me. i've only known one person i've sat and taken the time to do that with, and i owe her a long-overdue thank you for my birthday present (sorry j, i loved it).

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? anything that's good with avocado and mayonnaise. used to be anything good with avocado, but i'm on a downslide with the mayo obsession lately. or things that can be dipped.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? no. i'm shy and terrible at maintaining eye contact, let alone friendships.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? this is it. and another, but thats private and not quite a journal either.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yes. i've never had anything physically major happen to me, except the birth of my son and getting my tongue pierced.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? maybe. i'd be afraid of hurting myself, more than the fear of jumping off. par for the course.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? kix. i remember going often to the generic elementary school fieldtrips to the petting zoo and cranking dimes into the metal and glass feedbins (repurposed supermarket vending machines with those plastic bubble toy containers holding solid rubber bouncy balls at 25 cents apiece or sticky hands to throw on walls at 50 cents each... damnit, i *just* remembered i forgot my toy car. so #3 should read, "right now" but i'm not changing it) ... the ten cent feed at the petting zoo was stale kix cereal. i always made my mom buy it to eat at home, and would often eat it out of my hands like the wiry goats did. i didn't use milk on cereal til very recently, always ate it dry (kix or no). i don't eat kix anymore though... too easy and fun for my kid to head-crush between his fingers, so its honey bunches of oats in the pantry.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? if i have to. which means yes.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? yes but its a lie i have told myself enough to believe it. my muscles are not so much solid as they are liquid, and my heart's the opposite.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? used to be mint chocolate chip, but now its anything but chocolate or strawberry and not with a lot of hard pieces in it.

14. SHOE SIZE? us 9 or 9.5. my feet grew when i was pregnant (spread out from carrying the weight! i was almost, ALMOST 200lbs at my heaviest, literally. i waivered at 199lbs for weeks, tried to eat more to gain that extra pound but no dice)... they grew but i don't know if they've returned to pre-pregnancy size.

15. RED OR PINK? red. i think of lots of things when i think of red, one i can share with yall... when i was younger i'd learned all i needed to know about human sexuality from a set of books my mom gave me when i hit puberty, and cosmo. cosmo before it was marketed to 13 year olds, anyway. i remember in one of those many many "differences between the sexes" articles (found between directions on the "butterfly kiss" and "how to shave your armpits") i learned women preferred yellow-red and men blue-red; practical advice when choosing your wardrobe and lipstick colors it said. oy. [fwiw, the schaefer anne above is what i'd think to be blue-red.]

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? fear to the point of immovability. laziness. self-hate of body and personality and emotional range. how i hurt those that love me. how i hurt myself.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? ...

18. WHAT FOOD WILL GET YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? nothing. i'm usually out for the count.

19. WHAT COLOUR TROUSERS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue jeans, threadless' "blow with the wind" t-shirt, red converse, green hedera socks.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? buttercream bun from the best chinese bakery-- napoleon super bakery on franklin in oakland's chinatown. i regularly get into a gentle shoving match with the patrons there, no one wants to queue up but instead cut in front of the hapa chick with the stroller; not a good idea when I'm in this mood.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? thomas the train on tv.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? washable black.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? public: sampoerna extra clove cigarettes, when someone else is smoking them. private: chest just below the neck.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? #17.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? if they can get me to want to maintain eye contact.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM? sure, found it on bunches of blogs but didn't think i'd actually do it. but i like everone i read, even if i couldn't tell you where i saw it first.

27. FAVOURITE DRINK? coke zero.

28. FAVOURITE SPORT? chasing my kid.

29. EYE COLOUR? brown.

30. HAT SIZE? i have an abnormally large head. i wouldn't want to know.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes. i spent most of my years in law school behind my glasses, but once my son was born and moved into fascination with them, he took them off my face enough to crack the frame and have me in contacts all of the time, except when cleaning them. in college i wore grey tinted ones and purple tinted ones, too... when i stopped wearing them, i thought i looked very strange with just brown eyes staring back at me in the mirror. now i realize how odd i truly looked.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? naked in bed foods.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? i can't do scary movies. my mom gave me absolutely free rein when it came to watching movies with sex in them, but absolutely no violence. her reaction to violence in movies (in keeping me totally away from them, and at the same time totally aware and afraid of it), reverberates in me and i just am terrified of seeing violence or human pain in the medium. that said, i much prefer the heartbreaker endings as i'm kinda overly tragic myself.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? winter. i hate being hot (read: have to wear clothes that reflect hot weather season.)

36. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs.

37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? deep fried ice cream. i haven't had this in ages, can't remember the last time. huge scoop of ice cream, rolled in crushed corn flakes and deep fried, topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

38. WHAT SIDE OF THE BED DO YOU SLEEP ON AND WHY? right. just do.

39. IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE THE DECISION TO GET MARRIED AND HAVE A FAMILY, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING TODAY? failing.
[edit, later in the afternoon... of course i'm only talking about myself. i didn't plan on this path for sure, the staying home with a kid path-- i was supposed to be doing "something" with the years of slaving in uni under my belt. i know now i'm not made for that, i'm made for "this."]

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? the second sex, simone de beauvoir; romeo and juliet, shakespeare; invisible man, ellison.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? don't use one.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? didn't.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? my son laughing and squealing and dreaming in his sleep. my other favorite person laughing and squealing and dreaming in sleep.

44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? beatles.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? i feel pretty far from home right now. physically... somewhere in mexico with my high school senior english class, eating marlin tacos and drinking out of a vodka bottle.

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? avoiding answering questions.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? las vegas.

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? no one. and i'm sending it to no one, either :)


...off to the library and a long walk. thanks for reading, and don't worry about me. i'm okay on a scale of one to sixtyeight.

assault on the senses, ahead

I know, I said I wasn't going to the yarn store this weekend! Anne's manLace pattern has been haunting me though, along with my unreasonable cashcotton fetish... I had hoped to find some 4 ply in Vivid there today (I thought they had it) for a scarf-sized manlace/hypotenuse for myself, but no. (Not enough Blue Sky Alpaca Alpaca/Silk sportweight either, but I was really wanting the cashcotton instead.) Oh well :) At least I snapped this photo of the Koigu there-- blurry as I had to hurry, the fellow fiber enthusiast (not pictured) in front of it was there for a good 20 minutes and I only had time for one surreptitious snap :)

(This is a selection of the koigu colorways available if you win my socktoberfest sock yarn contest...) They do have the purple (lower far right) and the beautiful orange (3rd row from top, 3rd from right) along with the speckly pink (??) I bought earlier (remember those pics are a little brighter colored than irl), and I almost caved to some grey/white (bottom row, 3rd from right)... but I was good. No telling what I'll buy next week though if I don't find that cashcotton for myself.

I'm loving the feel of the cashcotton though, finished up another pair of one-skein footies socks from it...


Plain Vanilla Footie Socks
Started: October 27, 2006
Finished: November 3, 2006
one ball of RYC Cashcotton 4-ply, shade 905 (imp)
50 gm/197 yd
US 1.5 (2.5mm dpns),4 -- 8 sts inch
64 st width, for 9.5" long foot

Same everything as last time, except the BO is a little looser... I couldn't remember if I'd used a US 2 or 3 for the bindoff in pattern, so I used the 3 and it feels looser. I think for the next pair I'll use US 2's again. The color's "imp" but it reminds me of lucuma ice cream at mitchell's in the city. The cashcotton in general reminds me of ice cream, even the thick texture of it.

On a bit of a sock kick again...


Boyfriend Socks by Alice Bell
Started: November 3, 2006
Interlacements Tiny Toes, Pearl Grey
US 1 dpns (2.25mm), 4

Same as the purple-blue boyfriend pair, except grey and for my dad :) I'm loving this yarn; Interlacements does such deep, saturated colors and it really really works for their solids (my jury's still out on their variegated sock yarns, have a pair of those in progress for my walkaround knitting). The solid colors are just so there, so dense. Its not variegated or even tone on tone, there's a little, tiny variation in the color as handpainteds are wont to do, but just... solid. I love it.



This color in particular has snagged me-- its... luminescent. Of course I'm still loving the pattern; I have a final set of red skeins of the Tiny Toes in the stash that I may use to make a pair for myself (when the holiday knitting dies down, of course!)

Speaking of holiday knitting...


Lizard Ridge afghan
3 panels (of 4) complete
Noro Kureyon, colorway 116

Tell the truth, I am feeling the burn on these. The last/3rd panel (I'm not sure which is which in the photo!) had me counting every other short row, wondering how fast it would be complete. I think I may start another panel tonite, but will be juggling it with the boyfriend dad socks to try and stave off the burnout. (Don't worry! I *will* be finishing this project!)



