In Which a Trip Through the Olympics with Pink Socks and a Traveling Woman Leads to the Clap

First, an Olympic report: I am claiming victory, though not a Gold Medal, in the struggle. As the Canadians were barely beating the Americans in the gold medal hockey game, I was weaving in the last of the ends of the flap of the Olympic Satchel.

After a good long soak to relax all those tortured fibers, it got pinned out to dry. I have to admit that the intarsia section doesn't look as awful as I had feared (but note, I'm not providing a closeup pic just yet), and the stranded pieces came out great. I still need to do some duplicate stitching on the flap to add some dimension. Since I need to use the pieces to make the pattern for the lining, I either need to find something to make a pattern from then get to assembly or wait until M and I can get to the fabric store together to pick out the lining fabric so I can cut it out before assembling the bag.

Victory? I survived intarsia -- that's always a victory. To be perfectly honest, because the bag needs to be lined, I never expected that I would finish it by the end of the games, but at least I managed to finish the majority of the knitting (after assembly, there's about a mile of applied i-cord to do). And there's sooo much yarn left -- but I have a plan that maybe, just maybe, involves another shawl or two.

In other pink/purple knitting news, the Pink Breeze socks are done, and I love them.

Pattern: Breeze by Jennifer Appleby from Knitty, Summer 07
Yarn: Kollage Yarns Luscious in magenta, 2 skeins
Needle: Knit Picks Harmony 2.5mm 32" circ
Mods: added a 2" cuff; did plain slip-stitch heel flap

As I mentioned before, these magical socks fit my not-narrow size 8 feet and M's narrow size 10s just perfectly. And being cotton and short, they'll have a long wearing season here in Tucson (well, as long a wearing season as any socks have in the land of sandals). And I have mentioned on more than one occasion just how much I love working with Luscious.

And then there's the beauty I can't wait to get off the blocking board so I can wear it

Pattern: Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante
Yarn: Handarbeitskram by Selana sockyarn in "pink is beautiful", 1 skein
Needle: Knit Picks Nickel-Plated interchangeable, #6 w/32" cord
Mods: Increased stockinette section to 187 stitches; worked 4 repeats of chart A because I wanted to use all of the yarn. And I did use all of the yarn, plus about 1/2 yard of something else to finish the bind off.
Dimensions: 52" wide and 16" deep before blocking; 68" wide and 24" deep after blocking

I already love this shawl, and it's not even off the blocking board yet. Must wear it the first chance I get because it's nearing the end of shawl season here.

Next on the needles? A Clapotis -- I'm finally going to join the masses who've knitted and loved this pattern. Many moons ago I fell in love with some Jitterbug in Raphael and had to have it. Now, it is destined to become a Clapotis. Because I have only two skeins, it will be narrower -- plan is to weigh the ball, increase to 89-95 or so stitches (will decide when I get there), weigh the ball again to see how much the increase section took, then knit until I have just a bit more yarn than that left before starting the decreases. After reading a lot of notes on Ravelry, I've decided to start with a size 6 needle.

And, just because I can, gratuitous pictures of the stranded bits of the bag:

Monday is for Ends

These ends to be exact:

I finished knitting the body of the East Meets West Satchel last night (you'll have to take my word for it that I have already finished -- and even sewn in the ends on -- the strap -- right now a photograph would just look like a rolled bit of knitting, cuz that's pretty much what it is) -- today I must sew in the ends, secure and cut the steek, then pick up the stitches for the intarsia (yuck!) flap. Entering the home stretch as the Olympics enter their final week.

Of course, I lose a whole boatload of knitting time this coming weekend because M and I are going to a workshop Friday evening and all day Saturday, so I need to crank on this. Fortunately, the body pattern (knit starting with 478 stitches and decreasing over 65 rows down to 22) was a bit addictive, so I had no problem spending most of Sunday working on it while watch the Olympics (it has surprised me how easy it has been to knit this and watch the Olympics at the same time). I suppose I should admit that I have a late-night curling problem, so last night's bonus, bonus coverage of the overtime Canada-China women's game gave me the chance to finish the last couple of rounds.

