Annual Amaryllis 2008

My amaryllis has bloomed. I don't remember it ever having this many blossoms at once And there are more buds, just waiting their turn.



I think the blossoms were bigger in previous years though. Still, these are pretty big.


I finished the entrelac (Topographical) scarf last Friday night. I've taken at least ten pictures but can't get the color right. I suppose all these colors are present in the yarn but they're not what I see when I look at the scarf, certainly not so much pastel.






I see it more like the color in the lower left corner of this detail. Anyway, I still have to soak and block it.


Before I retired I used to wish I could just not go to work sometimes, just because I didn't feel like it. Of course, I couldn't do that. So nowadays if there's something I just don't feel like doing I don't do it. That's pretty much the reason I haven't blogged for a week. Just didn't feel like it.

Spring Artisans Sale

Need something new to brighten up your Spring wardrobe? Wanna add to your stash of unusual yarns or your selection of stitch markers? Just wanna get out of the house and be with like-minded people?

The Spring Artisan Sale happens this weekend, Friday and Saturday. You can get some very specific directions on how to get there and stuff like that by clicking here. I realize this is a local event and that not everyone can make it, but if you can it would be fun to see you.

I'm going on Saturday afternoon. My daughter is coming over to join me. We had thought she might have to miss it but now it looks like she'll be here after all. After she finishes with Kids' Fishing Camp. Don't ask. I don't know any more than that.

Socks for me

I've never knit socks for myself. I've never belonged to a sock yarn club. I don't generally find knit-a-longs very inspiring or much fun. But sometimes things happen that make me change my mind and perhaps adjust my attitude a bit.

There's a new sock yarn club. The Ram Club is just starting up. The first yarn and pattern shipment is scheduled for August. I read about it on Ravelry. You can find out more about it by clicking on the link.

Peace, man!

I got this neat little sweater in the mail yesterday. All the way from Wyoming. I had sent a skein of yarn to a knitter in need and she sent this to thank me, along with a cute card.

Look at that embroidered peace sign. If you missed the 70s you won't know what a strong memory trigger this is. Thanks, Mary.

Move along. Nothing to see here.

Unless you count this as something to see. I got into a mini-panic yesterday when I started looking for this pattern. It was a published a lot longer ago than I thought. I do have both issues of the Vogue Knitting magazines though. I will have to do some shopping for the black tweed. I had forgotten about the stripes on the sides of the cat. I'm hoping they still have some at Velona.

I took the weekend off from knitting, except for the time I spent watching the UCLA vs Memphis game. So sad the way that came out. Anyway, not knitting, and taking some ibuprofin (thanks, P) has really helped a lot. My elbow feels almost like its old self this morning. And since I wasn't knitting I finally got around to clearing out some yarns that I don't think I'll ever knit, even if I lived another fifty or so years. I'm pretty sure I have a home for these yarns.

I condensed some of the boxes and managed to discard a couple of cardboard boxes I'd been using. And I have one easily accessible box that holds a lot of the odds and ends and left overs that I will use for hats and scarves.

I have moved all the boxes back into the yarn storage room but still have to get them stacked in some kind of order. Maybe I'll get to that this week.

The week that was

Does anyone remember a TV program called "This is the week that was?" Or something like that. I can't remember if it was a serious news program or a comedy. But anyway, here's a recap of mine.

My knitting muse has recommended that in addition to the elbow wrap I should use ice packs and take aspirin. The wrap seems to help some. At least I don't have as many pains when I move my arm. So, since she's a lot more familiar with these kinds of pains than I am, I will be adding those to my list of things I can do to help.

I finished my income taxes. The upside of not making very much money is that I didn't owe anything plus I get a complete refund of the little bit that I had paid in state taxes. Enough for a couple of skeins of sock yarn. There was a glitch in the tax program that I was using and at first I thought I was going to owe a lot. But I found the problem and everything worked out okay. I really need to get more organized so I don't have to spend so much time sorting paper every year. But I don't imagine that I will.

The entrelac scarf is progressing. I have about two and a half skeins to go and I'll be done. I took the jacket to show off last night and everyone said how great it was. What else could they say? "That's the ugliest thing I ever saw!" But I do think they really liked it.

I keep finding yarn that I had forgotten. Yesterday I came across twenty skeins of Classic Elite Tweedy Lamb. I think I got that to make the cat sweater that was in Vogue Knitting a few years ago. Do you know the one? The one with the big cat head on the front? Anyway, that's what I'm going to use it for, if I can find the pattern.

And now it's time to get ready to go to work. I wonder what will happen today.

They don't make 'em like they used to.

Look what I found! Digging through some long neglected boxes of stash I found this jacket I made maybe fifteen years ago. I only barely remember making it. And I have no recollection of why I didn't finish it then. Probably because I didn't like weaving in ends any more then than I do now. Plus, I was probably not sure if the mixture of yarns and the irregular stripes was really going to work. This was the mid-90s after all and things were a lot different then.

Back then, as I recall, it was a lot harder to get away with mixing fibers and textures, except for the Anny Blatt folks. And tidiness of finish was a bigger issue than it is now. (Viva rustica!) I think I had just discovered the Barbara Walker Treasuries then and was in love with all the stitch patterns that were in them.

