The Sound of Silence

I have been working so hard, y'all, I can't even tell you! Whine whine...but pretty much the whole purpose of this post is to say that I have been flat out at work and have had no time to knit or craft in pretty much anyway, and I have therefore very little of substance to say on any subject of interest to this blog. Here, have a photo instead:



Some friends and I went to the National Arboretum this weekend to soak up some fall color and do some photography (I keep a separate account for my crafty stuff so they do not clutter up my nice pretty arty photos). That was really all I did that did not involve work. Here, have another.



It turns out that a lot of the real beauty is kind of difficult to capture. It's tough to beat the human eye when you're looking at landscape. There's a part of its beauty that can't be put in a little four-by-six box. So, I went for closeups and wierd angles and thought about what I could do with the light I had and how I could make it work for me. I think I did pretty well all in all.



So, not necessarily crafty, but creative.

Meanwhile I am having commitment issues. I remain enchanted by the sweater yarn that was gifted to me (Kathy read my blog! Hi Kathy! I love your podcast Kathy! Say hi to Steve!) but I am Concerned about the Twist and Shout pattern. I really like it on the model, but I worry about whether it will actually look good on me. Fortunately, I have plenty of time to debate this issue since I have a long, long way to go before the Christmas knitting is done.

I was incensed at the lack of lines at my polling place. I walked up to the lady and I said "I was promised lines!!" I stood in line longer at the darn Starbucks, where I expected to be in and out and so did not bring my sock knitting with me. So there went a perfect chance to get some knitting done, right out the window. I have soldiered on despite the lack of time, in the quiet moments I can manage, and I have turned the heel and begun the gusset decreases on my second Casbah Caledonian Mist sock.

This week at choir one of the ladies in my church whose husband is in Iraq was talking about putting together packages to send to him and the men he is with, and she turned to me and said, "Do you have any socks we could send?" and I admit I was a little flabbergasted. Did she think I just churned out a sock a minute and I had just piles laying around? She knows I do the SFS knitting (which I have sadly neglected, to be truthful) so I guess maybe she thought I had some pairs that I hadn't sent off yet. I do have one pair that is still sitting at home because they are uneven and I have to undo the toe and rip back a bit so that I can get them to an even foot length, becuase I am dumb and eyeballed rather than measuring and then didn't even RE-eyeball before I washed them and one of them is at least a quarter inch longer than the other. Now I am debating in the back of my head whether I can commit to knitting a pair for her package. If I did it just plain I suppose it could be doable.

Status dump, with photos

The women's ministry at my church sponsors many fellowship outings, and recently we went to Claytime Cafe, one of those paint-your-own pottery things. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to me. One of the events that we do every year is an ornament exchange. I have always brought a handmade ornament for the ornament exchange. Some have been more successful than others. I painted one (nothing fancy, just some swirls of clear varnish on a matte ornament), I did a papercraft one (I don't think that looked very good), and last year I beaded one. As soon as I got to Claytime I started scoping out the options for Christmas ornaments, and voila.

Before firing:





After firing:





The last few years, I've done an altered luncbox as the gift box. I may switch things up a bit - I think I saw some containers at Michaels that were made to be covered. Just so I can do something besides the lunchbox. Like a little hatbox type shape or something.

We went to a wedding yesterday that was a couple hours away. Car knitting time! I mostly worked on a pair of plain socks for the SO's mom and the scarf for my mother.





I knew I needed the sock because the battery was dead in the little earclip light I use to knit in the dark, so I needed something I could work on without seeing. I had just cast on the second sock of the pair, so on the way their I got through the cuff and then put it aside to work on during the drive home. Then I went to work on the scarf for my mom's stocking. I'm having more trouble memorizing the pattern than I would really prefer, but I don't think this is the pattern's fault. It is going quite quickly, though, especially considering that the pattern is written for sock weight yarn and I am using laceweight. I have somewhere between four and six inches done. By the time we got home, I'd finished the leg of the sock. Yarn is KnitPicks Gloss Lace for the scarf and KnitPicks Essential Riverbed Multi for the socks (I think it's discontinued).

Still working on the Caledonian Mist socks in Casbah Peacock.



Almost ready to start the heel - I think I have another four or five pattern repeats to go.

I haven't worked on Whispering Pines at all this week, but I am planning to get moving on it this evening.



The SO and I have been dating 9 years as of last Thursday so he bought me a present. The present is this, but right now it looks like this:



Valley Yarns Colrain in Grape Jelly. I'm excited! But I put it away until the Christmas knitting is done. Most of it. I'm keeping a skein out where I can see and pet it, just to keep me motivated.

