Wavy Gravy Socks

FO: Wavy Gravy Socks
Pattern: Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock recipe with a couple mods. I changed the 2x2 rib to a 1x1 rib, and knit in the rib all the way to the heel flap. Additionally, I adjusted the number of stitches cast on, as I was using a chunkier yarn than sock yarn.
Yarn: Elann Superwash Chunky yarn, hand dyed by moi, using Easter egg dye
Needles: 3.75mm bamboo dpns

Please not that the ONLY instance of pooling in this haphazardly hand dyed yarn is smack dab on the top of the foot of the sock on the right (my left foot) in this picture. Why, oh why could it not have plunked its chubby pooling self on the bottom of the foot?



I cast on 48 stitches, making the circumference of the leg an inch smaller than the recipe calls for, as my first pair slouches around the ankles. These fit perfectly, and do not slouch. Slouching socks are one of my all time pet peeves.



I hand dyed this yarn, and thought it was not the purtiest thing in the world. It reminds me of an old, hippieish tie dyed t-shirt. I have to say, they do not look half bad knitted up! I actually kind of like the colors. Made from chunky yarn, these are slipper socks, and will probably not venture much into public. They are deliciously thick and soft, the perfect thing to ward off the chills of the fog.



And look at this handsome, noble mountain pooch:

love you davey... off now to cook up a storm, and perhaps cast on a scarf.

FO: Knee Warmers

Today I was in Union Square, getting my knit on, and I met a knitter! She approached me to see what I was working on, and gave my wavy gravy sock a squeeze. I love that touching yarn is a requisite activity for all knitters to determine the delicious factor of the yarn in question. We exchanged Ravelry user names...I of course had nothing but receipts on me, but she had an adorable notebook with a ball of yarn and needles on the front. Clever knitters! She and her daughter dye yarn, too. Carla, if you are out there, I hope you are enjoying SF!

FO: Knee Warmers
Pattern: I cast on 51 stitched and worked a 2x1 rib until I had a 12" tube
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Grey Heather (stash busting some yarn I bought years ago!)
Needles: 5.0mm Bamboo DPNs

Inside out:

Struttin' its stuff in Union Square:

This is a practical project, requested by N to help keep him warm on crack o dawn bike rides. I consciously avoided wool because I suspect he need the warmers to function as a wind break more than anything else, and feared wool would induce sweating.

I cast off today, baking in the warm October sun. I wanted a very stretchy bind off, to accommodate the knee and thigh for which they are intended. I wanted them to be snug enough to stay up, so I cast on for 2 inches less fabric than the leg circumference, making a snug warm leg warmer. However, that tightness meant I needed a loose cast off. My usual cast off (k1, pass knit stitch over) is usually much tighter than the fabric I have knitted, sometimes creating a flare at one end of a scarf, etc. Referencing an old Knitting Daily email, I found a looser cast off: k2tog, slip the new stitch on to the left needle, k2tog, slip the new stitch onto the left needle. Its not nearly as stretchy as my cast on, but still much better than my usual bind off.On the leg:Rosa

First Socks!

FO: Blue Stripey Socks
Pattern: The Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe, found in her book Knitting Rules, and online if you click the link above.
Yarn: Autermann Step Sock Yarn, in Denim
Needles: 2.5 mm bamboo dpns

I finally grafted the toe on my second sock, and we have a pair of socks!


I really enjoyed the construction aspect of the socks, from making the heel flap to knitting the gussets and grafting the toe. Next up is maybe a slipper sock in a thicker yarn, and something with a more interesting pattern for the leg.



I made some mods, minor ones, and naturally did not take a single note. For the most part, I cast on less stitches and decreased more rapidly than instructed, as I have small, squarish feet. Despite decreasing the cast on number, the socks are very loose around the leg part.




I have a dpn paranoia. No matter what size or material they are made of, I am always convinced one dpn in the set is the pointiest and one is fatter than the rest. Not sure if this is true, or totally in my head, but I spend half my time using dpns speculating about their various sizes and pointedness and what kind of quality control they go through :)

Faux Mia

Happy Birthday to Mariam!

Back in June, I gifted her a coupon for the knitted item of her choice. Kind of a cop out, but even in foggy SF, it can be hard to find the knitting muses when the sun is shining and the park is calling.



A couple weeks ago, she emailed me this Fossil link to their Mia Scarf. I just finished a couple days ago, after picking up a button at Britex.



The scarf is modeled here in Golden Gate Park at the wonderful (and free!) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival by Ms. Pitty over at QSBR. We saw the band who sang the grammy winning songs from Toy Story, Riders in the Sky, and they were hilarious, stunningly educated (they all have phd or MAs!), and wonderful, charismatic performers.

FO: Faux Mia Scarf
Pattern: Made it up. 2x2 rib. Cast on 18 stitches and rib away until scarf is the desired length. Create a button hole by doing one YO, K2tog in the middle of the row. Knit a few more rows, and cast off. Sew a ginormous button on the opposite end of the scarf as the hole.
Yarn: Wool Ease Thick and Quick in Fisherman
Needles: 9mm bamboo straights
Button: big old shell button in a faux coppery green finish. Lots of faux in this scarf. Love the button.



