Counting One's Blessings

As Jess pointed out in the comments, I have recently gone back to work. This was not something that I actively wanted to do, so much as an obligation that I had to fulfill (as part of being a good mommy is seeing to it that the lights stay on.) So anyway, back to work with me.

Earlier this week, Carl and I very quickly realized that I had been doing a lot more of the housework than I at least (he claims he knew) realized. I discovered this when I came home two days running to a house that was not only not neat, but was in fact, trashed. Crankiness ensued. Negotiations were entered into.

The good news: Carl started doing laundry again.

The bad news: my hand knits were in that laundry.

The good news: Socks made of Knitpicks Dancing don't shrink when you wash and dry them!

The bad news: Socks made of Knitpicks Essential do.

The good news: Both pairs of Dancing socks went through the laundry together, so all environmental factors remained consistant.

Tha bad news: The Riverbed socks (made of the Essential) did not go through together. So only one of the socks shrunk to hell and back.

The good news: Morgan is getting a new pair of socks.


I just hope that when I wash and dry the second sock, it stays the same size!

(And to give the tragedy the sense of scope that it deserves (as well as some much needed scale) here is a picture of the two socks in their current state:

Not a Real Post

This isn't really a post, I thought I'd just wave and mention that I'm still alive and I totally WON NANOWRIMO, hell yeah!

ahem















I have no dignity.

Anyway, I've started teaching myself crochet, and am going through what I like to call my "dishrag period." I've also started The Clap, because I can't figure out what else to do with all the variegated lace weight I bought when Knitpicks ditched their Gossamer line.

So, that's about all the news that's fit to print. I have not been working on any of my shawls, and I suddenly want to make a Noro Scarf (but I blame the Yarn Harlot for that.)

Questions Answered

Dear Kelshei,

Unfortunately, I did not get the scarf finished. I've got right under 5 feet of very handsome (if I do say so myself) scarf.

However! I have a cunning plan! I am going to have a couple of balls of yarn (along with a yo-yo and a sonic screwdriver) in my pockets, and I'm going to walk around wearing one end and knitting the other. I choose to believe that this is adorable, and not just lame.

The pattern I'm using can be found here. I'm using the Season 12 pattern, and knitting it with Knitpicks Wool o' the Andes.

Purple: Lullaby
Tan: Snickerdoodle
Brown: Chestnut
Yellow: Wheat (now discontinued)
Red: Hollyberry (which is much redder than it looks on the site)
Grey: Mist
Green: Fern

I'll see if I can get some pictures tonight and post them.

Love,

Kadollan

Fair Warning

So, I'm not knitting nearly enough (and I fear that I will not get my Who scarf done in time for Halloween. Which is stinky).

Also, it is nearly that fateful time of year again ... November. A month filled with family, love, turkey and wild-eyed, manic, coffee-swilling novelists.

Yes kids, I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to also attempt NaBloPoMo or not, but if I do, I'll probably do it over on my LJ -- as I discovered last year, it is really hard to blog about knitting when you are writing a 50K novel, and not, you know, actually knitting.

Go figure.

Doctor Whooooo (Doctor Who)

I've always wanted to knit myself a Doctor Who scarf. (I exaggerate. I've always wanted to own a Doctor Who scarf. It wasn't until I learned to knit that it occurred to me that I might actually make my own...but I digress.)

Earlier this year I went through a Doctor Who jag, and watched a bunch of both Old and New Who. In a fit of wtf-ery, I decided to be Tom Baker's Doctor for Halloween this year, thus providing myself with the perfect opportunity to knit That Scarf (tm).

Jay-Walking Ankle-Biters

I finished Rhiannon's socks last week. This may be the fastest I've ever knit a complete pair of socks. I began them late in the evening on Aug 24 (right after I finished the last of my Ravelympic socks) and cast them off on Sept 10. That's right about 2 and 1/2 weeks.

Although, before I get too excited I should probably point out how short the things are. She really did want ankle socks, and ankle socks is what she got.


As I noted on my Ravelry Project page, I made the following mods:

Cuff: Since she wanted anklets, the cuff is very short (two full repeats of the stripe sequence).

