Happy International Women's Day!

We've come a long way in 100 years. There's still a lot of work left to do, but we should all stop for a second and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.
Now... back to our regularly scheduled activism. And knitting. Because they are not mutually exclusive.

Wow

It's been a week since I received my box for the knitty holiday swap, and I'm just getting around to posting the pictures... I've been crazy busy at work. But that doesn't mean I'm not excited.

Look -- the first thing I found when I opened the box! It's a bat! A Big Brown, to be exact, and his wings open up. Isn't he the cutest? The wings open up for some fun flapping action!


But wait, there was more. Tea, chocolate, all sorts of of fiber I've never spun before, yarn, handmade cards and a knitting notebook... I'm simply floored by so much generosity.


So a big THANK YOU! Goes out to Spinning my wheels from the knitty board... I love my SP goodies, and the bat makes me smile every time I look at it.

The Hat Formerly Known As Penis Hat

I finished the infamous penis hat last week, but didn't get around to posting it here. Thanks to input from the designer, it now no longer looks penile -- more brainy. Don't let the pictures fool you, it's black, not blue.


And here it is from the back. Slightly different, you'll notice. This was a fun knit, I really enjoyed it.


Alas, my head is unusually small. Didn't know that about myself until I knit this hat... gauge was spot on, measurements are spot on, but no dice. It now happily lives with my friend Kate.

Details:
Pattern: One Skein Braided Cable Hat
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky, about one skein -- maybe a bit more
Needles: US #9
Comments: Fun knit, but it's really, really important to read the note about how to knit the cables off the cable needles... and do it as written. If you deviate even one little bit, you end up with a Freudian hat!

Another Storm... and a Bit of Madhouse: Secrets

But we just had a snow storm!

True, we did. Every Wednesday since the new year, in fact. I took this picture on my way to coffee this morning. Snow, snow everywhere. It would have been nice to sit inside and knit, but one of the disadvantages to being able to work from home is having to work from home even when you're snowed in.


Hot chocolate made it OK. This mug-and-cozy is not a handknit, but my sister assured me she picked it out with love. It came with the hot chocolate. Looking at the picture above, it showed up just in time!


I'm supposed to talk about secrets for the Wednesday madhouse post, but honestly, I can't think of much to say. I'm not a secretive person. What you see is what you get. I can keep other people's secrets, and I won't reveal birthday or Christmas gifts before the big day. But other than that... well, I'm sort of transparent. Secrecy is just too much work. It's not how I roll.

Special Socks

The stash is huge. Cookie A.'s sock club starts up in a couple of weeks. I'm knitting faster. How fast, you ask? 3 FO's in 2 days, baby! Yeah!

First up, the Speshul Snoflake Socks. What makes them special, uh, speshul? They are my first-ever two-at-a-time socks. I started toe-up with 12 stitches, then winged it. Didn't want gusset increases because I wasn't sure my yarn would last. So I did an afterthought heel and kept knitting.


The yarn is leftovers from my SIL's Christmas socks and some other socks I knit a year or two ago. You see, I have very small feet. Every time I knit socks, I end up with lots of leftovers. And the leftover bag is swelling. Hence: leftover socks.


These still aren't that speshul, though, are they? Well, here's the extra speshul element. You see, I'd finished the sock and was about to start the afterthought heel. I started unraveling my waste yarn and picking up stitches... Aaaaah! I'd knit together the top and the bottom of the hole! Panic! The yarn had to be cut, but there was no way I'd be able to weave in those ends. Not enough yarn. What's a knitter to do?

Answer: Use Crazy Glue!


By the time I knit the second sock, it occurred to me that I didn't need the glue. All you have to do is unravel the half-row that's knit together in the middle, pick up the stitches a row below it for your heal, and sew in the ends. Live and learn.

Very exciting, no? In that case, I don't want to leave you hanging with socks only. Here's a preview of some done-and-blocking FO's. Hint: one of them is the hat formerly known as Penis Hat. Except, now it's no longer reminiscent of said appendage. I fixed it.


