Overly Quick Update

Just so you will know I am still alive--here I am!

I started my new job with a bang and have been editing pretty much nonstop this week. When I stop, I have been knitting, but haven't felt like looking at a screen long enough to blog!

I've actually made some good progress on my Charybdis socks over the weekend, since I spent a lot of time at parent activities at the college my son plans to go to. I'm moving on up the leg of sock #2 and will probably finish at some point this week or weekend.

I am also moving up the sleeves on Bridget. They look really nice and I am confident I will have enough yarn to finish. Whew. The increases look very nice in the round. I am doing lifted increases which always look neat and subtle.

I did get the new Wendy Johnson book on toe up socks (yay) and am sure my next socks will be from there. Then I'll make something from the Cookie A. book perhaps. Yes, I am too lazy to go link to them. My eyes are just killing me from looking at small print on PowerPoint slides--I will enjoy my bigger screen when it arrives! I promise to link to Wendy's book next time so you can go buy it if you already haven't or can't locate it yourself. I would say it's my go-to book for teaching about socks from now on!

I hope someone's there. No one has commented on my blogs recently--perhaps you are all busy too!

One Charybdis Down, and Visiting the Alpacas

While I haven't had all that much time to knit the past few days, some progress has been made on all of my projects, including finishing the first of the Charybdis pair, shown here in its swirly beauty. I think the Auracania yarn in very weird colors really goes well with this swirly pattern, and I've enjoyed making this first one--it just takes a while when I am concentrating on other things. This sock was done toe-up, and has a short-row heel, which looks just fine, for a short-row heel. It's always nice to do something different every so often.

The one thing that surprised me about these socks is that perhaps I went too tight on the ribbing. I decided to go off on my own (perhaps dangerous) and do a K1P1 twisted ribbing, just to add a neat edge. But, when I bound off with my usual method, I could not get the sock over my heel! It was really, really tight! Argh. so, I had to take it all apart and put a different edging on. I guess the picot edge looks festive enough to make it worthwhile. Now I just hope I can duplicate the sock. Well, actually, the second sock's swirls will go the other way, which is quite sophisticated!

One reason I haven't been doing too much knitting this week is that Lee and I went out to the Old Oaks Ranch, which is near Wimberly, which was having its open house yesterday. I am glad I finally got a chance to go out there, though it meant I missed the yarn shop. Sometimes you just have to do a family activity on a weekend. It's a great place to visit if you ever have the time. They have lots of lovely alpacas, plus a sculpture garden and a shop where they sell yarn, looms and spinning supplies. And they have lots and lots of classes. I'd love to find the time to go to one of them some time!

We missed the demo of alpaca shearing, but did see a freshly shorn alpaca looking much thinner than her companions! I bought a pound of alpaca yarn, in what appears to be worsted weight. It has three plies, one natural, one fawn, and one chocolate. Texas Fiber Mill, the fairly new company that turns fleece into yarn, does the yarn for Old Oaks Ranch, and it is very nice. So cool it was all done in Texas. I think the yarn will make a wonderful cardigan, and I have some solid chocolate yarn that can be used for trim, etc., if I need more. The best part is that I also got pictures of each of the animals whose fleece went into the yarn. I know I am a nut for knowing who gave the fiber, but I think it's really a nice connection.



Tida gave the natural color. She is shown here rolling in the dust--so happy!


Dr. D. gave the fawn yarn. He was off in the boys' pasture, away from the ladies.


SeaBelle is particuarly lovely and gave the chocolate yarn. She's the one on the left in the photo. They're all beautiful animals, but these are the beauties who provided my yarn's ingredients.


We also saw a fun demonstration of taking raw alpaca fiber and turning it into a felted hat. Suzanne, one of the partners at the ranch, did the demo. It really looked fun!

As for the other projects, I got past halfway on Flit 'n Float, even after I repeated the pieces of the center chart twice. It's going to be just the right length for me, and I can't wait to block it (currently it curls like a piece of stockinette tends to do).

And I did get a bit done on Bridget. I am concentrating on her for the rest of my knitting day today, though, um, I must admit most of my evening will be totally concentrated on a Bruce Springsteen Concert. Fun for me!!!

