From A to Z

Ironman Mont Tremblant is a mere 11 days away, which would be much more exciting if I wasn't still hobbling around on an injured foot.  Doc thought my injury would be a 2-3 week recovery, but I'm at 3 weeks now and still can't walk.  I'm still holding out hope it will improve dramatically in the next week and I'll be able to tough it out, but the realist (pessimist?) in me is convinced it's not looking good.  Knitting might be the only thing keeping me sane during this wait-and-see game.

I'm seriously in love with my new sock project.

Pattern: Zigzagular Socks
Yarn:  Gothsocks Asphodel, "Goblin King"

I love the pattern.  I love the yarn.  I love the colors. I love the subtle cables.

 
So far, I love just about everything about this sock.  I even didn't mind the gusset decrease rounds and I always hate that part of socks.  Mainly I love that I have something to keep me occupied during boring PT appointments.

I'm sort of continuing with my alphabet game of sock patterns, I just skipped from A all the way to Z. Maybe next I'll go back to B and jump back and forth.  Or jump around completely.  Or abandon the whole idea.  Right now I'm just going to go back to this sock.  And the ice packs.

Visit Tami's for more WIP Wednesday!

A is for...

Two finished projects posted in two weeks?  I'm not sure I recognize myself.

Pattern:  Alternate Steps socks
Yarn:  Black Bunny Fibers Superwash Merino, "Audacity"
Needles:  2.25mm
Started:  May 2014
Finished: July 2014

For years I've been trying to knit down my sock yarn stash.  Despite using up several skeins in the last year and adding almost none (maybe 1 skein in 2013 and it's already been knit up), the drawer always seems to stay full. Well, enough is enough. I've been drooling over sock yarn recently but refuse to add to the stash without seriously knocking it down first.  Last fall reminded me that I'm pretty capable of busting out socks, and since I don't have a ton of projects that I'm really jazzed about, I'm hitting the sock patterns hard.

But I'm also indecisive and I need something to guide me when it comes to picking out patterns.  Usually I rely on KALs on Ravelry, but I got it stuck in my head a few months ago that I should start knitting patterns for each letter of the alphabet (I think a group did this a few years ago).  I did a pattern search, sorted alphabetically, and picked my first pattern:  Alternate Steps.

I didn't exactly whip these out in 2 weeks, but 1 skein down nonetheless.  And not just any skein.  I believe this was my oldest skein of sock yarn in the stash, purchased in 2008.  I started 2 different patterns with this yarn over the years and always ripped pretty quickly.  It was time for this yarn to go.

Now to attack the rest.

I did an honest assessment of the sock yarn stash this week.  About 30 skeins.  It's go time.  Convenient timing since I happen to have a little more knitting time these days.

For 6 months Ironman training went amazingly better than expected.  After finishing a 20 mile run, the longest of the training cycle, with no significant problems, I really felt like I was going to make it to that start line all systems go--a huge relief after spending most of 2013 on the injury bench.  Exactly one week later and 30 days before race day, I limped home the last mile of an 8 mile run and have been sidelined since, unable to put weight on my left foot.  Doc has confirmed it's a soft tissue injury, so I'm lucky in that it's not a stress fracture, which would have ended all hope of racing on August 17.  Now I play the wait-and-see game and hope it heals up enough to for me to start the race and then holds up for 7+ hours of pedaling and a marathon. In the meantime, I'm spending a lot of time in the water, and part of me thinks this is karma's way of getting me back for skipping so many swim workouts....if so, eff you, karma.

The bright side?  With 6 hour bike rides and 3 hour runs off the schedule, I have considerably more time to sit on my ass and knit.  I think I'll go wind some more sock yarn.

So it's been awhile...

Yeah, yeah, almost 5 months, yada, yada.   Kind of a lot has happened, both in the knitting/spinning realms of my life and the non-crafty part.  I’d love to write about all the details, but to quote a favorite character, “No, there is too much. Let me sum up”.  (And if that doesn't sound familiar, it's been too long since you've watched the Princess Bride.  I'd get on that.)