[Anyone else just a bit obsessed with the curling? I have been fascinated by the sport since the first time I saw it (probably on ABC's Wide World of Sports when I was a kid). It's as least as much strategy as physical skill, which I think is probably the biggest reason I find it appealing (that, and how many other Olympic athletes are older than I am, really?). Besides, curling and hockey are the only things we get to see live here in the west. All that stuff the rest of you get to see live -- nope, not us. In fact, last night we watched much of the US-Canada hockey game live as it was happening (and nearly gave the cats heart failure when they scored that empty-netter) -- two hours later, we are watching the delayed broadcast of the prime time coverage on NBC and they break in to the bobsledding to show the end of the hockey game. I try to find it amusing and not annoying and satisfy myself with the fact that a lot of the stuff shown on the "live" prime time broadcast isn't really live anyway.]

Thought you might like to see a picture of the "pretty" side of the body -- pre-blocking, so it's all nice and wrinkly.

Pink and Breezy
Just to prove that it's not all stranded colorwork here, a finished "Breeze" sock in luscious magenta Luscious. This sock is like magic. Not only was it a joy to knit, but it magically fits my wide-ish size 8 feet AND M's narrow-ish size 10s. Now that's a sock I can love. I documented the mods I made to Jennifer's original Knitty pattern on Thursday.

Oh, and the thing that made M say "I hate you" twice in the last week? The strap for this bag starts with a 450-stitch cast-on; the body with a 478-stitch cast-on. Each time, I finished the long tail cast-on with about 16" of yarn left. Purely luck, I swear, but it made my day.

February is for Pink

Honest, I didn't plan it that way, but all of my current projects are some shade of pink or pink and purple:

The East Meets West Satchel kit from KnitPicks in the purples colorway (which is really a whole lot of pink AND purple). This is the strap with the pink flower motif band insertion.

Last night I finished the 24-row insertion -- while watching Lindsey, Shani and Shaun all bring home the gold -- phew! I don't know for whom I am more relieved: myself, or the athletes who managed to live up to the hype.

As you can see from this picture the band is shaped with short rows to allow the bottom of the bag to widen gracefully from the handle. It's a very nice construction, and I do like the finished product, but ugh!, stranded colorwork knitted flat just isn't any fun. There's a reason that steeks exist, and I have to say that I am very, VERY happy that the body of the bag is knit in the round and steeked rather than knit in two pieces. But I'm done with that portion now, and it's knitting in the round for the forseeable future (I'm thinking after all that stranded purling, the intarsia of the flap is gonna be nothing).

That picture also gives a hint at one of the "joys" of this kind of colorwork: ends, ends, ends. Is now that proper time to confess that I actually enjoy most of the finishing process, INCLUDING weaving in ends?

Pink Thing #2

Okay, this one I confess was planned to be pink, since pink is the February color for the Solid Socks challenge on Ravelry.

Yarn is Kollage Yarns Luscious, a luscious blend of 63% cotton/37% nylon elastic, that is a joy to work with, a little heavier in the knitting than other sock yarns, and oh-so-soft in the wearing. Have I mentioned that I love this yarn? The pattern is Jennifer Appleby's Breeze from Knitty a couple years back.

Because the rules of the challenge specify a complete sock, and to make them more wearable (I wear footies to work out, and that's about it), I'm making these as short socks. I cast on 60 stitches and knit 5 rounds to get the rolled cuff. For the leg, I did two of the cable/lace panel without the garter stitches at the edge (one for the front and one for the back), and since I needed to add 4 more stitches, I added a mock cable at either side (which then splits at the gusset with one stitch going to the front and on becoming part of the heel). Make sense? I also used a simple slip stitch heel rather than the cabled one in the pattern.

