Sock-sess

The yellow socks are coming right along.  Today I finished the cuff on sock 2 and started the leg. I am trying to get these done before I start the otter project.

Cold Sheeping

It's that time of year when I think of new things to try and old things to restart, but I also don't want to set any goals up for failure. 

I do want to get more knitting in, though.  I've got oodles of patterns and miles of yarn but also feel like I've got all the knitted items I need.  To warm up I fluffed the stash on Saturday.  This is most of the "good" yarn; there is another tub of bits and bobs and partial skeins.

I signed up for "cold sheep 2018".  The idea of more yarn makes me feel a little ill.

Yarn Crawling

Last week it was that time of year again when knitters pile in cars and zip from yarn store to yarn store in the greater LA Area.   The knitters & I piled in the car Saturday and Sunday and had a very enjoyable weekend.

Alamitos Bay Yarn Company: Gorgeous yarns as usual.  I regretted not getting some yarn last year (or was it two?) and now it is mine at last. In a fun twist, another friend got two skeins of the same color at a different store.  It is the season of "Starry Night" inspired scarves, I see.

Malabrigo Mechita in "Ninfas"

The Dizzy Blonde selections this year were both fantastic (a red / black and a grey / black) and their yarn is lovely but I had to pass it up in favor of some natural colored alapaca I have been seeking.  This will be the contrast color for a double-knit scarf. The main color is a red/chestnut (also alpaca).

Yarn & Soul Superfine Sport "Taupe"

At Concepts in Yarn I scored 1500yd laceweight of a favorite brand on clearance for $5. I love that store - it is homey to me in that it is crammed full of wierd old yarns and patterns.   I may have to go someday just to hang out.  The ladies seem nice and they always have cookies on crawl day.  As for the yarn, it is enough yardage for an Evenstar.  There is a possibility I can overdye it as a gradient but then you know I love gray in its natural state as well.   

Lana borgosesia Cashwool

We also got a tip for a discount on lunch at a nice place next door. It was delicious and nutritious.  It is always a good time for scrambled eggs with spinach bacon and roasted potatoes. 

Had a little yarn accident at Twist - I got the blues. The blue yarns, that is. Airy triangular shawl coming to a knitting bag near me.  I love the bright blues of the merino yarn and we conferred with pretty much everyone in the store about the navy blue yarn (seen in the corner) and how well it would coordinate.  Gray would look nice too but I wanted a bright and not muted / saddened effect.  Possible plans include holding both yarns together consistently or intermittently or having solid and fluffy sections alternate. 

Manos del Uruguay Marina "Calypso"
Twist Mist navy blue

Went to The Knitting Tree for the first time and it definitely will need a revisit or three. Great vibe, beautiful yarn, wierd location but that was forgotten the moment I stepped inside. They had a designer there with patterns and samples and fell in love with her light pullover design C'est la Vie.  Of course I did not buy the yarn for that over the weekend but it is in my library.  

Day 2 (Sunday) was a day for inland yarnseeing.  Right out of the blocks I saw this at Phebie's and refused to leave without it.  They also had the fancy sheep patterned emery board I have been looking for and a few skeins of that discontinued cotton yarn I love.  Mental note: go back and snatch it up soon. No idea what project this will become but there are some lovely stoles in my Ravelry library.  I have admired Boxleaf Wrap for a long time and this is a nice muted colorway.

Fyberspates Gleem "Verdegris"

On we went and visited Make 1 Yarn Co, The Purlside (under new managment), Needles Hooks and Yarn (a bit strange but I found 1 mm crochet hook and yarn "tasted" some neat yarn with sequins), A Stitch in Time and finally, Abuelita's. A very nice woman was out front with a little "trunk show" of her yarns and patterns. I don't normally like inclusions in yarn but this blend seemed to have just the right balance of interest and subtlety.  Clearly it was blue faced leicester yarn day, as the skein above is also blended with that breed.

Cuppa Yarn Tweety "Killarney"

The inside of the shop was also nice and I was tempted by some locally made soap.  I settled for a brief chat with the staff and a half a biscuit.  That was the end of the road unless we wanted to continue to downtown LA.  A quick conference and we decided to call it a wrap.

I think I have enough yarn to keep me busy until Yarn Crawl 2017!

Forest Hideaway

These green socks have been finished for a while and I think they came out quite well.

