Return from Halifax (picture heavy)

I'm back from Halifax. Lots of work got done, but we also managed to drive out of the city and to one of those rugged, rocky beaches Nova Scotia is famous for. It was beautiful. I could have spent hours just standing there, smelling the ocean air, watching the waves crash against the rocks... and I would have taken pictures of it. If I had thought to take my camera, which I didn't, silly person that I am. Oh, well. It turns out I'm going down there again in less than two weeks. Must remember to bring the camera.

While I was there, I discovered the danger of walking through a shopping mall to get from my hotel to the office. I saw these shoes in a window, and... well. You know. Girl. Shoe store. Shoes happen.


Aren't these the cutest?


I needed new summer sandals anyway, my old pair is falling apart. But being a knitter, I didn't just buy shoes, oh no. How could I refuse the suggestion to go yarn shopping during my lunch break?
Well, let's see how I did.

Exhibit A: Lucy Neatby Merino Dream in a bright, bright orange color. It was sitting in a basket with its less brightly-colored friends, positively begging me to take it home.


Exhibit B: Soft, squooshy Misty Alpaca laceweight, in a gorgeous light burgundy. Oh, it's wonderful. And I already have plans for it. I want it to turn into a Christmas shawl for me to wear during the holidays.


Exhibit C: Two skeins of Manos, in blacks, reds, and other lava-like colors. The color number is 105, but I think it should be called Eerily Beautiful!


Oh, and fiber happened too. Exhibit D: Pretty fiber in purples and burgundies. Let me tell you, it took a lot of self-restraint to pick up only one of these.


The verdict: Yarn diet? Not so much. I'll have to not repeat this in 2 weeks or so, when I'm going back. But this yarn makes me happy. I just wish I could have finished some knitting while I was there. Except I forgot my needles. Yes, you heard me: I finished the first husband sock, kitchenered the toe, forgot my Addis at home. And didn't find out until after yarn shopping. Oops.

A Generous Gift

It turns out I was the 1000th person to comment on Soo's blog. I love Soo's blog because she cranks out beautiful knits at incredible speed, does amazing colorwork, and knits several pairs of socks in the time it takes me to make a single sock. She's amazing.

She's also an incredibly generous person. I mean, she sent me chocolate. Chocolate with little vintage pictures on it that tastes wonderful. And Kaffe Fasset sock yarn. And Colinette Jitterbug. The yarn is gorgeous, and in colors I would have bought for myself.
All for commenting on her blog, which I visit with great pleasure anyway. Thank you, Soo! I'm a very happy chocolate-eating sock knitter because of you!


Not even Merlin's attempt at Dad Sweater destruction can spoil my mood today. He ran off with the finished sleeve. While I was trying to save that, the sneaky little furbeast snagged the ball of yarn attached to my sleeve in progress. When I'm done with this sweater, I'll have to turn some of this wool/alpaca blend into cat toys, they love it so much.


The first sock for Mr. Batty was almost done. When he tried it on, it was a good inch too short in the toes, so I unraveled the decreases, got started on making it longer, and got distracted by a business wear and knitting-/cook book shopping spree.
I'm really excited about the cook books. I've heard really good things about The Planet of Vegan and Vegan Cupcakes take over the world. I'll make some and let you know how they turn out... but first, I'm headed to Halifax. Tomorrow, I pack, Monday, I catch a plane, and Tuesday, my boss takes me yarn shopping. Yay!

Love is...

...knitting reverse stockinette stitch sleeves in a size XL (meant to fit a 44" chest). One done, one left to go. As usual, I took a picture of the wrong side of it -- force of habit and all that. As long as I don't make the same mistake while seaming, everything will work out fine. New mantra: The purl side is the right side, the purl side is the right side, the purl side is the right side.


...knitting socks for a men's 10.5 (German men's size 45/46) on US #0/2.0 mm needles. In all fairness, my gauge is a bit larger than usual on 0's, so things are moving along fairly well. I'm loving the way this pattern is working up, it's a very elegant and masculine sock.


...posting loads of pictures of one's cats. Here is Merlin, rudely awakened from his kitty nap by a camera-wielding madwoman. Morgana is currently enjoying the Upstairs Forbidden Zone, otherwise known as my blocking attic, and she won't lie still long enough for fear of being evicted.


And, last but not least:
Love is celebrating gifts passed down from woman to woman. My grandmother taught me to knit, my 'adopted' grandmother, who watched me for 16 years, taught me how to knit socks, and my mother taught me how to work through difficult tasks with ingenuity, determination, and the willingness to keep trying until it works.

Thank you, and a Happy Mother's Day to all!