I don't think any of the yarns that I used in this jacket are available now. There's some Rowan Chunky Magpie and some of their Cotton Chenille. There are a couple of yarns that I don't remember what they are. Maybe Rowan Designer DK. And there's a thin strand of something I don't recall at all.

The lime green though is something from a women's co-operative that had just gone into business. Everyone was very excited about this venture. We even had a kick-off party at Mariposa, the now defunct shop where I worked then. I don't think the co-op lasted though. The yarn, while it had some great colors, was very difficult to work with and the quality control wasn't terrific. But it was great to be there.

So, I spent about an hour this morning, sewing up the sides and weaving in the ends. I'm going to take this with me later today to show it off and see if anyone likes it (other than me) and will give it to my daughter when I see her next week. I'm not sure if the original pattern was called Slouchy Jacket or not but that's what we called it at Mariposa. It was given to me by one of the yarn reps. I think I still have it somewhere.

What happened to Spring?

According to the calendar we're well into Spring. According to the weather it's still winter. It's dark and gray and rain is predicted for this afternoon and evening. I don't mind this kind of weather but it's just not what we've been led to expect. I had to break out my winter coat this morning when I went for my walk. The weather patterns all over the world seem to be out of whack this year. Maybe we should just start over.

Taking the day off from knitting on my entrelac scarf didn't help all that much with the elbow pain. And the two different sock patterns I started didn't work out although I did manage to learn how to do a K1/P1 cast on. So anyway, the elbow is still hurting. I stopped at Rite-Aid and picked up one of those Ace bandage things to wrap around my arm.

So, I'm planning on not knitting much today either. Instead I will work on my income taxes which will be a whole different kind of pain.

Six years and counting

It's my blog-i-versary. It was actually a few days ago but I don't know exactly which day. So, I've always observed April one. Blogger just has me starting in March 2002. No date. Anyway, it's six years plus a bit.

I'm going knitting today. Going somewhere else to knit, somewhere other than home, is fun. Sorta makes it special. You have to decide what you're going to work on and make sure you have all the necessaries with you, especially the pattern, if you're using one, and enough fiber to keep you going.

I'm not sure what I'm going to take with me today. I've been pretty faithful to the entrelac scarf for over a week. I need something different today. My right arm, especially the elbow, is pretty sore. The sudden cold snap we've had isn't helping. So I need to find something that's lighter weight and doesn't require so much effort to get the stitches made. Six years ago this wouldn't have been a problem. There are any number of socks that could use some attention. And a couple of shawls. But I want something new. And in something that looks like spring.

A block here, a block there

Just add another block, and then another. You'll get there eventually.



I'm about half way.

And now a word from our sponsor

Not exactly. But I do want to let you know about an upcoming event. My friend H (of L&H fame) is participating in a craft show and sale that's happening in just a couple of weeks. You can read all the pertinent stuff over here. Personally I can hardly wait.

Progress continues on the topographical scarf. Another skein added yesterday. I'll be working on it today while I'm at A Stitch in Time. If it's as quiet as it was on Monday I should be able to get a lot more done.

Topographical

scarf. Sitting around the table at Unraveled and admiring the textures and colors of this scarf, we all agreed that it really looked like the hills that surround the area where we mostly live. At any rate it's more descriptive than just plain Entrelac.

This is turning out to be pretty rustic. Even more than I usually prefer. I still have another seven skeins to go then I have to decide if I want to block it or leave it all hilly and bumpy. On the other hand, it may never be finished. I do get bored when things are this repetitive.

Some scarves

Last week while I was moping around I knit this scarf. It's a pattern I found on Ravelry and it's named The Mystery of Marie Roger Scarf. I'm not sure what exactly appealed to me about this scarf but I couldn't wait to get it going. My friend Mendy had three skeins of Kureyon that looked like they'd work well together even though they were different color numbers. So I bought those last Tuesday. I finished the scarf on Friday night.

The stitch pattern is pretty easy and the scarf is knit lengthwise. I taught myself the Lucy Neatby loose cast off. It's in her book Cool Socks, Warm Feet. I like it and will probably use it a lot, especially for scarves and shawls.



I started my stash reduction project on Sunday. It's not going very fast. I found nine balls of this unknown yarn. Hmm. I wonder what that is and how it would look knit up. (Mind you, I was only in the first box.) So I went to my Ravelry queue and found this pattern for an entrelac scarf. I've never actually made anything in entrelac even though I have done it as a teaching exercise.

I'm not sure what this yarn is as I seem to have discarded all the labels. I think it might be some KFI Kureopatra. Not sure if that's available anymore. I'm going to check with L (of L&H fame) and see if she knows. Her memory is encyclopedic for stuff like this. She'll probably even know the color number. Anyway, the yarn is rustic, a sort of contrived wabi sabi. I like it a whole lot. But I have to start over as my swatch is way too wide for a scarf plus there's not a lot of yardage in the individual skeins and I'd probably not have enough if I kept going.

Happy Easter

"they're never too cute to eat!"