KNITTING:  Holy sock mojo, Batman.  I finished 4 pairs of socks in Nov-Dec of last year.

1.  Nutkin; Sweet Georgia Tough Sock "Tapestry"; project page

2.  Simple SKYP; Sanguine Gryphon Bugga "Oak Timberworm"; project page

3.  Improvised toe-up with 2x2 ribbed leg; My handspun (!); project page

4:  Annetrelac; Rainy Days Wooly Dogs "Flugelhorn"; project page

The autumn sock knitting mojo really came out of nowhere.  Stats illustrate this anomaly best:

Pairs of socks completed in 2012: 3

Pairs of socks completed Jan-Aug 2013: 1

Pairs of socks completed Sep-Dec 2013: 6?!

The sock obsession left as quickly as it swept in because the calendar turned to 2014, and I’ve got no socks on the needles and no plans to cast on any. At least a small dent was made in the sock yarn stash before the impulse wore off.

Only one other big knitting project: Trellis and Vine Pullover (Interweave Knits, Fall 2009)

I can't even remember exactly when I finished this one.  All I know is it was after September and before Thanksgiving.  Here’s the quick and dirty about the sweater: 

• I ripped and reknit the bottom half after deciding to swap the lace/cable pattern for a hemmed edge. 
• I ripped and reknit almost an entire sleeve when I decided it was coming out too big. 
• All the reknitting must have been worth it because I wore it a ton this winter--it’s soft and super comfortable without being too warm and I adore it.  
• Soft yarn comes with a price--the sweater already looks a little ratty from the pills.  You can even see in the picture if you look closely, so, uh, don’t. (Yarn is Berroco Palace, 50/50 merino/silk.  Lovely, but pilly)

And that about wraps up the knitting.  I have absolutely zippo to show for 2014.  Not one thing finished (save a pair of sample/test socks that I can’t show off yet), and not really much started either.  Who has time for knitting when there’s….

SPINNING:

I suck at keeping track of spinning so I have no idea what I worked on at the end of 2013, but the first few months of 2014 were pretty productive.  I joined a challenge where everyone selected a "bin" of fiber to spin in 2014. 

The bin:

Progress to date:

If you want details, visit my handspun page on Ravelry.  If you’re not on Ravelry, you probably don’t care about the details anyway.   I'm a little over halfway through the bin, which isn't bad for only being a third through the year.  Except, like knitting, spinning has started to slow considerably too.  There's a good reason for that:

That “big plan” I really wanted my foot to heal up for?  Yup, an Ironman triathlon in Mont Tremblant (near Montreal) in August.  And if you're not big into the tri scene, that means a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run.  Yup, I’m crazy.  And nope, my foot is still not totally healed,  and I started Ironman training in January allowed to run only 30 second intervals at a time.  Lucky for me triathlon encompasses 2 other sports that I can spend loads of time on.  But that pretty much sucks because I enjoy running and sort of just tolerate the other 2 because the events are fun.  Oh, yeah, and it’s good for my body to diversify. Or something.  

Training is 6 days/week, with double workouts now on 2 weekdays, and lengthy weekend workouts which are only going to get longer.  Currently I'm at about 12-13 hours/week of swim, bike, run plus more time for strength training, driving to the pool or wherever I'm biking, stretching, icing sore feet, etc.  So, yeah, I'm neglecting the blog, knitting, and spinning.  Along with cleaning, shopping, brushing the dogs, and any laundry that isn't workout related.   

I'd like to say I'll be back soon, but, well, I'm not making any promises.  That said, I do have handspun epic afghan progress to share so there is at least some hope I won't fall off the Internet for 5 months again. 

OppAtt Socks

All week I've been planning to post mittens today.  The mittens have been finished for days, and while I may not be doing back flips over them, they are very nice mittens.  Nice, but at least for today, neglected.

Instead....SOCKS!!