Plugging along

It's like I can feel the rows getting longer and longer. I really think it's an illusion - it's just because the pattern repeats right now are so short. I'm in the area I think of as the "snow field" between the big snowflakes and the pine trees. The pattern repeat is 8 stitches. I have markers every 16, just to keep myself from going crazy. Also...because I don't have enough Hide & Sheep markers to keep up with even every 16 stitches, and I am starting to be biased against the rubber ring markers - the Hide and Sheep ones are prettier and thinner and just more pleasant to work with. I've bought 3 sets of the snowflake obsidian markers at this point. I've got the set with the one star marker, the set with the one black marker, and in the set I just bought, I asked for all snowflake obsidian since I really didn't need another row marker, and the folks at Hide & Sheep kindly accomodated me. even so, I have a couple of rubber ring markers still on my shawl. Woe. I'll have to add a couple more for the next chart. Incidentally, I use the star marker as the first marker on the needles when I work a right side row, and the black marker as the first marker on the needles when I work a wrong side row, because I am not always smart enough to remember which one I am working, and coming to that visual reminder stops me before I get too far working the wrong row. ANYWAY. I am on the last row of the second chart for the snowfield, and then I think there is one more chart of snowfield before I get to the pine trees.

When I hit the pine trees I will be, visually speaking, halfway done. However, since every row gets longer - it's definately not halfway done. Still, I am encouraged that I will have this done in plenty of time for Christmas. If I can finish it by the end of November, I will be ecstatic.

Some time ago I mentioned wanting to find a snowflake themed pin to give along with the shawl, but at the time I couldn't find anything. Since it was the middle of summer I resolved to wait until a little closer to the right season before I resorted to making a pin myself. Sure enough, I found one on Etsy and ordered it. It's in the style of a kilt pin and has little snowflake charms hanging from it. Now, looking at it, I know exactly how it was made and I know I could have done it myself. But, I reasoned, of all the crafts I have tried, jewelry-making has been the least interesting to me and it is the one in which I have the least experience. Also, it's really difficult to be cost effective if you are only making one item. So, I went ahead and bought it. I do have one concern, which is that it's a kilt pin style so there is a small circle at the base of the pin that could, conceivably, catch in the knitting...but I think it'll be okay. I'm going to look at it when I get it and see what I think. It may be that I will go back and search for some kind of stick type pin instead, but I'm not sure. I'm reasonably sure that quite a bit of care will be taken by the recipient, so unless it looks like it is just asking for trouble, I will go ahead with what I've got. I'll post pictures of progress when I get the pin so you can see both. I may have to move the shawl onto a longer cable, though, it really can't be spread out anymore on the 24 inch. This is fine because I need the 24 inch cable. I'm actually out! Somehow, all of my 24 inch cables are in use.

I had several cables pop their join on me last weekend. I'm not sure what's up with that - I guess I just got a bad batch. Most of the time I don't have a problem, but every once in a while I get a cable that pops within minutes. I admit, I'm rough on them, so I shouldn't be surprised, but it's kind of vexing. The most annoying part is - I had just receveived a KnitPicks order! I was casting on a scarf in Gloss lace that I had just gotten in the mail! If I had only checked, I could've ordered more cables and been fine! argh! I had the problems with the cables when I went to put it on the 32 inch - I think two 32 inch cables from the same package popped their joins before I pulled out my second set of 32 inch cables, which worked fine. I know I could probably go to knitpicks and have them replace the faulty cables, but I don't really feel the need.

Anyway, if I switch the cables, I can put the 24 cable on the needles I am using for the scarf, and put the shawl on the 32 so that I have more length. After all, it is only going to get bigger (hold me while I weep for a minute).

Decision Made

Yesterday I put away MS4 and picked up Whispering Pines (eventually - there was a slightly panicked search when I could not find the ziplock it was in, but the SO came to the rescue, finding it in the craft room before I had time to work up into a real fit about it).

I'm on Chart C on Whispering Pines and when I looked at the picture and mapped where I was to the picture of the finished shawls - I have kind of a lot of work to do. It was definitely the right decision to pick it up.

I have to say in the interests of full blog disclosure - the last couple charts of MS4 made it not so hard to put it down. There's nothing wrong with them, per se...I'm just not sure I want to knit them as is. The designer's theme, now revealed, is "Serendipity" and it seems that the stole does not represent anything in particular, so much as the element of surprise, which...seems to me to be kind of redundant in a mystery stole. I'm a little disappointed - I love to knit things with a story, which is one of the reason I like so many of Pink Lemon Twist's patterns, they are always well thought out and representative of the story she is trying to tell, and that appeals to my romantic English major self. (also, my pedantic nature wants to point out that 'serendipity' and 'surprise' do not mean the same thing, but that is petty and I will not give in to it)

However, I do really like the pattern up through chart 5 - to me it looks like campfires in the woods with mountains in the background, and I really love it. But, I'm thinking about changing the last couple of charts to fit with my idea. I think this would basically consist of taking out the diamonds. I think I can convince myself that the flower-type motif in the very center of the shawl is the sun (I need to look at a few more knitted pictures), but the diamonds just don't really work for me. I'm considering leaving the small ones on chart 5, but the big ones in the middle just don't quite do it for me.

