Sock it to me! (If you can remember that you're older than you're letting on.) Here's a couple of pics of my newest sock yarn acquistions.



The colors are not all that accurate. The green is more olive, the brown is more cinnamon and the grey is not quite so blue. Other than that it's okay. The yarn is machine washable and there are 560 yards in the skein. Schaeffer Yarns, Anne. So soft!



These are Koigu yarns that I got from Threadbear. This is my first purchase from Rob and Matt and I have to say it was a real treat. Rob put a lot of energy into sending me pictures of the various yarns they had in stock in the color ways I wanted to see. (I actually got the package on Friday but it's been raining, ergo, no sunshine, ergo, no pictures.) Anyway, I'm going to use the orange colorway to make these socks from the current issue of Knitty. Rob even too the time to check with the designer to make sure that two skeins would be enough to make the socks in the size I want to make. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the other colorway but probably the same or a similar pattern. So if you haven't dealt with these guys, go do it. You'll like it!

I needn't have worried about being kept busy at Skein. Friday was a good day. Got to see a couple of people I've been missing. But Saturday! It's still a blur. I don't think I stopped (other than for a quick lunch) the whole day. There's something about rain that really brings the people out. And a couple of folks who couldn't make it in called for a little phone help. There was only one absolute beginner. Everyone else needed to learn some new technique. I was switching from teaching intarsia, to explaining different decreases, to how to pick up stitches and sewing some pockets on for one lady. It was a great day and today promises to be more of the same since some of the people didn't get everything done that they planned. I didn't do any knitting on my own stuff at all. Probably a good thing as I've been having some aches and pains in my arms and hands. Taking the day off seems to have helped.

Not much new going on around here. I'm working on a couple of different sock patterns but nothing new. I will buy the new sock yarn I wrote about a couple of days ago. I'm waiting for some Koigu that I ordered from Threadbear. I'm trying really, really hard to resist starting a new pair of socks. But I have all this new stuff sitting around and it's getting harder and harder to say no.

I'll be at Skein this afternoon so I'll be working on the Mosaic scarf. I'm a little over half way. Will sure be glad when this is done. I haven't seen some of my students for a while. The weather is cool and cloudy so maybe that will stimulate some of them to stop by. Otherwise I'll just have this stupid scarf to distract me.

Well, here's a couple of pics of my socks.




Hmmm! That's a lot fuzzier than I thought. Oh well. I made these while watching the evening news over the past few weeks. I used some stash yarn that was given to me (along with a lot of craft grade yarn). It's a synthetic called orlon. Easy to work with but I'm not sure it will be comfortable to wear. I doubt if it breathes at all. But I like the denim color and just wanted to get in some more practice.



This one is the Basic Sock from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks (yes, I know that's supposed to be italicized but I don't know how to do that yet). I'm using Plymouth Yarn's Sockotta. It's a nice yarn to work with but I'm not 100% sure I like the way it patterns. Maybe with a different stitch count it would be better. I'm almost done with the ribbing of the second one, thanks to knitting at Joanne's last night and to watching Manor House tonight. I think sock pictures are pretty funky when the sock is not actually being worn. But there are limits to how much I can contort and Lisa wasn't here to model. Maybe when I get these both done I will be able to talk her into showing them off.

We got some new sock yarn today at Skein. It's from Schaeffer and is called Anne. One skein is more than enough to make a pair of socks. There's something over 500 yards. It's a blend of merino, nylon and something else that I don't remember right now. It is supposedly hand dyed. The skein I want still smells of vinegar. I'm still searching for a way to justify spending $25.00 on a pair of socks. Any suggestions? (Anita, these came in after you left or I would have shown them to you.)

Other than that it was a slow day. We did have a couple of nice sales but very few customers. My friend Doris came in so I could do the three needle bind off on the shoulders of her current project, and also pick up the stitches on the two fronts. It's always a delight to see her. At 90 she's obviously not a spry as she used to be but she's still just as feisty. She left one of the sleeves behind, accidentally, so I dropped it off to her on my way home. She was so chagrined that she had done that. She's going to try to pick up the stitches for the neck band by herself but if she can't do it I'll go by her house on Friday on my way to Skein.

I was so saddened to hear that Jerry's cat friend Ben had passed on. Jerry's tribute to Ben is so honorable and fitting. A great friendship continued.

Much sadness in the community today as we say goodbye to Izzy, Wendy's friend and companion for the past almost seventeen years. Thank you, Wendy, for sharing her with us. She was a delight to see every day.

I spent some time in Bess's garden. It is truly a lovely place. Her tour is so full of wonderful insights and memories. Take some time to visit. It is a comforting place to be, especially today.

I haven't taken the picture yet but I'll try to later. I did finish the first of the Sockotta socks so I'll post that one too. I'm just about ready to cast on for the second sock. I'll take it with me to Joanne's tonight. Six and a half inches of K2 P2 ribbing is a lot less boring when you're spending time with friends.

Did you see it? On this evening's News Hour with Jim Lehrer there was a feature on blogging. The narrator mentioned "even knitting" as one of the subjects that people blog about. And as a graphic they used Erica's blog. It was only on the screen for a couple of seconds but there it was. How 'bout that? Well, I thought it was exciting. Perhaps not up there with celebrity knitting or knitting haiku(s), but still. Maybe there'll be another range war similar to the Staples one over the use of the dismissive "even". I sure hope so. We haven't had a good controversy for several days now.

I took a picture of the just completed socks that I made while watching the news. But it was so far off I've decided to wait until I can take it outside. Maybe tomorrow. I got a few mores rows done on the Mosaic scarf. And tonight I'm spending some time on the Sockotta sock. That's it for now. Time to go watch Manor House. I hope it's better than the commercials have been.

Here's the Fast Florida Sock. I used this pattern as a guide. I added 12 stitches to make it a little bigger around and I had 22 stitches in the purl section that goes under the foot. Folks at the shop seem to like it. I'm going to make a complete pair now. This one's a little short for Lisa.

And here's my progress on the Mexico sock.



You've probably all seen this sock or a similar version by now. Just wanted to show how much I got done between last night and this morning. I'm just starting the second repeat of the color. And those are my new Crystal Palace 8" dpns. Much easier to work with than the 6".

The Showcase House tour was exciting and interesting, as usual. The house is huge! Much more coordinated throughout than in previous years. I'm glad we went early because there were several bottlenecks in the traffic flow through the house. After the tour we went to a street fair in South Pasadena. Saw a couple of people I know who had booths there. It was a beautiful, warm day. But someone told me today that it might rain tomorrow. I'll believe that when I see it.

I'm about two weeks behind in my blog reading. I was going to try to catch up tonight but have decided to start another sock pattern instead. I've been working on a pair using Sockotta but we don't have any more of that yarn. So I want to work on something that we do have at Skein. So I'm going to start the Mexico sock, Fortisimmo Colori, since we just put this yarn out today.

I've been wanting to make this sock since I first saw the yarn. I picked some up last Tuesday when Carole and I went to Long Beach. I didn't know that Ann Mary had ordered it. So I paid full price just so I could have it, instead of using my store credits and employee discount. Drat! Anyway, I want to get enough done tonight so I can start to show it tomorrow afternoon at Skein.

I finished the first of the Fast Florida socks and Lisa tried it on last night. I think it's a little short so I'm going to make another pair. The first one will be used as a shop sample and I'll get another ball of Fixation to replace what I've already used. I forgot to take a picture before I took the sock to Skein but I'll try to remember my camera tomorrow and get one then.

It was busy all day at the shop. I had students most of the day so didn't get much chance to help Ann Mary with paying customers. We're still having problems getting all the needle sizes we need. Lots of back orders out there. Especially bamboo circulars. I hate when I've just sold someone a heap of yarn and then don't have the needle size to go with it. I think Ann Mary is a little timid about the quantity to order. I figure they'll sell eventually and the price just keeps going up, so get'em while you can. But none of this is up to me.

We didn't have much time to chat with each other until late in the day. Ann Mary's biggest concern right now is how long the current craze for knitting will last. I saw a couple of media references last fall that said it was over. Seems they were wrong, at least for now. We're still amazed at the number of people who are just discovering scarves and all the frilly stuff they can be made with. Not a day goes by. And every day we get new customers who are just discovering we're there, almost four years now. The day ended on a really high note with a big sale to a crocheter who is about to be converted to being a knitter.

No knitting to report on today. I spent most of the day moving stuff around. I took the part of my stash that I store in my bedroom into the living room so I could really clean. The stash is still in the living room, along with the part that I store there. I'm hoping to go through it before I put it away again and sort out stuff for specific projects. Carole gave me some plastic storage boxes that she no longer needs. It's a start but I'll need a lot more.

I'm not going to be able to get this stuff put away for several days. I can deal with it but I'm not sure anyone else will be able to. But I'm working tomorrow and through the weekend so there's no time. A friend is coming over on Sunday morning so we can go to the Pasadena Showcase House. I've already warned him what to expect. Lisa, (hope she's coming over tomorrow night) has been through this before so she probably won't even notice.

Nicholas Mateo, at about ten days or two weeks old. (I forget.) He will be two months old tomorrow. His Mom brought him into Skein today. What a way to lose an audience! Today was the first time I'd seen him really awake. One of the students asked if he was my grandson. His Mom said, "Well, sorta." We didn't explain that. I held him for a few minutes, until someone else insisted on a turn. He loves to stand up, all ready. Ann Mary thought that was a bad idea. I told her she was just being old fashioned. It's probably a good thing I'm not a grandfather.

