The Last Thing I Need...

Some time ago... so long ago that I don't even remember when... I pre-ordered Soctupus by Alice Yu.  I love a good surprise, but I really haven't been knitting socks lately so my first thought when it arrived this morning was that it was going straight back.  Because seriously, the last thing I need is another sock pattern book.  I almost had the willpower to not even look inside.  Almost.  But I did... and, well, it's a keeper.  Big time.

Following a few interesting chapters on fiber, yarn, sock construction and such, are 17 great patterns with a focus on texture and a variety of heel, toe, and cuff constructions.  There's even a pattern or two with beads! 

It's the most excited I've been about a sock book in a while so I had to share...

Might be time to put scarves aside for a while.

Mad Tosh Love

I wanted to post pictures of the other cardigan I recently finished, but out of respect for, or more possibly fear of, the gloating sun which is beaming down on us with a harsh 103 degrees, I will post the little things I'm working on.


Maia from the 7 Small Shawls to Knit collection by Rosemary Hill

The yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Olivia and although the beads don't show up well in the picture, they are just pearly enough to made a subtle statement on the work in person. This is also my Loopy Ewe 4th Quarter Challenge project.  (I don't usually do the quarterly challenges but since this one involved Madelinetosh... at a discount... I was dust.)

And because I became obsessed with desire for an autumn (ha!) scarf, I started another Kernel Scarf in some Tosh Sock of the Ginger colorway.

Also waiting for me is more Tosh sock in Dried Rose and Graphite for a Kleio scarf, also designed by Rosemary Hill.

Obviously, I have a mad love for Madelinetosh... all of their bases that I've tried are wonderful and the colors incredible; they are just unlike any other.  However, I must admit that I still prefer the feel of Malabrigo Sock or something with a bit of silk for scarves and shawls over the Tosh Sock.  Don't get me wrong, the Tosh Sock is a great yarn and ideal for socks and sweaters, but not quite as light and soft as I'd like for other things... although that obviously doesn't stop me from returning to it time and again.  And that said, I don't like to use Malabrigo Sock for socks as it seams to likely to pill or wear thin. 

Finally, a shot of the Wollmeise I received for my participation in The Loopy Ewe's summer camp...

The colorway is O-Rh-Negativ.  Now I'm just looking for the perfect project!  Suggestions?

Maybe it was Time Travel

The prospect of knitting a fingering weight cardigan in 30 days greatly intimidated me but I'm flying (special thanks extended to Doctor Who).



I have 24 rows of stockinette left (with some 350 stitches on the needles) plus the garter stitch trim. 

The pattern is Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier and makes clever use of short rows for front shaping.  The yarn is Madelinetosh Sock in "Ink"... the dyers of this line are true artists!

Perfect Timing

Over the weekend my alien/sci-fi loving son discovered Doctor Who which I had never seen before either.  Our search for a way to earlier seasons led us to Netflix... the depths of which was another new discovery for us.  Of course I'd heard of Netflix before, but had no idea what all it had to offer.

Even better, this discovery coincided with the cast-on date for my Vitamin D cardigan, which I had chosen for my Camp Loopy Project 3.  Good TV makes for happy knitting.

Family, Football and Fiber

After the NFL lockout and questionable forecast for the new season, we were definitely ready for some football!  Even more exciting was the call that our nephew, who had recently graduated from the University of Texas, had been picked up by the Seattle Seahawks and would be playing in their first pre-season game in San Diego... a mere 3 hours from us!
Football and Family in one fine day?!  One word... Awesome!

We got there early to watch John warm up.  Poor guy... we shouted and waved when he came on the field as if he was taking the field for his first Pee-Wee Football game.  He obliged us with a polite nod. 


And the proud Texas papa who was ready and willing to trade in his UT burnt orange for some Seahawks pride.  :) 



We had great seats in the 4th row!


Everyone had a fabulous time.


And you certainly can't let that nacho cheese go to waste! (Especially at stadium prices!)



My 17 year old brought along his sweet girlfriend.  (I love having a girl around!)


