Peaceful Knitter

At the end of a rainbow, you typically find a Leprechaun and a pot o’ gold, right?  Well in my fantasy land, it’s a pirate chest full of sock yarn and finished socks!

• Pattern: The Yarn Harlot’s Basic Sock Recipe (free here)

• Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn in color 182, 250 yards

• Needles: US size 1 32-inch Addi Turbos (holla, Magic Loop!)

• Mods: None.  This is a choose-your-own-adventure sock recipe that urges you to knit to your own guidelines.  It’s my go-to pattern for plain socks.

I was really excited to try my hand at knitting up some Noro socks.  I love the colors, and was particularly enchanted with this colorway.  Who doesn’t love a little rainbow on a rainy spring day?  The colors were magically blended together, and it was a joy to watch them mingle and change over the course of 2 socks.

If you have heard that this yarn is scratchy, it is.  Not unbearably so, but it’s no merino to be sure.  That said, I didn’t mind knitting with it one bit.  My problem came later, after I finished the first sock and tried it on over and over again.  It stretched out and stayed that way.  There is hardly any elasticity to the yarn, and I fear that over time the socks will become malformed, better suited to an animal with stump legs than to a human with flat feet.

But I’m wearing them anyway, because they’re just so darn cheery.

They are a little itchy, though.  A long soak in some Eucalin and a blocking softened them up slightly, and I hear that the yarn really blooms and softens after a proper washing.  We’ll see….

My other note is that the skein is fairly generous at 462 yards.  I could have easily made a pair of knee socks from this.  Instead, I think I’ll make wrist warmers with the leftovers.

Enjoy your weekend!

We arrived in San Francisco just in time to catch a quick glimpse of things before the sun went down.  Our drive North to Santa Rosa was a dark one, where I could just make out the topography of the land: hilly and curvy.  What a wonderful greeting the next morning when we drove out to Point Reyes and were met with endless green hills and dales, plenty of those happy California cows, and the choppy Pacific Ocean.

It was a long trek out to the point, one which we had to finish on foot.  To get to the Point Reyes lighthouse, you have to walk in about a half mile, then make your way down something like 308 steps.  The way down was dead easy, but the way up…well, let me just say that the view was worth having sore calves for 2 days!

Our trek was followed by a simple and delicious lunch at the Station Cafe.  This place had everything I love and aspire to eat on a more regular basis: classic American food, organic veggies, and local artisan cheeses.  And really good bread.  I knew I liked this town immediately, but after strolling its small downtown area and popping into the Bovine Bakery for cookies, a great bookstore, and even a knitting and weaving shop, I knew for sure.  Sweetie and I are already plotting our relocation to Pt. Reyes Station and new occupations as artisan cheese-makers and farmers.  With sheep and an alpaca or two, of course.

Sonoma was no less enticing, although it is definitely a lot more busy.  Every shop, gallery, and restaurant we entered suggested a relaxed, healthy lifestyle.  I just wanted to sit there eating chocolate, sipping wine, and knitting  all day.  The weather while we were in town was less than ideal, however: gray, overcast, and rainy.  I took precisely 3 photos, none of which are really worth writing home about.  Well, there was a pretty neat fountain at the winery, Chateau St. Jean.

We were in town on the day that HGTV was giving away their Dream Home in Sonoma.  Sadly, since we were on the road, they were unable to find us and give us the house keys.  Maybe next year!

So, I know what you’re really wondering at this point is: did she buy any yarn?  The answer is yes, yes I did.

Thanks to a shiny new sign, Sonoma Yarn jumped out on my knitter’s radar as we passed by.  Sweetie flipped a u-turn and I was in the store in seconds.  The proprietor was warm and talkative, happy to tell me all about the locally produced yarn.  They had a nice selection of yarn from big companies, as well as some local stuff.  That is what I was drawn to, and I left with this big, sheepy skein of hand-spun yarn.  The colors range from a deep brown to burgundy to gray.

I also knit quite a bit on my Noro Rainbow socks while in California.  They made a great travel project, and with the bright colors, I brought my own sunshine to Cali.  More on that later…

Hello, knitters!

