What I'm up to

Well, I'm in Germany. There's something strange about coming home for the first time after 6 years, an odd mix of familiarity and change. Since my last visit, I have finished 2 graduate programs, I've gotten engaged and married, and I've held 2 different jobs. I've taken up knitting again, this time in a serious way, and I've moved from one state in the US to another. Yet when I come into my room, I see how it hasn't changed since my last visit, how it hasn't really changed since I graduated high school over 10 years ago. The room is still the same, but I am a different person. It's like visiting the past.
Then there are the changes. Stores I remember are no longer open and others have opened in the same spots, familiar to everyone else, but new to me. Some of my friends are still here, but some have moved away. I used to be a big part of the fabric of their lives, and they of mine. Now, I'm just stopping by, barely related lives touching for a moment before we go our separate ways again. It's nice to see them again, but it also makes me feel like oil floating on water, almost like a ghost haunting what used to be my old life. Melodramatic, but it's a fitting description.

My husband is coming over in a little over a week. Then, we'll take a trip to Cologne and look at some of the local sights. I'll take him to the castle where Luther hid out and wrote his translation of the Bible, then we'll look at some other castles, Ephraim Lessing's house, and the library at Wolfenbüttel. It'll be fun.

In knitting news, I'm knitting my dad's sweater, my sister has picked out some sock yarn, and I've bought yarn for Clessidra. I've been ogling these socks ever since the new knitty came out and now, I have what I need to make them.

See you in a while!

Well, it's almost time to go to the airport. Must finish packing because I'm leaving in about an hour. If I get a chance, I'll say hello from Germany and let you know how my yarn shopping is going!

So-Called Hat

And here is another installment in Unexpected Knitting Series. I wasn't planning on knitting My So-Called Scarf. It wasn't on my to knit list, and that list is so long, I expected to be knitting nothing besides list items for a long time. Then I went to the going out of business sale at A Stitch Above in Providence and fell in love with some skeins of Manos.
My So-Called Scarf turned out to be the perfect pattern for my new yarn, and I enjoyed knitting it so much that I wanted to make a matching hat. This is the pattern I found (moonfrog is just a really cool name for a blog too!), and here is the hat with a few minor modifications:


A closeup of the hat on my head:


Pattern Notes:
Pattern: My Herringbone Hat for My So-Called Scarf by Rebecca (see link to her blog above)
Yarn: Manos Del Uruguay in Mulled Wine, less than 1 skein
Needles: US 10 (I think I'm becoming a loose knitter)
Modifications: I made the hat a bit shorter so it covers only part of my ears. I only knit 5" before beginning the decreases and left out the second knit row after the second decrease. Otherwise, everything is knit as written.

In other news: I was going to flash my stash, but as I'm leaving for Germany on Tuesday, I don't want to have to put everything back and reorganize it. Maybe next year. This year, I'm packing part of my stash for its trip overseas and leaving the rest safe in its containers, to await my return and subsequent attempt to knit from stash and nothing else.

Yeah, like I'm not going to buy souvenir yarn in Germany...

100th Post and a FO

So this is it, my 100th post! I wish I'd realized this sooner. With a bit of planning, it could have been more impressive. As is... well, you'll have to make do with a picture in which I look crazy, but which shows off my So-Called Scarf to great advantage. I've received so many compliments on this!


Details:
Pattern: My So-Called Scarf
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay in Mulled Wine, 2 skeins
Needles: US 11

Thanks for all the good wishes and advice, I'm assembling my travel knitting as we speak. Updates on the progress of my yarn selection to follow, but so far, it's mostly socks, and yarn for a second Lotus Blossom Tank, this one for my sister in the new SWTC bamboo, which is so much softer than the old stuff!
I also bought a bunch of knitting magazines, 1 new knitting book, 1 new spinning book (which looks awesome), and size 0 and 1 DPNs. I hope they let me take those on the plane!

I'm going home!

I just got off the phone with the airline and I'm going home to Germany on April 3! It's so exciting because I haven't been there for almost 6 years now and because I haven't seen my sister since my wedding almost 4 years ago. Now I'm frantically looking around the house for something to knit. Something I can take on 9 hour flights and something I can knit while jetlagged and something I can knit while I'm there. I know I'll buy yarn when I get there, but I'm not going on a 6 week trip without bringing some extra knitting, just in case.

Now if only I can get rid of this nasty cold before I go...