One of the things I like about my daughter is her sense of the irreverent. Hope you're all having a great holiday weekend whether it's Easter of Welcome Spring.

Why yes, I'm still here.

Why do you ask? I'm just off taking care of other stuff. And I'm still dealing with the residual effects of that cold I had a couple of weeks ago.

There is some knitting going on but it's kinda minor stuff. A scarf here, a sock there. Nothing you could really get too excited about. I'm in the early stages of sorting through all my stash, getting rid of yarn that I know I'll never knit. I moved most of the boxes of yarn into my living room so I have to look at it all the time. The cat is most distressed by this but we're both coping. I'm not sure if putting everything on Ravelry is worth the effort. Do you ever look there to find yarn? Is there a separate section for books that are for sale?

Anyway, I'm still here and will get back to blogging on a more regular basis soon. Or at least that's the plan.

Simply Knitting

Sunday was an incredibly beautiful day. The sky was so blue and the clouds so white that it almost hurt your eyes. The California poppies were in bloom, strewn along the side of the highway in painterly abandon. Well, of course, I forgot my camera.

My friend L (of L&H fame) and I went to see a new-to-us yarn shop in Santa Clarita, about a forty five minute drive from where we live. Simply Knitting is a relatively new shop. About four years old I think. I had worked with one of the founders a while before that, helping her hone her knitting skills. I didn't quite believe her when she told me she was going to open a yarn shop. But she did and it's a really nice place.

I got some Mirasol Miski Baby Llama. And the knitting bag that it's resting on. Karen, the other original owner, gave it to me as a souvenir. I'd say that most of the yarns they stock are on the upscale side but the prices seemed very competitive, even a little less in some cases. It was a longer than usual drive but definitely worth it.

Back, kinda

Patrick doesn't get daylight savings time. His own internal clock still functions on regular time. That's great for me. He thinks it's 4AM but it's now 5AM so I've been sleeping a bit later than usual. Only an hour, but still, it's an hour I wasn't getting before. And right now I need plenty of sleep.

This cold, the worst I can remember, has been hanging on and on. All I can do is sleep when I can. I try to knit but I go to sleep. I think I'm getting better and then I have a day where I'm just totally out of it. Still plenty of coughing. But that's how it goes, or at least that's what I hear from others who've already been there.

So that explains why I haven't been posting. And also I've not been doing any hardcore knitting. I've started several things, socks mostly, but haven't been happy with how they look. So there's been lots of frogging and starting over. I think because I'm just fuzzy headed right now that I've made some poor choices in yarn and pattern combinations. So I'm just sticking with an Irish Hiking Scarf, a pattern I've used before, so there are no unwanted surprises. And it doesn't require any thinking at all.

It's been quite warm around here. But that's changing again and we're supposed to get some rain this weekend. That'll be nice. I'm working today and expect to be busy. There's always my Friday morning group coming in for their weekly catch-up on each other. And I have a couple of new knitters who'll probably be in for some tutoring. Tomorrow I'm going to hang out at Unraveled, or as we refer to it locally, UR. I heard there would be some sock yarn on sale.

86 the 196!

I tried to get a picture but it's too early. No sun as yet.

I've been working on a pair of socks for a couple of months now. Socks that I've simply called Stansfield 196 since that's the name of the stitch pattern I was using. The first sock was finished a couple of weeks ago. The second sock should have been done yesterday.

I was about eight rows of gusset decreases when I noticed a split yarn sticking out near the end of the heel turn. No problem. I'll just ladder down when I get there and fix it. Big mistake! The offending stitch was actually part of the final SSK of the heel turn. When I laddered down the whole thing came apart. Not really but it was mess just the same.

So I tinked back and got the offending stitch repaired and continued on my way. I'd been a little uncomfortable with this stitch pattern all along. There are some yarn overs that fall right at the edge of the pattern as it goes down the foot. These yarn overs really stretch open in a most unattractive way when the sock is on. So much so that the laciness is lost and just becomes a distorted mess. But I kept going thinking that the socks would be okay if not great.

Then about mid-evening I decided to check the second sock against the first one. That's when I decided I'd had enough. There's about half an inch difference in the leg, the second sock being longer. After studying the first sock I realized that I has missed some rows in the pattern as well as starting a new pattern repeat at the wrong point.

I don't like these socks well enough to keep going. I'd have to rip the first one anyway if I wanted to fix the discrepancy. So I'm just frogging the whole thing. This is my second sock disaster in a row. The last pair has one sock that's a half an inch short. That I can fix. This pair though has too many issues for me.

I am not well, but I am better.

First of all, thanks to everyone who wrote with good wishes and ideas for treating the most ferocious of all colds. The margaritas with chips and salsa was an especially tempting remedy. But I couldn't manage the stairs or the drive. I'm still at the point where the least bit of exertion wipes me out.

I was able to knit yesterday, between naps. I hope to finish the Stanfield 196 socks today. We don't have knitting group this week but I would probably not go even if we did. I think I'll be okay for going to work tomorrow.

It's a cold.

