Have You Any Wool

a return to blogging

I have no idea if there is anyone still out there, because it's been so long since I've actually blogged. I lost interest last year, not long after Travis returned home from that brutally long 15 month deployment. The last time I posted was March 2008. Several months ago, I decided that I probably wasn't going to post anytime soon, and was tired of paying for a blog that I wasn't using, even if it was only $5 a month. So I deleted my blog. Almost instantly, I began to regret it (especially when I discovered that someone else took my blog name and used it for advertisements). I looked around at the free blog services, but I couldn't get the blog url that I wanted. Recently, several people contacted me, asking how I was, and why I wasn't blogging any more. That made me realize how much I miss the interaction of reading and commenting on blogs, and decided to start again. I checked Typepad, and found that my old blog address was once again available. I haven't restored things exactly to the way they once were, but I did import my old posts. Lots of the photos have been lost, because I used to use Typepad to host my images, so I'll have to weed out the old stuff, but that will all be done in good time. 

Since I last posted, lots of things have happened, as you might imagine. We did a good amount of traveling through Europe over the fall and winter of 2008, and in February of this year, we said auf Wiedersehen to Germany, packed up our house, and headed back to US soil. We relocated to the San Antonio area, which is quite a different climate than the area of Germany we were in. I'm happy to be back "home" (I use quotation marks because home is really Maine, but we call wherever the Army sends us home for a few years at a time), but at the same time, I miss living overseas. Mostly, I miss the ability to easily travel to several different European countries with relative ease. I of course miss the friends we have that still live there, but leaving friends behind comes with the territory of being a military family. However, being stateside has allowed me to increase my yarn business in a way that I wasn't able to achieve overseas. It also makes it easier for family to come visit, or vice versa. My kids are actually very good travelers, but long overseas flights are difficult on anyone.

As far as my kiddos go, they've both grown so much in the last year (as you can see above). Alexandra is in first grade now (only a few weeks away from finishing), and Keagan will be starting preschool next fall. He's very excited about that!

I can't say I've changed much over the past year (aside from getting older--boo), but I have kept busy knitting, spinning and dyeing. Actually, my spinning has suffered over the last 6 months, but my knitting output certainly hasn't. The latest project to be finished are these lovely stockings:

Pattern: Zum Dirndl by Yarnissima

Yarn: Wollmeise 80/20 Twin, Natur (purchased as a kit from yarnissima.com)

Needles: 2.5 mm circulars

I wound up purchasing the kit for these socks right before we moved out of our house in Germany, and into a hotel (for two weeks). Our household goods were already gone (meaning that all of my yarn and knitting supplies were packed up in boxes, and on a ship somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean), and I was fretting that I would run out of things to knit before our stuff arrived at the new house in Texas. Of course, that didn't happen, but I got a great pair of socks out of the worry. I look back and laugh, thinking that I worried about running out of yarn in the midst of the constant headaches of an overseas move, but I guess that's a hardcore knitter for you!

I have lots more to show, but I'll save it for subsequent posts. If anyone is actually still out there reading, say hi! I'm off to check up on my Google Reader to see what everyone else is blogging about, and how much I've missed over the past year :)

busy busy

Last week, I was so happy to see winter end and spring begin. We've had a mild winter in the area of Germany that I live in, but just knowing that it's officially spring somehow makes me feel better. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has decided to play a cruel joke on us, making it snow every single day since spring began. No snow all winter long, and now suddenly my crocuses, tulips and hyacinth blooms are hidden under a white blanket. Boo.

I know I shouldn't complain, because many of you have been buried under several feet of snow all winter long, but if it's going to snow, it should at least do so in the proper season, don't you think?

I was getting all geared up to start some spring knitting, but I've decided instead to work on finishing up some of my long-standing projects so I can start anew. A knitter's spring cleaning, if you will. The projects would really like to finish are my Tangled Yoke cardigan, Isabella, and the Victoria shawl (Ravelry links).

I don't know what my deal is with Tangled Yoke, but I just do not want to work on it. The bottom half of the body is completed, and I'm on the sleeves. I chose to knit both sleeves at the same time, in hopes that it would encourage me to finish faster, but it seems to have the opposite effect. I really should get to finishing this one up, because it would be great to have it to wear this spring.