But then things got a bit confusing/stressful/exciting in the second half.  See, our nephew was supposed to play the 2nd half of the game.  (Still great.)  However, the Seahawks decided to score every time they got the ball in the 2nd half except once.  And thus the inner conflict.  See, we have been fans of our nephew much longer than we have been Seahawks fans... and, if I'm to be honest, we were a bit more interested in seeing John punt than seeing the Seahawks win.  But you can't actually root for your team to not convert a 3rd down... you can't actually want them to get stopped and forced to punt.  Can you?  Well, deep down inside, yes.  Apparently you can. 

But on bright side, we got to watch John play in a professional football game and his team has a 1-0 record for the pre-season.  Not too shabby. 

Our greatest disappointment was the absence of our oldest son who couldn't make it due to his own football practice.  Hopefully he'll get a chance to catch another game this season.

I worked on these socks on the way...


And am now about to wind yarn to start on my Camp Loopy Project 3 tomorrow.


I can't wait!

Camping! No, really!

I haven't been camping in years... at least 6.  But in a moment of what I can only describe as profound forgetfulness, I exclaimed to one of my friends (who just got a new tent trailer), "Hey!  Let's take the boys camping next week!"  And within 24 hours she had managed to snag a spot at one of my favorite local beaches.  Favorite, in this case, meaning two things... very local and one of the only places I've ever camped.

So Monday morning we took her 4 boys and my 2 youngest on a grand 14 mile trek to the local beach campground.  It's actually a beautiful site because we camp nestled in the mountains.

 With lots of shade and oodles of kids.

Yet just a skip, hop and troll through this tunnel...

and you're at the beach!

The water was the most amazing blue!

And while some of us (my youngest and I) don't care much for the sand...

This little guy loved it!

It was also educational.  For example, we learned about Stinging Nettle...

which causes a stinging, itching rash upon contact.

I was reminded that cool breezes do not negate the need for sunscreen.

And my creative friend Keri showed me how to start a campfire using some Fire Starters she'd made using dryer lint, melted wax and an egg carton!  You simply stuff dryer lint in an empty egg carton, then cover with melted wax (she may have even used broken up crayons, I can't remember... but just google Egg Carton Fire Starter and you'll be set).  When they are dry, you just light a couple and stick them in the fire pit under the wood.  And voila...

 

you are ready for s'mores.  Which help them forget about the Stinging Nettle.

While the boys splashed and explored, I read Shanghai Girls on my Kindle (excellent read by the way), knit dishcloths and worked on my 2nd Camp Loopy project...

BFF socks from Cookie A's Knit. Sock. Love. for this month's cable theme.

So, overall, I'm glad I forgot that I'm not a camper at heart and enjoyed a couple days at the beach.  Who knows... maybe in about 6 years I'll do it again.  :)

Camp Loopy Challenge #1

Camp Loopy started on Wednesday and I didn't waste any time diving into my new yarn.

I chose Taygete for my 2 color shawl/scarf because, being a fan of Rosemary Hill,  I've been wanting to knit it for a while now.  It's part of her collection of 7 Small Shawls to Knit that she came out with last year.  The whole collection is gorgeous and I plan to work through most of them.  I also intend to sign up in advance for Year 2 so I will receive the patterns as they are released throughout the year.

Anyway, ordering colors that will complement each other over the internet can be a bit risky, but boy did I get lucky!  I am thrilled... thrilled!... with the colors I received from The Loopy Ewe.  The yarn, String Theory Caper, is absolutely luxurious as well.

Beautiful yarn does wonders for speeding up tedious garter stitch!

Camping with Yarn...

Count me in! 

Discounts, challenges, prizes... how could I not?   If you're interested, find out more here.
This is my yarn for the first challenge, a two color shawl, wrap or scarf.

String Theory Caper Sock in Jade and Fusion Lake.  :)

Eventually I'll get around to posting some finished knits...

but right now I need to prepare for my son's high school graduation!

Blessings to all.

Stop Everything...

I have a child who wants me to knit him some socks!

So of course I must oblige.



Hot Rod Socks by Pink Lemon Twist

Stranded knitting on socks is new to me, but you know what they say... 4th (or 5th) time's the charm.

Ulmus

I finished this a while back but never got around to taking pictures.