Yesterday I thought I might be coming down with a cold. Today it is a definite. It's been at least four years since I've had a cold and this one is really making up for lost time. I'm groggy. My eyes burn. And I'm hoping I have enough tissue on hand to last the day. So I probably won't be doing any knitting today. And I'll miss seeing my peeps this afternoon. Altogether it's not a fun day.

Shih Tzu!

Gesundheit! I think I'm coming down with a cold but it could just be the aftermath of an evening at my friend Robert's. I went over there yesterday to meet his new shih tzu puppy. Her name is Susy and she's really the cutest little thing I've seen in a long time.

I've never seen a shih tzu this color, medium brown with brushing of charcoal at the edges. Her eyes are not really that blue but you know how it is with cameras and flashes. Throw in a few glasses of wine and this is what you get. I told Robert he was too old to handle a puppy with this much energy but he still wouldn't let me bring her home with me.

It was a very quiet weekend otherwise. I spent some time at Unraveled on Saturday them come home and worked on my Lehmus shawl. Progress is good. I'm only one repeat behind my plan. There have been a number of adjustments to the stitch pattern along the way. Mostly missed y/o's. I have the pattern well enough in my mind that I can pretty much ignore the print out, except for the start of the rows. And I'm up to about 120 stitches per row now.

The yarn I'm using is a bother. It splits easily and snags a lot. Possibly not a good choice for a shawl but I like the color and I needed to find a use for the yarn. I used a Russian join when I added a new ball. It's okay, better than a knot, but still not as discreet as I would like.

Pictures maybe next weekend.

Too much of a good thing?

I have 72 patterns in my Ravelry queue. How many do you have? There's no way I'll ever be able to knit all these things. I probably have even more than thay in my Knitting Patterns folder. And the number keeps growing.

I could just delete some of these and get back down to a more realistic number. I have more than a plenty of pattern books. I just printed out a new free Berocco pattern this morning. There's something almost gluttonous about this. A frenzy. I wonder if it might even be a bit unhealthy.

Of course I buy yarn the same way. No one needs this much yarn. But it's so much fun to acquire it. It's like not wanting to be left out.

How am I going to deal with all this? How am I going to decide what actually gets knit and which yarn I'll use? My friend Bess has an idea that I think I can adapt. She has a creativity jar that she filled with things she wants to accomplish. Each week or so she draws something from the jar and goes with it. Maybe if I wrote the names of some these patterns on little strips of paper and then drew one out and matched it with something from my stash and then packaged it all in one of those heavy zip top bags. Maybe that would at least give me some idea of where I'm going.

On the other hand I could just delete some of the patterns and give away some of the yarn. But where's the fun in that?

Inevitably

Yesterday we went on a yarn shop hop to a couple of our not so local shops. Mendy was taking me for my birthday treat since we hadn't been able to get our schedules to align until now. Thom went along to make sure he was certified as a member of yarn stashers anonymous. Never pass up a chance to go to a yarn shop.

We got to Velona's a little after ten. If you've been there you know how overwhelming it can be. My plan was to just get a couple of skeins of Brown Sheep Nature Spun so I could finish my zigzag scarf. Well, they didn't have the two colors I need. (Rose is placing an order for me.) So, what could I do but have a look around? I'd already checked for a couple of colors of Rowan Handknit DK that I had been commissioned to buy. Inevitably I wandered over to the sock yarn. That's how I ended up with two skeins of Colinette Jitterbug in the color Cinnabar. FYI, their price is a dollar to a dollar and a half less than I've seen in other shops.

Since it was time for lunch we hurried over to Alamitos Bay in Long Beach so we could have it at Buster's. We like that place not only because it has interesting and tasty food but it's also right on the water and you can watch the sail boats skipping along. A couple of margaritas, a nice pork sandwich and some Death by Chocolate cake got us ready to visit Alamitos Bay Yarn Company which is right next to Buster's.

ABYC gives you a discount on your first purchase during your birthday month. Both Thom and I qualified. So what was I to do? Of course I bought sock yarn. It was inevitable. That's the Lorna's Laces Tuscany. I almost bought some Camouflage but then I remembered I'd already bought that twice before.

I also picked up a copy of 2-at-a-time Socks, a newish book by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. My friend Susan said it would change my sock knitting life. Let's hope so. I have a lot of sock yarn.

Lehmus begins

So I decided to start another shawl. When I saw the Lehmus shawl on Rick's blog I knew it was one I would enjoy making. And because he made his using a heavier yarn than the pattern called for I knew I could use some of my Estelle Mystik DK. I've had the yarn for a while. It's some I got in a yarn stash redistribution. It's not on their site anymore so I guess it's discontinued. It's a cotton/viscose blend that's nice and shiny. It does snag if you're not careful. The color looks like gray sometimes and at other times it's a very pale teal. I have to figure out a good way to join the yarn as it's pretty slippery. There may be knots.

My plan is to work a pattern repeat every day. Right now that's not so hard as there are less than a hundred stitches per row. Unfortunately most of my plans get sidetracked by other things that catch my eye. I've been adding to my Ravelry queue lately. A lot. I wound some Classic Elite Lush last night, and some Manos del Uruguay. So I can already tell that I'm going to get distracted.

