Peaceful Knitter

A little while back I declared a new sock knitting strategy for myself. It goes a little something like this:

• Knit sock 1 of pair A.
• Knit sock 1 of pair B.
• Knit sock 2 of pair A.
• Knit sock 2 of pair B.

This was devised in hopes of helping me avoid the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome that so often plagues us plebian one-at-a-time sock knitters. Well, so far it has worked out just fine…except that I cast on for pair C after finishing the 2nd sock for pair A, instead of going back and finishing the 2nd sock of pair B. Life never seems to go according to plan, does it? But it all works out in the end, since my goal is to only have 2 pairs of socks going at any one time and to not dread knitting either of them.

This weekend I put in another James Bond flick, From Russia With Love, and sat down to finish this:

I knit for a couple of inches, did some regular old toe decreases, then ended with a flourish with my new best friend, Kitchener Stitch.

• Pattern: Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks by Ann Budd from Favorite Socks
• Yarn: ONline Linie 3 Supersocke 100 in color 833
• Needles: For the cuff and first couple of inches, size 3 (3.25mm); then I switched to a size 2 (2.75mm) for the rest. This yarn and pattern combine to create a very stretchy sock. I probably could have gotten away with using 2s for the whole thing.

This is a fairly simple pattern to knit up and qualifies as nearly-mindless knitting for me. The only trick is to pay attention to where the traveling stitches are going and remember to help get them there every other row. The stitch pattern gives the self-patterning yarn a little more interest and texture than you’d get with stockinette or ribbing, and it’s simple enough that it doesn’t get lost in the colors.

I love my new sock blockers! They provide a great way to store those single socks as art–I have them hanging up on my office wall. In the past, my first socks would be crumpled up at the bottom of my knitting bag, waiting to be pulled out for reference when knitting the 2nd sock. And this may still be the case when I’m working on a pair. But until then, knitted wall art suits me just fine!

My 6 Word Memoir:

Young love promises happiness and delivers.

I have seen this floating around on blogs this week and decided to join in. It seems to have been inspired by this NPR story, which was inspired by this book. And here is the blog that inspired me to write my own: Gubbinal

Here are the guidelines, should you choose to participate in this yourself:

• Write your own six word memoir.
• Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
• Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
• Tag five more blogs with links.

I hereby tag these bloggers: Nutmeg Knitter, Natasha B, Ariadne’s Thread, SweetP Knits, and A Friend to Knit With. Do what you will, fair bloggers!
Some of you may recognize this post as an outright avoidance of writing about my knitting, and it is. I have made minimal progress this week on my two most active projects, the Morning Surf Scarf and Twisted Cable socks, but nothing worth writing about.

I am actually experiencing some soreness in my thumb joints that has been preventing me from knitting for very long at a time. Could it be? Do I have a knitting-related injury? I’ve never been so lucky as to have a sports-related injury. I was a dancer and a (gasp) cheerleader in high school, but never really hurt myself. Probably because I try not to do anything risky where I could potentially get hurt! This knitter’s thumb makes me feel like I’m really dedicated and hard-core or something. Is there a knitting Olympics I could be training for?! In all seriousness, I hope this is nothing to be concerned about. I am going to take it easy with the knitting this weekend and focus on hanging out with my sweetie and friends.

Do your hands or arms get sore or tired when you knit?

What can you do to get “in shape” for knitting?

I’m sitting here eating a piece of chocolate cake for my 2nd breakfast. It’s 10:30 am, and the toast I had at 7:30 is long gone. I don’t really need anything to eat again until lunch, but who could resist this?

I may be a pastry chef, but on my birthday the cake I crave most is made by my partner and comes from a little red box, the icing from a plastic tub. It’s soooo good. Food experts worked long and hard to create a cake mix that would turn out moist and delicious every time, and that’s nothing to scoff at.

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a great day full of surprises, good food, and knitting fun. My sweetie surprised me with some wonderful knitting resources that I have been admiring from afar for some time now. Thank goodness for the Amazon wishlist; I got exactly what I wanted!

Clockwise from the top: The Best of Vogue Knitting, The Harmony Guides Knit & Purl stitch dictionary, and Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark.

I have already read through a few of the articles in Vogue, a compilation of articles from the past 25 years of the magazine. There’s information on knitting history, techniques, and advice. It’s interesting to see photos from magazines in the 80s and 90s; there are some funky sweaters then as there are now!

The Harmony Guides include several stitch dictionaries for knitters and crocheters. The layout in these more recent editions is clear and easy to read, with beautiful color photos of the stitch patterns. I look forward to incorporating some of these into my own designs at some point.

