new socks, new yarn, and the blues

I finished my Old School Tie socks last night! TA DA! It only took me two months... (begun 8/17 according to my knitting journal). I need more practice on the short-row heel--I had holes on both of these where the heel joins the rest of the sock. I also learned what a difference there is in the yarn used by a knit stitch and that used by a purl stitch--you'll see how drastically the pattern of rings changes on the foot from the leg, because I didn't purl the yellow stitches on the bottom of the foot. I kept having to advance the yarn a few inches on the foot to keep the colors from pooling. Still, I think they turned out nicely, and I won't be ashamed to wear them. I have quite a bit of yarn left over--ankle socks, or toddler socks, or maybe fingerless gloves?

Then the final shipment of the Sock Yarn Club arrived in today's mail! Yay! The picture below doesn't *quite* capture the real colors, which are rather darker, but it's close enough to give you an idea. Very autumnal, with the unlikely colorway name of Brouhaha. ? Dyed by Dream in Color, 100% superwash merino, 450 yards. I wish there were more of it; I'd like to make a sweater out of it.

Poor Ts. This is the first day of my four-day vacation, and I'd intended to get up, take them out to play, drive out to look at a house in one of the nearby little towns, come back, eat lunch, go to my appt. with my therapist, go buy stuff at K-Mart (like ammonia and 0000 superfine steel wool to get the glue of the back window of the van), go to the post office (I still haven't mailed Leo's socks and hat--he's probably outgrown them by now), come home and let them out to play, knit, listen to music, work out in the yard. I woke up feeling pretty good, but sometime this morning I just crashed. I'm not sure when or why, but I haven't stirred out of the living room, except to go out and get the mail. Poor Ts.

Since I have to go to my appt., I'm likely to get to the post office, which is only a block away. I wont vouch for K-Mart. Walgreens has 3 cases of bottled water for $8, and the grocery store has 3 cartons of diet Coke for $10; they're across the street from each other and a block from the therapist the *other* way (small towns--), so I'll probably get to them, and buy some cat-food for Annie and some yoghurt for Timber because his ears are itchy. I do have to get the glue off the van window though, because I can't see very well and it's kind of dangerous. Maybe I'll feel like driving out to look at that house tomorrow.

It *sounds* like a nice house: "This wonderful Ranch home on a cult-a-sack [sic] offers 1500 sf of living space. You will find three bedrooms, one full bath, large eat-in kitchen, living room, large 23x15 family room with fireplace and walk-out to a patio area, new furnace, new water lines, storage shed and country setting. "

It's got a lot of the things I want:

• Ranch= no stairs
• large eat-in kitchen
• full bath (I bet it's got a shower!)
• big room with fireplace
• 3 bedrooms (one for me, one for a guest, one for the study)
• "country setting" (it's way the heck at the edge of town, although I'd be willing to bet there'll be some kind of subdivision there in 10 years) (or less)
• room for a garden
• I could have bird feeders
• lots of T-space

It doesn't have a garage but I could probably manage. It's not a long drive, esp. if you avoid the highway and come in the backway on the country roads. I would have to get up considerably earlier than I do now. :-P I'd have to have the lot fenced for the Ts. I would *definitely* have to have new transportation. With cornfields as neighbors, all those herbicides and pesticides would be bound to drift over our way. And one reason I want to look at it myself before I talk to a realtor is that in the satellite map on Mapquest there's something several blocks away that I can't tell what is. It might be a feed co-op with dryers going night and day, or a cement and gravel place (major dust).

Oh well--it's all probably moot anyway. I can't imagine anyone would want to buy my house.

FOs!

I took the hat out to work on tonight while the dogs were playing, and finished it after dinner. It was hard to get a good picture of the finished hat. Without stuffing it looked like a stack of pancakes and with it looks like a cookie jar.

Well, I think they're cute, and I hope to goodness they fit! I'll have to try to get them in the mail tomorrow so they get there before he gets much bigger.

Booties: Lorna's Laces Sockknitters Rainbow, size 0 dpns, Christine's Baby Bootie pattern http://www.fuzzygalore.biz/patterns/cbbooties.shtml

Hat, LL Sockknitters Rainbow and Almost Solid Red, size 2 dpns, using this pattern as a starting point: http://www.funknits.com/baby_hat_and_socks.htm but adding purl ridges to go with the booties.

finished baby sweater!

