"Mrs. Fairfax had settled into a corner with her knitting..."

Well here I was thinking that the photos I took of the socks I'm making in Lisa Souza yarn were going to be sadly outdated by the time I got them up on the blog. Then, with both heels turned, I actually tried them on.

You can see where this is going, right?

I had tried them on before doing the heels, but looks like I was mistaken in my idea of where they should start--the heel is shorter than ones I've made in other yarns, and so those heels and the small amount of what I'd knit on the cuff had to come out.

That was a week ago, though, and I've managed to turn both heels and get a few inches up the leg--quite a few inches on one of them, thanks to a marathon viewing of the 4-hour Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Jane Eyre (one of my favourite books; more on the miniseries in a minute). And I have pictures this time, pictures that are only a day or two old!

Both socks, nearly the same length
Detail of the calf increases--a bit wonky, as I was making it up as I went along, but looks better when it's on.

In other good news, we have a local stitch n' bitch again, desipite the closure of the store that was hosting it. The person from that store that started it has moved it to a cafe downtown and even better, it'll be on the first Thursday evening of the month, which works well with my work schedule.

As for Jane Eyre, I thought it was done pretty well. There were a few moments early on where Rochester seemed to be portrayed more emo than I got a feeling for in the book (I was referring to him as "emo boy" for a while), but I did like that both he and Jane also had their more lighthearted moments instead of being permanently dour. There were a few things that were changed from the book of course, even those that weren't just for length reasons, though most of them I didn't mind. Really, it's to be expected in any adaptation for television or the movies. And this is better than a lot of the more recent adaptations of Jane Eyre simply by its being twice as long as the other films--four hours instead of two. The others (the A&E version with Ciaran Hinds and the big-screen William Hurt version) sufferend by having to cram too much into too little time, and I've been hoping that someone would do a longer version for years now. Definitely good to knit to!

The Times They Are A-Changin'

I'm not dead yet! Work and other things (*coughRPGcough*) have made the last couple months busy ones, and somehow whenever I sat down to update my brain shied away from forming sentences. So how about I spare you a long synopsis of everything that's been going on and just cut to the news of the day?

Well it was nice while it lasted. Looks like the more upscale yarn store in town is closing, as the owners are moving. No more cashmere, no more Malabrigo, no more higher-end alpaca and 100% wool. The ladies at the other yarn store in town are nice, but a lot of the stock...well it's kind of old and not as nice as the stuff at the other store. Definitely no cashmere, no handpaints, no Elsebeth Lavold, and very little sock yarn (thought admittedly the upscale store didn't really have that much handpainted stuff either). Looks like it's back to waiting until I go into Toronto for the good stuff; either that or ordering off the internet. Though some things will hopefully only mean more trips into Niagara Falls to the yarn store there, as they have some things that the yarn stores here don't carry (laceweight!).

It also means no more second-Saturday knitting group, which has me thinking about starting one up. The main problems are timing and location, but those are pretty big problems. There are only a couple cafes downtown that are a distinct possibility. I know the library's policy on room usage and that's out--it would be costly and there's a line in the policy about groups not using it too many times. Community centres tend to be out of the downtown core and I'd like it to be close to the bus station.

The other problem is my work schedule, as I work every other Saturday afternoon, which is problematic. Also probiematic is that while I have a regular evening shift on Fridays, technically I can work any night between Tues-Thurs as well. I'm not sure I like the idea of making it only once a month, as if you miss that one day you're kind of screwed (as I know from personal experience). There is a gathering at the other yarn store in town but I only got to go once before I had a string of months where I couldn't make it that one night a month, and I haven't really been able to get back to it. Having it every Saturday afternoon, or on a night when I have to work that week would be all right once it's an established group and there are one or tow other people I know will show up (and that I could give signs to, or whatever), but it's problematic when you're starting. I'd also have to check with the owners of the venue and see how they would feel about people being there every week, though if we could find a time when they're not usually that busy they might welcome an every-week gathering! Ah well. I'll check those cafes, speak with the owners and see about it.

It's something I think I'd especially like to do as there doesn't seem to be much of a knitting community here, and the yarn stores here never really seem that busy, though maybe it's just the times that I drop in. The knitting groups at the yarn store also seem to be heavy on the friends/co-workers of the owner, too, which can be a little awkward and off-putting, particularly when it's a small group.