I had a new student today. Delightful lady and a quick study. She was very surprised that she got it so quickly as she hadn't knit since she was a little girl in England. I had her knit a few rows just to relax and then showed her how to purl. She had never learned that but it wasn't a problem. We went through cast on and cast off in just a few minutes. Then we did some experiments with different size needles and using two strands held together. And the I showed her how to use yarn overs to create a drop stitch. So she's off to do the almost obligatory scarf. Although she stayed for a couple of hours I had already covered the basics in about 20 minutes. The way she's going I expect to see her again on Friday for her next project.

It was nice to see the shop busy again. It's been kinda slow for the last week or so. We had a few new customers as well as some old favorites. I think I had lunch at about 5 o'clock. But I like cold pizza anyway.

Trying to finish at least one of the Fast Florida socks so Lisa can try it on when she comes over this weekend. I have about an inch and a half to go on the foot and then the toe shaping. I'm a little more comfortable with the Fixation now. I have a second color way to work another pair with if this one works out. Made a mistake in the Basic sock and have to rip a couple of rows before I can start the gusset again. And I worked through half a ball of the Mosaic FX for the shop sample scarf.

It was a beautiful day in Long Beach. The air was clear and and a little cool. Alamitos Bay Yarn Company is right on the water. From the front you look out over the marina where all the private sail boats are moored. Behind the shop is the channel where the small fishing boats come and go. We walked around for a while and enjoyed the sights. Inside the shop they have some marvelous samples made up in most of the yarns they carry. The Trendsetter samples alone are worth the trip. I bought some Crystal Palace dpns in an 8" length. My other dpns are 6". I just want to see if these are easier for me to use. The shorter ones are forever poking me in the palm of my hand. Haven't tried them yet. I also got some Opal sock yarn and two different skeins of Sockotta.

We stopped at Forget Me Knot in Bellflower. I've been looking for a particular Paton's sock pattern book but they didn't have it. I did get one that has a pattern for a different heel that I want to try. I also got some Trekking sock yarn in two different color ways. Then we went to Stitches in Time, also in Bellflower. Still no pattern book but I got two more skeins of Trekking in two more color ways and some Fortissima Colori. So I have enough new yarn for 8 pairs of socks.

I'm almost done with the TV only socks and tonight at Joanne's I turned the heel on the first sock of the Basic socks. Worked a few rows on the Fast Florida pair as well. I'm going to go work on them some more right now.

The big news is that my archives are back! I lost them when I upgraded to Blogger Pro and have not been able to get them back, no matter what combination of code and profanity I used. Yesterday they just reappeared. So I figured it was just one of those things that Blogger gets around to eventually. It turns out though that it was the Easter Bunny. Bless her! Lisa said she had stumbled across the coding and fixed it for me.

I've been wondering when I started my blog so getting my archives back was a help. I still don't know exactly when I started but it seems it was more than a year ago. So happy, belated bloggiversary to me!

Didn't get much knitting done yesterday, just finished the heel flap on my TV watching only socks. The rest of the day I spent cleaning windows. Man, is it ever bright in here this morning! I still have the other side of the house to do but I'm not going to get to it until maybe Thursday.

My friend Carole and I are going to Long Beach to revisit Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. I haven't been there is a while. We'll also stop at a couple of places in Bellflower, neither of which have web sites. Carole is on Spring Break so we just want to get out for a change. I want to see what other shops are carrying and if they have any sock yarns.

Lisa sent me an email wondering if I was suffering from blog block again. Well, sorta. I just thought it was monotonous to keep posting about socks in progress and the alternating gloomy and sunny weather. But, lest you think I have disappeared, I am still up to the same thing.

I ripped the first attempt at the Fast Florida sock as the whole thing looked like it would be too small. So I added more stitches and changed the height of the heel flap. It does look better to me. I'm into the foot part now. Part of this sock works with the purl side out, the underfoot area. I'm having some trouble moving from one needle to the next on the purl stitches. It's hard to pull the stitches tight on a purl side. And also in the area where you switch from the knit to the purl stitch. That's the same problem I always have when I have to switch from knit to purl, for example in rib or after a cable. That first purl stitch always gives me fits. I've tried purling through the back, wrapping the needle in the opposite direction and just pulling as hard as I can on the yarn. I still get a loose purl stitch. I'm hoping that because the Fixation has a lot of stretch to it the stitches will eventually even out.

I finished the K2 P2 ribbing on the top of the first basic sock from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I'll try to get to the heel flap on that later today. I made the leg about half an inch shorter than the pattern called for because I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn. I'm a few yards short of what the pattern calls for so I think this will be enough. Otherwise I'll have to redo the toes later on with a different yarn. Could be cute.

The sock that I work on only when watching TV has been idle since last Tuesday. Haven't been home to watch The News Hour so, since that's the only TV I generally watch, nothing has happened with that. But the first one is done and the second one is almost to the heel. That should also see a little progress today.

And on the seemingly almost mindless scarf. I've started the third skein and have at least two more to go after that. I've only been working on this while I'm at Skein. Customers seem to really like it even though it's just a single strand. It does make some nice semi-stripe patterns. I do have to keep an eye on the stitches as it's very easy to pick up the top of the loop in the row below. I'll be happy to see this one done.

I treated myself to a copy of Socks, Socks, Socks. (From XRX, the people who publish Knitter's Magazine.) I'd been drooling over it for a week or more and decided that I could use some of my store credit to purchase it. I think it will be useful and some of the patterns are fascinating. Who knows if I'll ever actually make anything from the book. I get almost as much satisfaction from reading the patterns as I do from knitting, and it's a lot faster.

And while I'm going on about sock knitting, did you see this? I got this link from Fillyjonk, one of my daily reads. I love her point of view and always feel like she's sensible and at the same time playful. Anyway, I really, really want one of those kits. I don't usually pay that much for a pair of shoes, let alone a pair of socks. But, wow, they're fantastic!

About the weather. It's still gloomy here. The weekend was off and on again sunny and pleasant. But today could be confused with February. I'm planning to do some in depth housework (spring cleaning?) but this weather is not really helping. It would be better suited to reading, knitting and napping. Maybe if I just get started I'll forget about the weather.

Easter was nice. After an all-you-can-eat Chinese lunch I went to Skein for three hours where there was very little business. After we closed I went to dinner at my friend Robert's house. Robert is my oldest friend and I've know him longer that practically anybody. Dinner at his house is usually a matter of endurance. It's almost never ready until 9:30 or even 10:00. But then it's generally worth it. Last night we had a pretty traditional dinner, ham and scalloped potatoes. The salad was fresh artichoke hearts with cherry tomatoes and avocado. The ham was glazed with a citrus based sauce. And for dessert, tiramisu. We had deviled eggs beforehand along with some merlot that I had received as a gift from my friend Doris. And I have leftovers as well as a bunch of homemade cookies and dyed eggs, neither of which I'm supposed to have, but, hey, it's Easter! Or was.

I got started on the Fast Florida socks today. I still didn't get the gauge but after an email exchange with the designer I think I'll be okay after the sock is washed. And anyway I can always start over and use the first sock as another shop sample. I need to get some more detailed measurements for this sock, like the height of the heel and the ankle circumference. It does look small to me but the yarn is very stretchy so maybe it will fit but I think I may have made the heel flap a little too long. But I think I'm really getting a grasp of sock knitting, at least the general structure.

The yarn, Cascade Fixation, is a bit of a pain to work with. The stitches are very tight due to the spandex in the yarn. At least the stitches aren't going to slide off the needle. But my hands can really feel the results. Very sore and achy.

It was so cold today that I was wearing one of knit hats. It was so dismal outside that I thought it was winter. And dark to boot. So no pictures yet. We didn't get the rain that was predicted but it could still happen.

And in the sporting news. We won all our games again tonight. Against the second place team. We've moved up a lot in the standings as well. We're not going to be able to move into first place by any stretch but the higher we place the more prize money we'll get. And I like that.

Went to Skein today for my regular Wednesday afternoon stint and also to buy the size 3 dpns that I need to make the Fast Florida socks. There were no size 3s on the rack. Ann Mary found some in the back but just as she was getting ready to ring them up I found the two pair that I own. There in the bottom of my plastic Aguaya Salon bag along with my everyday knitting paraphenalia. So as soon as I finish this I'm going to try the Fixation yarn again.

I've been working on a scarf for the shop that uses Berroco's Mosaic FX. For all intents and purposes it's identical to Plymouth's Eros. Today Ann Mary showed me a bag of Eros that is exactly the same color as the Berroco I'm using. The Eros has twice the yardage and is only about 50% more than the Mosaic. Go figure! Then later in the day the Plymouth rep was in and showed us some of their new yarns. They have the same yarn as one of our high end companies with more yardage and a better price. I don't think Plymouth's colors are quite as nice as some of the higher priced yarns, but they're getting better. They have a new one called Electra that is really beautiful. It's one of those tufted yarns with a thin carrier strip. Saw a sample knitted up and it really has a nice drape.

And speaking of the scarf. I've ripped it more times that just about anything I've worked on in recent memory. I keep grabbing the top of the stitch in the row below and not realizing it so I end up with more stitches. Now I'm making myself count every row as I knit it. Tedious but effective.