The complete panels sit here on my desk just like this, within constant sight, daring me to finish :)

One more, a public service announcement...



"Beds are for sleeping, not yarn."

just shy of the curse

I scoff at the curse with aptly named and lovingly made socks.


Boyfriend Socks by Alice Bell (free pattern! w00t!)
Interlacements Tiny Toes yarn (overdyed)
US 1 dpns (2.25mm), 4
Started: September 16, 2006
Finished: October 2, 2006

These are really great, I've got to say. The ribbing is interesting with the cable detail, stretchy in a good way (these are for a 9.5" wide foot, mine is 8.25" and still comfy (i realized i like a slightly looser fit foot in handknit socks)-- the 9.5" foot says they fit like a glove. Alice's sizing and negative ease calculation seems right on as far as my "medium" sized pair went.

I think they make a good unisex sock, I'm thinking about a pair for my dad in the same yarn but a different color. I love them, but then again I have a bit of a soft spot for socks :)



I used the "cabling without a cable needle" method and it seemed to fly-- I was always put off by "learning" it since, well people always say they "learned" it and I never wanted to take the time to master something new since I knew how to use a cable needle :) I'm glad I did, I'll be using it from now on... just take a look at Wendy's link! If you've cabled before, there's nothing to "learn" really.

For those looking to knit this sock top down, it'd be easy just to switch out and reverse the cabling directions, c6f for c6b etc-- resulting in the same sock. I think its a great looking panel, don't let the toe up instructions stop you from knitting it. (I used the heel/toe from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' book again.)



This was the first time I used the Interlacements Tiny Toes yarn. I liked it, a few things...

1) It seemed to have a lot of twist in it, not like the yarn was overly twisted, but that the nice looking and soft yarn kept twisting back on itself throughout the skein and knotting on itself at times. I noticed this in each of 4 skeins (I have an "on the go" sock I'm knitting in one of the variegated colorways). It wasn't where I had to let the work dangle and untwist (just once), but the twisting seemed almost odd since the yarn itself wasn't overplied. Maybe I'm thinking about this too much, reading the spinning books lately.

2) Another strange thing, the dye seems to not penetrate the "core" of the yarn in places. When I would (ahem) split the yarn accidentally, or when it was stretched in a high stress way (like cable crosses), or even just looking at the core where the plies meet when knitting, I could see the white where the dye didn't penetrate to the center where the plies overlapped. I don't think this is the dyer or the dye, especially because the colors are so saturated and I overdyed them as well-- white was just white in some core spots and not consistently. It didn't detract from the yarn, and I don't even think I'd notice it if the yarn color wasn't so deep, but it was weird since I've never noticed this lack of penetration in another yarn before. It wouldn't stop me from buying this yarn again, but I noticed it a lot more than I would have if I weren't knitting the cables. (Take a look at the cable crossing spots, you may see what I mean.)



3) The yarn feels great. It makes a thick, sturdy feeling fabric on US 1's at 8 sts/inch, and for those who like ironwear socks, a US 0 would get an even thicker result. I think it would hurt my hands to knit it tighter than a US 0, but that's just me. I like the 1's, and I also like how "heavy" these socks feel-- perhaps the cabling and ribbing makes the sock feel heavy for its size, but in hand they're soft and squishy. The cables look great in it as well, good definition on and off the foot.

4) The Interlacements Tiny Toes is about the standard price for luxury handdyed 100% merino superwash sock yarns nowadays ($12/skein), and runs right there in the middle for weight and yardage (50 gm/185yd). I think Interlacements uses great, bold colors-- I'll look to their solids again for sock yarn. The variegateds are really bold and contrasty too, deeply dyed. That's more of a personal thing (I'll take pics of the on the go project as it gets longer to show you what I mean, but it looks good in stockinette.) I don't know if now, personally, I'd look to their variegateds for texture work-- the colors are so deep cabling and lace may be lost in the depth and contrasting colors (again, a personal thing.)



I ran out of yarn :) I had knit the first with 6" to spare, but I had to cannibalize it as I ran short on the second sock. It was anathema to me, undoing the bindoff of the first, but had to be done. Each sock now is knit to row 4 of the cable pattern and have 4 rows of k1 p1 rib before binding off using the graft off top/faux kitchener bindoff I linked in my last post, with a 10.25" foot and a 7" cuff measured from where the cabling starts atop the heel. The k1 p1 rib looks a little short to my eye, but not so bad as to have me rip out a cable... I like ending it on that "closed" part of the panel. Like I said, the cabling and rib is tight enough to not really rely on the top k1p1 to keep it up and in place on the leg, its more of the aesthetic. Still love em though.