Heel: I decided that I wanted a “bull’s-eye” heel effect, so I experimented with Charlene Schurch’s forethought heel. I knit the first sock that way, and am knitting the second with an afterthought heel (as it seems less fiddly). Either way, the striping is preserved, and it looks pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Toe: In order to decrease the instep stitches to the same number as the stitches on the bottom of the foot, I continued the DD from the jaywalker pattern. The first two rounds went like this:

Round 1:

Top of Foot: K1, SSK, K5, DD, K16, DD, K5, K2tog, K1
Bottom of Foot: K all.

Round 2: Knit All

This puts the same number of stitches on both the top and the bottom after one row.

Shifty Eyes

I may have ahem cast on another sock.

But only a little.

I'm trying Cookie A's Baudelaire from Knitty's Summer '06 issue.

Needles: Harmony 3.0 mm (US 2)
Yarn: Knitpicks Essential Kettle-dyed Auburn


But, fear me not! I am still working on Rhi's Jaywalking Ankle-biters. I'm a solid inch into the second sock already.

P.S. Stay Tuned for Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Fancy Sock in Plymouth Happy Feet. But I haven't cast them on.... Yet.

She's a Nightmare Hippy Girl

Those of you who know me well should be familiar with the blasé and carefree way that I add new projects to my ever-expanding pile of Works-in-Progress. Many of you are also aware of the tragic and seemingly inevitable slide of these new projects into obscurity and UFO status. If Stephanie is a Yarn Harlot, people then I am a Yarn ... well, my mother wouldn't have wanted me to use that word.

It was this lamentable characteristic of mine that led me to last month's frenzy of finishitude. Sane people do not try to finish five pairs of socks in two weeks. Moreover, project-monogamous people don't have five pairs of socks on the needles at once. (I am well, well aware that my little "problem" is not whatchacall unique. This does offer me some comfort.)

All of this is prologue to a confession. Once I completed my self-imposed sock adventure, did I congratulate myself on a pile of UFOs well conquered and carry the fight back to my knitting basket? My spirit renewed, did I pick up either of the two shawls or the fair-isle cardigan that I began earlier this summer? Or, brave warrior I, did I delve deep into the strata of the geologically improbable mountain composed only of discarded and lonely projects?

Not as such. No.

I immediately cast on a new sock.

You know.

Like you do.


Allow me to introduce you to a modified Jaywalker. These are for my daughter Rhiannon. She specifically requested anklets, so they are a mite shorter than I normally make my socks. The only major mod I made (say that three times fast) was to do a forethought heel, alá Charlene Schurch to preserve the integrity of the stripe. (Yes, I did just say "preserve the integrity of the stripe." Deal.) I finished the first sock in record time, considering that I wasn't power-knitting like I had been for the Ravelympics. The second is cast-on in an attempt to thwart second sock syndrome.

And, since a mere and lowly sock is hardly enough to fill the void left by all of those UFOs suddenly gone silent, I also cast on another cardigan. Here's the Hippy-Chic from the 2002 Knit It! magazine. As far as I can tell, this magazine no longer exists and all records have been wiped from the face of the Internet. Basically, it's a shaped cardigan with seed stitch detail -- cute and simple. I'm using Knitpick's Shamrock in Dougherty.


So far, we are pleased.

She Stuck the Landing

Behold! Four pairs of socks, where a mere two weeks ago there were none.


I'm feelin' pretty pleased with myself just now.

Admittedly, I did originally enter five pairs in the competition, but as I'm sure you remember, one pair was DQ'd for being ugly. I decided I didn't actually want those socks, so I'm going to bury the first one under an oak tree in the park and never speak of it again.*

So, to recap.

Child's French Sock
Pre-Olympic: 20%
Post-Olympic: 100%











Anniversary Socks
Pre-Olympic: 25%
Post-Olympic: 100%


















Mnemosyne Socks
Pre-Olympic : 25%
Post-Olympic: 100%










(still no picture, as I am wanting to submit this pattern for publicaton)

Swirlus Interuptus
Pre-Olympic: 75%
Post-Olympic: 100%












*With all due respect to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Many Socks

I've been kicking sock-butts and takin' sock names.

Or something.