I started Isabella last June, and finished up the back pretty quickly. Then I screwed up the front, ripped it out, stuffed it in a knitting bag, and forgot about it. I picked it up again a few days ago, and I'm making progress on the front. I really need to get moving on the Victoria shawl, because I would like to give this one to my mother for Mother's Day. I'm halfway through the knitted-on border, and it's boring and tedious. I will persevere, though. I think my mom could really use it in her overly air-conditioned office.

Even though I should be focusing on those old projects, I'm still tempted to start something new. Lately, every sweater I've swatched for hasn't worked out, so I find that I'm sticking to sock knitting. It's portable, it's reliable, and it's still cold enough to have to wear wool socks, and new socks always make me happy. These bright striped ones, especially.

Pattern: basic stockinette socks with picot cuff
Yarn: Vesper sock yarn in Aquamelon
Needles: 2.5mm Addi circulars
Time to knit: March 14 to March 24, 2008
Notes: Love the stripes! The bright colors make me happy.

I've also been doing some spinning lately. I had stepped away from the wheel for a couple of months, but now I'm back in my spinning groove. I had a commissioned spinning job that I finally finished up last weekend, and now I'm working on some brightly colored stuff for spring.

Some of the yarns pictured were actually finished up months ago, I just hadn't gotten around to taking photos and measuring the yardage. The details are all on the Flickr pages, if you're interested.

As if that isn't enough, I've been hitting the dyepots again, as well. I'm waiting on a shipment of base yarn, which should be here soon, so I'll be dyeing up new colors in the near future. Today, I dyed up some rovings, and a couple of custom orders, and it feels good to be playing with color again. I'm hoping to have a shop update the first week of April. For now, though, everything that is currently listed in the shop is 15% off!

time flies when you're having fun

Well, it's been a while since you last heard from me, hasn't it? The past month has been crazy, but in a good way. Travis arrived home safely the first week of February (a week later than anticipated), and everyone has adjusted extremely well. He's gone back to work this week, so we're settling into a new routine of normal once again.

While Travis was on leave, we took the opportunity to travel to Paris. It's a fabulous place to visit, and I was so excited to be able to travel again. It's been hard, spending fifteen months in Europe without being able to really go anywhere. I suppose I could have, but I'm not really brave enough to set out on my own with a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old in tow. Flying back to the United States for Christmas was enough for me :)

In Paris, we saw the usual tourist attractions:

The Louvre

Surprisingly, the kids held up to several hours of walking around the museum. We saw the Mona Lisa, which, frankly, was a disappointment. It's so much smaller than many of the paintings in the museum, and it's all by itself on a wall covered with glass. There was a very large crowd in front of the painting, and the glare from the overhead lights off the glass made it hard to see. Oh, well, I guess at least we can say we've seen it!

From the Louvre, we walked down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. It was quite a long walk, which involved much whining from the Princess (Zippy got to ride in the backpack on Travis' back). She was fairly excited to see the Arc de Triomphe, however, and had a good time chasing the pigeons that were seeking shelter beneath the Arc.

We visited Notre Dame du Paris

as well as the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.

And of course, we couldn't visit Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower.

There were also two days spent at Disneyland Paris, but clearly that part of the trip was more for the kids than for us. I could have done without going there, but the kids had a wonderful time. We figured that after dragging them through Paris, we had to do something to keep them entertained as well.

There has also been knitting happening over the past month. Mostly socks, because they are portable. I finished up several pairs, including a pair that I started last August.

You can go to Flickr to get the details on each of these projects, if you so desire. I'm too lazy to repost the details again here :)

the great ufo resurrection

I've noticed that a lot of bloggers are doing this WIP Wednesday thing, and I think it's a great idea, so I'm going to join in. I'm hoping that this will get me to post more frequently, and to not just pop in with a finished object from time to time, then fade into the background again.

This post is full of old WIP's that have recently been put back into the rotation after months of sitting in time-out. I've been in an early spring cleaning frenzy lately, and it has extended to my knitting. I went through my sock yarn stash a couple of weeks ago and decided that though I really love the colors of handpainted yarns in the skein, I rarely love how they look when knit up. I knew it was time for a destash, and Ravelry came to my rescue. I sold or traded almost all of what I wanted to get rid of, and that made me feel so much better. I also went through my knitting baskets, and unearthed several projects that I had completely forgotten about.

