Hey, brother!

Marigolds (a la Pam, but shuffleboard style)

When I first saw the photos of Pam's (Ms. FlintKnits) original Marigolds I knew I had to have them. I knew they had to be yellow just like Pam's. This may admitting to my complete lack of original thought when it comes to imagining her Marigolds in any color but yellow, but I don't care. I needed them in yellow! Needed them I tell you!! Now I have them and I love them!

Modifications? Heck, no. The pattern knits up quickly. It's easy to memorize but keeps your interest (I love the ruffles!). The yarn is Black Bunny Fiber, wool/silk fingerling yarn. The colorway is Trophy. I really enjoyed using this yarn; it's super soft and non-splitty. This is the second time I've used Black Bunny Fiber and both times I've had no problems with pooling or flashing.

My only issue with these socks is that for two weeks I've had that Rufus Wainwright song (Rebel Prince) in my head. Not the whole song, just the part where he sings "marigold, marigold, marigold" over and over and over. Grrrr!!

While I knit these I indulged in what will surely become an annual summer ritual: watching all three seasons of Arrested Development back to back. Honestly I watched a few episodes from Season 2 a few times because "Good Grief" and "Afternoon Delight" are my favorites; I think AD really hit its sweet spot in the middle of Season 2. God I miss that show. My brother gave me the dvd's for Christmas last year. Last week was the first time I broke open Season 3. And guess what?! There were two episodes I missed when they originally aired. That means I got to watch two new-to-me episodes! For someone who loves the show so much she has almost memorized every line that was a pretty amazing discovery.

I'm so lucky to have a brother who gives me AD dvd's and appreciates hand knit scarfs and socks (and ladies, he's a-vail-a-ble!). So, in honor of the best younger brother a sister could have, here's a compilation of that other younger brother, Buster Bluth, found on YouTube. Enjoy!

Got my mojo working.

After a month of knitting, frogging, knitting, frogging... you get the idea... I finally have my knitting mojo back. I finished the pair I'm about to show you late last week. Since then I've been in a frenzy of knitting, matching my yarn stash to patterns I like, and dreaming of future projects. I'm back, baby!!

The smoke has cleared, for now. I think St. Petersburg might get a little more smoke from the fires, but hopefully nothing like last Friday (pictures in my previous post). That day we had the worst air quality on record for St. Pete. It was like being trapped in an unventilated smoky bar - all day. It was nasty. Sunday, finally, we could see blue skies.

In the last post I promised you a finished object, some WIPs and the most awesome stitch markers - ever! Here we go...

Let's start with the most awesome stitch markers. The photo and thanks are long overdue; Sean made these and gave them to me weeks ago. But because of my knitting malaise I haven't been keeping up with the blog. So without further ado:


The photo is a little blurry (no macro lens) but its the best I've been able to do with my camera. Aren't these the most perfect stitch markers for me? Little dog stitch markers (and a tiny sock keychain)! Thank you, thank you, Sean! I love them so much. Right now he's selling them at Needles & Knobs in St. Pete, but I hope he makes them available online, too. Maybe if you visit his blog and ask him, he'll sell you some.

Finally... drum roll, please, my first knitting photo in a month. I made these for Mom for Mother's Day. Ahhh, she gave me life and I give her socks:


Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt from IK's Favorite Socks. I used Louet Gems in Aqua. I am becoming a huge fan of Louet Gems, the colors are gorgeous. As for the sock pattern: if I made them again there are things I'd do differently. I tend to knit from patterns just as they're written. I must have been a lemming in a past life. So when the pattern said to do two rows before joining in the round I thought, well, must be part of the design. Now I have a notch at the top of each sock (and not in the back where you think they'd be. They're on the side.). When it said to cut the yarn after turning the heel, I thought, well, there must be a reason, and off the cliff I went. Twice, because I wanted the socks to match perfectly. Live and learn. I think she'll like them: she likes this color and I think the leaves are sunny and spring-like.

This weekend I started two new pairs.