A couple of FOs

Finished this on Sunday morning. Finally. This is the Palindrome Scarf. It's completely reversible, a rarity when it comes to scarves with cables. I used some old Brunswick Germantown that I've had in stash for ten or more years. The fabric is a bit stiff so I'm hoping a good soak will help.



And the Plain Vanilla Socks were finished on Sunday evening. I'm not sure about the size though. I didn't bother to try to match the stripes this time. I think fraternal works well with this yarn. The yarn is probably Regia but that's just a guess.

I have another project that I was going to show you but Blogger has suddenly gone weird. I have updated my Ravelry projects page though. I'm knitdad over there.

Tulips on Friday

I've been waiting for these tulips to open. They're still not quite there. These are the ones that Renee gave me for my birthday. They're supposed to have bright but indirect sun. We haven't had all that much sun this week. There's supposed to be some tomorrow morning for a while. Maybe I'll put the tulips closer to the window and see what happens.

The administrative part of my life has taken over for a few days and there's still more to come. I'm dealing with homeowner association stuff that is time consuming and not fun at all. Plus some of it means spending a ton of money. Money that I'd rather use for other stuff. So anyway, I'm going to be here perhaps even less often than I've been this week.

Nothing has been finished this week. Not the socks, nor the hat, not the scarf. On the plus side though, I haven't started anything new. I did print out a few patterns and my Interweave Knits finally arrived. Is it just me or is this issue really boring? At least there's a sock pattern and a couple of nice shawls.

Rain!

The sun was out for a few seconds a little while ago. Now it's back to the gloomy overcast. I was at the Honda dealer earlier today and was watching TV while I waited for my car. The weather people were all agog with this unexpected weather. Looks like we're going to have rain for the next few days. Nothing spectacular but still, since this was supposed to be a very dry winter, it's a good thing.

People say this is good knitting weather. I'm not so sure. I've had to rip and redo the gusset on my plain vanilla sock three times. And then when I was ready to work on it yesterday at Tuesday morning knitting I discovered I had left one of my needles at home. So I worked on a hat that I'm making from the Rio de la Plata yarn I got on Sunday. I hope to finish the sock and the hat today. But since it's already noontime I may not.

I have some errands to do but I'd really like to take a nap. The cat woke me at a little after three this morning. He was sick. I think he has a reaction to his anti-flea ointment. I have to put it on his once a month. It takes a couple of days before he's feeling good again. I did go back to bed after I cleaned the floor. Fortunately it was on the tile, not the carpet. But he woke me up again an hour or so later. So, yes, I'd really like to take a nap. Maybe after I get back from Trader Joe's.

Twofer

Today is my friend blogless Thom's birthday. I can't give you his email address though. So if you want to wish him happy birthday you can email me at knitdadatsbcglobaldotnet and I'll be pleased to pass the wishes along. He's a great guy. Charming, witty and generous. And he'll try most anything when it comes to knitting.

Yesterday another friend (L of L&H fame) and I went on a twofer yarn shop hop. We only had a couple of hours to spend before the shops closed. There's a relatively new shop in Glendale that was celebrating its one year anniversary. It's called Itza Knitterie. What a great little shop it is. I didn't see any handcrafted yarn though. But they do have an extensive selection of commercial stuff, including brands that we don't see much around here. Queensland, Mirasol, Kelly and more Araucania than I've seen before. The shelves were full and everything was as tidy and trim as it could be. You got to draw a number from the glass candy dish to see how much your sale discount would be. I only got 10%. L got 15%. But I was happy with the skein of Ranco and the three skeins of Mirasol I bought.



One skein of Araucania Ranco and three of Mirasol Hecho. Add to museum of yarn.

Next it was back to an old favorite, Unwind in Burbank. Stephanie, the shop owner, was there. She's such a sweetheart. Always makes me feel welcome and she also had some great yarns. Especially sock yarns! I got a couple of skeins of the new-to-me Panda Silk from Crystal Palace, two skeins of Lorna's Laces in the color Forest (an old color but one I'd never seen) and one skein of Rio de la Plata multi-colored worsted. It's an odd lot mill end that is being sold as a charity fund raiser. Unwind has several different fund raiser deals going. Pick one or support them all!

One of the Kewl Kids

I could hardly wait for the sun to come up this morning. I knew this yarn was going to be beautiful but I couldn't see all that well in the dim light of Paco's Mexican Restaurant. (That's where my friend the other Lisa took me for dinner last night.) It's absolutely gorgeous. I know what I'm going to make with it but that'll come later. I feel like such a kewl kid having my very own Hand Maiden Sea Silk.



And that wasn't all. I dug down through the layers of tissue and found this Socks That Rock medium weight sock yarn. Bella Coola. All I can see is swimming pools and ocean beaches. Or maybe shady pine tree glens and clear skies and deep water mountain lakes.



I can't get a decent picture of this Yarn Place Graceful. There's 2400 yards of frog hair weight. Sometimes it looks jade, sometimes teal and there's some dark beige mixed in that I can't quite capture. I've been instructed as to what I'm supposed to make with it but I haven't found a pattern yet.

