It’s Furious Balancing

Another Finished Object:

Pattern:  Noro Striped Scarf, by brooklyntweed.

Yarn:  Noro Silk Garden, 2 skeins each of colorways 264 and 279, with maybe 20 yards (total) left over.  I much prefer the Silk Garden for this scarf over the Kureyon.  It’s softer and has a nicer drape.

Needles:  Denise Interchangeable Needles, US size 8.  The Silk Garden is more slippery than the Kureyon, so a stickier needle was is order.

Size:  Before blocking, 72′ by 5 ½’.  After blocking, 78′ by 5½’ .  Long enough to wrap twice and tie in front.

I think I’ve got the Norovirus out of my system. I picked up the fuchsia cabled vest yesterday, having suddenly realized that I want to wear it this fall, which will be here soon (fingers crossed). Very soon.

This happens every year — the excessive heat, light, and humidity go away, and my mood and energy level increase a hundredfold.  I sleep better.  I don’t snarl as much.  My skin clears up.  I get to laugh at all the people who whine about winter coming.  I decide it would be Bad Form to stand on the corner and chant “Neener Neener Neener” at the kids on the school buses.  Life is very good.

Norovirus Scarf version 2.0, made with Noro Silk Garden.  Click here for the extra-big photo.

No, not the sort that causes gastroenteritis,  but the viral pattern for the Noro Striped Scarf.  I did a quick check on the stats over on Ravelry and, as of this writing, there were 3,947 finished scarves and 751 scarves in progress.  That’s a lot of scarves.

It’s one of the most popular patterns on Ravelry, right up there with the viral fingerless gloves, the viral Elizabeth Zimmerman baby sweater, and the viral scarf/shawl whose name sounds like a venereal disease.  I will admit to attempting the baby sweater and to making a pair of those fingerless gloves, but I will not knit something that sounds like it should be living in a petri dish.

I needed something with brighter colors so I could recover from the Soul-Sucking Socks of Despair, and I needed a simple traveling project to carry around with me.  Voilà! Two different colorways of Noro Kureyon and k1p1 ribbing.

Pattern:  Noro Striped Scarf, by brooklyntweed

Yarn:  Noro Kureyon, 1¾ skeins each of colorways 229 and 209

Needles:  Clover Bamboo, US size 8

Size:  Before blocking, 58′ by 5′.  After blocking, 66′ by 5′

Mods:  None.

These are not my usual colors.   While it did help me recover from the SSSoD, I can’t see wearing it myself.   I plan on donating this scarf to a local Catholic church that is starting a charity knitting ministry for families relying on the auto industry for their livelihoods.  I heard they were looking for winter items, so this will be my first contribution.

I must admit that I started a second Norovirus scarf before I was finished with this first one.   It’s much less, um, vibrant.  That one I’m keeping for me!

EDIT:  Ooooo…. I see that stripey scarves are THE fashionable fall accessory this year!

The first phase of knitting is obsession.  Everyone knits too much when they start.  Everyone worries that they’re obsessed.  Everyone worries that they won’t be able to stop, or that they’re getting carried away.  The bad news is that you’re not going to be able to stop, that you are getting carried away, you’re knitting too much, and that things are probably going to get worse.  The good news is that soon you’ll be in so deep you won’t care anymore.   — The Yarn Harlot

Remember those blue socks I was going to make?  Well, they’ve landed in the “hibernating” pile while I’m working on other projects.  A lot of other projects:

A fuchsia cabled vest, knit in the round.

A sideways-knit cloche from Boutique Knits in a royal blue bulky alpaca.

To see the finished cloche, check out the great photos on this blog post.

A Noro striped scarf alternating two different colorways of Noro Kureyon. Click on the gallery photos to embiggen.

I have to add that I’ve made much more progress on the vest and the hat than those pictures show.  The hat is ready to be seamed and have stitches picked up for a cable running up the side.  The vest is about 2 inches longer.  Only the scarf pictures are current.

These are the projects on My Knitting Rotation.  There are a few other UFO’s out there — besides the socks — lurking in various phases of unfinishedness.  These three are just the ones I can’t keep my hands off of.

Not only that, I’ve got a zillion things on my To Be Knit list  — thrummed mittens, a cabled hoodie by one of my favorite designers, an entrelac beret — and I’m chomping at the bit to get started on those.  I’m going to make myself finish a current WIP before I cast on anything else.

I promise.

Really.

I think I’ve mentioned several times that the dark, dark yarn I used for my Black Rose Socks really dragged me down towards the end.   I needed a (short) break from sock knitting to tidy up a few WIP’s and to marshal my forces and make decisions as to the yarn and the pattern for my next pair of socks.

