stash, knit, repeat

…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!

He brought me two especially nice things today.

Did you know Kim Hargreaves just came out with a book?! That jumped into my shopping cart before I even had time to take a breath. And I got the yarn book on the lovely Claudia’s recommendation. Kim’s patterns are gorgeous, as usual, and I can’t wait to dive into the yarn book.

The yarn pictured is nothing much, really–a couple of balls of 4ply soft for endpaper mitts after seeing Julia’s gorgeous version, and some cashmerino for another indoor cap for hubby. Both projects will wait until after the remaining holiday knitting–which may not be so long, since HoJo is just zipping off the needles.

The fair isle looks good, when I stretch the ribbing out a bit, but I’m also anxious to see what a good soak does for it. I find that color work almost always improves dramatically with some water. The back should be easy-peasy, I think. But let me get your opinion, just for good measure:

The pattern calls for an identical fair isle stripe across the back, and no color work on the sleeves. This strikes me as something that will look totally bizarre (there’s no back view in the magazine), so I was planning on just continuing the ribbing up since I have extra yarn. What do you think?

Can I even express in words how FRUSTRATING it is that I’m writing this post over dial-up? I don’t think so. The DSL folks say that it might be another 3-4 business days before we get real network connectivity, here. No blog reading over morning coffee for me, and I’m totally going through withdrawal.

Sigh.

I don’t know what others do when stressed, but I seem to buy yarn. So, in lieu of another picture of an un-blocked Waterlily or a half-completed Tangled Yoke sleeve, here’s some luscious stash enhancement instead!

(The Plucky Knitter’s “Pumpkin Latte” sock yarn. YUM.)

(Long-overdue solid sock yarn purchase–I’m really way too finicky about variegated colors for my own good.)

Aren’t they gorgeous? Just the thing to make a girl feel better about not being able to properly blog-surf.

And, I also have Rhinebeck to console myself. I doubt I’ll be wearing Tangled Yoke, though–I vastly over-estimated the amount of knitting time I’d have during our move. I’m still only about halfway through the second sleeve, and then there’s the yoke and button band and ribbon finishing to consider. I’ll probably still be working on it there! I signed up to be a square in the blogger bingo, along with Marlena. I think it’ll be lots of fun, and for reference I’ll probably look something like this:

I have no idea what hand-knit I’ll be wearing, and my hair may be curlier. (Who has time to blow-dry when there’s YARN to be fondled?!) But I’m really looking forward to meeting some of you virtual folks in real life!

We had a lovely time in New England. Of course, I didn’t get as much knitting done as I wanted (does one ever?). But I did meet up with many many fabulous knit bloggers! I enjoyed every second I spent with everyone very much, but the look on the toddlers’ faces when the lovely Diana and I were finished shopping takes the cake:

(”Dude. Do you think they’re going to make us go to any more yarn stores?” “Dude, I hope not.”)

Obviously, there was some stash enhancement going on.

There was some knitting too, although I have nary a single FO to show you. This is mostly due to a major lace screw-up, the resulting 5-day knitting hiatus, and the two-day “open heart surgery” on my lace shawl to fix the problems. On the bright side, I now feel like an absolute queen. Seriously, I dropped down stitches and re-knit true knitted lace in five separate parts of the shawl, and the errors are totally gone.

(That’ll teach me not to knit lace at a stitch & bitch again…)

So, what have you all been up to?

My in-laws leave tomorrow, so hopefully my online life will return to normal soon. Until then, here’s the sad and happy and elated story of my weekend.

On Saturday night, I was all set to steek the ladybug sweater. The hems are sewn, everything is blocked, it all looks adorable. I even knit a swatch, so that I could practice my stitching and steeking.

I daydreamed about showing the cute finished set to the knitters I was meeting at Stitches the next day. I plugged in my mother’s old sewing machine, got it threaded with some help (okay, I watched my m-i-l do it :), turned it on, and stepped on the foot pedal…

…nothing. Some time in the last 5 years, the machine has stopped functioning. So the ladybug sweater is on hold until my wonderful friend in San Jose loans me her machine. So very sad! Since the knitting for the ladybug sweater is done, though, I cast on for something new–the Peapod Baby Set (link in the sidebar) by Kate Gilbert. I’m doing it in the recommended Cotton Cashmere, and even in the pictured green. I finished most of the hat on the drive back from Stitches and it’s blocking now–totally adorable.

