stash, knit, repeat

It’s not the right season, necessarily… but Jacob is more than pleased with the latest sock addition, anyway.

(I think he likes socks that match his hair the best of all.)

Pattern: Conwy from Nancy Bush’s “Knitting on the Road”

Yarn: Sundara sock yarn, color “Bronzed Sienna”

Time Elapsed: A couple of weeks, ish?

Modifications/Notes: I made two major modifications. First, I shortened the leg of the sock considerably (2.5 inches, I think, in all) to support slightly lower yardage and my own sock preferences. These are about 6.5 inches long from the cuff to the top of the heel flap.

I also omitted 6 stitches of decrease, resulting in a 66-stitch sock instead of a 60-stitch sock. (You start with 72 and then decrease down.) I also also didn’t like the look of the charted decreases–they seemed like they’d produce a big ol’ stockinette portion on the back of my sock. Not the look I was going for. So I fiddled some and did the decreases thusly:

You can pretty much figure out what I did from the picture, but it might help to know that I started on round 1, decreased two stitches per decrease round, and did 7 rows in between decrease rows. I don’t really remember where I started the decreases, except that it was way after Bush called for them.

It was a star toe, I think, a new one for me. It doesn’t have a kitchener at the front–you just decrease down to 8 stitches and then pull the yarn through. I don’t mind kitchener, but it was fun to try a different toe for a change.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t gush about this yarn for a little while. The Sundara colors are incredibly fabulous, saturated, and rich, without question. But on top of that, the yarn is soft as can be, seems very sturdy, and provides fantastic stitch definition. There really isn’t much more one could want in a sock yarn.

Plus, the color makes you want to bake pumpkin muffins. And that’s never a bad thing.

Thank you all so, so very much for your well-wishes and shared stories. They really warmed my heart.

I did something totally crazy yesterday: I ripped out the Torgeir sweater I was having so much trouble with. The Silky Wool is now back in the closet, and I feel so much better for it. My wips are cleared out (only the Cleopatra Wrap remains as a long-term project), my knitting feels new again.

And I finished the Conwy socks, too, but a FO post will have to wait for blocking and daylight to happen.

So my February installment of the Year of Socks is a little late, but only by a few days. I think this month is going to be all about small projects–another pair of socks, certainly. Some progress on Cleopatra but I don’t expect to finish it this month. Mostly because it seems like every woman I know is having babies, these days. There’s only one logical reaction, I think…

…run to my lys and buy a ton of machine-washable baby wool.

I wasn’t quite sure when I’d write this post. The miscarriage I had in October has made me jumpy, more secretive, more nervous that maybe this time when I go to the doctor, something will be wrong. But, my friends, the time has come to fess up. Because I got the cutest gift in the known universe this weekend, from the lovely and wonderful Sarah.

(I have a hard time knitting for babies not yet born, but I’m so glad others don’t share my neurosis.)

So! I’m in the middle of my 16th week, finally past the 24-hour nausea. Able to knit again. Sitting in the living room, in fact, enjoying the sunshine and turning the heel on my Conwy sock while Jacob reads his book. (”I do it all by myself, Mommy.”) Although Jacob is as enthusiastic-sounding about our upcoming change as he is about everything, I’m pretty sure he has no idea what will be happening some months from now.

What’s it like for me, this time around? Well, I’ll tell you one thing. The stomach muscles pretty much just rolled over and played dead starting the second I found out. I’m in my beloved Gap jeans a full two months earlier than with Jacob, this time.

Wish me luck at my doctor’s appointment next week, okay?

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?

Of course I ripped it out. I just wouldn’t be me, if I hadn’t. I would have finished the sweater, and hated it every time Jacob wore it. And that’s no way to feel about a hand-knit. So all’s well that ends well, I’m happy with my decision, etc. I’m not as happy with my progress since then…

Neither am I particularly happy with my progress on the Cleopatra Wrap.

(I wound the silk lace with my ball winder and swift, very carefully and slowly, and while I will never get back that rather painful hour of my life, neither will I lose untold more hours weeping untangling the stuff because it flew off of my equipment. It’s probably a good trade.)

Instead of, oh, I don’t know, knitting, I spent the week losing myself in wonderful cheesy escapist fantasy books and David McCullough’s “Truman”. I didn’t knit at all on Tuesday, and got through mere rows the rest of the week. It felt good, though. I just hope I can keep myself from rummaging through the bookshelf long enough to finish something, this time.

I feel like the biggest dork in the world.

So this is the back of Torgeir, from Elsbeth Lavold’s Viking Knits 1. Cute sweater, and I’m knitting it in the 2 year old size. At least, I will be when I can stop swearing at myself long enough to rip it out. See the cables along the side, there? They’re supposed to be 8-row cables. And the very first one, down at the very bottom there, is. But for the rest, I somehow managed to convince myself they were a 10-row repeat. This despite thinking they looked too long for the entirety of the back. Gotta love it.

I realized this when I looked at the chart again as I started the front. So now, the front will be the back, the back will be ripped out, and I’ll get right on all of that once I’ve cast on a little palate cleanser. I was thinking that I should wind up my Sundara silk lace and either do Icarus or the Cleopatra Wrap with it as a palate cleanser. Any votes?

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!