The yarn choice was a little difficult.  I needed something brighter and more alive than the Gothic Rose.  This was my first choice:

ONline Supersocke 100, a self-striping 75/25 wool-nylon blend.  It was a bit TOO bright for my current needs.  I have a hard time believing in was made in Germany.   It seems a little too perky.  I mean, we Germans certainly can be perky when we want to be (I’m thinking lederhosen), but this colorway lacks a certain Sturm und Drang that says “German” to me.  I also thought I would be blind before the heel turn on the first sock.

I chose this yarn instead:

Malabrigo Sock Yarn, in the Impressionist Sky colorway.  I’m trying it out on out Cookie A.’s Hedera sock pattern. 

I love the subtle color gradients in the yarn.  Blue is my favorite color, and I find it hard to imagine that I will be sick of the sight of it anytime soon.

Perhaps I just jinxed myself.

5elementknitter used the word soul-sucking in her comment on my previous post, and I think that is the best word to describe my last sock knitting project.  The Socks That Wouldn’t End.  The Socks of Doom.  The Thorn in My Side Socks.  The Ninth Circle of Hell Socks.  The Oh-My-God-I-Need-To-Stab-Myself-In-The-Eye-With-A-DPN Socks.

Once again, for the record, there is nothing wrong with this sock pattern.  Nothing.  Not. One. Thing.   In fact, I think it’s a great pattern for beginning sock knitters who would like to make something that Looks Really Impressive and Complicated, But Isn’t.  This pair of socks lets you tell every non-knitter How Hard and Challenging They Are.  Srsly, cats and kittens, we’re talking a 17-stitch lace pattern worked over 8 rows, and only 4 of those rows involve lace.

These socks took me 10 weeks to knit.  I know I’m a slow knitter, but I usually take no more than a month on a pair of socks, knitting on and off.  I was three-quarters done with these socks when I ripped back the entire Second Sock and started over.  It was ugly.  I’m glad I did it, but it was ugly.  In any event, I wanted to write my standard FO blog post and then hide these socks until September/October when I won’t mind looking at the yarn again.

Pattern:  Blackrose Socks, by Suzy Anvin

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy, Gothic Rose, approximately 360 yards.  Even though I love this colorway, I think staring at it for 10 weeks was the major problem.  My next pair of socks will be made with something considerably brighter.

Size:  Small

Needles:  US 0, 1, and 1.5 to customize the fit.  I started with the 1.5′s, then switched to 1.0′s after the first four lace repeats to accommodate my skinnier ankles.  I switched to the 0′s to make a dense (i.e., less prone to holes) toe.

Mods:  I did very little modding on these socks.  I did nine repeats of the lace pattern before the heel turn instead of eight repeats since I wanted to add a little length to the leg.  I did my usual shortened heel flap by working 27 rows as opposed to the 33 called for in the pattern.

They fit like a dream come true.  These are my fourth ever pair of socks and I think I’m getting the hang of customizing socks for my German Peasant Calves and Dainty Elf Feet.  Or something like that.

I’m not so much “too busy to blog” as I am worn out at the end of a work day. Worn out as in “spending too much time in front of a computer screen.” I thought I should check in and scatter about a few random bullet points.

• Emma’s blood sugar readings were all over the map the first two and a half weeks.  I think we’re almost at the point of getting her on a fixed insulin dose and only doing the blood testing a few times a week as opposed to twice a day.  Let’s just say that I’ve gotten really good at poking lancets in a cat’s ear.  It’s a two person job, and I have a highly cooperative cat, but I still think it’s a marketable skill.




• Why is anyone still listening to Dick Cheney?  He is utterly irrelevant and the only thing I’m even remotely interested in hearing from Dead-Eye Dick would be his testimony before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.




• I am still in my Summer-Is-Coming-and-It-Sucks depression.  Our home air conditioning will more than likely be turned on later this week.




• I’m still in Sock Knitting Mode.  The Lenore Socks were finished a few weeks ago; I haven’t taken any pictures of them when I’m actually wearing them, though.  They are lovely and I’m completely in love with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock (lightweight).  Today, I finished Sock Number One of the Blackrose Socks and cast on Sock Number Two, using Dream in Color Smooshy in the Gothic Rose colorway:






• I’m in pain.  I have terrible allergies.  I’m cranky and contrary.




• I’m flying to Paris next Friday.




• Srsly.

10. Pain issues.  It’s been very bad since I’ve gone off one of my medications.  I have more intense pain to deal with, but it’s only for a “few days a month.” Yes, that’s a euphemism.  Enough said.  I’m currently typing this while on too much extra-strength Vicodin and I have the attention span of a dog.

9. Depression. This goes hand in hand with #10 above.

8.  Lack of bloggable material. I’ve started a few posts in my head, but none of them have come to fruition.  I have one idea — using the Seven Deadly Sins to write about knitting and yarn addiction — but that’s inchoate at the moment.

