I'm back!

After a brief Harry Potter-induced hiatus and some other unexpected issues, I'm back! Most of the knitting I've done lately has been of the secret variety, but I think I'll be able to show some FOs soon. So please check back in the next couple of days, there will be stuff. With pictures.

Hair, WIPs and a Partial Meme

You know it's summer when memes are going round. In my case, Jen tagged me with the "8 things about you" meme. Since I already did the 7 things about me a while ago, I thought I might get away with adding no. 8 to the already existing list.

8. I like nighties. Yes, I may be goth, and I may wear velvet and lace most of the time, but when it comes to sleepwear, I have a deep-seated love for the comfy, cuddly and frumpy. To quote Mr. Batty: "If it ain't flannel, you ain't got it."
So true. Long flannel nightgowns that are several sizes too big, comfy PJs, and cotton nighties for the summer. Here's my new current favorite. Don't those clouds look like they're up to something?


This one has been around for so long, I'm not sure who has or hasn't done it yet. But if you think it would be fun to tell us 8 things about yourself... go ahead, I know I'm always curious!

Mr. Batty is at work, so I tried to take another picture of my hair. There are only 5 or 6 extensions, and they're towards the front. It's so hard to get a good picture of hair this long! I had to hold out the camera, and now that I see how it makes my arm look all flabby...
Better post it before I decide to delete the whole thing.


Oh, and long hair really is easier to care for. I wash and let it air dry. My dad keeps suggesting I cut it short again, but when I had a chin length bob, I had to spend half an hour in front of a mirror because there were cowlicks I hadn't even known existed. Now? Wash and I'm done. I love it.

In knitting news, I've finally finished the first pattern repeat on my Baltic Sea Stole. I'm very happy with my gauge on US 3 needles, and the color really works with this pattern. It's LL Helen's Lace in Purple Club, by the way.


Also, I finished one Jaywalker, and I love it! It fits perfectly. My only issue is that I wish the ribbing around my calf were a bit tighter, but it's not a big deal. The yarn is LL Shepherd Sock in Amethyst Stripe, for all who wanted to know.


And a look from the side. This is the outside of my right leg, and you have no idea how much I had to contort myself to get this shot!


Someday soon, this little Jaywalker will have a friend. It's such a happy sock, it shouldn't be alone.

Socks... and purple streaks!

My sock drawer has been tagged by Zuma!

So, here, without delay, is my sock drawer. It's part of the ugly blue chest of drawers I got for cheap when I was moving into my first unfurnished apartment, and as a grad student, I had to take whatever I could get.


'Regular' socks are to the right, hand-knit socks (the ones on the far right were knit by me, the purple lace socks came from stariel, the green ones from AKknitter, and the bit of red that's peeking out are the sock swap socks I got from Jespere), and under the whole thing, there are tights.


This is a very special pair of socks. They are the first socks I ever knit. I made them when I was 17. My parents went to the US for Christmas, but I stayed home in Germany because my high school graduation exams were coming up and I wanted to study. Hella Mantwill, a lady who looked after me and my sister while we were growing up, slept over at night to make sure I was safe, and she knit socks. I saw what she was doing and wanted to try, so she brought some green worsted weight wool she had lying around and showed me how. No pattern, just 48 stitches, and lots of patience.
She has been gone for almost 5 years now, but I'm holding on to these socks. We had such a good time watching movies, talking, and knitting socks. She gave me the gift of sock knitting without fear because she never once said it would be hard to learn. And next to her, it wasn't.


At this point, I think I also need to mention that I have an obsession with fashion tights. I love funky tights, and I have an entire drawer full of different kinds, from stripey to bat to a Baroque pastoral scene to solar system (seen here at the top).

And, since we're talking fashion: I had some purple extensions put in today! I love the way they look against my own color, and the best part is that they stay in for 4-6 months and can then be taken out without damaging my hip-length hair. That's so much better than bleaching and dyeing.


And now, back to socks. Hmmm, whose sock drawers would I like to see?

