Too Much Wool

a day at the sock races

late night progress

So, here we are. Not too much to say about these. I actually made a mistake in the leg clock/cable and that's about when I decided to quit for the night. Learning to fix mistakes by dropping down with traveling stitches isn't something I've mastered yet, but I fudged my way through it pretty well. There's 2-3" more to go in both legs before I start the heel.

Alice kills the evil needles

Next up. Can anyone talk me out of making Durrow for myself? Please? There's got to be a good reason not to do it. I have no idea what yarn I'd use - no swatching has happened yet. But after seeing Kay's in progress, the idea got wound up and then, when she posted the finished pictures of her son's Durrow, I fell totally and hopelessly in love. Not with the cotton (sorry Kay) but with the sweater. Does it have to be a guy's sweater? If I make it big enough so that the ribbing doesn't squeeze all of my parts, will it look okay?

so far so (very) good

So, this is how far I've gotten on the Rococo socks (aka Traveler's Stockings) since Sunday night. Pretty good progress, and I'm happy with it. If you click on the picture and look closely, you can see the different patterns on the back and front - I've shown both in the two cuffs above.

My evil plan to graduate the needle sizes down in each portion of the pattern is working out better than I'd expected. I tried on the first/longer sock cuff last night and found that these will be almost knee socks.

I'll be able to another several inches before I need to start the heel. Second try is a charm, in this case. I was worried that I'd be getting bored, having finished both fancy cuffs and having mostly stockinette to look forward to, but seeing that I'm finally going to get a nice pair of long socks, I'm quite happy. Overjoyed, almost.

Onward....

sock frenzy

If you finished this/these

on Friday night, what would you do on Saturday morning?

Why, cast on for these:

Of course.

I finished the Poppysocks (sorry, that's how I think of them) late Friday night.

Pattern: Fancy Silk Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Lorna's Laces, color Poppy
Needles: 2.5mm ebony
Started 18 November Finished 25 November 2005

The new socks, which Jon described as 'rococo' just so he could use the word in conversation, are the Traveler's Stockings from Knitting on the Road. Dictionarily speaking, the Poppysocks are probably more rococo than the brick colored ones. I'm  knitting them in Koigu in an unknown colorway, ballbands having long disappeared. This is the second time I've started these, the last attempt was started over a year and a half ago and frogged because my gauge was too tight on the fancy cuff section and wouldn't fit over my shapely (ahem) calves.

I'm dealing with the gauge issues by starting on larger needles (2.5mm) and working my way down to the recommended 2mm by the time I get to the ankle and foot. It's a gorgeous pattern made up of traveling stitches. [note: it took me over two years to put together the name Traveler's Stockings and the traveling stitches used in the pattern] The chart is probably the most intimidating in Knitting on the Road, but the knitting of it is a pleasure, and not at all difficult once you get a little way in.

So, what's happened to me? I knit socks, lots of socks, and nothing but socks these days. I used to be a shawl person. I even had a few thoughts about shawls yesterday. It went like this:

me: I'd like to make Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style (another NB pattern)

me 2: yeah, and I've got so much yarn for shawls!

me: Yeah, and a damn lot of shawls in a pile in the closet.

me 2: Back to the socks.

one hat wonder

I managed to finish another (very) small project this week that I wasn't able to blog until now. Because it was a giftie and I didn't want to ruin the surprise. Although I kind of tested my luck by asking my sister if she'd be interested in a cable and lace hat after I blogged about mine on Tuesday. Thankfully she didn't think I'd actually started it or would be giving it to her the next day, so some level of surprise was maintained.

The second Lady Hat is more special than the first. First of all, it was for my sister.

note the eye color and the hat color(s)

Anyone who has met my daughter will notice that, judging by the eyes, my daughter and  sister look more alike than my daughter and I do.

The second hat was made from handspun, using a Copper Moth wool/silk roving that I bought in New Hampshire. I think the colorway was called English Garden.

I spun the yarn from a 2 oz bag of roving. I still have a bit left, although I'm not sure if there's enough to do anything with. I might try for pulsevante/wristwarmers out of the leftovers.This is only my second project using handspun, but I should add that this hat was a fantastic pattern for using up a small quantity of handspun yarn.

I learned a few things from the first hat. First of all, this pattern is very open and stretches quite a bit in all directions. So, for this second hat, I went down a needle size to a 4.5mm/7US. The yarn was thinner than the worsted weight called for, but happily it showed both the lace and the cables well.

It fits her well, and hopefully it will get worn to death, as she's cold at work a lot of the time. The handspun version is not nearly as dense as the worsted weight version I made for myself.

Another shot.

