Did you watch last night? Did you see the crowds? I'm kind of a cynical, skeptical person, so witnessing a quarter million people gather in a park after dark not to see a rock star, not to be entertained, but to hear one man speak, to be inspired...well, wow...it was really something to see. It was inspirational. I can say it was truly like nothing I've ever seen before.

I stayed up till 1:30 am to watch it all and I'm glad I did. History in the making. A real and sincere feeling that change is afoot. Very very cool.

That being said, thank whatever powers there be in both heaven and earth that the freakin' election campaign is finally OVER!! BAH! May we please return to our regularly scheduled programming? And if I hear the words Jean Shaheen or John Sunnunu one more time I might lose it (candidates running for...senate?...in the great state of Mass.)



Right, knitting. Much less complicated by comparison. This here's a Ribbed Baby Jacket, Debbie Bliss pattern (found online for free...I'll link if I can find it again) with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn, dark brown. Only took 1.75 skeins. Which is brilliant cuz I only had three. Great great stashbuster project, and one that I've been dying to make for years now. It's a great little pattern, super easy, only took me two evenings to complete (though I must admit I knit so much the second evening my wrists paid for it in spades the following day). Love. Might make more.



Next up, a little rolled brim hat of my own devising knit out of some leftover Noro Kuryeon that I had kicking around. Not sure the colourway, but you can clearly see that it is blue. For some reason, the little i-cord decorations at the top of hats (re: Umbilical Cord Hat) amuse me greatly, so I got a little (very little) creative and went my own way with it. Kinda Celtic-y. Anyhow, another one evening project that also busted some stash which I must tell you, is highly addictive. I've been hunting for other projects with the same MO as cranking out an FO in a day or two is making me feel rather euphoric.



I'd love to say that I knit this in a day also, but I'm not that insane. I did finish it last night though, as I was watching the election results roll in. I had it half completed with a heel flap, and decided to rip back to do a garter stitch short row heel, the way I learned it in the Lucy Neatby workshop I took in Mahone Bay on Oct. 31 & Nov. 1. My Knitterpudlian compatriots blogged about it some, so I'll just hit the highlights. Friday; socks. Saturday; Lace. She's a great teacher, super knowledgeable, very colourful and I had a good time. I would so go back to school if I could just sit there and learn about knitting for six-eight hours a day.

The pattern; Flying Arrows. The yarn; Tanis and I can't find the tag otherwise I'd tell you the colourway as it totally deserves full disclosure. I'm having such a love affair with this yarn at the moment. It's damn near perfect. The colour is so layered and intense, the fibre itself is squishy and bouncy and well spun, the resulting item is totally warm and it's an absolute dream to knit up. What more could you ask for? Well, just plain more, that's what!! No second sock syndrome here, I'm dying to cast on and finish so that I can get to the pink skein that I have sitting waiting patiently for me to give it some love too. I want a skein in every colour that this comes in. So if you're looking to buy me something for Christmas, well, you know what to do.

Now if you'll excuse me, this is taking away from some precious knitting time. Must finish something!!!

FO's, WIP's, and a few words...

I'm starting to sound like a broken record...maybe just to myself but the mantra 'I'm so tired!' is starting to sound a little tired. But it's true. This harried pace at which we've been going at for over a year now with regards to this house project is really starting to test my stamina apparently. Exhaustion just isn't a big enough word. Thank goodness huge leaps and bounds of progress have been made in the last few months. We're actually at the point where we will be moving furniture this week. Yes, furniture. From the apartment to the house, from the garage/shed to the house...to fill the house (as much as our paltry assemblage of belongings will fill it once all is said and done). I'll post some pics of all of that later on. For now, it's all about the socks.



I wasn't much of a joiner until this whole knitting thing exploded in my life, and even at that, much of the joining is virtual. But it's still a lot of fun. So I joined Summer of Socks and find that I'm getting pretty into it. My goal was not to knit the most but to try some new patterns and techniques. First pair now finished, started Jun. 21/08, finished Jun. 28/08. Toe-Up Totem pattern, Fleece Artist Somoko Mill ends, 2.25 mm needle. Mods; my own bastardized version of a toe up and an afterthought heel. Short row didn't go well. I have bitter feelings to resolve. Love the final product. Easy pattern to memorize, can't rave about the yarn enough. So warm and cozy. Totally in-house socks only...yarn is too precious for shoes. (New sock blockers...found them at the 'antique' shop in town for $15.00, which I thought was still a pretty good deal. They'll be great for blocking all of the kilt hose I plan on knitting too...totally kidding.