First up is the Victoria shawl that I started last June. I found it crumpled up and buried in the bottom of a basket. I was knitting this for my mother, because the office she works in is overly air-conditioned, and she's always looking for something to keep her warm. I thought a shawl would be a nice thing for her to keep at work, and throw over her shoulders when she needed it. I have no idea why I set this aside, because it only took me a week to finish the body of the shawl. There were five 16-row repeats completed, and I had to knit twenty more. I enjoyed every stitch. I couldn't wait for my quiet evenings (you know, that precious time of day after the small people are snoozing happily in their beds) so I could curl up in bed with old Seinfeld episodes and my lace knitting. It doesn't look like much in the photo, because taking a picture of lace in progress is always a challenge, but it's coming along quite nicely. I finished the final body repeat last night, and began the border.

Next, the Winding Cable knee socks that I started last summer, but abandoned halfway through the foot of the first sock. Again, once I picked these socks up, I couldn't figure out why they were set aside. Well, the drunken cable part on the front is fun, but the twisted rib isn't quite as enjoyable. Still, I know that the first sock fits great, so that should be an incentive to get cracking on sock number two.

I am also working on a few baby knits for a friend who is due to have a baby girl in a few short weeks. I started knitting Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater from the Knitter's Almanac, but I ran out of yarn.

So I ripped, and started again, adjusting the sizing and gauge, and skipped out on the lace pattern because I couldn't get my numbers to work quite right, but still fell short of a finished sweater. Boo. I was disappointed, because the yarn is buttery soft handspun merino (from gorgeous roving that Keri sent me several months ago), but the four ounces of yarn that I have just weren't cutting it. That tail you see at the bottom of the photo is all I had left, with two inches of sweater body to go. Instead, I think I'll use this yarn to knit a soft, warm hat or bonnet, and maybe some little bootees. Tiny pink mary janes, or something. I still haven't had the heart to rip it out, but I did face the facts (not to mention the impending due date), and started a new February Baby sweater.

This time I used some leftover Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (color: Pink-a-boo), and will have plenty for this sweater, as well as a pair of Saartje's Bootees.

That's it for this week's WIP roundup. I do have some other projects that I'm working on here and there, but these ones have been my main focus. Things have been crazy around here. I spent Sunday evening getting my shop updated (there's still lots of good stuff available! I'm not above shameless self-promotion, you know), and I've been trying to get various other things taken care of before this week ends. It's funny, because we've had so much to do here this week, but time feels like it has slowed to a snail's pace. It was expected that Travis would return sometime next week, but he called today and told me that there was a possibility that he could be home this weekend. I'm trying not to get too excited, because I've been through this before, and I know that sometimes travel arrangements change, or weather holds things up, or whatever. It's difficult, though. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but it's tough. It's funny, Travis returned from his last deployment on Super Bowl weekend, just in time to watch the Patriots win. Here we are a few years later, and he may be home in time to watch the Patriots play in the Super Bowl again. Well, I'm probably the only one who finds that amusing, but that's OK ;)

I highly doubt I'll get much in the way of sleep over the next few days, but I'm sure the blogging will be sparse, once again. Y'all are used to that by now, though, aren't you? I hope to stop in from time to time over the next month or so, but I have no idea how much knitting I'll even be able to get done. My regular schedule will probably continue for the first few weeks he's home, but only because he has to go through the whole weeklong "reintegration" process the Army has after returning from a deployment, and he also has to prepare his application for grad school (which, of course, is due at the beginning of April, and he hasn't been able to take care of it while deployed). It's mildly annoying, but I know that it won't last long. We'll still get to spend time together as a family (and I plan on hiring a babysitter so he and I can have an evening out, as well), and we also have a trip to Paris at the beginning of March to look forward to!

the best laid plans, and all of that...

Again, I've gone more than a month in between postings. Well, the holidays were thrown somewhere there in the middle, as well as a trip back to Maine to visit with family, but I still should have managed to post. It's not like I didn't have anything to write about, it's just that I didn't have the desire to sit down and write. I wish there was a way that I could have a mind-reading dictation and transcription system, because my ideas for blog posts usually come to me when I'm nowhere near a computer. Ah, well, I don't think that will happen anytime soon, so you get silence instead. I actually did start a post last night, but wouldn't you know it, the power went out, erasing my post in progress!