Pattern:  OppAtt by Jeannie Cartmel
Ravelry Project Page
Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Lubber Grasshopper
Needles: 2.5mm
Cast on: Oct 2
Bind off: Oct 18

I finished grafting the toes and weaving in ends during a conference call this morning.  Even though the second sock had been going rather quickly, I didn't expect to finish the pair until this weekend.  I was so excited to wrap them up this morning that the mittens had to take a backseat.

Happy things:

1. I finished a pair of socks in 16 days.  That's huge for me.  The last time I knit a pair of socks in two weeks was probably 2010.  These were a nice reminder of a time when I used to get super excited about knitting socks.  I doubt I'll jump right back to busting out 10 pairs a year, but still, it's always nice to remember the good old days.
2. The finished socks are all one color.  Even after the scale confirmed I was being ridiculous about envisioning socks with half the foot in different yarn, I was still convinced I would need to use different yarn for the toes.  Nope. Finished socks, plenty of yarn.
3. I really never liked the first socks I knit with this yarn, and I hate waste.  Those socks in my drawer were a constant annoyance, and yet if you're a product knitter like yours truly, ripping out perfectly good finished socks is not easy to force yourself to do.  But I did it.  I have way better socks to show for that perseverance. 

Pattern notes:  Very little to say about the pattern.  It's free, clearly written, and straightforward.  I haven't had patience lately for complicated patterns, so this fit my mood pretty well.  There was enough going on to keep things interesting but nothing that required much thought.  The pattern is another one that's been in my Ravelry queue for years.  I'm loving clearing some of these out of there. Almost as satisfying as knitting down stash. Now that the socks are finished, I realize there are a few things I don't love about the design.  Like the way the cables merge together on the side into a tree trunk looking thing.

Or that narrow strip of reverse stockinette on part of the heel flap.  But, whatever.  Teeny tiny quibbles not worth wasting energy on.  Instead, I'm smiling just thinking about finished socks.  Buttery soft finished socks in luscious yarn.

Visit Tami's for more FO Friday!

Cured

It turns out that the cure for my personal problems with startitis is posting a pile of half-knit projects to this blog.  One minute all I wanted was to find new projects to start, but the second my last post went public, a light switch flipped somewhere in my head. Now I want to finish stuff.  Finish all the knitting!

With my new found determination, I forced myself to confront what I believed to be impending doom for my sock project.  I was sure I was running short of yarn, knew I didn't want half the foot in a different color, and was starting to warm up to the idea of just ripping the first sock and putting this project out of its misery.

I really should have weighed the sock and remaining yarn before freaking out.  The scale changed everything.

The first sock (about 2 inches away from starting the toe): 33 grams.

The yarn still left on the this first skein: 13 grams.
The second skein of yarn: 34 grams.

Well, hell, that's not so bad. I still expect to need different yarn for the toes, but I can live with that.  I decided to put the first sock aside and start the second so I can get both socks to the same place before dividing up that remaining 13 grams of yarn.  I expected slow knitting and slogging through little by little. In fact, the whole idea of my finish-by-the-end-of-the-month goal seemed ridiculously optimistic.

I was wrong.  Really wrong. I cast on the second sock Monday afternoon.  It's, uh, going pretty well.

Two days = three-quarters of a sock.  I can't explain that at all.  All I know is that I can't put the sock down. Must. Finish. Socks.

The important lesson for the day--blogging keeps my knitting on track.  It would be good for me to remember this lesson.  But right now I'm going back to my sock.  I've been getting twitchy if I'm away from it for too long.

Visit Tami's for more WIP Wednesday!

Finished Object Friday: Brainless Socks

Trying to get back in the swing of the whole blogging thing.  This time with yarn!

Pattern:  Brainless by Yarnissima
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight
Needles: 2.5mm

Not the best project to rejuvenate the blog though.  There's very little to say.  The most exciting thing about this project is that I used up yarn I bought in 2009.  That's probably only exciting to me, huh? I'm determined to knit up some of my older stash yarn. But I've been determined for a few years.  Still, progress is progress, and there is one less skein in the sock yarn drawer now.  Not much else to say about this project. They're socks.  I knit them.  The end.

