Knitwit's Rambles

My attempt to actually have a knitting blog, and to update it regularly. We'll see how well that works.

Friday, January 26, 2007

As the Yarn Ball Turns

Well, I wrote this whole huge post the other night and when I went to post it, Blogger gave me a "Hey! We're doing maintenance!" message and I lost the entire thing. I know, I know, I should have saved it as a draft, but a lot of times if I stop writing to do that, I lose my mojo and don't end up finishing the post. So here's the point form version of what I'd written.

--Times Squared socks: DONE! I've worn & washed these and the Cherry Tree Hill bloomed so nicely after hand-washing. They feel even softer now that I've washed them than they were when I was knitting them. I'll post project details and photos tomorrow as I'm on my break at work.

--Dad's Worksocks: DONE! Thank God.

--Afghan from Knitting group: Still ongoing. Oy. Don't ask.

--Knitting group at the local LYS! Only three people showed up including me, but it felt great to get out and meet some other local knitters. We're hoping to find a cafe to host it as the person who was organizing it--while affiliated with the shop--doesn't actually own it, and she knows from other groups she's contacted that a common complaint about having one in a store is that people might feel obligated to buy stuff.

--Knitting group at the library! It's turning out really well so far. I have two adults and eight teens so far actually, thanks to a misprint in the announcements for it, but it hasn't really been a problem. The girls seem to have taken no notice that there's a couple adults there, and the adults don't seem to be put off my the teenagers--they've been chatting along quite amicably really. The adults have been picking it up really quickly, though one of them I know said she'd been shown how to knit long before, and the other I'm assuming has because of her age--considering the time period she would have grown up in I'd find it hard to believe that she hadn't at some point. My new teens are picking it up really quickly as well, which is probably helped by the fact that with the new adults going well I can spend more time with them, not that they need much help.

--Yarn Porn! I got the skeins I ordered from Sunshine Yarns and they're gorgeous. They're even more beautiful in person as there's a subtlety to the colourways that you really don't get to see in the photos on Etsy. They're so wonderfully soft, too. I can't wait to get started knitting them, but then I also have the Violet's Pink Ribbon, and the Lorna's Laces, and the Trekking...

--I have started on the Blood & Bruises socks! I'm doing them in a 4x2 rib as the colours in the variegate really wouldn't let any pattern show up--the rib is so I don't get bored and also to make them fit better. I'm doing them toe up and am into the foot on one; I'll wind the other skein into a ball this weekend and start that one soon, as I like to stagger my socks a bit. So far it's working up really nicely, though this is one colourway where I almost wish it would pool, however the colour splotches are really short. But then that's an idea if I ever wanted to ask one of the great yarn dyers for a custom dye job. ;) It feels a little thicker than I remember the other Koigu being but then that could be a combination of my imagination and the colours used.

I think I'm forgetting things, but then this update is long enough, so I'll leave it at that for now. Photos this weekend!

Friday, January 05, 2007

Small Victories

*squees, dances* I got a package in the mail this morning, and it had yarn in it!



Yes, the Lisa Souza sock yarn in the "Violet's Pink Ribbon" colourway arrived this morning and I'm in love. The colours are vibrant and gorgeous, and it's soooooo soft. I just couldn't stop touching it or rubbing it against my cheek and revelling in its softness. It's seriously yummy stuff.

Of course it only makes me want to finish all the other projects in the queue ahead of it even faster, and luckily there's some progress on those fronts. I think I've found a rib pattern that would suit the Blood & Bruises socks. Of course it likely won't be too obvious as the colourway will hide some of the texture, but if it's not too eye-hurty I might do it anyway, simply for my own personal giggles.

As for the socks already on the needles, last night after a few concentrated hours of knitting I turned the heel on Dad's second sock, and am now starting on the leg.



It was a nice accomplishment, too, as yesterday was a real bitch of a day, and I was worn out, somewhat pissed off, not feeling well and probably hormonal, just to make things that much more fun. And then today, while commuting around before work, I managed to start the cuff on the Times Squared socks. So far I've only got about a half and inch of 2x2 ribbing on each, but there's a certain comfort to knowing that you're working the cuff, and have entered the home stretch. Hopefully finishing those won't take long.