I know the holidays were a month ago, but I do hope that you all had a good time. The kids and I flew to Maine to be with family. I was freaking out about flying overseas with the kids, but it turns out that most of my fear was for nothing. There were a few incidents that made the trip a little more difficult, but nothing major. The worst part was that airport staff (in every airport we were in) were terribly rude, and completely unwilling to help. Luckily, fellow passengers were quite helpful, so we made it through.  I guess the frantic-looking mother with two kids and many suitcases in tow looked like she needed help :) The actual stay in Maine was also somewhat stressful, mainly because both my parents and in-laws live in the same city, so I was constantly badgered by one side or the other about who I was spending more time with. So much fun. Overall, it was nice to be back home, and for the kids to see both sets of grandparents, as well as their great-grandmother. They also got to play in the snow, which is something we haven't been able to do in our part of Germany in the past two years.

Now that we're back in our own house, and have returned to our normal routine, things are much easier. We've been pretty busy with school activities and birthday parties (why does it seem like there is one to go to every single weekend?), though this month still feels like it's dragging. Travis is due home sometime in February, and these final weeks of the deployment are agonizingly slow. I think it's worse on his end, though, because he's stuck in a holding pattern right now, and their return date is constantly being pushed back. He will get home at some point, so it's simply a matter of waiting.

While I wait to see my husband once again, I'm trying to finish up some of my knitting projects that have been in progress for far too long. I spent the first two weeks of January working hard to finish up my Central Park Hoodie. It wasn't the project that had been on the needles the longest, but it was the closest to completion, so it only made sense to finish it up first.

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky, from Knitscene Fall 06 (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Valley Yarns Williamstown #06 (9 balls)
Needles: 4.0mm and 5.0mm circulars
Time to complete: Cast on 29 Nov 07, finished and blocked 20 Jan 08

I can see now why this pattern is so popular. First of all, it's a fairly simple knit. It has plenty of stockinette, plus the addition of the cables to keep things interesting. It seems to be very flattering for many different body types, and now that the sizes in the pattern have been expanded, I imagine even more people will be knitting this. When I first started the project, I was unsure of how good it would look in the yarn I chose. I was afraid that the tweedy bits were too colorful and overpowering. I decided to press on, and am so glad I did. The finished hoodie fits perfectly, and I really like the color, tweedy bits and all. This was my first time using any of the Valley Yarns line, and I think that it's a great deal for the money. The durability is tough to determine at this point, since I just finished, but it has been washed and blocked twice (once in pieces, then again when the hood and button bands were added), and shows no sign of pilling or wear. I would definitely use this yarn again, perhaps for a sweater for Zippy.

In addition to the new sweater, I also finished a pair of socks earlier this month (plus a pair that I finished before Christmas, but never blogged).

Pattern: plain vanilla sock, knit top-down over 60 stitches
Yarn: my handspun
Needles: 2.5mm Addi circulars
Basic socks in fun colors, from a handspun yarn that I love.

Finally, my Loksins!
Pattern: Loksins! by Cassandra Thoreson
Yarn: Have you any wool (hey, that's me!) superwash merino in Tomato
Needles: 2.5mm Knitpicks circulars

These socks didn't take me long at all. I really enjoyed the pattern, and I think it looks great in red. I have a lot of red clothing in my wardrobe, so these socks have already gotten a lot of wear. Methinks I need to knit more red socks ;)

I'm working on reskeining a bunch of sock yarn that I dyed up last weekend, so be on the lookout for an Etsy update sometime this coming weekend!

hot off the needles

I just don't have it in me to come up with a clever post today, but I do have a new sweater hot off the needles that I wanted to share. I'm amazed at how focusing on one or two projects at a time gets things done faster. I've had this Rib and Cable cardi on my needles since August, but have only worked on it sporadically. I think part of the issue was that it is knit in black yarn (boring, but it goes with just about everything, and I really needed a new black cardi) in 4x4 ribbing. So, for a knitter who gets the majority of her knitting done at night after the wee ones go to bed, this project wasn't always the best choice.

