Lost in Space

Ordinarily, I do not lose things. I may not be able to put my hands on something right at the moment I want it, but eventually whatever I am looking for turns up. Until now.

I inadvertently dropped a CD into the book return at my local library branch, a CD that did not belong to the library and did not belong to me. I didn't realize it did not belong to the library until later, when I told my SO I had returned it to the library. Well, it was his CD. No problem, I thought. I will just get it back from the libary. But over a month has passed and it has not turned up. (And the last librarian with whom I spoke about the CD got a little huffy when I hinted that someone may have "wanted to listen to it", as if all library employees are above reproach.)

About this same time, my clip-on sunglasses disappeared. Since I paid $80 for these, I am usually anal about putting them back in their case when they are not on my face. I think I may have left them by the stamp machine at work, but by the time I figured this out, they were not there. If they had ever been there. I put the word out at work, cleaned out my purse and my car, checked sweater pockets, etc., but never recovered them. I have been wearing a big goofy pair that came with a plastic beach pail and shovel, black with lime green stems. Their advantage is they fit over my regular eyeglasses. But maybe I should just give up hope and buy some new (cheap) clip-ons.

And now I find I lost a bamboo DPN, so the set of 5 is now a set of 4. It may have crawled away when I was switching from the bamboo needles to metal ones - the bamboo ones seem to pick up moisture when it is humid and yarn sticks to them. I looked under the couch cushions, under the couch, under and on top of the coffee table. Nada. Did the dog chew it up? Did it fall into the waste basket? It seems to have vanished into thin air.

But having only 4 DPNs did not stop me from using them on a new pair of socks. It's not like I was enjoying the last sock, which is still matchless. But I just feel better having a pair of socks in the works. And these are from Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn. Magic Stripes is not the most beautiful self-striping yarn around, and from what I understand, it is being discontinued, but it is what I had on hand and I've knit the pattern before so it shouldn't be too challenging. And there is just something about self-striping yarn that makes it fun to knit. (Knitters are so easily entertained!)



I'm hoping to match up the stripes between sock 1 and sock 2, but I am halfway through the cuff and haven't seen a pattern repeat yet.

And the menopause shawl is tootin' along. Working the Cascade 220 yarn on US7 needles in 99% stockinette stitch has been a simple pleasure. It is an easy project to pick up and put down, and there is no stitch counting except the occassional check to make sure I haven't forgotten a YO. After the initial rush, when the rows started to become a bit long and boring, I was tempted to introduce something fancy here and there, but resisted the urge because I really want this to be something non-challenging.



Although I am using a one-skein shawl pattern, this will take at least two skeins because of the smaller needle size.

Summertime and the knittin' is easy....

It Will Fit Somebody

My friend L planned to knit each of her children and their SOs hats this past xmas. She found appropriate patterns, carefully selected fine yarns, and set to work. But the projects were a bit beyond her skill level. I helped her (via email) through hat #1, which she knit about six times before getting a lumpy finished product. This struggle reduced her to tears, which she took to another friend, who asked her, "What are you really trying to give your children?" which produced even more tears. Her friend made L promise to put the knitting away until after the holidays.

But for those of us who force our knitted projects upon our loved ones, it is a very good question: What are we really trying to give them? And then there is the question of whether we give them what they want or what we think they should have. Or, in my case, what I just happened to have knit.

Sometimes I am knitting something I simply want to knit, because of the pattern, the yarn, the techniques, etc. If it is something I don't want/need for myself, should I try to force it onto someone else? Like the lime green baby hoodie I gave my hairdresser? (I still think she was pretending to like it. I haven't had the nerve to ask her if she ever actually used it.)

And then there is the surprise factor. I am learning to let go of expecting the recipients of my knitterly goods to be thrilled and to feel blessed with my largesse. At most, I hope they will use the item, and if not, will pass it on to someone who will appreciate it.

Sometimes things turn out better than expected, though. My son expressed an interest in having a pair of slipper socks, but he was not available to participate in the selection of pattern or yarn. I wasn't sure how he would like the ones I made, but he does like them, made good use of them this past bitter winter. I also knit him a scarf, hat, and fingerless gloves; those he has not mentioned.

When I signed up for a basic sock class, I decided the first pair would go to my daughter. She did not seem too excited about the prospect of handknit socks, until she tried on an unfinished one and it fit her foot very nicely. The same thing with a second pair that went to my SO; he raves about the fit. (Their blatant surprise over the fit grates a bit!)

But usually I bring home book after book from the library and force my loved ones to look through them, and rarely do I detect much excitement. That is, until my daughter saw Glamour Knits. "I like this. And I really like this. Oh, and I love this!" Hence, the lacy top that is giving me fits (so to speak!)

None of this has stopped me from starting a pair of socks, for a mystery recipient. And if the intended recipient does not like them, well, they will fit somebody.

Easy Does It

After the angst of toe-up sock #1, I decided I wanted to knit something easy, something brainless, something I could start right now with yarn onhand because my LYS went out of business.

When said LYS had their going-out-of-business sale, I glommed onto some Cascade 220, so I grabbed a skein of black and rolled it into a center-pull ball (without the fiasco I went through before). Then I started a lacy shawl from a pattern in the 2007 Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar (the April 25 entry). This pattern calls for Fiesta Boucle, and I tried it once using Lion Boucle, but the two yarns are obviously not interchangable and I didn't have enough yarn and I quickly abandoned this project. But, really, a lacy shawl can be knit from about any type yarn; you just get different results.

To make a long story short, I tried the Cascade 220 with different size needles until I found a result I liked, but the more I knit, the less I liked the result. The photo in the pattern made the shawl look rectangular, but for some reason mine was coming out at a diagonal.



And one edge looked like this...



... while the other edge looked twice as thick.



I really like things to look symmetrical, so this shawl bugged me enough that I ripped it and tried to figure out some way to get the results I wanted. My knitting stitch skills are not up to creating my own lacy shawl pattern, though. So I switched to a one-skein shawl pattern I found here. Again it took me a while to decide on needle size, and I decided that it was okay by me if I wound up with a sweater-shawl hybrid.