You can see that the yarn was striping. When I got towards the end, I realized that unless I was a bit creative, I was going to have a hat that was green on the bottom and gray all the way up to the top. I actually broke the yarn and worked from the outside of the center pull ball to bring some green back into the top of the hat.

Thanksgiving went well. Much better than I expected. I cooked up a storm, gave away a present, and got thanked repeatedly by my uncle for last year's Christmas socks (was this a hint? I think so). I even got to knit a little bit, and the Fancy Socks will probably be done before the weekend is over.

bird

Alice with niddy noddy

Alice with Birch

Alice with handspun

thankfully

As usual, I had threatened (who was scared by this? no one, I suspect) not to post today.

Then I was sidelined by going to sleep at 8pm last night. This never happens. I normally don't even eat dinner until 8:30. But last night I was exhausted. It couldn't have been the one glass of wine I had - it takes a lot more than that to knock me out, as any of my friends will attest to.  I blame it on Thanksgiving.

I know many people love this holiday. The start of the "holiday season" and all that. A day to just relax and eat with family and friends. I've had .... issues with the whole holiday season for over 20 years. This isn't an easy time for me.

Yesterday, out of the blue, Laurie thanked me. She said, "Thank you for the spinning." (To which my reply was, "What spinning did I do?" - I haven't spun in weeks.) Upon further inquiry, she clarified and said she was thanking me for getting her started spinning. When I arranged to have her waylaid by Claudia and Risa and Cate (and Rosemary, who I didn't know at the time but I have magic spinning powers like that) back at the Cummington wool festival in the spring.

And then I got a card in the mail from Claudia, thanking me "for being so very Cassie." Which meant more to me than I can really begin to explain.

I realized that rather than focusing on the negative things that drag me down at this time of year, and the pressure and expectation that drive me nuts, I just need to focus on the things that make me happy, and let the negative things slide on by. My friends make me happy - a year ago, although I was blogging, I had no idea how much this was going to turn into.

My fiber makes me happy. I've been wearing my hat almost constantly since I finished it on Monday afternoon. In spite of dire warnings from folks who live in colder places, my little lace hat is keeping me warm. Just in time for the cold snap that arrived overnight. I might add I'm thankful for the coldsnap, which cuts my allergies down to almost nothing and makes it possible for me to function once again.

And the socks. I realized that although I had an idea of finishing them for Thanksgiving (why? Thanksgiving socks?) but I'm enjoying the process so much I don't really want them to be done. I realized this when I started planning the second pair, and what yarn I'd use for them.

So, risking sounding rather syrupy, I'd like to say to take the time to thank someone for something they've done for you. Because you never know how much they'll appreciate it. And damn it, it can't ever hurt.

we interrupt this sock blog...

.....to bring you an important announcement. There has been a change in knitting here.

There I was on Monday morning, merrily knitting along on a sock. Reading blogs while drinking my morning coffee, and then I got to Margene's blog. She had blogged about several things, but I saw her new hat and immediately my wheels started spinning.

Just the day before I'd been complaining to my daughter that I needed a hat. A cabled hat. I mean, how embarassing is it that the hat I actually wear most of the time is a slimy sleazy polar fleece piece of crap hat from Old Navy that I bought in the men's department? And me, a knitter who hates polar fleece.

I zipped off an email to Margene, because although the pattern calls for Wool Ease, I've never knit with it (thank the wool gods, I've been spared) and didn't know other than vaguely what weight it is. She responded quickly, because in spite of the time difference, Margene is an early riser. Thankfully.

Her response made me jump up again, grab some wool/mohair yarn I'd bought in the sale bin at Botanical Shades last year, and cast on. Margene blogged something about 4 hours worth of knitting - I'm not really sure how long it took me, but I worked on it on and off all day and finally, at just about sunset I had

something that was not a sock

Pattern: Lady Hat from Amy Boogie
Yarn:  2 ply worsted kid mohair/wool blend from Botanical Shades
color: Poppy, yardage 118 yds per skein (used one skein)
Needles: size 8 Addi Turbo and bamboo dpns

I've had trouble with knitting hats for myself in the past. Most of the hats I've made are simple watch caps, and I don't love the way they look on me, although they're serviceable. This hat is, first off, lacey. Secondly, its orange, which is important. I hate the red hat society connotations involved with wearing red for headgear. Thirdly, I knit it in one (long) afternoon's worth of knitting, so the gratification was almost instantaneous.
Great pattern, many thanks to Amy!