Days to Celebrate! Yarn to Salivate...over

My personal knitting is not very exciting right now. I am heading up the leg on the Charybdis sock, and it is a fine looking sock. Everyone said “ooh” and “aah” when I tried it on yesterday. And I do a few rows on Itchy Shalom each day—that’s as much as I can handle of the slippery yarn plus slippery needles combo. Mostly I am concerned that I won’t have enough yarn to put any sleeves on it. And I don’t think I can integrate any other bulky yarn I own into it, because nothing at all has a similar texture. But, I have a candidate or two, and may have to give it a try!

Celebrations

I usually get a lot done on Wednesdays, but yesterday I chose to chat and mingle during Chicks with Sticks, rather than sitting and knitting. There was a lot to talk about! One of our most regular readers and commenters, Katie G., had her baby on Tuesday, so there was a lot of talk and excitement on that topic. We can’t wait to see baby Abby, though I am trying to leave the family alone, and know they have tons of visitors as it is. There will be lots of visiting time soon enough!

And yesterday was the 4th anniversary of my local yarn shop, or shoppe, as they spell it. I showed up right on Day 1, and have been there at least twice a week most weeks ever since then! It’s a little home away from home. In these rough economic times, it really pays to hug your LYS owner, and to remember to buy something! (Heh, after spending my wedding gift certificate, I think I own all the yarn I will ever need from there, but I am sure I can be persuaded to change my mind.)

Note that today's photo (from July 2007) combines both exciting events. There's Pat staffing the LYS cash register, and Katie long before baby Abby was an imminent presence. Glad we still have both Katie and the shop to enjoy!

Tonight some friends and I are trying out a new tea shop in Round Rock, whose owner said she’d welcome knitters. That sounds good to me—the menu has delicious sandwiches on it, and I hear there are really nice couches to sit and knit on! I will report on this tomorrow!

Cool Yarn

I’ll end on a cool yarn alert: Dena bought some Araucania Ruca yarn in her travels over the weekend. This is 100% sugar cane derived! Finally, sugar that won’t make me fat! You can’t see it in the illustration on the link, but it has a lovely sheen, slightly “sugary” even. It feels very good, dry like cotton, but not harsh. I gots to get me some of that! They say you can make socks out of it, though it is DK weight. I’ll get at least two skeins, so I’ll have enough for socks or a scarf, but I’ll probably wait until my job situation settles out (and I have some prospects, so there’s hope I can smoothly transition from my current contract to something else!).

A Glimpse at the Final Glory--what it means to be a knitter

Not all that much to report this weekend, but I do have these lovely photos of the finished Kauni Jacket with the edging on for you. Really came out well, didn't it? Lots of photos, but hey, I like them.

Also, here's the photo of the new socks that I promised in the previous entry. I took a better picture now that I am further along on the Charybdis socks. Pretty pattern, pretty yarn. OK!

Sorry the jacket is a little wrinkled--I'd been sitting on the couch. Doesn't the black edging make it look sharp?

Anyway, I had lots of fun at the yarn shop yesterday--I got to help more people than usual, since it was crowded. And it was fun hanging out with the regulars and meeting new folks, both. After a while, Katie and I went to the new JoAnn's Fabric store to get buttons for the Kauni jacket, and so she could walk and walk and try to go into labor. Once I get them on, I will share one more photo. We found a blue and a green ceramic button that goes perfectly with the rustic qualities of the jacket. There were all sorts of really pretty buttons there, so I can't wait to use some on other products. (I already have the handmade buttons for Bridget when I get back to that project, though.)

A number of the usual knitting gang went to a baby shower for our other pregnant friend, Jen, where I think we overwhelmed her family and other friends by whipping out our socks. I was asked if I was able to listen as I knit. Boy howdy, I'd have had trouble in grad school if I couldn't! I think sometimes, when we spend most of our time with fellow knitters we forget the ideas others have about it. I guess most people probably think we all knit stuff and sell it to make money, that most knitters are grandparents (I was asked if I was retired--really need to get that gray in my hair recovered I guess), that Red Heart is "good" yarn, that making socks is amazing and complicated, and that knitting and crochet are the same thing. You just forget what assumptions you can make if the folks around you are knitters.

I should know this. I should remember what it was like when I went outside my little world of "attachment parenting" when my kids were little. It was like a different world. It was surprising to learn what odd ideas people had about me when they found out I held certain parenting beliefs. But I've mostly learned to cope with the wide variety of other ideas out there--I need to hang out with the "outside world" a little more so I don't get so surprised at the ideas people have about me because I knit.