So this shawl will consist primarily of stockinette with lacy borders. Since this is meant to be my "menopause shawl" - something I can take off and put on with ease as I cycle through hot flashes - I think it will do just fine.

That Damn Sock!

I finally finished toe-up sock #1 and bound off, but - huh - the sock would not go over my heel. A little research revealed that you can't bind off a toe-up sock in the usual way, but must use a more stretchy method. (Too bad the book did not mention this. Many sock knitters rave about Sensational Knitted Socks, and it does have a lot of good info in it, but frankly, I would not recommend it to a beginner.)

I found some directions for a sewn cast-off here, and redid the bind off.



The top of the cuff looks frilly but it's not when on the foot.



The fit is a little tighter than I wanted and the cuff a little shorter than I expected, but it's okay...



... until I take a closer look at the short row heel from hell and discover a hole. A hole caused by a dropped stitch. Argh!!!

So I am taking a little hiatus from sock knitting while I decide just what I want to do about this damn sock.

The Saga Continues

All I wanted was a new air conditioner and a new furnace with a humidifier. And I did get a new air conditioner and a new furnace with a humidifier. But the story just won't end.

As reported earlier, there was a mishap. The result of the mishap was a broken attic ladder. The contractors said they would replace it. And they did. But, silly me, I assumed I would end up with something close to what I had before.

What I had before was nothing special, just one of those folding attic ladders you find in some houses. There was a string on a trapdoor that you pulled to reveal the ladder. The ladder was easy to reach and unfold, easy to refold, and with a little push, the door holding the ladder and covering the hole to the attic would return to its rightful place with a nice, neat fit.

Now I have this lovely example of drywalling:



And here I am, standing on tippy toe, trying to get the ladder down:



And here I am, trying to get the ladder up, but - huh - it doesn't quite fit without some near impossible gymnastics:



And this is how the door fits in the hole:



You are probably wondering how I let this happened. I did peek out in the garage a time or two, enough to gather that things weren't going well. But I'm a trusting soul. I believed everything would be okay in the end. But apparently the end occurred at 4:55pm, when the worker bees took off like it was quittin' time.

And that's not all. Because the room with the gas furnace and gas hot water heater is actually a large closet off my bedroom, the building inspector told the contractor I would need a new door, one that would seal off any smoke were there a fire, one with a "closer". A closer is something that automatically closes the door so you can't accidently bypass the smoke seals. But guess what? My door does not close unless I push it and bang it shut a few times, and it won't latch without some fiddling with the door knob.

And that's not all. The contractor's scheduler called to set a follow-up appointment, to check on the air conditioner and furnace. Since nothing had been said about this before, I was a little perplexed. And suspicious. You read about contractors concealing cameras behind vents so they can record people doing private things. Or maybe one of the installers was fired for cause and now they were checking up on his handiwork.

So I had a few things to discuss with the sales guy after the fact. And I did my best to state my case in a reasonable and sane manner. Afterwards, though, I did get a bit hysterical over the whole thing, venting to friends and family. Today I am calm, though. And I still have a new air conditioner and a new furnace with a humidifier.

But they have my money.

But I have butterflies.

Short n Sweet

Last Saturday I was going shopping in Indy with my daughter and needed something easy to knit in the car. This meant not the lacy top, not a sock ready for heel-turning, not an afghan. This meant something new, but not another baby hoodie because I haven't finished the last one, not the yoga mat bag because that is a lace project and I refuse to have two lace projects going on at the same time, ditto for socks, not the baby blankets that require wrangling four skeins of yarn at the same time, not a dishcloth because I am tired of cotton, not a hat because I just finished one. So, what did that leave me?



How about a little eyeglass case for my sweetie? He made this request an embarrassingly long tme ago, expressing an interest in the "Serendipity" SWTC bamboo I've been playing with, the OLD bamboo that produces a fabric with the texture of loofah. (My understanding is they have redesigned this yarn to be softer.) I cast 48 stitches onto US2 double points and basically made a little sock top, with 4 rounds of 2x2 ribbing to keep it from rolling and the next 6 inches plain old stockinette, closing with kitchenette. He has bamboo growing in his backyard (yes, Virginia, bamboo does grow in Indiana, and can be purchased here), and now he will have bamboo in his pocket.



Bamboo eyeglass cases. Can bamboo pocket protectors be far behind?

So Far, So Good

The AC and furnace are installed, all the gas appliances are working, and the new system provides not only a new level of climatic comfort in my home, but a much more quiet atmosphere. It's a little eerie, in fact, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. All this was not accomplished without at least one more mishap: a step on the ladder to the attic broke while one of the worker bees was climbing it. I heard a crash and shouting, and ran into the garage to find the poor man hanging practically upside down from what remained of the ladder. Fortunately, he was not hurt, just shaken up.

Meanwhile, I picked up a copy of Family Knits, by Debbie Bliss, from the library. Debbie Bliss is a familiar name in the knitting community, but I hadn't seen her patterns up close and personal. As is usual everywhere, the garments for the rugrats are the cutest, and several are generously sized so the wee ones can wear them for more than four weeks before outgrowing them. But there is one item for grownups, the patchwork aran jacket, that will defy boredom in even the most jaded knitter. The photography throughout the book is lovely, and there is even a picture index in the back, so you can find a given pattern easily.



Which brings me to the question of just how often patterns in books are actually knitted by the knitting lay public? I have knit many things from the Stitch and Bitch series, but I pick up most patterns for free online. The only current exceptions are projects from Glamour Knits, by Erica Knight, and Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch. Oh, and some from Mason-Dixon Knitting.



And in the Knitty Coffeeshop, there appears to be support groups for No Sheep for You, Big Girl Knits, and Knit Wit. I guess that answers my rhetorical question.



*sigh* So many projects, so little time.