Oooh, I know! How about pixieriot, stariel and weezalana?

After Shot and Upside Down

I blame it on the yarn fumes. How else could I have forgotten to post an after shot of my newly organized stash?


Now, not everything you're seeing is knitting stash. There is my cross stitch stuff, Mr. Batty's miniature box, a dead laptop...
But it doesn't matter. There's all this new room, and all the yarn is safely tucked away. I'm a happy knitter.

To quote Monty Python's Flying Circus: "And now, for something completely different..."

An upside down shot of my progress on Tangerine Twist, or rather, Dusky Pink Twist, and some observations on knitting and photography.

Have you noticed how difficult it can be to photograph cables? Here, I'm using flash, and the color is very true to the original. But what of the Little Waves pattern? It's nearly invisible.


Same lighting, same everything, no flash. The cables stand out in beautiful relief, perfectly visible, lovely. Only the color is... less than pretty. Washed out orangey pink that looks like I stuffed my WIP in the washer with the husband's brown polo shirt and it bled. I guess you can't get both cables and perfect color with cheap artificial light!


I have started the heel on my Jaywalkers. After the many assurances that I am indeed not the last knitter on this green earth who is knitting these socks, I feel somewhat better. Not that I'm a trendsetter, or even trendy enough to follow the latest trend. But this is a very popular pattern, and I seriously hope I won't run into the many sizing problems people have had with this.


Next up: MS3 and the beads (sounds like a bad 80's band), more Jaywalker, and some mindless knitting.

Stash Reorg!

It all started with Jackie. Tuesday night, she mentioned that she'd joined the Mystery Stole 3 KAL. I told her I was too busy working on other projects. When I got home, I looked at other people's progress anyway, because, you know, it's mysterious. You don't know what it's going to look like till you're done!
I really liked what I saw. And then someone on knitty mentioned that part of the pattern is starting to look like skulls, possibly dragon skulls. That did it. I joined. I mean, it possibly has skulls in it, and I had just the perfect black yarn in my stash! Black laceweight, about 1400 yards, bought for $14.00! That's I why remembered it so precisely: I came home that day and told Mr. Batty, "Hey, look, an entire shawl's worth of yarn, and only 14 bucks!"
I was very excited.

So, I went looking through my stash. The bags, the bins, the bags outside the bins... no laceweight. What I was finding, though, was a whole bunch of beautiful yarn I'd completely forgotten about. It bothered me because it was so pretty and I didn't even know I had it.

And then I realized why. My stash needed reorganizing!

I mean, look at the chaos.


There was even some on my floor, right by my knitting chair.


Without delay, I went to buy another large bin, Ziploc bags big and small, and... I went at it. Mr. Batty and I have been together for almost 7 years, married for almost 4. I was pretty sure our marriage could withstand the knowledge of the sheer... yarniness going on around the house.


And I was right. He sat behind me the entire time. He thought the whole thing was cute and funny, until he heard a shocked exclamation coming from my general direction: "What the sock???"


They've told you that sock yarn doesn't count, and I've even said so myself. Well, look at the above picture. Look closely. Because this is what happens when you believe that sock yarn does not count. You end up with two extra large bags full of the stuff. Fortunately, the husband was amused, and he insisted of taking a picture.

This morning, I organized the rest of the stash. Now, it's beautifully sorted by weight, locked up in little baggies and bigger baggies and stored in 3 bins. There's no overflow, a distinct crochet stash, and a distinct fiber stash. Beautiful.

And I found it, my yarn for the Mystery Stole!


I feel like I have accomplished a lot.

WIP Friday (I think it's a tradition now)

4th of July was fun. We went to Battleship Cove in Fall River, which was far more interesting than I thought it would be! They have a destroyer, a cruiser, a submarine, and a huge battleship. That battleship is enormous, it used to carry 2000 crew -- an entire floating city. I didn't take any pictures, but I will the next time we go. It's an all-day activity and we only took half the day, which means there's much, much more to see.