Moving on.

It's October (although I'm not sure Mother Nature got the memo) which usually means that I'm in full "knit down the all the WIPs" mode. I do really really want to finish up the half-knit projects lingering in the knitting drawers, but I suspect this year will not be as productive as last year.  After finishing the Brainless socks, I did not pick up other socks that are half done.  Or one of the sweaters stuffed in project bags.  Instead, I cast on a new sock.

I can't even claim to be using up stash with this project.  Although I'm not using new yarn either. I started the sock with a small ball of leftover yarn from these.

I really never liked these socks and the yarn is just way too yummy to waste on socks that didn't leave the sock drawer all year.  I've been thinking I should rip them out for months.  Yesterday I finally did.  It's amazing how fast a finished sock can turn into a heap of curls.

Even more amazing is what a little water will do.

I'm off to soak the second skein and wind up the first so I can continue on with my new project.

Visit Tami's for more FO Friday!

I'm Baaaack

Knitting projects are languishing, spinning is not happening, and this blog has obviously fallen by the wayside for months. So yeah, 2013 crafting could definitely be going somewhat better. Along with several other corners of my life. Clutter is slowly taking over my house, home improvement projects keep getting put off, and it seems every spare minute is spent in the kitchen or grocery store as my already ridiculously restrictive diet recently crossed into a whole new dimension of crazy.

Some people spring clean, but fall has always been the season to jump-start me into action. All it took was a walk with my dogs a few mornings ago when the temps were blissfully in the 50s instead of the 80s, and I started to get inspired to get stuff DONE. But where to begin the blog catch up? With the piles of handspun from Tour de Fleece in July? The top I finished months ago? The handspun laceweight sweater I started last month? Nope. I'm going to start slowly and keep things simple. That roughly translates to: I’m going to post the project that is currently within arm’s reach of the computer.

Pattern:  Brainless by Yarnissima

Just some humble socks I started earlier this month, but with sportweight yarn, these babies are flying.  It helps that the socks accompanied me on 2 long plane flights and almost 2 straight days in a van driving around mountains in Colorado.  People do a lot of weird things for fun.  Mike and I decided it would be a good idea to fly to Denver so that we could then get up at 5am and drive up to Breckenridge with 1 friend and 9 strangers in order to spend the next 30 hours doing a relay run for 200 miles to Aspen (aka Ragnar Colorado).

So you can probably guess what the next blog post will be about.  Hint:  lots of pictures but no yarn.

Chock Full of Hoot, Just a Little Bit of Nanny

March?  Yeah, let's just pretend that month didn't happen.  First half of April?  I'm still trying to figure out where those 2 weeks went.  For now, let's forget about that stuff and focus on some socks!

Hoot!  Hoot!

Pattern:  Hootenanny by Amy Herzog
Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in Blue Metalmark and Bugga in Bess Beetle  (yes, I mixed skinny and regular Bugga, which was not ideal, but not too bad either)
Needles:  2.25mm and 2.5mm
Size:  Custom--bigger than the small; smaller than the large.  I guess that makes it a medium, but pattern only lists sizes XS, S, L.  See my Ravelry project page for specific stitch count modifications.
Cast on: Feb 1, 2013.  Bind off: Feb 26, 2013
Mods:  Nothing except the sizing.  Oh, wait, I changed the 1x1 twisted ribbing on the cuff to regular 2x2. I'm such a rebel.

This project is full of win.  I finished a pair of socks in under a month (given my lackluster sock knitting in the last year, this is HUGE.  And yeah, I know it took me longer to post them than it did to knit them).  I finished a project that's been sitting in my queue for years.  Leftover yarn was put to good use (the blue was from my Damson shawl, the brown from Oranje).  And, well, cute owls!