I improvised the pattern.  I thought it would be nice to do a travelling rib but then I got bored and went back to stockinette. I continued 3 ribs down each leg to make an angled path though. How they came out two different shades of green I haven't quite figured out yet.  The yarn was in the stash for a few years before the perfect project came along, maybe the outside got a little bleached.

It rained a bit overnight and the sky has been full of interesting clouds today.  Blue sky and sunshine can, in fact, be boring.

Galen (the 17 year old cat) is still with us.  He takes up most of my time and attention thse days with medication, fluids, special diet. and his general love of being petted.  It sucks that he is getting old and infirm but it must be worse to be him (this evening was another where he ate dinner then puked it all back up).  He is extra soft today after getting fluids last night .

Feb 13 2016 

"...Always"

I finished the "After All This Time" socks a couple weeks ago, just in time for the deadline. They came out wonderfully. The second sock was knit in just four days which was rather crazypants.

 

I'm not sure if the last photo is a cat bomb of a sock picture or a sock bomb of a cat picture.

Sledding Joy

The first sock is just about done.

I just need to get off the internet and graft the toe. And put away laundry. And do dishes. And, and, and.

Checkpoint

The Iditarod socks are zooming right along.  This morning I started where the stitch marker is and am a out 3" further down the foot.  The goal is to finish tonight but I will be happy if I get to the place where the toe decreases begin.

Taking the cat for a blood draw in the morning but I should be able to get some knitting progress accomplished before work.

Mush!

Watching the ceremonial start of the Iditarod and getting warmed up for the Iknitarod.  I made two mini socks while I was waiting for the race to start so ironically now I need a rest before I cast on for the sledding socks.   But I have my mug, I have some fresh tea and the weather is appropriately overcast.  After the live stream I'll walk the dog.

Sock Sunday

Well, I suppose if I am knitting 4 pairs of socks in the next two months I can make Sock Sunday a regular feature.

Progress this week has been good.  The once and future "Mush!" socks have been reincarnated.  Nothing special going on here, just stockinette for miles.

The "Always" socks are up to row 67 of chart C / D and the gusset increases are well underway.  This is a new kind of heel for me so I am following directions and hoping it will turn out well.  I made my first Russian join yesterday when the yarn broke at a tender spot.  So far, so good.

These are the "Forest Hideaway" socks, so named after the colorway. This yarn was a reward for finishing the Camp Loopy projects a couple years ago.  It has been waiting for the perfect project and so far it is turning out well. The yarn is very lovely and soft.  I am improvising the pattern: started with ribbing, then moved to spiralling ribbing, then got bored and kept just three "paths" going down the leg.

Sunset Socks

A well-matched pair, indeed

Monday Musings

Well, not musings so much as a progress report.

Blue & white socks, ribbing done, well into the leg of sock 1.  This was my work / laundromat knitting today and it was perfect.

Steampunk blanket:  it is here on the desk, I can totally finish it tonight (12" to seam, a couple ends to secure and a ss border all the way around) if only I would get off the internet.

Today was laundry day and cat fluid day. Neither was too horrible.  Tuna salad on homemade bread for dinner rounded out the afternoon.

Super Sock Sunday

Green Snape Socks - added several rows more after the photo session.  Am on to the second set of charts and the increases for the gusset.  We are making a Fleegle heel - I know what a heel is, I know who Fleegle is, this should go well.  This one is perfect "Midsomer Murders" knitting because it needs a chart.

 White / Blue / Gray plain socks.  These are for the HMC #2 and are coming along nicely.  This one is my mindless knitting for the week.  Just around, around, around.

Green / Gold Pelle fair isle mittens.  You can see the beginnigs of little cats on the left hand mitten (4 feet and a ball of yarn).  The palms are also patterned.   This is also a good "knit in place" project, again due to the chart.  I really need to catch up the second one so I can do the same rows in the chart concurrently.  They have different charts but I think it will prevent 2nd mitten syndrome.  

Janet & Ruth are also making "kitten mittens" and today we had a nice "cast on" party.  I was already through the first cuff and jumped right into the patterning.  A good thing too, as that is where I needed to talk through some questions on the pattern.  It isn't poorly written by any means but it has a lot less hand-holding than most current / modern patterns.

In other news, Tuppy the cat has been super affectionate tonight. I wonder what he was up to while I was gone today.

Snacktime

Galen and Bingo hope I am bringing food as soon as I put down the camera.

We had a yarn & beer meetup last week and it was a great time.  I aquired some destash yarn and a little new yarn.  I am on a real sock kick right now so I have to be well stocked.