Ulmus by Through the Loops Designs
I used 1 hand of Malabrigo Sock in "Ivory" and 2 hanks of Claudia's Handpainted Fingering in "Rock, Paper, Scissors"



I love this shawl!!!!



I agonized over color choices for weeks before casting on (as evidenced by the bold colors I settled on). I finally grabbed several possible variations and started casting on samples. I believe this is called swatching among knitters... although its a rather foreign concept to me. It really made a difference to see the color options in swatches (and saved me from knitting a Christmas tree) so I highly recommend this step if you are considering this pattern.

Now on the needles is Anne Hanson's Brambler scarf. Well, that and many other things.



The yarn is Sanguine Gryphon's Sea Wool and it has a lovely sheen that just demanded to be knit into this fabulous winter scarf pattern that I've had for some time. I couldn't argue with yarn fate.

Counting Cardigans

If I had a dollar for every cardigan I currently have on the needles, I'd have like 4... no... 5 1/2 dollars. Yeah, it may not seem like much but heck it's 1/3 the cost of the new Interweave Holiday Knits magazine that I had to buy today in order to keep my IK collection complete and my psyche balanced. (I'm still trying to process and justify my purchase so bear with me.)

Let's see... I have a Debbie Bliss cabled cardigan that I started an eternity ago, a Kim Hargreaves Boyfriend Sweater, a February Lady Sweater (of course because doesn't everyone?), a Noro short sleeved cardigan, and a lacy summer number that I'm not even thinking about. The 1/2 is a vest that I started last winter.

Disclaimer: This is no way a complete count of my WIPs... just the cardigans... and the ones I can remember.

The cardigans are starting to feel like debt that needs to be managed... but since I'm not very good at dealing with real debt, I'm not fairing much better here. Common sense would really dictate that I pick up the cotton Boyfriend Cardi and work on that during this dry heatwave, but common sense rarely dictates my knitting so I am working on the February Lady Sweater with some Dream In Color.



The yarn is bugging me a bit (probably due to the void of any moisture in the air) but the colors are stunning. It's a very dark blue with variations of purple and such.



I'm also quite the fan of this new style of cardigan as it eliminates worries about expanding waistlines. Not that I have an issue... just saying. I'm especially looking forward to finishing this one so I can add it to my pile of wool sweaters that it's never cool enough to wear. Sigh.

Blogging while Teaching

The finished knits are actually starting to stack up so I finally grabbed my husband for a few pictures yesterday. I am presently attempting to coax my youngest through a phonics lesson explaining as we go that I'm not the one who needs to learn to read so it is useless for me to read the sentences in his workbook for him. I'm not sure if we'll ever move past short vowels at this rate.

While I torture him with a page of his workbook, I thought I'd put up a few pictures of the Aspen Leaf Shawl that I finished a week or so ago.



I knit this with a wonderful hand painted cotton from Araucania called Lonco. It's fingering weight... and it didn't take me long to reconsider the sanity factor of knitting 400+ yards of lace with slippery cotton but fortunately the pattern was enjoyable and it knit up quickly once I got the feel for it.



Although 2 hanks of yarn were used for the scarf/shawl that I originally saw in the store, I decided that I was done one would suffice and finished it up with less than a yard of the first hank left over. The result was a scarf 13" x 66" which seems just right to me.


(Goofy husband face)

Sneak peeks...

Happy Labor Day... and Knitting

I am thoroughly enjoying all of your responses to my last post! I can relate to so many of your reasons and I think that's what I love so much about knitting... the variety! From dishclothes to sweaters or stockinette to lace there is a project to suit just about any of my many moods. I've never stuck with a hobby so long before and I'm certain it's this variety of options, fibers, and techniques that has kept me enthralled. Add in the productivity factor and, well, it's really the perfect craft! I guess my frequent frustration over just *what* to knit, is actually what makes me love it so much.

Anyhoo... I have amazed myself by finishing the Aspen Leaf Scarf. (More photos and details later.)



And, thanks to Maria, have found the perfect pattern for my luscious new Hand Maiden yarn.



Clothilde by Knitting Kninja



Happy Labor Day friends!