It's a Conspiracy

Wednesday night I did not sleep well, anticipating two days of burly men with tools making big changes to my house. Thinking thoughts like, They said they would be here at 7:30 but last night was fireworks night so they might be late how late can they be before I call and complain what if there was a miscommunication and they aren't coming at all and I've wasted two vacation days what if they need to use the bathroom I'd better clean them wish I had fixed the toilet that runs it's too easy to just turn off the water when you live alone and have two bathrooms they will probably need to get into the attic and under the house but the accesses to both are in the garage and the garage is so full of crap I'll need to clear some stuff out of their way at least I took a shower tonight but what if I'm on the john when they arrive I hate making big changes to the house it feels like I am compromising the basic integrity of the structure and it is going to cost so much but I've been saving my bonus just for this and I was without heat a couple of times last winter and the AC unit is 35 years old but what if I lose my job and need that money to keep from eating cat food and becoming homeless....

Etc. etc. and so forth....

(Three in the morning is the perfect time to "musterbate" and "awfulize" every cotton pickin' little thing. A co-worker says one of my super powers is the ability to worry about anything and everything. I've been working on this - better living through hypnotism - but sometimes the mind demands free rein.)

After sleepwalking through Thursday, I decided I needed a little pharmaceutical help to sleep that night, so I took one Excedrin PM. (I've learned that two is one too many.) And with no AC, I opened the windows and turned the ceiling fan on high to stir the air. Sleeping conditions were actually quite pleasant... until 2:00am when I was awakened by the doorbell and someone shouting outside.

First thought: Must be a prank. This is a very quiet, staid neighborhood for the most part and middle-of-the-night disturbances are rare. Second thought: Maybe the house is on fire. This has happened to me before, someone ringing my doorbell to tell me my house was burning. So I get up, then realize my sleeping attire is not what one should answer the door while wearing. Find robe, then creep up to the front door and peek out the window to see just what is going on. (Note to self: Keep a baseball bat by front door for future middle-of-the-night visitors.)

By now, the visitor was across the street, banging on their door and yelling, so I (perhaps foolishly) opened my door and stepped out on the porch and started yelling, too. What's going on? The twenty-something guy, wearing nothing but shorts and tattoos and carrying a backpack, came running back, asking me to call the police because his "significant other" had attacked him. He held out his hands to show me, but since he was still in the yard and it was dark, I couldn't see anything unusual (like blood). Then he starts running back down the street. Wait, what's your address? Why don't you stay here? He gave me a house number (of which he was uncertain) and took off.

I closed the door (and locked it!) and got the phone and then debated. If this were a prank, I doubt he would have been running from house to house, shouting for help. He didn't seem drunk or high. If the address was the house I was thinking of, several young people had been having a good time there this past week but nothing over-the-top. So I dialed 911, but then disconnected, still not sure about the whole thing because it just didn't feel right. (Later, I surmised it might not have felt right because it didn't happen the way it would have been portrayed in the movies or on tv. Not enough angst or something.)

If you call 911 and hang up, they call you back. I explained the whole thing to the dispatcher, and she said they would send someone around to see what was what. Still clutching the phone, I then parked myself by the bedroom window, to see what I could see, which wasn't much. Some (police?) cars (and an ambulance?) drove down the next street over, but I couldn't see where they were going. Then a cruiser came down my street and stopped in front of my house. I went back outside and the (very short) officer (don't they have a height requirement at the police department?) said they found the guy and did I have anything to add to what I had told the dispatcher? I tried to get some details from him but nada.

Of course, getting back to sleep after all that was next to impossible. And since the worker bees were going to do the attic work in the morning, they wanted to start even earlier. So Friday I was not much perkier than Thursday. But I did manage to do some ironing (a huge rarity but actually a pleasant chore since I chose to do it in the Florida room which was cool and clean for a change) and I applied several Minwax products to the andirondack chairs I had bought (cheap!) from Joann earlier this season. ("Natural" stain is a synonym for "nearly invisible" stain, but it did make a difference.) And I watched "The Pursuit of Happyness."



As to more knitterly topics, I finished the "no hair day" chemo hat, but it seems more like a candidate for What Not to Knit. For one thing, I chose to make a size large but did not swatch (the it-will-fit-somebody philosophy) and it really is large. I envisioned a salt-and-pepper result but it turned out quite stripey (which is why Fun Fur calls the colorway "Stripes" you dope!) When I modeled it for my daughter, she said it looks like a shower cap, and my SO likened it to a wig from SNL.



But today, while trying to photograph it in all its hideous glory, I realized that it doesn't look so bad when it is not pulled down as far as possible, so if someone (with a very large head) wears it more wiglike, i.e. so the bottom edge lines up with where one's hairline would be (if one had hair), it doesn't look too bad.



Or does it? Your honest opinion please!

All About Color

It's been a good news-bad news kind of day.

I am taking today and tomorrow as vacation days, because I am having a new furnace and AC installed (yay!) but the AC was lacking freon, so tonight I have no air (boo!)

The latest incarnation of the toe-up sock looks right (yay!) but, with no AC, my hands get too sweaty to knit (boo!)



I watched "Billy Elliot" this afternoon (yay!) because I didn't sleep well last night and was too tired to do anything else (boo!)

The flowers in my yard are gorgeous (yay!) but it still has not rained so I spend a lot of time watering (boo!)



But something I have noticed about both knitting and gardening, frequently it is all about color.

Taking a Break from Socks

Well, that boxy toe from my previous post did not work. Once I had knit enough to try it on, there was obviously going to be 'way too much sock for my toes. So I just stopped.

Instead, I have been working on a "no hair day" chemo hat (pattern here). Last winter, during a manic phase, I bought up a bunch of Fun Fur that was on sale (10 for $10!!!) with no idea of what to do with it. It has come in handy for this project. I'm using up the Stripes: Night Sky skeins first, thinking the result would be a nice mixture of black, gray, and white, sort of like my own hair. But the yarn is definitely striping. Eyelash yarn is not exactly my favorite - no give, difficult to see what you're doing, 100% polyester - but I hope the recipient has fun with it. I'm planning to send it to Kaps for Kendall.

I have also been working on my daughter's lacy top from Glamour Knits. I have started this pattern multiple times, managing to screw up royally over and over again. I finally got smart and started adding life lines every 6 rows, and of course, have not screwed up once since then. I also have learned to knit a couple of rows, then take a break, because if I knit too long at one time, I am about 1000% more likely to make a mistake.