Pink Thing #3

So, the bag is for knitting in front of the TV (21 balls of yarn and a whole book for the pattern doesn't make for portability); the Breeze socks are for knitting when the Olympics get too interesting to follow a chart; the Traveling Woman Shawl (pink thing #4) is resting for right now; but Sandy had nothing to knit while sitting in class or a workshop or while watching a movie, so:

The most basic-est of socks. Toe-up, short-row (probably) heel, stockinette stitch -- I can knit it in my sleep. Yarn is Filatura di Crosa Maxime Print Soft Socks.

That cat picture I posted before? Here they are today. Big difference, huh? That first picture was taken last September shortly after we adopted Willow (who was 4.5 months and 4.5 lbs at the time). Willow is now closer to 6 lbs and no longer has a baby face, but as you can see, she and K-Man are still the best of friends.

Back for the Olympics

Yeah, okay, it's been FOREVER, but I have my reasons (a vacation, a move, a crisis at church, a death in the family, a new addition to the family, good reasons all).

So, I am doing Stephanie's Knitting Olympics this year, and I don't want anyone to tell me the project I've chosen isn't challenging enough. It's pretty darn challenging when you consider it needs to be done in two weeks while watching sports on television.

This is the East Meets West Satchel kit in the purple colorway. I bought it for M for Christmas, knowing that she wasn't going to tackle it, but also knowing she fell in love with it when we first saw it in the catalog. I am looking forward to working on it, especially since my knitting of late has consisted of a lot of lace and a lot of felting (which I promise to share with the blog over the next few days). It'll be a nice change of pace to do some colorwork on tiny needles.

As you can see, I've already made myself a color card. There are 21 different colors in this thing, half of which are shades of pink and purple I could never keep straight without some help. My fingers are itching to cast on tonight.

Just off the needles (and off the blocking board):

Pattern: Leaf and Trellis Shawl from Victorian Lace Today
Yarn: Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace in garnet, used approx 1145m
Needles: Knit Picks nickel-plated interchangeable 4mm with 32" cable and Knit Picks Harmony 8" DP 4mm for the border
Mods: As have many people with patterns from this book, I was going to run out of yarn if I used the beautiful border in the book, so I doodled up a very simple border which echoes the trellis pattern in the body of the shawl and allowed me to complete the shawl with 14g of yarn to spare. Also, the Silky Alpaca Lace is slightly finer than the yarn called for in the pattern, so I went down a needle size.

This is my first entry in the 10 Shawls in 2010 Challenge on Ravelry. I had originally hoped and planned to have it done in January, but it seemed to have a mind of its own (and then there was the freak eye injury thanks to one of the cats that kept me sidelined from knitting anything more complex than a garter-stitch blanket for a couple of days), so it wasn't off the needles until this past Wednesday.

I thoroughly enjoyed the knitting of this project and have become a convert to the knitted-on border idea. It's a little awkward at first, what with all that weight of the body getting in the way of working on the border, but once I was under way it was a delight. And I love the stitch pattern so much that I actually plan on making us some curtains (okay, valances and/or cafe curtains) using it sometime soon.

Next up for the 10 Shawls Challenge, Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante (aka Feministy). I already have the feeling that this will become (like my Daybreak Shawl has) a favorite:

The yarn is Handarbeitskrom by Selana Handpainted Sock Yarn in colorway "Pink is Beautiful", and I am loving the way the colors (more purple than pink, really) play in the stockinette portion of the shawl. I will probably keep this one around for the Olympics for when I need a break from colors and charts and just want to watch Shaun White flip and fly.

Check back soon for details on this:

And why we are now trying to furnish a massive outdoor room.

Back Online (with fingers crossed)

So, I've been having these weirdly predictable problems with my Internet connection for a while now. Every afternoon, sometime between 1:30 and 2:30 I would simply lose my connection -- then it would return anywhere from 5:30 to 7:00. Strange. ISP had no problems on their end, so finally on Friday a very nice tech came and, finding nothing wrong with the lines, etc here at the house, suggested just swapping out our old modem (which we own) for a leased one and seeing if that fixes the problem. If it does, I can go buy a new modem and return the leased one.