Cute big owls

And cute baby owls

I'm a little obsessed with owls lately.  A couple days after I started Hootenanny, I bought a second owl project bag.

The bag is from a new Etsy shop:  Kicks and Giggles.  Go check them out--the bag is beautifully made.

And go check out Tami's for more Finished Object Fridays!

Hopefully I'll be back without another 6 week hiatus.  A few new projects and lots of finished yarns to share!

February Project-of-the-Month: Hootenanny!

Hootenanny has to be one of my favorite words.  And really who ever gets a chance to use it?  Unless of course you're quoting an old Buffy the Vampire episode ("chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny").  Sorry, inner nerd showing again.  Moving on quickly to my February project-of-the-month: Hootenanny!

I changed my mind 12 different times (okay, maybe more like 3) about what should be this month's project.  In the end, Hootenanny won out because it's been sitting in my queue for over 2 years with yarn at the ready, and I'm finally determined to get moving on a few of these poor projects that I've always passed over or put off because I'm too busy trying to finish other WIPs. Hootenanny was first mainly because the yarn was already wound, and I was in the mood for a sock and some stranded knitting.  Not to mention, the owls are just plain cute (matching owl project bag a nice bonus).

Who can resist cute owls?  Or the word "hootenanny"?  Not me. Another favorite word: "shenanigans". Definitely going to try to figure out ways to work "hootenanny" and "shenanigans" into more blog posts.

Now go check out Tami's for more WIP Wednesday!

December Catch Up

As usual, I have weeks to catch up on so let’s skip the whole 2012 year-in-review thing and the inevitable 2013 resolution post (at least for now) and go straight to the yarny stuff.

No, I have not been gone for weeks because I died under a pile of smittens, but I did keep going with them for at least a few more days.

After smitten #10, I was able to conquer the obsession  (okay, fine, I started running out of appropriate handspun leftovers).  A day or so after I cleared my head from the smitten haze, I started back on my WIPs and the rest of December actually ended up being rather productive.  First up, I almost finished a sweater.

Yes, it's an odd picture, but the sleeve cuffs (can you call 8 inches a cuff?) are the coolest thing about the sweater so there ya go.  I totally could have been wearing this one for Christmas had I planned a little better when I bought this yarn for a completely different project over two years ago and psychically realized I was going to change patterns and probably needed one more skein.  For a couple of nights, I played the "maybe if I knit fast enough, I can finish before the yarn runs out" game.  Then I came back to reality, weighed my yarn, and admitted there was no way that what I had left would get me through the second sleeve.  I hunted up and ordered an extra skein, but was forced to put the sweater aside to save my remaining yarn so that I could alternate it with the new skein.  MadTosh is not exactly known for consistent skeins even when you buy them together, and two years apart?  Yeah, I was just hoping it was still some shade of grey.

Forced to abandon the sweater, a funny thing happened.  I was hit with strange motivation to knit my heart out and finish a pair of socks that were intended to be a Christmas gift--an idea I had long ago given up on since the first sock wasn't even completely finished.  This motivation hit on Dec. 22nd.  Nice timing, right?  Here is what the next three days looked like:

Yup, I said it, BAM!  I knit the entire second sock in two and a half days.  Yes, I know there are awesome knitters out there that can bust out a pair in the same amount of time, and yes, I realize these aren't exactly tall socks, but whatever, a sock in three days is about as good as it's ever going to get for this fickle knitter.

With the socks finished, I had the drive back from Connecticut to Maryland free to turn back to the handspun projects.  Relaxing on the couch after we got home, I finished up the Lacy Baktus scarf.

 

A few days and three different bind-offs later, Mike's socks made their way to the finished pile.

Then I threw some handspun on the loom and busted out a scarf for no particular reason.

  

And yet, I still wasn't quite finished.  I managed to squeeze one more skein of handspun and most of a hat in before the calendar hit 2013.

