Inexplicable Knitter Behaviour in St. Petersburg

I decided to join in the Inexplicable Knitter Behaviour scavenger hunt even though I'm far from Toronto. Thankfully the Yarn Harlot opened the Freestyle section to anyone who cares to participate (I do loves me a scavenger hunt). I added these photos to the Flickr group.

Here is my Pomatomus in progress at the World's Largest Shuffleboard Club. "In progress" is a generous term - the sock has looked exactly like this for 6 months. I love the yarn (Fleece Artist Sea Wool). I love the way the pattern looks. But knitting the pattern, em... not so much.

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!

Weekend

Sockapalooza 4 socks are finished! These are Poseiden socks knit with J. Knits in Newburyport. I hope she likes these. I'm slightly self-conscious about my – ummm – less than perfect short row heels. When I ordered the yarn I didn't expect the color to be so bright. She said she likes pink and purple and she's gettin' it! I haven't seen too many bloggers talk about J. Knits. I lurve. The colors are gorgeous. The two pairs of socks I've made with it are so soft and comfortable. I'm definitely ordering more.


While the socks dry from their bath (I assume she doesn't want dog hair on her new socks so I gave them a thorough washing) I compiled a little package to send with them. I made a little sock band to wrap around the socks which I'm quite proud of if I do say so myself.

I knew I'd be even later than I already am with Sockapalooza if I let myself start reading THE BOOK. Yesterday I finally let myself take THE BOOK out of the Amazon box. Yep, I didn't even trust myself to open the box. So two weeks later I'm ready to join the party (it's cool to be late to parties):


You know I'm kidding about sitting on my front porch in August wearing wool socks, right? This is just for show. I finished these socks a few weeks ago. It's hot enough outside to make grown men weep. I sat inside with the A/C and with as little light as possible. It is stinkin' hot here. This is what my Sunday looked like:


Sasha on my right, admiring the beginnings of some Horcrux socks.


Betty on my left, cooling her belly (there is a fan above her).

Jackson doesn't "cuddle" in the summer. He spent the day under an A/C vent in another part of the house.

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.

A weekend of knitting

I haven't had such a knitterly weekend in a long time. Unfortunately, for all the knitting I did I didn't actually finish anything. All my knitting projects are still WIPs.

Saturday afternoon I met some fellow members of the Rockin' Sock Club. I got to spend a delightful few hours with Phoebe from Knit Happened and Leslie from a blossom knits. Being able to spend an afternoon talking about knitting, yarn, blogs and designers with women who are as excited about knitting as I am was a dream. Phoebe and I worked on our Inside/Out socks (the first project from the Rockin' Sock Club) and Leslie worked on a gorgeous entrelac shawl. I'm looking forward to doing it again soon. Thanks, ladies!

After I got home from the sock club meet-up, I spent the rest of the evening working on my Inside/Out sock. I don't know if this happens to you, but every time I learn a new knitting technique I get obsessed with it. This is my first toe up sock and the first time I've done a short row heel. I could not, could not go to sleep until I saw how that heel was going to work. Does this happen to you? Plus, Judgement at Nuremberg was on the local PBS station. Oh yeah, spent Saturday night on the couch with the dogs knitting and watching a Nazi war crime trial movie. That's how I roll. At first I was like, okay I'll give this movie fifteen minutes then I'll switch over to... I don't know... America's Next Top Model reruns on VH1. Three hours later I hadn't moved from the couch. The movie is that good is all I'm saying. I made it through the heel and finally called it quits, bleary eyed, around 1 AM.


I worked on Veste Everest a little, too. I promise this is a different photo than from the last post. The difference between the photos is subtle. You have to really look hard to determine that yes, in fact I have progressed about two inches.


In non-knitting news... St. Pete Shuffle had a good night on Friday. The organizers of Project: HOME had an exhibit at the club of the artist's plans and sketches for the upcoming show at Williams Park. If you're in St. Petersburg next weekend, come by Williams Park to see the finished artwork, all dealing with the concept of "home".

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!

Thinking of spring

Ahhh, spring in Florida. From February through April I can breathe! Kind of. Because this is the time of year in which open windows are better than air conditioning, this morning I dusted away a handful of pollen dust in my living room. Yes, yellow dust inside the house. I brush off the pollen from my car door handle every time I drive somewhere. No matter. My eyes may be itchy but the rest of me loves this time of year in St. Petersburg. My neighborhood's jasmine is starting to bloom so when I walk the dogs the air is fragrant. My plumeria (frangipani) is starting to grow leaves. The bouganvilla is flourishing.

For spring:

Cherry Tree Hill: Life's A Beach. For Jaywalkers.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock: Daffodil. For ?? (suggestions welcome)

In progress: Hederas. In Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock: Carol Green.

Yummy soap from Megan's Goodworks of Athens, Springtime Lure (Lavendar and Lime).

Jackson loves spring but finds "springing foward" a bit difficult. He is not a morning dog.

He looks like this after 10AM.

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.