I also hit a few small snags along the way. First, as I was about halfway through the second sleeve, I realized that there was no way I would have enough yarn to finish up the rest of the sleeve, not to mention the collar. It was frustrating, because the pattern stated that it would take 10 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK to make the smallest size. This is the size I made, with the very same yarn suggested in the pattern. I had a bag of 10 skeins of the Cashmerino DK sitting in my stash, waiting for the right project, and then this book came along this summer, and I knew they would be perfect together. I was getting ready to email the shop I had originally purchased the yarn from, to see if I could get a single ball of Cashmerino, when it occurred to me to check on Ravelry. Wouldn't you know it, there was another knitter there who had a single ball of black Cashmerino DK that was marked for sale or trade. Even better, it was from the very same dyelot! A few emails later, and I had the yarn to complete my sweater. Then, as I finished the sweater, I realized that I had no buttons for it. I couldn't find what I wanted locally, so I had to order some buttons and wait for them to arrive in the mail. I sewed the buttons on yesterday (all twelve of them), and voila!, a new cardigan.

The Details:
Pattern: Rib and Cable Cardigan from Family Knits by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK in black, 11 skeins
Size: small (34-36")
Needles: 3.75mm Pony rosewood circulars
Time to knit: sometime in August, to 12 December 2007
Modifications: The only thing I did was lengthen the sleeves by 1/2", because I wanted them to come down slightly past bracelet length. They came out exactly the way I wanted.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with this cardi. It fits perfectly, and can be worn with practically anything. It is extremely comfortable, and very warm. My only concern is that this yarn will pill like mad. Even while I was working with the yarn, it showed signs of wear. I've never used this yarn before, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't wind up looking like absolute crap after just a few wearings. If anyone else has any insight into how well this yarn holds up, I'd love to hear about it.

All of this focusing has helped me finish not only this cardi, but another pair of socks as well. Right before I sat down to write this post, I wove in the last end on my second Loksins! sock. Unfortunately, it's dark right now, and the photos I attempted didn't come out very well. I did get some without using the flash, but it took a very long exposure to let enough light get into the lens so that the details showed up. Of course, that long exposure requires remaining completely motionless for the duration of the shutter opening, and I can't sit still for more than a second, so all of the photos were blurry. I guess the socks will have to wait until tomorrow. Until then, if you're looking for something to do while surfing around the internet, you can hop on over to my shop and check out the huge update I did last night. There is a ton of the new superwash wool/nylon blend sock yarn, like I used for my Gentleman's Fancy Socks, some alpaca/merino/silk roving, as well as a few skeins of handspun. </shameless plug>

 

working my way down the list

Looking at my projects piled in a basket after taking pictures from my last post, I decided that I needed to prioritize and diligently work to start finishing some of this stuff. If you've been reading here for a while, you already know that I'm a multiple-project-at-a-time kind of gal. But the number of projects I have going right now has become a little overwhelming, even for me. I made a mental list, and started with the project that was the closest to being finished.

May I present...

Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Knit with my own hand-dyed wool/nylon blend sock yarn in Harvest, on 2.5mm Knitpicks DPN.

I started these socks a few weeks ago, even though I already had so many other things on the needles, because I really wanted to test out this new base yarn. As much as I love 100% wool sock yarns, I've come to realize that they just don't hold up as well to wear as the wool/nylon blends do. A couple of weeks ago, I wore a hole through the heel of a sock. I figured that since there are so many socks in my drawer that make it through the rotation on my feet, I shouldn't have to worry much about holes. Wrong. There is a giant hole in the bottom of one of my Friday Harbor socks. This incident led me to inspect the heels of the rest of my socks, and what I found is that there are actually several pairs showing signs of heavy wear. What interested me the most about this is that each and every pair that is thinning out at the heel was knit from 100% wool sock yarn. On the other hand (or should that be foot?) the ones knit from Opal, Regia, and the like, are wearing like iron. Not a sign of weakness in the yarn. In any case, this led me to look into using a wool/nylon blend as a base yarn for my dyeing. Naturally, this yarn isn't as soft as 100% wool, but it does take the dye beautifully, and knits up very well.

This pattern knit up very quickly, and I really like how they turned out. There is slight variegation in the colors of the yarn, but not enough to obscure the pattern stitches. Since the pattern is written for a man's foot, I changed the cast on number to 64, and omitted the calf decreases. I knit the leg for 7" before starting the heel flap, which is a modified eye of partridge heel. I also used my preferred round toe, because I like the way that it fits my foot. Overall, these socks are lovely, if I do say so myself.