I tried to spin bulky yarn.  I mostly failed.  And while I love, Love, LOVE the hat pattern (Squall by Glenna C.),  I do not love how it looks with the color variation so the yarn is destined for another project.  Still, I enjoyed the hell out of myself knitting it, so it's all good.

And there's the December crafting.  Phew!  I'll try to get January in before we hit February!

Liar!

I totally lied in my last post.  Okay, not really lied, just avoided the whole truth.  Like the fact that in addition to the new scarf I cast on, I also spent most of last weekend knitting a new sock instead of Laika.  It would be one thing if I was taking time away to work on other WIPs on my list, but noooo, I'm casting on new projects.  I blame the handspun.  My desire to knit with my handspun clearly trumps my desire to finish WIPs.  Not to mention, I really need to start making a dent in my stash.

A couple of months ago, a nice fluffy package arrived filled with all sorts of fibery goodness.

Hey, when I'm lucky enough to get in on a Bee Mice Elf co-op, I'm going to make the most of it.  Mike had a good ol' time teasing me about the new fiber, and I admit, even the dogs are aware that the stash is starting to overflow.

In trying to defend my fiber acquisition, I reminded Mike that he picked out one of the braids for me to make him socks.  After I listened to how he suspected that he'd never see those socks, I marched straight to the wheel to start spinning his braid.  I suspect he might have been using a little reverse psychology. It worked.

Mike's chosen fiber (apparently Hartford Whalers' colors circa 1985):

The fiber is superwash BFL.  Soft, fluffy, drafts-like-butter BFL. I seriously loved every minute of spinning it, and not being able to tear myself from the wheel, it only took a couple of days.  I was aiming for yarn that would be around DK weight after I chain plied, and estimated that I should be able to get around 225 yards of yarn to use for An American in China socks.

Plan:  Good.  Execution: FAIL.

I divided the fiber evenly and spun 2 separate skeins. The thickness looked and measured about right, but then I checked the yardage.   Each skein was only about 80 yards for a total of 160.  It was about DK thickness but dense.  Really dense.  F*&^%^K!!

On the positive side, the yarn did come out super pretty, and there was only a 2 yard difference between my 2 skeins, so I think I'm getting better with the consistency thing.

Consistent or not, 160 yards was not nearly enough.  There went my pattern idea, and Mike nixed the idea of ankle socks. I thought about knitting him a hat instead.  Thought about begging Ravelers to sell me some more of the colorway.  Thought about ordering fiber to spin heel/toe yarn. In the end, I just chucked the yarn angrily into a bag.  Perfectly understandable.

But then I went to the LYS to buy needles for Laika, which gave me a good excuse to look for some coordinating yarn to use for heels, toes, and cuffs.  Superwash Cascade sportweight was the only yarn I could find in decent color, and since it's lighter weight than my handspun, I've had to knit the heel and toe on smaller size needles and then do some funky increasing and decreasing to get the size right.  There has been a good bit of ripping and making Mike try on the sock 500 times to make sure it fit.  Even with all that adjusting and ripping, socks with heavier weight yarn go FAST.

So they won't be tall socks.  But they will be finished, wearable, nice thick house socks for winter, which I can point to as tangible proof that packages of fiber tumbling into the house is a GOOD thing.

And see, Laika is right there with me and not being neglected at all.

Laika sleeve update: I'm almost finished with sleeve #1 and resisting the temptation to turn this into a sweater with 3/4 length sleeves.  Despite sock and scarf knitting, I have been working away on it every night this week. It occurred to me that I listed 3 sweaters I wanted to finish by the end of the year, and they all need full sleeves.  That's 5 more sleeves!  Groan.  I figure if I can finish Laika by the end of the month, I should be able to finish Low Tide in November, and can battle Vivian in December.  Yes, I'm back to my old tricks of knitting schedules and deadlines. It's who I am and I'm embracing it.  Or something.

