Knitterama

I'm Back

I am afraid life got in the way of the blog for a bit, but I'm back.

I wish I were like Crazy Aunt Purl - blogging would make good therapy.

But it doesn't help much with pain. Especially pain that shoots down the right arm. I ignored it until it became somewhat unbearable. I thought it was some kind of repetitive stress thing, but NO...it was SHINGLES. That's right - the old chicken pox virus that apparently lives on in our spinal columns for years and strikes again when you least expect it. It initially presents in the form of a pox like rash, but I am full of all kinds of skin stuff so another rash did not trigger anything suspicious. Then pain comes and it feels like a toothache in your nerve endings. It was awful. It is better now. I am back.

First things first - MY SOCKPAL SOCKS ARRIVED!

(Those pet hairs on the toes are thanks to the matching pets, who are blowing their coats big time right now)

They are a lovely pink/purple variegated merino using Sockbug's "Lava Flow" pattern. Thank you thank you thank you, Abby (reluctantmango) for my new favorite socks. They fit so well, that I just ripped back a pair I was making myself because these remind me that I have a tendency to make my socks too short and these are PERFECTO!

In other Sockapaloooza news, Suzanne got my sock package as well so my first swap worked really well.

There has been some knitting going on between the pain (and sometimes during...it didn't make it any worse). The Louisa Harding Glisten wrap became a large scarf - that stuff is so hard to knit, plus it becomes totally coiled and has to be unspun once every two rows. I followed Alison's advice and kept a rubber band around the ball. I can't believe she made an entire sweater from this stuff. I will add it to FO's later this week.

I also have CeCe done up to the beginning of the v-neck. I am using Calmer and am loving the feel and the drape. This is the perfect summer sweater for me since I have lots of sleeveless things and never want to show my arms.

Finally, I have a baby who needs a gift so I have started the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting with Nashua Cilantro yarn - it is a thing of beauty and I promise photos shortly.

Sockapalooza and Clipped Wings

First things first.

My sockapalooza socks are done. All three of them.

When I looked at the poll again, the vote was 55% for matching and 45% for inverted so I did both. Actually, I was pushed over the edge when I found that my 2 skeins of black Celestial Yarn did not do a good job of matching, despite the fact that they were from the same dyelot. You can see in the picture that sock 1 on the left was a lighter black and had white streaks where the dye did not completely cover, compared to sock number 2 (middle) that was more of a solid black. At least my sockpal will have LOTS of options!

I still have to weave some ends and crochet the trim on the top of cuffs on the new socks, but I still call this one FINI.

Now for my clipped wings. I haven't been blogging for long, but I have been reading knitting blogs for several years. I have learned my stuff at the feet of my favorite knitting goddesses and have always been so excited when one of them sends me back a comment on my comments - which the great ones ALWAYS do.

Yesterday, I left a comment on what I would consider a third tier knitting blogger's website. She was having problems with something and I offered what I considered (and still do) to be a wise solution to her problem. I was horrified to find her responding within minutes, telling me that my idea was stupid. HMMM.

I immediately shot back a big apology and she shot back another insulting email. I took her blog off my bloglines list and hung my head in shame.

Do you welcome comments and suggestions on your blogs? Do you respond back in a nasty way if you don't think a suggestion is a good one?

At this point, I am afraid to leave comments and find myself avoiding even reading the knitting blogs.

<sniff, sniff>

Brush with Royalty

Somebody had to win, right?

That's right - I was one of the winners of the Wendy sock yarn clean-out. You know, the one where you had to send her an email telling her why you deserve to get some of her sock yarn.

I can't believe it. I never win anything.