Mariam, if you are reading, this is going out to you in tomorrow's mail!


I seem to have accumulated about 9 skeins of this yarn, in this color. I imagine about 4 yrs ago I bought it or my mom gave it to me for blanket crocheting which clearly has not happened.




Ok, back to Sunday Night Football...

rosa

Oh, Canada

Back from vacation! Vacation = eating my way through the Pacific Northwest with three awesome friends.

Vancouver, BC is amazing. The food is delicious and diverse, the city is clean, and the architecture gorgeous. By the end of our first day in Vancouver we were checking out real estate prices and wondering about becoming a citizen of the Commonwealth.

One of the things I loved most about Vancouver was the appreciation for outdoor space. They have a fantastic park, Stanley Park, the streets are lush and tree-lined, and the majority of apartment buildings had terrace, balcony, or roof gardens--bringing some fresh air and beautiful foliage into the urban landscape.

Here is a shot from the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Just a few minutes outside of downtown, this is apparently the biggest tourist trap in the area, but we could not resist the lure of a temperate rain forest and and a nice forest stroll.




Vancouver at Sunset, from our hotel room, looking toward English Bay.

Vancouver from our balcony in morning sunshine.



Did I mention that in Vancouver we gorged ourselves silly? Great food in that city. In Vancouver we ate salmon in these various ways: smoked salmon jerky, sashimi, in assorted sushi rolls, in fresh Vietnamese spring rolls, more sashimi, salmon artichoke dip, salmon pie, seafood quiche, and some more sashimi. I may have missed a few...

After Vancouver, we sailed for Victoria. Victoria itself was an underwhelming city with a few great buildings, and a lot of empty shops.




The highlight was definitely the gorgeous ferry ride from the mainland to Vancouver Island. Spectacular!


After Victoria we said good bye to two wonderful travel partners, and explored Seattle on our own for a few days. More goooooooooood food. We bough a crab, a pound of shrimp, a crusty loaf of olive sourdough, and a cranberry apple piroshki at Pike's Place market to make one of the best picnic style dinners ever. Not quite a picnic in an outdoor sense, but what else can you do when the Office season premiere is on but hunker down with some tasty snacks. Bears, beets, Battle Star Galactica.

We rowed all about Lake Union. More like N rowed me all about Lake Union in a cute wooden row boat rented from the Center For Wooden Boats in Seattle. And look, Sleepless in Seattle style houseboats!


Sweet Chinatown dragon...

We return very relaxed and happy, and still ready to move to Vancouver! I only went to one knitting store (the very cute So Much Yarn in Seattle) but restrained myself. I would love to be able to continue to restrain myself and knit from my stash until 2009. I did buy a couple cute fabric scraps at the Underground Quilter in Seattle's Pike's Place Market. I love quilting stores! The cotton, the prints, the adorably small bundles!

I do have some FO action shots!



My latest FO: Turn a Mountain Square
Pattern: Turn a Square Hat by Brooklyn Tweed
Yarn: Bernat Natural Cashmere (the dark grey) and Rowan Natural Silk Aran in Indigo
Comments: Seeing as this is the third one of these babies I have knitted, I will not go on too much. The only mod I made from the original was to knit on dpns not circs. The raglan decreases are at the joins in the needles, making the decreases a bit loose. I do not usually have laddering at my joins, but in this case with the decreases, they did crop up.

Oh! I know I said I would not go on too much, but I will share a mega dunce moment. The first two times I made the hat (having never made anything with color changes before) I did not know what "carry the other color" meant. I was cutting my yarn at every color change, making a mega mess of ends to deal with. I ended up hand felting the ends so they wouldn't run. Lots of ends. Tons. Like Monster from the Muppet's hair. It wasn't until I had started this third one, and was in the car, sans scissors, that I realized what was going on. I thought I wasn't going to be able to knit much on the car ride, since I did not have scissors and could not clip the ends. So I just knitted on anyway, thinking I could cut and tie off for felting when I got home. At the second color change it became gloriously clear: I had been mega dense about the directions! You are not supposed to cut the yarn, you are supposed to CARRY the unused color. Duh. Big time.

It is times like that I realize I my knitting career has been short and unproductive! Speaking of which, this month is my second knitaversary. The first year, I was still crocheting a lot, and only finished 1.5 scarves in my first year! That's it! Here in year two, I have completed a bunch more scarves, hats, booties, a cowl, socks, and am working on my first lace. I have picked up spinning (and sewing!) and taught several people how to knit. I hope that year three will bring my first sweater and a ton of awesome sockies!

The grey-red hat is turn a square #1, made for N. The blue-grey turn a square it #3, the Mountain version. The awesome short row hat to the right is made by our very own Kristina, out of some lovely Claudia's hand painted. I must say, there is nothing better than seeing good friends appreciating good knitting! These homemade hats were on these heads for at least a few hours everyday on this vacation.