I think I need to go away for a couple of months to some place where there is no internet, no yarn shops and maybe no Mexican restaurants and try to get some of this knit up. I love it all. It's been an incredible birthday week, or two weeks really, and there's still some to come but that won't be for a while. I thank you all for the good wishes, the incredible gifts and for stopping by my blog. It's just so kewl!



p.s. I forgot to mention the new Berroco sock pattern book. Have you seen it yet? I need to make the Cork sock right now! Just as soon as I find a shop that has the Berroco sock yarn. And then maybe the tabby socks, Aberdeen or Newcastle.

Lisa, you've really outdone yourself. Thanks so much for your friendship and all the things you do to brighten my life. And Hannah too!

Check your gauge and your links!

Something woke me up at 3:45 this morning. I'm not sure if it was seventeen pounds of feline hunger that came crashing down or the errant Niagara that started pounding the metal awning that covers my downstairs neighbors' patio. The cat's been a little peckish lately and hasn't been inclined to getting up early, so I've been sleeping until almost five. He's fine now though so he likes to get up before the sun is anywhere near where we live. But I'm leaning more toward thinking it was the rain. There was no mention of rain in the forecast last night, certainly not torrential rain. Only some clouds and high winds starting in the afternoon.

I got up and looked out. Yep. That's rain all right. And it continued, not quite as forcefully, for a couple of hours. It seems to be gone now. We've had such near-summer weather lately that I've been lulled into putting away my heavy coat, hat and most of the scarves. Maybe I was premature.

A couple of days ago I put a link on my blog that was supposed to go here. It didn't. I usually check all my links before I finish my blog entry. This time though I was so sure I knew the link by heart and I was running late so I didn't bother to check. I hope I've learned my lesson. I apologize to anyone who followed the original link. I've fixed it now.

So, what are your Valentine's Day plans? Being sans Valentine I don't have anything special going on. I'll be working on those socks and later I'll go over to Unraveled and see who's hanging out there. We don't have knitting group tonight so I will probably come home and try some of the birthday wine. For those of you with Valentines, enjoy yourselves. The rest of us can just mind our own knitting. Don't forget to check your gauge.

The party's over, more or less

Now that the festivities have calmed down a bit I've been getting back to my knitting. I haven't started anything new though. I have a couple of pairs of socks that I'm working on. And I'm still trying to get somewhere with the Kureyon sweater I'm making for myself. This pair of socks is called Stanfield 196 and is from More Sensational Knitted Socks
by Charlene Schurch. I had seen other stitch patterns in her two sock books that were Stanfield something or other. I didn't know what that meant except I more or less concluded it was a reference to a stitch compendium. Then I read about the Stanfield books when I was messing around on Ravelry. I'd never heard of those books. So now I have something to add to my next wish list. I'm using some Sockotta that I got one day when I found myself in a yarn shop and had no knitting project to work on but I had some dpns.

The other pair is Plain Vanilla. This is my go to pattern for when I need a simple project for when I'm at work or am socializing. I think it was originally called the 56 row sock. It's the one I started with a long time ago and it's still one of my favorites. Although I think Plain Vanilla doesn't do justice to vanilla. Sorta makes vanilla sound like something bad. I like vanilla, especially ice cream, and I like the color as well. Anyway, I'm using some yarn I got at the Trash to Treasure event we had at A Stitch in Time last November. There was no label so I'm not sure what the brand is but it's really nice to work with.

I don't have a picture yet of my sweater progress. I'm still working on the second sleeve. I haven't done either of the body pieces though so I'm not a far along as it sounds.

The fun continues

First, a fashion update. Lisa loved the new Genghis Kahn hat. I clipped the yarn and wove in the ends while we were celebrating last night. The fit is perfect and she promises she'll wear it. Most of the photos that I took using a flash were not good. I didn't use a flash here and even though it's muddy looking it's my favorite. What's not to love about a happy, smiling face?

On Saturday I went to hang out at Unraveled and to meet up with the other Lisa. While I was waiting (and waiting) another friend come in to wish me happy birthday and to gift me with some more Koigu. Some people just know how to get to me. I'm pretty sure these skeins with be socks for me. That'll be a first. I'm already looking at Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. Thanks, Rena.

And Susan, a friend and sometimes student, brought me a new book, Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff that promises to be very entertaining. A gift card from Vroman's, a local concrete and stucco bookstore, from Estelle. Imagine. Not buying books on-line! What a treat! Don't tell Overstock. Some wine from another friend and occasional student. And there was an accidental birthday cake. Eileen didn't know it was my birthday when she brought in that moist, rich chocolate cake.

My daughter treated me to a concert at Cal Tech's Beckman Auditorium. (I should look up those links but it's getting late and I have to get ready to go to A Stitch in Time.) The Academy of Ancient Music was in Pasadena for the day, passing through on their way from Wisconsin to Seattle. It was a marvelous afternoon. We had great seats. There's just nothing to compare to a live music performance. And two hours of live Baroque music is just not to be beat. We went to Islands later because it was my birthday and I wanted one of their super juicy burgers. We had a margarita, of course, and I don't recommend them. Way too sweet, like maybe there was some pineapple in there. But the fries were perfect.