Still Here

I just got back from the dentist. After spending the last 4 days in 9+ hour meetings, the last of those with increasing amounts of tooth pain, I have to say that this is an improvement. My mouth already hurts less. I didn't even feel like knitting, it hurt so much. Now I understand what my mother meant when she said all sorts of professions and services were optional, but doctors and dentists were essential.

Guy Knits

Right now, I'm knitting for the men in my life. My sister has 2 pairs of socks, my mother has a Clapotis, but Mr. Batty and my Dad don't have anything. I'm a little bit ashamed because the Dad Sweater has been on the needles since last April. Yes, folks, it's taken me a year to get this far on a sweater that's mostly stockinette (or rather, reverse stockinette, but let's not split hairs...). So how am I doing with it?
Well, I have about 6" left on the first sleeve. Almost there! A second sleeve, a wash, a block, a seaming session and some ribbing around the neck... and it'll be done.


Mr. Batty is getting a hat and a pair of socks. I have started the socks, a simple twisted stitch pattern from The Knitting Man(ual). It's hard to see in this picture, but it's turning out very well, if I say so myself. After a friendly knittyhead explained to me that k2tog without taking the stitches off the needle, then knitting into the first stitch again refers to the stitch closer to the end of the left needle, that is. I was initially quite unable to figure out if they meant the one on the left (first stitch you slip the needle through on the k2tog) or the first stitch towards the end of the needle. Sometimes, things aren't as straightforward as they seem...


Oh, and about that skein of yarn from my previous post. The color is called Providence. Methinks 'tis Providence brought us together... I want to go back to the store and buy another skein in that colorway so I can knit one up while having another one around the house to look at and pet, because it is perfection. Just a book collector has a first edition of a book, but then keeps a reading copy around for when he actually wants to read the story.
If anyone had asked me what the perfect yarn looks like, I probably would have described something different. Funny how the things that turn out to be "perfect" for us so rarely are what we thought they would be before we found them...

The Mojo Returns

The mojo has returned! I am still cooking and baking, but this time around, I have also been knitting. Yesterday, I made corn chowder from scratch. Don't do this on a weeknight. I cut the corn from 4, grated the corn off of the other 6, and milked them all with a butter knife. Wow, that's a lot of work! The chowder came out great, and I'll definitely make it again, but not in the middle of the week.

I also went yarn shopping. Yes, this is sock yarn. I've been looking at this particular skein for months. Every time I went to Windsor Button, I'd pick it up, fondle it, and put it back. Tonight, it came home with me. Isn't it beautiful? A little darker than our bedding, but look how it matches the sheets and the comforter!


There has also been progress on the Dad Sweater sleeve. Notice how I took a picture of the knit (wrong) side? That's because I do reverse stockinette so rarely, it didn't even register I was looking at the wrong thing. Oh, well. Next progress pic will be of the purl side.


While I was at the yarn store, I also found this adorable book. I'm 30-something years old and consider myself a professional, but there is something about happily smiling crochet critters I find irresistible. I think it has to do with hormones. Really, I can't explain it any other way.


It's going to be great crochet practice! I already have all this acrylic sitting around upstairs. Now I have a use for it. I think I'll try my hand at this over the weekend.

No Knitting, but Oh-so-good

This is difficult to write, but... I haven't knit in 7 days. A whole week. Usually, it is nigh-impossible to pry me away from the needles, so what's going on?
I finished the front and the back of the Dad Sweater and should be starting the sleeves. When I am close to finishing a project or a huge part thereof, I can't stop knitting, and then, when it's done, I sometimes lose the drive to knit for days on end. It always comes back with a vengeance, so I'm not overly concerned. But what to do with all that free time?

Well, today, I made profiteroles, more colloquially known as cream puffs. Made the dough from scratch, made creme patissiere from scratch (custard, not pudding), and dunked them in semisweet chocolate.


The presentation is not exactly professional, but they are yummy. I think I ate 5.

Off to Cleveland

...with the yarn for the Dad Sweater sleeves. I was going to finish them so they can block in my absence, but alas, my cat has developed persistence and ingenuity to match her obsessive love of alpaca. She would not budge from the bag, chomping and clawing at it.


Unfortunately, my cat understands that the plastic is between her and the alpaca. Even more unfortunately, she also understands that claws and teeth work wonders in liberating yarn.


No more alpaca for her. My plane to Cleveland leaves in a couple of hours. And when I get there, the Dad Sweater is getting sleeves -- and blocked. Away from Morgana. Somehow, I'll manage to keep her away from it.