What? You want to see my award winning entry? Well, OK - here it is:

Dear Wendy,

I really need some of your sock yarn because:

My toes get really cold here in Minnesota
My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel eats nothing but homemade socks
The Minnesota Timberwolves suck and I need an outlet
The Minnesota Twins suck and I need an outlet
The Minnesota Vikings suck and I need an outlet
Mosquitos avoid wool socks
My inlaws live close to you
My XXXXXXX is really mean
The King of Remote Controls must have a relative in my house
My cat, Gracie requires new catnip mice from your pattern at least twice a month.
My son’s expensive college makes it hard for me to make my yarn ends meet
My own stash may be consumed by box elder bugs
I have had your book on order for months, now.
I read your blog …
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Every day
Every evening
Often
I have no real sock yarn stash of my own
(ouch-my husband just kicked me)
he owns the remote.
I want to be you
I want to be like you
I want to knit like you
My daughter hates everything I knit for her and I need a support group
L-B would be my friend, too
I will take care of Lucy when you are on vacation
I will dust your stash while you are on vacation
I am overdue for a mammogram

…I want it.

Your loyal servant,

KWR

There you go. Simple, straight forward, to the point.

On the knitting front, I want to thank all of you for voting on the sockpal sock poll. I am taking it down because it is done (plus the thing had a flaw that made it not play nicely with Firefox - sorry to those of you who suffered). I decided early on that flipping the color scheme was a drastic move that would only be undertaken if you voted overwhelmingly for that option. You didn't - you actually preferred the identical socks so I am casting on for sock 2 tonight. I need to finish quickly because I have an "event" (read - have to wear makeup and pantyhose) at the end of the month and I need want to make a wrap out of this:

It is the perfect pale blue/green (with a sparkle every once in a while) to match last year's Eileen Fisher silk stuff I bought for Paris. The crowd has never seen the ensemble plus the addition of the wrap will make me feel "new". Alison is using this right now to make her sweater so check that out, too (not that you haven't already been there - it's sockpal mom, after all)

ta-ta!

Sockapalooza Sock One is Done!

Sock number one is done. Here it is, modeled by A, while laying on our hammock:

To remind you, this is the Fiber Trends Ribs on the Side pattern done in koigu variagated with Lucy Neatby Celestial Yarns in black. It has a conventional heel and a star toe. I thought the top of the cuff looked at bit unfinished so I added a single crochet border in solid black which does a nice job of tying it all together.

Sock number two can be either exactly like this one OR a fraternal version with all the colors reversed. My sockpal says she likes wild socks and wears mainly clogs with her hand knit socks.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO VOTED IN THE POLL. I TOOK IT DOWN SINCE IT WAS NOT PLAYING NICELY WITH FIREFOX. THE RESULTS SAID TO KNIT IDENTICAL SOCKS SO THAT IS WHAT I WILL DO. THANKS FOR HELPING ME SORT IT OUT!

Cara talks about a new meme (kind of) called Show Your Favorite Paintings. I was an art history minor in undergraduate school and don't want to bore you with some of my esoteric choices so I choose to share the one painting that really shows the experience of pain in a way you can really feel.

This painting is not for the faint of heart, so if you aren't terribly openminded, don't do a mouseover below. Otherwise, enjoy one of my favorite paintings in the Louvre:

Ouch!

Flash Your Stash Today

Hello on this fine day.

Are you ready for me to flash my stash?

OK

I am a very orderly person. Some may even call be anal. It is important that all of my belongings are stored in ways that are both easy to find and easy on the eyes.

As such, when I designed my stash organization system, I modeled it after a nice yarn store. I make extensive use of wooden shelves and I organize everything by fiber type, then color:

I use the table for blocking and choosing colors. When fellow knitsters stop by for coffee, we can spread out around the table, knit and gossip.

My preferred place to knit is on a cushy chair so the other end of the room is arranged as a cozy conversation area complete with good lighting. I like being surrounded by my stash to motivated me on the next project:

When I decide on a new project, it is easy for me to locate the right gauge of yarn and determine quickly if I have the right color or if a trip to the LYS is required.

If you believe all this, you are full of shit. You have been punked, my friend.

APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!

Go here for the REAL story........

The Sign on the Door

(do a mouseover on the sign to see what I'm up to and thank Nona for the code - isn't she just great?)

...And when I am done salivating, drooling, buying more Rowan Denim, looking for my stash of Magpie, researching, I will be:

"...cleanin' out my closet" (as Eminem would say - NO I am not an Eminem fan - I just love to drive my kids nuts by quoting Rap while moving through la vie quotidienne - that one is for you, S and D who live in Paris)

But I do digress.

