stash, knit, repeat

I wouldn’t have thought there was any such thing. But as it turns out, there is. I present to you the sum total of my knitting in the last 11 days.

Oh, yeah. That hurts. Especially since almost all of the progress you see was from this weekend, when I finally started to feel a little better. When awake and conscious, I’ve been reading instead. It provides a much better escape from reality for me than knitting. And on the bright side, the Jhereg series (Brust) and David McCullough’s “Truman” were all pretty good reads. But lordy, am I ready to be knitting again. February’s sock plan seems somewhat derailed, but hopefully I can catch up by the end of March. Assuming I can stay well!

The sock is “Conwy” from “Knitting on the Road”, and it’s in Sundara sock yarn from the Seasons Club. My latest installment in the club arrived this weekend, and it got me thinking about whether or not I want to re-subscribe.

(Fingering silky merino, “Autumn Rose”)

I was admittedly nervous about signing up for a club where I couldn’t approve the colors of the yarn beforehand. The ability to pick a season eventually won me over–with her descriptions, I was sure that autumn would provide me with a nice, warm, deep set of fall colors. Without any pink or yellow, which I have a lot of difficulty wearing. Here’s the collection so far, at 4 months out of 6:

Now, let’s make no bones about this: Sundara is a genius with color, the yarn itself is incredibly high quality, and I’m sure I will knit something I love out of all 4 yarns. That said…

I don’t really think that either the autumn rose silky merino or the “copper over bamboo” silk lace are fall colors. In fact, maybe it’s just my hank, but I don’t see the copper at all in the silk lace. I’m currently knitting the cleopatra wrap out of it, and I’m sure it’ll be stunning. And I can think of several people who would look great in a scarf out of the silky merino (which is way too pale for me to be able to wear). But do I really want to sign up for more of this? I’m okay with the occasional stretch color, but I don’t think I’d be okay if I signed up for another year of this club and fully half of the yarn was in a color so outside what I consider to be seasonally appropriate.

(By the way, the description of the autumn on Sundara’s website is this: “warm, fall colors with some complexity, an emphasis on browns, greens, reds and oranges”)

Again, I don’t want anyone to read this as a bash on Sundara. She’s really incredible, and at least as far as the ravelry group is concerned I’m in the vast minority. Several autumn subscribers have listed the silky merino as their favorite colorway yet. And like I said, the yarn is scrumptious, and since I’m just not the type to browse to a website to buy yarn, I wouldn’t be very likely to knit with it unless I resubscribe to the club.

Ugh. Can you tell I’m conflicted? So tell me: What do you think? Are these fall colors? Am I crazy? What would you do, if you were in my shoes?

Faced with two larger projects that seem to be dragging on forever, I decided I needed something simple.

Conwy sock, in Sundara sock yarn, color “bronzed sienna”. My second project on the needles right now with the Seasons Club yarn, and boy is it ever luxurious. The pattern is simple enough to knit while reading or watching television, and I’m really enjoying it.

But the title of this post refers to a gift from the very talented spinner/knitter Kate from my local knitting group.

People. She gave me some of her own handspun silk. Because she said that everyone needed to knit with handspun at some point in their knitting career. Would you just look at this?!

Now, I’ve gotten some amazing yarn as gifts before. I am lucky enough to have a husband who is totally supportive of my hobby and enjoys giving me hand-painted silk, the yarn to do a special sweater I’ve been eyeing, etc. But this… I’m completely overwhelmed, can’t say “thank you” to Kate enough times. I might have an inkling, now, how people must feel when I give them a sweater or a shawl. I’d love to hear your own stories: On this manufactured holiday of gift-giving, what’s the best fiber-related gift you’ve ever received?

Because I need these corny little games and the little timelines they give, I’m declaring this year a Year. Of. SOCKS! And here’s January’s installment.

The Pomatomus, they are finished.

Pattern: Cookie A.’s Pomatomus, from the Winter 2005 Knitty

Yarn: Madelinetosh sock yarn, color vermillion

Time Elapsed: I dragged my feet (har) on these for a whole month!