Finally! After much trial and tribulation, Leo's sweater is finished, and his folks had gosh-golly better like it.

I think it's kind of cute, myself, I think it looks nice. I hope it will fit him at some point or other.

I wish I'd thought to print up a little card with information about it while I was at work--I've got the kind of 3x5 cards you can run through a printer at work, and it would be nice to put down the name of the artist who painted the yarn, and the yarn composition, and care instructions. I guess I can just hand-write them on the baby card and hope they don't lose it.

I couldn't decide which was closer to the real color--my brain is fried--so I'm posting both: the top one is natural lighting and the bottom is with a flash.





Handpainted bulky lopi-spun yarn--probably an alpaca/wool blend, but possibly 100% alpaca--painted by Maryann Miller at Over the Rainbow Yarns ("lotusblossom" on e-bay), colorway Circus; solid is Berkshire Bulky, 85% wool, 15% alpaca, Royal Blue, by Valley Yarns. Body worked back and forth on size 11 circs in stocking stitch with garter stitch edging; shoulders kitchener stitched. Sleeves picked up on size 11 dpns, worked from shoulder to cuff circularly in stocking stitch with garter stitch at the cuffs. Meant to be toddler-size.

SOCKS!!

I've been trying to get some decent pictures of my recent socks for weeks now and haven't been able to get anything I was happy with. Today I took advantage of the sun and got some photos that show off both the colors and the patterns. I think. I hope they'll show up here!



Simple ones first. These are Opals, with a 2x2 ribbing that goes down the top of the foot to the toe. I made them last spring watching the Ts play. They're actually a tad bit too big, but I still like them. They're also probably the closest to an identical pair of socks from patterned yarn that I've ever made, but that's a sheer accident because I don't care if my patterned yarn socks match or not; fraternals are just fine for me.




These are Woolease sportweight--not the greatest yarn to make socks out of, but I had it and wanted to do something that wasn't on size 0 needles. You can't see the pattern as well as I'd hoped, but it's a 4x2 rib, with knit stitches crossed on each row for a spiral look. I think it's kind of a neat effect and plan to try it with "real" sock yarn one of these days.




Fluted Bannister socks, which is a free pattern on the web, using Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock in the Watercolor colorway (I think), on size 0s. These look a bit odd because I wore them this week and they need washing. But they're currently my favorite socks--LLSS is such a beautiful sock yarn, feels so great on your feet, and this colorway looks great with jeans. I have happy feet when I wear these.




Blueberry Waffles Socks--a very old free web pattern--done in Mountain Colors Weavers Quarters in a discontinued colorway, Pine Needles (I think), on size 2s. I love Mountain Colors, I wish I could afford to buy yarn in all their colorways.

I'm really proud of these socks--I think they're beautiful. I love doing cables and this is a beautifully intricate, balanced one. It's another free pattern, but I can't remember the name of it right now--I'll add it when I find it again. The yarn is Reynold's Debut, which has mink in it! It's a lovely, velvety-feeling yarn, very nice to work with, and shows the stitchwork well. It's a bit heavy for everyday socks--I think I made these on 3s--and I'm not sure how well the yarn will hold up to wear, so they're sort of special occasion socks.

Well, that's it for now, but there'll be more--I do love making socks!

FO: Spring Leaves Shawl

Happy Easter to all on this cold but sunny morning. In keeping with the tradition of new clothes for Easter, Taenzer wears the Spring Leaves Shawl, begun 3/25 and finished 4/2.

Here's a close-up of the pattern--pretty simple, which makes it kind of a fun knit if you're not looking for anything challenging.

I couldn't find my T-pins, so the blocking was pretty rough--spread out over a towel and stretched as evenly as possible by hand, then left to dry. Next time I wash it either I'll have found my pins or got a set of blocking wires so I can do it right.

But for a quick project, I'm pretty happy with it.

FO: Feather Lace Scarf

Here it is (once again modeled by the glamorous and talented Taenzer):

A very quick and easy knit on size 11s; would have been easier if I could actually count to 6. Once I figured out the pattern (you know, that "OH! NOW I see!" moment), it was a lot of fun. Here's a close-up--you can see how very fluffy it is.