Stitch markers and Manos

I got stitch markers! I won them on knitten kitten's blog, and they're fabulous! Look at them, aren't they pretty?
And yes, that's a crochet hook. My knitting is on size 11 needles and the markers won't fit. Not that I need 'em for that particular project.


Speaking of project, here it is, My so-called scarf in Manos, color: mulled wine. I love this yarn. It is beautiful, the colors are stunning, it's squishy, it's a joy to knit with. I only started this morning, but this is knitting up very quickly, and I think I'll make a hat to go with it.

Sorry for the sideways image. Too lazy to flip it.

Yarn sale: the damage

A Stitch Above in Providence is closing forever, and I went to their going out of business sale. I feel sort of guilty because I'd never been there before, and there's something vulture-like about a bunch of sale hungry people descending on a dying business. But such qualms aside, I'm ecstatic about the amount of stuff I got.


I got a bunch of yarn: 4 skeins in SWTC Bamboo, 2 skeins of Tofutsies, 2 skeins of sock yarn (Artyarns?), 3 skeins of Manos, and 4 skeins of Karaoke, in 2 different yet similar greys. I also got a thrummed mitten kit in a beautiful bright purple, the pattern for Fibertrends felted clogs, and Folk Knitting in Estonia. Now I'm on a yarn diet till the end of the year -- or till I get a job that pays well. Whichever comes first!

Spinning and knitting

I finally got around to dyeing and skeining the rest of my handspun. On the whole, I think my spinning has improved quite a bit since the first skein (the one on top, shown for comparison). It's more even and there aren't as many overtwisted parts. See, no white spots!


I've finished the sock pal socks, and now I have nothing on the needles! It's a scary feeling, must cast on, and quickly!

Right now, I'm swatching for 3 different things. The first is a super-secret, hush-hush SP project and shall not be revealed.

The second is a slip stitch sweater for my sweetie. This is a picture of the yarn, which he picked out himself.


I took him to Sheep's Clothing in Rhinebeck and had him fondle the fiber. Why? Because I'm married to a yarn snob. Neither of us knew this until he touched the WoolEase blanket I was knitting for the in-laws and made a face like he'd stuck his hand into something unpleasant. So now, no knitting happens until the yarn is sweetie-approved. I don't want to bust my behind knitting and knitting just to get a yuck face, you know?

The third project is a sweater for my dad in a gorgeous burgundy alpaca. I had a pattern in mind, but after swatching, I'm not so sure. The gauge was dead on, but I hated the loose fabric it made. Eileen, who has more experience knitting with alpaca than I do, pointed out that it has no memory, so now, I'll have to find a sweater knit at a finer gauge, with a stitch pattern that'll help the alpaca hold its shape.

My SP rocks!

My SP is the greatest! I got more of those amazing toffees I've been talking about for weeks now. Ever since the last package, those toffees have haunted my dreams, and I even rationed out the last couple so they'd last longer. Now I have more!

But I didn't just get toffees. There's also green tea (yum!), the latest issue of knitsimple (love that magazine but don't subscribe to it so I didn't have it), stitch markers (I keep losing 'em, so they're always welcome), stitch holders, and... YARN!


Yarn. Beautifully soft, and you can see for yourselves just how pretty it is. The lighter blues and purples, and then, the amazingly vivid, fuchsia-and-black yarn! Yes, it's vivid, it's weird, and I love it.

Thank you, BlueHen!

Pal socks, STR yarn... socks!

The pal socks are done. My first real socks on size 0 needles. One is a bit wider than the other because my gauge changed from sock to sock, but I'm sending them unblocked for ease of size adjustment.


Here's another shot. Jespere, I hope they fit!


And now, a picture of the Socks that Rock club yarn. I'm so excited. Look at those colors! It isn't something I would have picked out for myself, but now that I'm actually holding the yarn in my hands, I love the colors. It's soft and luscious and we'll see how it knits up.

New Mac!

I am back! One of the big computer chain stores is closing all stores in our state and I got a brand-new Mac on sale. This is my first Mac ever, so we're still getting used to each other. As in, I'm not even sure how to burn a file onto CD. But I'm learning, I'm knitting, and tomorrow, I'll put up some pictures.

One of the downsides of this sudden transition is that I lost all of my bookmarks. So if I regularly visit your blog but you don't hear from me in a couple of days, drop me a line. Don't be shy. I haven't lost interest, I just haven't found you again.

I broke it!

I broke my computer. I stepped on the monitor part of my laptop, and now it looks like glass superimposed over scorched paper. I can't believe I did this! Everything is on that laptop!

I hope they can fix it. Really. I can't believe I did this!