Stitches was simply amazing. My class with Lily Chin on short-row bust darts was one of the coolest experiences ever. There’s no mystery to the process anymore, and I feel totally capable of modifying any pattern I knit to fit me perfectly. I really just can’t describe it–take a class from her any way you can, you won’t regret it.

But you really just care about the loot, right? :)

The shopping was less overwhelming on Sunday, and I definitely found myself able to purchase a good deal more than I could on Friday. I stayed with a luxury fiber theme. This is 11 hanks of Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk, in a gorgeous navy-violet color. This is the first sweater-yarn I’ve ever purchased without a specific sweater planned. I feel like I’ve crossed some kind of barrier and it will only get easier to buy yarn from here on out, and soon I’ll be hiding it in the cupboards.

400-odd yards of Jade Sapphire Cashmere-Silk, in the Forest Glen colorway. Definitely going to wind up as a simple scarf, maybe something like the Chevron that’s going around the blogs?

One solitary hank of Fiesta La Luz, stunning turquoise color. I bought it to get over a discount threshold and wound up getting this for around $3. I have NO idea what I can get out of 200-ish yards of this stuff. Maybe I’ll just ball it up and take a yarn portrait, a la Brooklyn Tweed, and then pet it until it disintigrates?

I stopped by the Habu booth and couldn’t resist this wool-linen blend. The color and feel are so perfect. This is the second sweater-yarn I’ve bought without a pattern in mind. Maybe a tank, something long and reasonably figure-skimming but drapey? We’ll see!

This is the first yarn I’ve ever purchased that I’m honestly not sure I could knit. Women’s size 6 thin wedding band included for scale. It’s 100% silk, it feels like slipping into cool water, smells like tea, and is the most amazing indigo color I’ve ever seen. It’s seriously as thin as thread. It’s my “dream yarn”. Maybe I’ll knit with it, maybe I won’t. But I couldn’t leave it behind.

So that’s the haul! Quite a bit to knit through, eh? I love each and every bit of it, though. And now I have to share my triumph with you, even if it feels like boasting. I wore my Forest Path Stole to Stitches, and got many nice compliments on it. It’s always really special to hear nice things about my knits from knitters, who really know the effort involved.

But one compliment in particular on Sunday sent me flying through the roof–I don’t think my feet touched the ground for the rest of the day. I brought my copy of Victorian Lace Today to the XRX booth to get it signed, and after Ms. Sowerby signed my copy, she noticed the shawl. She exclaimed over it (!), pulled over another person in the booth and showed it off to her (!!), asked where the pattern was so that she could knit it herself and made a note (!!!), complimented me on it again (!!!!), and moved on to the next woman in line. I was beside myself and I’m sure my face was a rather fetching shade of red to go with the cream shawl. I had to ask my friend later if it had really happened, and thinking about it still brings a goofy smile to my face.

Well, that’s enough rambling. Hope you all had a great weekend, and happy knitting to you!

As I dropped my husband off at work this morning, I remarked to him that it was probably pretty crazy to drive 1.5 hours just for some yarn shopping. “The thing I don’t understand,” he replied, “is that you’re taking a class at this Stitches thing on Sunday, and you can shop then. Why do the extra driving today?”

I told him that I was worried I wouldn’t have time to shop at all on Sunday, between the two classes I was taking and a lunch date with other knitters. But the truth was that I was terrified there wouldn’t be any yarn left on Sunday. No special yarn, anyway. No yarn that was worthy of my first knitting convention. What if I got to the market at 2:30 on Sunday (it closes at 4:00) and the only stuff remaining was yarn my LYS had in stock? The horror! I understand that my fear was completely irrational. Intellectually, I knew there was no reason to be afraid of a yarn shortage. And yet, I couldn’t help myself.

So, I made the long drive up the 101, radio soothing me with NPR while the baby slept in his carseat. It was a perfect California day, snow-capped mountaintops wreathed with fluffy white clouds, a crystal blue sky overhead. The sun was shining. I’d shop for an hour, I figured, then meet my friend in San Jose for lunch. Rationally, I poked fun at myself. How big and special could a knitting convention possibly be, after all?

Well. The Santa Clara convention center is HUGE, people. And my first tip that my expectations were about to be trampled like a muddy piece of paper was that the normal parking for the convention center was full. FULL. At 10:15am on the first day. I was shunted into overflow parking, and figured there must be another event going on. No bother. Then I noticed that in every car around me, the woman driving was wearing something hand-knit. ALL of the cars headed into the overflow lot were knitters. I am pretty confident there were thousands of people there. Certainly there were hundreds of cars. Each one carried her knitting bag and wore or carried a piece of their craft, it seemed. (Right. Note to self: Wear Forest Path Stole on Sunday.)