Now, because this is a knitting blog, back to knitting. Tangerine Twist, or rather, Pink Twist, is making progress. There were some peculiarities about the pattern and I had to tweak a thing or two, but so far, I'm happy with the way it's coming along. It's a fun knit.


Am I the last person on the planet to knit these? Yes, it's Jaywalkers! The yarn is the Amethyst Stripe Shepherd Sock that was meant to become Sock Pal socks but didn't work with the Conwy pattern. So instead, it's becoming Jaywalkers. And it's working really well with this pattern, if I may say so myself.


It's been a busy weekend, but I even made progress on the Baltic Sea Stole. I like the fabric much better now that I'm using US 3 needles. I'm knitting it loosely on purpose, which is easier on the hands, makes the decreases easier, and still produces a lovely drape. And now, there's stitch definition, which was lacking before. I'm happy.


I hope everyone to whom it applies had a great July 4th!

Family Fun Weekend

We had a great time with my father-in-law and his wife. The cleaning was done before they showed up, and we had a lovely dinner cooked by yours truly.

Then, Saturday morning, we drove to Boston and walked the Freedom Trail. The guided tour was fantastic, it was sunny out, and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. I've been living in and around Boston for 7 years, and somehow, I managed to never really notice most of the historic landmarks around here. A lot of it has to do with rushing to work or classes and trying to catch the T or Commuter Rail, but really, it's inexcusable.

When we were done with the tour and headed back to the car, we saw some British Regulars marching towards School Street (click on pictures to get a better view).


And then, we walked past some rebellious colonists. That really made our 4th of July patriotic activity complete.


On Sunday, we went to Newport, RI. We got there just as the Tall Ships event was closing with the Parade of Sails, where the ships are sailing past one last time on their way out to sea. Here are some of the shots I managed to take, magnified as much as my camera would allow because the ships were really far away from our vantage point on Goat Island.

Yes, they're tall.


I wish more of these were still in use.


We also did the scenic ocean drive past all sorts of mansions, historic and modern. They're gorgeous, but without servants, I wouldn't take them for free. Our little townhouse took forever to clean, can you imagine how long it takes to clean an enormous mansion?

Not much knitting was done. Next up: some progress on some of my WIP's, the number of which has increased alarmingly since last week. I think I'm up to 6...

We interrupt this program...

...while I frantically clean the house. Last night, my father-in-law called to let us know that he and his wife are in Providence, and we're having them over for dinner. We've been putting off spring cleaning, the husband is at work, and I'm turning into a veritable white tornado.

I'm not even going to try to hide the yarn that's overflowed the yarn closet. There's no point.

Knitting and Spinning and Socks!

There has been knitting progress on most (though not all) fronts. The first is literally a front, the front piece of my dad's sweater. The ends need to be sewn in, but I'll do that later, when everything is done and I'm ready to block.


Why is it upside down? Because the photo editing software that comes with my camera doesn't have a way to flip pictures around easily. I kind of like it, though. Inadvertently defying convention, that's me!

My sister's socks are also finished. I loved working with the Opal Hundertwasser. Not only are the colors pretty, not only is it fun to watch them change, but the stitch definition on this yarn is incredible. Had I known how good it was, I might have chosen a more interesting pattern to show it off, in spite of the busy colors.

Pattern Details:
Pattern: Lichen Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Opal Hundertwasser in Der Blaue Mond (what a pretty name!)
Needles: US 0
Comments: This variation on the star toe is a pain in the neck. To keep holes from forming, I had to pull the stitches around the purls very tight, and it's painful! My fingers hurt for a while after the exercise. It's very pretty, though. I like it.

Lastly, there has been some spinning progress. The roving is some purple no-name stuff of unknown origin. Although I'm still having some thick/thin issues, I'm very pleased overall. Why?


Because I've figured out how to draft while the spindle is spinning, that's why! Very exciting. One moment, I was all confused and producing crap, and the next, something clicked. It's a huge step in the right direction.

WIP Friday (yes, again!)