Trying Toe-Up

Or should I say toe-up is very trying? These are the anklets I promised myself in a previous posting. Since the TOFUtsies yarn is not-quite-half-used-up, toe-up (and my trusty scale) seemed the solution to knowing when to stop sock #1 and start sock #2. But I had an awful time getting started.

My original plan was to follow the Ann Norling basic sock pattern but knit up instead of down. Sounds easy. But how to begin? After struggling with several methods from several sources, I settled on one of the many so-called "easy toe" directions, this one from Sensational Knitted Socks. But, for some reason, I couldn't get the provisional cast on to unzip. Several more sources later, I came across a provisional cast on from another set of "easy toe" directions, in this knitty article, where one crochets a chain, then knits into the backs of the stitches. Success!

Now I had my little rectangle of knitting to turn into a sock toe. Still under the delusion I could follow the basic sock pattern, I had cast on 20 stitches, which meant I had 40 stitches on two needles, which turned into 48 stitches by the time I added a third needle and had picked up stitches on the sides of the rectangle. Since the basic sock pattern starts with 64 stitches, I added 4 stitches every other round until I reached 64.



Hmmm. This toe looks really boxy. Oh, well, I said to myself, maybe this is one of the differences between toe-up and cuff-down socks. But before I continued, I took a gander at the heel instructions in SKS. The toe-up sock directions are combined with 5-stitch pattern directions, so the expectation is one will have the number of stitches on the needles suitable for 5-stitch patterns. I am knitting plain stockinette; did I want to recalculate the values in the heel instructions to work with my 64 stitches? Definitely not. So I increased my stitch count to 70.

(An aside: I hate M1, aka "make 1". For some reason, I find it incredibly awkward to execute and I end up kind of twirling the needles around each other, seeking a purchase for completing the stitch. And usually I leave a little hole behind, but these M1's look pretty good. But I still hate doing them.)

(Another aside: While discussing pet peeves, I will mention that I am becoming more and more disenchanted with bamboo needles. Instead of growing smoother with time, they seem to be getting brittle and splintery. The obvious solution is to sand the roughness away, but eventually that will change their size, won't it? And the yarn doesn't move smoothly over the needle surface. These needles may be passed on to another knitter who can appreciate their quirks more than I can.)



So, now I'm merrily knitting around the foot of the sock, but that boxy toe bothers me. Looking at the SKS instructions, I now see that I should have cast on 14 stitches, not 20. Maybe I should have just started with the SKS pattern to begin with. But am I going to start over? I don't think so. I wear Earth shoes, which have square toe boxes, so I'm thinking I will just stick with what I have. It will add another variable to the experiment that is called knitting.

I Knit and Knit and Knit Some More

At the last Women's Weekend, almost everyone was knitting, but at this one I knit alone. Maybe it was the 90 degree heat that put off the others, and I have to admit that it is difficult to knit once one's hands get sweaty, but by then I was almost done, so I had to finish. More details here.



These socks were meant to be anklets, but they are actually somewhere between an anklet and a footie. I plan to make myself a pair, on needle size US2, and think I might increase the top by an inch or so.

I don't think I ever expanded my New Year's Resolution (to do something fun each month) beyond May, so here is an update:

June: Another Women's Weekend. See January for details on what this is about.

July: Having fun this month may be unachievable because my department at work will be training our replacements. We won't necessarily lose our jobs; rather, we are being freed to find positions elsewhere, either within the company or without.

August: This one is easy because my daughter is getting married!

September: Tentatively scheduling a vacation for this month.

October: The fall Women's Weekend.

November: ??? (Thanksgiving doesn't count.)

December: ??? (Christmas really doesn't count.)

Not My Fault

Ok. I checked the notes that I jotted down two months ago that said we would meet in June but not July or August. Last week while I was at the library, I asked whether the knitting group would meet, and they said yes. I worked up some blanket squares, leaving one in an almost-done state, so I would have something to work on. I packed up the preemie caps. I rearranged my schedule to accommodate the meeting. I even took a shower and arrived on time. But no "One Stitch at a Time" meeting.

This always happens to me. When I first moved to The Fort, I tried to make new friends by enrolling in classes, attending meetings, going to events, and 9 times out of 10, the class/meeting/event would be cancelled. Or, if it weren't cancelled, I'd be the youngest person there, the next youngest being around 70, or (as in the case with a writers conference I attended last month) the only person there (at least the instructor showed up). Something in The Universe wants to keep me out of group situations, for either my protection or theirs.

But this time I thought it was safe. The group seemed large enough and stable enough to withstand my bad group karma, and knitters are a sturdy bunch. But I guess it was just not meant to be.

Think I will go play with my bunny.

Every Project Is an Experiment

Same pattern + different yarn + different size needles = unknown.

That's the basic equation for these socks. Using the Ann Norling pattern from the basic sock class, I dropped a needle size for a better fit (pattern recommended US3, instructor told us to use US2, and now I am trying US1), but the SWTC TOFUtsies yarn is less stretchy than the Online yarn I used before, so I wasn't sure how these would turn out. I thought the entire sock was going to be too small, but my daughter declared the fit to be just about perfect (except for the ribbing, which seems a bit loose, but she claims it doesn't matter because these are anklets). So it's on to anklet #2.



A big advantage to knitting anklets is it takes about half the time as regular socks. This first sock weighed only 20 g., so I'm hoping to get two pairs from one skein, another advantage to anklets. The second pair will be for me (Ha! I've said that before), and I plan to do the ribbing on size US1 but the rest on US2, to see how that works out. Another experiment!

Last Chance Before Summer Break

Last month I forgot to attend the "One Stitch at a Time" meeting. I have a list of excuses - just back from a writer's workshop, taking a week off to work in my yard, expecting my son to visit, etc. - but really, I just plain forgot. But I don't want to forget this month, because we are not meeting in July and August and I want to turn in what I have managed to get done.

I'm not very good on group projects and have suffered a lot of angst over the blanket squares, but here are four finished preemie caps.