I have a conflict of interests. As both of you will recall, I spend on average three hours a day reading blogs and sometimes the very witty comments that folks leave here and there. I'd call that a major interest. But then, also recall, I have just discovered that I really like to knit socks. But knitting socks is not something I can do while my mind is involved with other people's lives. At least not yet. So it was very stressful this morning trying to decide which to do. So I worked out a compromise. I did laundry instead. Well, actually, I read about a third of the blogs and then started the laundry and then tried to work on a new sock.

I've really been wanting to start these socks. I have the Cascade Fixation and even have the pre-approval from Lisa. So I got started and worked the first seven rows. The yarn is very, very stretchy but I can cope. The problem is my gauge is too tight. And the other problem is, I don't seem to have any size 3 dpns. I would have sworn that I did. I thought about going to Skein to get some but there was the laundry going and besides I'll be there on Wednesday. So end of that project.

Fortunately I have some other sock yarn. What foresight! So I've started the basic sock from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks book. I'm using some Plymouth Sockotta and it's looking very good. Too late tonight for a pic and I only have about four inches done on the first one. So maybe in a day or so. I did finish the second sock of the Regia self-patterning yarn. They're almost identical which pleases me no end.

Fun time at Joanne's tonight. She finally got started with the weaving class. I'm not doing any weaving myself but it was nice to sit there as Joanne went through the opening session. Loom parts and terminology. And then the fiber selection for the first project. She has a warp winding machine that makes that part so much easier than using a warping board. Anyway, it felt good just to hear all the stuff again even though I don't weave anymore. I just worked on my new sock.

And then I came home and read the rest of the blogs. So I'm up to speed and ready for tomorrow's news. And I think I can handle K2 P2 ribbing while I read.

A moderately productive day. Almost finished with the second sock and I got a bit done on the TV watching only second sock. Mostly I just lazed about, reading and dozing. We had some heavy rain and high winds. Kind of interesting weather for this time of year. Strange to have so little to say.

Another weekend of riotous living comes to a close. Turned the heel on the second sock of Regia self-patterning yarn. Woo yay! Skein was pretty quiet, especially today. My friend Carole came in and we went to a baby welcoming party after the shop closed. We didn't know anyone there except the new mom and her husband (only slightly) so we didn't stay very long.

Lisa came over on Friday night and we went to our favorite Japanese restaurant. Lisa likes sushi; I do not. Ann Mary says Lisa probably like raw fish because she was born in Korea. The logic escapes me. Anyway, Lisa picked up the Easter vest. I wasn't all that pleased with how it looked. I think it's too big. Maybe it just needs the right outfit. And she admired the new socks.

Today I took a couple of friends for lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant. One of them helped me with my income taxes so this was sort of a thank you lunch. I've known this guy for about ten years; we used to work at the same company. The company he was working for folded a couple of weeks ago so he's kind of at loose ends right now. He's been making noises about me teaching him to knit so maybe that will happen in the next few weeks. That could be fun. I really get a kick out of turning people on to knitting. I showed him one of the socks I had just completed to tempt him.

Yesterday a couple of women came in late in the afternoon. A mother/daughter duo. The daughter wanted to make one of the scarves from a recent issue of Martha Stewart's magazine. I guess she'd never been in a yarn shop before and she did not know how to knit but her mother was going to get her started. She freaked when she saw the prices. She kept asking if there wasn't some way she could make the same scarf, that would look just as good, for less money. Her mother kept telling her that nice yarns are expensive and that's just the way it is. So we finally got something together she could live with, price-wise, and then went on to the needles. Unfortunately we didn't have the size she needed in bamboo. We only had plastic. Well, that wouldn't do. She said she just wanted the whole thing to look more Asian. And bamboo was the only thing that would do. She wouldn't buy the yarn without the needles so that was the end of that. Sometimes it's so tempting to play the yarn-snob card and just send them off to Wal-Mart.

When I used the weather as an analogy yesterday I didn't really expect anything to happen. But it did. It's been in the mid to high 80s all week long and now, without any prior warning, we are in the midst of gloom. I don't think it will even get into the 70s today and rain is predicted for Saturday and Sunday. This is Southern California, for crying out loud, it's not supposed to rain this time of year! Maybe it won't. You just have to wait another five minutes.

A most excellent night at bowling. My team is not the strongest in the league. We generally hover around last place, up a notch, down a notch. But sometimes we just get it right. (Or the other team just gets it wrong.) For the past three weeks we've been pretty good, winning all the games except one last week. Not that we're ever going to get to first place but it's nice when you beat the top teams. And I have to say I was really pleased with my perfomance last night. I had my first 600 series of this league. I may have won some money in the sidepot. I didn't wait to find out but even if I don't win any money my last game was a big thrill. And it was just what we needed to win by 2 pins.

I'm waiting for the prospective employers to get back to me with their offer. I talked with the CFO yesterday and he said they hadn't had time to "put a pencil to it". (Don't you just love jargon?) Anyway I'm still waiting to see what they are going to do. So at least for another week I'll be able to squander my time, reading blogs, taking walks and generally avoiding household chores.

And there isn't any news on the knitting front. Didn't pick up the needles at all yesterday. I'm going to Skein today and will take the nearly mindless scarf, and the Regia socks, to work on. I hope I have some fun people to work with today. Since I teach drop-in lessons I never know for sure who's going to be there.

Just like the weather, if you don't like the current priorities of your knitting projects, wait five minutes and it will change. I was planning on making corrections to a lace top I started for Skein. That was for this morning. Instead I'm working on a nearly mindless scarf using Berroco's Mosaic FX. Ann Mary thinks we should make something else with the yarn I was using for the lace top. I don't really care that I've already finished the body and just had a little bit to do on the sleeves. The projected pattern is fairly simple and I didn't want to do those sleeve corrections. That's probably why I've put them off for several months. So until the next pattern is chosen I'm making the scarf.

I got a couple of colorways in Cascade Fixation yesterday for some socks. Since I was already shopping I thought I might as well pick up a couple of other things. So I got a skein of Sockotta in an orange mix, and two skeins of Regia in a primary colors kind of mix. As always, I'm way over stocked in sock yarns and there's no way I'm really going to get all these things done is the next few weeks. It's a good thing that none of my projects have hard deadlines. On the other hand that might be a good thing.

I went to Joanne's last night for the weekly sit and knit. It was supposed to be the start of a weaving class for the other member of our troika but she couldn't make it. So Joanne and I just chatted and worked on our mindless knitting. I got a lot done on the second sock of the Regia one I posted yesterday. Joanne seemed a little distracted and restless. I don't think she's feeling very well these days but being the stubborn person she is she doesn't want to admit it. She told me that Tom, my "difficult" knitter/student, had come in to see her in the afternoon. (Joanne also teaches at Skein one day a week.) He's apparently still having a hard time fixing mistakes and had ripped out all the progress he had made on his scarf. I hope whatever tips she gave him will do the trick. I always feel a little defensive when Joanne tells me about having to work with one of my students. I don't know which buttons this pushes. Maybe she's just passing along information but it feels like a "judgement" to me. (Nobody knows how insecure I really am.)

I finished the first sock of the "just when I'm watching TV" pair. I like it. I don't know who the sock will fit but I'm just going to start a knitting box the way Nanette does and someone will fit them eventually. Same with all the hats I have finished over the past few months. I have a black lace project to finish for Skein and then I will be free from that. I have to rip both sleeves back to the armhole decreases and redo them. I made two different mistakes on each of them. Who knows why. So maybe tomorrow I will get that started. This project has been on hold for so long that I've forgotten the stitch pattern and have to try to dredge it up or find the pattern. I like black but it sure is difficult to work on.

If I don't forget I'm going to buy some yarn today to make these socks. I think they're really cute and I'm pretty sure Lisa and her Mom would like them. The reason I say if I don't forget is because I seem to be forgetting a lot lately. I almost missed paying my property taxes because I forgot to check when they are due. I almost always have to think about what day it is before I get out of bed in the morning. I did manage to file my income taxes on time. I wonder when I'm supposed to pay the car registration.

The Easter Vest


and that's my shadow off to the side. (One crummy photographer). I was supposed to post this a week ago but I got busy and was doing other things so I just got around to taking a picture this morning.

And here's a detail


Not really great photos but that's partly because the yarn is so fuzzy it's hard to see the individual stitches. I'm really glad this project is done. The yarn was most unpleasant to work with.

So long as I was taking pictures I thought I'd take one of the current sock project.


I got the pattern from Knitting Now. There are several other free patterns on that page that I plan to take advantage of as time goes by. This may be preaching to the choir but as a recent sock knitting convert I just have to go on record as saying how much fun it is. I may never get as wrapped up as Lynn H who is now up to 74 pairs (plus some odds and ends that she's still working on) but I am really excited about this. I'm not sure how long I'll use the self-patterning yarns. They are easy, of course, but I think I'd like a little more challenge. I'm still just exploring the various techniques of shaping but once that's behind me I'll probably want to switch to something with fair isle or textured stitches.

Traffic has really slowed down at Skein although I continue to be busy with students. Saw several folks last weekend that I hadn't seen in a little while. That guy, Tom, was back in on Friday with his second swatch. We got him started on a simple scarf using garter and stockinette stitches plus he'll do some color changes as he goes. He's getting better but still has difficulty figuring out which side he's working on. I haven't taught any absolute beginners in a while but I have a few lined up over the next few weeks.

Let's see, what else? Oh, about the job. I still haven't made up my mind but I've been for a couple of lunches with the prospective employer. I'm supposed to talk with them again on Thursday to see what kind of compensation package they will offer. It turns out that it's really a sales position. I've never done that kind of thing other than retail sales. So we'll just have to see.