We have progress! My right hand no longer hurts. I fell down the stairs the other day and caught my hand on the banister, and now my left thumb is giving me trouble. Can you say klutz? Fortunately, I'm not a lefty, so I can crochet and even knit.

The knitting has been going well. The front of the dad sweater is almost done, and for once, it doesn't look like it's tomato red. I love the way the colors are working out. In the original pattern, the body of the sweater is gray, the stripe with the cables red, and the edge black. I reversed red and gray and am using a dark navy instead of the black, and I think it was a good choice.


The Baltic Sea Stole has been frogged and re-started. I didn't get around to casting on until today, which explains the "progress": 3 rows of seed stitch. 141 stitches instead of 171 in my previous attempt, and I'm using size 3 needles. I already like the fabric a lot better. Because of the smaller needles, I can knit more loosely, which will make the k2tog's and ssk's easier. I'm glad I had the guts to rip it out.


My sister's socks are also progressing. As you can see, I just turned the heel on sock #2. At first, I wasn't crazy about the little holes the YO's on the Welsh Heel are producing, but once they're all there, it's actually kind of pretty.
The Opal Hundertwasser is a blast to knit with, and even though I didn't decide to make the socks radically different from each other, I like the subtle differences in striping.


And now, because it is Friday and because I don't want to strain convention to the breaking point: STR prOn!


I got my Socks That Rock package and it contains this gorgeous colorway. You'll hear more about it when I'm done with my sister's socks and get started on this project.

Coming up: Tangerine Twist, which, in my case, is more a dawny pink color. Also coming up: spinning and more sock knitting. Stay tuned!

SP Goodies!

Today, I got my package from JellySlug, my upstream from the knitty Harry Potter SP round! I'm extremely excited about this. Everything about this package rocks, including the packaging itself. I mean, a velvet pouch, a shiny pouch with velvet on it, and a little package tied with string? That's already darn wizardly, no doubt about it!
And yes, that's a Ravenclaw bookmark. Because you know, us Ravenclaw types need lots of those, so they're always appreciated. This one is special, though, on account of being knit!


What's inside the pouches, you ask? OK, no fair making you wait (I know I couldn't).


Yum. Harry Potter-themed candy. I'm still a little suspicious of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, but I'll try them eventually. There's sock yarn for my very own pair of Ravenclaw socks, and... gasp... Mountain Colors sock yarn, complete with a beautiful pattern. You have no idea how often I've petted this stuff! I've always wanted to try it but kept putting it back for financial reasons. Now I get to knit my very own socks in that gorgeous colorway.

Thank you so much, Slug!

Wide load

Thank you for all the kind words about my Baltic Sea Stole! Unfortunately, I decided it had to be frogged. Let me explain.

Do you see the extremely long thing on the floor? That's the lace taken off the needles. It was 37" wide unblocked. I'm looking for a finished width of 30" or so, maybe a little more, but that's after blocking.


I've decided to make another attempt, this time on US3 needles with 141 stitches instead of the 171 of the previous attempt. Once blocked, it would have been... wide. Very wide. And to make things worse, I probably would have run out of yarn. Not a good thing!

So, for the fourth time or so, the Baltic Lace Stole is a ball of yarn. But I'm casting on again tomorrow because if I don't, this is never going to happen. And I wouldn't want that, because it's such a pretty pattern.

WIP Friday ('cause I'm different!)

Thank you for all the nice comments on the Conwy socks! The pattern is in Knitting on the Road, one of my favorite sock books. The pattern for the Hundertwasser socks is essentially a simple k3 p1 rib, which I found in Knitting Vintage Socks. Why do math when someone has already designed the exact sock I want to knit?

There has been some progress on the Baltic Sea Stole. I'm using US5 needles, and the solid portions are turning out to be not much more solid than the lacy bits. I'm not sure if I'm happy with this and have even thought about frogging.


Here's a closeup. This is the fabric laid out flat, a little scrunched together. If I block it, the stitches will get even bigger. It looks like a hot mess, but then, lace always does until you block it. So... is this fugly? To frog or not to frog? What do you think?