'Nother photo using the flash. You can get a better idea of the mottled/shaded effect of the yarn. And you can see my new pretty carpet again too. Has that new carpet smell. Called 'off gassing' which probably isn't good for you, but like the smell of gasoline at the station, you kinda like it anyway.



Pair # 2 in progress. Regia Nation Colour 5399, acquired at Have a Yarn on WWKIP day. Love love love. Needed an infusion of cheeriness and colour yesterday as I was awakened at 6 am from a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep. Very cranky all day (feel bad for my husband and dog). Generic toe up in an effort to perfect my toe up skilz. I will be attempting the short row heel again, this time with an instruction booklet that a fellow knitter vouchers for being very straight forward. I plan to keep knitting up the cuff until the yarn runs out so that I have gigantic rainbow legs. Methinks these will be in-house only as well. The colours make me happy. As happy as one who can barely string a full sentence together can be at this point.

So there you have it. Not sick of knitting socks yet, although it's been so chilly and dull here the last three days I've been seriously contemplating casting the Central Park Hoodie that I bought the yarn for not that long ago. I could see actually needing to wear it this 'summer' (summer, I've discovered, is a very loose term out here).

Anyway, gotta get back to polyurethane-ing a floor. Until later...

For Heddy...

So Summer of Socks 2008 started yesterday, which is good, because I set my green Fleece Artist Somoko aside for my first pair and have been dying to play with it since I finished my blue Somoko pair. It's so lovely! And I just am deeply smitten with the colour. So much so that I took my yarn cake to the paint store and picked a colour from the shades in it to paint my craft room walls. Yes, that's correct, the queen of all things blue has a green craft room. Well, the walls are green...it's yet to become a craft room. It's still empty.

Anyhow, just a short post to show some progress since last night. No, I did not cast on right at 7 am yesterday when it started. I'm not out to win any contests or the like, just enjoy trying some new sock patterns with pretty coloured yarn. My first pattern here is Toe-Up Totem socks by Hakucho (no web link? Hmm...I got it through a Ravelry download. Sorry, hate to do this to you again, but you can find it there I guess.)

This is my first lacy sock pattern...well, first sock pattern of any kind really. I have thus far only done vanilla socks. It's going pretty smoothly. I'm enjoying the lace and I think the pattern and the yarn are a nice match. It's an eight row repeat, which is nice. Instant gratification and all that jazz. Although, the pattern has some small errors. I didn't do the toe the way it was written in the pattern. I find most toe up toes very confusing, and I don't get it. I'll have to post how I start my toe sometime, which to me seems really straightforward and infinitely less fiddly than most of the toe up patterns that I've read. Anyway, I just went ahead and did my toe and in reading the pattern, you would think that you increase to 32 sts, then divide these 32 onto four double pointed needles and begin the lace pattern. But the way it's written, it says 'divide onto four....thereby having 16 sts on each needles. That no work. I'm pretty bad at math, but even I caught that. So you increase to 64 sts, and then divide. Not earth shattering, but ya know...a bit of an oversight I think.

In any event, I'm enjoying this. I have nothing else critical on my knitting plate, as I cleared my summer to just be able to happily and casually knit socks! How long it will take for me to get utterly sick of knitting socks is anyone's guess.

Until later...

Stashbusting and Startitis...

Subconsciously I think I am preparing for the constable to be away for a week on course.



Project: Pinwheel baby blanket
Yarn: Marks and Kattens Bomull, 50% cotton, 50% wool
# of total balls purchased; 6
Original intention: A baby sweater of some sort
Total yarn used: 3 of the six balls by the time I'm done.
Started: Sometime in May



Project: Felted needle roll
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool, purple and rust
Original intention: Yarn left over from the felted slipper frenzy at Christmas
Total yarn used: Hmm...hard to say. Half a ball of the purple has gotten me this far, and I have another full ball that I was hoping to get rid of. Half a ball of the rust as well, which won't get me all the way. Not sure what I'm going to do after that.
Started: Today



Project: Colourful toddler socks
Yarn: Fortissima Colori (I think)
Original intention: Socks for me
Total yarn used: Most of that ball there hopefully.
Started: Last weekend

The other project is not a stash busting project, but rather a recent stash acquisition. Patons Stretch Sock in the Kelp colourway. I'm also trying two socks on two circs at one time, which while fiddly at first, seems to be going fairly well. Considering I started them yesterday, I'd say they're going pretty well indeed.



I love this face.

NEW SOCKS!

Fleece Artist Somoko mill ends, plain vanilla sock and you should see how much of this stuff I have left over. I toyed with the idea of doing a pattern, as I haven't done one yet with socks, but I am a blue fanatic and just wanted to see how the colour would play out by itself without being interrupted with a pattern. Sure enough, much love for these socks. And they are really really warm!