And what can I say about Knit 2 Together? I have checked this book out from the library twice, each time enjoying the witty narrative and unique patterns. I have yet to knit any of them ( I get a queasy feeling when I photocopy patterns from library books…call it copyright infringement-induced nausea). Now that I have the book at my disposal, I am thinking about several of them, from the knitted photo frame and felted slippers to the complicated-looking Pimlico Shrug.

In a complete surprise, a friend of mine from California sent a much-appreciated gift of yarn.

So I basically spent the day looking at my presents and knitting as much as I could on the Morning Surf Scarf. There was a side trip to Lowe’s and some wallpaper removal in there as well, but I’d prefer to pretend that I didn’t feel compelled to work on my birthday and knit all day instead.

This post is my 50th post on this blog! When I started this gig back in November, I had no idea where it would lead. But I have rediscovered a passion for writing and photography that I had left behind in the race to do other, seemingly more productive activities. Well, forget that! Art and creative work of all kinds have immense value in the world, and I am going to participate in creating whatever I can each day. Blogging, knitting, writing, and taking pictures enriches my own life, and who knows, maybe it will amuse or inspire someone else too.

Thanks for reading!

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens

Easter weekend was beautiful here in New England. It was still very cold, but the sun was shining through bright blue skies, promising that the warmth of summer will return. All that sunshine went to my head, and I thought it was time to buy some spring flowers and cast on a new spring colors knitting project.

First, the flowers I purchased. It’s still too cold to leave them outside overnight, so they are brightening up my house in the meantime.

White hyacinth

Purple & white pansies

Next are the flowers that have been brave enough to show themselves through the old fall leaves and frosty ground in my garden:

I think these are called snowbells…

Purple crocus

I find these spring bulbs so heartening, little promises that life goes on after the harshness of winter. They are little bright spots in my day, and I find joy in discovering the new life popping up in gardens all over town.

Spring has not only brought new flowers and longer days, but the urge to cast on new knitting projects as well. I have fought this urge back a few times in the past couple of weeks. There was a time when I wanted to start a bamboo tank top, or a skirt even. But I convinced myself that those garments were a little too optimistic. After all, the sun is shining but it’s still freezing out there!

And so I decided to cast on a simple drop stitch scarf in a new yarn I love. It’s the Jitterbug superwash sock yarn I got a few weeks ago. I have been eying it daily, admiring its freshness and colors that echo the new flowers in my garden.

The pattern is Morning Surf Scarf by Jackie Erikson-Schweitzer. I cast on 66 stitches instead of 76, hoping to stretch my one skein of yarn into a good length scarf/wrap for myself. It’s a pretty easy knit so far, which is exactly what I need. My more complicated projects have been languishing in my knitting bags.

Yesterday I decided to challenge myself to NOT look at any knitting-related websites all day. I have fallen into the trap of doing more reading about knitting than actual knitting lately, and while that has been a pleasure, I need to get back into the practice of daily knitting. So, whenever I thought to myself “I should look that up on Ravelry” or “I wonder if Yarn Harlot has a new blog post,” I made myself pick up the scarf. And it worked: I got about 4 inches done yesterday!

My next tactic is to allow myself to only check these sites once a day, instead of twice like I usually do. And finally, I am going to try to alternate working on this drop stitch scarf and my 2 pairs of socks in progress in a way that will allow me to finish them as soon as possible. I have yet to establish this master plan, however…

How do you manage your unfinished objects?

What is your strategy for completing projects?

I haven’t gotten much knitting done this week. My sister and her husband (still newlyweds, aw…) have been in town and we have been busy! A while back I lived in Jersey City, NJ and went to school and work in NYC. My sister visited me a couple of times there, and loves going into the city. So you can imagine her excitement at bringing her husband, a man who has never been to the east coast, to The City of all cities.

We had a great time visiting all the top tourist sites: Empire State Building, Times Square, Central Park and its zoo (my sis’s must see: the penguin feeding at 2:30; my must see: the mouse deer. I think it’s cute, she insists it’s terrifying. You decide.). They had also wanted to do the Liberty Island/Ellis Island tour, but the lines were ridiculously long, admission ridiculously steep. Instead, I took them on the Staten Island ferry, which is free and cruises right by both sights, providing stellar views of Manhattan. We ate hot dogs and nuts from street vendors, bought tacky 10 for $10 souveneirs and walked miles over the course of two days. It was a blast.

I love showing off this city to anyone who wants to see it. This is the city that helped me grow into the woman that I am today. I made major life decisions there, had a million challenging and interesting experiences, and ultimately left to regain what I realized was truly important to me. Surviving there made me realize how truly strong, capable, and adventurous I really am. Going back reminds me of the sense of optimism and hope I had at that time, and helps me recall that anything is possible. I think we all need those moments in our lives, something that snaps us out of the daily doldrums and says “Hey! This is what life’s all about, you idiot!”

I have been feeling pretty tender and pessimistic lately, having recently suffered an unimaginable and intensely personal loss. Going back to New York helped me to reconnect with the person I was before these struggles began: confident, optimistic, and excited about the future. Knitting has helped a great deal as well. When I knit, my mind is quiet and I am able to reconnect with the simple joys of life in much the same way I do when I revisit places and times from my past that made me happy. Life is big and great and messy and beautiful, and all we have is this moment. Do what you love with your moments whenever possible, and the rest will get easier in time.

Anyway…here’s a knitting photo of my current sock in progress for your viewing pleasure. I’ll save the details for later!

Two finished objects to show off this week!

• Pattern: Basic Sock Recipe from Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
• Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Peacock
• Needles: Size 2.5 dpns

This close up of the heel gives a better idea of the amazing color variations in this yarn. I bought this yarn because I loved the colors for myself. But as I continued to knit them, someone else started to fall in love and I had to give them up. These turned out to be a fabulous pair of socks for my sweetie, which works in my favor since I can now knit another pair for myself!

After seeing Becca’s finished Tudora neck-warmer at my knitting group on Monday, I was overcome with the desire, the need, to cast one on for myself. I had about 1/2 a skein of Malabrigo worsted weight leftover from the cabled hat project, and thought it might be enough. And it was! This was a quick knit, done over the course of 2 evenings while watching such stellar TV programs as Beauty and the Geek, America’s Next Top Model and American Idol. Ugh…I can’t believe I just admitted that! Wait–I’ll blame the writer’s strike for forcing me to find alternate programming these past few months. Yeah, that’s it…

• Pattern: Tudora by Cheryl Marling
• Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted Weight in color 192
• Needles: Size 8 circular

I still had a couple of yards leftover after sewing on the button. I can’t seem to get rid of some yarns, no matter how hard I try. This reminds me that last weekend I decided to do a mini reorganization of my stash. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I have had a major influx of stash, between my trip to Webs and the SnB cruise. During this purge, I was finally able to actually throw away little balls of yarn that I know I will never use. I did save all my sock yarn remnants, still holding on to the hope that one day I will make one of these sock monkeys.

The way I see it, I finished 2 projects, so I can start 2 new projects, right? I have startitis, and will probably start yet another project this weekend. I have no idea what it may be, but if the weather is dreary it will probably be bright. My sister and her husband are arriving from Idaho today for a week-long visit. It is my secret hope that she will ask me to show her to knit. During her visit last year, she knit several inches of a cotton rectangle with fierce determination. Maybe if I show her my stash, then Ravelry, she will be inspired to pick a pattern and work on a project…I will bring her over to the dark side!

If you live within a reasonable distance of any type of local yarn store (reasonable being completely subjective, of course) you have a social responsibility to travel to it and buy some delicious yarn. I live just 80 miles from WEBS in Northampton, MA. It was ridiculous that I hadn’t been there yet. So, with some vacation days left and a day without a plan, my Sweetie and I decided to make the pilgrimage.

**It should be noted that whenever your significant other is willing to not only drive you to a LYS, but come inside and shop with you, you have someone really special on your hands. Someone that deserves a handknit pair of socks, at the very least. Of course, I knew we had this special something. After 10 years together it should come as no surprise that she has been so supportive of my new-found love of knitting and fibers. While I was shopping for sock yarn, she put together a little gift of knitterly delights for me:

The Knitter’s Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes, a compulsively readable and useful book.

Anyway, back to the power and the glory: Webs is located in a nondescript building at the end of a nondescript industrial road. I wasn’t sure what to expect, even though I had heard it likened to Mecca and heaven, and all things holy. When we stepped inside, I knew I was home. It is beautiful. And organized. And the employees are knowledgable and helpful.

I had been wandering around with an empty shopping basket for about 5 minutes when a friendly woman came up and greeted me. She asked if I had been there before, and then proceeded to show me around the store. She even asked what I liked to knit (I said socks) and then showed me all the sock yarn (even the stuff on sale in the warehouse). It truly was the most wonderful yarn shopping experience of my life.

Sweetie picked out two pairs of future socks:

1. ONline Linie 3 Supersocke 100, color 833

2. Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fassett, color 4254

It’s somewhat of a relief to have someone pick out her own yarn for a project. I can guess what someone would like, but there are never any guarantees that it will be soft enough or the right color. If she doesn’t like the socks, I can always smile sweetly and say “But you picked them out, dear.”

I picked out two pairs of socks for myself, in colors that I thought would help invite spring and summer into my life.

1. Artyarns Ultramerino 4, color 136

2. Shibui Knits Sock, color 4201

I’m a little disappointed that none of this sock yarn has a great name for its colorway. That last one should be called something delicious like Watermelon Crush or Spring Fling. How do you get that job, by the way? I’d sure like to be the person in charge of naming yarn colors…

And I got a set of sock blockers too, just because.