Mixed metaphors aside, I have made not inconsiderable progress on the sock knitting front. I've completed Nancy Bush's Child's French Socks, from Knitting Vintage Socks. Nancy Bush is my sock knitting hero -- so I'm pretty tickled that I've (finally) finished knitting one of her patterns. The pattern was written (or rather re-written) for size 1 needles, to fit a women's size 8 or 9. Since I am a size 9, but have rather large ankles than I'd like, I decided to size it up a bit by using a thicker sock yarn and size 2s. Long story slightly shorter: I knit them with Knitpicks Gloss in Woodland Sage, using 2s. It worked a treat, and the only other adjustment I needed to make was to knit fewer repeats of the pattern since my row gauge was also different.

Current Standings:

Swirlus Interuptus Socks: 100%
Child's French Socks: 100%
Eyelet Socks: 50%
Mnemosyne Socks: 55%
Anniversary Socks: 35%

I have just about completely decided that I am not going to finish the Eyelet socks. I just really don't like them enough. So -- this is not a "who do we kick off the island" kind of decision, made out of concern for what not to finish should I run out of time. Rather this is a "what was I thinking when I knit the first one? This looks like woolly arse!" kind of decision.

Therefore, with the Eyelet socks removed from consideration, that means that I have to knit approx. 2.5 socks in the next 6.5 days.

I guess I'd better get to it, eh?

All Socks All the Time

Remember how I just couldn't wait to start knitting my socks?

Yeah.

Bored now.

I long for a shawl or a cardigan.

I have completed the first of the Child's French Socks (go me!) and am yay-so-far into the cuff of the second one.

I have begun the gusset decreases in the first of the Mnemosyne socks, and am very, very close to the toe shaping of the second of the Riverbed/Swirlus-Interuptus socks.



Current Olympic Standings:

Swirlus Interuptus Socks: 85%
Child's French Socks: 55%
Eyelet Socks: 50%
Mnemosyne Socks: 30%
Anniversary Socks: 25%

Will she get the gold!?!?!?!

It's hard to say, Bob. She did finish the first of the C.F. socks, but that only brings her total to 3 out of 10 complete socks. This is anyone's race and we'll just have to keep watching.

Gratify Me Now, Please

Now that I've gotten pictures up of all of those socks, I want to start finishing them. I mean, I don't mind the idea of delayed gratification, I just want it NOW. Is that so wrong?

Meanwhile, I could be working on either of my Mystery Shawls, or I could be swatching for upcoming projects, or hey! I could work on the Watergarden sweater.


Or, you know... not...

Ravelympics Roll Call

I'm trying to get something like unto a real grasp of what I've set myself up for in the coming weeks.

In descending order of nearly-finishatude:

1. Child's French Sock ~20% complete. I have not yet turned the heel of the first sock.










to knit: 1.8

2. Anniversary Sock ~25% complete. I am in the process of starting the gusset of the first sock.










to knit: 1.5

3. Mnemosyne* ~25% complete. I am turning the heel of the first sock.










to knit 1.5

4. Eyelet Sock 50% complete. I have one entire sock.










to knit 1

5. Swirlus Interuptus 75% complete. I am decreasing the gusset of the second sock.










to knit 0.5


Total Olympian effort required: 6.3 socks. More or less.

Which, unless math fails me entirely (as it is wont to do), comes to a whopping 0.37 socks a day.

I can do that.

*This is a pattern that I am designing with an eye towards publishing, so I won't be posting pictures. But I've knit half a sock, I promise.

Long Summer

Very shortly after my last post, my position was terminated and I very suddenly lost my job. Since then, I have gone into business with three of my closest friends, joined two Mystery Knit-a-longs, and cleaned the heck out of my bedroom.

Sudden unemployment does odd things to the psyche.

So. In knitting news, I have been a busy bee. I've started designing a pair of socks. I am pretty excited by this, and hope to offer my pattern on Ravelry once it's finished and completely written and beta'ed.

I've also joined the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl. It is a mandala-style pattern that I'm really enjoying knitting. It's my first pi-shawl, which is groovy. My only regret is the yarn choice. I am not really loving the variegated yarn. I think it obscures the lace entirely too much. I think once it's blocked I'll decide if I can live with it (as I know blocking will greatly change the look). If the answer is "no" then I'm gonna over-dye that sucker.