Unblocked it's about 6-1/2 by 52 inches.

Of course, now I have to figure out what to do next! I want to make a summer top, but with all the great doctor bills, I'm trying to stick to using my stash (even though I found a couple of places with cotton/linen, cotton/silk, and linen/silk blends on sale. *sigh* It's so hard to be good!). And most of my stash is sock yarn, laceweights, and various winter-type yarns (wool, alpaca, and blends).

I do have some lightweight--fingering, I think--raw silk, but it's brown. I was thinking of something a little more summery--lime or turquoise or linen or cream or rose.

I could do the other basketweave-rib sock, but I'm not really in the mood for socks on small needles. Something on 2s or 3s might be okay. On the other hand, I have some Schaefer Anne I am just DYING to make something with. I've been trying to decide for weeks what would be the best pattern for this.

The flash overexposed the colors in the picture--that is not orange, it's rust, and the blue and purple are far too bright. All the colors are richer and more subdued. But it gives you an idea.

I also have some Knit Picks baby alpaca in a dusty lavender color. I can't remember why I bought it originally, but it's very pretty and would make wonderful warm socks.



And I have no idea what to do with this, but it's from the same gift stash as the Feather Lace scarf yarn. I think it's Classic Elite's "Fame," which is a silk yarn. There's obviously not enough to make anything practical, but boy, it's such nice yarn I'd like to figure out some use for it.


So stay tuned--I'm sure I'll figure something out.

KNITTING: FO pics

I'm so deep into depression I feel like I'll never see sun again, but rather than go into that, I'll post some pics of a few FOs.


This is the sweater I want to be buried in. Its "Maria" from The Best of Lopi, done in charcoal and natural Reynolds Lopi, bought at a discount from Smileys (http://www.smileysyarns.com - another dangerous place, so hide your credit cards before checking it out). It was my first Lopi sweater. It made me happy to make it and it makes me happy to wear it. It's baggy, big, very light, and very warm. It makes me feel like I'm wearing a hug.


This is "Tania," also from The Best of Lopi, and also made with Reynolds Lopi. It's a little more fitted, not as baggy. For some reason I can't now remember, I wound up doing only part of the pattern on the yoke, but I think it still looks nice. I usually wear it with black slacks and a black turtleneck, and think it looks quite elegant. Since you can't really see the rich chestnut that "makes" this sweater, here's a close-up of the yoke:


Next is a giant-cable sweater made from Lion Brand Thick 'n Quick. I can't remember what magazine it's from but can look it up if anyone's interested. It's a 5 x 2 rib and an 18-stitch cable. The original pattern is made in pieces--front, back, sleeves--I, of course, did no such thing; worked in the round to the arm holes, split to work front and back separately, 3 needle bindoff at the shoulders (actually called for in the pattern). Then I went back and picked up stitches around the armholes and worked down, reversing the shaping. I also made it longer--the original pattern is "cropped"; mine comes down over my hipbones. I don't have the midsection for anything cropped. I quite like this sweater, it's handsome and warm, but it started to pill about 30 seconds after I put it on, so I can't really wear it out in public, to autumnal farmers' markets and so on, becausethe pilling always makes it look a little bit grungy.


Here's Taenzer modeling the Tumbling Block Shrug from I can't remember where, except that it was an individually purchased pattern. It's a big shrug, almost like a shawl with sleeves. I used a merino/cashmere blend I picked up off ebay. It's light and very soft, but isn't very warm unless you're talking about an early summer evening where the temp goes from 80 to 60, and you need something over your t-shirt. Then it's perfect. And it was fun to make, and the yarn was a dream to work with.


Finally, here's Taenzer pretending she doesn't have a mohair scarf/stole draped around her neck, and a close-up of the yarn to show the colors. This was an easy knit with a pretty result. It's shown here unblocked, which gives it the dimensions of a long scarf; if it were blocked out it would make a pretty summer stole, and I've used it that way a couple of times. It's the Irish Mists scarf from Lavish Lace, and I made it on impulse when I found 4 balls of this beautiful mohair in my stash while I was looking for something else. They show it as a scarf, but I turned it into a stole by just going on until I ran out of yarn.

















I've got some socks and a baby sweater to post, but I'll do them later. I wasn't happy with the way the sock pics came out. and want to take another crack at them.