Got to do work and wait for the snow. We're getting yet another Snowpocalypse. I may be the only person who isn't sick of it yet. I love snow.

Happy Late Birthday To Me!

Granted, it's very late, but the package my sister and my parents put together for me is well worth waiting for. This isn't all of it, either. There was chocolate, and a really cute mug-with-cozy and tiny warm water bottle thingie... but here are the highlights.

Merlin got really excited as soon as the package arrived. Tape, glorious tape! This cat has a serious glue-sniffing problem. Of course I had to immediately open up the package and dispose of the tape. You know, to keep the cat from poisoning himself.


Inside... well, my sister may not be a knitter, but she sure knows how to pick yarn. This would be some gorgeous Tausendschoen sock yarn. There was even a booklet with patterns. I'm really excited about this. Had I chosen my own colors, I couldn't have done better. I keep ogling the yarn. It's so pretty.


Then, there are these gorgeous socks. They are soft and squooshy, and my sister brought them back for me from her trip to Ecuador! Special socks, indeed. I'll have warm feet all winter long.


And... my parents got me this little guy. They saw a stall with stuffed animals at a Christmas market, and discovered this adorable bat. He's soft and cuddly and has the cutest face. I'm so happy!


I have to go ogle my new sock yarn some more. Today was going to be FO Friday, but... I'm sure you understand.

Madhouse: Shoes

I have been remiss in my Wednesday posting, but when the topic of shoes came up, I just had to write something.
You see, as a woman, I am supposed to be obsessed with them. Designer shoes -- expensive objects d'art for a lady's feet. Most of them have heels, so if the wearer happens to be an Average Jane rather than a lady who gets out of the limo, walks into the restaurant, then repeats the same process in reverse... I'm sorry. Have some ice for those blisters.
Anyhow, as I was saying, we're supposed to be obsessed with shoes. One pair won't do, mind you. You need shoes to go with different outfits. Shoes in spring colors for spring, shoes to go with your fall wardrobe, sandals for summer, and boots to keep your toes from freezing off in winter. Shoes for work, date shoes, workout shoes, Sunday afternoon but only until 2 pm shoes, but they better not be white unless it's... wait, was that before or after Labor Day?

The rules go on and on. The cost goes up and up. And before you know it, woman has "invested" herself out of her paycheck, whereas the retailer is taking money to the bank. And all of this because I'm not supposed to be wearing white shoes in January. Yeah.
So forgive me if I don't get on the shoe bandwagon. They have to be comfy, they have to show off a pair of hand-knit socks, and they have to last. I'll just learn to live with the idea of being a bad consumer.

Snow... and Goodies!

You may have heard of it on TV... but we had snow again! This time, it was a real blizzard. Mr. Batty and I both worked from home and took turns shoveling our deck. By the time one half was clear, the other was snowed in again. Talk about Sysiphean labor!


It's gotten warmer now and the snow has begun to melt. But it sure was pretty while it lasted. I was lucky enough to be able to work from home, and even a day or two of staying out of the office tends to spoil a person.

As if I weren't spoiled enough, I got my package from the knitty holiday swap. And I have to say, I was absolutely blown away by my sp's generosity. Fiber -- in gorgeous reds and grays and ALPACA!!! -- one of those fun knit kits with stitch markers, a tape measure, and other useful stuff inside, patters... the list just keeps going. And something tells me those postcards aren't just store-bought, either. Nessa, I knew from your blog that your photography was superb, but they are stunning!


And... then there was the applesauce. The jar made it intact, it was briefly mentioned, then quickly squirreled away in the fridge. I have plans for that applesauce. It involves me, myself, and a spoon.
Thank you so much for your gift and for your kind words. You really made my day.

By Popular Demand

I present to you: The hat that looks... Freudian. Focus on the cable crossings with the unfortunate-looking purl stitches. Where I messed up. The purl stitches are the "head" and the object itself is shown in its natural position, hanging down.