I know that many of you are frantically trying to finish up handknit gifts for the holidays. I've learned the hard way that handknit gifts are not always appreciated or well-received, and have given up making gifts unless there is a specific request. This year, however, I made an exception. When I got the book Knitting Classic Style several months ago, I was immediately drawn to one of the patterns. It's not the most technical or beautiful, but it had some sentimental meaning. My husband is a lifelong Montreal Canadiens fan. His grandfather, who is from Montreal,  instilled in him a great love for the team early on. To this day, he pledges his allegiance to the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots (we're both from Maine), but when it comes to hockey, the Canadiens are his team. Needless to say, when I saw the Montreal Tuque in Knitting Classic Style, I knew I had to make it for Travis. Since he is deployed (for a second Christmas in a row, but we won't go there right now), and living in tight quarters, there isn't a whole lot that I could send to him for Christmas. I thought that this hat would be perfect. The gift really isn't about the hat itself, but the time and love put into it, as well as the story behind it.

Pattern: Montreal Tuque from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery
Yarn: my hand-dyed, handspun superwash merino
Needles: 3.75mm Addi circulars (40 cm)

The pattern calls for cashmere yarn, which is lovely, but a little too delicate for life in a war zone. Instead, I dyed up 50 grams each of superwash merino roving in navy blue and deep red, then spun each color up, along with 50 grams of undyed roving. So, he may have only gotten a hat for Christmas, but it's a special hat, and I know he'll appreciate that.

back in the saddle

Wow, has it really been a month since I last posted? The blog break wasn't intended, it just sort of happened. I have been very busy over the past month, and when I had a chance to sit down in the evenings to post, I just couldn't muster up the energy. PumpkinMama wrote a post recently, pondering the effect of sites like Ravelry and Flickr on blog posting. I would say that for me, they have both reduced my desire to post here. I start out by uploading my photos to Flickr, and then updating my projects in Ravelry. By the time I'm finished with that, I feel like I'm showing a project in triplicate, and have lost interest. Flickr is so easy, because I can upload the photo, write a short description, and be done with it. Blogging is much more complex, with all the thinking and typing, trying to be clever and interesting, and then there's all that linking. I find it usually takes me at least an hour to finish a post. You can't tell that from reading it, though, can you? :) That being said, I'm not ready to give up blogging, because I really like the community feeling I get from writing here and reading other blogs. I'm not really into message boards (too many tempers flare over seemingly innocuous comments), and find the commenting on blogs to be a much better way to communicate. I know I'm terribly inconsistent with responses to comments left here on this blog, but please know that I do read them and appreciate that you take the time to leave a little note. They mean a lot to me.

So, onward to the knitting. The past month has been very busy. I've finished a few small projects, all gifts, but I feel like the big projects keep dragging on because I can't stop myself from casting on for something new every two days. I'm close to finishing a cardi I started back in August, but have to wait for the buttons to arrive in the mail for an official finished object. I'm up to the armholes on my Tangled Yoke cardigan, have several socks on the needles, a Tomten jacket in handspun for the Princess*, and I just started a Central Park Hoodie at the end of last week. Clearly, my knitting plate has been very full. Not much spinning action lately, on account of all the knitting I want to get done.

Click the picture to be taken to Flickr for the details

I'm trying to be good and start finishing up some of these lovely projects before I get tempted to cast on for yet another new project. I don't have any holiday knitting to do, but we are headed to the US to visit family for Christmas, and I'd like to finish at least two of these projects before we leave. Then comes the fun of deciding what I'll bring with me to knit en route. Of course before that, there's packing, kenneling the dog, arranging transportation to the airport, and the fear of traveling overseas by myself with two small kids to worry about. But why get ahead of myself?

While I'm already posting, I figure now is as good a time as any to show the two pairs of socks I finished over the last month, both of which were given to friends as gifts.

Pattern: Child's French Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: ShiBuiKnits Sock in Bark
Needles: 2.25mm Susan Bates DPN
These socks were a gift to a good friend of mine who moved back to the States last month. I was so sad to see her go, and wanted to make her something nice as a going away gift.

Pattern: Making Tracks by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: my handspun, spun from Funky Carolina merino/tencel roving in Berry Dark
Needles: 2.75mm (US 2) Bryspun DPN
I made the mistake of converting this pattern from toe-up to top-down. I much prefer knitting top-down socks, and thought I had plenty of yarn to finish these socks. One of the benefits of knitting toe-up socks is being able to knit the entire foot, then knit the leg until you run out of yarn. I lost this benefit by converting the pattern, and it was a nail-biting finish. I had one yard of yarn left over, after grafting the toe closed on the second sock! These socks were a birthday gift for my friend Tonya. She loved the pair I made her last year, and I knew that she'd love a new pair for her birthday this year.