I started my first pair of Jaywalkers - a right of passage for knitters. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill in Life's a Beach. I bought this yarn when I was in a particularly sunny mood (I get all crazy for bright colors maybe once a year). The colors may be a bit too strong for me, but I hope it'll make for an interesting sock. These may end up being gifted or at least saved for my next bright color day.


The next day I started this sock:


This funny looking thing is the Child's First Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. This is my first Nancy Bush sock, even though I have three of her books. I wouldn't have thought about knitting this particular sock because the photo in the book isn't very appealing. Then I saw the socks made by Christy and Terhi (both of these ladies are always working on amazing stuff) and I knew I had to make them. As you can see, this sock is progressing faster than the Jaywalkers. I love this pattern; every so often the pattern changes so I never get bored. I love this yarn (J Knits Supersock, color Indiana), I love the way it's knitting up; from what little I can try on so far the sock already feels as comfortable as my favorite pair of jeans, even with the 25% nylon content. Love. It.

Welcome to the Monkey House

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. / Knitty Winter 2006
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Indian Summer
Modifications: None, except used 2.25 instead of 2.5 needles

These were fun and quick to knit. I never have the urge to knit the same thing twice, but I am already thinking of knitting another pair! I searched for awhile to find the yarn I wanted to use. I wanted a subtle varigation that would show off the pattern. I looked online then realized I had what I wanted in my stash all along.

After blocking, I took my Monkeys out to play shuffleboard.


These are some of the oldest courts at the club. I think they were installed around 1928. They're terrazzo (the other 50 courts are concrete). In their present condition the terrazzo courts are unplayable (terrazzo courts are very difficult to maintain). But they sure are purty.


Here's an eye-candy photo of my little monkeys (one of their more serious-looking poses for the camera). Jackson is in the back, Sasha in the middle, Betty in the front. One of Sasha's nicknames is Monkey (aka Sasha Monkey). She was six months old when I adopted her. She had been a stray for who knows how long so bringing her home was a little like bringing home a baby raccoon (she refused to eat from a bowl for a couple weeks!). She earned her Monkey nickname shortly after I adopted her. She decided she wanted to sit on my friend's lap so she climbed up by scaling his legs. She put her right paws on one leg, left paws on the other, and shimmied right up like a little spider monkey.

Green socks for a green day

Happy St. Patrick's Day (Lá Fhéile Pádraig)! I finished my green Hederas just in time.



I'm frantically pulling together my St. Patrick's Day dinner: beef and Guinness stew, colcannon, smoked salmon and greens with soda bread, and lemon tart with berries. Have a great day!

Trick mittens (warning: STR club spoiler below)

Even though it has been a long time since my last post, I have been knitting. Really. I've also been busy working and haven't had much time for blogging. As a freelancer it seems it's either feast of famine workwise. The last two weeks have been feast. So yay! for being able to keep my dogs living the lifestyle in which they've become accustomed. Unfortunately the fun stuff gets cast aside for a bit until I catch my breath.

While I was buried in work, the knitting world carried on without me - big time (New Knitty! New Interweave editor!). I love the new Knitty. I see Clessidra in my future.

After three months of no posting, Eunny Jang posts this. It makes me feel better that she's been knitting since she was four. Oh, Eunny Jang, how do you do it? Just as I was wiping the drool off my keyboard, here she goes again with this announcement about becoming the new editor of Interweave Knits. I'm so many years behind Eunny. But when I look at her designs I'm not discouraged. I'm inspired by her and can see what I have to look forward to with my knitting.

To top it off, last Monday I got my first installment of the Socks That Rock club (photo below). Beautiful! A lot of people have mentioned this and I agree: it's not a colorway I would normally buy for myself. But now that I have it I love it. I think the club is going to help me explore colors and patterns I wouldn't have experimented with on my own.

I knit these a couple weeks ago: my first pair of mittens. Flip-top, baby! From Handknit Holidays. Yarn is Manos del Uruguay in Coffee and Wildflowers.


Oooh.


Aaah.

I learned a few things during this little project.