Previous posts with the boyfriend socks:

September 17, 2006
September 21, 2006


With all of that, I started a little Sherwood...


Sherwood from Fall Knitty 2006
Cotton Fleece, Wild Orange
Size 2
US 5 80cm/24" circular (3.75mm, Addi)
Started: October 1, 2006

I was able to get gauge on US 5's (I got it on 6's too, but weirdly the fabric was just a bit drapier and I didn't think I liked it as "open" as it felt). The 80cm/24" needle was fine for me-- the body size I'm knitting is 24" around so I started on 16" and it was just too much bunch. This way's not bad at all (I really didn't want to buy a 20" circular).

I am knitting the "2" (smallest) size, but am adding length to it-- once again I'm shocked that my genepool has produced a tall, skinny kid. I worked 1.5" rows of plain in-pattern (row 1 of chart) rib before starting, looks like I'm about 20 rows in the chart now.

One thing, maybe its me: I printed the body charts like a good girl and taped them together, but they don't line up evenly! The right chart is 2 squares taller than the left (over 100), so it minutely shifts upwards and I have to untape and retape as I move up the chart. So irritating, as the tape seems to pull up the print.

More later... trying to decide if I want to cast on for another sock and knit the sherwood sweater at the same time or not. We'll see! :) Have a good week yall.

one point five.

Whew. These Ronald McDonald's took *way* too long...



Toe up 60 st DK socks, PGR style
Started: August 15, 2006
Finished: Sept 21, 2006 (!!)
Henry's Attic Kona Superwash dk, dyed with koolaid and easter egg dyes
US 2 dpns (2.75mm), 4

Not much to say but woo! they're done :) Oh yeah, and this (which totally eclipses my handknit pair):


Hang Ten 70's (?) vintage kneehighs

Sort of like that old girlfriend who's better at (insert here) than the current. My mom gave me this pair back from her heyday as a disco bunny (she had rhinestones on her glaases thru the 80s, too)... I actually have 2 pair-- the other's blue yellow & white, but I've lost a mate so there's only one of those. Currently the lonesome is a cozy for something special, I couldn't bear to not use it since its so fun. These socks are my kid's favorite socks, he hikes them up all the way to the crotch and holds onto their tops while slipping on the hardwood floor-- the closest we're going to get to thighhighs in the near future, Yahaira! ;)

Previous posts on toe up McDonald socks:

August 17, 2006
August 24, 2006
August 29, 2006
September 17, 2006


...point five?


new meaning to camel nevermind. color's closer but still not right, texture's blurry.


less blurry in the light of day, color much more off.

One boyfriend sock down, one to go. I knit until the skein was done (literally! ends woven in i had about 6" of yarn left over from the top). These are for a 10.5" long foot, and I started the heel after completing row 3 (i used the PGR heel & toe for these-- knit 5 rows even after completing the toe). I was able to knit the cuff all the way up to row 4, then ended with 7 rows of k1 p1 rib.

I love it, the cable and rib panel looks great, and I like Alice's pairing of k1 p1 at the top (i always default to k2 p2, but this sock is so fitted i'm not worried about it staying up and actually was hoping for it to be a bit looser that far up, which i think the k1 p1 does). I used the "graft off" top from SS: PnF to bind off the top, but here's a link to a photo tutorial of the same (they call it a "faux kitchener bind off"-- its really easy if you've got kitchenering down.) I used it for those dk weight socks, above-- I think it looks better on finer yarns (or maybe it was just me this time), but the bind off on the dk weight socks looks wonky. I've used it before on lighter weight socks and didn't see any slantyness like I did this time.

When knitting the short row heel, I took some pics because this always thrills me when I get here:


delicate little line inside the heel


outside of short row heel, no holes (i'm stretching the fabric).

I get such an icewater thrill when I see those stitches from the sole angling upwards.

But then again I'm a dork like that :)

the thing about yarn.