I just wanted to put out a quick post to let you know that I am alive, knitting, and still on the road.  We are in the final leg of our journey, living it up in Cincinnati, OH.  Our hotel has free wireless (yay), but I left my camera in the car which is in long term parking in a garage across the street (boo).  So no photos to entertain you with just yet.

Just know that I have found a yarn shop in every state we have traveled to, I’m in the home stretch on a sock, and I finished the first sleeve on my grey sweater.  There is forward motion all around me.

I am going to get over to Ravelry now…it’s been far too long.  And while I’ve been stoic around Sweetie about not being able to check it regulary, it has been sorely missed.  Are you like that?  I’m dying to see who has queued what from the new Spring Knitty, catch up on friend’s blogs, and see what’s shakin’ in the forums.  See you soon!

Tomorrow Sweetie and I are heading out on a grand 2-week adventure that will take us to such luxurious locales as Ohio, Kentucky, and California.  Okay, so one of them is outwardly more exciting than the others, but we are sure to find fun wherever we go.  I am particularly excited to sample wine, feel the sun on my face, reconnect with old friends, and see if there are any good yarn shops in Ohio.

Our trip will be one part road trip and one part air travel, so I will have more than enough time to knit in transit.  Since I currently have 5 projects on the go, I have decided to pack several and take them on the road with me.

The larger project, my sweater, will be for road trip knitting, while the smaller ones (2 socks and a lace scarf) will be perfect for airplane knitting.  I’m hoping to finish off both socks and make good progress on the sleeves of my sweater.  Anything else will be a bonus (I’m looking at you, Lace Ribbon Scarf).

If time allows, I may do some on the road blogging, so check in from time to time.  See you in 2 weeks~happy knitting!

We had a spectacular, warm, and beautiful weekend here in Connecticut.  The weather was such that I decided to insist that it signified the beginning of Spring.  I know that technically we don’t cross that line until March 21st, but I am living in Spring from here until summer.  Care to join me?

Of course, after wearing a skirt without tights and shoes without socks all weekend, it’s chilly and rainy this morning.  No matter.  I have a little piece of rainbow to cheer me up.  My feline shadow, Spike, insisted on honing in on my photo shoot this morning.  Predictably, he wouldn’t sit still for any sort of intentional looking photo, so all I got was a lot of blurry fur.

Peg the Leg is NOT happy working with such an unprofessional character.

This is the first sock of a pair of Noro Kureyon socks in color 182, Rainbow.  I am loosely following the Yarn Harlot’s basic sock recipe, casting on 64 stitches and just knitting.  The two most interesting things about these socks are the playful yarn and my experimenting with magic loop sock knitting.  It is so speedy and fun!

I have always knit my socks using double pointed needles.  It’s the way I learned, and it’s the way most of the sock patterns I have chosen to knit were written.  Yet somehow I decided that I wanted to try a new method.  So I went out and bought a set of size 1 Addi Turbos with a 29-inch cable and set to work. Not only does it feel faster (and that may be the simplicity of the stocking stitch), but working with 2 needles eases the tension in my hands that is sometimes created when I knit with 4 DPNs.

I intuited how to get through the challenges of the heel flap and picking up the gusset stitches on 2 needles, knowing that once I got to that point it would probably make sense.  And it worked out!  I’m sure there’s a more elegant way to do it than what I finagled, and I trust that I will get there at some point.  For now, however, I am thrilled with these cheerful socks that are helping me to remember that Spring has returned, whether the weather man says so or not!

This is my first refashion, although technically there was no sewing or work to it at all.  It was the perfect way to get started on my challenge this week.

Before:

Martha's not crazy about the length, either

This is a skirt I picked up at Fab India on my trip to Mumbai in 2006.  I knew it was long, but it was perfect to wear in the 110 degree heat when showing a little leg was not appropriate.  Back home, it was just a little too long and frumpy for regular wear.  Now that it’s been in my closet and hasn’t seen the light of day for at least 2 years, I though it was time to give the skirt a makeover.

Fortunately, there was already a seam running horizontally just above my knee line.  This is where the pattern changed direction, and I simply cut the lower portion of the skirt away.

And presto–a nicely hemmed skirt and me making it one more week without buying a sewing machine!  It will happen eventually, I promise.