Three are in the smallest size and one in the next-to-smallest size for the pattern, which is free from Lion Brand. BTW, I used Crystal Palace bamboo needles designated as US3 but in reality are more like US3.5 (if there is such a thing). The i-cord loop on top is my addition.

Mitered Out

I finished something! More dishcloths! I may have trouble seaming garter stitch, turning hells heels, and knitting lace, but by God, I can mattress stitch stockinette! Well, more or less. I stitched these up and wove in the ends over my lunch hour at work. Not a perfect job, but perfectly good enough for dishcloths.



These were based on the Mitered Square Blanket pattern in Mason-Dixon Knitting. I used Lion Brand Lion Cotton. The variegated yarn is "Wedgwood", the blue is "Periwinkle", and the white is "White". Originally, I planned to make one dishcloth, combining the Wedgwood and Periwinkle squares, but that didn't look so hot. So then I decided to make White squares for the Wedgwood, which meant I now had 1.5 dishcloths. Naturally, I had to make two more squares for the Periwinkle, so I striped the Periwinkle and White.



These are for my daughter, so everytime she washes dishes, she will think of me.

Bad Knitting Mojo

With the recent drop in temperatures, I decided to wear my new sucks socks with Birkenstocks, and I discovered that, not only do the socks look huge, they are huge. Even after a trip through the washer and dryer, by the end of the day, they were scrunched down around my ankles. I'm half tempted to frog them, but I hate to mangle the yarn any more than I already have. Maybe they will fit my son's size 13 feet. Or maybe I will develop edema. If neither of those ideas work, the yarn may become a shawl.

And then there is the lacy top. My plan to thread a lifeline every 12 rows was defeated by a major snafu in - you guessed it - row 12. I set it aside to marinate, but I think I will have to frog. I keep putting it off.

And then there is the mango baby hoodie whose construction has not progressed beyond that first sleeve, which I did over, and it does look better, but I'm not quite satisfied.

And then there are the patches I've been knitting for a charity blanket, the patches I can't knit to gauge, no matter how small the needles, the patches from yarn that is not from the same dye lot. The group is meeting next week. At least I have a few preemie caps to contribute.

And then today I read several blogs, the writers of which all seemed to be at BEA. It was like reading about a party I was not invited to, a party I would very much like to be invited to. Who am I kidding? I am dying to be invited to that kind of party! The only catch is you have to actually write a book and be getting it published to be invited. Two giant hurdles. Even though last week my fortune cookie fortune said, "You will become an accomplished writer," I can barely keep this blog up-to-date.

On the plus side, I started another pair of socks (why do I persist?!?), anklets out of SWTC TOFUtsies. I originally intended to use their bamboo yarn and knitted up a swatch, but it was the previous incarnation of bamboo yarn (it has since been redesigned) and it seems more conducive to exfoliating washcloths than socks. But I tell ya, anklets are definitely the way to go: 16 rows of ribbing, 16 rows of stockinette, and you're already into the heel.

Feels Like Monday

The first day back at work after a three-day weekend is always a shock to the system. The alarm clock, the traffic, the fluorescent lighting. Ugh.

Per usual, I trudged into the building with my knitting bag, as I knit during lunch. But when lunchtime rolled around, I discovered I did not have the pattern for the current dishcloth project with me and I didn't feel like starting the SnB Om Yoga Mat Bag and I was wise enough not to bring the lace top, so I began assembling a UFO, a mango-colored baby hoodie. Ugh.

Sleeve #1 went on okay, so I celebrated with corn chowder and a salad. Then I tried seaming the sleeve. The garter stitch sleeve. The increasing rows sleeve. The sleeve where the increases should have been a stitch or two further in from the edge. I tried to pick up the smiles on the right and the frowns on the left, but the increases got in the way. Trusting the magic of the mattress stitch, I pulled the yarn tight and watched the sleeve seam pucker. Ugh.

The voices in my head started arguing: It's only a seam! It looks like shit. No one will notice! You will. Nobody will die if this seam is puckered! But you will wake at 3am with that seam on your mind and a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Okay. I decided to take out the seam, but the splitty Lion Brand Microspun yarn did not cooperate. Even though I still had knitting time left to my lunch hour, I just had to set the whole thing aside. Just step away from the yarn.

Back home at the end of the day, I picked up the lace top, thinking I had time to do a row or two before my walk. The swatch I knit had a dropped stitch in it, and today I discovered the likely culprit: the k2tog in row 10 of the lace pattern, which is nearly impossible to pick up. I knitted about a quarter of the row before it was time to quit (in more ways than one).

Some days knit doesn't pay.

The Disordered Life

Life, I have noticed, does not feel sequential to me. Like a novel, different story lines fade in and out as the days pass by. In this blog, I am trying to create knitting anecdotes from non-consecutive, uncooperative events, which doesn't really work. Maybe I should save the stories for my knitting book (everyone is writing them these days, so why shouldn't I?) and just report my day-to-day progress, such as it is.

Megan's Dishcloths

As has been my dishcloth knitting habit of late, I selected a stitch from The Knitting Stitch Bible and transformed it into a cotton dishcloth made from Lion Brand Lion Cotton, this time in Poppy Red. The stitch pattern was "hearts" which, for some reason, was a bitch to knit, at least in non-stretchy cotton. And I forgot that stitches are taller than they are wide, so instead of squarish, the dishcloth came out rectangular. Were I to knit this one again (and I'm not!), I would space out the hearts to increase the width.



For Megan's second dishcloth (I always seem to knit them in pairs), I used a 9-patch pattern I found here. (Let it be said, when I first saw the Mason-Dixon Knitting book at the library, I did not even crack it open because I assumed from the dorky cover that it would be full of patterns for toilet seat covers and finger puppets. I stand corrected, and as penance, purchased my very own copy and also pay daily visits to their website.) What drew me to this pattern were two things: mitered corners (how do they do that?) and no seaming (how do they do that?) The fun thing about mitered knitting is one starts on the long edges and decreases, so the closer one knits to the point, the faster the knitting goes. (Unlike sweater sleeves knit from the cuff up.) The colors here are Poppy Red and Natural.