That's what I've been up to, at least as far as knitting is concerned. I also have a whole bunch of yarn and roving to list on Etsy, but haven't managed to find a good block of time to get that done. I'll let you know when I get around to it. I hope you all are well!

*I've been struggling with how much of my personal life I want here on this blog, especially stuff about my kids. I've seen so many people have their children's photos stolen and used for questionable purposes. I know that for the past three years I've used my kids names here, but from now on, they will be known as the Princess and Zippy. Silly, perhaps, but it makes me feel a little more comfortable.

unsettled/unfocused

Life continues to leave me unfocused. We're busy, busy, busy, yet time still seems to stand still. It's a very odd feeling, which is leaving me feeling unsettled with my fiber projects as well. I have abandoned several projects that are half-finished to cast on for something new (or fill up a new bobbin with a more enticing fiber). The new project quickly loses its appeal, and the cycle begins again. My goal for this week is to focus myself, and start finishing up some of the many abandoned projects.

The top priority is to finish a pair of socks for a very good friend's birthday, which is only a couple of days away. Sock #1 is complete, and it's a good thing that there is a deadline, because I think I would have a severe case of second sock syndrome with these:

I made the mistake of converting a toe-up pattern (Wendy's Making Tracks socks) to top-down, because I really don't like knitting socks toe up. Of course, one of the main advantages of toe-up socks is the ability to knit the foot the proper size and continue knitting the leg until tire of it or run out of yarn, whichever comes first. So, I bet you can guess what happened to me, the knitter who prefers to knit socks top down. Of course, I ran out of yarn on the first sock. I was about 4 rounds from beginning the toe. I'm using handspun yarn (this stuff), and the skeins weren't quite equal. Luckily, the second skein was a bit heavier, so I finished the first sock and continued on to the second. The first socks weighs 61 grams, and yarn I have for sock #2 weighs 63 grams. I'm not having good feelings about being able to complete the second sock, but I'll try to be optimistic. Send good sock vibes please!

Last week, I had the urge to knit a project that I knew would be finished quickly. I got out my copy of Fitted Knits, some Beaverslide yarn that has been waiting patiently in the stash, and cast on. In only three days, the entire body of the Textured Tunic was finished. I was so excited to be making such quick progress, and then I hit a small snag. The sleeves, when knit as written, may as well have been tourniquets. I don't think they would have fit my five-year-old. I had to rip and reknit the first sleeve three times in order to get a proper fit. It's still a bit snug, but it goes with the look of the sweater. Then I tried it on, and decided I couldn't stand how the side vents looked on me. I wish when there are details like that in a pattern that the publishers would include photos so the knitter can know what to expect. The buttoned vents had a big gap above where the first buttonhole was, and it looked very unflattering. I ripped out the entire bottom of the sweater, and reknit it to fit my hips.

Pattern: Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel
Yarn: Beaverslide Dry Goods 90% Wool, 10% mohair (worsted weight)  in Larkspur--3 full skeins and about 10 yards of a fourth
Needles:6.0mm (US 10) Denise circulars
Modifications: Many, as noted above. I started knitting this pattern knowing I didn't want the slit at the neckline, but that was a very easy fix. I had to rewrite the numbers for the sleeves to get them to fit my arms, and I also lengthened them from three-quarter length sleeves to full-length sleeves. I omitted the buttoned vents at the sides, and instead kept knitting in the round, increasing every 6 rows until I had the desired width for my hips. I put little vents in the seed stitch trim on the hem, but I think that I may add a button and button loop, because the vents kind of stick out when the sweater is being worn.

Even with all of the ripping and reknitting, this was a very fast project. It took me just over a week to complete. Stefanie Japel wrote Fitted Knits for knitters to be able to customize their garments to fit their specific body type, and though I had several issues with the pattern (FYI: if you knit this, be sure to check the errata first), I was able to get the fit I wanted with some tinkering, and the adjustments and reknitting were worth it in the end. I have already earmarked several other patterns from this book that I plan on knitting, but I've got to finish up some of these works in progress first!

happy halloween

Happy Halloween to all of those who celebrate.

The month of October has been one of the longest months in recent memory (for me, anyway) and I'm so thankful that it's almost over. As soon as I can compose myself long enough, I'll be back to compose a real post.