Suna's New Pathway

Here's the product of my weekend's knitting. I made three pairs of socks using techniques from New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi. I was informed on Friday that there was going to be a baby shower for a couple in my choir, and since I can't contribute monetarily to a gift, I figured I'd make socks. And why not learn something at the same time?

There isn't quite as much page turning and number calculating in the baby socks as there is in the larger ones, so I had a pretty fun time. The first ones I made are Little Sky, the white spotted ones, which I used worsted weight yarn I'd dyed with Kool Aid last year. The yarn sure looks cute. The second ones are the pink Coriolis ones. I do want to make some Coriolis socks, so at some point I'll break down and resign myself to knitting a whole pair of socks with a book at my side. The blue-ish socks are Charlie's Wiggle Socks. They are way cuter than the photo in the book, and were probably the most fun to make. I tried to not think of umbilical cords while making the cables (and watching the movie Shaolin Soccer, what a combo). Not sure why Cat had to put THAT image in my head. I'm glad I had a reason to knit the practice socks. Now I am ready for some new pathways in adult size socks!

It helped a lot to get all the knitting I wanted to get done accomplished. I felt in control of something in my life! I also got more done on the Juno Regina--it's probably halfway done by now. Plus, I started the Half Pipe Hat out of Son of Stitch 'n Bitch for Tuba Boy. I love the yarn I chose, Cascade 128. It is a very thick tweedy yarn, black with flecks. I thought it would give the right gauge, since the pattern called for two skeins of camel yarn, but it's even thicker than two skeins of camel, so I had to go way down in needle size to get gauge (size 3, where the original calls for 9). But, it's not too tight or anything--fits his head, and he seemed really happy with the progress so far. I'd like a hat out of that yarn, myself. I can't wait to put in the little brim! This will be a quick and pleasant knit. Aah.

Thanks for looking at all the patterns I posted! I have a few more, then will go more slowly and add them as I make them. A couple of things people have asked for patterns for I just can't do--some of my sweaters and socks are too "improvised," so I can't write them down.

Start Hyperventilating NOW: Found Old Treasures!

Formal Portrait, Double Eyelet Rib Socks
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Because I should, I will share photos of my current projects--the finished pair of fraternal Double Eyelet rib socks, which I think came out quite nicely, but I think I can stand to give away, and the progress on Juno Regina Petite--I've knit more on it, but this photo gives a good idea of how it will look. The colors show up on the enlarged view on Flickr, if you are interested. I think it will be lovely once finished and blocked.

Right now I am working on a pair of socks of my own design, and trying to write the pattern down while I am at it. I'll post a photo of that one when I am a little further along on it.I am using my second skein of Fortissima Disco Colori, which is mostly denim blue with a bit of aqua and green in it, plus the extra special silver threads. Disco-y, yes.

But here's the excitement! Lee is re-wiring the house so that we can put in a wireless booster and be able to more successfully use the wireless in the media room (it is as far away as possible in our house from the router, and we lose connection at times). Now that I have a brand-new red notebook, I'd like to be able to blog and do Ravelry up in the room with all my knitting stuff.

So he opened the closet door in the office. Um, it is a mess. So, he started to neaten it slightly, but ended up emptying the whole thing, something I had not been able to do since we moved here, 10.5 years ago. There were boxes of books way in a corner that I never could lift out. So, yes, we had lived here over a decade and not finished unpacking. Sigh. But, Lee got out the books!

First, there were all the Japanese linguistics books I'd used in my studies and dissertation work. Aww. Some very expensive dictionaries in there! Then there were a bunch of interesting linguistics and culture books. A bunch of books on cultures I was interested in. Way too many bad 80s quilt books. And. And. And. The treasured knitting books I had been looking all over the place for.

There, to my immense relief, were my Barbara G. Walker stitch pattern books. From when they first came out. A first edition of A History of Hand Knitting. A pristine copy of Principles of Knitting. Alice Starmore's fair isle book (SCORE!!!!!) all these from the 80s and early 90s. All sorts of fair isle books, a book on Cornish knit frocks...wait, wait--here are some highlights:

* Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting (now all I lack is the Aran book)
* Charted Knitting Patterns, by B Walker (I think I re-bought this one, oops)
* Classic Knitting Patterns from the British Isles by J. Waller (has VERY English looking people as models)
* The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting, by S. McGregor
* Cornish Guernsies and Knit Frocks by M. Wright (a really cool little book)
* A History of Hand Knitting by R. Rutt (first ed.)
* Knitting Around, by E. Zimmerman (yay! I knew I owned this!)
* Knitting Counterpanes, by MW Phillips (wow, I had forgotten about this--a whole bunch of cool patterns, borders and squares)
* Knitting from the Netherlands: Traditional Dutch Fishermen's Sweaters, by H. van der Klift-Tellegen
* Knitting in the Old Way, by PA Gibson-Roberts (glad to see this one again)
*Knitting Lace: A Workshop with Patterns and Projects, by S. Lewis (I had forgotten this existed)
* Knitting without Tears, by Elizabeth Zimmerman (woo! Not lost!)
*No Idle Hands
* The Principles of Knitting, by J. Hiatt
* A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by B. Walker (yay, so glad I didn't re-buy these, as I have been tempted to many times)
*Swedish Sweaters: New Designs from Historical Examples, by B-M Christoffersson
* Traditional Knitting: Aran, Fair Isle, and Fisher Ganseys, by M. Pearson
*Traditional Knitting: Patterns of Ireland, Scotland and England by G. Morgan
* A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, by B. Walker
* A Useful Guide to Irish Crochet Lacemaking by M. Cusson

There sure were a lot of "traditional this and that" books in the 80s and early 90s, huh. And I sure did love Fair Isle, apparently.

One good thing is, knowing what some of these books are going for on Ebay these days, we could live a couple of months on the proceeds of selling them. Not that I would. What great resources I have been missing out on since I moved to Texas! I'd been holding off on designing things until I found all my books. And here they are! I also found some interesting history of quilting books in addition to the bunch of really not-so-hot quilt books that I am not sure why I bought. Oh yeah, and there were my bargello books from my intense bargello design phase. I could never get rid of those!

Finding all these books again reminds me of my dream of running a knitting resource center, with a library of books that knitters could use as resources, back issues of knitting magazines, and pattern collections from as far back as I could get them. I have so many resources, being such a bibliophile, and I do wish I could share them with others. We could all sit around and knit, design our projects, or share inspiration. Of course, I would hate to lose any of them, so I'd have to watch them like a hawk.

I feel like I could never run out of inspiration with all these wonderful resources at my fingertips. How lucky I am! If you live nearby and want to see any of these books, just let me know. I will check to see if I have re-bought any more of them, so I can offer duplicates up for others to use.

Quick Progress Note

Just a note to say I am still here, applying for jobs and being perky at work (in case they ever want me back I want to look good). It is a big singing week, so that slows knitting down, but my community choir performance is on Saturday, which will calm things down! I may be alone most of the Thanksgiving weekend, which will mean lots of knitting time.

I got to the heel on my Double Eyelet socks in Trekking XXL. I do love that yarn, even in mostly orange and blue!

I also got gauge, did a practice beginning, then got going for real on Juno Regina. I now "get" the pattern, so it will go faster now. I'm only in the second or third repeat of Chart 2, but I can tell it will be nice. The yarn is very delicate silk, so it will be sweet. The color is a bit weird, but the lace shows up nicely in it.

Photos of all items are forthcoming. Now you have something to look forward to, right?

One Holiday Gift Down...One Job Gone

Victorian Lace Today Scarf, Unblocked
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Yes, here's the trippingly named "Scarf with the open and solid lace edging from Weldon's 1904" completed and displayed on a very bright colored table cloth. That should wake folks up. I plan to block it today, so it will be interesting to see how it grows. I'll measure it before blocking. It's very pretty, even with the lumpy borders. I ended up doing 8.5 repeats rather than 6.5, since the sock yarn made it much smaller than it was in the silk in the book.

I put the Cat Bordhi socks on hold--maybe sis will get some for her birthday. I'll make myself some in my ample spare time over the holidays, when I can look at the book. In the meantime, WendyKnits' Double Eyelet Border socks are now on the needles in a happy Trekking XXL colorway with blues and oranges in them--subtly "Go Gators" for the sister, and do-able in time to mail for the holidays.

Tonight I really NEED to do something for me, so I will cast on Knitty's Juno Regina in my Claudia Handpaints silk. It looks really pretty in a yarn cake. It will be fun to figure out a needle to use. Of course, it won't be a wooden KnitPicks in size 3--I am still mourning the fact that a tip snapped off my needle!

Needy Me

I know this is a knitting blog, but I am asking for good wishes and vibes, as I found out yesterday my one-year contract is now an 8-month contract (funding cuts), so I will be out of work AGAIN, just in time for the holidays. I do have a couple of things being worked on, one that sounds really great, but all are contract jobs. I'd love an opportunity to try for a permanent position, though of course, these days any job a tech writer or trainer gets is among the first to get cut--I know that. Vibes that Lee will get the position he is one of the two top candidates for would also be appreciated. If just one of us had something more permanent, we'd feel a little less unsettled. I am trying to get used to the roller coaster of contract work, but it's taking a while.

Thank you.