I bought two skeins of KP Gloss lace in Sterling and the KnitSpot pattern Tudor Grace to make a scarf for my mom for Christmas. I want a pattern I can memorize and carry around (so that it won't compete for knitting time with Whispering Pines) and that one seems like it will fit the bill. The pattern is written for sock weight yarn, but I want it to be small and filmy, since I'm intending it more for an accent with clothing than for warmth or anything like that, so I bought laceweight yarn. My mom lives in Texas and doesn't generally have to wear a scarf for warmth anymore, but she likes them with clothes. I'm hoping the grey will go with some of her things. And if it's not done by December, it can be my airplane knitting!

Back!

I beg forgiveness for the long blog silence. I am, generally speaking, kind of embarassed to blog without photos, so I tend to not blog when I don't have any. But! Look what we have today!



Caledonian Mist in Handmaiden Casbah Peacock. This photo is actually a little old and out of date, as this sock is finished - but the second sock looks basically the same, so - pretend. Except the second sock is not nearly this long yet. So...I'm both behind, and ahead with this picture?

Regardless, just try to tell me that isn't stunning. It's all I can do not to go buy all the Casbah I can get my hands on.

Next up, MS4.



I am woefully behind. This is about halfway through Clue 3. I am a failure of a mystery stoler. Have a detail shot.



I admit I have been ignoring the community aspect of this project almost entirely. I haven't looked at any pictures or any discussion, so forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but - the yarnover motifs look like campfires or burning incense to me. Interesting.

I have a condition, which may be universal or may be universal to new knitters, or it may be just me, but generally speaking, when I look at a chart full of yarnovers...that's all I see. I can't see the picture until I have actually done the knitting. Hmm, now that I look at it, the beads look like they could be pine trees. So, maybe I am right on the camping theme?

I personally hate camping, but that's okay, I think I can forgive the stole, since it is in fact really pretty. Not really sure where the mass of yarnovers that are clues 4 and 5 will go, though. But, that is the fun, isn't it?

Here's a closer look at the top:



I need to try to remember to crop my photos tighter.

The color in these photos isn't bad; I took it upstairs and photographed it without a flash by an open window, and then when I got it on the computer I adjusted it until the color of the cloth I was using for a background was close to correct. However, I am kind of thinking that if there really is a camping theme, I'd have liked to use a green yarn instead of this marine blue - but oh well, that's the Mystery, isn't it?

Anyway, I'm enjoying the project, except one problem - I've got two other lace projects of about the same level of complexity that are in process. This was a mistake. I don't really get anxiety over multiple projects if they are different types of projects, because different projects are appropriate for different kinds of knitting time. However, I do get nervous when I have multiple projects competing for the same type of knitting time. I have 3 lace projects going now that require about the same amount of attention - Moonlight Sonata, Whispering Pines, and MS4. I have worked on MS4 exclusively and I would, I think, be okay with that, except that Whispering Pines is a Christmas present and I fear that I won't finish it in time. I thought I would be okay because MS4 ends in October and then I would have all of November and most of December to do Whispering Pines, but I am starting to worry, especially since I am so far behind on MS4. I am considering two options:

1 - Work on MS4 until the knitalong is over, and then stop wherever I am on it and pick up Whispering Pines as I intended.

2 - Accept that I am not going to catch up anyway, and put down MS4 now until Whispering Pines is finished. Download and store all the clues until I am ready to pick it up again.

I'm leaning toward option 1 at this point.

I do have one other project for Christmas, a pair of fingerless mitts for a friend. I have the yarn, Little Knits Indie II in Burgandy, but I haven't started yet. In fact I don't think I have checked to see whether I have the right size needles either - note to self, do that.

I am not too worried about getting those done, but if the pattern is correct I should have enough yarn for 2 pair, and I would like to make the second for another friend.

I am resisting the urge to mentally commit to other presents, just in case. I'd like to make a pair of socks for my mom, and I'd like to make a hat for my dad, to go in their stockings (my mom stuffs the stockings so I especially like to stick a little something in for her when she is not looking), but I have not bought yarn so that I don't end up overcommitting (although I am really quite sure I could make a pair of plain socks for my mom, I mean really now, surely I can handle a pair of simple stockinette socks in two and a half months - although a lacy silky scarf would be kind of neat to put in her stocking as well and I do have a bunch of KP Gloss in the stash...).