I have this thing about yarn. (I know what you're thinking, you're reading *this* blog and saying to yourself, we all have a thing about yarn! :) I have *that* too, but this one's a little different.) I read where others collect souvenir yarn-- yarn they look at back home and think of rolling waves, arctic hinterlands, tennessee highways... As someone who Goes Nowhere, all of my yarn is souvenir yarn. I could easily tell you not only where I got it from, but what I was thinking when I bought it and even more... I could tell you about that moment in my life. Pawing the stash takes on an archeologic quality; merino hieroglyphics jump out at me as I start new projects.



When I bought this yarn, I really wanted the purple. I didn't buy it because it was too close to my heart... to the one whom the purple would have been perfect for, the one I couldn't knit for any longer. So I went with the blue, and when it arrived all I could think about was the purple not chosen. It didn't go away, the should have been purple echo, and I kept the yarn in the stash away from eyes not wanting to be reminded.

Fast forward to a few days ago, and I saw this pattern I *needed* to knit (Boyfriend Socks, by Alice Bell-- I popped on her blog by way of her Knitty Exchequered pattern) and figured that the yarn had lived in denial purgatory long enough *and* would be perfect for it.

As I went to cast on though, it just kept haunting me, the yarn that should have been purple. So I did as any knitter lacking sense would do-- I overdyed the perfectly good, professionally painted skeins. Purple. :)


(After all that, my camera can't capture purple. Bummer.)

So now its not blue, and its not purple... an in-between not-either. Just like it should be. Reclaiming it feels really good, and so does giving it new associations and a new story instead of the one of loss it had before. Plus, I think its going to make a really rad pair of boyfriend socks! :)



In other news, I was missing knitting socks-- a lot a lot. The stockings don't feel like socks anymore and just feel neverending, and spinning is great but there's nothing like socks. I want to finish these soon, they were supposed to be a quickie pair and they've languished now for more than a month...



Simple Socks, PGR style.

These are following PGR's "formula" from Simple Socks: Plain and Fancy exactly-- my first time using all of her pattern elements (extra rows after working heel before starting cuff ribbing, plain stockinette foot, etc.) Looking good, way bright but fun nonetheless. I even lined up the stripes as best as I could. I have to remember to shoot the sock that inspired these; I have a great vintage pair of non-handknit socks that Mom used to wear and were gifted to me during my teen years that I think you'll get a kick out of.

All these socks don't mean I don't still love spinning, of course :)


(undunked; twist not set yet)

I still have more on the bobbins of this roving and MUCH more to spin up, its fun but I had a heck of a time using the bottom bobbin holders on my Ashford Joy as a "lazy kate" for plying... they didn't spin easily and I kept having to jerk them a bit (and break my singles! ugh!) After a round of swearing I won't subject yall to, I went and wound the remaining singles into center pull balls and plied from them... which would be great except towards the end, they just started tangling and collapsing unto themselves and forced a few more choice words out of me. I think I may follow Theresa's tek and make myself a homemade lazy kate, someday.

Another reason I am working back up to spinning...



Soapy sent me a wonderful RAOK spinning present; a big box full of fiber for me to play with. So unexpected and sweet; I need to pick up more bobbins, I think :)

Speaking of RAOKs... I was thinking about how much easter egg dye I still have and that I probably won't use it-- anyone want some? I probably have 25+ 6-tab paas packs; enough for 2 people to get their easter egg dye on. First 2 who leave a comment and ask for it-- its yours :) I also have an extra copy of Spin It by Lee Raven (I received 2 copies, one from my swap with Heather and another from my mom who heard I was spinning)-- it mainly focuses on fleece prep & spindle spinning (instrux on making a cd spindle too), lmk if you're interested and I'll also send some of the brown sheep roving and superwash merino to play with too, if you want-- everything you need to get hooked like me. First comment again, I'm feeling unimaginative today :)

edit, monday afternoon-- everything's been spoken for :) i'll pop off emails to stariel, beckyboo and jen a little later today; knee deep in cereal, curious george and boyfriend socks at the moment.

Finally, filed under the "am i turning into one of those" department... the new threadless shirt I ordered. Sheep. That's all I have to say.


Threadless tshirt print, "insomnia" (and my affiliate id!) New this week (Sept 11).

I almost want to ask if its too much, but then again I don't want to know.


psst! anne! i haven't dropped off the face of the earth with my wheel attached, yet :) with all this spinning it just feels like i have "nothing" to say, but when i sit down to say anything i get these ginormous posts when i realize i do :) thanks to everyone who was worried, but no worries though! i need to post more often just so i don't have to run on for so long...