The second Mystery Shawl I'm working on is MS9 (also by Goddess Knits). I'm using Knitpicks Palette in Fawn. It is going to be a wonderfully warm , cuddly and big shawl -- perfect I think for gatherings.

I have tried, with no great success, two other projects with this yarn. This time, I'm happy.


I have also joined the groups for the Mystery Stole 4, and Secret of the Stole III. Neither have started yet, and I haven't decided whether or not to cast on with the group, or just save the patterns. I do know the perils of too many projects on the needles at once, honest I do.

Speaking of which (there is a segue here, I swear), I'm co-captaining Team Marmoset for the 2008 Ravelympics. My Olympian feat will be to finish all of the pairs of socks that I currently have on needles. This means 5 (yes FIVE) pairs of socks in various stages of incompletion. o.O This is me making the big eyes.

This Time With Pictures

The collar is on and quite handsome if I do say so myself.


I am really excited about this — as I've mentioned previously, this is my first for me sweater. I've made at least 5 little person sized sweaters, so I had some preparation. I was at least familiar with the concept of sweater construction, but dudes, making an adult sized sweater (and I am not a small person) is a whole different ball of yarn.


Anyway, the collar picked up and went in with little or no fuss. I merrily ribbed whilst watching A&E's production of Pride & Prejudice. Good Times.

Next Stop: Zipper Town.

Man-Sweater is Coming Along*

So.

I have no pictures to show you (yet), but I am pleased to report that my Man-Sweater is so very almost done.

It's seamed up, sleeves in and most of the ends woven in. All that's left is to pick up and knit the collar, and then to find and sew in the zipper.

I'm a mite apprehensive as regards to that last, as the left and right fronts don't seem to be entirely the same length. (I should have knit them together the way I did the sleeves. That worked surprisingly well). I am hoping that ease and creative seamstressing will save the day.

I'll post again with a proper update (and pictures!) later.

*heheheheheh. She said "coming"

This Way to Harlot Town

A grand time was had by all*

She is as funny, smart and adorable in person as she is on her blog.

My best Jess (who is now enjoying some fame and notoriety in the blogosphere) brought our beloved Harlot a lovely drawing of the reproductive parts of a butterfly, Whosiheimerus somethingorotheri. She (the Harlot) was delighted, and immediately began to practice her game face. She was making plans to show it to Joe and when he asked, nonchalantly answer, "Why Joe, it's the reproductive parts of a butterfly. Obviously." I think that she was, if I am using the word correctly, chuffed.

Anyways, I got my books signed (whee!) had my picture taken while we held each other's socks, and then went out for Sushi after.



By the by, I cast on that sock that she's holding earlier that same morning. I have mad skillz. Just sayin'. And yes, I did crop myself out of that picture. It was a bad picture of me. Really.

Alot.

It is worth noting at this point that I hate Sushi. So, the fact that I ate four or five or six pieces off of everyone else's plates exclaiming "Damn, that was good!" should clearly be overlooked as aberrant behavior brought on by close proximity to her Harloty Self.

*In the spirit of full disclosure I feel that I should report that the grand time had by Koren's husband was spent in the Manga section ignoring the doings of knitters. But even so.

Harlot Tonight!

No time to blog about how I haven't had time to blog.


The Harlot will be in Nashville tonight, and I (and many friends) will be there to see her!

(And, of course, I can't find my copy of Knitting Rules...which is my favorite of her books.)

How's the finishing going my chickadees?

It's going swimmingly over here at chez woolly. I am making great strides towards finishing my Man Sweater — the back and left front both completely done and the right front is thiiiiiis close. After that it's sleeves and making up, and voilá! a sweater!

In celebration of all of this nearly done-atude, I've been feverishly searching for the Next Great Sweater Project. Also, my best Jess is right about at the same place (or a little ahead) of me on her Man Sweater, so we've started talking about our next 'along. We're thinking of knitting something for each other this time. So, a future post will be published regarding my plans for the future. Stay Tuned!