Modifications / Notes: My only modification was to make the toe on these socks more blunt, grafting at 20 stitches remaining instead of 12. I knit the first sock as written, and it just seemed too pronounced. Other than that, I knit them exactly as written and it was a wonderful pattern. Clever, predictable, and the results are just lovely.

Be warned, though–they’re slow going! The bulk of the sock is essentially a 1×1 twisted rib, so unless you’re a super-fast ribber these will drag a bit.

The real story on these is the yarn. Rarely have I had the pleasure of working with a yarn so fantastic. The color saturation, combined with the softness, combined with the subtle variations… just stunning. I’ve two more colorways of this sock yarn now, and I just can’t wait to work with them.

So there you have it, my January socks. Or, I should say, my friend Stacy’s January socks, because when I finished them they were just too perfect for her to keep to myself. I think this may be her first hand-knit pair of socks, and it makes me so happy to bring her into the “club”. :)

*****

In other, belated news, it turns out that I make some of your days. I was and am really, truly touched to be thought of in such a way, especially by some of my own favorite reads.

I found this an unexpectedly hard meme to pass on. The sappy-but-real response is that all of you make my day–comments in my inbox that make me smile, knowing that there are others out there who share my particular little brand of crazy, following you all along on your own fiber adventures. But of course, it’d be silly to share my entire blog roll with you–it’s huge, it morphs as time goes on, it’s likely redundant with many of your own.

I eventually decided to come up with ten blogs of knitters that I’ve been blessed to meet in real life. One, I’ve known for decades (gasp). Some I only met at Rhinebeck this year. If you’re listed here, and you’re of a mind, grab the image and share the love yourself! If you’re not listed here, don’t fret. Trust me. You all make my day. You really do.

1. I have to start this list with Marlena. She’s been a friend since before I can remember, and has encouraged me with every step of the knitting journey I’ve made as an adult. She taught me how to stash, people.
2. Keeping with that theme, Ellen makes it dangerously easy to keep on stashing. Plus, she’s wicked awesome.
3. Ms. Bestitched is a whole bunch of witty fabulousness all wrapped up with way more talent than any one person should lay claim to. She bakes, she knits, she sews, and she has an amazingly cute kiddo.
4. Anna is one of those knitters. The ones that churn out perfect project after perfect project, dizzying amounts of lace and sweaters (and now socks! muahaha) that all represent the very best marriage of yarn, pattern, and fit. And you can’t even be envious, because she’s just the nicest person around.
5. Cheryl is a fantastic knitter, to be sure. And very fun, and generous with the excellent photographs. But the thing about Cheryl that continuously amazes me is that she makes yarn so beautiful that I can’t help but stare, slack-jawed and drooling, at my screen.
6. At Rhinebeck this year, I had the distinct pleasure of sharing a pretty phenomenal meal with Ms. Octopus Knits. She’s funny, she has great taste in knits, and she’s an excellent dessert enabler.
7. The Wry Punster? Just as cool in real life, let me assure you. Plus, who else do you know that would knit a fair isle dress (and look so darn good doing it)?
8. Finally, I will take to my grave the five minutes at Rhinebeck when Marlena, Cara, Vicki, Ann and me were all told in the sweetest possible way by a complete stranger that others find knitting beautiful, too.

   (Edited to add: I noticed while going through my blogs this afternoon that I’d missed a couple more people who were kind enough to say I’d made their day. My fingers are linking-tired, but thanks SO much, all of you.)

   26 comments

Run, don’t walk, to your local grocery store and purchase the ingredients for this.

Even without the glaze, it is the most moist, scrumptious, spiced, wonderful thing I have eaten in months. Plus, I got to use my weirdo Yankee apple contraption–and how cool is that, really?

(Jacob thought it was pretty cool.)

Well. Just had to get that off my chest. Pigging out on coffee cake is much more fun with company, you know.

*****

I was reading a certain blog yesterday, and noted a certain resolution to knit a pair of socks per month this year. Now, I’d be far from sock-yarn-stashless even if I knit twice that amount, but it seemed like a good idea to try and knock off a pair of socks each month this year anyway. Just think! A year from now, I’ll have 12 more pairs to combat this chilly, chilly house.