Yesterday was mostly a day of domesticity, laundry that sort of thing. But it's done, for a while anyway. Took a friend to lunch so that took up a big chunk of time as well. And then there's all the war news and reading blogs. No wonder I'm so far from finished on so many things. Today I've got to start working on my taxes. Mostly that means sorting through the year's stack of paper that I might need so I save it just in case. Most of it will be thrown away.

I had a call from a guy I used to work with, five or six years ago. He's looking for someone to do a little PR for the company he's with now. I'm thinking about this. It involves a lot of driving and in LA that's not a pretty picture. But I'm going to call him back today and see if I can get some more info and try to make a decision in the next day or so.

I think I've finally found a solution to the edge treatment for the Easter vest. Just plain old garter stitch. It seems to be working. If I can get it done today I'll have a picture tomorrow. Spent a couple of hours on the faux fair isle sock and the TV watching sock. And the friend I took to lunch yesterday wants me to show him how to knit. Do I really want to go back to work?

So, the socks fit perfectly. Lisa was really tickled with them. Happy about that and plan to make more. In fact, I worked so long on the newest pair that my finger, the one I use to push the stitches off with, felt like it had been caught in a door. I can't remember ever working on size 2 needles or with yarn this fine. But I am really liking it. I went to Border's to see if they had the two Vogue On The Go sock books (I have a gift certificate) but they didn't have them. I didn't see anything else that I had to have so I'll wait until they have them in stock again.

I was really busy yesterday with new students and a couple of continuing ones. Tom, the new guy that started last weekend, came in again. Poor guy is really struggling with forming the stitches. He keeps grabbing both legs of the stitch and so he ends up with an extra loop and a screwed up stitch. I've shown him several times what he's doing wrong and he seems to see that, but I don't the think he really understands how the stitches are formed. He's gripping the needles so tightly that they're bowed. He was doing better by the time he left yesterday.

Skein itself was not all that busy but there were a few big sales that made up for the lack of traffic. We're still getting new customers that just can't believe that the shop has been there almost four years. The new spring and summer yarns are doing well and more stock has already been ordered. But the slow season is coming. It's already pretty warm here and once we switch to daylight savings time things will get even slower.

What do you call a coven of unattached wiccans?

Craft Singles

This is a joke I got from Lisa so don't blame me.

I'm still trying to finish the Easter vest. It's all knit and put together but I'm having some design problems with the edgings. I don't really want a ribbing but it's beginning to look more and more like that's what I will do. I've tried an attached I-cord but that was too stiff. I've tried a single crochet edging but that was just too loving hands at home looking. The vest is a tuxedo style so it has points on the lower front. The ones I'm using are not particularly pointed but are, in fact, rather wide. I've also designed a very wide low neckline for the front. Next I'm going to try picking up and then binding off immediately. I want a sort of corded look around the edges. So we'll just have to wait and see.



Here's a blurry photo of the finished Country Trunk Socks. There were lots of color changes so there were lots of ends to be woven in. I decided to skip the Kitchener stitch and just wove the tail of the yarn through the final loops. They look fine to me and there doesn't seems to be a lump in the toe. The color is way off. I went outside to take a picture and dropped my camera. Fortunately it hit the edge of a plastic pot before it hit the cement. It seems to be working okay. Guess I'll have to remember to put the strap around my wrist in the future. The picture I took outside didn't have much better color and I didn't like the background so decided to use this one. Now I just have to wait for Lisa to try them on so I know if they fit.

I felt like doing some housecleaning this morning but I recovered and did some swatching instead. I was planning to go to see Doris and do a three needle bind off for her but she called at the last minute and said her daughter was bringing her to Skein today. So since I was already ready to go I went to Skein early. Doris came in and I did the bind off and then showed her the new yarns. She ended up getting some of last winter's yarn. I just love how she rolls her eyes when she sees the prices.

I had four students all at the same time this afternoon. Three of them were learning how to shape shoulders and necklines. The fourth one was learning how to rip, one stitch at a time. I had taken about four different projects that I thought I might be able to finish but none of them got very much attention. So I'm going to do a little now and then check out the latest news. And I still need to do the cleaning.

Except for the grafting of the toes, the Country Trunk socks are done. And why isn't the grafting done? Because I can't Kitchener stitch for beans! I've redone one sock twice and the other one I'm going to undo and try to get it to look decent. I'll probably go to Skein this afternoon and see if Joanne can show me how. Or maybe call the designer and see if I can come over for a lesson. I can usually learn stuff from a book but this one just throws me. I've checked several books as well as online. They make sense but the results are not what I think they're supposed to be.

So I'm going to just ignore them until I get that resolved and work on the Gunniston cap (which I've been using as my computer knitting this morning) and continue with the very easy faux fair isle socks. I started another pair of simple socks using some DK scrap yarn from my stash. It's Orlon. That'll give you some idea of how old this yarn is. If you don't know what Orlon is, go ask your mom. I was watching the war and needed something to do. This yarn was out because I just dumped it out of a bag that I needed for the other pair of socks. And I had some DPNs at hand. Who knows if I'll get back to them any time soon. Depends on when I next watch TV.

After a full week of cloudless skies and temps in the mid to high 70s it was a bit of a let down to spend a whole day in the darkness of dawn. The sun never peaked, not even once. Maybe tomorrow, but not according to MSN.

I spent a lot of today reading the war news and all the commentary that goes along with it. I did finish one sock, except for weaving in all the ends. And will probably finish the other one tonight. I've been reading this blog from Baghdad. It's touching and heartbreaking but the guy has a sense of humor. There's a very funny "photo" today that you might enjoy. Thanks Justin for the link.

Heard about a knit shop in Long Beach that's closing at the end of this month. It's a small shop with mostly high end yarns. They're having a clearance sale through the 30th. So if you're in the area it might be a good time to pick up some good deals. Send me an email if you're interested.

I'm pretty sure the ants have been reading my email and the comments on my blog. The day after I got all those excellent suggestions on how to deal with them, they disappeared. Who knew they were computer literate? Anyway, I have a goodly supply of red pepper so I'm going to try that first. I saw a big batch of them this morning hiding in the ivy on my balcony. I wonder, if I dropped a bunch of flyers telling them it's useless and they should just surrender or give up, if they would come out waving a white flag. Or maybe I'll just get a can of Black Flag.

I got to see the new baby on Saturday. What a pleasure! Obviously he's the cutest thing I've seen in years. He was sleeping so I didn't get to hold him. He sorta woke up before they left. And the mommy brought her newest knitting project, a sweater vest from the Vogue On the Go Baby Book. It was cute too. I hope I get a picture of him soon so you can all see.

It was pretty calm both Saturday and Sunday. I did have a couple of students today. One of them is making her first sweater and is so excited about it. I think her husband is getting a little jealous of her new hobby. At least he teases her a lot about it. The other student, a man, has never tried anything like this before. Has never done any kind of needlecraft. But he had heard about the "therapeutic" nature of knitting and thought it was something he would like to try. It was a struggle but I think he'll get the hang of it before too long. After about an hour he was already commenting on knitting's addictive qualities. I was a little embarrassed because I thought he was someone's husband who had come looking for his wife. (He really did look a lot like the husband of one of my students.) I can't imagine what he thought about all the ladies sitting around talking about circumcision.

So I'm started on a new pair of socks using some of the faux fair isle yarn. And I've started the Gunniston cap aka the skin tight skull cap. And no, I haven't finished any of the other things I said I was going to.

A few days ago I was lamenting that my "learn to knit socks" book only had one heel shaping/turning style. A blog comment suggested that I consider Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. So I replied that I had put the book on my Amazon/Christmas wish list but hadn't received it. I have this book. I was looking for some baby patterns to loan to the new mom and found that I had Folk Socks and have had for at least two, maybe three years. I guess when I got it I wasn't all that interested in making socks so after giving it a casual once over I filed it away. I'm in the middle of reading it now. It's fascinating and full of good information as well as some patterns that I'm really looking forward to making.

I never thought I would become a sock knitter. It's embarassing to admit that I'm at risk of becoming addicted. (I'm still on my first pair, you understand.) I've been scrounging my pattern books and the 'net for patterns. I think I'm more interested in the various techniques and enjoy reading the instructions than the actual knitting. But the knitting is exciting too. And I still have all those Christmas stockings I wanted to make last year. Woo yay!

Yesterday afternoon I kept hearing all this yelling and shouting coming from down the street. Finally went out to see what it was. (Actually I just had to go to the post office.) Anyway, there was a small anti-war demonstration going on. Maybe 50 or so kids and a couple of older (surviving hippie liberals) folks carrying placards printed with lots of trite, over simplified slogans. The cop ratio was pretty high. I don't think the affair attracted much attention. Certainly nothing like the one in Westwood. And the traffic still flowed pretty well. At the bowling alley the big screens were taken up with the war coverage. Normally we can watch whatever sporting event is on that evening. People were complaining about the sameness and the repetitive comments. How quickly we get bored these days. Actually, I think sporting events are just about as boring. Did you think war was supposed to be entertaining?

Apropros of nothing in particular, does anyone have a good way of getting rid of ants? I'd rather not use commerical bug killers. I'm more interested in repelling them than in killing them.

I've added a new web ring to my page, over there just underneath the knitting bloggers. It's the Men Who Knit ring. It's small right now but I have hopes it will grow pretty quickly. The ring was set up by Jerry Gaiser of When Knitting Was a Manly Art fame. Check it out.