Encounters of the Feline Kind

When you're a cat-owning knitter, you learn to follow clues. I stepped out of the shower and saw... the back of my dad's sweater! Lying on the floor right in front of the bathroom door, so it was the first thing I laid eyes on when the shower door opened. So I shrieked for Mr. Batty. I don't think I was very articulate, it was something along the line of, "Sweetie! My sweater is on the floor!"
He came to rescue it, but as you can see, some damage has been done. Of course, I should have known. The other day, I found Morgana happily chomping on a skein of alpaca with her claws buried in the sweater. It took a good hour with a needle to tug the stitches back into some semblance of their former perfection (the giant hole turned out to be stretched-out, not ripped yarn).
Fortunately, this is the wrong side. It's a reverse stockinette sweater.


Once I had dried off, I followed the perpetrator's trail. Really, it wasn't too hard... the yarn led the way.


Busted! The black bag under the giant Ziplock bag contains the coveted alpaca, and that would be Morgana making a move for it. Naughty kitty!


I am exhausted. After a lot of tugging and pulling, the back of the Dad Sweater is finished, all skeins of alpaca have been liberated from the clutches of their fuzzy tormentor, and I just have the ends to weave in and 2 sleeves to knit. But I have to make sure I keep everything away from this cat.

She can't resist the alpaca.

Knit and Frog and Knit Again

There has been plenty of fiber-related activity around the house. First, I frogged. I have almost 700 yards of worsted-weight yarn, pictured below. It's been washed and dryed. I'm still not sure what it wants to be, but I hope it tells me.


Then, I knit the Dad Sweater. This is the back of it, and I had to take the picture in complete darkness so the flash wouldn't wash out the color to a bright tomato red. It is NOT tomato red. Promise.


Oh, and if anyone knows what to do with a caston that's too tight... anything at all that doesn't involve ripping it out (I had to do that over the weekend, it was painful, I don't want to do it again), let me know! I'm interested.

Now, because there haven't been any cat pictures lately, and because my knitting was interrupted by two fuzzy usurpers who had taken over my comfy chair, I present to you:


What? You want to sit in this chair? Nope, didn't think so.

New York City Trip

We went to New York for business, but we had loads of fun! How could we not, when we were located right in the middle of things, in a hotel that's right on Broadway/Times Square? Here is a pciture of my room. What you don't see are the 2 water bottles on the cabinet to the left. One is half a liter for $5, the other an entire liter for $7. They were both on little wired stands. If you picked up the bottle for 30 seconds or longer, you'd automatically get charged for the water! The whole thing struck me as quite ridiculous, and it reminded me of Indiana Jones: pick up the golden idol and the entire temple collapses. Considering that I was on the 25th floor, I thought it wiser not to touch the bottles, just to make sure.


But I digress. Here is the view from my window. Pull back the curtains you see in the picture above and -- ta-da! Stuff. Lots of stuff. And not even 5 minutes away from our downtown office. So cool.


After the first day of meetings, we went out to explore. First, we had drinks at The View, the rotating restaurant/observation deck at the Mariott Marquis. Then, we walked around until we got to a bar that looked like it wouldn't kill our entire food budget for the trip and ate there. A good time was had by all except the one co-worker who had to stay in and actually get some work done. This is what she missed. I hope she gets to come back without a huge deadline looming on the horizon!


After the second day of meetings, we hoofed it to Penn Station and took the next train home. It would have been nice to have a little more time, but the main purpose of this trip was business, or I would have tried to meet up with some City knitters. Maybe next time.

And speaking of knitting... I knit about 5" of Mr. Batty's socks until I realized two things: my gauge was way off and the socks were going to be way too wide. So I ripped them out. All that train knitting for nothing. But I promise to show pictures as soon as there is some progress.

NYC, Here I Come!

Actually, I'm already there. I'm on a business trip for Big Corporation and am enjoying the fabulous view of Broadway down below. More when I get home sometime tomorrow!

Irish Rock and 70's Socks

This weekend, Mr. Batty and I went to a Black 47 concert in Roxbury, NY. If you like pro-labor, pro-freedom angry Irish rock music played by extremely talented musicians, give these guys a listen! They are excellent, and the live performance was very good, we had a blast. I'd share pictures, except I forgot to bring my camera to the actual event -- it was in my knitting bag at our friends' house, 20 miles away. Useful, right? So, instead of live concert pictures, all I have to show for it is a picture of the t-shirt I bought.


On our way to our friends' house, I had a lot of time to work on the 1979 Socks. 4 hours each way was enough to see them completed. I almost got the stripes to match perfectly. Almost.