This influx of new sock yarn has forced inspired me to reorganize my stash. I started by putting all of my sock yarn together in this basket.

I feel spoiled and loved and beyond inspired to knit pairs and pairs of gorgeous new socks.

Here it is, the big reveal of the Stitch ‘n Beach swag bag and class projects. Enjoy!

Swag Bag Galore

This little tote bag was filled with so much goodness, both from the cruise sponsors and other companies.

Yarn Pirate sent over some stickers & a set of circular needles. There were yarn samples from Spritely Goods, Material Whirled, and Homestead Wool & Gift Farm. Novelty items included a drink cosy from misshawklet and a needle-felting kit from Back to Alpaca. Thank you so much!!!

One of my favorite items was this Go Knit Pouch from Know Knits

I immediately transferred my sock-in-progress from a battered Ziploc bag into this. It has a loop inside to run your working yarn through, and another loop on the outside that snaps around your wrist. You can then knit standing up, snap it to your chair, whatever you like!

The swag bag also had 3 full balls of gorgeous, luxurious yarn:

1. Be Sweet Bamboo

2. Cascade Luna Peruvian Cotton

2. look up!

Projects

Overall, the classes were great fun. They were full of interesting knitters of various skill levels from all over the country. Some are knitwear designers, yarn company owners, beginners, and seasoned experts. It was immensely inspiring to be in the company of so many knitters, seeing and hearing about their knitting lives.

Then there was Debbie Stoller; she can describe knitting like no one I have ever seen and lights up a room with her wit and wisdom. She was approachable for questions and shared a lot of stories about her career as a knitter. I especially enjoyed her trunk show of items from her most recent book, Son of a Stitch ‘n Bitch. It was interesting to see and touch items that I had seen in the book before. I had an interesting realization, one that I always knew deep down: knitting does not have to be perfect. These items look perfect in the glossy photos in the book, but in real life they have so much character. The individuality of the yarn and the knitting don’t necessarily shine through from a photo like they do in person. What a treat.

Anyway, on to some of the projects I got to participate in:

• Pattern: Spiderweb Capelet from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation
• Yarn: Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Brushed Alpaca

• Pattern: Slip Stitch Sampler with Debbie Stoller
• Yarn: eh, lost the ball band…it’s definitely wool!

• Pattern: No Plastic, Please mesh bag with Debbie Stoller
• Yarn: Rowan Cotton 4 Ply

• Pattern: Beaded Wristbands with Shannon Okey
• I knit mine to cover up these ugly Seabands we were all wearing to fend off motion sickness.
• Yarn: Naturally Yarns Merino et Soie 8 Ply

Unfortunately, I was not feeling well toward the end of the cruise and had to bow out of a couple of the classes. I most regret not being able to go to the Sea Socks class. Socks are my new niche, I feel, and that could have been really great. Oh, well, I still got to go on this amazing vacation, knit with some wonderful people, and swim with dolphins. I am so thankful for this opportunity and look forward to another knitting vacation in the future!

I’ve always wanted to take a knitting class. I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise. Imagine the delights that await when you combine these two activities and take your sweetie along for the ride!

We left out of New York City at dusk. This was a perfect spot to sit with a tropical beverage and watch the city disappear into the night. It was freezing, but I was ready for a daiquiri, damn the consequences!

So, which will it be first: knitting or cruising? Well, since it’s a supremely dreary day here in Connecticut, I think I’ll opt for memories of a happier, warmer time…

Holland America’s Ms Noordam at port in Grand Turk

Can’t you just feel the sun? Getting off the ship after 2 days at sea was a refreshing change of pace. Life on-board a cruise ship is certainly relaxing and enjoyable, but you start to feel a little cooped up after a while. This helped a great deal with the winter blues, seasickness, and cabin fever!

Fuscia Bougainvillea on St. Marten during a hike at Loterie Farm, a gorgeous nature preserve on the French side of the island.

There were lots of lizards on the hike, too.

Sailboat on the Sir Francis Drake Channel approaching Tortola where we got to swim with a dolphin named Venus. She was a free-spirited dolphin who seemed to say “You think you have me trained? I’m going to go play with some seaweed, suckers!” It was an amazing experience, if a bit touristy. We submitted to it, though, and paid way too much money for large glossy prints of our encounter. Side note: if you ever get to pet a dolphin on her underside, be careful not to go too low; there is such a thing as an accidental “bad touch” with a dolphin. I’m so sorry, Venus.

The happy trail of our ship departing the Caribbean…

Next time, I’ll get to the knitting, the people, and all the fabulous swag that was generously passed our way.