It's a beautiful, warm day here. I'm off to Skein to see what's going to happen next.

No pictures today afterall. Too busy to finish any of the projects that I thought I would. And today I'm trying to make some changes to my blog template. That's not going well at all.

Had a great afternoon at Skein with several folks I hadn't seen in a while. Then after the shop closed Ann Mary took me and another of the instructors to dinner at a Chinese seafood restaurant. We had Alaska king crab. Those babies are really ugly. And I didn't think it was all that tasty. But then I don't care much for seafood. But we had a very nice time.

Just finished weaving in the ends of my "USC" beanie. It's okay I guess. I've started the gusset on the second sock of the Country Trunk socks. This one looks much better than the first one. And I finished the knitting of the Easter vest. I'll try to get the side seams sewn today and I think I'm going to use an applied I-cord edging. Gotta get ready for Skein so pictures tomorrow, maybe.

Well, after the torrential rains on Saturday we had a gorgeous day on Sunday. And the weather continues to be sunny and pleasant. Except we have some pretty strong winds. Palm fronds caught in the nest of TV dishes on our roof. Shrubs scraping the windows making spooky sounds.

It was so busy at Skein on Sunday that I didn't even bother to get my knitting out. I had five students and several other folks just looking for a little assist. The noise level was incredible. I guess some people just talk loud. When you have two of those people together it makes everyone else have to talk louder so it just goes up and up. And another thing! I hate it when people start handling my knitting or someone else's without first asking permission. It is just so presumptuous. I really came close to slapping someone's hands on Sunday. I really don't care if you grew up in a different culture. Get a little couth, please! And leave your noisy, runny nose kid outside.

Yesterday I went on a house call. One of our customers is no longer able to drive and doesn't have ready access to transportation. She just turned 90 last month and she's just such a pleasure to be with! She called me and asked if I could come and help her with the neckline on a sweater she's making. So I went to see her yesterday morning. After getting lost for about ten minutes because of some wrong assumptions about the directions I got to her place and spent about an hour catching up on all that's been going on in her life as well as answering her questions about Skein and about her sweater. It was so much fun just to be with her. I'd like to be able to take her shopping or whatever she needs to do but I'm pretty sure she won't be able to get into my Blazer. Maybe I can find a small, sturdy footstool. Have to wait and see how that plays out.

After my knit-aid visit I went to Glendale and had lunch with one of my former co-workers. Always fun to catch up on what's happening with the old group. Not many of them left nowadays. (I'm so glad I got out of there when I did.) So then I came home and did some laundry and took a nap. Didn't get much knitting done at all this weekend. I've been working on the ribbed beanie as I read blogs this morning but now I'm ripping out the decreases. Haven't figured out a decent looking way to decrease a 2/1 ribbing so I'm just going to switch to SS for a couple of rows and then do a four point decrease. I managed a few rows on the second sock. I'm waiting to hear from Lisa about what length I need to make them.

Rain! we have lots of rain and are expecting more, depending on which news service you read. But we had plenty today. It was a little bit of a negative for some folks but not every one stayed away. I think it was a pretty good day at Skein. I had three students, two of them were there for most of the day. The last one didn't arrive until shortly after four. I was supposed to leave in about half an hour but she had driven for forty five minutes in the rain to get there so I stayed an extra hour so she would be able to learn all the basics. Normally that would not be a problem. But I forgot that I was supposed to meet a friend for dinner and a concert (LA Chamber Orchestra). It all worked out though. We skipped the preconcert lecture and just enjoyed our margaritas and dinner. And the student was doing fine by the time I left.

I'm still fiddling my way through the socks. And the hat. I hope to finish tomorrow or Monday on both of these projects and then finish the Easter vest. Then, if it's still cool enough, get back to the cabled raglan sweater. Haven't touched that one in at least a month. And the gray merino sweater still needs to be finished. The shop sample shell is almost done. I'm only working on it while I'm at Skein so even though it's a really easy pattern it's taking a while to get done. (And I really don't like working with the yarn.)

Au revoir, Carolyn. For those of you who may not already know, Carolyn, Dangerous Chunky, has decided not to "blog" anymore. I was so saddened by this earlier today that I felt like I had lost a close friend. Carolyn was so encouraging to me in my early blogging days. We never met face to face but I always felt I knew her personally. Probably many of you did as well. I sure hope whatever she's moving on to is rewarding and makes her happy. If anyone out there is in touch with her, please let her know that I wish her all the best and will miss her tremendously.

It's difficult to make changes and hard to make the decision. I belong to three different mail lists and am considering dropping out of two of them and possibly all three. I have to really look at them and decide if I am benefiting from them and if I'm interested enough to make a contribution. And then there's my bowling league. I had to let my team know that I would not be continuing after the end of this season. I've know these guys for the last five years or so and we're all good friends. But it's time to leave. I'll miss it but will remember it with fondness.

Got the second set of US4 dpns and have started the second sock. I don't expect to have much knitting time for the next few days but will try to finish this pair by the beginning of next week. I also got some Brown Sheep Wildfoote to make a "skin tight skull cap", a pattern I got from one of the lists I belong to. The pattern is apparently based on a late medieval or early renaissance cap.

I went as far as I dared on the first sock and am just a little short of the toe shaping. I was going to start the second one when I discovered that I do not have another set of size 4 dpns. And I thought I had at least two of everything. Apparently I was misguided. So I set that aside and worked on the Easter vest instead. Now I realize I could have just transferred it to smaller needles but I don't always think of these things until I'm doing something else. But I really appreciated all the comments and encouragement.

Went to Joanne's tonight for our regular Tuesday. It was just the two of us. We spent most of the time comparing notes and quips about the various students we have at Skein, some of which we share. That was fun but not entirely nice. I got a lot done on the vest. And I found the other skeins that I had misplaced so I have plenty if I decide to add ribbing. Don't think I'm going to do that so I'll probably weave a scarf. Or how about another hat?

I found two skeins of Regia Jacquard that I forgot I had. I'm trying to work a gauge on size 2. Man, that stuff is tiny. I also got out my learn to knit socks book and read through it. Other than the ugly patterns it was pretty good. But it only shows one way of shaping the heel so I'm going to be doing some online searching. I already have a bunch of sites that I've saved. I'm still not saying I'm going to be making a lot of socks, I just want to be prepared, just in case. (I'm looking for some Koigu so I can make the Crusoe socks from the newest Knitty.)

Current hat project is a ribbed beanie in Rowan Aran Magpie, from stash. It is accidentally in the USC colors. So this hat will go to the father of the new baby. And I remembered a baby sweater that I have all but finished that will be perfect for the baby. I'm sure it's around here somewhere.

Sock progress to date.



So it's a little blurry, it's a sock! This is where I am now, about twenty rows past the heel. The socks were designed by my friend Nancy Attix. The solid red color is Galway 100% wool from Plymouth Yarns and the multicolor stripes are Mountain Colors in four different color ways. The fuzzy stuff is Mountain Colors Feathers.

I hope I have enough of the multicolor to do the second sock. I'm going to finish the second set of repeats and then do the other sock. I can finish the toes and however much more I might need to do in the solid color.

Chris asked if I was addicted yet. I don't think so. There are a few things I need to work out. I have a learn to knit socks book that I'm going to dig out and see what other kinds of heels I can do and I need to try the toe up approach as well. I have some Opal Brazil that needs to be used but I'm not sure what gauge or needle size I'm looking at. Right now I think socks are a little too fiddly but I may change my mind if this pair comes out at all. There's a lot of weaving in of ends to be done. I'm pretty sure the next pair won't have all these yarn changes.

Not a lot going on here. It was pretty quiet at Skein today. The weather was beautiful so I expect lots of folks were gardening or sunning at the beach. Saturday was busy though. Several continuing students and pretty good sales.

I've turned the heel on the first sock of my first ever pair. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow.

The backlighting makes this look a little more dramatic than it really is. This is the first version of the now celebrated London Beanie using the four point decrease. Instead of decreasing using a K2tog at equally divided intervals this one uses a SSk and a K2tog consecutively at 4 fixed points with one row worked even between each decrease round.



This is the second version of the four point decrease. On this one I inserted a single knit stitch between the two decreases. I haven't washed and blocked this one yet so it's a little messy looking. I tried inserting the knit stitch to minimize the gap between the two decreases that I got on the first version. Still deciding if I like this one any better.

I've decided to start the decreases sooner on these hats when I use either of these decreases otherwise the hat is too long and comes too far down over the face. I saw a "store bought" version tonight that I liked, except for the really garish colors. It was done with ribbing from start to finish. I didn't get a good enough look to tell how the shaping was done. Probably just machine stitched. I'll have to see if I can get to the mall and see how they're done commercially.

Anyway that's the saga to date of the hat shaping.

Another Beanie off the needles last night. This time I used a slightly different decrease. I added a single knit stitch between the decreases on Joe's four point decrease. I'm still trying to decide if I makes a significant difference. In any event, I like this decrease a lot.

A very good day at Skein yesterday. Three of my new students came in to get started on new projects. One of them had finished her first sweater last Friday and over the weekend had completed another sweater for her second granddaughter in the same yarn and using the same pattern in a smaller size. Started the second student on her first sweater ever. She's using one of Berroco's new yarns, Nimbus, and one of their patterns. The gauge swatch looked really good. She's so excited, in spite of the razzing she's getting from some of her friends about taking up knitting. "What are you going to do when you get old?" She and another of my students knit at their sons' hockey practice.