Socks and String

I pretty much gave up on blogging in February. March isn’t exactly looking much better. Turns out marathon training can be sort of time-consuming. Long hours running I expected, but I did not count on needing to spend the rest of the day after a long run as a heap on the couch. Luckily for me, I can still sit on the couch and be a productive knitter. So while I have not been blogging, I have been knitting.

I finished the Sock Knitters Anonymous mystery socks in early February. It just took another four weeks for me to block and photograph them.

Pattern:  Blathnat (Ravelry download)

Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Lubber Grasshoppper

I'm lukewarm. The socks aren't quite my style. I suppose you take that risk with any mystery pattern, and I did really enjoy knitting them.  But...the fit is a little awkward for my foot and I think I made them a bit too short.  I was so looking forward to having my very own pair of Bugga! socks but these don’t have the same squishy softness as the Roger socks I made for Mike.  Looks like I’m going to have to find a nice textured pattern for myself and try again.

The pattern was well thought out and very clearly written, and since each clue had something new, it was a great mystery sock.  And hey, why am I complaining--I finished a pair of socks in a month and I can't even remember the last time that happened.  But all in all, the first finished project of 2012 is sort of a fail.  Bummer.  Moving on.

I was psyched about spinning some sock weight yarn last summer, so obviously finally winding the skein and casting on a sock was super exciting.  Despite choosing a very simple pattern that I thought would compliment the yarn, a few inches into the foot and I couldn’t deny that I liked the sole much more than the instep. After an impulsive decision in the waiting room of my dentist’s office, I pulled the needles out of the sock and ripped it back to the toe.  Plain stockinette it would be.  I’m about back up to where I was before I ripped.

These might take awhile due to my brilliant move to knit man-sized socks on size 0 needles.  The 2012 knitting is not exactly taking my breath away with success.

But where I am rocking out on the crafting front is on my spinning wheel. Despite tired legs and calves, I manged to keep treadling my wheel, and January and February were filled with spinning.

And more spinning.

And even more spinning.

I'm feeling too lazy to write out the details.  If you are interested in fiber, yardage, etc., all the skeins are on my handspun stash page on Ravelry. Now just to figure out what to do with all this pretty pretty yarn.  

A Fresh Start

I have much to share about the final outcome of my WIP challenge and what I have planned for 2012.  I'm not ready to write that up yet though because I started a sock.

 

This sock is not on any of my to-do lists, and it's a mystery sock pattern, so I don't even know what the finished sock is going to look like.  It's exactly what I need right now.  I'll be back soon with finished projects, skeins of handspun, and details on the new craft I'm delving into.  But for now, I'm going to go knit a sock and enjoy a fresh knitting project.

P.S.  For anyone wondering, the sock is Blathnat, the mystery sock for the Sock Knitters Anonymous January knit-along.  Yarn is Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Lubber Grasshopper.

Zirkel Socks

My last sock-in-progress is finished--Zirkel Socks, pattern by Stephanie van der Linden.  I just looked up the meaning of "zirkel".  It really should have occurred to me that "zirkel" translates to "circle" without needing to look it up.

I mean look at the pattern and say "zirkel" out loud.  It's not rocket science.  Anyway, moving on.  These socks were mystery socks I started in July. After having so much fun with mystery fair-isle socks last year, I couldn't resist participating in another fair-isle mystery.  And since I adore Stephanie van der Linden's designs, I was even more excited to start getting the clues.  While I didn't love this mystery experience quite as much as before, there were several good lessons learned.