Beginning to be daunted, I got baby into his stroller, picked up my own knitting bag, and set out on the walk to the convention center. The line for tickets was long, but since I was taking a class I simply got my badge and went into the Market. Three thoughts immediately went through my mind.

Oh my god.

OH MY GOD.

I need a bigger budget for Rhinebeck.

I was overwhelmed (the exhibit immediately opposite the entrance was Jane Sowerby (!!!) with her samples from Victorian Lace Today). She was chatting with knitters and signing books. A little bit of panic set in. I think I let out a shrill little giggle. I gave Jacob some Cheerios, looked at my shopping list (Handmaiden Sea Silk, DK weight for the Debbie Bliss Cable and Rib jacket, Astrakhan for the Slimline Jacket), and set out into the throngs. And it really was throngs. There were so many people I sometimes had trouble winding the Maclaren through them. (For the uninitiated, that’s a mighty tiny stroller.) As I walked through, I saw booth after booth after booth of gorgeous fiber. Yarn, raw fiber, tapestries, hand-painted, every weight, configuration, fiber imaginable. Buttons, hand-carved knitting tools, jewelry, bags and bags and bags. Books. Patterns. And everywhere, more yarn, each more tempting than the last. After about five minutes, a few more thoughts forcibly pushed their way into my brain.

I might not make that 12:00 lunch date.

No *way* am I spending my Stitches budget on Debbie Bliss I can get locally.

I wonder if I will even be able to *find* the Handmaiden before Jacob flips out?

In the hour and a half before Jacob flipped out, I think I saw perhaps 1/3 of the market. I spent 60% of my budget on three items. I didn’t even get *near* the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. The line there was completely ridiculous. I didn’t find the Handmaiden.

But. Uh. I chose quality over quantity.

Handpainted Claudia lace-weight silk, color “Ink”. 1100 yards. 10:30 in the morning on the first day and I got the last hank.

Three ounces of overdyed 100% cashmere laceweight from Springtide Farm in Maine. The color is a devil to capture. It’s more muted than the above picture: Turquoise over Taupe. It is the softest thing I have ever felt. I want to wrap it around my neck and never take it off.

And oh, baby. Three hanks of Pure and Simple, and one of Rock Star. For this. The short-sleeved version, although I’m going to lengthen them a bit. I’ve been able to ignore this yarn before because I’ve only seen it online. And silk is nice, yeah, but it’s expensive and I’ve seen some fairly ugly Simple Knitted Bodices. But in person…

…the colors. The beads. My understanding of the necessity of negative ease, with heavy silk. I just couldn’t walk away. I would have fought someone for this yarn. Luckily, I didn’t have to. Several vendors carried it.

And by the time I’d bought the cashmere, Jacob was really done. So we went to the car and I brought out the yarn, petting it a little before heading to my lunch date. I was only a half-hour late, after all.

I could show you another picture of a wrinkled mess of ladybugs, or yet another wrong side shot, but I’m almost done with the body of the ladybug sweater and I really want the next picture to be of it blocking. I really can’t wait to even all of those terrible stitches out, and I’ll need the motivation to tackle the sleeves. (Same 3-color fun, now on dpns!)

So instead, look what came home with me the other day!

It feels beyond divine, it really truly does. The label says only 5% cashmere, but it must just be modesty. And it was cheap! Cheap cheap cheap. So I really can’t be faulted for breaking my “diet” (read: saving up for a huge Stitches binge). I got enough to do the Cloverleaf shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I can’t really find a good picture of the shawl online except in Grumperina’s wonderful review of the book; it’s the 8th one down in the left column.

I seem to be gearing up for another shawl, which is good since I have roughly 8 gazillion miles of laceweight and plan to get more. Seraphim needs to be next on the shawl list, because I’m anxious to use up my birthday silk from last year before my birthday yarn arrives this year! But I’m also looking forward to Icarus, and doing something with that BMFA silk, and maybe some Handmaiden that I’m hoping to pick up at Stitches…

…so yeah. It’ll be awhile before the Gentle gets used, I think. But aren’t the dreams one of the greatest parts of knitting?

(I updated the version of WordPress that runs this blog, by the way–let me know if you have any problems!)