Yeah. I'm not wearing that in public.

No Hat Today

I was going to post pictures of this hat I'm knitting. I'm 2/3 done. Or rather, I was, until Mr. Batty took one look at it and said, "This cable looks like a penis!"
I am so not wearing a penis hat.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

What does a knitter do at the beginning of a new year? Check the stash. What does this knitter do at the beginning of the new year? Realize that she needs to knit more -- and faster. So I joined the 11 Sweaters in 2011 group on rav, because sweaters are bigger than socks and take up more stash yarn. Maybe that would make a real dent in my tubs of yarn.
First sweater project is going to be Slinky Ribs, which I started in 2009 but frogged because I didn't like how the provisional caston made the ribbing not quite match at the shoulders. I think I'm less picky now.

I also realize that I haven't posted any cat pictures in a while. This is Merlin, vegging out next to me on a work-from-home day.


You can't see his paws, but he's also doing the Supercat pose. Not a dignified sleeper or lounger-abouter, this one.

Curse you 2010...

...don't let the door hit you on the way out.

2010 has been the worst year of my life, and as an appropriate ending to a dreadful year, I have just returned from 6 hours at the ER. I'll be so happy to see this one go, and I have high hopes that 2011 will be better. It simply has to.

The knitting wasn't bad, really. I never showed you my finished Clapotis. Here she is, blocking.


Details:
Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb, 3.2 skeins
Colorway: Embers
Needles: US #8
Comments: This is my second Clapotis, all for me! Love the colors. Grays, blacks, reds, with bits of purplish goodness. It's aptly named. And look at how gorgeously it pooled!

Started in the old year, to be finished in the new year: first ever 2 at a time toe up socks. Using leftover yarn because of stashbusting. They were fiddly at first, but I think I'm getting the hang of the method. May use it more often on single color designs. Probably won't make a habit out of knitting multi-colored patterns two at a time. Too much tangling.


So... I'll see you in the new year. May 2011 treat us well, be kinder to us than 2010 was, and bring much joy to everyone.

New Year's Resolutions Old and New

First, an update on the water heater situation: we have hot water again! Turns out the blizzard had knocked out the pilot light, and it just needed to be relit. I love solutions that don't require us to spend loads of money!

Then, before we get into the serious business of resolutions, let me quickly share a secret FO from the old year, the Christmas stocking for my MIL. Who, by the way, now has 3, so she's all set. They officially have more stockings than people in the house now.


I love this pattern, it's well-written, and the cable detail is fun. I learned something new too: I'd ever done an attached i-cord. It's not hard and makes for a very pretty finish.


Details:
Pattern: Glendalough Stocking, available on rav
Yarn: Classic Elite Renaissance, about 2.5 skeins of it
Needles: US #5
Mods: I did the join for the cable band in the middle of the part facing the wall, not at the middle of the heel. That way, it doesn't show at all when the stocking is hanging.
Comments: So much fun! The only thing to keep in mind: if you put the seam in the middle of the part facing the wall, it's more obvious that a provisional caston and the castoff tend to be offset by one stitch. This would be less obvious if the join were at a folded edge.

And now, without further ado: Resolutions!
I actually did well on the old one. Remember, 0 tolerance yarn diet? Well, only 5 skeins of yarn entered the house in 2010. 1 was souvenir yarn, 4 were for my MIL's stocking. That's it. I did sign up for the Cookie A. sock club, but that yarn won't start coming in until 2011.

New Resolutions:

1. Zero tolerance yarn diet, again. Turns out it's not enough to not buy yarn, I also have to knit faster. So: only yarn coming in should be the sock club yarn. No other purchases.
2. Have at least one project in thicker yarn going at all times. You can knit, knit, knit sock or laceweight yarn, and the stash keeps not shrinking. DK weight and bigger works wonders for stash reduction.
3. Tackle colorwork. I'm still not good at it, but I'm signed up for Janel Laidman's colorwork club and colorwork sock club. The colorwork club has already started, so I need to pick up my needles and plunge into this new adventure. I want to feel confident by the end of the new year -- and actually have produced a garment that fits an actual person, not some critter from the D&D Monstrous Manual!