Of course, that leaves me with only 6 more days to finish the Pomatomi.

Surely I can manage that, though, right? Especially if I stop eating coffeecake long enough to knit a little each day?

…you all have such fantastic ideas! I ripped out the sock (and two baby sweaters and a baby hat), stuffed the yarn in the closet, and took a total knitting break for a couple of days. Read a few books I’d been meaning to get to, cleaned the house, and generally tried not to think about my knitting.

Then the February shipment of the Seasons Yarn Club showed up at my door.

She named the colorway “Bronzed Sienna”, and it is absolutely the essence of autumn in New England, to me. My favorite time of the year in my favorite place in the world. I put it on my desk and smiled every time I walked by.

I cast on for the second Pomatomus. Even if I’ve only knit a few rows, it’s started, damnit, and that makes things seem much more cheery.

The end is in sight, even if it’ll be slow going to get there. And then I let the whole question of what excites me (knitting-wise) roll around in my head during my little break. And eventually came up with the same answer as some of you: I need sweaters. I love socks, I love lace, I love all knitting–but I need sweaters. I’d written them off for the immediate future, because knitting one for myself is currently impractical. But eventually my brain kicked in and I realized I could knit a sweater for someone else, too. Enter Torgeir, from Elsebeth Lavold’s Viking Knits I booklet.

I should have juuuuuuust enough of the dark blue I used for Gram’s Fir Cone Cardigan to make the two-year size for Jacob. And just like that, I’m back. Nice to see you again!

Not from my current projects, anyway. There’s Pomatomus. The first sock is done, and I fear I’m going to be joining the movement at just the wrong time. It’s not that I don’t like the sock, even though it looks pretty crappy off a foot.

On the foot it is gorgeous and comfortable. I love the pattern, its cleverness, its simplicity, and I love the yarn so much hubby is starting to be jealous. I think it’s just that this is my main (only?) project right now, and a 1×1 rib sock is inherently slow, for me. I dunno. Whatever the reason, I’m just not feeling the love to cast on for the second sock.

With the alligator scarf finished, and a day-long game with friends this Saturday, I decided to cast on a simple stockinette sock for some mindless knitting. After three different attempts, I finally found a stitch count that would work for my feet and prevented pooling. It’s striping, of course.

(That’s artyarns ultramerino, in 3×1 rib.)

…which means a short-row heel, and I’m not even that crazy about the striping. I tend to like it on other people’s socks, or when the yarn is absolutely self-striping, but it’s not working for me here.

So okay, I rip this out and rewind the yarn and maybe try to find a baby sweater pattern that will use it, and give the resulting sweater to my colorist for her first baby. (Got any favorite patterns?) But… where’s my next “wow” project? The big thing that keeps me going, and excited, with breaks for socks or baby sweaters? I look at my queue on ravelry, and shrug. I browse through my stash, and shrug. I just don’t know what to do next, I guess.

Any recommendations, commiseration, or tips for getting that mojo back where it belongs? What do you all do when boredom strikes?

Knitting time has been pretty damn scarce these past two weeks. At least that’s my excuse for taking that long to knit a pair of bulky-weight slipper socks.

As I was knitting them, I started to worry that there wouldn’t be enough shrinkage room for some slight fulling (I’m planning on stealing the lovely Ashley’s idea and giving them some sole). Now that they’re blocking, though, I think I have plenty of stretch. So, into a hot washer they’ll soon go!

Now that I’m safely ensconced in the babysitting-rich state of Maine, knitting is picking back up again.

..and given that it looks like this outside:

…I don’t think it will slow down any time soon.

The single sock liberation movement has lost another soldier from its army.

Pattern: Victorian Lace Socks from the Six Sox Knitalong, by Lorri Ann Romesberg

Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks superwash merino

Time elapsed: Around a week for a single sock

Modifications/Notes: The incredibly talented Stacey chose the pattern, yarn, and knit the first sock for me. It was very, very soothing to have a lovely sock to knit where all decisions had been made for me. They’re the perfect length, the perfect yarn, a perfect pattern, a perfect fit. Thanks so much, Stacey.