Now the yarn store in the Falls, I dropped into a couple weeks ago and wasn't there for more than fifteen minutes before the owner was asking if I'd like to teach a class--and I've only been there twice in the last year! There were a group of people sitting in the back and they invited me to sit down and knit, and I readily agreed as I'd had to go into the Falls for a dermatologist's appointment (whose office, handily, was about a 20 minute walk from the yarn store). It took a load off my feet, pulled out the sock I was working on on one circular needle, and the owner and I got discussing it, and bam, she asked me to consider doing a workshop. She's always looking for teachers, and this was before I mentioned that I teach knitting at the library. I'd love to do it though the timing is going to be a little tricky with my work schedule, and the fact that I don't have a car so I have to take buses into the Falls. During the university fall/winter semesters Niagara Falls transit runs a bus to the university that can let me off right near the store, but in the summer I'd have to use the Greyhound, then take a bus from the terminal. We'll see if we can work it out, though.

And finally, some picspam of recently finished socks: I call them my "Table Rock" socks. The yarn is "Cliffhanger" by Sunshine Yarns, and I wanted to do a themed sock with it, so I thought about cliffs nearby. Of course the biggest one in this area is the Niagara Escarpment and, naturally, Niagara Falls, so I decided on a stitch pattern of my own "unvention", to make a similar effect to that in Knitty's Wavy Scarf. With the colour of the yarn the pattern doesn't show up as much as it could, but I know it's there. Using cabled waves instead of knit and purls would show up better, but I decided I didn't want to do cable twists 12 times every 4 rows. They're named after the rock formation on the Canadian side, right at the edge of the Falls.


The vertical wave pattern, while in progress, click for larger pic


The finished sock!

Next time: photos of the socks I'm making with Lisa Souza yarn. I loooooove it.

The Debriefing

Am slowly recovering from post-Closing Ceremonies fatigue.

A recap of my weekend:

Sat. 8:00pm - Check Greyhound schedule. Decide to take 10:40am bus so that I have some time before the 2pm official gathering time to eat/take TTC there.

9:00pm - Realize Mom and Dad are going to church and won't be able to drive me to bus terminal. Also, city buses don't start running until 10:45 am on Sundays. Resolve to take a cab.

9:05pm - Realize that I have no money on me.

Shit.

Come up with complicated plan to go to convenience store the next morning and pray they're open and the ATM is still there and working.

Sun. 8:30am - wake up, get up, check email, have shower.

9:15am - Sset out for convenience store. ATM is there and working. Success!

9:25am - Return home, do laps around house checking and rechecking that I have everything I want to bring with me.

10:00am - Call cab company #1. No answer. Swear. Call cab company #2, hold breath as phone continues ringig. Someone picks up on the 4th ring.

10:20 - Arrive at bus terminal. Buy ticket. Twiddle thumbs.

10:40am - Get on bus, luckily not crowded so I can listen to podcasts and knit with Very Tiny Pointy Needles without worrying about people hearing me giggle/poking people with needles.

12:00pm - Arrive in T.O. with Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" on iPod. Eat. Head to subway with "The Drop" from the Bourne Supremacy soundtrack playing because it is cool and purposeful sounding and good for running around using public transit.

1:00pm - Arrive at corner of King St. W. and Niagara St. Decide to walk up to Queen and see where the hell I am (please God, close to Romni Wools).

1:10pm - Queen & Niagara and--hey, Romni is just over there! W00T! Browse books, but still do not find copy of "Knitting Vintage Socks" aka That Book I'll Have To Kill Someone To Get.

1:40 - Arrive at Old York, still rather early.

1:45-5:45pm - Meet people, coo over projects, joke around and talk knitting.

This? Is brilliant. Loved meeting so many people and being able to talk about a passion of mine with many like-minded individuals, as well as enjoy the general camraderie. I definitely have to approach the LYS owner here about starting a knitting group, because I really enjoyed the experience yesterday and am envious of all those people who have their weekly S'n'Bs.

6:15 - Arrive at Dundas station, buy ticket home, call parents. Run over to World's Biggest Bookstore. Again not find "Knitting Vintage Socks". Swear.

6:50 - Head over to HMV. Notice sign on door saying they're closing at 7:00. Craaaaap. Hurry over to appropriate bin and grab the second Vienna Teng CD which for some reason store in St. C. never has in stock.

7:00 - Grab munchies for bus, then wait. And wait. And wait. wonder why my arms are cold under my jacket but my bare hands are perfectly toasty.

7:30 - Board bus, start heading home. Have seatmate this time so no pointy sticks.

8:55 - Arrive home in middle of pretty snow squall.

After that it was vegetate in front of TV, then attempt to be coherent on the internet, though the people I was talking with will attest that I was very much not so.

In all, v. busy, but v.v.v. fun day. How long is it until 2008 again?