Here's a closeup. The colors are so incredibly 70's, it's hard to believe. They're all there except that bright orange-y yellow color: burnt orange, olive green, a pale yellow-ish business, and brown. This is pair 3 for 2008... my goal is a minimum of 12, so I'm doing pretty well on the sock knitting front.


Details:
Pattern: None, really. Cast on 64 stitches, knit until they were about 10 rows longer than my usual socks, did a heel over 36 stitches (decreased to 30, then started the actual heel...), picked up 15 stitches on each side and knit until it was time to make a flat toe. So... nothing formal, really, just some standard top-down socks.
Needles: US #0 Addi Turbos
Yarn: A nameless colorway by Wolle Rodel, sent to me by my sister

After working with the Noro, I was amazed at how pleasant it is to knit socks with yarn that doesn't hurt! Things move so much faster that way.

File under "C"

Ever wonder why it's called cataloging?


Mr. Merlin, CPA is helping us do our taxes. More knitting content once certain bureaucratic obligations have been met!

Happy Easter!

Yesterday, Mr. Batty and I decided to color eggs. I hadn't colored eggs since I was 7 years old, or rather, my mother always did the coloring and I watched. This year, I decided to take a more active role.


This is Mr. Batty creating a tri-colored egg. It takes a while for the color to take, so he had to hold the egg partway submerged.


But in the end, it was worth it. The yellow/orange-shaded egg on top is the one he made, and I stuck a lamb sticker on one of the green ones. Not that this will come as a big surprise to anyone familiar with the knitter's fascination with all things sheepy.


Then, I decided to make a traditional Serbian Easter Cookie. You start out dropping way more batter onto a cookie sheet than the recipe asks for, and then, all the individual cookies are supposed to run together like this.


OK, I made up the Serbian Easter Cookie. I was hungry when I decided to make chocolate chip cookies, made the cookies too big (the yield is 16 instead of 40!), and they all ran together. Still yummy, just not as aesthetically pleasing.

What turned out aesthetically pleasing was the deep dish pizza. I made 2, completely from scratch. Crust from scratch, sauce from scratch, and then I made a cheese pizza for myself and a pepperoni pizza for the husband. They came out looking very nice, if I may say so myself.


Today, we somehow managed to get up too late for church (the combination of reading in bed and cuddling kittens probably had something to do with it...). It has been a comfy, cozy day so far, with knitting, cuddling, eating leftover pizza. I'm happy, and I hope you are too!

Happy Easter!

Good Mail Day!

Look what came in the mail! The new issue of Cooking Light and... my Knitpicks Harmony knitting needles, complete with extra cords, little taggies to keep track of needle size, and 3 metal circs for socks. I've been coveting the Harmonies since they first came out and I saw the pretty colors. When I finish the Dad Sweater, I get to use them as a reward!


Speaking of knitting needles, I have made two disturbing discoveries. I do not own a pair of US #6 circs in a 16" length, and I also do not own a single pair of US #2 circs. Many sock patterns call for size 2 needles, but with my skinny ankles and slightly loose knitting (I used to be a tight knitter, what happened?), 2s are too big.
Now I want to knit socks for Mr. Batty and need the darn needles. I guess I'm taking a trip to the LYS on Saturday...

And then, I flopped

I had all these plans for the weekend. Casting on a hat, casting on a pair of socks for Mr. Batty, possibly even casting on for Tangled Yoke. Instead, I simply flopped. I felt strangely tired and blah, and the only knitting I did was this sock. I call it the 1979 sock.


Why 1979? Because in person, these colors are exactly the burnt orange, olive green, and yellowish something-or-other that was all the rage that year. There are pictures of me in similar getups, dressed lovingly by a mother who wanted her daughter to look stylish. And let me tell you, I was stylin'!
This yarn is a gift from my sister. She was born in 1983... my guess is she didn't even know these socks would make me feel young again!

I wasn't the only one feeling floppy, either. This is Morgana flopping in my comfy chair, as if she owned the thing -- which, in her mind, she does.


I was browsing through some cat behavior books at the bookstore, and one of them pointed out that a cat who comes to you for snuggles considers you dominant/a parent figure. The cat who considers him/herself dominant graciously allows his/her retainers to come up and cuddle the superior feline Person. Given this analysis, I must say that it has been confirmed: Morgana thinks of herself as She-Queen of the Universe. No wonder she takes offense when I displace her from her throne!

No more Noro

It's here, FO Friday! They are done, and it was so worth it! My wrists hurt, I had to cut off a piece of the yarn I was using to kitchener the toes together, and I made liberal use of my vulgar vocabulary. I don't think I'll be buying this yarn again. But look at how pretty it is! Look at the colors. They are lovely.