Not my Socks?

The executive summary:

Pattern: from Sensational Knitted Socks, a four-stitch ribbing, in garter rib

Size: women's 11 (don't start)

Yarn: Schaefer Yarn "Anne" in some one-of-a-kind colorway

These socks look HUGE to me. Before starting to knit, I swatched (otherwise, I would never have purchased the recommended size 1 needles) and I measured my feet against the size chart, and now that the socks are blocked, I measured them against the size chart as well. Yes, all the numbers match, BUT. They. Look. Huge. They feel kind of loose, too, and the ankles bag a bit. And yet, they feel comfy.



Rarely do I knit something for myself, but I swore these socks were for me. And yet, they don't feel like mine. They feel like they belong to Karen, the instructor at a writing workshop I attended recently. She saw the socks in progress, and exclaimed over the colors, and then I realized that the colors were her colors; they matched her outfits. The rest of the weekend, I kept sneaking peeks at her feet, debating on whether the socks would fit. I think the socks are a bit big for her, too, but given Karen's propensity for going barefoot and her starving-artist lifestyle, I'm thinking she needs them more than I do. We'll see.



Another reason I felt dissatisfied with the colors is they stockinetted better than they ribbed. And the dark yarn was difficult to work with except in daylight. But this pattern, on size 1 needles, used a lot of yarn; only 17 grams remained, out of a 4 oz. skein. Had the skein been the usual 3 oz. (100 g.) size recommended for a pair of adult socks, I would have run short.



Three pairs of socks do not make me an expert, but I feel like each pair I have knit so far has been 'way too much of a learning experience. The next pair will be a repeat, of either the Magic Socks pattern or the Ann Norling pattern.

More (I Must Be Nuts) Lace

After the swallowtail shawl, I did not think I would ever knit lace again. But I am. And this time I am actually using a lace weight yarn, a mohair (emphasis on hair, as in hairy) and silk blend: Rowan "Kidsilk Haze" in a color called Liqueur, probably because it will drive you to drink.

I was the only one in the shawl class who did not use such a yarn, and if I had, I would never have finished that shawl. This yarn is like fine, hairy thread. The body of the yarn is barely visible because of the hair, and the hair clings to itself like Velcro, which makes frogging nearly impossible.



So the plan is to frog and tink as little as possible. (Stop laughing!) And since I have trouble counting above 80 (has nothing to do with the number of toes and fingers I possess - I have a tendency to either skip from 89 to 100 or to count the 80's twice - don't ask me why), I am strategically placing stitch markers every 24 stitches (the pattern repeats every 6 stitches). And I may employ lifelines every 12 rows or so, as the pattern is 12 rows high.



The pattern is from Glamour Knits and is a fitted top for my daughter. It is designed to wear over a camisole and hug the body. So I was forced to not only knit up a swatch (which was an excellent opportunity to practice the lace stitching) but also soak and block the swatch to see how much it would stretch out. Because lace knitting s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s.



I had already decided to drop a needle size because this is my usual MO, and the swatch came out very close to the 4" x 4" expectation, but snug enough that I rounded up to size 38.



Now I am crossing my fingers that this will actually work out in real life.

Blogger Aside

I have not been posting lately, so this is the first time I noticed that Blogger automatically saves drafts. What a great idea! Several times this week I have read postings on typepad other blogs where the blogger is complaining about losing a post while editing. Maybe they should learn something from the free blog hoster!

A Sad Day

My LYS - the non-chain, locally-owned one with the finer (more expensive) yarns - is closing. Wah! I don't know the why's or wherefore's, but I am a little disgruntled that they did not notify those of us on their mailing list but instead relied on word of mouth (a co-worker left a note on my desk). I'm assuming the problem is money, so they may not have wanted to spend dwindling funds on a mailing. And the word-of-mouth thing seems to be working for them, as the inventory was rather picked over when I arrived this afternoon. I did manage to snatch up some Cascade 220 and some Colinette Cadenza, and I may return for the Rowan Classic Silk Wool DK and some Skacel Addi Turbo needles. After all, it's 25% off. For some reason the Koigu is not on sale, though.

I'm a little surprised the LYS would be in trouble financially, as I thought they had a good business plan: they didn't just sell yarn, but also their expertise in the form of classes. But it appeared they ran the business manually; for example, receipts were handwritten, which meant inventory data had to be updated by hand as well. Their presence on the web was virtually (HA!) non-existent, too. The quarterly newsletter with the class schedule arrived by snail-mail, and they did not sell online, which limited their customer base.

Some of the LYS customers are discussing starting their own yarn store, so maybe all is not lost. Hopefully, they won't rely on word-of-mouth to get the news out for their grand opening.

Meanwhile, a respite from the yardwork courtesy of a healthy thunderstorm is providing me with the opportunity to work on sock #2. I turned the heel tonight (without incident! maybe I am finally getting the hang of this knitting thing) and hope to finish the gusset so I can do some mindless knitting during a meeting tomorrow at work.

A Fiber Festival for Kids

Last Friday my son and I moseyed on up to Salomon's Farm for the Fiber Arts Celebration. Having been to a couple of similar affairs in the past year or so, I expected more of what I have been seeing. But no. This one was definitely geared for the younger set. The field-trip set. The home-schooled set. The dad-has-visitation-this-weekend set.

The Fiber Arts Celebration at Salomon Farm is a sheep-to-shawl hands-on educational experience that also includes hay wagon rides, a few vendors (no deep-fried dill pickles), and the opportunity to observe a 1930's style farm. The rug rats were having a frenetic time (thus the worried cooing from the alpacas) and theoretically were learning something. Since my son is just shy of 27, we were a little out-of-place; the adults providing the demonstrations ignored us and I was too self-conscious to insist they address our curiousity.

So, if you have little ones, I recommend this festival, especially if you have the gorgeous weather we had last weekend. If you have wool cravings, though, this is not the place to find relief.

Manly in Pink

Spring has sprung finally, and it is difficult to be online when one can be outside, thus the dearth of postings. And the knitting has been lagging as well, but I haven't abandoned the needles completely. After all, one needs something to do while resting on the deck and listening to the wrens. Just don't leave the knitting outside by itself or it might become someone's nesting material.