The third student is so enthusiastic that she can't wait to start her first sweater. She bought the yarn yesterday plus yarn for the second sweater and ordered yarn for the third. She told me she's getting up an hour or so earlier so she can get her other work done so she has more of the day available for knitting. And she's actually getting a lot done. She's a lot of fun to be with and has a way of infecting others with her excitement.

Going to the dentist this morning but when I get home I will try to work some on the current in process stuff. At least until time to go bowling.

Finished another Beanie, this time using the decrease I got from Joe. It's still drying so no picture yet. I tried it on before I washed it and I really like the decrease. I discussed it with one of my knitterly friends who had checked out the image on Joe's blog. She also thought it looked better and was very impressed by the earflap hat. So I'm now decreasing on another hat and will use the same decrease but I will start the decrease a little sooner than before. I think the one that's still drying is a little too long.

Went to Joanne's for the first time in three weeks. She's been having some construction done and didn't want to have people over while her house was such a mess. It was nice to get together again. I started the socks I mentioned yesterday. So far so good. Didn't really make much progress as we spent a lot of time just chatting and catching up.

It rained today and is pretty cold, by our standards. So the orange Beanie is very handy.

Monday again! Probably my favorite day since it's my one day that I don't have to go anywhere or do anything. Not even laundry! So I usually spend most of the day online. I'm more likely to write comments or follow up on links on Monday. I have a couple of friends who complain that I'm "always on the computer" and they can't reach me. But neither of them have offered to fund DSL for me. So I've knitted most of a new London Beanie while I read the blogs and my email.

Sometimes I feel like I should be doing more challenging things. I think I've mentioned this before. But I really enjoy making hats and trying out random color combinations. As soon as I finish the current hat I'm starting another one in a different yarn at a different gauge.

I also remembered a pair of socks that I started a year or so ago. Think I'll see if I can find them and work on them for a while. I need to get Lisa's foot size so I'll know when to stop. These are from a kit that is put together by a friend. They're sold under the name Country Trunk and use a combination of Mountain Colors and Plymouth Galway. She also does mitten kits. Since I've been helping so many people with their socks I think I can muster the courage to make some myself.

Saturday and Sunday are pretty much alike as far as I'm concerned, except I don't spend as much time at Skein on Sunday. But pretty close. Seems like we always have someone come in just before closing on Sunday and we almost never turn anyone away, no matter what time it is. And then someone else comes in. I think we had as much business after closing today as we did during the posted hours. And it all works somehow. I had a student that needed just a few more minutes and she was in a panic that she wouldn't get to where she needed to be. So I didn't leave until almost an hour after we closed.

So I'm home and getting ready to work on the Easter vest. I'm also looking around for a baby sweater pattern to make for Nicholas, the new baby. I think I'd like to do something with lots of cables. Sounds like a Debbie Bliss. I do have some of her books so there should be something there. By the time I get it done we'll be past sweater weather so I guess I'll make a one year size.

I don't know what happened but I kept pushing buttons and trying different things and finally got my images to upload from my camera. Here's the latest London Beanie.



And the back view. I don't like the way the decreases gather and cause a sort of ruffled effect. I'm working on another one right now and thanks to Joe I have a new decrease to try. I think it will look a lot better. I should know in a couple of days.

There was this faint buzzing sound and then nothing. Something has happened to my USB connection to my camera. We, Lisa and I, had just loaded some pics she took onto my computer. Then she took some pictures of me wearing my latest London Beanie. We tried to load the pictures and nothing would come up. The photo editing program seems to work but no images appear. So for the time being, no pictures.

From what I hear the adoption went okay and the new baby is home with his new parents. I have a baby blanket that I knit a year or so back that I need to get wrapped. Hope I get to see the baby soon. I'm wondering how the new parents are feeling after a couple of nights with a baby in the house.

I have two new students. They are recently retired school teachers and have been best friends since kindergarten. They were both born in Pasadena and have lived here all their lives. So far working with them has been especially nice. They both seem to appreciate my somewhat methodical approach to teaching knitting. And we're not doing scarves!

And then there's the other two new knitters I've been working with for the past week or so. They're so rhapsodic about knitting. They don't mind correcting mistakes and are so excited that they are learning how to do this. They've each planned enough projects to last them for the next six months. And purchased the yarn already.

Then there's my regular Friday afternoon doom and gloom knitter. This week was extra pitiful. Over and over with all the things that had gone wrong during the week and how that was making it hard for her to knit and couldn't I just do her bind off for her, etc. But she's a good customer so we put up with it. Although I did finally tell her she could choose to be happy if she wanted to. I think it went over her head.

Started a new shop sample. It's called "That Seventies Top" and uses a Meunch Yarn called Verikeri. There's not much to it except for the yarn which is a braided ribbon with gold metallic slubs every few inches. A little irritating to work because of the size 11 needles and the slinky nature of the yarn. I've only done about three inches of the six inch ribbing but people are suddenly discovering the yarn and we've sold a lot of it.

The trip to the Valley (Chatsworth, actually) was a huge success. We went to Bishop's Yarn Shop. I'd never heard of it until a few weeks ago when a friend told me about it. We got there a little before noon and headed directly for the racks of sale yarns. Lots of really good stuff and marked down to below cost. So much for buying a single skein or a book. I got 12 balls of Sirdar Opium in a medium blue, 10 balls of Gedifra St. Tropez in a soft light olive and 20 balls of Bouton d'Or Tam Tam in a tweed/natural color. Each ball was $2.50. Amazing! The owner, Florence, is a cute, 85 year old woman who prides herself on knowing every bit of yarn she has in the shop and doesn't even use a computer. Had a grand time.

We were supposed to go to another shop but one of the women in our little tour group got a phone call from her adoption agency. She and her husband are going to get their new son tonight, if everything goes as planned. This is the most wonderful news for them. There have been a couple of other times when for whatever reason they did not get the child that had been up for adoption. I haven't heard any more since we dropped her off to wait for her husband. I'm just hoping that nothing changed this time.

I'm not sure I should even write about this. I know I don't have the world's most exciting life. No trips to Rome or overnights in Paris. Not even a weekend in Daytona. But never the less, I do manage to get out and about a few times a week. But it seems I really don't have much of a life after all.

Last night, in what seemed like an all night event, I dreamed everything as a blog. No pictures, just black text on a grey background. It seemed pretty interesting at the time. But I don't remember anything about what the blog said. I just remember that it was pretty good reading. (Usually when I try to read anything in a dream it wakes me up.) I'm not sure if I need to quit reading or update my dream site so I can get color.

This is probably getting pretty monotonous by now. But it was another crazy, busy day at Skein. A couple of new knitters and several folks returning to knitting after many years of being away from it. Ann Mary handled most of the sales but I did get a few chances to help out. I like working with people who are putting together a new project, especially when they want to mix up the colors and textures. What I don't like is when we don't have enough of the yarn on hand to complete the project. Ann Mary is happy to order but then there's the whole dye lot thing or waiting until a new shipment comes in. Hardly anyone wants to wait to start a new project.

Ann Mary asked me if I could work tomorrow but I already have plans. (I don't usually work on Thursday.) I'm going with some of my students to check out a couple of shops in the Valley. The Happy Hooker (corny, dated name) and Bishop's, neither of which I've ever been to. So maybe I'll just break my no yarn buying regulation and pick up a little something for a hat. Or maybe a book.

There was snow on the mountains this morning. First time this winter that I've seen that (if you don't count Mt. Baldy way off in the distance). And it continues to be cold tonight. Wearing a hat indoors really helps!

Joanne called last night and cancelled our knitting get together for this evening. She also said she might not be able to make it to Skein for her Tuesday afternoon stint. Since I needed to see Ann Mary to go over some of the Sunday stuff I decided to go over early and see if she needed my help. Well, she wasn't there. Her husband was sitting behind the counter, playing FreeCell. Ann Mary had an appointment with her doctor and wasn't coming in until later. I had a couple of people right away that needed help with their knitting. And sold them a bunch of yarn before they left. Ann Mary came in just as they were leaving. And we stayed busy all day. Very unusual for a Tuesday. I ended up teaching a few people a variety of things but mostly how to bind off loosely. And Joanne didn't come in.

I finished the first half of the front of the Easter vest. (No, I didn't get it done yesterday.) And I've started the second front. I'm very pleased with the short rows and the 3 needle bind off. I love showing this bind off to people who have never heard of it. So I had a chance to do that for a couple of people today. I'm looking for a ribbon or contrast yarn to do a row of single crochet around the neck and fronts of the vest but so far nothing is quite right. No pictures until the weekend because Lisa is using my camera for a special project she's doing.

I just finished another London Beanie. We're having a winter day here so the hat is very handy and it's doing it's job perfectly. Cozy!

I couldn't believe the number of people who came into Skein yesterday. I had four students at once plus several more experienced knitters going at once. I also had to deal with the customers as Ann Mary was away for the day. Her husband ran the register so I didn't have to deal with that.

One student had twisted her stitches on the hat she is making. So that had to be ripped. I don't think she'll twist her stitches ever again. Then someone else had to learn how to decrease and to work on double points. I thought she'd faint before it was all over. And then another brand new knitter had to learn how to bind off. For her it was a piece of cake. I also showed her how to do ribbing and she just got it in nothing flat. (I love it when that happens.) I didn't stop all day. And we sold a lot of yarn. Wish I had had more time to visit with some of the regulars that came in.