The closet cleaning is only for him:

a demain, mes ami(e)s

Back in the Swing?

DS was delivered back to college last night. When we were about 5 miles from campus, I heard his voice change and his demeanor alter - he was becoming a snotty college student. Good thing he keeps that at school. When he leaves, that little hole comes back. I am profoundly sad and miss him so much.

On the knitting front, I finished the Simply Splendid socks...

and moved on to greater things - my sock pal socks were started last night! I am really liking the contast of the bright koigu and the matte black Celestial Yarn. The pattern calls for knitting quaker rib horizontally, doing a 3-needles bindoff at the seam, then picking up stitches for the foot. Very interesting and very fun! The question for this week is whether or not I will take the plunge and make these socks fraternal - the second sock would be a quaker rib the reverse of number one with the ribbing continuing all the way down to the back of the heel. My sock pal wears clogs all the time so the different backs might be cool. Stay tuned

I haven't talked matching pets here lately. They went to visit their other favorite family while we were on vacation and came back full of mischief. They had "tussle time" yesterday and I managed to grab an action shot that proves that Grace the Cat always wins - Emma the dog falls for this same shit every time.

I have finally conviced my B and SIL to start a blog. They live in Paris, have no kids and have a life the rest of us can only dream about. You can check them out here

Flash Your Stash

I couldn't resist making a button for the April 1 Flash Your Stash event:

Feel free to add it to your site, but please save it to your server and leave a comment.

Home Again

Returning from vacation always slows me down. I guess the pace at the beach is so much slower than real life that I have to wean myself back into the pace. The laundry is done and the suitcases are thinking about putting themselves away. DS is home with me until Sunday and we are spending time eating lunch at the places he misses while at school.

I am getting caught up on all the TV shows I missed while vacating and one would think that the knitting would be fast and furious. I am still winding down on the second Lucy Neatby Simply Splendid Sock in Koigu - should be done by tomorrow night. I'm afraid that "The Sopranos" was so spellbindingly awesome that I periodically had to put down the knitting and marvel at David Chase's imagination, Edie Falco's acting and life in a mob family in general.

<sighs>

I am not so sure about "Big Love". I will give it a few more episodes since I remember it taking almost the first season for me to become a serious "Six Feet Under" addict. I miss you, David and Nate.

When I put my knitting down at 10:30 each night to save my hands, I pick up a book. It has been so long since I read something that really rocked my boat - everything seems to be written for people with short attention spans and with an eye toward the author selling the book to Hollywood. I have, however, been swept away by "On Beauty" (Zadie Smith). Her writing is so precise, so lucid and so poetic that I have found myself underlining passages so I can return at some later point to reabsorb her words. I have slowed myself down, savoring every magnificent word.

My sockopalooza project is next on the agenda. I swatched a bit on the Lucy's Fiesta Sock while I was in Florida and I fear that there is just too much going on for a little sock. I do want to knit a pair of socks that makes a statement, though and I still want to use the bright koigu with the black contrast to evoke a stained glass window. I am thinking of switching to Fiber Trends' "Ribs on the Side"

I can either make them as identical twins or as fraternal. What do you think? My sock pal says she loves wild socks, fraternals and bright colors. Should I go for it with the fraternals? Should I also get her a pair of these?

Vacation Knitting

Greetings from the beach! The weather is awesome, the water is warm and the knitting is, well, sidetracked.

I have managed to work on a mindless sock, in between books and beach walks - koigu using Lucy Neatby's Simply Splendid Sock pattern

I finished the sock last night and, I must admit it is the best fitting sock I have ever made. I think I will make a mate today. No SS syndrome for a great pattern.

DS's spring break did not perfectly coincide with DD's so he is set to join us today. A major snowstorm was supposed to hit last night, starting near his college town so I jumped into action and had him take a cab to a hotel at the airport yesterday evening. Good thing, too. This morning, the roads were closed in his college town and he was on his way to Florida. Our vacation has had this little hole - it will be so great to have him with us, even if it is only for a few days (I still have him for another week at home, though:-))