Wool is a little sticky to work with in warm weather, but cotton does not mind slightly sweaty fingers. I knitted up a couple of dishcloths for my son, using non-dishcloth patterns. I chose Lion Cotton "Americana" since red-white-blues seemed less frou-frou, more manly than the other variegated yarns, but I hadn't noticed the pink. He's secure in his masculinity, though, and is not afraid of a little girly color.



Washcloth #1 is based on the "Diagonal Pattern Baby Blanket" (free on the Lion Brand website). It is all garter stitch except for the yo's and k2tog's to create the border.



Washcloth #2 is all linen stitch, which I learned from a pattern in my 2007 Pattern-A-Day Knitting Calendar (the April 17th entry). This produced a stiffer, denser fabric.



Yesterday a giant pile of mulch arrived in my driveway just hours before my son came to visit. Funny - the same thing happened last year! Time to get to it.

Sock One, Sock Two

I finally completed my first Sensational Knitted Sock, on size 1 needles, r-e-a-l-l-y late (well, late for me) last night. And the unwritten rule for sock knitters is you have to start sock #2 immediately after finishing sock #1, as then you are more likely to eventually get to a complete pair of socks. So I did. Which reminds me: when you are knitting a k2 p2 ribbing on three needles, it is best to divide the stitches so that at each needle change, you are starting with a k2. Because when you are starting two needles with k2 and one needle with p2, the likelihood of screwing up increases dramatically. Ask me how I know.

While starting sock #2, I wore sock #1. Mmmm, comfy, but I think the heel flap is too long, which makes the ankle bag a little. And I stopped short of the recommended foot length and am glad I did. So far, every pair of socks I have knitted (all two-and-a half of them) needed to be shorter than the recommended foot length. There is something I am not getting.

At least my DSL is magically back. I have new instructions for the wireless (plus a helpful hint from somebunnysloveDOTcom), so when I am feeling brave, I will attempt that again.

Grrr!!!

I recently upgraded to DSL (love the speed!) and decided to go a step further and add wireless, but have not had any luck getting it to install. I tried (several times) the install disk that came with the router, then tried (several times) some "special" instructions from the Internet supposedly guaranteed to get my Westell 6100 modem to play nice with the Linksys router (isn't the definition of insanity trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results?) Finally I decided to just go back to plain old DSL but no, now it won't work without reinstalling the Verizon software which of course won't reinstall. There is a 24/7 help hotline I can call, but right now I'm not quite in the mood. Thank goodness I never got around to discontinuing my dial-up. Desperate times....

Meanwhile, I have not made much progress on all my UFO's, so of course I started a new project, just a little project, a dishcloth in linen stitch using variegated cotton yarn. During a manic phase, I purchased a bunch of Lion Cotton for making dishcloths using different stitches from The Knitting Stitch Bible. I quickly discovered, however, that variegated yarn is not the best choice for showcasing fancy stitchwork. So when I read about combining variegated yarns with the linen stitch, I decided to give it a try. Today. The basic directions are from a scarf pattern in my 2007 Pattern-A-Day Knitting Calendar (the April 17th entry), and so far the result is interesting. I'll post photos when I am back online with DSL.



One of my toilets needs its insides replaced. I'm wondering if my bad luck with computers will extend to plumbing. Maybe I should not press my luck.

Spring Fever

The skies are bawling, and I am feeling a bit weepy myself. I blame everything on hormones (great excuse!) but the result is I don't want to do anything except curl up on the couch, listen to music, and knit.

But even the knitting is making me weepy. My second charity blanket square is off-gauge. I dropped a stitch about 6 rounds back on my sock and can't seem to get it picked up correctly. The lace Addi Turbo needles I ordered have not yet arrived. The rocking chair is piled high with UFO's. A stalled afghan covers the recliner. The only thing I feel competent to knit is another preemie cap, but I hate the bamboo needles I am using because instead of getting smoother with use, they feel rougher.

At least Amazon finally shipped my copy of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off. That and some dark chocolate should help a bit.

Think I'll go work on that afghan.

Crotchity Crocheter

I've been wandering through Yarn Harlot: the secret life of a knitter, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and just finished the chapter where she disses crochet.



Well. I'm a little put out. Just because she failed at crocheting doilies and antimacassers (and why she was even attempting such antiquated projects is subject to question) doesn't mean crochet is evil. So now I am forced to respond to her complaints. (Blog war!)

First, let me admit that I learned to crochet before I learned to knit. Back in the 60's, my mother guided me through the then-prerequisite crocheted vest. I also have been a counted cross stitcher and a quilter, but my eyes won't support the former and I killed my interest in the latter by hand stitching a giant log cabin quilt top that has never actually been quilted.

Now. Ms. P-M claims knitting and crochet don't employ the same skill sets. Interesting, because I hold the yarn in my left hand the same way for either, and manipulate a needle/hook in my right in very similar ways. While knitting does differ from crochet, both require patience and persistance and a little insanity, along with general yarn wrangling and fine motor skills.

Ms. P-M says crochet is faster than knitting. I say, that depends on what you are making. If your knitting needles are large enough and/or you execute enough YO's, you can whip out a baby afghan or a shawl in no time at all. If your crochet hook is tiny and the pattern intricate, a pair of gloves may take ages. Or, if you are insane and/or not a commitmentphobe, hooking an afghan in single crochet can take a lifetime, because this project is destined to stall.

Ms. P-M thinks a hooker is less likely to rip out a project gone wrong than a knitter is, but I have found the opposite to be true. I am much more willing to pull the plug on crochet than knitting, especially if the knitting is on size 1 needles and I've already turned the heel on that damn sock.

As for questionable crochet projects like toilet lid covers in pink and green, Ms. P-M obviously has not seen the blogs like this one. Something ugly, and sometimes scary, can be created no matter what the medium.

There's more!

• Knitting needles may be sharper but crochet hooks are more likely to make it past airport security.


• Crochet may use more yarn, but that makes it a fine way to bust that stash.