There are just a few inches left on the second sleeve, so showing you a full progress shot seems like spoiling a surprise. But wouldn’t you know it, today’s shots actually showed the true color of the sweater. So here’s a peek:

As you can imagine, I’m pretty bored with the stockinette at this point. I think I’m going to do the Dale of Norway Ladybug sweater and hat next–something tiny and complicated. And socks, of course. Check out my holiday score on that front:

I love them all and can’t wait to knit with them. The brown one on the left is called “Hot Chocolate”. Very fitting!

In other news, I’ve been watching Knitty Gritty on tivo this last month or so–DiY and HG networks both run it. I guess I’m late to the game on this show, but I’m surprising myself by enjoying it immensely. Of course, there are a decent number of episodes that just make me run screaming (here, have a NEON PONCHO KNIT ON US17S! or a KNITTED BIKINI in FUNKY COLORS!). But there seem to be just as many episodes that either produce something I like or introduce me to a new technique, or both. A three-needle bindoff, which I’ve never done, was shown in one episode; I’ve now seen knitting with beads, modular knitting, and drop-spindle spinning. None of these things were daunting to me; I just hadn’t gotten around to thinking about them. But now I know exactly which ones excite me, and which don’t.

Do you watch? What episodes are your favorites–the ones along the lines of “You Knit *What*?!”, new techniques, barely knitting-related…?

I pretty well can’t wait for my dressform to arrive. (Yes, of course I ordered one about 37 seconds after writing that last post. And why yes, I do have an impatience problem. :)

I’m very, very close to dividing for the armholes and adding the bust short rows on the Shaped V-neck Cardigan. I really want the dressform around for thorough inspection when I add them, so I had to distract myself!

Hubby asked for an indoor cap to wear on his bald head a couple of weeks ago. I think this one is going to live in the sidebar for a whole day before it’s finished. :) That, uh, moodily-lit photo was taken early last night and I’m already on the decreases. The yarn is very soft and fine, and I think it will work well for him.

I also accompanied a friend to a truly fabulous yarn shop. She was going to get supplies for a class at Stitches West, I was going for moral support. Then I saw that they were one of the few lucky yarn shops to carry Blue Moon products. I say that, and not simply “Socks that Rock”, because it turns out Blue Moon does other stuff!

Peacock-blue almost-solid silk thread laceweight.

Sign.

Me.

Up.

And generous yardage, too! Plenty for a stunning masterpiece. This will have to marinate awhile, so that I can find just the right pattern. (Suggestions welcome.)

Lastly, I got to see Bea in action over the holiday break. Here, have some cute baby pictures!

Seeing one’s hand-knits being loved is one of the greatest things ever.

That darn fir cone lace cardigan simply refuses to be photographed.

Well, okay. It’s not so much the cardigan’s attitude at stake, here. Hopefully soon! Gnaaahhh!

***

I’m on the last lace repeat of shoalwater and I’m starting to get mighty nervous about the yarn shortage potential. So I brought her into my LYS to get advice from the shop ladies. They’re of the opinion that:

• I miiiiiiiiiight squeak through and be okay,
• They have some nice Misti Alpaca in a soft brown that would work if I want to bind off in a contrasting yarn,
• It’s not strictly necessary to end on the exact row Evelyn Clark specifies. (The instructions: 4 full repeats, then rows 29-50 once more. Why? I have absolutely no idea.)

So at least I have options! While I was there, I found this:

How could I resist? As homesick as I am for a New England fall? It practically leapt into my hands, I tell you.

***

As I was inwardly cursing myself late last night for falling behind on my Knitting Schedule, wondering how I’m going to get all of this holiday knitting done, plotting out exactly how much holiday knitting I can do once we go back East in 2 weeks, and who I’m not seeing until after Dec 25, and etc. etc. etc., I had a realization.

This is my hobby. And being a full-time parent of a particularly active toddler means that I only have one. If I’m not enjoying this, I’m doing something wrong. So I let myself accept the fact that I am simply not going to do even a fraction of the knitting I’d hoped to do. I don’t even want to work particularly hard at this. I’m going to finish the shoalwater shawl and the phyllo pullover, both of which are already on the needles, and then I’m going to knit precisely what and when I want.

Loved ones in my life, expect great knitted things to arrive out of the blue at random points over the next year, rather than in one fiber-crazed orgy at the holidays. Because I’m having some fun with my knitting, over here.