Well, I can say the Internet did not cut out Friday afternoon. The real test will be this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed that it works because I kinda rely on my Internet connection to make a living.

In the meantime, Enchanted Daybreak is done! And I love it. The interplay of the colors is just great; it's just the right size to keep a chill off; and the shape means it stays on my shoulders without a pin. It's just great.


Pattern: Daybreak Shawl by Stephen West -- I made the largest size
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Fingering "Orange You Glad" and Noro Kureyon Sock #185, 1 ball each
Needle: Addi 32" #4
Mods: Well, to avoid running out of yarn halfway through the bindoff, I actually bound this off on the last wrong side knit row.

As I mentioned, when I saw Stefanie's blog post about her Daybreak Shawl, I wandered over to Rav to see what others had done, and knew immediately that I had to make this shawl and that I had to make it with this Kureyon Sock.

The knitting of the shawl was pretty straightforward, and I needed to refer to the pattern for only the first couple of rows of each section. And I only used a row counter for the first (solid) section. After that it was simply a matter of counting stripes and/or "purl" rows to keep track of where I was. By then end, each row was taking 12-15 minutes to knit and the needle was pretty full of stitches (I have deliberately not done the math to figure out just how many stitches were on the needles by the end -- it was a lot).

We had company coming for the weekend, so instead of wet-blocking or pinning out and steam blocking (both of which require the guest room to be free of guests for at least a day and a half), I simply gave the shawl a good ironing. I like the results very much.

And just because I love this shawl so, more pix (of course, clicking will take you to full size image at Flickr):





Color is probably most accurate in the pictures of it resting on the bird of paradise.

And remember the two skeins of Indigo Moon I needed to do something with? Well, what do you think?



This is #1 of a pair of Cookie A's Sunshine Socks from Sock Innovation. Loving the color; loving the yarn; and loving how the yarn shows off the texture of the stitch pattern. Now on to sock #2.

Random Thursday (Because the Internet Went out Wednesday)

1. As Levi Leipheimer said when Tweeting it, "Check out these mad biking skills."



2. Ever wondered what your favorite journalists, foodies, techies and fashion gurus read online every day? Now you can check it out with Google Readers' Featured Readers.

3. I saw this great story about the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck a couple weeks ago. You can follow his exploits on his blog.

4. Don't ask because I haven't a clue what it's about, but this car was parked on the street in downtown Grand Rapids, MI, while we were there for Synod.

I'm sure it had nothing to do with Synod, and (as you can tell if you click on the picture to see the original at Flickr) the deer aren't real. It certainly had us all quite amused for a couple of days.

5. This one is just for the word/grammar geeks out there: The UC San Diego Semiotic Zoo. "The UC San Diego Semiotic Zoo (UCSZ) is proud to present a special exhibition of exotic specimens and fabulous mutations, captured live in the jungles of academic discourse, and assembled here with great care for your entertainment and edification." Hours of fun for the whole family! Really.

6. Two things about this next picture:

• It's a good thing I love him because, while that's not a favorite shoe, it is one I wore frequently; and
• Look closely at his face. What if I tell you this picture was taken a couple of months AFTER we had his left eye removed? Spooky, huh?

7. And finally, I got a new cell phone last week, a Samsung Eternity. I wanted something that was capable of web browsing and stuff, had a full keyboard for texting, and that I could afford. Sure, I could get a refurbished iPhone for fairly cheap, but AT&T requires that you add the full iPhone data plan to your service, and I didn't say I wanted to USE the data service, just have a phone that could. Anyway, this phone comes with this "game":


Which is at the same time ridiculously pointless and rather addictive. I suppose if you're stuck somewhere and fell like playing craps.... [If you know HOW to play craps, that is.]