• Acrylic may be a fine petroleum product, but it is also cheap, machine washable and dryable, doesn't shrink or lose its shape, and most people don't know the difference between it and wool anyway.

In fact, most people don't know the difference between knitting and crochet, so what does it matter?

Make the World a Better Place...

... One Stitch at a Time.

That's what the flyers said. They were tucked into every needlecraft book at my local public library branch. They were stacked at the checkout. There was a poster at the door. And yet it took me several months to attend my first meeting.

Not knowing what to expect, an hour beforehand I grabbed the Lion Brand pattern for a knitted preemie cap and cast on some lavender baby yarn and stitched a few rounds. I pictured us all sitting around a table, chatting while we worked on separate projects, and I wanted to have something to work on, too.

I was half right. We did sit around a U-shaped cluster of tables and knit, but the group's effort was going into a group project, a patchwork blanket to be donated to a local women's shelter. At one end of the U, skeins of Bernat "Super Value" were being wound into smaller balls for us to work with, while a dozen pairs of needles worked at a variety of stitch patterns. Each patch is to be 7" x 9", in "earth shades" of blue, green, and gold.

And while some chatting did occur, our energetic and enthusiastic leader Laura talked almost non-stop. And when she wasn't talking, she was doing: making copies of the preemie cap pattern for our next project, handing out flyers for the local fiber festival, showing parts of a DVD called "The Art of Knitting and Crochet," sharing stories from KnitLit, welcoming new members and encouraging us all.





Initially, I found the experience nerve-wracking. For one thing, I was late, and felt like I had to hurry and catch up. I happened to have some size 7 needles to cast on, but my gauge was off. The woman on my left murmured, "I found that casting on 30 stitches instead of 35 works better," and then I was torn: do I do the expedient thing and cast on fewer stitches, or do I do the right thing and drop a needle size until I obtain gauge? I'm embarrassed to say I chose expedient simply because I didn't have any more needles in my bag.

But at least my patches will be the right size, unlike the woman on my right, who had produced a small hill of blue squares without the aid of a template. Laura gaily accepted them, but between my patch with the wrong number of stitches and her patches of the wrong size, I could not help but wonder how the finished product was going to fit together.

Since then, I have been conscientious but not competitive about doing my "homework," finishing one patch in garter stitch...



... and starting a second in seed stitch. I also finished a preemie cap...



... and have started a second one of those as well. Both projects are no-brainers that are good for business meetings. (Where I work, we participate in meetings via PC and telephone, so I could be picking my nose and no one would be the wiser.) And they are good alternative projects for when my other, more challenging projects, are getting the better of me.

A while back I wrote a post about mindful knitting. While most of my knitting still goes to loved ones and I am far from being willing to knit anything for my ex, at least now I am knitting for strangers in need.

Baby steps.

Reality vs. Fantasy

When my SO and I went to the Fiber Event at Greencastle this past weekend, I took X number of dollars to spend. Among the items on my shopping list were carders and a spindle, a swifter, Addi lace needles (as reviewed on Knitter's Review), tiny crochet hooks, and maybe some roving and yarn. So the first order of business was to visit every vendor we could find.

Lucky for us, Friday was sunny if a bit nippy - sweatshirt and knit cap weather - and dry, so we wandered idly from building to building until our eyes began to glaze from all the wool. And there was lots of wool, from fresh-off-the-sheep fleeces greasy with lanolin to handspun, hand-dyed marvels. There was also lots of gear for doing something with the wool, including wheels and dyes and looms, but no lace needles or tiny crochet hooks, alas.

There were non-wool products as well, like soaps and vegan yarns and buttons and beads. There were a few vendors with finished goods, including teeny, tiny socks knit with toothpicks and transformed into earrings. (That I will have to try. I wonder if they are knit flat or in the round?) Another vendor showed me a handcrank sock machine she was using to, well, crank out scarves. These devices have been around since the 1800's, but were of particular use during World War II for making socks for soldiers. (For more info, visit this site.)

We spotted a few familiar faces from Corydon, including the needle felting folks from Big Springs Farm (whom I was too embarrassed to approach because I have not even started the project I purchased from them last October). And I fell in love with Chloe (or rather, a photo of Chloe), one of the ewes from Schacht Fleece Farm.

Fiber festivals are a lot of fun, but I also find them frustrating because I am such an ignorant neophyte! How does one know which wool to buy, how to card it and dye it and spin it? I have self-taught myself many things, with the help of good books and adequate tools, but spinning seems magical to me, woolly clouds transformed into fiber. My idea - if I bought the equipment, the spinning would come - seemed naive. I decided that I should find a teacher or participate in a workshop before investing money.

Once I decided not to buy carders and a spindle, I found it harder to part with my money at all. Sixty dollars for a swifter felt like an extravagance when I currently have no hanks of yarn waiting to be rolled into balls. I leafed through a few books, but they can be borrowed from the library or purchased online at a discount. I had tucked a couple of sweater patterns in my purse to see if I could locate yarn for them, but suffered a crisis of confidence when faced with so many choices. And besides, how could I justify buying yarn when I have plenty of projects already in the queue, just waiting for some needles to become free? (I know - I'm a failure as a stash builder.)

Finally, I spotted some sock blockers that I wanted, and that got the dollars flowing. Some handmade soap joined the sock blockers, along with a pair of wool/angora socks and a skein of Tofutsies sock yarn. Now I felt like I was contributing to the economic well-being of the event.



But we drew the line at the deep fried dill pickles.



There was not very much livestock, or if there were, we couldn't find them. Just as well, as I come away from these events pining for sheep. There were rabbits, though, big woolly rabbits that dwarf my little angora/mini-lop. It has taken me months to accumulate a few sandwich bags of rabbit fuzz, while each of the French and German angoras at the fair could easily provide many times that amount in just one molting. I tried to harden my heart against these gentle animals, but eventually became teary with longing. As we drove away, I started the litany of talking myself out of animals: I can buy all the wool I could ever want, in one form or another, from one animal or another, without actually owning the animals. With a dog, a cat, and a rabbit in my small suburban home, my ark is currently full.