Part-time blogger

I seem to be turning into a part-time blogger! I think I’d first like to blame my crappy camera, and the fact that every post should include at least one photo, therefore, no posts for way too long. No, I haven’t gotten a new camera yet. *grumble, grumble* It’s also difficult to blog about knitting when I can’t really talk about or show my current knitting projects. I’m often working on projects I’d like to submit to magazines and I can’t divulge anything!

One thing I can divulge is that the “Pico Socks” have arrived at their final destination and have been really well received. My aunt said they fit perfectly! Whew! My next project will be to finish Ishbel and give it to someone who just received some bad news. That should cheer her up a little I hope! I’m also still working on a sock design with the lovely Pagewood Farms Denali sock yarn, but that’s about all I can say…

I had another great Halloween this year at Lisa’s. Here’s the motely crew in full glory…

(Thanks to Lisa for sending me this photo). This year I was Raggedy Ann, and Markus was Zorro. I was Raggedy Ann for Halloween when I was 3, then again during college, and then this year. As usual, Lisa’s house was mobbed with kids, and at one point there was even a line to get up to the front door!

Oh I almost forgot, check out Knitcircus Issue #8. I have a men’s sweater pattern in there called “Zipp”. It is pretty cool. It has detachable sleeves. That’s all kinds of awesome right there.

Done, done and done!

My aunt’s socks are finally finished! And only 4 months late… I hope she likes them!

Pattern: Morrocan Lace Socks (aka “Pico” socks)
Designer: Lisa Lackney
Published in: Knitcircus Magazine, Issue #4, October 2008
Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, colorway Equinox
Needles: Knit Picks circular US 0 / 2.0 mm working magic loop

My Ravelry page says I started these socks on June 4, 2009. Eeek! I bought the yarn from rosiekittie’s stash on Ravelry. My gauge was way off from the pattern, so I ended up going down from a size 2 needle to size 0! I then started knitting on some horrendous bamboo dpns which ultimately sidelined me with an arm injury. Go figure. I ended up switching to a size 0 Knit Picks circular needle to finish the second sock. I really should have used the one long circular needle right from the start. And unfortunately switching needles partway through this project changed my gauge, but it’s not too apparent.

Mods: I tried to work the picot cast on but I wasn’t pleased with how it turned out. I ended up doing a regular longtail cast on instead which looks quite nice. I worked 6 repeats of the lace chart on the leg instead of 7. When I got to the toe shaping, I first knit it as written (the standard toe) but decided the toe looked too plain. So I ripped it out and worked the star toe from the Embossed Leaves socks pattern. Much better!

This pattern presupposes you’ve knit socks before, so don’t start with this one if you’re a beginner. I was a bit confused with the instructions for picking up gusset sts because it didn’t seem to be written in a logical order from needle to needle. But I’ve knit socks before so I was able to figure it out.

Yesterday while I was waiting for Lisa and Beth outside of the Union Project, I pulled out my knitting. I don’t knit in public to be a spectacle or to actively promote knitting, per say. I knit in public because I’m addicted to knitting, and if I have any moment to spare then why not be productive? I anticipated the usual comments from passers-by. 2 older ladies came over to admire, or rather make comments, about the socks. One comment was about how pretty the cables look. Ummm, it’s lace actually. Then came this one: “My goodness, they’re a little too thick for my liking!” Perfect, since they’re not for YOU! Seesh!

Sock, what sock?

I just designed a sock with that lovely Pagewood Farms sock yarn I picked up at Natural Stitches, and I think this design is a keeper. Definitely. It already has a name which I’m keeping a secret for now since I plan to submit this design (amongst the myriad of sock designs) to some publication or other. Since I’ve gotten to a stopping point, I thought I’d work on my aunt’s unfinished pico socks. I just completed the gusset decreases on both socks and it should be smooth sailing from here on out. The socks look much better in person, trust me, despite the fact that they are both different lengths. A bit of advice, do not switch needles halfway through a project, even if they are the same size.

Knitting weekend 2009

This past weekend my knitting friends and I went on our 3rd annual knitting retreat out in New Paris, PA, at a lovely farm B&B called Whitetail Wetlands Lodge. It was lots of fun! I can’t say I got as much knitting done as I originally planned since I brought 4 projects with me and worked on exactly 1 sock. But it was really nice to hang out with my friends, watch Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple DVDs, have some wine and kettle corn, and just relax. Here we are at HeBrews coffee shop in Bedford during the Bedford Fall Foliage Festival.

Not pictured above are me (since I took the picture) and the other Lisa. She walked north when she should have gone south… Or something like that.

We also went to Gravity Hill which I still believe is haunted by ghosts who push your car uphill. Yes, quite. And for more pictures of our knitting weekend, visit Knitsburgh’s blog. She’s got some really lovely pictures!

So I’m knitting stuff that I can’t really blog about again. Except to say my current project is a sock of my own design using this lovely yarn by Pagewood Farms in colorway Really Red. And no, do not adjust your computer screen. Did I mention that I still haven’t gotten a new camera?

So many projects, so little time

I’m quite comfortable being a monogamous knitter. However, as of late, I’ve ended up with more projects and designs on the needles than I can physically knit! It’s making me a little uneasy… Here are some of the projects, placed in order of when my camera decided to crap out on me (again).

Some felted slippers, my own design, knit with Paton’s wool. It will be substituted with alpaca at some point, but I don’t want to potentially ruin some lovely expensive alpaca yarn on a test pair, so Paton’s it is.

Ishbel- lookit, lace!

A swatch with a super sweet stitch pattern that I was planning to use for a scarf, however this particular stitch pattern seems to want to be socks instead. Go figure. And after I took pictures of Ishbel above, my camera decided to give up the ghost, so no picture of the scarf/sock swatch. I really need that new camera!

Mar’s “pico” socks (I made a grand mistake, and by grand I mean huge, not wonderful. It is totally fixable, I’m just putting it off…)

I will not speak of “Kate’s Cardigan”. It is dead to me.

And my sad sad alpaca wrap. As lovely as the design was in my head and on graph paper, the physical construction of the project just didn’t work out. It’s now been relegated to the frog pile. Though I still plan to design a similar wrap using one major element from the original, just not the one that didn’t work…

“Music is the universal language of mankind” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Time to recommend an album that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. This album is called “Best of Khaled” by Khaled. I first heard of Khaled when I lived in Paris 10+ years ago. He performs a musical style called “Raï” which originated in Algeria and has evolved to incorporate French, African, Arabic, and Spanish musical styles. What I especially love about this “best of” album is that every song has a distinct sound with a beat you can dance to (which I routinely do in the kitchen. I guess that’s something I’ll never grow out of). The album contains a mix of traditional Raï music, French rap and pop, spanish guitar, Raggae beats, explosive trumpets, flowing violins, and last but certainly not least, accordions (yay)! If you’re not hooked after the first song, then you’re not dancing enough!