7.  Facebook.  Yes, I finally got my sorry butt on Facebook.  I’m there as Laiane Wolfsong if you need to look me up.  

6.  Other Internet addictions.  Besides Ravelry, that is.  I’ve gotten most of my financial stuff up at Mint.com and I’ve been known to waste a lot of screen time with StumbleUpon.com.

5.  Worry.  I’m concerned that Emma, my 14-year-old tuxedo cat, is developing feline diabetes.  We’re going in to see the vet Thursday, and I’m doing a lot of reading up on caring for a diabetic cat.

4.  Morrowind.  I’ve said before that this game is the best computer game of all time, and the primary reason is its re-playability.  I’ve been a Morrowind fan for years, and I keep coming back to it.

3.  Knitting.  One thing I do not suffer from is Second Sock Syndrome, if only because after I try on the first sock off my needles I want the second sock ASAP so I can wear them both.  I’m cranking out the second of a pair done in this lovely Socks That Rock Lightweight from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

This is the Haida colorway from the Raven Clan series, and it’s going to turn into a pair of Lenore socks.

2.  The Prisoner.  I hadn’t heard of this 1967 television series until The Husband mentioned it.  After Patrick McGoohan died earlier this year, he mentioned it again and we decided to order the series on DVD.  We’re more than halfway through, and I know I will need to watch it again to catch more of the subtlety (You know, foreshadowing, allusions, symbolism –  all that “literary” stuff that gets me excited).

1.  Too much cat help. A picture is worth a thousand words.

The more time I spend surfing Ravelry, the more I come to realize that knitters — even though we share an obsession — are as varied and different as.. as..  Well, I don’t know what, but we sure are different from one another, especially when it comes down to What We Like to Knit or, more importantly, What We Would Never Knit. 

I admit to being anti-shawl.  Yes, they’re lovely and lacy and elaborate and challenging; I know all that.  I just see no sense in knitting one because (1) I wouldn’t wear it, and (2) “shawl” makes me think of peasant women sweeping the dirt floor of the family hovel.  Shawls are just not my cup of tea, and I can get my “lace knitting” fix by working up a scarf.  So there.

But I digress.  There’ are plenty of patterns I see in knitting books or on Ravelry that give me the Why Would I Bother? reaction; but I occasionally run across the I Must Make That Immediately pattern.

This is what I’m leading up to.  I have been knitting fruit:

Ball Knitted Like an Orange

All of that preamble was to brace you.  I can hear you now: “Laiane, why did you knit an orange?”

Because I can.  Because it was there.  Because I saw this pattern in the winter edition of Knitty and thought it was the sweetest and cutest little thing I had seen in a long time and that it would amuse me no end to knit one. Because it was a vintage pattern.  Because it was wintertime and I thought some vibrant yarn might be in order.

Pattern: Ball Knitted Like an Orange, translated by Franklin Habit from the original pattern in Wheldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume One (circa 1880).

Yarn: ShibuiKnits Sock in Lily and Berroco Comfort DK in Lovage.

Photo with flash to better show detail and color.

Needles: US Size 1.5 (2.5 mm), Hiya Hiya bamboo DPN’s

Mods: The original pattern calls for six leaves, which I thought were too many for my ideal orange.  I used an old (clean) pair of kneehighs as a liner so that the stuffing wouldn’t poke out.  The pattern suggested whipstitching the holes/seams, but I didn’t trust my whipstitching skills.  That, and since I knit this at a fairly loose gauge, there would be stuffing coming out everywhere, not just the seams.  Since I used the liner and stuffed this sucker within an inch of its life, I couldn’t do the detail work on the bottom of the orange with the green tail from the stem; the needle wouldn’t pass through.  Ah, well.

I think it’s charming and twee, and I’m just smitten with it.  I don’t believe I could say the same of a shawl.

Another Finished Object for 2009, my second ever pair of socks!

Tonks’ Socks

Pattern: Inspired by Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Knitted Socks.  I used the stitch counts for the six-stitch patterns, but I substituted a knit 5, purl 1 rib.  Since I was using a wildly-colored, self-striping yarn, I wanted to highlight the yarn –  not a complicated stitch pattern.

Yarn: Limited edition Harry Potter Sock Yarn by Opal, “Tonks” colorway.  I love the mix of bright and tepid colors; the self-striping bit makes me look like an amazingly clever knitter.

Size: Ladies small.  I wear a US size 6.5B, even though I have the Monster German Potato Farmer Calves from Hell.