Rockin' Socks!

My first Socks that Rock package has arrived! I love the yarn, the pattern looks like it'll make a cozy sock, and I can't wait to start. But first: sock pal socks. Must not get distracted.
The lady at my LYS saw my finished sock and the amount of yarn I have left. She thinks it'll be enough, but I'm not sure because my row gauge is off and I have more rows per inch than the pattern calls for. The fabric looks beautiful, the fit is perfect, but oh, how I hope the yarn lasts.

Here's the irrational question of the day: am I the only knitter who somehow believes she won't run out of yarn if she knits faster? I know it doesn't make any sense, but I catch myself doing it anyway!

One down

I finished the first sock for my sock pal Jespere. I hope they fit!


I'm also hoping that I won't run out of yarn.

Here are some more thoughts on ML: At first, I thought it was awkward, but the longer I do it, the more I love it. No gaps. Anywhere. No losing DPNs. The only thing that gets lost are stitch markers, but that's why I use the cheapest kind when I'm on the go.
Now that I've knit an entire sock, I also have to say that ML is incredible for those last 8 or so stitches, which are incredibly frustrating on DPNs. 2 on each needle? I usually do that in my lap. No problems this time around!

Bad feeling

I'm worried. The first sock pal sock is nearly finished, but I may have used more than half the yarn. To make matters worse, I wound the ball around the little paper band that contains a few minor bits of information, such as the name of the colorway and the dye lot. Aaaargh!

I hope I don't run out of yarn.

Sock and Squirrel

I'm over the blahs! After frogging twice, I've made some progress on my sock pal socks. I'm using the CTH yarn because you couldn't see the cables in the LL. This is a crummy picture, but the sock is beautiful, if I say so myself!


At first, I wasn't sure about ML, but I'm getting the hang of it. and I love it.

And now, look what I saw through my kitchen window yesterday morning: this cute squirrel sitting on our neighbor's back porch. He would sit there, then stretch his little body all the way, with his feet on the porch and his little hands on the feeder, which would swing back and stretch him even further. I had a hard time taking pictures because he'd stretch, grab, sit back, stuff his face, then stretch again. Fast.


Here is the little guy in action. He stretched much further than this!

Frog Pond

This is so depressing. I was almost done with one sock pal sock when I realized the following facts:
1. I'd dropped part of a cable near the cuff.
2. In the Amethyst Stripe yarn, the cables are pretty much invisible.

So I frogged. The socks are 'due' soon, but I just couldn't see myself sending out something I wouldn't be happy to receive in the mail. Tonight, I'll rest, tomorrow, I'll swatch in the other purple to evaluate how things will look, then make up my mind. Ugh!

I got Valentine's Day!

In a box, from Libi! She sent me a wonderful box of chocolates, and this:


A hand-knit lace scarf! I'm simply blown away. The picture isn't the best because I took it myself, with only the bathroom mirror for reference. But it's lovely. In an orange that actually looks good on me (unlike the overgrown bangs...). It's soft. It's long. It's cushy. I can't stop petting it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I feel loved. A lot.

A Mystery Package

The mystery: Who is BlueHen?

I have no idea, but she sends awesome packages! She's my upstream knitty SP for round 8 of, and... look at all that yarn! I was floored when I saw the sheer amount of yarnyness. That's a beautiful skein of deep brown Alpaca, 2 skeins of wonderful blue yarn, and karaoke, which I've always wanted to try but never got around to buying. The colors are so vivid, exactly the kind of thing I would have picked out for myself!


Also in the picture: some chocolate-covered toffees that probably won't make it through the night, some tea with cardamon (yum!), and heart-shaped pasta for Valentine's Day.

Thanks for the amazing package, BlueHen -- whoever you may be!

The ML Experience

I'm using Magic Loop to knit my sock pal's socks -- one at a time, because it's my first time using this technique. My impressions so far:
It's easy. If you really know how a sock works, you don't have any trouble figuring out which needle to use when or which needle to pull out.
It's handy because you only have one long needle, not 5 out of which 1 invariably gets lost.
It's supposedly better for the join because you don't have gaps between needles. So far, I'm still getting gaps between needles, and worse than with DPNs. But maybe that'll get better with experience.
Once I figured out how to make the cable hang down instead of sticking up and getting in the way, things got a lot easier.
This is still a bit slow for me, but the longer I do it, the faster I'll get. Practice, practice, practice!
Next up: pictures of socks. I really need to hurry up to get them done in time for the deadline!