P.S. March is for Making Mates might be a bust this year, as I'm focusing pretty much all of my energy into my sweater, and haven't actually finished any socks. I don't have any "Plain Jane" socks on needles right now, just two Nancy Bush patterns. These are less well suited for travel knitting. Oh well.

Whoops! Lucky Number 13

Dudes! I totally forgot to count Soleil.

Back up to 11!

Screw Your Courage to the Sticking Point

Right, so tomorrow is February 1. Time to gird your loins, screw your courage to the sticking point and start counting.

Here's what I currently have on needles (in no particular order):

1. The Cambridge Jacket (the Man Sweater) by Ann Budd
   
2. Anniversary Socks (1 of 2) from Interweave's Favorite Socks
   
3. French Child's Sock (1 of 2) from Knitting Vintage Socks
   
4. Green Thing (its a gift, and must therefore be referred to "vaguely")
5. Mystic Waters Stole
6. Mystery Stole 3
   
7. Ab-Fab Afghan
8. Blue Kerry Shawl from Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls
   
9. Peach Scarf
10. Flamin' Fingerless Gloves
11. Eyelet Socks (1 of 2 complete)
12. Gryffindor Scarf
    

Twelve...well, that ain't a great number, but remember the first year I did this? Glossing over the fact that not one, but two of the above items graced that list as well, let's concentrate on the fact that 2 years ago I opened with 19 objects on needles.

Okay, I hear what you are saying. You are saying, Kade, if you have two things that were UFOs in 2006, and you still haven't finished them, isn't it about time to frog? And I answer... no. One's the Ab-Fab kit (Colinette yarn, all the way, baayyy-bee) and the other is a "shawl" that I'm knitting out of worsted weight acrylic—in other words, its also an afghan. I'm not ready to work on them, but dudes, I'm not giving them up either.

So. 12.

I'm totally frogging the Mystery Stole. Frankly, I like the yarn much better than I like the pattern. So, out it goes. That makes 11.

Gryffindor scarf. Its ugly, clunky, itchy, and... well, its Gryffindor. (No offense to the Gryffindorian amongst you. I mean no disrepect, but these are the people who's idea of a clever plan is "Everybody on Three!"*) So, there's 10.

I'm playing with the Alternate rules of "March is For Making Mates." That said, I have three pairs of socks and one pair of fingerless gloves on needles. The Eyelet socks are of my own design, and I have one completely finished (the other not yet cast on). This one is set aside until March. I'm working on the first of the pair of two different Nancy Bush patterns. I'll be finishing up both of these and then setting them aside. I've got the thumb to do on the first of two fingerless gloves, and then again, setting aside for March.

The Green Thing will probably only take an afternoon to finish.

I can't find the other skein of yarn I need for the peach scarf, so I haven't a clue what I'm doing about that. Maybe looking for the yarn. That would be radical.

Anyway, I won't be entering March with a clean knitterly slate, but I'll be enough closer to feel totally vindicated in casting on scads of new stuff.

*With all due respect to Cassie Claire's Fanon Draco

Crazy? I was crazy once...

I finished up my "Anti-OCD" pink socks yesterday. I was calling them that as something of a joke—I have the slightest of OCD tendencies, you see, so I deliberately made these socks not match each other. The stripe is offset by about three inches.

I decided to do this because I didn't really think it would bother me. It was meant to be funny, yes?

Except...it started to get on my nerves just about the exact second I hit the "repeat" in the yarn, and I could see where they would have matched up, if only I had...

*ahem*


So, yes. Here they are. My almost-but-not-quite-matching-Anti-OCD-I'm-not-actually-crazy socks.

P.S. They are very comfortable.

I can't help but think...

...that I would get more knitting done, if I spent less time playing with my blog.

Last night I used my google-fu and found this tutorial, where-by I learned how to modify my blog to three columns instead of two. I am inordinately proud of myself, and plan to fiddle with the settings for some time to come.

I am planning to have my Anti-OCD pink stripey socks finished before February, so that they will not be numbered amongst my UFOs. Some pre-February Finishing, as it were. I'm nearly to the toe of the second of the two. These socks have taken me surprisingly forever to knit. I barely picked up my needles during November (remember NaNo?) and then in December things exploded at my work. It was ugly — and I was too stressed out to knit.