I had lots of calls from siblings and friends so not much knitting got done yesterday. I'm about done with a pair of plain vanilla socks, well, the first sock. Maybe I'll get that done today, unless there's a good turnout of knitters.

And there were margaritas

What is this stack of cards and envelopes? It isn't Christmas. So that can only mean one thing. I'm having yet another birthday. I know. I can't believe it myself. Wasn't it just a couple of months ago that I had one?

Thanks to my friend Mendy all the boiz and most of the grrls in my knitting group showed up to celebrate (venerate?) me. I had met up with my friend Mario earlier for happy hour margaritas at Rudy's Mexican Restaurant. Chris brought the fixings for more margaritas. They were excellent! There was a fantastic chocolate mousse cake, with discreetly few candles, and lots of presents and cards. Even some family heirloom Mardi Gras beads (with an R rated medallion). Thanks, Andy. And tulips from Renee and some new dpns and a book (Zen and the Art of Knitting) from Mario. A new indoor/outdoor thermometer from Judy. She remembered that I had wanted one of those, even if I didn't remember. And still to come, several lunch/dinner engagements with Thom, Mendy and Chris. Boy, I hope I didn't leave anyone out.

Obviously I didn't get much knitting done. One round on a new pair of socks, and that one I had to tink. It was great to be there with all those warm-hearted knitting friends and to just relax into the glow.

In case anyone asks, 69 is the new... ummm...48?

The Genghis Kahn hat

That's not the name given to the pattern in Hip Knit Hats, Cathy Carron's book of forty hats. It's actually Ella but I think the pointed top and the fuzzy, soft multi-color yarn gives the hat an exotic but still rustic look. Well, that's what I kept thinking while I was working on this hat.

It's my first project using entrelac. I've taught entrelac but have never actually made anything with it. In the book all the photos show the hat in a solid color. I wanted to use that skein of Noro Big Kureyon and I thought the entrelac would be more obvious. Too bad the colors look so washed out. They are soft but they're a bit more intense that what you see here.

There are a couple of things I would change if I were to knit this pattern again. The wrapped cast-on is too bulky so the hat is more pointed than I wanted. If you like the exotic look it's fine though. And there are only six increases per round (the hat is knit top down as are most of the hats in this book) and I think that makes for too much of a cone shape. Maybe you like the cone shape. So I'd probably recalculate and have increases at eight points which I think would make more of a dome shape.

Anyway, the specs:

1 skein Big Kureyon color number 5, 120 meters/130 yards (I had about 3 yards left.)
1 set size 7mm/10.5US dpns and 1 24" circ in the same size.
Started and finished February 6, 2008.

I still need to weave in the ends but I'm waiting for Lisa to try it on and to see if she thinks she would ever wear it. If it doesn't fit or if she can't see herself wearing it, I will recycle the yarn into a different hat.

Losing control

I've been trying to control my yarn purchases, limiting them to only the most essential items. Unraveled just received their shipment of Koigu. I spent the whole day over there and resisted buying any of it. That is until the end of the day. I now have three skeins of this new color way.



I did control my temptation to start a new project long enough to finish the Tidal Wave socks. I think it only took me a year to knit these socks. Which is silly since I really like the stitch pattern and the yarn, Tofutsies from Southwest Trading.

Some things though you just can't control. No matter how you plan. I was supposed to go on a yarn shop hop today but things over which I have no control interfered so the shopping has been delayed for a couple of weeks. I expect there will still be plenty of yarn when I do get to go so it's not such a big deal.



Sometimes even the things you can control will get away from you. I started this hat last night using some Noro Big Kureyon that I recently acquired. I should have checked the yardage requirement but I didn't. I sorta vaguely remembered it. The problem with that though was that it was for a different pattern. Now I could make the hat shorter than the pattern and it would work okay as a hat but it wouldn't be what I had in mind. So, I've found another pattern that will work with this yarn and will only leave a couple of yards unused. And I've been meaning to do some entrelac anyway. So the four hours I spent last knit won't go to waste. I've learned a lesson if nothing else.

Fridays are your friend.

In the There's Always Room for More Christmas department, here's some Schaefer Anne sock yarn that I got a week or so ago from Christine at Unraveled for Christmas. She knows that I have a genuine weakness for this yarn. I used to buy it practically on a skein-a-week basis when it was in stock. I'm taking this one with me to work today so I can get in wound and will probably start some socks this weekend. Something a little lacy but with some nubby texture. I have Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. I think that's a good place to start.

Other than that I have nothing new to report except that I'm done with my jury duty rotation. And I didn't have to actually show up. Just that one heart-stopping call each evening to find out if I would have the next day free to fritter away or if I'd be dealing with LA traffic and sitting in a room full of people I've never met. So anyway, I'm done for at least a year.

I worked on my Tofutsie socks yesterday and finished the gusset decreases. The stitch pattern doesn't lend itself to being centered over the instep and down the foot so it's all knit from here on out. Easy enough to do at work today.