Jacob and I had lots of fun with the camera today. I noticed that yoga has really helped me get more interesting sock pictures!

Jacob doesn’t know about the yoga part, but sure loves playing with the remote for the camera.

Riiight, I’m supposed to be talking about the socks. Well, more goofy pictures are here. The mini-melon pattern could be fiddly at times, and I had to ladder down a few stitches and fix them twice, but overall this was an interesting but not too difficult pattern. The yarn is fantastic, really amazing stuff. I should get more of it one of these days. It’s soft, the color changes are subtle and gorgeous, and it’s on the thinner side so it should be perfect for, say, many Nancy Bush patterns.

The resulting sock definitely needed a good blocking, since it’s both lace and ribbing, but wound up cozy and beautiful. And really, what else can you ask for in a sock?

One of the many, many reasons I love this community is that sometimes others will have realizations I’d never think of, and then share. Today, it was Ms. Monster Yarn. You know, folks? She’s totally, totally right. Holiday knitting is just craziness. There is just no need to drive myself insane knitting 6 different fantastically complicated things for a deadline, when the same people would love the gifts just as much on their birthdays. And those birthdays are spread so nicely throughout the year. Same number of knitted gifts per year (or more), zero stress.

So I hereby declare: I will not try to knit 3 adult sweaters, 2 kid sweaters, 1 shawl, and an assortment of hats and socks this year. My holiday knitting this year, in fact, will not exceed 2 adult sweaters.

So there.

One of them has already come quite far, despite a major frog-fest on Friday. You want to see the back? Oh, all right.

I still love the Pure Merino, although the sweater itself looks like total crap unblocked. It might even look crappy blocked and seamed, if not on a person. It’s all of that ribbing. The other sweater I’d like to get done this year is the Chinese Sweater from a back issue of Interweave, for my other SIL on hubby’s side. I meant to do both of these last year but didn’t have time, and I just don’t want to miss another holiday for these two special ladies.

But after those are done, damnit, I’m knitting what I want to knit, for me and for Jacob. Because that second sock isn’t going anywhere, lately.

And I may have ordered the yarn for Thermal, and I keep eyeing the Mermaid kit and the baby alligator scarf kit. And the fantastical new sock book I bought. And… well… you know how it is.

Thank you all so much for your comments about the sweater. I feel like I’m floating today. I don’t think I missed anyone but if I did, thank you! Thank you thank you thank you. You guys ROCK.

Sadly, there’s no rest for the wicked. My impulse knit of tangled yoke put me pretty far behind on my crazy-as-usual holiday schedule. So I’ve started work on a sweater for Jessica, the wonderful woman I hope someday to call my sister-in-law, if hubby’s brother Adam ever gets off his butt and asks her to marry him. She’s getting the HoJo pullover from the Fall 2002 Interweave Knits.

It just screams Jessica to me. Retro but very, very hip. I may change the neck to a regular crew–I don’t remember ever seeing her in a turtleneck before, and people tend to feel pretty strongly about them–but so far, it’s going very quickly.

I’m knitting it out of Berroco’s Pure Merino, since the specified yarn is discontinued, and keeping the same Howard Johnson’s color scheme. I’m in love with this yarn. Seriously. It’s as soft as bamboo, as springy as any wool you’ll ever meet, and MACHINE WASHABLE. It doesn’t get better than this.

Of course, I’m a selfish one, so I’m also knitting a sock on the side. The mate to Stacey’s lovely Victorian Lace sock, to be exact. This house is the chilliest I’ve ever lived in, and I’m finding a serious need for hand-knit socks.

So I’m knitting a few rows on it here, a few there. You know, whenever Jacob stops trying to stab the carpet with the dpns.

And just because I’ve been accused of being stingy with the Jacob photos (*smiles*), here’s one of him trying to teach the sock how to play the recorder.

Think the sock will tell him to blow on the other end?