1. I enjoy knitting mittens. I didn't think I'd like it (who knows why), but I did. However...


2. ...I get crabby when there's more than one place in my knitting held together with waste yarn. I had waste yarn on the thumb and on the flippy part. Maybe because the two places were so close together, I don't know, but I don't like it when waste yarn gets in the way of the working yarn.


3. Sometimes it becomes necessary for one to make Manos one's bee-yotch. I switched to a new skein of Wildflowers at the flap of my second mitten. New skein = totally different pattern/pooling than the first skein. To make the last part look like the other 75% of the mittens, at 4 places I randomly cut about 6 inches of yarn then spit-spliced it back together. That broke up the pooling enough to match the rest of the mittens.

Okay... drumroll please... here is the first skein of the 2007 Rockin' Sock club. After practically stalking my mail carrier for two weeks, then doing a little happy dance in front of her when she delivered the box, I am pretty certain she thinks I'm a nutter-butter. But I don't care, I was just so happy to finally get this:



The grey has a lot of blue in it and the brown has green in it. The skein changes colors depending on the light. I don't mean to imply it's a magic skein, I mean that it's made up of colors that have a habit of looking different in different situations. I can't wait to try the first club pattern with this!

Hey wait! It's still February!

I had plans, big plans I tell ya, for Fair Isle February. I really want to make the Tropical Garden Vest from Knit 2 Together.

I've been flip-flopping between making the vest or reducing my stash all month. In the end stash reduction won. After all, there are plenty of small stranded projects I can do with what I already have. Plus I have to admit I am not 100% happy yet with my mad stranded skillz. I've done a couple of small projects and so far I haven't mastered the art of even stranded knitting. Everything comes out kind of lumpy. But my Fair Isle February project, a Bea Ellis traditional hat in Dale of Norway Heilo is my most even yet. The snowflakes aren't lumpy at all!



The hat has been gift-wrapped and sent up north to a friend. I'll start the Tropical Garden Vest (sort of a tropical inspired Fair Isle pattern more appropriate for Florida than a snowflake hat) soon. I've put it at the end of the queue, after a few more pairs of socks and a cable vest I already have the yarn for. Does the list get longer and longer for all knitters?!

I caved.

I had to buy it. I had so much fun making my first baby sweater. Then I saw this at my LYS and I couldn't help myself. The photo doesn't do the color justice. It's not dark blue, its more jewel-toned. Like that blue night sky in winter, when it gets dark too early but that electric blue hangs around for an hour and the world seems rather magical. All I needed was one skein to make the sweater. That's not so bad, right?


I even like the strange arrow shaped pooling.

The Great 2007 Stash Bustin' Snoozefest

New rule: I can't buy any new yarn until I de-stashed a bit (arrgh, I'm knitting as fast as I can!). I'm not being as strict as the Knit From Your Stash 2007 folks in terms of rules about when my de-stashing will be over. I just have absolutely no storage space in my small house (two tiny closets, people!). There is yarn crammed into every available space. My office, once used only for my work, has now been taken over by plastic boxes full of yarn. Bedroom dresser: yarn stuffed in between t-shirts and sweaters. Open the storage/sofa end tables, where once housed DVD's and CD's? Yarn.

The one indulgence I am allowing myself is the Socks That Rock! Socks Club; the first shipment of which should arrive ANY DAY NOW. I've been hovering around my mailbox like Ralphie waiting for his secret decoder ring. (If the first sock yarn shipment has anything to do with Ovaltine I will lose it!)

In the meantime, I continue to de-stash. Most of 2006 for me was a blur of out-of-control yarn purchases (I'm not the only one, right?!). Unfortunately I wasn't very smart about my purchases. Not realizing that I would actually be confident enough to one day knit a whole sweater, I bought yarn 2 to 3 skeins at a time. The result is that I now have tons of yarn but can't knit any big projects with it (well, maybe if I took the time and got creative about it, but that seems like a lot of work). My idea? Baby sweaters. The people in my life have gone all baby crazy and said babies are at the age where I can knit them sweaters with 2 to 3 skeins. I figure it's destashing and acquiring some sweater know-how all in one.