So anyway, I'm happy to report that I'm back to knitting, and plan to hit February with a bang (although I do not promise that I will not also whimper.)

And to keep this from being a completely pictureless post, here's a recent acquisition (sock yarn isn't stash, I'm just sayin'.) I bought this to make a pair of socks for my eldest darling. She fell in love with it at, and how could I say no? I'm helpless against children who beg for hand knits.

It's That Time of Year Again

Here at Chez Woolly, we have a little tradition called "February is For Finishing." The concept is simple — for the entire month you concentrate on finishing whatever you have on the needles. Here are the rules (please feel free to post, alter, or ignore, as best suits your current needs).

3rd Annual February is For Finishing-Palooza

The Rules:

• List, list, oh list. By February 1st, have an accurate and complete list of ALL of your UFOs. Yes, even that one that you stuffed behind the couch in shame and despair last August.
  
• Take Inventory. Now that you have your list, decide which of these projects actually bless you. Did you not finish this UFO because you were led astray by that fancy new sock yarn? Or have you not finished it because its uglier than a really ugly thing, and will not fit man nor beast?
• Make Decisions. Finish, Frog or Fling. In my little world, UFOs can be sorted into 3 categories. Finish — I totally still want to make this. Frog — in the immortal words of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, "I like yarn better than I like bad hats." And, Fling — Wow. This is so bad that not even the yarn is worth saving. I'll say a passing prayer for the Acryls who gave their lives to make this fugly yarn, and move on with my life.
• Prioritize. At this point, you have to decide what your end goal is. Are you in this to finish as many items as possible? Or is there one specific UFO that you'd like to push through and finish? Some folks like to have a plan "I'll knit the last sleeve of Auntie Mabel's sweater, and then I'll finish up that scarf I've been knitting since the Carter administration." Others prefer a more holistic approach and simply knit what suits their mood and fancy at the time. Do as best pleases you.
• Be Strong. Do not, and this is very important, DO NOT cast on anything new during February. We're finishing here, people, not starting. The object of the game is to clear the slate so we can cast on a whole slew of new UFOs in March and April.
• Take a Button.

As an avid, yet inconstant sock knitter, I also have an optional rule.

• March is For Making Mates. If you have the first of a pair of socks on the needles, finish 'em up in February, and then set them aside. February is for what's already on the needles. Then in March, make the second sock for all of those first socks (or gloves, or mittens, or whatever) that you finished up in February. Clever, eh?
  

2008 Knitting Goals

In January, I like to spend more time than is strictly wise fantasizing about the great feats of knitting prowess that I plan to execute in the coming year.

Come on, admit it. You do it too.

This will be the year that you knit THAT shawl (you know the one. The one that gives you palpitations when you look at the pattern). Or maybe you'll tackle complicated colorwork, or Gods help you, an Alice Starmore pattern (any of them).

So, anyway, January is when I do a lot of my virtual fantasy knitting. Once the heady rush of imaginary accomplishment leaves me, I then take stock of my time, my budget, and my skills — and then I start setting some goals.

This year I am going to knit:

• A sweater for Morgan
• The rest of that sweater for me
• Lots and Lots of Socks
• I'm going to finish a bunch of things I've got on needles. Or frog them. Or whatever.
• I want to knit Knitty's Juno Regina out of this great Anne Schaefer I got that looks like peacock feathers... unless it ends up looking weird because it isn't a solid colorway. Lace can look weird in painted yarn. I'll need to swatch.
  
• Socks for my husband. He has big feet. I'm just sayin'.
• I'm going to finish the Mystic Waters Shawl, because I like it, and frog the MS3 Stole, because I don't
• Other things I haven't thought of yet

So there you have it... a random and ill thought out list of knitterly goals.

This year my REAL goal is to continue to improve my skills, and to start designing my own patterns.

The rest is just gravy.

Checking In

Hello All!

Just a quickie note to let you know that I'm still alive. December is a notoriously busy time of year for everyone — particularly those employed in the retail industry. So, after a month of posting daily, I give you a month of posting not at all.

I hope for a more balanced approach to 2008. Twice a week is good, ja?

So, tune in soon for Kade's list of Knitting Goals for 2008.