A little progress on the sister socks, but not much. I'm loving the yarn, and I'm waiting for my sister to send me her foot measurements. I know I took them when I was in Germany, but I forgot to write them down. Duh!


And that's it for knitting progress this week. Why? Well, here's the reason (please excuse the frumpy nightie shot, it isn't even 7 am over here):


Some form of RSI induced by knitting with cotton. If you're going to knit with cotton, you need to take frequent breaks, or it'll hurt to knit. It's a bad thing.

Weekend knitting

I finished them! My Conwy socks, the Second Pair Syndrome socks are done!
It's surprisingly hard to get a shot that shows the color properly. It looks lighter with flash, but brings out the purples nicely,


whereas the no flash version shows off the cables and the blue tones.


If you haven't knit Conwys yet, give them a try. The cable pattern is interesting enough to occupy the brain without making TV-watching or talking impossible. It was a fun knit.

There has also been some progress on the WIP front. My dad's sweater (remember, it's burgundy, not bright tomato red!) has gained an inch or two, and I've started on the cables. Granted, they aren't recognizable as such in this shot, but trust me, they're there.


And then, there are my sister's socks. Knit in Opal Hundertwasser, regarding which I have a confession to make.


Just a few days ago, I was reading the Yarn Harlot's blog and chuckling to myself. She was talking about loving a baby sweater pattern so much that she bought several, kept thinking about them obsessively, and even had urges to go back and buy the rest of the kits so she could just keep knitting them. There may have been something self-righteous about my chuckle, just a little bit. I mean, I'm bad, but clearly, this proved that the Yarn Harlot had it much, much worse. I wouldn't go back and just keep buying the same kit over and over again, no, not me.

Until now. In my case, it isn't the pattern, it's the yarn. I confess that I am a process knitter and that I get lots of pleasure out of watching yarn stripe, pool, change colors. But where a normal yarn has a regular pattern, the Hundertwasser keeps surprising you. Because the socks aren't supposed to come out identical, there are all sorts of different patterns and colors in a skein. You just start knitting and keep knitting because you want to know what color or pattern comes next, or how long the section you're working on will be when it turns into something else...
I haven't been able to put them down. Literally. I must have knit 4" just this morning.

And now for something a little less uncommon: the Baltic Sea Stole. What you see here is the seed stitch border. I cast on 171 stitches instead of 111, and unless I thoroughly misunderstood the math involved, I should get either 9 or 10 pattern repeats out of this. I have the pattern and the chart in front of me.


Now all I have to do is math. We'll see how it goes!

Dice bag, socks and lace

The second sock is progressing apace, I just turned the heel. But let me take this opportunity to address a little-known condition, Second Pair Syndrome. It's what happens when you knit a pattern once and like it so much, you decide to knit it again right away. And then you get tired of it. Halfway through, possibly before you even have time to get Second Sock Syndrome. So: this is my last pair of Conwy socks for a while. If you haven't knit them yet, give 'em a try, they're fun.


And now, my crocheted dice bag, all felted up. Thank you for all the nice things you said about it. I am so freaking proud of this thing. It's not a misshapen dishrag, I only added 3 stitches while I was making the single crochet bottom. Then, all the way up, not another accidental increase. Yay!


Here's the bottom. This thing used to be big enough to put on my head, hat-like. Now, it fits into my hand.


And now, the dice bag in action. I have way too many dice. The bag is just big enough to hold all of my d10. That's what happens when you spend years playing White Wolf games and Ars Magica, both systems that exclusively use 10-siders.


There's an even bigger bag full of assorted other dice. Ahem.

My dad's sweater, on the other hand, is no nearer completion than it was the last time I posted. The warm weather is not exactly helping me want to knit with 100% alpaca. I'm constantly fingering my laceweight, I think it's time for either a shawl or a summery lace garment. And a crocheted shawl. I've checked out some patterns, and I think I understand them.
Yes, I want to make lace!