That's it for this year. I was also going to try to knit a sweater a month, but I'm a pretty slow knitter. Then, work gets busy, and there goes the knitting. Instead of making it a resolution, I'll simply say "I'll try" and we'll see where that goes.

Are you making resolutions this year?

Let it Snow

Yesterday, I checked the forecast, and they predicted snow. Every once in a while, they'll do that and be wrong, not a flake to be seen. But this time? This time, we got a proper blizzard. Look what we woke up to. Note that I had shoveled the deck yesterday, twice!


Closeup, with condensation on windows. I'd get better pictures from outside, but I'm not going. It's warm in here.


Lovely, picturesque, the only downside is that our water heater is now dead. No hot water. I hope we can get it fixed soon, or I'll have to go to the gym to take a shower.

And because this is a knitting blog, here's some knitting. First in the "Formerly Secret Knitting" category: bed socks for my sister-in-law. She says they fit and go with her pyjamas. Yay!


Details:
Pattern: Heelless Sleeping Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: I think this is Wildfoote. Pretty sure, actually. But not 100% because I tossed the ball bands.
Needles: US #1/2.25 mm
Mods: Cast on 68 stitches. Regular flat toe instead of the star-shaped one the pattern calls for.
Comments: These don't go as quickly as you'd think. The pattern is easy to memorize, though, and it's a great takealong project. No heel, just a tube sock with a toe. Ideal if you can't measure the recipient's foot.

Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ! It's not a holiday typically associated with bats, but at our house, we have a bit of a bat theme. So, without further ado: Christmas bats! Sugar cookies, bats, what's not to like?


A bit more traditional: pumpkin pie.


Best of all, the Christmas knits have pretty much all arrived. I'll finally be able to share them! The season of secret knitting is almost over.

Don't want to jinx it...

...but for the first time ever, my Christmas knitting may get done before Christmas! Now please excuse me, I have to go knit. There has been lots of activity, but all of it secret. I'll post pictures as soon as I get back to the not-so-secret stuff.

Thanksgiving 2010: The End of Reggie

I have a confession to make. You probably knew already, but in case you didn't: We're a little bit nuts around here. Every year, Mr. Batty and I make a full-sized Thanksgiving dinner, just for the two of us. That's 10 hours or so in the kitchen, and another week or so to eat the leftovers. But it's a family tradition, and we're sticking with it.

Another part of the family tradition is watching the American Kennel Club dog show. This year, they were broadcasting the agility challenge, which was lots of fun to watch. Dogs running an obstacle course, looking all happy, it was great. What we didn't expect? The cats were fascinated -- and inspired. This is Morgana, intently staring at the TV, watching the dogs run.


Then, both cats started racing around the apartment, jumping over furniture, chasing each other, and generally behaving very much like the dogs on TV. It was the funniest thing. Not since the infamous Humming Bird Nature Show Incident have I seen them so riled.

In the meantime, Mr. Batty and I cooked dinner. The shopping list this year included "veggie broth" because I wanted to be able to eat some of the food too. Except... you can tell both my parents are in the medical field, I have terrible handwriting. Mr. Batty wanted to know what "Reggie broth" was. So, here he is. Meet Reggie the turkey breast! To slightly paraphrase a particularly silly line from Mystery Men: "Golden and crispy, this bird is history!"


Another part of the tradition: Mount Etna, the amazing erupting apple pie. I mean, look at the eruption! The reason for it is that you put 11 cups of apples into a regular-sized pie crust. No matter what I do, it always explodes. There are just too many apples to be contained. It's a mess every time -- and so much fun to watch.


I'm getting the hang of this, though. This year, my pie crust was all buttery and flaky. Maybe next year, we'll manage good-looking?
On the whole, though, dinner turned out very nice. Had to toss the mashed potatoes (PSA: when salting mashed potatoes, add a little bit of salt at a time, or you'll be sorry), but we had these cute little potatoes in the fridge. They worked just fine.