Needles: US size 1 (2.25 mm), Lantern Moon Rosewood DPN’s

Shoes by Dr. Martens

Mods: I’m working on tweaking the “top-down with a  heel flap” type of sock to fit my feet.  In this pair, I shortened the heel flap by about 15%.  That did eliminate some of the bagginess around the ankle, but not entirely.  For my next top-down pair, I want to experiment by working in some extra decreases just prior to the the heel flap, as well as going down a needle size for the last inch of leg, the heel flap, and a portion of the gusset.

Yes, I am well aware that they don’t match perfectly, and that they’re fraternal twins instead of identical twins.  I had no intention of trying to get them to match.  If you’ve read the Harry Potter books, you know that Nymphadora Tonks is hardly the kind of girl who’s going to worry about such an anal-retentive concept as perfectly matched socks.

And I bet she wears Doc Martens, too.

I sorta/kinda vowed to make 2009 the Year of Shopping from the Yarn Stash.  Forgive me, for I have sinned.

Four lovely skeins of Dream in Color Groovy arrived the other day, but I have rationalizations at the ready.  I needed this yarn.  Really.  It’s for the current Service Knitting project for the Knitters for Obama group.

We’re making items for the Mattaponi Indian tribe in Virginia, and they requested items made from machine-washable yarn  in bright colors or earth tones.  Having no machine-washable wool in my Yarn Stash — except for sock yarn — I just had to do some shopping.

This is luscious stuff.  I don’t use crap yarn for my Service Knitting projects; I wouldn’t want to give anyone an item made from yarn that I wouldn’t wear myself.  So you see — I had to buy this yarn.  Good cause and all that.

This yarn is talking to me.  I don’t know how much longer I can hold out before I cast on a new WIP, but I’m attempting to discipline myself by finishing the first (boring, dark taupe, never-ending ribbing, worsted weight) hat I’ve started for this project.

We all know how well I do with the self discipline…

1.  From Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address

[W]e reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

2.  From Artyarn, Silk Rhapsody, in a color I can only describe as Quicksilver:

I’m fighting off a cold, so that’s as in-depth as my blog posting is going to get for today.

Sleep well, cats and kittens.  Tomorrow is a brand new world.

I’m currently sitting in one of the common areas of the HI Chicago Hostel, pounding on the laptop. Yeah, I know I haven’t talked about either my Chicago trip or my shiny new Dell (running Ubuntu).  I’ve been remiss.  Bear with me.

This is the Knitters for Obama Inauguration Weekend.  Right after the election, we started chatting in the Ravelry forum about a meet up in Chicago.  About 2 to 3 dozen of us are coming into town, some for just the weekend (me) and some for all four days – culminating in watching the festivities on Tuesday morning.

This is the online crowd I’ve been hangin’ with since the primaries, watching the debates on one screen and typing in chat on another.  A very good bunch indeed.

I rolled into town around noon, checked into the hostel, and spent most of the afternoon at Loopy Yarns sitting in their classroom area with other KFO-ers, knitting, buying yarn, chitchatting, and putting tags on the charity knitting hats we’re donating to the University of Chicago Medical Center’s cancer care unit.

Blackbunny (Carol of Black Bunny Fibers) was there signing copies of her new book, Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn.  Franklin was there, too!  I’m hoping some of his pictures make it up on his blog, since I didn’t take very many myself. 

Yes, I did buy yarn, but it’s SOCK yarn, and I have it on good authority that sock yarn doesn’t count as stash.  There was a very expensive skein of a silk-mohair blend — which is NOT sock yarn — but  I can’t recall the name of it now (and it’s in my room).  It was silver.  And very pretty.  And up by the cash register.  I blame the yarn fumes.  The place was heady with them.

Tomorrow we’re getting together for some sight-seeing, locations to be determined when we get an idea of how many of us are venturing forth.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

–Laiane

I finished the second Pagoda Sock, thereby avoiding the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.  I was pretty motivated to finish them; I’d discovered I’m a Sock Knitting Addict and needed to start another pair within minutes of finishing my first pair.  I don’t think medication will help this.

So, without further ado, here are my First Ever Completed Pair of Socks That are Actually Wearable.

Pagoda Socks

I posted most of the project information in this post, so I won’t repeat it here.  The only mod to the pattern was my downsizing the needle from the heel flap downwards on the second sock.  I went down from a US size 2 to a US size 1.5  This was to tighten up some bagginess around the ankle and foot, and it did the trick.  So, yes, the socks are slightly different in size.   There are also some tiny gaps where I picked up stitches on the gusset.   I don’t care.  They’re finished.  They fit.  They’re the most comfortable socks I’ve ever worn.

I’ve already begun my second pair of “top-down with a heel flap” socks in some lovely self-striping yarn from Opal.  I’m not sure the stitch pattern I’ve chosen will work with the stripes, so pictures will be appearing another day.  Heck, I might even just knit them in plain vanilla stockinette and let the yarn do all the work.