It'll be about time, too, for me to have a new pair of socks, as I really have to go through my stash and get rid of some. Mainly some of the first ones I knit, which at the time I thought fit fine, but as I've refined my tehnique and gained experience in sock knitting, I've come to realize that some of them really don't fit that well. There's one pair that I wore the other day that I couldn't keep up for more than about 5 minutes, and there are about 3 pairs I've already moved to the "donate" pile, as I only wore and washed them a couple times before I decided that they really were too small, but didn't feel like ripping them out, even when that would only really involve making the foot a little longer. A lot of the earlier ones are also looking somewhat the worse for wear; no holes as yet, but more the heels felting or pilling really badly. They're pretty sorry-looking and even though they might fit someone else, I wouldn't want to donate something that looked as awful as these things do.

Of course this will also answer my mother when she says, upon seeing me knitting another sock, "More socks? Don't you have enough socks?"

The answer, obviously, is "No, mother. You can never have enough hand-knit socks."

I'll probably have to knit her some, just so she can see for herself. ;)

As for knitting other than socks? I had a brainwave tonight (just before I, um...announced we were closing in five minutes an hour before we actually closed *facepalm*), and have an idea for another project. This would be for whenever I finish the afghan and the Swallowtail Shawl, and a couple scarves and...

I need to learn to function without sleep so I can knit. Can't someone invent some kind of regeneration thing like the Borg use (circa Star Trek: The Next Generation) at least?

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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Etsy Will Be The Death Of Me (Or My Bank Account)

Site Meter is now the funnest thing ever. I got a hit tracker for my blog (see it way down there at the bottom of the sidebar?) and I've been checking it somewhat obsessively to see where people are in the world that have visited the blog. So far it's mostly Canada and the US though there was one from Britain, and one from Portugal. It also tells you where people have come from, including what the search terms were if they used a google search. So far, no bizarre searches to report.

If you stop by, drop me a comment and say hello, especially if you have a knitting blog of your own! I don't bite, really.

Confession time: I bought sock yarn off of Etsy. Sunshine Yarns was updating this morning and I couldn't resist. I snagged a skein of Stormwatch and Cliffhanger, adding two more pairs of socks to the list of socks to be knit. This is also the first time I've bought yarn that I wasn't able to fondle beforehand, so we'll see how this turns out. Consdering the positive feedback the seller has and the overall glowing things I've heard about sellers on Etsy, I have no worries.

Did I mention I still have the three pairs' worth of yarn that I got in October when I went to Toronto that I haven't even touched yet?

But things are looking up: the Times Squared Socks are nearly finished. After having to rip back three rounds' worth last night on one of them, I'm ready to start the ribbing at the cuff. I even have recent photos!


Two nearly-done socks!


Closeup of the texture pattern


Dad's socks are still very much in progress, as you can see by the photographic evidence here. The longer one is probably just about ready for the cuff, though I still have a fair bit of the charcoal yarn left, so I may just keep going for a couple more inches. I did maybe another couple inches on the shorter one yesterday between commuting to the library branch across town and Spike showing some newer episodes of CSI, but there's still a looooong way to go. Men need to have smaller feet.


One of these things is not like the other...


Though the charcoal rib is kind of pretty in its plainness (even if you can't really see the ribs from here).


But of course the purchasing doesn't stop there. I'm itching to get a couple sets of DPNs and a set of circs from KnitPicks--not the full Options set, as I don't have that kind of disposable income, but just a couple of the tips and cords. I do kind of need the circs as I've heard from many people that a) Addi Turbos are rather blunt for lacework, though I didn't have a problem with my lace sampler shawl, and b) the pointier tips make it easier (but not necessarily easy!) when doing the nupps on the Swallowtail Shawl, which I would like to finish in the next couple months. It would be great ot have Swallowtail to wear when friends and I go to see Phantom of the Opera in Toronto in March, but I'm by no means counting on it. Particularly when I have so much sock yarn, either in my stash or on the way. ;)

So yes, say goodbye to more of my Christmas money. Though I know I'll certainly get a lot of use and enjoyment out of it!

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