The mismatched stripes actually make these socks look even happier. I love happy socks. I wear mostly black, but when it comes to my feet, I love bright, crazy colors and funky patterns. Go figure.


This weekend, I'll be casting on a hat for Mr. Batty (more successfully than the last time I tried, or so one would hope...), some socks for him, and possibly the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. Yes, that's a lot of knitting.

Have a picture of Merlin visiting his gray-and-white friend who only comes by at night. Clearly, both of them were intrigued by the spider on the ceiling.


Run, little spider, run! You are being stalked by two Merlins!

Thar she loads!

I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. What can I say, I got carried away out of sheer joy over the fact that the server error is gone and I was able to load my pictures. A blog is much more interesting with pictures, don't you think?

So, without further ado, let us dive into all things knitterly. When we last left our increasingly concerned heroine, she was knitting away at Noro socks. Whatever else the problem (yes, this yarn does have those little straw-like thingies in it!), the colors are simply stunning. Although you may remember that I was a little suspicious about the green-to-purple transition on my first sock. You know, the one that looked like it had been ripped or cut and spit-spliced together. Well, it turns out the suspicion was well-founded. Take a look at the bottom sock and the top sock. The bottom sock has an entire color missing between green and purple.


And here, it's even more obvious. It's a good thing I'm not obsessive about stripes matching up, because I'd be a very unhappy camper right now. As it is, I really like how these socks are coming up, even though the process of knitting them is a bit frustrating due to the rigidity of the yarn. But I can't stop. It's so much fun to watch the colors change.


Or maybe I just need a life. At any rate, this being Sunday (in spite of this post actually going up on Tuesday...), I decided to do something besides knit. And, this being me, baking was one of the obvious choices. I present to you, cooling and mysteriously fewer in number than they started out, my parmesan muffins. Can you say yum? They were excellent. Out of 12, only 9 made it into the tupperware container.


In conclusion, I feel the need to post this adorable picture of Morgana. Her brother likes being inside the suitcase. Miss Morgana likes elevated surfaces, and she has decided that on the suitcase is a far better option. She's not the stowaway type. If she's going to travel, she's going to travel in style.


She is quite the princess.

Can't post pictures

Because I get a server error message. Which is too bad, because I have pictures of knitting, baking and kitties. No pictures of the hat I frogged, though. You see, I learned from my first sweater. When something looks too big, feels too big, and would require more yarn than even the largest size for the pattern calls for, it is too big. No more self-deception. No more yarn buying and telling myself it's supposed to be oversized, it's supposed to have large sleeves (what, hanging down to my waist???). Ahem.

As I said, I frogged the hat. Mr. Batty's head would have had to experience a miraculous and unnatural growth spurt for said head covering to fit. I'll try again and post pictures of my new attempt once the server error message goes away.

Home from Halifax

I have returned from Halifax, NS. It was a business trip, but I have brought back a nice assortment of knitterly things.
About the trip itself... I had a great time. First, I discovered that the hotel where I was staying connected to the building where my company has its offices. 5 minutes, room door to office. Awesome. Then, I found these great cheese biscuits. If you're ever in the area, go to The Red Pepper. They also have this spinach salad that's to die for. I got to eat my cheese biscuit while sitting in my office, enjoying a view of the harbor, and marveling at the sunshine in Nova Scotia in February.

Then, my manager took me to a yarn store during a lunch break. The Loop Cafe was also walking distance from the hotel, which can be a bit troublesome when you consider what came home with me.

Some patterns I'd always wanted but never got around to ordering...


...Legacy Lane yarn, which is local, a soy and merino mix, and incredibly soft. I bought it to make the smoke ring in the picture above. It's so soft, I want it near my face!


Then, there is the Lucy Neatby sock yarn. Not exactly a local rarety, but look at that green. Slight variegation, bottle green, perfect for spring socks, possibly with a leaf motif.


And then, I saw these spindles. It's made by a local woman who collects old broomsticks and uses them to make spindles. It spins and spins and the weight is beautiful, evenly distributed, just right... no, I couldn't resist.


That's it for my Halifax purchases. I came home Thursday night and collapsed onto the bed almost immediately.

Today, Mr. Batty and I went to an Anglican prayer bead workshop at the church we've been going to for the past 3 years or so. First we made our own rosaries, then we tried them out. I'm not sure yet if this is going to be a big part of my spiritual life or not and I'll spare you the theology, but here is the end product of the 'crafty' part of the session.


Not surprisingly, they are distinctly gothic-looking. The red beads are actually a dark burgundy.