So I'm home for the day and getting ready to do some of the chores. And I'm hoping I can finish the major knitting on the Easter vest. But I have to run a couple of errands. Hope I'm back before the rain starts.

Just way too busy to do much real knitting. Skein has been swamped everyday with customers and students. All of which is very good for the shop but not so good for my personal knitting. I've also been busy on the social front so there hasn't been time at home. Maybe tonight.

I'm always a little apprehensive when I get ready to post a photo. I don't know for sure if it's going to be the right size or if the colors are going to be good enough, etc. But I did get the batteries and took the picture (inside and outside to see which gave me the best color etc.) so I'd better just post it and see what I get.



This is just plain stockinette which I thought would be best for this yarn. I'm making a tuxedo style vest and have finished the back and about half of half of the front. I'm not going to finish by tomorrow, which I had hoped to do. But it will be done in time for spring. I think the colors are very Easter. It's some discontinued yarn from Pinguoin called Menestrel. The fiber is a blend of mohair, wool, viscose and polymid (whatever that is). And I'm using size 11US needles. I don't particularly like mohair as a fiber. I think it's generally too stiff and scratchy, but the yarn was on sale and I think the colors are nice.

Well, if it isn't one thing, it's forty-leven others! Remember, I was going to get some batteries so I could take a picture of my current project that you really want to see, well, I didn't really forget, I just got a little sidetracked because I went to Skein yesterday to say hello to Joanne since we weren't going to be getting together for our regular Tuesday night meeting and she wasn't there and Skein was very busy so I stayed to help Ann Mary and we didn't finish up until after six. So then we went to dinner and had some margaritas and when I got home it was late and by the time I had read all my blogs and emails it was too late to go and get some batteries. So I got some batteries today before going to work at Skein thinking I could take pictures tonight. But then there was this huge class tonight and Ann Mary was afraid that the teacher couldn't handle all those people by herself so she asked me to stay and help and so I did. So then I got home and had a couple of phone calls to deal with and then I made some dinner and and now it's late again and I still haven't taken the picture. And besides, this morning I couldn't sign on to Blogger and tonight I can't get the messages that I know are waiting for me and it's all too much.

Then I find out that Melanie Fallick is leaving Interweave Knits and I'm very unhappy about that. Not that she really knows me or what I think but still it would be nice if things didn't just keep changing all the time, especially when everything else is all cattywampus!

I just hope Blogger doesn't eat this post.

I just looked out the window and was surprised that there was no snow. There are so many photos on the blogs this morning that it was hard to believe I am not affected. Some really amazing stuff. Look at this.
Snow in the city must really be a pain.

Life right now is a garter stitch scarf using Encore. It seems to just be going on in its monotonous way. There are certain benchmarks that I use to let me know that something has happened. Usually I go to Joanne's on Tuesday night for a knitting and visiting session but we're skipping it tonight because she has some construction/plumbing stuff going on right now and thinks her house will be too much of a mess. I realize this is about as exciting as a dropped stitch but it is a change in my routine. Big deal! So tonight I get to stay in and maybe, guess what, knit or clean house. Mustn't get too excited.

So the vest I started using the discontinued Pinguoin yarn is proceeding as expected. It's only slightly less boring than garter stitch. I hope it will be done by Friday. If I don't forget I will buy some batteries today so I can post a picture tomorrow. If I weren't so indolent I would go to Radio Shack and buy a charger and a couple of sets of batteries. But then I don't really take all that many pictures. I need a new black cartridge for my printer and I have a gift card from Best Buys. Maybe I can get both things there. The possibilities are endless!

Sunday at Skein was another madhouse. There are just some customers that you're not happy to see. And there were three of them all at the same time. And an ongoing student who is dyslexic and has ADD. Try explaining garter stitch in the round! And gauge, forget it. I'm not sure if she really got the concept of how to figure out how many stitches to cast on. However, she does keep trying and is very proud of her accomplishments. And is a good sport about having to rip and start over.

I think my idea of what a knitted fabric should look like has changed. I've noticed that in some of the newer patterns the gauge called for, and needle size, is larger than what it would have been a few years ago. Last night I cast on to make a gauge swatch in some yarn I got from a bargain basket at one of my local yarn shops. ( The yarn is from Pingouin and in called Menestrel. I have no idea how long ago the yarn was discontinued but the plastic bag it came in is very stiff and brittle.) Anyway, the label stipulated a size 10 US needle and a gauge of 15 stitches and 16 rows per 4 inches.

So my swatch seemed okay, gauge wise. I didn't much care for the stiffness of the swatch but went ahead and wrote a pattern for a vest. After I had started the vest and had worked what should have been three inches I checked my gauge again and found that it had changed significantly. (I hate it when that happens.) I would have needed more yarn than I have to complete the vest and the fabric was even stiffer than it had been in the gauge swatch.

So this morning I made a new swatch on a size 11. I like the way it looks much better than the one from last night. It's much looser and the hand is softer. So I'll recalculate the pattern and start over. Even though I lose some of the time I spent on it I'll be much happier with the knitting and the look of the finished vest. So, it seems, a gauge swatch can tell you more than just whether you have the right number of stitches. Deborah Newton was right.

Let's see, did anything interesting happen today? Not much that I can remember. It didn't rain and it wasn't exactly sunny but still a nice day. Got to Skein about an hour early and started in right away with a couple of new customers. Then I had my almost weekly sock student. (Why would someone make socks with black yarn when they can't see what they're doing in the first place?) We finished the toe decreases on the first sock and she was one stitch short. I wanted to let it go but she insisted on finding the missing stitch. After ripping back to the beginning of the toe decreases it was discovered that there were actually two missing stitches that had apparently never been picked up back at the gusset. So she'll be back next week to do the other sock.

I finally got up to the armhole on the front of my merino sweater. K3/P2 can get really boring but everyone has commented on how great the color is and what nice yarn and the knitting is so perfect. Who am I to deny them? I think I will like wearing the sweater when it's finally done, maybe in a couple of weeks. I made sure I took lots of breaks so my arm didn't get so freaked out. Seems to have worked. Bowling didn't seem to bother me. In fact I had a better night than I've had in several weeks.

We had to unpack the Christmas stockings today. Another new customer who is really on top of her holiday knitting. Ann Mary has been in business for almost four years now. Seems like we get someone new almost every day that just can't believe they haven't seen the shop before. And the usual comment about how there just aren't any knitting shops around. (I know of two that are within 20 minutes of Skein.) But the business continues to grow. The spring yarns are starting to arrive. We're having a hard time getting big needles, all the suppliers seem to have them on back order.

Guess I better go clean up the kitchen and see if I can find something colorful to work on. Or maybe I'll just do a couple of rows on the cabled raglan.

In spite of, or because of, the heavy rains we had on Tuesday and yesterday Skein was pretty busy. We don't have our own parking lot so there's only street parking or the Shakey's Pizza lot next door. (Shakey's doesn't seem to mind if our customers park there.) Their lot was full yesterday so most everyone had to park on the street. Wading was the only option. Squishy shoes and dripping umbrellas were the uniform of the day. Plus we had two leaks in the ceiling. Neither of them were dripping on the yarn but it was hazardous to watch out for the waste cans and boxes that were set out to catch the water. (We didn't have an extra trash can so Ann Mary lined a cardboard box with a plastic bag and that worked just fine.)

I had a new student that was a referral from someone I taught a couple of weeks ago. She knew how to do the knit stitch and to cast on. So we worked on purling and got started on a hat. She and the lady who sent her in are leaving today for Utah to watch their kids in an ice hockey tournament. They're both taking their knitting with them. I hope they don't drop any stitches. I'll be seeing them again next week, I think. Love new knitters!

I did manage to knit a lot yesterday afternoon. I think I'm getting some kind of repetitive motion problem. This has sort of been building up for the last month or so. The upper part of my right arm has a sharp pain in it sometimes. Last night I felt like something had torn loose and the whole arm felt weak. I'm going bowling tonight so I'll see if there's anything else wrong. (Maybe I can use that as an excuse for my recently poor performance on the lanes.) So I'm taking a couple of days off of knitting, except for when I have to teach something. Rats! this was not supposed to happen.

And so on to Valentine's Day. Ellen has some interesting comments about this latest commercialized day. I'm not against love or gifts and maybe I'd feel differently if there there was anything approaching a SO in my life but really! Christmas seems like enough! Oy, the pressure!

I got my final subscription copy of Vogue Knitting yesterday. While there are some interesting things in it I don't actually know any 90 pound teen age girls that I will be knitting for. I thought some of the things looked familiar and then I discovered they were linking to the past, early 80s stuff. And the lace pants (weren't they called Capris in the olden days?) are a little too much. A trip to Frederick's may be in order.

Anyway, this is the end of my subscription to Vogue Knitting. I have all the issues for the past 19 years and that's enough. Most of the time I've liked the magazine. Just moving in another direction. Not to mention I have enough UFOs to keep me busy for the next year or so.

There was just an emergency broadcast on the radio. Something about flood conditions in Los Angeles County throughout the day. Well, we did ask for rain! It doesn't seem to be flooding here but there's plenty of water flowing down the streets. I hope everyone is safe. Time to go to Skein.

It's raining! Finally, it's raining. If the MSN weatherman is correct it will rain for the rest of the week. It will be gloomy but we are so in need of this that I won't mind at all. And it usually means good business at Skein.