A note: the pattern calls for one skein of Wool Ease, at 197 yards. I used less than one skein of 118 yards for my hat. Admittedly, I tightened up my gauge considerably for the last repeat, worried that the hat was going to be too long. Au contraire. If I had read ahead to the second page, I would have seen that all of the decreases are accomplished over 9 rows of knitting. The hat could have been a little longer with no harm done. I had some yarn leftover, about ten yards.

After the break, we will return to your regularly scheduled sock knitting blog.

my restless mind

The moratorium was on blogging about socks Friday-Sunday, not on blogging all together. Sorry for any misunderstandings about that.

So. Friday found me ready to go and not very excited about any knitting I had ready to carry along. The umpteenth pair of Whitby socks is in time out. I'm bored with the pattern, I can only give away so many pairs at one family holiday gathering without someone realizing that I'm a one sock wonder, and ...... well, I'm bored with the pattern.

The latest pair of Gentleman's Plain Winter Socks are.... plain. 

almost one sock and a cuff started

I know, I know. There are a majority (or so it seems) of sock knitters out there who thrive on plain socks. Mindless knitting that can be picked up, carried along absolutely anywhere, and even done in the dark.

I'll admit that my tolerance for stockinette has grown by leaps and bounds since committing to using Addis for knitting it. It really flies along. But there seems to be a disconnect between my hands flying and my mind's lack of entertainment that I don't enjoy. At least not all the time.

Friday I had the afternoon stretching out in front of me. We all know about the piles of yarn around here, and everyone knows that the yarn talks. [The yarn talks, dammit. Don't disagree.] My mind wasn't engaged by the 3" of ribbing and many more inches of stockinette I had to look forward to on the second Plain Sock. More accurately, my brain was leading my hands into total rebellion on that project.

Lorna's Laces talked and I listened

The sock pattern that was really talking to me from Knitting Vintage Socks was a lacey pattern called the Fancy Silk Sock. The sample in the book was done in Lorna's Laces, and I convienently (and not suprisingly) had a couple of colors of the solids to choose from. I've found my gauge has tightened up a bit lately, and so I chose to use ebony needles for this sock. I can't grip the ebony too tightly without risk of snapping them, so I was forced to loosen up.

I knit the 14 rows of cuff at home, then charted out the main lace pattern (you can see the index card underneath the sock) and took the knitting out with me. Lovely pattern, very simple in spite of how complex it looks. Charting it helped me realize that it was logical and it was easy to knit without thinking very much, once I got a few rows in.

The Lorna's is lovely to work with. The ebony needles are a sensual delight - not to mention that they look sexy against the poppy color of the yarn. This is how I flit from one project to another. Sexy needles and lace. 

underground

Fear has many eyes and can see things underground.

- Miguel de Cervantes

food for a friday

The Frappr map is giving me a ridiculous amount of pleasure. Now, if some non-North Americans would please add themselves, I'd feel even better. I purposefully set the map to show the world because I know there are people on other continents who read me. Anyone?

I made the best newly invented soup yesterday. I don't often say that about my own cooking, but this was a huge hit.

Fall Soup

4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
fresh rosemary, about 1.5 Tblspns
sprinkle in a bit (1/4 tsp) each: chipotle chile pwd and black pepper
1 tsp powdered broth seasoning or a bouillion cube
6 small (canned) Italian or plum tomatoes, diced
1 small winter squash (I used sweet dumpling, but acorn or butternut or delicata would  work), peeled and cut into small chunks
3 small Jersualem Artichokes (aka sunchokes) - optional but adds a lot of flavor. scrub and slice about 1/4" thick, then cut into sticks
2 carrots, cut into thin rounds
1 can white beans, any variety (I used the anonymous "small white beans" from Goya)
1/2 package frozen chopped spinach, but fresh would be better

Saute garlic in olive oil. Add chopped tomatoes and chunks of winter squash, along with some water (enough to cover) and the rosemary, chipotle chile pwd, and pepper. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes until squash is just beginning to get tender.

Add carrots and Jerusalem artichoke pieces, and more water. How much water depends on whether you want this more like a stew or more of a watery soup. Bring back to simmering point, and cook, partially covered, until all of  the vegetables are tender.

Add frozen or other spinach, beans, and salt to taste. Cook another 10 mins. Until hot.

a food stylist I am not

I was trying to make soup with more flavor and interest than the regular stuff with carrots and potatoes that I usually make. I added the rosemary on a whim, but something about the combination of the fresh rosemary and the chipotle chile smelled like bacon or ham or something very savory to me.

There is no other news. I've gotten so much teasing over all the sock progress that I've  decided to give the blog the weekend to recover. Sock moratorium has been declared until Monday. This is a blogging moratorium, not a knitting cease-fire. After all, its cold here. Not Canadian cold, but what seems like the first seriously cold night of the season.