I am totally doomed, aren't I?

Can you fall in love twice?

I am so giddy that I can't even wait for a good picture, so I'm posting a crappy cameraphone shot:



This is my newest sock, Caledonian Mist from Pink Lemon Knits in Handmaiden Casbah in Peacock. On Ravelry I am calling it my crown jewels socks because several inches ago, when it was just the cuff and a few rows of pattern beneath it, it really did look like a crown with little jewels stuck on it.

I really thought this colorway was going to be a disaster - I actually was trying to get Casbah in Topaz or Peridot, I can't remember which, and it turned out they were out so when they called me, I took a quick look at the site and named a colorway without much thought. It looks pretty enough in the skein but when I wound it I was terrified. I thought, this is going to be awful. I wound it with the full intention of casting it on that night, and then I didn't. It sat there forever and ever while I knit other socks and then finally, Tuesday night I needed a new sock project and this one was already ready, so I cast it on and there I went and what do you know? The pattern is magic. It turned this colorway into something spectacular. My biggest concern about it was the yellow - I was sure I was going to hate the yellow. Well, it NEEDS the yellow, otherwise it would look so muddy. The little yellow passed over stitches pop against the dark background, and it just looks fantastic. I'm so thrilled. And it's FAST! Apparently I can yarn over and pass a stitch over faster than I can switch from knit to purl and back again, or something. I don't know. All I know is that I am speeding through this and the yarn, OMG, the yarn is so wonderful. The sock feels like velvet. I may never knit with another yarn again.

But, of course, rain comes along with the rainbow, and I do have some Concerns. The first is the cuff, which is done in seed stitch bordered by two rows of garter. It is pretty and I like it, and it was a lot more fun than never-ending ribbing (although I really thought that, with the chocolate waffle scarf and all, I would rather slit my throat than ever do seed stitch ever again), but it doesn't pull in the way that ribbing does, so while it stretches outward just fine, it doesn't really pull in, so I am going to have to be sure to make this sock long enough to go up to an area of my calf wide enough to fill out and stretch that cuff. I have had issues in the past with sock length. My sock length is always determined by how far I can get the sock up my calf without cutting off my circulation or bursting the cast-on.

I am worried about the yarn itself being a little too thick, as well - I definately could not switch down a needle size and still have fabric that would, you know, bend and stuff, but I don't have as much negative ease (is that the right term?) as I would really like to be comfortable with. we'll see - if I make it through the heel turn and it is still properly snug, I'll be fine. I'm just afraid I am walking the line between guage being too tight and the sock being too loose and I love this yarn so much that I will DIE if I cannot get it to knit correctly.

I really thought I could not love anything as much as the merino/tencel blend in the last socks, but these will just be so comfortable and soft. I also suspect they will be like a furnace for one's feet, but I'm sure that will come in handy with winter coming on.

More to blog but I'm out of time and it will have to wait.

Feeling accomplished

We've been at the beach for the past 4 days so I don't have any pictures of the knitting, but I'm very pleased with the outcome of the weekend. The embossed stitch socks are complete (except for the kitchener on the toe of the last sock, I didn't have the instructions with me and didn't want to mess it up). On the way home, I used some of the leftover yarn and knitted a toe cover for the SO's mom, who has torn a tendon in her heel and is now in a cast. I had planned to make one when we got home, as soon as I heard she was in a cast, but she was asking for one while we were still out there, so I figured I might as well do it on the car ride home. I didn't quite finish before we made it to their house, but I did finish shortly afterward and we left her with crab cakes and happily covered toes. The cover was a little short, but I made a note and I will make her a longer one at a more leisurely pace (and likely with thicker yarn).

I started another pair of plain socks for her with some Knit Picks essential that I had in my stash that, frankly, I don't particularly care for. The colorway is Riverbed Multi and I just didn't care for it that much. It sounds awful that I am pawning off yarn I don't like, but since she is getting a pair of socks out of it, I am not feeling too guilty. I also have a skein of Cherry Tree Hill in Indian Summer that I will never wear but that I think she would like, so that's designated "socks for Karen" as well.

I feel like I should knit my own mother socks, but I am kind of ambivalent as to how they would be received. We'll see. If nothing else, my mother has very small feet, so it shouldn't be much work to make her some! I'll see if I can get some yummy cushy Casbah for her and make some Christmas socks out of it or something.

I did no lace knitting at all over the weekend, so I'm way behind on MS4. Oh well...I don't really mind too much. The only thing that is kind of nagging my brain is the idea of Christmas looming. Eee!!!