This one is becoming socks right now.

Monday Musings

It's official - I need to rip back the crochet hat and rework with a smaller hook.  I'm also going to leave off the ribbon row and the ruffle.  It was just bad all around.   Smaller hook has been obtained. Just need some wine now.

Progress is good on the new socks.  The yarn is just superb, it's a yellow / orange / pink / purple colorway called "Summer Dusk".  Stockinette in the round is seriously better than therapy.  It makes everything better: laundry, TV time, vet waiting room, break time, telephone call time.

Took Galen to the vet for a blood draw to check how the thyroid meds are working.  His fur is fluffier but is acting a little strangely and is becoming fussy about his food.  That reminds me to go get the chicken I cooked up and hide his pills in it.

Starting Again

Happy "buy a new calendar" month, everyone.   That reminds me...

Ravenclaw won the House Cup & the Quidditch Cup at last last term.  I knit hard and scored well. I even completed an OWL and a Mission for the Order of the Phoenix and scored a sweet new badge.  I didn't even know it was a thing that is hard to do!

I didn't get too much done over the December break month; finally seamed the last of the blocks & added a few finalizing rows to the Steampunk blanket.  I'm thinking of buying one more skein to use as a large border to make it a little bigger.  

My head was cold this weekend so I broke out a skein of pretty yarn from this summer, an old issue of Spin-Off and crocheted up a little hat.  I love the hat, I like the pattern... not sure about the finished project.  It is more muffin cap than cloche.   I made a cord as a drawstring with my handy dandy lucet so it fits better but it is still puffy.  I may give it another try or I may rip it halfway back and rework with a smaller crochet hook.

I still have a stack of items that need finishing work but I also need to sit down and think of some projects to complete this term. I've already warmed up the spinning wheel and am working through some half started bobbins.  Need to ply some mystery gray (chain ply, I think, I can already use another hat) and I am spinning through some mystery blue / gold / green (merino / silk?).  This one is interesting - there are two lots of about equal size but one is richly colored and one is more pastel.  My choices are ply the two against each other or ply them separately (2 ply? chain ply) and decide if I want to use them in the same project. It might look nice as stripes.   Idea: ZickZack scarf.

I didn't set any resolutions except that I kind of did:  read 16 books for the Goodreads challenge (G16) and also participate in the January Cure again.   So far I have swept one room and every time I sit down to read I just fall asleep.  Will have to work on these.

Fox Paws

North Pole Bound

My Quidditch project for match 4 is a selection of ice floes... but only one is the real portkey.

Now they must hibernate until they are sent off as holiday gifts (with soap) next month.

In other news I have been making soap like crazy in anticipation of a little show this weekend.  I am super excited and hope it goes well.  

Knitting on Fox Paws continues and I started a little scarf as well.  It may be cutting it close to finish the whole thing by the 30th but the pattern is simple enough that I can work on it in little chunks of time here and there.

The last baby bird is coming up on 6 months old (where does the time go?) and is clearly a male.  Yellow face, whistling, displaying feathers and stalking around are all little dude behaviours.  I moved him in with his older sister (Peaseblossom) and he is getting used to more attention.  Just need a nice Shakespearian name for him.   His sisters are named for fairies in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as is his "uncle" Robin Goodfellow.  Oberon is too fancy.  Bottom is too silly even for me.  I'm sure something will make itself apparent.  His dad is Hamlet... perhaps Horatio will fit.

Autumn Glow

I am happy to announce the Bosc Pear shawl is complete & has been submitted for my Order of the Phoenix mission.

The setting sun gave me warm light... perhaps a little too warm.

This Week in Pictures

Cat Face Coaster

Snoflakes

Fox Paws - 50 % mark

Handspun cotton washcloth

Clean as a Whistle

It is the beginning of soap season here at the Picky household and with soap comes washcloth knititng.  I finished two already this week and they are headed to new homes soon.  Happily they make excellent packing material around the soap.

Other knitting is still going well.  I cast off the CeCe sewater Saturday.  All that is left is sewing down the neckband and adding a button and it is complete. The Bosc Pear shawl is still nearly done (it has been on pause while I've been catching up on other things).  Fox Paws is at the half way mark but I have less than half the time left so I need to keep my nose to the grindstone with that. The repeats are getting much smoother - only one day of kniting per repeat instead of 4 days.  And I have a stack of new snowflakes ready for photographing.