I really enjoy working at Skein. The shop itself is so different from most of the others where I've worked or shopped. Ann Mary is very meticulous and is pretty much on top of things. She likes to move the yarns around to keep things looking fresh as well as to find room for new yarns as they come in. A lot of the shops that I've been to have a very cottage or crafty look to them. Skein is always tidy. Not a lot of stuff just sitting around. I think that's one of the reasons that a lot of new customers think there isn't much there until they've spent a little time browsing. When I worked at La Knitterie Parisienne it was always a struggle to find anything. The aisles are narrow, impossible for two people to pass each other. Baskets of miscellaneous yarns sitting on the floor made it even more congested. I never did figure out if there was a pattern to how they organized the shop. Mariposa wasn't as bad but still had more of a random way of displaying their yarns. At Skein, most of the time, everything is put away immediately. Even the stock room is tidy.

We also have a table set aside for customers to browse through patterns and books. Generally we try to get people pointed in the direction they're looking for, baby sweaters, men's sweaters or whatever. At La Knitterie there were several book shelves filled with pattern books and magazines that the customer has to try to leaf through with no place to sit. Then we had to go look for a new copy of the pattern. The stock room was worse than the sales floor in terms or organization. And very little room to find anything. But it did keep the patterns from getting all beaten up. Mariposa didn't have a huge selection of books or patterns but they were kept in magazine holders and were more or less organized by type. Not much room for browsing though.

I also like having a separate table for teaching. I can usually work with three or four people at a time and generally there's enough room for all of them to sit comfortably around the table. We do have a few customers who come in on a regular basis just to visit and they will also sit at this table. If I'm overloaded with students most of these visitors pitch in and help, either directly or by keeping the students entertained while I deal with the others. Some good friendships have come out of this arrangement. La Knitterie was totally different. There was a large table for students and others but it was so crowded and noisy that unless you were persistent and insistant you could get lost. Mariposa had a table too. Usually the owner was sitting there working on her current project. And most of the time there would be one of the other shop employees taking up one of the chairs so there would only be room for one or two other people. I guess it was friendly but I've had people tell me they felt excluded and not welcome. At Skein Ann Mary almost never sits down. If someone needs help with their project she will turn them over to me, unless it's something she can handle in just a couple of minutes. I like this. It really helps establish my credibility and at the same time frees her up to handle the salesfloor.

On busy days, like last Saturday and Sunday, I help with sales. It's pretty easy to do, given the layout of the shop. I can keep an eye on the students and help shoppers at the same time. Even though it gets pretty crazy sometimes. I could never have done this at either of the other two shops. Or not as easily anyway.

So I really enjoy going to Skein. I like being there. I may go by later today, just to hang out. And to see if there's anything new.

Thanks to everyone who sent greeting cards, emails and left comments for my birthday. It was a very pleasant day.

Very busy weekend at Skein. Ann Mary stayed home yesterday because she has a cold or something. Lots of customers as well as folks looking for knitting help. I haven't been doing any knitting for the past few days, except for a hat that I'm making to match the scarf (shop sample) that I just finished. I'll probably find some time later today to work on the cabled raglan.

It's kinda funny that I had the same concern as Erica about announcing my birthday. Well, today is it. In another year I'll be able to qualify for Medicare. I've been wined and dined for most of the weekend and the fun will continue through most of the month. Lisa came over on Friday and we went to dinner. Saturday I went to a concert of the LA Chamber Orchestra and had dinner with a friend. Sunday, some other friends took me to dinner and then to see "Chicago". Got a stack of birthday cards today. Some nice gifts and gift certifcates. So it's been good.

The fluffy pink Eskimo scarf is done. The pattern calls for two skeins. I only used about 8 yards from the second skein so I have enough left over to make a coordinating hat. Will try to get that started tomorrow. We were pretty busy for most of the day. I did manage to work some on the ribbed merino sweater that I've been picking away at for the past couple of weeks. Not interesting enough to post a picture of. Maybe when it's done.

This is the kind of day that makes Southern California famous. The sky is so blue and the palm trees are being stirred by a pretty nice breeze (coming out of the East, which is unusual) and the air is so clear that I can actually see the mountains north of Pasadena, a pretty rare occurence. The last I checked the temperature is in the high 60s. Pretty nice stuff. On the down side. The air is so dry that the static electricity is almost lethal. Every time I touch anything it sets off blue sparks. Crackling sounds coming from the laundry I was folding. But there is talk of rain for the weekend. We'll just have to wait and see.

A fairly quiet day at Skein yesterday. I spent most of the afternoon working on the fluffy pink Eskimo scarf. Stockinette probably is faster to knit than cables but it sure doesn't seem like it. I meant to work on my cabled raglan last night but a couple of long phone calls took care of most of my available time. Maybe I'll have time later this afternoon.

Have you seen the newest Interweave Knits? There's a "racoon" jacket in there, designed by Annie. There's a small picture of it on her blog today. Check it out, if you haven't already. I need to find the yarn or a good substitute. I will make this jacket!

Sometimes I forget that there are people who don't know or care anything about the world of knitting. One of my grad school advisors was very big on the concept of subcultural art. I eventually got my degree in drawing and painting working in an area described as subcultural, i.e., a whole world within the larger world that exists without the knowledge of the larger world. Not like a ghetto but rather an area of common interest that draws a group of people together. There may be some generally agreed upon rules or guidelines that define the group. But generally the subculture itself is the all consuming thing. Knitting is like that for me.

Had an email from a friend yesterday wanting to know if I was going to Stitches West. I'd really like to do this but can't for mostly economic reasons. To just be surrounded by all those people who have the same interests and enthusiasms that I have; to see the huge marketplace of fibers and fiber tools. This has got to be the ultimate groupie extravaganza. Sort of the Mecca of Fiber Artists. And yet there's a whole world of people who don't even know this event is taking place, and probably wouldn't care even if they did know.

Last night was "Knitting with Joanne", my Tuesday night regular get together. There are usually just three of us. But it's a recurring event that I look forward to and thoroughly enjoy. And I spend four days a week working in a knit/yarn shop. When I'm at home I'm surrounded by all my works in progress, boxes and bags of yarn, books and magazines about knitting as well as all the tools of the trade. And then, of course, there are all the knitter blogs that I read everyday.

The danger of living in a subculture is that in one's own mind the subculture becomes the mainstream. Sometimes I'm surprised that not everyone, in fact not many people at all, views knitting as an important activity. I've been known to decline invitations because I really wanted to stay home and knit. Now that I'm retired I don't have much to keep me from indulging myself.

So that's what I'm thinking about today.

This is kind of an overall view of the cabled raglan pullover. Not as good a photo as I had hoped for. My digital camera is another one of those electronic things that I'm still trying to get control of. I think the batteries might be running low since it kept shutting off while I was taking pictures. I just had time to point and click, no time to check composition etc.



A shot of some of the cables. There are two large cables, one with 17 stitches and a 34 row repeat, the other with 19 stitches and a 30 row repeat. There are a couple of other cables, one that repeats irregularly over 34 rows and the other that repeats over 6 rows. Plus a few filler patterns.




And another shot of the detail of the border pattern. Some of the cables start at the edge and continue through to the shoulder. Others only go part of the way, and some others don't start until after the border is done.

I'm really having a pretty good time working this, partly because it's been a long time since I've done anything so complex. I'm also happy to be using up some yarn from my stash. I think I mentioned earlier that I had had this Candide for about 10 years. I'm hoping it softens a little bit when it's washed.

Not much news for the past couple of days. We were extremely busy again on Sunday. The last customer didn't leave the store until about an hour after closing. Scarves continue to be the hottest item but there has been some movement toward sweaters and tops. Ann Mary is lobbying for some more cold weather and perhaps some rain so maybe we'll be able to move a lot of the winter yarns before the spring stuff starts to arrive. And it was a little cooler today, low 70s. Not exactly chunky weight wool weather.

I've made a lot of progress on the cabled, raglan pullover. (Will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow.) I've started the decreases so it's beginning to look like something. There are so many changes in the various patterns that I can't work too long on it at a time because I get too tensed up. And the Candide is so stiff that it really slows me down. Whine, whine, whine.

Happy New Year, again! Today is Chinese New Year's Day. I asked KC what year it is and got a mini-lecture on the different ways of counting the years. So many years of the current emperor's reign, so many years since the beginning of the People's Republic, so many years since the first republic (about 900 BC) and of course, the regular old western way of counting the years. But I think it's about year 4634. That's just a guess, but I know it's a big number.

This is a very important day because it sets the course for the coming year. More or less. Prosperity and good fortune are high on the list of things that are forshadowed by the events of this day. We should have a good year. Skein was busy all day. I don't think anyone came in who didn't buy something and usually a bunch of something. We gave out chocolate candy (some of it wrapped in gold foil like Spanish doubloons but actually advertising for Jo Sharp yarns). We didn't see many of our Chinese customers. Guess they were all off visiting their most senior relatives. When the non-Chinese customers heard it was New Year's Day they were surprised that Ann Mary would be working. "Well, this is America!" was her reply.

Only a couple of continuing students today. I made a little progress on the Eskimo buttonhole scarf. The fun part is done. The rest is just stockinette. We're getting ready to move some of the winter yarns off the floor to make room for the soon to arrive spring/summer stuff. Ann Mary almost never marks anything down for clearance so we end up with one or two skeins of miscellaneous stuff. It's fun to find a home for these lonely hanks. Managed to place a couple of them today and yesterday. Anyone looking for some heavy weight "Charm"?