Yummy Yarns, A Cuddly Wrap, and an Enchanted Shawl

Before we get to the fiber arts, I just have to gush a little bit about this recent acquisition (purchased at a yarn store, however, so it fits). Isn't it just wonderful? It was made by Janey Katz of Lizard Breath Ranch. M and I went to Silver City, NM a couple of weeks ago on a (working, for her) mini-break. While there, we were directed by friends to Yadda Yadda Yarn because, well, we needed souvenir yarn, right?

We also knew we wanted a "Critter" and that we could get one at the yarn store. The friends who put us up for the night have one of her larger pieces (made from an entire truck door), and we were captivated. So our first stop (after checking in with friends at The Curious Kumquat) was to fondle (and acquire) yarn and admire (and acquire) art.

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Pattern: Faux Russian Stole from A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swanson
Yarn: A two-ply wool jumperweight I can't otherwise identify because the tag is all in some Scandinavian language. Photos cannot do this yarn justice. It reads mostly as brown, but it's got a lot of green to it as well -- and then there are bits of orange and blue and red and other colors -- in the sun it just glows with light and color.

I loved the pattern, and the knitting was fairly straightforward (if anything with a 95 row chart can be straightforward). I found that it was easier to keep my place and make sure I didn't miss any YOs (I don't tend to miss the decreases, just the YOs) if, in addition to the markers between the edge stitches and the body stitches, I placed markers 28 stitches in from each side of the body. This way I could keep track of the stitches in each of the three sections of the body chart. As long as I had 28-25-28 stitches in these sections each row I was good to go.

Before blocking, the shawl was 22x54" -- after blocking it is now 30x72". Yep, it's BIG, and it'll be perfect for snuggling into on cool winter evenings here in the desert. Nothing worse when you're chilly than a shawl that's too small.

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When Stefanie started her Daybreak Shawl I was intrigued (maybe it was the Manilow reference), so I went to the Rav page and looked at the other projects there, then wandered over to Stephen's blog and decided that I had to make myself a Daybreak. I had purchased some Kureyon Sock (#185) at Yadda Yadda Yarn during the aforementioned visit with another shawl project in mind, but Daybreak captured my attention, so on a visit to Tucson Yarn I picked up a ball of Nature Spun Fingering in "Orange You Glad" and as soon as the Faux Russian was off the needles I cast on for what I'm calling Enchanted Daybreak ("Enchanted" for the motto of New Mexico, "Land of Enchantment").

I am making the largest size which calls for 325 yards of the solid color; Nature Spun Fingering comes in 310 yard balls. I finished section 2 with just a few yards of the 310 remaining. Phew! I am now a couple repeats into section 3 and the rows are each taking 12 or so minutes to knit (yes, I timed the last one because I needed to get dinner started and it was a race to see if I would finish the row in time).

Stefanie has some tips on her blog post (link above) for working the solid section. I will just add this: I put a locking stitch marker at the center of each of the side sections. As long as you remember to move the markers two stitches toward the outside before each increase row, you can then just do the increase on the outside of the marker and not worry about counting stitches.

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Now if only that package would arrive from Knit Picks so I can do something with this:

That's two skeins of Indigo Moon Yarns Merino Fingering in Salad and Crabapple (I'm guessing you can tell which is which). They're to become socks. The Salad will likely become Feuilles de Vert, a pattern designed by Debbie O'Neill for Indigo Moon; the Crabapple may become Nancy Bush's Fancy Silk Sock or perhaps something from Sock Innovation. We'll see if Trish has other ideas since these are ultimately samples for her, but she's given me a lot of leeway with choosing the design.

I think that may be just about caught up. Of course, there are other socks on the needles (the reason I need the KP package before I can start the socks for Indigo Moon), and I've made some decisions about the Log Cabin Blankie whose squares are right now resting in the corner of my office, done but not assembled, and I there's a pink blankie for the hospital, and I know there's other stuff. Oh, and I just heard from Susan that she's sending me a new test knit. Ah, the fibery goodness!