• Lesson #1:  don't mix yarns in fair-isle that have different fiber content. The green is Three Irish Girls McClellan, a merino/bamboo blend.  I threw it together with a random undyed skein I dug out. Having one shiny yarn and one fuzzy yarn just looks a little weird.  
• Lesson #2:  remember contrast is key!  There's enough contrast between the green and white but just barely, and a darker color against the white would have looked much better.  
• Lesson #3:  try not to have expectations for a mystery sock.  I admit I was rather disappointed with the pattern at first, but that was because I had certain expectations based on my earlier experience.  I figured that the design in a mystery sock would evolve so I got bored early on with the same repeating pattern.  
• Lesson #4:  damn I love knitting fair-isle! (okay, not a "lesson" but an important reminder).  Even with a pattern I wasn't jazzed about and yarn choices that could have been much better, I could barely put these socks down the past week.  Again, fair-isle is calming to me in a way no other knitting can equal.  I've been a little sad since finishing the sock, and it is taking a great deal of restraint for me not to forget the other WIPs so I can cast on more fair-isle!
• Lesson #5:  I love knitting fair-isle, but really need to get away from fair-isle socks.  I hate the lack of stretch in the leg.  I see mittens in my future.  
• Lesson #6:  I love stripey feet!  No question, the soles are my favorite part of the pattern. 

Is that a "lesson"?  Probably not, but it needed to be pointed out nonetheless. Finishing Zirkel brings me to 11 projects finished with stash yarn in 2011 (totally going to hit the goal of 12!) and brings the WIP count down to 4.  Only 4!  And 2 of the last 4 are in the finishing stages--I'm totally going to prevail in Operation Conquer the WIPs.  Yup, feeling a little overconfident today.  This will disappear as soon as I finally resurrect the Vivian sweater.

But, let's forget Vivian for now.  Here's a sneak peak of what's coming next!

Cabled Mitts and the Magic of Charts

And another WIP goes down.

Pattern:  Glorious Cabled Mitts (Ravelry pattern)
Yarn: Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in Cherry Mist

I may have inched along initially on the second mitt, but once I hit the chart it was all over.  Something about being able to cross row after row off makes me a more productive knitter.  And well, once I finished the chart, I was just SO close that it didn't take too much effort to push through the last few inches of ribbing.

Pattern mods:  cast on 64 stitches instead of 72 and took out cables that are supposed to run alongside the lattice pattern.  As written, these would have been rather roomy and I like my mittens snug.  I lengthened the top ribbing so that it would cover my entire palm and knuckles.  This has never been a project I've had much enthusiasm for, but the end result is a nice pair of soft squishy mitts that I will wear as soon as mother nature realizes it's autumn and shouldn't be 60 degrees.

Yarn:  With 20 percent cashmere this yarn is soft and smooth and feels wonderful.  It doesn't have a super tight twist but isn't too splity and I liked the light feel compared to some of my denser sock yarns.  The one thing I really don't care for is the color.  The yarn can't decide whether it wants to be red or pink.  The end result is a sort of washed out red with lots of white splotches.  I've been told yarn is sometimes dyed like this on purpose to create a certain effect knitted up, but honestly it just looks like the skein wasn't fully dyed to me. I think one of these days, the mitts are going to take a swim in the crock pot with some red food coloring.

This brings me to ten projects finished with stash yarn this year and down to five WIPs.  Of the five projects left there are two that I've thought it might be a longshot to finish by the end of the year.  The first of those is an elaborately cabled sweater; the second is a pair of fair-isle socks.  The socks were started last summer as a mystery KAL.  I put them aside after finishing the leg and heel flap for both socks.  At the time, I wasn't in love with the pattern or my yarn choice.  For whatever reason, on Friday evening I settled onto the couch and pulled out these socks.  It only took about two rows before I was completely enthralled.  I knit for hours and finished more than half the foot.  By Sunday evening I was grafting the toe.

I credit the chart.  Every time I pick up a fair-isle project, I'm reminded how much I love stranded knitting.  Cable and lace charts will keep me motivated, but there is something magical about color charts that make me unable to put down the project.  After finishing the first sock, I figured I would try to finish off a couple of other projects before moving onto the second sock, but last night when I couldn't fall asleep, I reached for the sock and knit ten rows before putting it back down and going to sleep.

When I got home this evening, tired and with a headache, I went straight to the sock.  The gusset decreases are now finished and I'm itching to get back to it.  I don't think I'm going to have any problem finishing this project by the end of December.  The same cannot be said for the cabled sweater.