That's all!

While the Roast is in the Oven...

Sheldon has eyes.



Hank has Roscoe.



I have a lot of sock yarn...



...and not enough to finish this sweater.

That will be all.

Three Dog Night...

Okay, I give. UNCLE! It's just plain cold. Here's the scenario, which I'm sure I've mentioned numerous times before. We bought a house. The house has an apartment attached. The apartment is finished. The house is not. We live in the apartment. The house is heated by hot water. We have the heat on in the house set at 50 F, just to keep things working. The apartment is heated with electric heat. We have the heat on in the apartment at around 20 C (I can swing both ways in the temp department...it's a talent honed by living near the border). The apartment is frickin' FREEZING! The house, by comparision, is rather comfortable when I am in there, usually stealing food and cookware from the kitchen to bring over here to cook (that's a convoluted situation that only requires explaining at another time). It finally clicked that the vents in the foundation were still open, so the constable went and closed those last night, which admitedly, makes the floor a wee bit warmer, but does nothing for the surrounding atmosphere. My nose is always cold, my fingers get cold...the cold cuts right through me. Any time we're just sitting in our livingroom, we're huddled under at least a couple of blankets.

Last night I was conjuring up all sorts of woolen wonders...double layered socks and impossibly thick sweaters. Thanks heavens for our duvet. That and flannel sheets and you have the only place in this blasted apartment that is truly comfortable to be. I relish going to bed, and wonder why I don't just live there full time.

Early settlers and cave dwellers and the like used to have numerous dogs that they slept with, to conserve body heat. I don't know if one will be enough, but at least he's on his way. Speaking of which, gratuitous cute puppy photo is about to befall you:



I don't know if this is a male or a female, but who cares. Isn't this adorable??? Just a little ball of fuzz.



See? Now these guys know how to keep warm...grow some fur, grab a buddy.

The breeder lady has been awesome about sending photos of the puppy progress. They're four weeks old now! Not too much longer. Only a couple of people have tossed their name in the ring, and it was Otto I believe, which is a good name. I still am welcoming submissions if anyone is interested. There will be prizes. One for a really good name, regarless of whether we use it, another for a really ridiculous name, one that makes me laugh and then a random draw type thingy. Hank is still clearly in the lead among the whopping 8 votes received. And interesting tidbit; whilst watching CSI; The Original Series on Thurs., it was revealed that Grissom has a dog named Hank. I think Grissom is a good name for a dog. (aside: Anyone else absolutely elated that Jorja Fox {Sarah Sidle} looks to be leaving the show? She's always really bugged me.)

And now to knitting. After working with black for so long, I was in desperate need of colour. I saw a pair of socks on Ravelry, and I just had to knit them.



These were knit by semperfiona, the link is to her flickr page and they were knit using the Regia Nation Colour Rainbow colourway, which, after knitting a pair of kids socks with them, I just went nuts over. The pattern came from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I believe the stitch pattern is called Moorish Stripe? Yes, yes it is (had to consult with Ravelry on that one).

So anyway, I thought I would give it a test run before I used up my one remaining skein of Nation Colour. I couldn't wait to get the actual pattern, so using the picture, I charted one out that looked approximate. I've never really knit Fair Isle before, just a mere dabbling with some swatches, but I thought it can't be impossible, cuz so many people do it. It's funny, I think that some knitting territory are just places I will never be able to get to, and then I just go ahead and try it and what do you know, some measure of success.



About halfway through doing my usual common heel, I realized that that wasn't going to work with Fair Isle. So I ripped it back and looked up an afterthought heel tutorial online. The pink yarn stripe there is where I would eventually do the heel. I'd never done an afterthough heel before, so that was uncharted ground as well.



I did the heel in pink, cuz I can and it was more of that colour that I needed, and I can't believe how easy it was! I love the fit. Much nicer than the common heel. I think I'll be doing my socks this way from now on. And two handed Fair Isle isn't so bad either. One colour is knit continental, the other English, and it goes really quickly. I changed up the pattern on the foot and I also got to practice more of my proper grafting and I think I can now say, after lo these many years of sock knitting, that I can properly knit a sock. It was also revealed last night that the constable would wear more of my hand knit socks if I did the afterthought heel. He 'fessed up that he didn't wear the socks I've made him because he didn't like the heel or how short I knit the cuffs. Explaining that 'ribbing is boring' didn't seem to impress him much. So maybe he'll get a pair for Christmas. Maybe.

Anyhow, it's time I got back to being cold, so I'm going to go and do that now. Hope y'all are warm wherever you are. Until later...