Here's my first sweater. It's a test sweater, really, but came out better than I expected. It's made from yarn I bought within my first month of knitting, before I realized there was yarn besides Jo-Ann Fabrics. It's a Jo-Ann's yarn, Bellezza Collection Dolcetto (what is up with that full of it name?!). It has the same yarn content and feels exactly like Rowan Soft Baby. It's not plied (is that the correct term?) so the yarn would probably look better as a blanket, but the sweater is cute anyway. The pattern is Knitting Pure and Simple's Baby Pullover. It took less than 2 skeins (for 6 month size):


Up next, ribbed socks made from this worsted weight little lovely:

Prism Yarn, Andee in colorway Garden. I would've used this for a baby sweater, but all the babies I know are boys. Plus, I really want some nice warm socks made with this.

The Pirate Life

Ahoy! I finally finished the "We Call Them Pirates" hat - just in time for my friend Todd's visit. I made him the hat to commemorate his first visit to Gasparilla. I say first visit but really one Gasparilla will pretty much do for most people over 25. I was however impressed with Todd's bead catching skills. The St. Petersburg Times said 400,000 people came to watch the invasion and I believe it. Bayshore was packed.

Back to the hat: it was the second We Call Them Pirates hat I made the past two weeks. The first hat I knitted with the recommended needle size. I used the same yarn, Dale of Norway Hauk (same colors even). I checked my gauge like a good little knitter. But when I was done with it I could barely fit it over my head. My knitting got tighter when I used two colors. My swatch was with just one color. That means I either need to do stranded gauge tests for stranded projects or learn how to do stranded knitting correctly. I went up one size, US 4, for the second hat and it worked much better. No longer felt as if pirates were squeezing my brain.

It was too warm to wear the hat for Gasparilla, but Todd graciously agreed to model the next day, when it was a bit cooler:


We even took the hat out for some pirate-y shuffleboard action before Todd had to fly back to DC. Pirates love shuffleboard:

Log Cabin Fever

Woo hoo!! I am finished making Log Cabin socks (at least until next Christmas)! I made four of these as gifts this Christmas. Although I am so, so happy to be able to move on to other patterns, I will probably make more next Christmas, as these are phenomenal house socks. Of the three I made earlier, two were made with Berroco Ultra Alpaca, and one was made with Classic Elite Wings. I used the yarn the pattern called for, Cascade Pastaza, for this final pair, a gift for my brother. He knows he's getting them; Christmas morning he unwrapped half a sock still on the dpns. Pastaza is a pain to knit with. Split yarn everywhere. But boy they are beautiful, warm, soft socks. I wish I had used it for all four socks. I will use it for more house socks in the future.

Pattern: Log Cabin socks from Handknit Holidays
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza, color 027
Needles: Clover dpns US5
Modifications: Used US5 dpns instead of US6, because although the gauge was correct on US6 the socks were huge.

I've been experimenting with different backgrounds in my knitting photos. The first one is taken on my front porch with my cuban tiles as the background. You can see the problem in this photo; turns out dogs, particularly Jackson, love Log Cabin socks.


The detail in these photos isn't very good. I wanted to get a close up of the heel. I love the cabled heel. It looks great on the foot, but since my brother wears size 12's, my feet look like they have elfin magic when I wear these. He's promised to send me a photo of him wearing the socks.

Instant Gratification Socks

I think I underestimated how much work it would be to knit all my Christmas gifts. By New Years Eve I still had one more Log Cabin sock to go; I hit a wall and just couldn't stand one more day of cables. So on New Years Day I gave myself a break and whipped up these bulky alpaca socks, which I have named "Instant Gratification Socks." I made them for a friend who I'm told spends most of her time at home in thick, comfy socks. I hope she likes these. They're soft, comfy and a prettier blue than this photo makes them out to be.



Pattern: Plymouth Yarns Ribbed Socks #36
Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande Color #679
Needles: Clover dpns US6
Modifications: Blissfully, none. Followed the intructions and had a few days of stress-free knitting.