I'll just step out, proud to be in my rainbow jacket that screams out to the world, "I am a knitter," and just say "thanks" when people tell me I am super-dee-superly talented for simply picking a nice yarn and knitting some rectangles then sewing them together! It's just who I am.

Converging Ribs Done! And Finding New Projects

I did finish my Converging Rib socks on Wednesday and am wearing them now. They fit really well and look smart and stripey. I regret that I don’t have a photo of both of them, but it has been raining here for three days, and I am trying to get photos of them in the right light so the patterning will show. I really need to design socks using less patterned yarn, but in my defense, when I started these I wasn’t going to do the fancy decreasing, but rather plain ribbed socks. That does mean, though that I have completed one whole pair of socks this year. My previous pair had actually started in November, because I dawdled over it. As a reminder, I put a little recipe on how to do these socks in the blog a few weeks ago. A couple of people have asked me to link it on Ravelry, but really it’s not a pattern—just hints for doing the design element. Maybe I will just go ahead and do it. If it's boring, no one will make it, and that's fine.

I think I’ll go faster on the next pair, the Charybdis , that I mentioned last week was designed by Fiona, who was inspired by my Glacier Lake socks to design her own pair. They are lots of fun, and look way more complex than they are to knit—just what I like in a sock! I may even go ahead and do the short-row heel, just for a change of pace. It’s nice to get back to toe-up socks, since I took a little break from them with the last few pairs.

There are a couple of factors that I hope will keep me interested in these socks. First, the yarn is very different. As I mentioned in a post a little while back, it is Araucania Ranco Multy, which comes in all sorts of nonstandard colorways and is randomly dyed, with lots of splotches and spatters to break it up. The colorway I picked is one I got fairly recently from The Loopy Ewe, even though I already had two skeins of it in my stash. I just liked the way the aqua and lime green blended with the more dominant berry color. So far, it’s just fine to knit with, not splitty or harsh.

Note: I took a picture with my camera phone of the sock toe and have tried to email it to myself, but it isn’t here yet. So, come back later to see the work in progress.

The knitting itself is interesting because I decided to use my new needles that I got at Fibers. They are Chiaogoo stainless steel circulars in size 00, which I hope will make my sock gauge just a little tighter than it has been lately. I am very fond of the clear nylon cable on these. It’s a bit more flexible than KnitPicks or Addi Turbo, but not as overly flexible as the Kollage square ones. This means that I can push the yarn toward the tip without the cable bending back on itself like the collage ones do, but it doesn’t annoyingly insist on poking out like some thicker cables do. I am, however, not sure that I love the slightly bend tips. They remind me of some of those old Aero aluminum or nonstick needles. However, I am getting used to sliding the yarn around the bends, and it isn’t slowing me down. In any case, it’s always good to try a new needle, in case you love it. And these were not at all expensive (I actually think they were just $5), so I didn’t break the bank getting 00s and 000s. That’s a bargain compared to some of the other needles I’ve bought!

I have a tiny project I will probably work on Saturday, then I should be heading into my next UFO completion project, the Itchy Shalom. More on that later!


What Are You Doing Next?

Looking for things to knit? Here are some online magazine ideas (some of which I have already discussed in greater detail, but wanted to group together):

• Spring 2009 Knitty , featuring a scarf called Fit + Flirt by my friend Birdy in San Antonio and the lovely Decimal sweater by an Austin resident.
• Spring 2009 Twist Collective, which also has some great patterns, including good ones for guys.
• Spring 2009 Knotions, which has a lovely scarf and socks, plus a “Spring Kimono” that reminds me of the Decimal pattern, in that it will look good on petite or statuesque folks.
• Ravelry, every day: What I do most days is click the Patterns tab, then click the small link above the selection of latest patterns that says “see more.” This shows you everything that’s been added, from most recent to dim past (if you have the patience to click that long). It’s a fun way to find inspiration, or to see if someone just published the idea you had (has happened to me). And it can give you a good laugh sometimes. For example, this morning I went to look and up popped a crochet pattern that I think was supposed to be a calla lily, but looked to me like the cup on a lacrosse stick. Ravelry will eventually have all the patterns in each of the other things listed above, but you would miss the articles, so do the advertisers a favor and check out the online knitting zines! I must say I enjoy the ads, too!

Question of the Day: What online knitting magazines have I left out? Tell me more!