There is much to be thankful for. I like Thanksgiving because it invites us to think about the good things in our lives, whether a year was particularly good or particularly bad. And of course, there's food.

I hope everybody who celebrates had a great turkey day. I'm going to knit now. It's rainy out, and after last night's feast, I'm not quite ready to move around.

Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It's not a flashy holiday that makes people decorate their homes with elegant displays of lights, glitter, and greenery. It doesn't come with tacky front lawn displays of inflatable reindeer, light-up Santa Clauses, or, I swear I've actually seen this, inflatable Nativities. But I think it's important. And not just because of the food

Sure, I like food. OK, I like food a lot. That's why there are so many cookbooks on my shelf. Food tastes good. But what I like even more is preparing food together with people I love. When I was little, it was often my grandmother and me, with her doing most of the work and me "helping" to the best of my abilities. I was probably more of a hindrance, now that I think of it, but I have very fond memories of grinding nuts or drying the dishes while she stirred the batter and told me stories. It was magical. And at the end of the story, there was often a batter-covered spoon for me to lick -- nobody was concerned about Salmonella back then.

Now, it's Mr. Batty and me standing in the kitchen, preparing enough food to keep us fed for an entire week. It's so much fun, chopping vegetables and talking while the stuffing bakes and the pie crust has yet another accident. It never comes out quite right, but that doesn't matter. Really, none of it has to be perfect. It just has to... feel right.

It's a Phase

Have you ever taken pictures of your knitting, only to realize that you seem to be going through some kind of phase? Maybe it's all red. Or every piece you've worked on in the past month has moss stitch in it. Or you've only been knitting socks. And the phase wasn't really a conscious choice.

I'm currently obsessed with cables. Everything I'm knitting, from socks to hats to sweaters, has cables in it. It wasn't until I wanted to take pictures of my WIPs that I noticed. Cables don't photograph well with flash -- or if they do, I haven't figured out how, and... it's all cables.

What knitting-related thing have you obsessed over in the past -- or are currently obsessing over? Now that I've noticed it in myself, I wonder what others have found irresistible.

Return to Normalcy

Thank you for your thoughts. I've found knitting to be immensely therapeutic through the whole grieving process, not to mention the support from Mr. Batty, my parents, professionals, and friends.

I'm moving forward in the healing process. It will take a while until I return to normal, but I'm trying to look forward, not back, and to imagine a future that has beautiful things in it. Knitting helps with that. Knitting for my family helps even more. If I posted everything I've been working on over the past two weeks, this post would be incredibly long, so I'll start out with a few pictures and work my way through the WIP pile.

The Hyacinth socks I'm knitting for my mother are coming along -- look, I'm on sock 2! They were in hibernation for a month or so, and I really wish I'd taken notes on things like foot length while I was working on sock 1. Oh, well, lesson learned. Sticky notes are your friend.


Next, my Dad's socks. Here they are, on my Dad. Having him and my mom here during this difficult time has been a godsend. They both deserve socks, gratitude, and so much more than I could ever give for that one.


Gory Details:
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Tweed 4-ply
Needles: US #1/2.25 mm
Size: European 42/43
Pattern: Ganz viel Struktur
Comments: Knit as written, with a star toe and Boomerang heel. I'm now decent at short rows, but it's taken a good long time -- and I still have to look up how to knit stitches together with their wraps in any given direction.

And so you don't think I've been knitting nothing but socks: my sister's Luscious cowl. It's done, I just need to seam it. It's so soft and squishy, I'm sure it'll be warm.


As I said, there's more. Much more. And... some new fiber happened. I've been really good with my yarn diet (5 skeins of yarn in 2010, 1 souvenir yarn, 4 Christmas gift yarn), but I'm starting to think this will have to include fiber for 2011. The yarn stash is shrinking, but the fiber stash? Oy, she has grown!