Mood swing

Yesterday I had planned to spend some time on my Palindrome Scarf. I'm enjoying the knitting as it's fairly mindless and given the weight of the yarn and the needle size it's growing fairly quickly. I'm using some really old Brunswick Germantown. I got this yarn some time in the mid '90s. It was supposed to be part of a Kaffe Fassett coat. That didn't happen. This is the kind of yarn that makes people think they can't wear wool. It has a slightly coarse feel and is stiff. I don't think anyone makes Germantown anymore. And I'm pretty sure Brunswick is out of business or has been absorbed by some other company. At any rate, I haven't seen the brand anywhere.

So, after going to the market and starting a load of laundry, I sat down to knit. But my eye was attracted to these socks.



I knit the first sock sometime last year. I don't know why I put them aside. Oh, yeah. I needed to see them tried on before I finished the toe. Anyway, I decided I really was more in the mood for small needles and tiny stitches than for cables and large needles. I finished the leg and the heel. I'll spend some time with the gusset today before I go to my knitting group this evening.

The photo is kinda burned out. So here's a somewhat better idea of what the yarn really looks like.



I'm using Tofutsies from Southwest Trading Company. It's all very nice except it does split like anything so you have to keep your eye on what you're doing. And there have been knots and broken strands in the second half of the skein.

But I have to make some brownies first.

Moving on

I worked for hours and hours on this sock. It was tough, tedious and tiresome. Knitting, for me anyway, should be pleasurable and have a certain flow to it that makes the process soothing and somehow fulfilling. That just wasn't happening with this sock.

So, after letting the sock rest for a couple of days, I've ripped the whole thing. Not that I'm the only one. I should have paid more attention to the comments I'd been reading around blogdom. I'm so unhappy with this yarn that I've recommended that the pending shipment from the distributor be cancelled. If that can't happen I will make another sock but in plain knit for a shop sample. There are just too many other, more enjoyable, yarns out there to spend the amount of time I was spending on this yarn.

I'm still on jury duty for the week but so far haven't had to check in. I have two more days of waiting. I'd sure be disappointed if I have to show up on Friday. Meanwhile, I've run out of yarn for the zigzag scarf. I thought I'd have enough but I'm not even half way to where I want to be. I have some more of the Brown Sheep Nature Spun in my stash but it turns out not to be the same color. I haven't seen this particular yarn at any of the yarn shops around here so I guess I'll be making a trip to Velona's some time soon.

I also started a Palindrome scarf. I have a couple of skeins of Brunswick Germantown that I got maybe twelve years ago that I'm using. No pic today. Gotta save something for tomorrow.

I never met a yarn I didn't like,

until now. And it's not really that I don't like the yarn (Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn). It's just that it's extremely tedious to knit it. I did my first attempt on US 2 dpns but it was just too loose and leggy for a sock. So I'm working on US 0s, my first time with that small of a needle.

I love the colors but not the texture. It's pretty scratchy. I've read that the yarn softens a bit when it's washed. So maybe it'll get better. The yarn has no give so all those K2togs are really a pain. And the yarn sticks to itself so it doesn't feed smoothly as you're knitting. I had to rip back three rows last night to find a missing stitch. That took at least an hour! Can't see the stitches all that well and they don't come undone easily like they do with a smooth, springy wool.

These socks are taking a ludicrous amount of time to knit. But then knitting socks is pretty ludicrous in the first place. Not that it isn't a lot of fun. It's a good thing that I'm more of a process knitter than a product knitter. These socks may go with me to my grave.

What's this? My friend Monika honored me with this award, along with nine other bloggers that she finds entertaining, educational or just fun to read. Isn't that nice? Thanks, Monika. I'm still working on my list of people that I want to send the button to. This is a great way to find new blogs to read. Not only did I find the ones on her list but I saw another blog with the same button and found ten other blogs that I didn't know about. There goes another chunk of time!

I know. It's weird to post over the weekend. But I haven't posted since early this week. There hasn't been all that much going on except the weather and you can read about that in the newspaper. This was the first morning that I could take my walk. It's been so cold and the rain has been pretty constant. So I went out this morning and actually enjoyed being out. It was still cold but the sun was up and there was plenty of blue sky. That's supposed to be over later today or tomorrow and we'll be in the middle of another storm. It's hard to believe right now though. It's a gorgeous day.

I have jury duty next week. I called this morning and don't have to go in on Monday so I'll be at A Stitch in Time. I'll call again on Monday night to see about Tuesday. I don't have a problem with being on jury duty but I didn't want to miss seeing my friends and students on Monday. So I hope I don't have jury duty on Tuesday. I have a knitting group that day. Wednesday would be okay but make it a one day trial please. I have things to do on Thursday and Friday.

Beret Done

The beret was finished last night. This photo is pretty close to the actual color of the yarn. The whole thing was an easy knit and was finished with no problems.

Here it is in its circular perfection. Now if it will just fit.

It's cold and wet here today. I'm planning on staying in and trying to stay warm except I have to go to Kaiser for some lab work. And then I need to go to Monrovia to deliver a book that I promised a friend and drop off some "peanuts" for Mendy and some dpns that she needs. Then I'll come home and work on the Noro sweater I started for myself sometime last year.