Part of my re-fashioning mission is to really take a look at the pieces of clothing I have in my closet.  There are some pieces that I haven’t been able to part with, either for sentimental reasons (the kimono top I bought in China town when I first moved to NYC), or because I hope it will fit again someday.

I’ve started culling my clothing stash by doing 2 things.  First, I went through and pulled out anything that I don’t wear or doesn’t fit that I couldn’t bear to get rid of because I liked the fabric or an embellishment on it.  These have been set aside for refashion use.  I then went into my closet and ordered my clothing by color and sleeve/pant length.  It’s a rainbow of clothes in there!  Then I turned all the hangers around so that the hook comes from behind.  As I wear clothes, I turn the hanger back around to its normal position.  At the end of my 2 months, I will see which clothes I haven’t worn and know that those can probably go to a new home.  I’ve done this before in the past, and it works great.  Plus, the shift in how my clothing is organized helps me see things in a new way, and I end up creating new combinations and outfits.

Do you have any tips for organizing your clothing?

I recently whipped up these wee & twee bootees out of leftover sock yarn.  I had two little balls left over from my Spring Forward socks, and figured it would take the whole lot to make these little bootees.  Not true.  I only used up one ball!  Great way to use up tiny bits of leftovers.

There were so many good button choices!  These booties are for a babe of unknown gender, so my strategy was to make them as fun and bright as possible.  I am not one to tote a basketful of pastel to a baby shower; in fact, if you invite me to your shower, be prepared to get shocking colors and hand knits!

There was a fair amount of finishing to be done after the knitting was complete.  They’re so small though, that the time spent sewing them up was nominal.  I used the yarn tail from each strap to make a button loop.  Simply tack the yarn to the opposite edge of the strap to create a loop, then secure by weaving the tail into the strap.

• Pattern:  Saartje’s Bootees, Ravelled here

• Yarn: Shibui Knits sock yarn, color 4201, 10 or so yards

• Needles: US 1 1/2, 2.5mm dpns

• Mods: Used one color instead of two.

To block, I lightly dampened each bootie and then stuffed it full of plastic wrap.  This evened out the shape and straps nicely.

The only trouble with this little stash-busting project is that I still have leftovers!

Did you wake up to an unholy amount of snow on the ground this morning like we did?  March is truly living up to its reputation so far this month: “In like a lion, out like a lamb”.  Let’s hope the latter part comes true!

It was a good weekend around here, starting with a banner trip to Webs and ending with a fun afternoon at Stitch ‘n Bitch.  I like it when life is book-ended with fiber and knitting gatherings.

I arrived at mecca with a list of possible sock yarns I would like to look at, feel, smell, and potentially bring home.  I checked online to make sure they carried these yarns before I arrived to be reassured success.  The first thing I saw when I got there was the Malabrigo sock yarn I had been longing to touch.  I then made a circle through the entire store, ending at the sock yarn section.  I guess I was in a delayed gratification sort of mood.  Everything I could have imagined finding was there, including some old favorites.

Here is what came home with me:

Malabrigo Sock in Chocolate Amargo

Shibui Knits in color 2955

Noro Kureyon Sock in S182 B

Madelinetosh Hand Dyed in Lettuce Leaf

With the exception of the playful rainbow of the Noro, I was trying to stick to a semi-solid palette.  I have plenty of vibrant, wacky sock yarn in my stash already and I wanted to round it out with some more versatile yarn.  These will show stitch patterns of all types very well, and of course I have some things in mind…

I may have already cast on the rainbow socks.  You know, just to make sure it’s a good yarn.  And I’m so glad I did, since it turns out today is a snow day; what better way to stay warm and cheery than by knitting bright socks?

Did you cast on any new projects this weekend?

Today is Day 1 of my experiment with Wardrobe Refashion.  When I first started thinking about taking on this challenge, my goals were to spend less, buy less, and learn some sewing skills.  As practice, I didn’t buy any clothing during the month of February (yay!).  Now I’m ready to take it to the next level and start playing around and experimenting with my clothes, thrifted materials, and maybe as a treat, buying some handmade or refashioned clothes from etsy.

From the Wardrobe Refashion site: