Molecular Knitting

Moving!

2007-05-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

I've moved my blog. I would be delighted if you would join me at my new blog. I'm holding a contest with yarny prizes to sweeten the deal!

Blocking Tomorrow, the Mai Tai Tonight!

2007-04-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

Life has been a social whirl this past week here at Molecular Knitting: three dinners out last week! This did not leave a lot of time for knitting but I did manage to get the Chevron Scarf off the needles. So tomorrow (Monday) evening is dedicated to blocking both it and the Aran Pocket Shawl.

"Block me, baby!"--Chevron Scarf.
"What's to become of us?!"--Aran Pocket Shawl.
"We're gonna be blocked, straightened out, my YOs opened up, your welts flattened out."--CS
"Oh, Mr. Chevron, I have such palpitations when I think of the blocking! Will you be with me and protect me, Mr. Chevron, dear?"--APS
"Look, Doll, you're a shawl and I'm a scarf. No one wears a shawl and a scarf at the same time, not even on the pages of VK. I've got a date with a coffee-colored, wide wale corduroy pea coat. We're kismet. We're destiny. We coordinate. You need to find yourself a nice shell or blouse in a nice navy blue or plum."--CS
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!"--APS

While my handknits prepared for blocking, M whipped up the quintessential Tiki drink: the Mai Tai.

M as usual did a stupendous job on the bartending front, however, I was not fond of the Mai Tai. It was very sweet, and the orgeat (almond) syrup was over-powering in my opinion. M liked it better, considering it the "ultimate" Tiki drink, but agreed with me that the Mojito and Hemingway Daiquiri were tastier. I guess they can't all be winners. We'll just have to try again next weekend!

I hope all of you had a great weekend!

Sparkly and Shimmery

2007-04-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

So Monday evening I finished the first pink cabled sock. I started to cast on for the second but was having difficulty counting to 66. Apparently, I don't count well after 10 in the evening. I decided to work on the chevron scarf as I only needed to be able to count to 5. I finished several inches and then lay down for a night of peaceful slumber only to awaken a few hours later having nightmares about knitting. Yes, I know you can imagine the horror. It wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to say that I became a bit unglued at that point. I didn't wake M because I didn't think he'd understand. A nightmare about being in a car accident or falling from a high ledge, sure he'd be all solicitousness, but a nightmare about knitting? The upshot was that Tuesday evening I was a bit wary of the yarn and sticks, so I played with some sparkly beads instead.

I was happy to see that I can still make wrapped wire loops that I'm not embarrassed to wear out into the world, so this little aquamarine colored ensemble graced my neck and ears today. The pearls are actually a pale aquamarine, too. It felt good to wear a new bauble. Now I feel ready to pick up the pointy stickes again, as I didn't have nightmares last night of round-nosed pliers coming after me or being stoned with giant Czech glass and Austrian crystal beads.

The pink sock looks good, but I had it on my foot for a while, so it's a little stretched out and wants a soak and block before it's photo shoot. As I mentioned the chevron scarf grows longer, and until about 20 minutes ago, I'd completely forgotten that I need to block the Aran Pocket Shawl. But so as not to post without any knitterly pictures, I did splurge last week when I found the 150 g (600 m) skeins of Sea Silk at Colorsong Yarn.

This is Blackberry Sea Silk. We're in love.

May your knitting dreams be blissful!

Catching Up

2007-04-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

I feel I am falling behind in my blogging responsibilities, so let's play catch up.

First up, the pink braided cable rib sock is almost to the toe! It looks a little goofy in the photo below as the instep needle did not care to be photogenic today.

Astute readers will notice that I stopped doing the cabling once I finished the gusset decreases. This braided cable doesn't stretch out as flat as a simple cable, and I thought for comfort, switching to the rib was a good idea. It was a compromise between not wanting to have the cabling only on the leg, but also wanting a comfortable sock. I think it will work for me.

Next up we have an very disappointed chevron scarf posing (but not willingly) on the couch-o-meter. The scarf rather clashes with the threadbare ruby red couch cushions, and it resents be photographed thusly. But it is one couch cushion long! As I want a short scarf, it won't even make it to a full two cushions before the bind off. I plan to knit to about 44 inches (2 couch cushions=48+ inches) and then block.

She better not take my FO picture with me lying on this %#^&*@# couch!--Chevron Scarf.

Third up has no picture, but I am teaching myself to carry and tension the yarn differently. My way of carrying the yarn is becoming more and more awkward and annoying. It is hard to get an even tension without constantly dropping and picking up the yarn again, and my tension gets looser and looser the faster I knit. So, I am trying to finish my current projects in the old method while training myself in the new method behind the scenes so to speak.

Finally, the chevron scarf did not grow any longer than one couch cushion today for two reasons. The first is that I have a new baking pan for uber-cool individual bundt cakes. I tried it out today on Amaretto Cakes from a Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel. The pan worked! It was so cool!

Fleur-de-Lis, Bavarian, and Cathedral little bundt cakes!

The second reason for lack of chevron scarf progress this afternoon: a Hemingway Daiquiri:

Not your frozen limeade daiquiri by a long shot

I had two such daiquiris today, but since M used my calcium-fortified grapefruit juice, I built strong bones while I drank. BTW, the recipe M used is from the book and a Bottle of Rum by Wayne Curtis. M enjoyed the book immensely.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Cable Hooks

2007-04-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

First and foremost I would like to thank everyone who commented so positively on the pocketless Aran Pocket Shawl. Bonus points to JayJay and Abby for noticing the APS channeling Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Right now, the APS is enjoying a little lie-in to calm her poor nerves before the blocking process. She listened to me tell M about the blocking, and she may have overheard the word "severe." I was in fact saying that the blocking wouldn't have to be severe, but she was already gasping and jumping to conclusions, and so I don't think she understood.

Monday and Tuesday evenings the little pink sock and I spent some quality time together. I cable using a cable needle, and although I may try to go without at some point, it's not going to be while knitting a sock on size one dpns. But even my shortest size 1 dpn was being bothersome as a cable needle. Then I remembered that Mom always cables with a cable hook not a cable needle. I thought I had some from a multi-pack of cabling tools I bought many moons ago. I went to check and found two.

Which to choose? Which to choose?

One was gargantuan, and the other a good enough fit to go with my size 1 dpns (one shown for scale). I don't want to think about using a cable hook as big as the one on the left. How monstrous would that cable need to be to make that hook feasible? The little cable hook was the answer for me and the little pink sock. I just slide the stitches on the short end, drop it down in front or swing it over the back and it is completely out of the way of all the dpns. Then to knit off the cable hook, I just slide the stitches to the long end and knit them.

Easy peasy!

Even with the cable hook, this is a slow sock to knit. There is cabling every other row, and I want at least a 7.5 inch leg. I'm on 4-row repeat 13; I think 16-17 will give me the length I want.

Wednesday evening I spent re-swatching for the Brocade Jacket. As you can imagine, re-swatching is not fun, and the end results were not happy. I have visited my guru Elsie, she of no blog who can knit and read simultaneously, complicated patterns and difficult books. I need to try her advice (she was completely unsurprised by my difficulties), and then I'll report.

In closing here are some yarns that also want to become cable-rib socks with their own unique cable-rib patterns. They are also trying to sneak a sip of the sophisticated, yet very tasty, Suburban cocktail M made for me.

Black Bunny Fibers in Aquamarine, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Gypsy Rose and Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino in Midnight Passion (oo-la-la!).

ETA: The Suburban recipe through the link uses bourbon for the whiskey. M used rye. I'd go for the rye; the bourbon will be way too sweet.

It's a Wrap

2007-04-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

It's late, but she's hot off the needles, ends woven in, ready to block (I'm going to spin it in my "I can spin delicates safely" washing machine, but I'm not worried--much).

"Can you believe she's going to make me, the Aran POCKET Shawl, without pockets? It's a travesty of knitting! I'm made of 50% alpaca yarn! I don't deserve such an indignity! My poor nerves! She has no consideration for my poor nerves!" Aran Pocket Shawl.

I am so glad this knit is off the needles! I knit seven repeats this weekend just to finish her up. I like the shawl, but it's one big rectangle. Now, for just a little attitude adjustment on the shawl's part (50% alpaca?!--has it not seen the 100% suri alpaca in my stash?). Well, it's nothing that a good blocking can't straighten out. Pattern notes to follow. Now I can go back to my pink sock. Yay! And my Victorian lace. Yay! And my barely cast on jacket. Yay! Yays all around!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Seizing the Sock Mojo

2007-04-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

A nasty cold has hampered me this week, but even so, I decided I must seize the sock mojo. I finally thought I had a sock success but then I realized that I was using up yarn at an alarming rate. I was forced to come to the conclusion that I would have to either make a shorter cuff than I wanted or start over with a less tight pattern so I could use fewer stitches. I decided to move on to a different sock altogether. I needed sock success. I am not far along, but I have a lot of this Tofutsies yarn (skein of over 400 yds), and I cast on more than my usual number of stitches (66 as opposed to 56 or 60 on size 1 needles) as I chose another cable-rib combination.

Cable 4.11 from Harmony Guides, 220 Aran Patterns for Knitting

I'm really liking this braided cable combined with a single knit rib. The size looks good so far, and I know there is enough yarn. I really like the soft feminine pinks and whites with the cable-rib that in a darker color could be used for a man's sock. I am hoping for a success here, and the Tofutsies yarn is light enough that there should be weather here cool enough for these socks before next November. It is knitting up well for me on size one needles.

I'd say more, but Blogger is going to shut down for a scheduled outage, and I'm running out of time! "We need warp power, Scottie!"

May the knitting mojo be with you!

A FO!

2007-04-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

I've been holding out on you. I finished the Piecrust Basketweave scarf sometime in mid-March; I've been keeping the FO post back, knowing that there would come a time when all I had by way of new knitting is longer WIPs. Both my chevron scarf and Aran Pocket shawl are significantly longer than in their last viewing, but both being rectangles, longer is just, um, longer. And I think the tiki mug stole my sock knitting mojo as the sock remains the same. So let's look at my finished scarf!

Six feet of fuschia, alpaca-y goodness.

Picot sevedges on ends (looks like the fluting on a piecrust, but don't tell anyone, they'll think I'm dorky).

Piecrust Basketweave stitch pattern from Vogue Knitting Stitchionary: Vol 1, pattern #33.

Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Chunky Baby Alpaca in a hot pink, fuschia.

This is the third time I've knit something out of a "chunky" alpaca, and I think it may be the last. I think alpaca is better in the finer weights. It lacks the sproinginess necessary to take the weight of the chunky yarn without stretching too much. Based on my swatch, the scarf should be five feet long but is really six feet long. Because I cast on the length, knitting to the width (looked better with the horizontal nature of the pattern), the stretch runs the length. The longer the scarf got, the more it stretched and didn't bounce back. I blocked it as I had done before, using wires and blocking it dry followed by spritzing it with water until it was pretty wet, which was what the yarn manufacturer recommended for the other scarf. I think if I had soaked the whole scarf, the weight of the water would have over-stretched the yarn perhaps to breaking point.

I like the stitch pattern (complete sucker for knit-purl stitch patterns!); it was very easy. I modified the edges which had a lot of reverse stockinette tacked on. In an attempt to make it look more finished, I did a 2-stitch picot at the start of each row, and it ended up looking like piecrust fluting, but I like it, and as the scarf doesn't have a big sign that says it was named "piecrust basketweave" by the Vogue Knitting editors, I don't think it's really an issue. All in all, I'm looking forward to wearing the scarf in another 7-8 months when the weather here will turn cool. I clearly don't live in the ideal location for handknits in natural animal fibers!

This is a long post so I'll save the good smelling stuff I got in the mail today for a post later this week, as I suspect that my WIPs will still be merely longer.

New VLT Project

2007-04-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am very tired, but after tomorrow it will be just normal work, not work from the inner circles of Hell. Yay! To celebrate the upcoming liberation (and boost my morale), a few days ago I cast on for a new project from Victorian Lace Today. Officially, it is the "Scarf with the open and solid diamond lace edging from Weldon's, 1904," which will henceforth be known as the diamond lace scarf or DLS when I am feeling really lazy.

We love the double YO diamonds! Which are NOT Yo-yos as M seems to think.

The yarn is a cotton cable (with one of the French accent things over the e--I'm too lazy to look up the code for that right now); it is at least sport weight, so my scarf is coming out larger and I went up one needle size to an 8. But I like it very much. I got the cotton as it gets very hot here in summer and super dusty (NO rain for 5-6 months). So this should be cool and hand-washable.

The pattern is written for a different number of repeats of the diamond border than what is shown in the photo and pattern schematic, but the amount of yarn is for the scarf in the photo. This difference is detailed in the corrections, where the pattern for the scarf in the photo is given (the photo scarf has 3 repeats of the border pattern and the pattern is written for four). The photo scarf should be much prettier for two reasons. First, anyone who has watched HGTV knows that the human eye appreciates an odd number of objects or elements more than an even number (hence 3 repeats--each is a point--rather than 4). Second, the body of the scarf has a diamond insertion which is basically staggered motifs of the double YO diamond of the border. For 3 repeats there are 5 stitches in garter stitch on each side of this insertion; for 4 repeats 13 stitches. The diamond insertion will look ridiculously narrow if there are 13 stitches on each side. For more info on scarf patterns that don't match the photo see Grumperina's post about her new Dolphin Scarf (which doesn't have posted corrections). Much as I enjoy the fabulous photography and patterns of VLT, I wish they had done a better job of the technical editing. I am glad that they are posting the errors. When I checked in early January, the corrections was a one page pdf, now is 3 pages long. So, if you are knitting from VLT follow the link above and look for corrections! You'll be glad you did.

Have a wonderful weekend, and a blessed Easter to all celebrators of the holiday!

Couch-o-Meter

2007-04-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

When work takes up so much time that knitting progress slows to the proverbial crawl, I find it soothing to use an alternative measurement system. A shawl or scarf requires far too many inches to be complete to make two inches seem like much to crow about. Therefore, I have made use of our red couch-o-meter (or sofa-o-meter, depending upon your region of upbringing).

Three couch-cushions and your scarf is complete! 3.5 cushions makes a shawl!

Almost 2 complete sofa cushions of Aran Pocket Shawl knit! The chevron scarf isn't so far along, but it is much narrower, so it may catch up. Can we stand the suspense?! Has putting in 12 hours of work today made me silly?! Is the damage permanent?! Can I relearn ending a sentence with only one punctuation mark?!

Tune in later this week...!

Thank You, Nova and Little Sir!

2007-03-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

It's been work, work, work here at Molecular Knitting this week (and the past two weeks, too, come to think of it). So much so that the senior graduate student in lab, who is finishing writing her PhD thesis, remarked that she was glad she was not me, she only had a thesis to write. Regrettably, she wasn't being sarcastic. I have spent less than 30 minutes knitting this week. Yes, it's all very sad. It shall continue thus until the end of work on Friday. Therefore, I was very excited to have the mail carrier deliver this to me today.

Contest loot from Little Sir's First Birthday Contest (moderated by his super nice, cool-knitter mom, Nova, Archivist on the Edge!

Nova wrapped the package so prettily. I am a terrible package wrapper; I find folding paper nicely very difficult. Therefore, I appreciate lovely wrapping. I especially like the flowered ribbon here. Nova had several different prizes to give away, and I had not expressed a preference in my comment to enter, so I had no idea which of the yarny prizes I had won. I got a really, really nice one.

Kid Seta in an imperial purple shade to die for!

Mohair/silk: so soft, so silky! It was hard to put down to go out for lunch. Nova also included chocolate and very cute sheep note cards. As I had used the last of my favorite note cards just a few weeks ago, this was a timely gift indeed. M recommended not eating the chocolate right before lunch. He is so mean. But I know he won't eat my chocolate either. M paid for college working as the head cook for a sorority; he understands the mystical importance of a woman's chocolate stash.

I have to spend much of tomorrow afternoon graphing data and fitting curves to the data and then making wonderful, wonderful tables of all the key features. I think I shall keep the imperial mohair silk next to my laptop for occasional petting and as a reminder that soon I will have time and energy to knit again.

Socks Come, Socks Go

2007-03-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

I have learned a very valuable thing about myself: I am not a lace sock-wearing sort of girl. I think lace socks are beautiful, and I don't think less of women who wear them, but they are not for me. I wish I had known this before I knit nearly one complete lace sock and a cuff of a second (different pattern). Below you see the nearly complete lace sock in some Tofutsies on the left and the antidote to the Lace Sock Disaster of '07 on the right.

Disclaimer: No Tiki glasses were harmed during the making of this blog entry.

It was while trying on the Tofutsies Tidal Wave sock that I made my awful discovery. "I'll never, ever wear these socks," I thought. It was lowering. I hadn't thought a "tidal wave" lace sock would trip my frou-frou alarm, but it did. The other lace sock (Sundara's Petals Collection Lenten Rose) is already ripped; it was too big in addition to too lacy. Sigh.

In addition to this lace mishap, the other Tofutsies sock I showed earlier in the month, with the zig-zag twisted stitch pattern, bit the dust. Right twist = no problem. Left twist = royal pain in the butt. I could finish the socks, but I would hate them.

In desperation, I turned to Nancy Bush's Rib and Cable Sock from IK (Fall 2005). I had made it last summer to great success. I thought it might be fun to play with the rib and cable motif while maintaining the Welsh heel turn (a favorite of mine) and the star toe of three points.

The amber Tiki mug really wanted to model the sock-in-progress.

So I have a yarn-over mock cable (in Sensational Knitted Socks and BW Vol. 1) with some regular ribbing. The scrumptious yarn is Claudia Handpaints in Walk in the Woods. Anyway, I am very happy so far. So happy that I am thinking of doing a series of variations on this rib and cable theme: creativity within limits. Stay tuned.

Happy Knitting!

WIP Revisited

2007-03-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

"I may not be multi-colored, cabled or lace, but I still think I am a good knit." Aran Pocket Shawl

Poor intermittent WIP! How low its self-esteem has sunk since I started it last November. I'd pick it up every once in a while, knit a half-repeat and then put it back down. It watched from its basket as other WIPs became FOs and never complained. But it is a good knit. The Berocco Ultra Alpaca is softer than just wool, but still has a lot of sproinginess, which I don't usually find in alpaca. The stitch pattern is pleasant to knit, easy to memorize, but not boring. It is now over a third complete and is over 2 feet long unblocked. In the photo above it is basking in the last rays of the setting sun on a maple log M just split for firewood next autumn. I think this WIP has ripened, because I want to get it done. It was fine as an intermittent WIP for quite a while, but now I hear it calling whenever I knit. This may be due to the sock fiasco of last weekend, which is still too painful to write of in detail (so many high hopes dashed on the rocks of gauge!), but it may also just be that it is this knit's time. Does it really matter?

Yesterday evening after some brief late afternoon showers, the sunset was very grand. I had a meeting in a neighboring town, and as I drove north, I kept glancing at the sun and clouds mentally kicking myself for not having the camera with me. Then I thought to call M, and he kindly took this photo.

Happy Knitting!

Chevron Scarf the First

2007-03-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all my readers who left an opinion on my chevron scarf options! More of you thought the Cherry Tree Hill yarns of option 3 were the yarns they would go with. But my original choice didn't fare badly. I think I may do a version with each (as that still leaves a lot of sock yarn in my stash for socks). There are a lot of stitch patterns that make a chevron shape, and many of them can be knit as a rectangle or a triangle, so I don't intend for identical patterns. Theme and variations!

As it was, this weekend when I wanted to get started, M, my swift, was off running errands. This left Option 1. Now, I don't own Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and my LYS doesn't really sell books, and my local bookstore didn't have a copy. I had seen the stitch pattern on blogs, and I have knit Feather and Fan, so I pretty much understood the game plan. But I decided to mess around on the web and see what other sorts of chevron stitch patterns I could find. At Yarnover I found a chevron edging from nineteenth century Denmark that I liked (really pointy). I charted the pattern, changing a few decreases so they would be directional (all were K2tog in the original), added 2 edge stitches to my chart in garter stitch and cast on 47 stitches. At least, 47 stitches was the goal. Since I made 2 set up rows where I didn't have to count, it wasn't until the first pattern row that I realized I had miscounted the cast on as I cast on and when I recounted after casting on. I ripped and cast on again. Then after counting wrong again, I ripped a second time. The third time was the charm, and I was able to count to 47 twice and start my scarf. Whew!

The colors are better in real life!

I got home from lab too late to take pictures outside, so the colors are much richer and better in real life. Trust me, these yarns look great together. Although I can tell I am going to want to knit a burgundy tweed sweater to "go with." Ever since seeing Neither Hip nor Funky's sensational Sunrise Circle sweater in glorious orange tweed, I have been coveting tweedy yarn.

It was not a happy weekend for sock knitting. Two pairs were ripped due to fit issues and pattern frustration. I do have a successful sock in the works, which no one but Elsie (who doesn't blog) has seen. I think I will wait until the first sock is done (I'm on the foot) before showing a picture. I'm feeling a little jinxed at the moment.

I leave you with a picture of the delicious dinner M made (well I made the rice and vegetable--they were easy) on Sunday. It was a lovely evening for our first outdoor meal of the year. He made Cedar Plank Cooked Salmon from The Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cookbook: Wine and Recipes to Celebrate Every Season's Harvest.

Thanks, M!

Evil Eye Candy and Indecision

2007-03-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Aren't they pretty?

Don't they look sweet and innocent? Innocent like Brigitte's Gandalf! Deep within their flowery hearts lurks an insidious evil. I speak of pollen. Actually, I don't know what these flowers are, and if in fact their pollen causes seasonal allergies, but somebody's pollen does. I am not the only sufferer. We gather at work in the morning to compare symptoms. Since I don't wear contacts, my itchy eyes weren't the worst in lab, but the fact that I had to blow my nose six times before getting out of bed gave me most active nose honors. The lovely breeze today just spread all those plant male gametes around, and with 315 cash crops in California, there is a lot of variety. It will be a couple of days before my new anti-allergy prescription will be effective. Until then, the outside and I do not get along. But you came for knitting content.

And the knitting content leads to indecision today. In my last post I was all set to make a chevron scarf as many of you figured out. I am very busy with science work for the next several weeks, so I want happy, pretty, easy therapy knitting. As I said I was all set, then I perused my sock stash looking for my STR Henpecked to give to Elsie for her birthday (if your birthday is on the Ides of March, you deserve STR), and then indecision struck. So which option do I choose?

Options 1 and 2

Originally, I chose the burgundy with the Woodland (bottom yarn), but then I found the Claudia Hand Paints in Walk in the Woods (upper left), which also looked good with the burgundy. But if that wasn't enough to consider, I found these:

Option 3: Cherry Tree Hill in Gypsy Rose and Martha's Vineyard

I am at a complete impasse. Any thoughts?

Overheard: A FO Story

2007-03-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening I finished up the knitting on the much anticipated Fleece Artist Merino Parrot socks. Today I grafted the second toe (Knitty directions work more than once!) after lunch so I could get them into the light-colored delicate load of laundry. But first the socks and I had a little photo shoot out on the back patio, and I overheard this socky conversation.

Second Sock: Well, we are a pair now, and I must say we are stylin'. Of course, we are knit from the best sock yarn in the entire universe!

First Sock: Perhaps not in the entire universe. But I do like how our kind knitter used a simple pattern so that our lovely parrot colors are shown to their best.

Second Sock: Parrot, my Aunt Fanny! We look like guacamole! Really good, home made guacamole, not that nasty store bought "guac." Say, did you hear the news going round the sock basket, that the Tofutsies yarn may still not be behaving? Our knitter thinks it may be too big.

First Sock: I'm sure our knitter will solve the problem. She is thinking of switching to a smaller needle after the first repeat of the pattern. If that fails to satisfy, she is contemplating using a different ball of Tofutsies and knit it up in the Rib and Cable pattern from IK Fall 2005 by Nancy Bush. She has had excellent success with this pattern before, and she knows how it behaves.

Second Sock: I think she should just stick to yarns made from the fleece of Nova Scotian sheep. That's what I think.

First Sock: Well, having been out of the sock basket longer than you, my dear twin, I happen to know that she has plans for two skeins of our Fleece Artist Merino brethren: Burgundy and Woodland. And they won't be knit into socks.

Second Sock: What's she going to knit?! It's sock yarn for cryin' out loud!!

First Sock: If you don't know you'll just have to wait and see.

Second Sock: That's not fair!

First Sock: You know what our knitter's M says about fair.

Second Sock: What's fair?

First Sock: Pigs in a park.

Second Sock: Why you big meanie! You better keep your foot away from me! I'm gonna tell our knitter that you're a big bully.

First Sock: She's the older of two sibs herself. I'm certain she'll see things my way. Oh, and M is also the older child. Face it, you're doomed.

At this point, I decided to end hostilities by a trip through the washer. We'll see if that makes them better friends. In the meantime, the second sock will be trying to figure out what I plan to do with the Woodland and Burgundy FA. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out. ;)

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Swamped

2007-03-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

First, thanks for all the wonderful compliments on the VLT scarf I knit for my Grandma Adeline! Now if I could just get it packaged up and mailed off to her.

Work has been very busy this past weekend and week, and I have had to do quite a bit of work at home. This seriously cut into my knitting time. It wasn't until Wednesday evening that I thought I could knit without making a mistake. Last Saturday, I procrastinated with the work stuff and managed to finish knitting the piecrust basketweave scarf. It still needs blocking.

Mmmm....soft alpaca...

I also started a sock in Tofutsies. Since I hadn't knit with this yarn before (and because my brain was goo), I decided on a simple 4x4 rib, but after 8 rounds I had two needles of pink/purple (16 st each) and one needle (24 st) of blue/purple. I wasn't getting pooling, I was getting vertical segregation! I can be OK with pooling in some instances, but this was goofy looking. So I ripped. Last night while paging through Vogue Stitchionary 2: Cables I found "zig and zag" (#10), and I thought the twisted stitches might fix the color segregation problem. I think it might be working. It appears to be spiraling the hot pink; it's on all three needles. I'm keeping my fingers metaphorically crossed.

Last Friday I tried the Lenten Rose pattern from Sundara's Petal Collections while watching Monk and Psych. That proved a mistake. After two repeats of the pattern I wondered why it didn't look like Sundara's picture. My double YO eyelets did not line up like Sundara's. So I ripped. I tried again last night. I think this time I got it right. It helped for me to chart the pattern!?! That is so unlike me, I don't know what to think of that, so I'm just knitting instead.

The Fleece Artist Parrot (guacamole) sock is waiting patiently for my hair appointment on Saturday afternoon. I've promised to work on it then, and get it done very soon.

VLT Scarf FO

2007-03-04T14:54:00.000-08:00

Finally, I found time and space to block the wide-bordered "Scarf" from page 80 of Victorian Lace Today. The patterns in this book were obviously not named with blog posts and knitting bloggers in mind! Before beginning, I had trepidations about the orthogonal changes in knitting directions, so I chose the easiest pattern. Let's just say I didn't feel challenged during the knitting. I did love knitting with Sea Silk!!

Before the blocking:

"I'm not feeling my prettiest right now," Scarf.

After the blocking:

"I'm feeling so much more open and relaxed!"

I chose this yarn for myself originally, but over Christmas, when Grandma Adeline told me that she had lost the feather and fan scarf I knit her a couple years ago, AND that she would love another scarf in a different color (she still hoped to find the first), I decided the Berry Sea Silk should be for her. I guess I could have been vexed that she lost the first scarf, but I decided it was a real compliment that she had liked the scarf enough to confess to losing it and asking for another.

Grandma Adeline is not tall, so I only knit five of the seven repeats of the border, and then I knit the entire scarf to 42 inches long (including both borders). This blocked to 49 inches long. I did a gentle block as the Sea Silk is not stretchy. I soaked the scarf in cool water for 15-20 minutes, squeezed out the excess water, took embarrassing photos of the wet lace scarf blob, then laid it out on a beach towel. I only pinned the points of the borders. I like to try the gentlest blocking method first with non-wool fibers, and then if that doesn't work, I can always reblock with more muscle. This gentle blocking satisfied me. The border is simple but rather attractive, although it isn't absolutely symmetrical in design.

The best part of this project is that I have 59 of the original 100 grams of the Sea Silk left! It's like having my cake and eating it, too.

Happy Knitting!

Sock Stories

2007-03-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am very happy to report that the errant second Gingerbread Cable Sock and I have completely reconciled. In fact, the GCS have gone from a WIP to a FO! We are both very pleased.

"I can't believe she finally finished you, my lovely sock mate!" First Sock.

OK, I don't have cute kitties like Chris, so I have to make my socks talk. It's sad, I know. The completion of the GCS means that only the Fleece Artist merino socks in Parrot are still on the needles. I think FA misnamed this colorway; it should be called Guacamole, but maybe I'm just hungry.

Actually, I do have two other pairs of socks on the needles, but they are soon to be frogged. Both annoy me. First, I don't like the colors in this yarn. The gold with the pink, blue, grey and white just doesn't do it for me. I want my needles back, so it's going to be ripped.

Second to go is this cuff; it's the third pattern attempt with this yarn (Fleece Artist for Simply Sock Yarn's first anniversary), and I don't like the striping. It's too jarring, so back into the stash it goes.

All this frogging leaves me needles to finally cast on for the Lenten Rose pattern from Sundara's Petals Collection. I plan to use the lace pattern Sundara provided. I'm very excited by both the yarn and the pattern.

I received the next installment in the Petals Collection today: Birds of Paradise. I'd show you, but Flickr won't let me upload the picture. It's very bright and cheerful. I'll save it for the Easter season.

I also want to get a pair of the Tofutsies M bought me as described in my last post on the needles. My friend Elsie has knit a couple pairs of Tofutsies socks, and she really likes the yarn. She machine washes and dries her handknit socks, and she reports that the Tofutsies yarn holds up well to this laundering routine, and the socks get even softer with washing (it's really soft in the skein). I'm hoping the soy silk/wool blend will extend the handknit sock wearing season here in California.

It's time to play with Sundara's yarn!

Have a great weekend!

M Visits LYS: A Play in Two Scenes

2007-02-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

Cast of Characters
Me: that is I
M: 6'4" of curly-headed manliness
Rebecca: Proprietress of LYS
LatBTs: Ladies at the Big Table (four of them)

Setting
A dark and stormy lunch hour at the LYS

Scene 1:

Me and M enter LYS.
Rebecca: Hi again! How are you?

Me: Great. I'm here to look at sock yarn.

Rebecca: Let me know if you have any questions.

Me spots the Tofutsies yarn and completely ignores Rebecca. Rebecca doesn't seem to mind.

M: Is that the yarn you were looking for?

Me: Yes, it has soy silk fiber mixed with the wool so it will make a lighter sock for the warmer spring weather.

LatBT: Do you knit?

M: No, I'm just the cheerleader.

Me: Oh, look Panda Cotton! (Me moves around the display)

LatBT (holding a big sweater and advancing on M): Would you try this on for me please?

M: Umm...

LatBT: I want to see if my repair is invisible when the sweater is worn.

M: OK (starts putting the sweater on).

LatBT: You're much larger than the sweater's owner (eyes M quite thoroughly), but I think you'll do. Yes, I can't see the mistake at all. Thanks, Rebecca, for your help.

Rebecca: No problem. You did a great job.

M suddenly crouches down by Me sans sweater. He sticks to Me like glue.

M: The colors are really pretty. Which ones do you want?

Me: I really want the pink and white one, but I can't decide between these two.

M: Why don't you get both?

Me: I shouldn't...

M (still glued to Me): Sure, you should.

Rebecca: Here's a sock I knit with the Tofutsies. (holds out a sock to Me)

Me (taking the sock): Very nice. What size needles did you use?

Rebecca: I used twos for the cuff and size ones for the foot.

M: Do you need any size one dpns? (school-girlish sighs are heard from the LatBTs)

Rebecca, Me and M move to the front counter, where Rebecca starts ringing up the yarn.

M reaching for his wallet: My treat. (More sighes from LatBTs.)

Me: Oh! You don't have to!

M: My pleasure!

Rebecca: You've earned 10% off today.

M (signing receipt): Great! Have a good afternoon!

Rebecca: Thank you! You too!

Me and M leave LYS.

Scene 2
A few minutes later in Me and M's pick-up.

M (starting the engine): I thought for a few minutes that I would have some serious explaining to do back there.

Me (looking up confused from yarn bag): What would you have to explain in a yarn store?

M: That NO means NO!

Suddenly Me understands M's glue-like behavior in the LYS. A chilling image of Rebecca restrained at the counter by Addi Turbo cables and Me with a size 10 Brittany Birch needle sticking out of her chest as the LatBTs drag a protesting M into the back room of the LYS where all the Jaeggerspun Zephyr, Classic Elite Lush, and Frog Tree alpaca yarn is kept. Me silently resolves that if M ever accompanies her to the LYS again, she will be sure to have armed herself with her size 17 Bryspun needles in order to protect M's virtue. She pats M's knee in sympathy. They drive off into the lunch hour rain.

Finis.

M has recovered from his ordeal. And the yarn is beautiful:

Three cheers for M!

How I Spent My Sunday

2007-02-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been in a sweater slump, so much so that I read with alarm Sheepish Annie's post in which she mentions the dreaded "I Started a Blog and Now I Can't Seem to Knit Sweaters Anymore" Curse. All my sweater issues can be summed up by that one horrendous word gauge. I have a jacket on the needles, that I swatched for last autumn, and I seem to have gauge. I got side-tracked for awhile with the Landscape Shawl and the Aran Pocket Shawl and the pink and periwinkle sweater swatches. But, the Landscape Shawl is done, the Aran Pocket Shawl moves along steadily as TV knitting, and the pink and periwinkles sweaters remain swatches and ideas for now. So, maybe it would be OK to really work on this jacket. Maybe I won't have a tremendous gauge disappointment. I did a little appeasement for the Gauge Goddess this afternoon.

Why yes, that is a 10 lb. chocolate bar. M bought it.

M really did buy the 10 lb. chocolate bar the last time we shopped at Trader Joe's. It was only $20, and he couldn't pass up the bargain. The jacket pattern is from Knitter's recent book of jacket patterns, and this one is by Jean Frost, who writes nice patterns with good fit and detailing. It is a good style for a bosc pear like me. Not too huge, but not too fitted either; neither too long, nor too short. And I like knit/purl brocade patterns. They are interesting without creating bulk like cables or holes like lace. The yarn is Cascade 220, a personal favorite, and I love the shade of blue--neither too dark nor too light. It's all just right. Or, it could be all just right, if I keep gauge.

I had trouble reading the chart for the brocade pattern. This caused me much shame, especially when I broke down and wrote out the chart as knitting text.

Then I realized that I could read the chart well enough to transcribe it to text, so it was only during the knitting that I kept screwing up. After far more puzzling than should have been necessary, I realized that I am most used to reading knitting charts for socks knit in the round where every chart row is read right to left. Or, I've knit from charts where the backside row is "in pattern" with the right side row, so the chart is pretty much superfluous for the WS rows. But with this brocade pattern, every row is different, and the wrong side rows were from left to right. Arghh! I have now accepted that I needed to write out the pattern, and that that is OK. So now it's all up to Mistress Gauge being kind.

I really spent most of the afternoon working on a manuscript for work and rewriting much of the statistical analyses. FUN! FUN! FUN! Therefore, I cajoled M into making me a new cocktail as soon as it was a reasonable cocktail hour.

The Emerald Cocktail made with Bushmills 10 year Irish Whiskey

The recipe for the Emerald comes from Esquire Drinks by David Wondrich; it is a Manhattan made with Irish whiskey instead of rye and orange bitters instead of Angostura. I would call it yummylicious, but if I call it that in my blog, and then M reads it, he will never ever make me another cocktail as long as we both shall live. So, instead I will say that it was quite smooth and good, not as brawny as a rye Manhattan, but still rather sophisticated. Wondrich describes it as "delightfully smooth and mellow," and I quite agree.

Perhaps if the chocolate was not to Mistress Gauge's liking, the cocktail was.

Cheers!

Good Swatch, Bad Swatch

2007-02-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

Bad light pink swatch. Good fuschia swatch.

In good news/bad news situations, I try to get the bad news out of the way first. That way, after I survive the bad news, I have the good to brighten me up. So I'll start with the bad swatch.

While reading one of Margaux's posts at tentenknits last week, I realized that I wasn't as far along in my swatching with the light pink Shelburne yarn as I had thought. I can be pretty cavalier about row gauge, but thanks to Margaux I realized that row gauge is pretty important in a V-neck. I had stitches per inch, but rows per inch was off by an entire row (4.5 rpi vs 3.5 rpi in the pattern). Not good. I also knit the swatch the way I've knit all other stockinette swatches: flat. The sweater is knit in the round (a new thing for me). Not good. I tend to knit tighter in the round than flat. Really not good. So I knit on some WIPs (but that's a different post) and swatched for a fuschia scarf.

The fuschia chunky baby alpaca from Plymouth Yarns made a good swatch, a very good swatch. I used the Piecrust Basketweave from Vogue Stitchionary, Volume 1 (pattern #33). I charted the pattern because the repeat of 8 stitches plus 10 confused me. It really is a repeat of 8 stitches plus 2, the swatch in the book has wide borders which is reflected in the 10 stitches for symmetry. The Piecrust Basketweave is a narrow, horizontal basket weave. To look good in a scarf, I thought it would be best to cast on the length and then knit to the width. My lovely gauge swatch indicated that I was getting 3.5 spi, and I wanted a 60-inch scarf. My calculator told me that would be 210 stitches which is a multiple of 8 + 2. Destiny! I cast on 212 stitches so I could have a knit stitch at each end for making a picot selvage.

I'm almost half done!

I used a cable cast on, which looks nice given that the first row of the pattern is a WS row, so the decorative look of the cable cast on shows on the right side. I need to look at some bind offs to see if there is a good one to use as the opposite of this cast on. Montse Stanley has always come to my aid before, I hope she can again. If any readers have a suggestion, I would be happy to hear it!

Right now, I need to block the Sea Silk Berry scarf from Victorian Lace Today so I can send it to Grandma Adeline. Pictures to follow soon. I'm going to make another wide-bordered scarf from VLT next. I want to do the diamond insertion (p. 90), but I can't decide between two different wide borders (Diamond Lace border, p. 90; Clarence border, p.82). Unfortunately, both work with the diamond insertion, and both are really pretty. Decisions, decisions!

Happy Knitting!

Joinery

2007-02-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

M's joinery:

tongue and groove

dovetails

interlocking dados

My joinery:

knitting on the second border perpendicular to the scarf length

OK, so I don't use power tools, I don't make a lot of sawdust, and I don't know a nifty name for this type of "joinery," but knitting the second border of the wide-bordered scarf perpendicular to the scarf body, and attaching it to the scarf as I knit is fun. Grandma Adeline will have a new scarf! The Sea Silk is soft; I think she'll like it. FO pictures to follow soon.

Landscape Shawl: Pattern Notes

2007-02-19T17:01:00.000-08:00

I've worn the Landscape Shawl a couple of times now, even though we are having unseasonably warm weather, and I am completely hooked on the whole shawl gestalt. They are so handy and pretty! Last Friday dawned a sunny day, so I cajoled M into taking some pictures outside.

Pattern: Landscape Shawl from Fibertrends (2000)
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Green Mountain Madness (2.3 skeins; 420 yd/skein)
Needles: Inox, US 5, 24-inch circular (pointy tip, scratchy sound)
Dimensions: 40" deep; wingspan 75" (very good for my body)
New Techniques: knitting a triangle, picot selvedge, knitted cast-on

Options: The pattern is written for several different yarn weights (lace to worsted). I used a fingering weight, and used a needle one size smaller than suggested. There were two options for the bind off depending upon the shape of the triangle I wanted. I chose to use a size 8 needle so that I could get more wingspan, which worked out very well. The other option was to use the same size needle as for the knitting, and then the result should be a longer, truer triangle shape.

Notes: As some readers have commented in WIP posts, this is a good pattern for a variegated yarn, as there are some stitch pattern variations, but no lace or cabling to get lost in the color changes. I like the drape and lightness of the supersock fabric, but golly jeepers, that made it a big project. If I were to ever knit this pattern again, it would be with a multi-colored DK or worsted weight yarn. I really only see myself making this again if I were to have such a yarn, and not enough of it for a sweater. In fingering yarn, this was 47,600 stitches, in worsted weight only 17,800 (67,900 in lace weight!). All in all, it was a long, easy knit. I'm glad I knit it; it stays on my shoulders without falling. I love the colors and the fabric, but I'm ready for more of a challenge.

I did it. Finally.

2007-02-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

I finally successfully "Kitchenered" the toe of a sock (you thought I was going to talk about the Landscape shawl--that's waiting for a nice daylight photo-op). I have grafted the toes before, but have usually ended up with some loop I can't do anything with except hide on the inside. There was also the time I ended up with a beautiful row of purl bumps (3 attempts), when I swear I was doing stockinette grafting. This time I was determined to get it right. I went to the Knitty Kitchener tutorial and followed the big pictures for every stitch. The test subject was the first Fleece Artist Merino Parrot sock.

Before

After

The result isn't perfect, mostly because I kept fussing with it, but it is grafted with no extra loops (or knots!), and the grafting is stockinette. Mission accomplished.

I usually don't graft because I do a variety of pointed toes that I have learned from several of Nancy Bush's excellent sock patterns. I intended that with these socks, but I knit the foot rather longer than I planned, so it was graft the toe or rip back. I have pointy feet so a pointed toe is a good choice. I also generally choose a square or Dutch heel because my heel is pretty square shaped. While the rest of me is all curves, my feet chose to be all angles.

I am eager to start my pink sweater, however, M's parents are visiting us this weekend en route to a 10-day cruise among the Hawaiian Islands (retirement is a real killer). I need to dust, tidy, and bake a chocolate cake. This is a recipe to die for. It is very easy, and sensationally delicious. The only drawback is the requirement for 2 10-inch cake pans (no cake pan sizes are not easily interchangeable). M's Dad has lost most of his sense of taste, but he can still taste chocolate, so chocolate he will get! However, this limits my knitting time. I think I shall concentrate on my socks and other UFOs, and I'll cast on for the sweater next week. I also have a lot of swatching for learning purposes and my periwinkle sweater to contemplate. So much to knit!

Well, it is time here to watch House and then Boston Legal and do a little sock knitting.

Off. The. Needles.

2007-02-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

It's not blocked yet (tomorrow), or the few ends woven in, but the Landscape Shawl is bound off!!! 47,600 stitches. Bound off!

Thanks to everyone who left such encouraging comments concerning this shawl! I hope to coerce M in to helping with a photo shoot after it is blocked.

Now, it's time for one of these:

Blinker Cocktail

I hope you had a good weekend!

Pink

2007-02-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

Only recently have I become aware that pink causes controversy among knitters. Pink's a love it or leave it color. One meme that made its way around asked a simple question: red or pink? I thought both. But most people had a definite preference. Red is red and pink is pink, and never the twain shall meet. I admit that I am not much for the two hues together, a little too Valentine, but separately, I love them both. In fact, my wedding dress was pink. I have blue skin undertones, therefore pink makes me look healthy and awake, so I am always open to a new pink garment.

A few weeks ago while browsing Webs, I found a steal of a deal on a bulky yarn that came in a lovely shade of icy pink. The yarn even came with a free pattern for a wide V-neck raglan sweater, just the sort of sweater I could use to showcase some of my beaded jewelry. I couldn't resist.

Valley Yarns Sherburne in icy pink and Cascade Yarns Baby Grand Alpaca in fuschia.

I couldn't help but add a few skeins of the baby alpaca for a scarf. If the chunky alpaca doesn't get too fluffy, I will try it in a brioche cable scarf from the Winter 2006 Twists and Turns.

As soon as the yarn arrived I swatched for the sweater, and unlike my usual tendency, I had to go up rather than down a needle size.

I'll be knitting on size 10.5 needles! Fast knit! Yay! As soon as the Landscape Shawl is blocking, the icy pink is on the needles.

To stay with the pink theme, I'm trying a new author for some very light reading, The Secret of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig. This is Willig's debut novel, which reviews have described as a swashbuckling, romantic romp. The story takes place both in present day and during the early 19th century. The present day heroine, Eloise Kelly, is a history graduate student researching British aristocratic spies during the Napoleonic Wars such as the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Purple Gentian, and the Pink Carnation, the most secret of the flower spies. The present day part of the story is in first person with self-deprecating humor and a chatty tone. When she starts to make some progress in her research, the story switches to third person in 1803 London. I'm not any farther than this first switch, but I am pretty sure the story goes back and forth. There is a lot of witty repartee between the characters. It is a fun story so far. There aren't going to be any insights into the human condition or humanity's place in the cosmos, but it's a nice bit of leaven during a rainy February.

Well, the Landscape Shawl is hollering at me from the knitting basket, best get to it.

Happy Knitting!

Green

2007-02-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

It's all Landscape Shawl all the time here at Molecular Knitting. Well, there's a little work on the FA parrot socks, too. I'm almost done with the first sock! Here it is relaxing on our faux black mink throw.

Progress on the Landscape Shawl is up to 67%. Two-thirds done! It was only a little over a week ago that I had just started the moss stitch chevron. Now I am into the final stitch pattern of reverse stockinette. Because each row is one stitch greater than the previous row, I can calculate my percentage completed after each row with the formula:

R/2 x (R+1)= S
S/T x 100= percent completed
Where R=last completed row #; S= # stitches knit; T=total stitches in completed shawl (can be calculated with the first formula, using the total number of rows in the shawl for R). This does assume that you started with one stitch in row 1, so it works well for triangles. I cast on three stitches to begin, but I figure the two extra stitches won't change any percentage value considering the entire shawl is 47,600 stitches.

All the green of the Parrot yarn in the socks, and the Green Mountain Madness of the shawl led me to determine what color green I am.

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you.
Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible.
While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks.
Your warm personality nicely counteracts any strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

Hmm...I haven't done the 6 Weird Things About Me meme, but perhaps I should.

Now I must get ready for my weekly phone call with Mom. She lives in Wisconsin. This afternoon it was 3 degrees in Oshkosh, WI (Farenheit) and 63 degrees here in Davis, CA. We also have daffodils and almond trees in bloom. I think I'll lead with the weather.

Happy Knitting!

Turquoise

2007-02-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

I'll get to the turquoise in a moment. This weekend Karen arrived and approved her mitts, and she requested another pair. I showed her both my fingering weight screaming red mitts and the chunky baby alpaca mitts I made last summer. She really liked the alpaca, so I gave them to her also. I know she will wear both pairs, as she wore them while visiting us. In addition, I know she will take good care of them, because when I mentioned that they shouldn't be washed in the machine, she answered, "Of course, not! They're made of wool and fine fibers." Did I plan to take a photo of Karen in her mitts? Yes. Did I remember to do so? No. Did I take my camera with us on Saturday when Karen, M and I went wine tasting (they tasted, I drove) in the Sierra Nevada Foothills in the glorious sunshine? No. Am I a complete goofball blogger? Quite possibly.

Karen offered to pay for the mitts, but I declined. I knew M wouldn't want her to pay, and I was pleased she was very pleased with the mitts. After she left this afternoon, M took me to the LYS and paid for my purchases. I needed a size 10.5 32-inch circular needle (why in a later post), and I chose Addi Turbos, and I also bought 5 balls of beautiful turquoise cotton.

Since I have decided to give the Sea Silk berry scarf with the wide border I am knitting from Victorian Lace Today to my grandmother, I decided that I wanted to make a different wide bordered scarf for myself. And, since it is usually blazingly hot here, I thought glossy "baumwolle-cable" would be more wearable than wool or silk. The yarn came in several lovely colors, but I really liked this light turquoise. It reminded me of a shop clerk in London, who, when I said the yarn in a particular sweater was a lovely turquoise (TURkoise), said, "turKWAAHHZ, love, turKWAAHHZ." I am about half done with the scarf for my grandmother, and then I'll start my turKWAAHHZ scarf for myself.

But now it's back to the Landscape Shawl.

See those two red marker next to each other? They signify the start of the final stitch pattern, reverse stockinette (a real tough stitch pattern there). I am 63% done! This is much more exciting than it looks and sounds. My in-laws are visiting the weekend of February 16th on their way from Illinois to Hawaii. Do you think I can have the shawl done and blocked by then? It's a goal.

I hope you had a good weekend!

The Antidote to Punky

2007-01-31T19:36:00.000-08:00

Punky was the word the doctor used to describe how I've been feeling; I wasn't so polite. Her antidote is lots of liquids, especially unsweetened cranberry juice, and a 10-day course of cephalosporins (10 days, that's Punky with a capital P!). My antidote is much more colorful and fun.

Fleece Artist Merino in Parrot

What do you knit when you need something easy and cheerful (and you don't have your husband around to do swift duty with the STR yarn)? Fleece Artist Merino socks in an easy (4x4) rib with an Eye of the Patridge heel flap. This photo is pretty punky, and really doesn't show the vivacity of the colors, but FA merino is perfectly dyed for the Eye of the Partridge heel flap. I've said that before (also with a punky photo), and I'm sure I'll say it again. There is nothing better than knitting a cheerful sock when the microbiological world wreaks its havoc within one's person.

And when the fingers need a little rest there is always a good mystery to pick up and enjoy.

This is the third Masie Dobbs mystery. This is a series that really benefits from being read in order. The first book is Masie Dobbs and the second is Bird's of a Feather. Masie is a psychologist/investigator in post-WWI London. She served as a nurse in France during the war. The stories are very well written, and the character of Masie is pretty engaging. The pace is a little slow and methodical, but since Masie takes "inquiries" that have a psychological bent, the pace fits the stories. Sometimes Masie seems too perfect to be real, but then she is supposed to be something of a genius at psychology and empathy, so that isn't a major criticism. She's a pretty good antidote to punky.

As soon as I am feeling better, it will be back to finishing the Landscape Shawl and swatching for the periwinkle pullover. And when I am feeling miraculously good, I'll get that final gingerbread cable sock done.

Happy Knitting!

Where Sweater Envy Leads

2007-01-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that everyone, everyone is knitting a super cool, gorgeous, must-wear it sweater. The Central Park Hoodie is very popular right now. Brigitte knit a CPH in a stunning pink. Margaux is almost done in a lovely grey Skye Tweed. Have I mentioned I love pink and grey? And Fearless Cara's will be beautiful now that she knows how to cut open a mis-crossed cable and re-do the cross. Now I don't actually want a CPH, but I do want a sweater. Faithful readers will recall that I have over a mile of Lamb's Pride Worsted in Periwinkle (I should send it to Grumperina, but I'm afraid of repercussions). I want to knit a pullover and preferably one with cables. When I saw that Julia's friend had knit the Marseilles Pullover from IK Summer 2006 in an aran weight yarn, I knew what I wanted to do for a first swatch.

1x4 Ribbing! WooHoo! Color is really periwinkle!

OK, so 1x4 ribbing isn't cably excitement, but it is the gauge swatch for the Marseilles Pullover. And the gauge is all off, but I must do the math to see if I could make it possible. I would also try the cable motif. The cables look hard to me, but then I've lately been choosing projects that I thought were my skill level and I have been bored to tears. It's time to up the ante. I like the LP worsted in the 1x4, although I really should put the yarn I ripped in a skein and get it wet to work out all the little kinks (the sweater back was knit for a couple of years before I ripped a few weeks ago).

I have several other swatches in mind to knit for a cabled sweater of my own design, but I thought I would start here. Green may be the official color of generic envy, but sweater envy is obviously periwinkle.

I must now be good and knit on an official WIP.

Happy Knitting!

Finally, a FO!

2007-01-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

This weekend has not been the most conducive to knitting. I spent yesterday with a couple of friends attending a diocesan congress on the Liturgy of the Word. It was very good, but it cut out some knitting time. Nevertheless, I do finally have a FO for 2007.

Mitts for Karen in LL Swirl DK Purple Club

Karen arrives on Friday, so I wanted these done in time. They are not a big project, but they are a complete project, and I did manage to adjust the pattern from bulky to DK weight yarn. I will see on Friday if Karen will consent to a modeling shot for the blog. I didn't put them on my hands, as I was recently told that I certainly didn't have a "model's hands." Don't you just love nice, elderly ladies who feel free to speak their minds? As M is fond of saying, age often thins the filter, and the thought cloud is spoken.

Also cutting into my knitting time is my need to finish this:

The fourth Matthew Bartholomew Chronicle

Deadly Brew is the fourth book in this mystery series. They are very good both in terms of writing and mystery. The series takes place in Cambridge starting in 1348, the year the Plague arrives in England. In the first book, A Plague on Both Your Houses someone feels that they can slip a body in with all the plague dead and get away with murder. Physician and University Fellow Matthew Bartholomew, though, sees through the sinister plot and ensures that justice is done. I highly recommend the series to any who enjoy medieval or historical mysteries.

Tonight, I hope to cajole my swift, none other than M, to hold some yarn for winding into balls. He has agreed to help, the question now is how many skeins?

Happy Knitting!

Sock Futures Rock!

2007-01-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

After hearing about all the banking angst Blue Moon Fiber Arts went through, I decided to do a little shopping there, especially since I have never knit socks with Socks that Rock yarn. Shocking, I know. I was delighted to find a color scheme that reminded me of my new blueberry tea-for-one.

Socks that Rock in Nodding Violet and Henpecked.

The Nodding Violet doesn't have any white, but I think the blue-violets and greens are a great match. Yay! The Henpecked results from blog envy. I saw Kristi's marvelous wool/silk fiber from BMFA in Henpecked, and I had to have the color. Now I do. The only question is which one to knit first. I think I may reward myself by knitting a pair of these socks right away to help drive away sock ennui. I think these yarns deserve a whole skein shot.

In further knitting news, the Landscape Shawl is now over 50% complete! To celebrate here is a close up of the moss stitch chevron.

In 24 more rows I get to start the final chevron in reversed stockinette. I know I have complained a lot about how boring this shawl is to knit, but the CTH yarn is really working out nicely. Alison left me such a nice comment about the LS that I felt very encouraged to continue. She is knitting up an amazing Hidcote. You should go check it out.

Happy Knitting!

This and That

2007-01-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling rather antsy. It's January 24th, and I don't have a FO for 2007! The knitting has thwarted every attempt at completion, but I have a deadline on the horizon, so a FO must be born. Karen is arriving a week earlier than I thought she would be, so I need to finish her mitts. Good thing: mitts are small. Bad thing: I didn't write anything down when I made the first mitt. Why didn't I write it down? I have no idea. Before this, I would have said it was inconceivable that I wouldn't write down how I had modified a pattern to work with DK rather than chunky weight yarn. Apparently, I don't know what "inconceivable" means, because I didn't write it down. So, now I have to figure it out again by counting everything on the first mitt. Sometimes I really annoy myself.

All other knitting progress is added length. The Landscape Shawl is now 49% completed. It is beautiful but oh-so-boring to knit. I want it done. Bad. The Sea Silk berry scarf from VLT is about 14 inches long. It is lovely, but a total snoozer to knit. I have decided to give it to my Grandma Adeline who needs a new scarf. She is at best five feet tall, so a 48-inch scarf works very well for her. That would be far too short for me, and I don't have it in me to make it longer.

I want to knit lace socks, like Grumperina's Roza's Socks, Sundara's petal's collection Lenten Rose socks, and Child's First Sock from Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. I want to knit more complicated lace scarves and shawls from Victorian Lace Today in pretty spring-like, feminine colors. I want to knit nifty cables into sweaters. I've decided that I have to finish the Landscape Shawl, the Gingerbread cable socks, Grandma's scarf, and the mitts. Then all other bets are off. The Aran Pocket Shawl, the Jaywalkers in the Trekking Yarn (my friend Elsie, who is a sock knitting fiend, has had bad laundry and yarn breakage problems with her Trekking socks, and I find the yarn pretty scratchy), they may be put on hold until I think about Fall again.

Today we put to use a little helper that arrived at Molecular Knitting yesterday.

M and I are very pleased. Scooba is such a good little worker. The water in the dirty water tank was really dirty, and it is hard at work on a second run tonight while I blog and knit. Now, if it only did windows...

Happy Knitting!

More Plans than Progress

2007-01-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

Due to errant, painful sinuses, a busy social schedule, and a misbehaving sock, I didn't have a big weekend in terms of knitting progress. While the gingerbread cable sock sat in time-out until Sunday evening (all is back now on track with it), I did restart the ice cream sundae socks on smaller needles in a broken, lightly twisted 2x2 rib, and I finished the first border of the berry sea silk scarf from Victorian Lace Today (page 80 "scarf with wide striped border").

I did have some time to do some planning, thinking and perusing. I had asked for suggestions for a sweater pattern to knit using Lamb's Pride worsted, and I looked up all the suggestions. Thanks to everyone who answered my questions! Rogue and Samus were my two favorite choices, but Rogue seemed a bit beyond my current abilities, and Samus, although very beautiful with its wide horizontal celtic braid, would put that braid right where I wouldn't want it. I generally try to pretend that my hips do not exist, and the horizontal braid of Samus would destroy that self-delusion. Several people assured me I could design my own if I chose a drop shoulder style, and I think they may be right. I also remembered a pattern from Knitters (Fall 2001) that I liked.

And then I started perusing some of my stitch pattern books, which leaves me with some serious swatching to do.

It would be nice if I could fit some swatches in among my other knitting, so that when I get the Landscape Shawl done, I could be ready for the sweater. I'd cross my fingers that this will all work out, but I don't know how to knit with my fingers crossed.

So, I have a bit of a plan. Now it's time for some more progress. Happy Knitting!

The Good and the Bad

2007-01-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

The good news is that I have one mitt done of the pair for Karen. I successfully adapted the pattern from chunky to DK weight yarn.

The bad news:

I had a "little" sock knitting mishap.

Note to self: don't knit with a headache.

At least I found all 60 stitches after ripping a third of the gusset and the entire heel (I mis-centered the heel flap by 3 stitches--quite noticeable in a cable-rib pattern, at least noticeable after knitting the entire heel and a third of the gusset).

I'm going to bed.

In the words of the immortal Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day."

Questions

2007-01-17T19:25:00.000-08:00

While thinking of various projects and possibilities, I have come up with some questions for which I have no answers. As I puzzled and puzzed about who could help me, I thought to ask you, my readers, if any of you have the answers. So, here are my questions, and if you know an answer or have an idea, please leave a comment. Thanks!

Question 1: Can a felted piece of knitting be cut with a scissors into pieces without unraveling? Could I knit a big rectangle, felt it to its felting limit, and then cut it like I would a piece of fabric before sewing? I would think this is possible, but I am unsure. I really, really want this to be possible.

Question 2: M gave me this lovely tea-for-one with blueberries on it.

As I was drinking herbal blueberry tea from it (yeah, yeah, nauseatingly cute, deal with it) yesterday evening while knitting the second gingerbread cable sock, I thought how much I would like a sock yarn with the colors in my tea-for-one. I don't know of any company that makes a blue-white-green variegated sock yarn. Do you?

Question 3: You may remember from the official 2007 Molecular Knitting State of the Stash post that I have over 2000 yards of Lamb's Pride worsted in Periwinkle. I want to knit a sweater with it, most likely cabled, and I am on the search for patterns. Many that I have found use either a regular worsted or a bulky weight yarn, and swatching has yielded unfavorable results. Why can't I find any patterns in a heavy worsted/aran weight? Where are they? Please, please, let me know! I don't want to have to try to knit Victorian Lace Today in heavy worsted. I also don't yet feel up to designing a whole sweater (I've only knit 2: a patterned gansey-like sweater and a cable-rib cardigan).

These are my current questions. If you have an answer, please let me know! Tomorrow: one mitt down, one to go.

Victorian Lace Cast-on and a Sock's Disgust

2007-01-16T18:55:00.000-08:00

Last night I taught myself the crochet cast-on and started the first striped, wide border of the "Scarf with wide striped border" from Victorian Lace Today. I knit two repeats before I needed to switch to more mindless knitting so M and I could watch Inside Man on DVD (I really liked the movie BTW).

I started with the specified size 7 needles; the yarn is Sea Silk in Berry. The Sea Silk is working pretty well for me on these Clover bamboo needles. Grumperina found Sea Silk sticky and used addi turbos, and others have found it slick and used bamboo. Well, it's neither sticky nor slick to me. I don't remember who the slick-finding people are, but I wonder if it is all climate based. It's dry here but not arid dry. However, I am wondering if I should use size 6 needles instead. I've decided to finish this first border before making a conclusion. Any readers opinions are quite welcome!

All this Victorian lace knitting has made the Gingerbread Cable Sock quite peeved. When I said I planned to make its mate my exclusive sock knitting project, it thought I meant exclusive knitting project period. It was very annoyed to find me with the VLT scarf and knitting on the Landscape Shawl (that I can knit while watching a movie). I have passed the 200-stitch row on the LS, so now that seems all down hill as 308 is the number of stitches in the final row before binding off (even though I'm only 44% done).

I did make, what I thought, was significant progress on the second GCS. Here you can see the first sock checking out my progress (8 repeats of 11 done in the cuff).

The GCS was so disgruntled that I was going to work on the LS, that I decided it couldn't stay in my open sock knitting basket. Rather, it needed a "time-out" in my sock travel bag. Here it is trying to get out before I could zip the bag closed.

I really like the bag. It's from Target (purchased many moons ago), and it is really a make-up bag. But for sock knitting, it's perfect. The length is exactly right for my dpns, and they fit in the pocketed top compartment quite nicely.

Finally, I got the bag all zipped up and the GCS into time out.

Perhaps this evening I could take it out and finish the cuff, if it behaves.

The State of the Stash

2007-01-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

Wendy and her friend L-B have christened 2007 the year of "Knitting from Stash." They have set up some very flexible ground rules, and they have invited anyone who wishes to thin out their own stash to join them. I won't officially join the Knitting from Stash movement, because unlike Wendy, who writes about a "stash room," I have a stash tupperware crate. But in the interests of record keeping, and because it is an article of the Molecular Knitting Constitution, I present, The State of the Stash. Don't laugh.

Since sock yarn doesn't count toward Wendy and L-B's stashes, I won't show you that. Instead, let us survey the yarns I have purchased with lace in mind. I took this photo in natural light, and I thought my camera was set for that, but all the reds/fuschias are WRONG. But, anyway, it's dark now, so we shall make do.

The green, conspicuous by being the only yarn not red, purple or blue, is Sea Silk in Sunlit Glade. That was a special color in a kit from Colorsong Yarn. I have 2 skeins of it and no intention of actually knitting the pattern from the kit, I just liked the color. Above is Frog Tree fingering weight suri alpaca in bright red, which I bought because I am a sucker for red yarn. I have about 1000 yds. Nestled next to it is a cake of Jaegerspun Zephyr in Admiral (1100 yds) and a skein of Schaefer Anne in Blue Violets (560 yds). The big Merino Lace skein in the middle is actually fuschia in color and not red (1000 yds). Next to it are two skeins of Knitpicks Shimmer in Happy Dance and Morning Fog (5 skeins total--I can knit a shawl for California) and a skein of Knitpicks Shadow in Vineyard. The ball at the bottom is Sea Silk in Berry. I think we can safely say that I am primed to knit lace. I've told myself that I have to start a lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today this week, as I joined the VLT KAL when it first started. The berry Sea Silk is heading for the needles! I mean that, really.

For yarns that I have in sweater amount quantities, you may start to see a color theme in my yarn purchaing.

Upper left is Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Cardinal, a Christmas gift, so it must get knit up this year. It is for a seed stitch jacket that I may start to knit as soon as I finish the Landscape Shawl. All WIPs and no FOs makes Brenda an anxious knitter. To the right of that is a skein of Cascade 220 for a brocade jacket that very faithful readers may remember me mentioning back in the dawn of time (the color is better in the link back). Next is the evil Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Cottonball that completely failed to maintain gauge back in November. All is now frogged. And on the delicate subject of frogging, the Lamb's Pride Bulky in Raspberry and Worsted in Periwinkle saw significant frogging today. Gone are two sweater backs and one front. I have about 2000 yds of each, so I'm thinking big and probably cables, but I haven't gotten any farther than that. I love the raspberry color, it's such a deep red. Finally, I found 1400 yds of Bryspun Kid 'n' Ewe, which I bought about 5 years ago cause I liked it. I need a project for it. It really is a lovely dark red-purple that looks like total garbage in the photo (sigh).

There are a few single skeins in my stash and a couple of specialty yarns I've shown you earlier, but otherwise, the above is pretty much it. I look best in cooler rather than warmer colors, but I think I may be a little heavy into the red-blue-purple yarn. I may need to buy some pale yellow yarn as an antidote. No, I won't be limiting myself to just stash, but I will be knitting a lot of red.

First WIPs of 2007

2007-01-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

2006 was my most knittingest year so far. I completed 14 projects, including one sweater. However, not everything I started in 2006 I finished, and I am carrying some things over. As I have a lot of knitting I want to do this year, I have been knitting furiously the last several days to turn some of these WIPs into FOs.

First, I have made it to the moss stitch chevron of the Landscape shawl. 37% done! I really like how the yarn variegation looks in the different stitches. At the very top, you can see the green stitch marker sticking up indicating the start of the moss stitch chevron. I'm on row 188, and on row 244, I get to start the final chevron of reverse stockinette. When I get to row 308 I get to bind off.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had to wear store bought grey socks earlier this week, and I think my lone gingerbread cable sock noticed. I decided I better get its mate started before it rose up in rebellion. I really, really like how this cable pattern is working out on the socks. I will have to use it again.

I would have finished this pair much earlier, but I am using metal needles and I didn't want to risk having them taken away by airport security when M and I traveled over the holidays. So, over the holidays, I started a pair of Jaywalkers in Trekking XXL (color 159) on my new 6-inch Crystal Palace bamboo double points. I love these needles!! They are by far my dpn favorites: slick, pointy and warm to hold. The sock isn't bad either, but it will have to wait for the gingerbread cable sock.

Finally, I am knitting a pair of mitts for Michael's college friend Karen, who with another friend, will be coming out to California from Chicago to visit us next month. Karen saw my screaming red mitts on the blog and wanted a pair in blues and purples. M promised her a very soft, warm pair of mitts and totally vetoed! fingering weight yarn, which the fine cabled mitt pattern calls for. I was a bit disgruntled at first until I realized I needed to go to my LYS, and then I perked right up. I found a skein of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb Swirl DK in purple club. The merino/silk blend is really soft, and the DK weight should make a warm pair of mitts. My only problem was a complete lack of pattern. I am adapting the twisted cable mitts pattern I used in a chunky weight alpaca on the fly. So far, it seems to be working.

Once these become FOs, there's a second sock to knit for my mom, a new scarf for my Grandma Adeline (she confessed over Christmas that she lost the scarf I knit her a couple years ago, which she loved), the Aran Pocket Shawl, a scarf for the Victorian Lace Today KAL, the ice cream sundae socks...Why am I still blogging? Back to knitting!

Alice Starmore and Citrus

2007-01-08T19:07:00.000-08:00

First up, if you have always wanted a like-new copy of Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting, I am selling my copy through my parents on ebay. They are mingmags37, and the auction ends Thursday at 10 pm PDT. I bought the book new, looked at it a few times, and that's pretty much it. Just thought you might like to know.

Second, Sunday afternoon was glorious here in Molecular Knitting's little corner of California. I took myself outside for a tromp around the neighborhood to admire all the citrus trees heavy with ripe fruit.

Grapefruit tree

Lemons! Sidecar anyone?

Fabulous oranges

Many people don't pick the fruit from their trees, which I think is a shame. I was very tempted to knock on a couple of neighbor's doors and ask if they wanted to fork over a dozen or two lemons, but I feared that would be considered too rude. So, I just coveted them.

After my walk, I put in some heavy knitting on the Landscape shawl. 34% done! 4 rows from starting the next chevron, which is moss stitch. Once I get my chuck roast braising in the oven this evening (I'm still rendering some bacon to brown the roast in the bacon fat--evil, but oh, so yummy), I'll get to that next chevron (and pretend the Christmas tree still isn't up). So pictures of progress soon. I was very relieved to make the 34% mark with some of my first of three balls of yarn left. I bought what should be 200 extra yards, but the first ball seemed to be shrinking fast and I was stuck in the 20 -something percentage-complete for a long time.

Did you see the letter Trek's black sweater vest sent her? I hope my gingerbread cable sock didn't see it, or I think it may get some epistolary ideas of its own. It's been a single sock for a long time. I even had to wear grey store bought socks today, and I think it noticed. I know the Harlot's UFOs have also occasionally written her. I hope no one reads our UFOs, A Tale of Two Cities, or they may start a revolution. I'll have to get to its mate soon.

All About R

2007-01-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

I took Cara up on her offer to assign letters for the new meme journeying around the blogosphere. She gave me R. So here are 10 things, ideas, themes, theories that pertain to me that start with R.

1. READING Compared to today's children, I was a late reader. I started first grade two months before my seventh birthday, and I couldn't really read. By the end of third grade, I had finished eighth grade spelling and reading. I started a little late, but I was primed and took flight. I can't imagine life without reading. In addition to all the science reading I do, I read fiction, non-fiction, poetry, blogs, newspapers, food labels, you name it. Usually, I read between 50-70 books in a year. Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion are my two favorite novels, but I am also a big fan of the hard-boiled detective mysteries of Raymond Chandler featuring Philip Marlowe. Currently, I am reading several historical series of mysteries including Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles (14th century Cambridge) and the Sugawara Akitada mysteries set in 12th century Japan by I.J. Parker. I am also reading my way through Freya Stark's travel memoirs through the Middle East in the 1930s. My father was an American Literature professor and my mother a high school English teacher, and I have always received books for birthday and Christmas presents. I wouldn't have it any other way.

2. RED Red is best. My sofa is red. I always carry a red purse and wallet. I prefer red wine to white. I tried to eat vegetarian during Lent one year; I ate lots of protein, but I still ended up dreaming of red meat. In my stash, I have red alpaca sport weight to make a cabled scarf, red fingering weight suri alpaca for a shawl, red worsted weight wool/alpaca blend to knit a jacket, dark red bulky weight to knit a sweater, and berry sea silk for a lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today (we won't go into the sock yarn). In high school a snotty male classmate criticized me for wearing red lipstick one day. "Smart girls shouldn't wear red lipstick," he said. I wore red lipstick almost everyday of high school after that. Whenever I wear red, I am guaranteed that someone will tell me that "red is my color." Indeed.

3. RASPBERRIES Perfect fruit. Perfect flavor, texture, shape, juciness, and of course, color. Raspberries are served for breakfast in heaven. Need I say more?

4. RESEARCH We all do research to a certain extent in our lives. We gather and analyze information even when buying toothpaste. We live in an information age. But I get paid to do research. Biochemistry, molecular biology, DNA, proteins, genomes sort of research. I grow cells, isolate DNA molecules and proteins and then mix them together in various combinations under multitudes of conditions, and then I meticulously record what happens. I repeat and repeat experiments until my data are statistically significant. I write my findings up into scientific manuscripts which get published after peer review. I love it.

5. RELAXATION When it comes to relaxation, I flunk. I'm good at doing nothing, but not in a relaxed manner. A couple of years ago my quotidian battle with anxiety got bad enough that I needed pharmaceutical intervention for a while. A couple of weeks after starting the medication while M and I were out grocery shopping together, I noticed that I felt very strange: sort of limp and floppy. However, all my muscles worked just fine. I wondered if I needed to go to the ER. I puzzled and puzzed til my puzzler was sore (ala the Grinch) and then I thought of something I hadn't before. I was actually relaxed. M is the one who helped me reach this conclusion. I was pretty embarrassed; he thought it was hilarious. Now I work pretty regularily to be relaxed. How screwed up is that?

6. RUSSIAN I minored in Russian in college. I took Russian to see if it was hard (German in high school was too easy). Russian was easy too, until I started reading true Russian literature. I don't understand Russian literature at all. I could translate the words and sentences just fine. But what does it mean when a nose is found in a loaf of bread, and then later in the day is seen walking down the street dressed in clothes? I'm stumped. The Nose is a short story by Gogol.

7. RAIN Here in the Central Valley of California, it doesn't rain during the summer. Not a drop. Sun, sun, sun from sometime in April until late October at least. Then it's rain, rain, rain in December and January. I used to love rain when I lived in the Midwest and it rained every several days through out the year. Now I pine for rain in the summer (and thunderstorms!) and loath it in the winter. I clearly have rain issues.

8. ROUND Round is probably the best adjective to describe me in so many ways. My face is round and has full cheeks; my body is round like a bosc pear. People have complimented me on being well-rounded intellectually. When I am anxious my mind races round and round in frantic analytical circles. My favorite Christmas tree ornaments are round balls. Green peas are my favorite vegetable. I haven't yet been around the world though. Someday.

9. RISK Anxiety keeps me from being a big risk taker. The fear of devastating failure keeps me pretty prudent. But that is why I like knitting and beading so much. I can always rip, frog, unstring, unweave with usually little risk. It's like a get out of jail free card or being able to beat entropy. As I've grown older I can take more substantive risks without fear, but you won't find me operating M's table saw if I can help it.

10. ROSE The rose is a beautiful flower and I love so many of their attributes. The sweet spicy smell. The velvety petals arrayed in a perfect logarithmic spiral. The tight buds that slowly unfurl to the full blown flower. The funny thing is that the one color of rose I don't really like is red. Yellow roses, white roses, pink roses, all gorgeous. Red roses? Funeral flowers. Go figure.

Where to Go From Here?

2007-01-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

M and I returned yesterday to California from visting family in Illinois and Wisconsin. Today I wondered how to get back into the blog. Recap the vacation? Show the holiday knitting loot? Sum up the year in knitting? Look forward to 2007? What to do? What to do? So, here is a bit of everything.

First, I did almost NO knitting over the vacation. I was very tired on the flights to the Midwest (through LAX not Denver, thank God), and so I slept. I did finish the screaming red mitts at my in-laws.

The fit is great. I did mess with the pattern a little. I used less repeats of the cables as my fingers are short, and I reversed the cable on the left mitt for symmetry. I'm not into the whole symmetry in socks gig, but I thought I would give it a whirl in the mitts. I plan to knit more! Actually, Anne at Knitspot, where I bought the pattern, has made a lovely lace pair of mitts that I saw today, and as soon as she makes the pattern available, I'll be snatching it up. Anne designs a nice thumb gusset, I must say.

I also started my first foray into the Jaywalker sock pattern from Grumperina. I didn't photograph it yet as I only have pretty nasty artificial light right now (as the mitt pic shows), but soon. I'm using some Trekking XXL, and I like the colors and the patterning, but I'm not enthralled with the yarn. It's a little scratchy and thin.

But on the subject of yarn, I must gloat: M proved himself the absolute best of husbands this Christmas by signing me up for the second sixth months of Sundara's Petals Collection. Yipee!

That's Lenten Rose with a lacy sock pattern. I'm so excited! Oh, and the little bauble? That's a sterling cuff from Thailand that he bought me through Novica (he picked it out completely on his own). And to answer a question I've heard often: he's NOT available. I get to keep him.

To finish the 2006 FO list, I finished the Grapevine scarf in Black Purl Shepherd's Sock.

This scarf was a learning experience. I could not memorize the 12 row pattern, possibly because I knit on it off and on and it was my first lace other than feather and fan. So, the knitting was a bit tedious. The colors were lovely though. I learned a new cast-on (backwards loop), which was elementary. I also used Eunny's IK tutorial on lace cast-ons and bind-offs and used the Lace or Russian bind-off. It was slow to do but easy and really quite fabulous in terms of strength and elasticity. The problem is that the lace curls. I did not include an edging. I knew I could have a problem with that, but I pretended all would work well. It's a stockinette lace, and it curls. Lesson learned.

I could rattle on longer, but M has almost finished cooking dinner (NOT available!), and I am famished.

Happy New Year! May everyone have a wonderful year of knitting!

Screaming Red Mitts and Ice Cream Sundae Socks

2006-12-17T17:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas Knitting. Check.
Christmas Beading. Check.
Christmas Shopping. Check.
Christmas Laundry (we travel). Check.
We fly Thursday! Must leave home by 5:30 a.m. to make flight! Ack!

M cut out a few of my Christmas beading gifts as too much (they were for his relatives). M's mom did not need handknit socks and beaded jewelry. He also suggested one piece for his sister for Christmas and the other I had designed for her March birthday. So, we did a little shopping at amazon for her. But now I am back to knitting and beading just for pleasure. No longer worrying about foot sizes vs sock sizes. No longer fretting that an elderly grandmother will find a necklace too heavy or not be able to manage a clasp. Now it's just deciding which sock yarn I want to knit first and how long I want to make a scarf.

In anticipation of flying and wanting small things to knit, as M is 6'4" tall and broad shouldered and I am invariably a little squished in my seat, I started a few small projects. First, my hands have been freezing, and the mitts I made earlier from chunky alpaca are too thick for other than reading (and sleeping!). I love Eunny's Endpaper Mitts, and I nearly swooned when I saw the lovely green/cream color combo that Diana of Streets and Yos knit up. However, I have never done stranded work before, and my hands are cold now. So, I went over to Knitspot and ordered Anne's pattern for Fine Cabled Mitts. I'll save the Endpaper Mitts for 2007 (my neighbor knits and has offered to teach me how to do stranded knitting, yay!). Unlike Anne, I did not have any cashmere sock yarn lying around, but I did have enough left over Wildfoote sock yarn in Jazz Time, or screaming red, as I like to think of it. I am almost done with the first mitt.

The pattern is pretty easy to follow and I really like how Anne designed the thumb gusset. I did make my usual cabling error of doing the second cable one row too early (cabling one row of a 6 row repeat means cabling every 7th row, not every 6th), but here it turns out to be fortuitous, as I have short fingers. There is no way I can do all 10 repeats of the cable pattern and not turn the mitt into a mitten (I had to do less repeats in the chunky alpaca mitts too), so cabling every 6th row instead of 7th lets me get more cables in. The nice thing about the Wildfoote is that it is machine washable. My gauge is looser than the pattern calls for (also contributing to needing a shorter mitt) by a little bit, but my hand width was just over the size max for the smaller mitt size, and the mitt seems to fit as great as it can with dpns sticking out all over.

I also started a new pair of socks, which I now think of as my ice cream sundae socks. The yarn is Fleece Artist Merino in the colorway dyed specifically for Simply Sock Yarn Company's first anniversary last June. The colors look to me like rich vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and raspberry sauce.

Looks tasty but a little dry.

The pattern is garter rib. I tried a few others that were more complicated, but they were too much with the huge color contrasts in the yarn. BTW, the sock is leaning up against my favorite mineral from my collection of minerals, which has long, cylindrical, hexagonal aquamarine crystals in it. That's a long non-gem quality aquamarine crystal to the left of the sock. This sock is so proud; I usually don't lean them up against something so pretty and valuable.

Last week while using an old scarf, I realized that I don't like to wrap a scarf all around my neck so both ends hang in the front. So I tried on the Grapevine scarf to see if I had knit enough if I didn't plan to do so much scarf wrapping, and I have. Tomorrow I hope to block! Photos will follow.

Now I have to go debate which sock yarns from my stash to take over our trip. We fly 2300 miles each way, and then we also have two 450 mile car trips between our parents' homes. I used to drive that and let M be passenger (let's just say he refers to me when he is driving as his "onboard navigation system" I'm a horrible backseat driver), but last year I had learned to knit socks, so M got to drive while I knit (which nicely cut down on the "navigation"). I think it's a wonderful tradition. I want to make a pair of Jaywalkers, as I am the only knitter on the planet who hasn't and I have some striping Trekking XXL, and Cookie's Monkey socks, which look fantastic. Now, which yarn for those...

Christmas FOs!

2006-12-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

First off, no one who I know reads this blog can accidentally see one of her gifts, so reading on cannot spoil any surprises.

Second, today we had 9 hours, 29 minutes of daylight; I spent 10 hours at work. The photos are on my work table, and therefore, functional, not scenic. I did use the tripod and my Ott light, so the colors aren't too bad. Therefore, on to the FOs! In order of completion:

Diagonal Rib Scarf in Misti Alpaca Chunky

M's dad gets the scarf. It was a weird one to block. The pattern, such as it is, was a free download from the Misti Alpaca site, and it said to pin the scarf out dry and then mist it with water (hence the name Misti Alpaca?). The ball band did specify that hand-washing in warm water was OK, so I was a bit perplexed by the whole dry pinning idea. However, I decided to try that first. Blocking wires proved essential to maintaining my sanity, but all worked out well. The pattern said from one skein of yarn to expect a 6" x 40" scarf. I got 6" x 45" without stretching lengthwise. M's dad is a tall man, so the extra 5" I managed to get is good.

Next up, we have beaded snowflakes, each is going to a different person.

These were very fun to design and a total bitch to make. The snowflake wire forms, were made of spring tempered steel. For those not overly conversant with metal tempers, the temper indicates how soft or hard the metal wire is. For example, you can't go to the hardware store and buy a spool of copper wire, wind it around a dowel and then use it as a spring, as soon as you push or pull on the ends of your "spring" it will collapse; it can't bounce back. Spring temper is tough to bend. I broke several forms trying to bend the loop at the end to keep the beads from falling off. It wouldn't have been so frustrating if the packaging hadn't shown children making snowflakes, and the instructions hadn't ended with "Have fun!" But these are done, I like them, and I think I have figured out how to transport them from California to the Midwest branches intact.

Finally, last night I finished the socks for M's grandmother.

The leg pattern is the 5-stitch repeat yarn-over cable from Sensational Knitted Socks, but I didn't want to make a toe up sock, which is what all the 5-st repeat socks are, I made up my own heel flap, heel turn and toe. I like the heel flap. It's a hybrid of carrying down the YO-cable into a 3x2 rib, except I slipped the middle stitch of the 3 knits on the right side, similar to the 3x3 slipped stitched rib in the 6-st repeat section of SKS.

Fleece Artist Merino in Renaissance

The color didn't pool too badly, and I somewhat liked the idea of a busy pattern in a yarn colorway named Renaissance. Simple lines do not appear to have been a Renaissance aesthetic. I hope they fit M's grandmother, who, I am told, has long narrow feet. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

As soon as I finished the socks, I cast on a new pair for myself. My grey marled gingerbread cable socks are going to have to wait until after the holidays for me to knit the second sock. I used metal needles on the first, and M compared my metal to bamboo size 1 needles, and they are not the same size. Since I am flying next week, I think it would be best to have all bamboo needles. I know I am supposed to be able to take metal needles, but last time I flew they took away my craft scissors with 1" blades, and up to a 4" blade is supposed to be acceptable. I need to get into the pattern I've picked for the new socks tonight, and then I hope to show them to you tomorrow.

Why Will Power is Bad

2006-12-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

I have been complimented on my perseverance and dedication, which I have always associated with will power. Will power is great when one has to do enough replicates of a tedious, demanding experiment to get statistically significant results. But when it comes to sock yarn, will power can be carried too far. Late last week, Elsie, knitting guru with no blog, told me that our favorite online sock yarn retailer now had Koigu KPPPM, and she had to have some. None of our LYS's carry Koigu (yes, it's very sad), and so we had never experienced the essence of Koigu. She told me this after handing me a sock and a skein of Claudia Handpaints in Walk in the Woods to fondle. I had to have some. So, we placed a "little" order. Today it arrived!

Claudia Handpaints in Walk in the Woods and Eat Veggies

And I couldn't resist another skein of Schaefer Anne, this time in Blue Violets.

Here's Elsie's Koigu KPPPM (P426); it's actually a little more purple than I could get it to photograph.

Do you think she would notice if I gave her this instead (which I thought was supposed to be blue with just a little brown)? This yarn is from a shall remain nameless vendor, who I have had hit-and-miss luck with.

Yeah, I think she'd notice. I better give her the Koigu.

Tomorrow, two FOs!

Let's do Lunch!

2006-12-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

The problem with knitting projects that are large triangles or rectangles is that progress shots aren't exactly a thrill. So, although I will talk about one of my projects, lets get to it through a small tour of the knitting blogosphere.

First, I am still playing with templates for this blog. I will probably try to design my own from scratch. With M's help that should be very doable. Right now this new green template doesn't make me as mad as the other template I was using. So, faithful readers may find a different looking blog from time to time. I also want to get a better picture of me, but that may prove more difficult than learning CSS code. I also found out from reading someone's blog today, that she finds blogger doesn't always leave the email address of commenters even when they leave an address. I didn't know this could happen. If you have left me comments and I haven't emailed you or commented on your blog, it's because I don't know how to contact you. Does anyone else have this problem? Is there something I can do to fix this?

When I was a kid, my mom would sometimes comment about a person that they would be "a good person to have lunch with." What she said she meant by that was she thought the person would be interesting to talk to, would make my mom think in new directions, would be a good and fun person to know. Lunch is a conversational meal, usually without alcohol or romantic overtones, so conversation, especially on topics of mutual interest but not necessarily getting to know all the facts of a person's life, is the key. I think many of the people whose blogs I read are people I would like to have lunch with. I've decided from time to time to write a little about my interaction with these people through their blog content and possible mutual commenting. I have been highly influenced in many creative and positive ways by knitting bloggers, and I feel the need to codify my appreciation.

Last post, I mentioned my quandry with the Grapevine Scarf. It's so pretty; it's annoying to knit. What to do? What to do? I wondered what Cara, who only knits what she loves, would do. And Cara told me. I don't know how she knows when I reference her blog (there is still a lot I'm learning about blogging); but she knows. She was my first commenter back in August! You never forget your first commenter. But anyway, she suggested that I try to get through the Grapevine Scarf for a bit by knitting 4 rows a day. I thought I could do that; it's only a scarf after all. I decided 4 pattern rows a day; purl rows hardly count (it's a scarf). So, last night, that's what I set out to do. But I did 6 pattern rows, which made a whole repeat. M was sitting next to me and he commented that the scarf was almost 30 inches long, and I said no, it wasn't even two feet yet. "Measure it," he said. 28.5 inches unblocked. Apparently, my almost supernatural ability to judge volumes does not extend to judging inches knit. This was a revelation! Each repeat is about 1.5 inches. If I could do two repeats a day for 10 days, the scarf would be long enough, and I could use it over the Christmas holidays in the Midwest where it is actually cold. I am motivated! Thanks to Cara's advice, I realized I was much nearer to finishing a beautiful scarf than I gave myself credit for. Now, if I only had her ability to take photos! If you have never followed her links to her nature photos, you are missing out. She has a very creative eye and really sees like a camera.

Although, I am not an official member of Eye Candy Friday, I don't have a digital SLR camera (yet), or Cara's super talented eye (notice how my horizon cuts right through the middle of my photo), I leave you with this picture of the California coast north of San Francisco (I've got two repeats to knit!). It's so beautiful it's hard to take a bad picture. This is at The Sea Ranch in late October right before sunset.

The best of times; the worst of times...

2006-12-05T20:57:00.000-08:00

It hasn't been the best of autumns here at Molecular Knitting, but then again, it hasn't been the worst of autumns either.

I am having to review what I learned from cognitive behavioral therapy, because my brain thought it would be fun to go back to its old way of thinking. Bad brain! Promotions at work are always a sign that one's world is coming to an end. That's logical. Bad brain! What really irks me though is that the CBT takes away from knitting time. I have explained to my brain that the status quo will be changing as I have far too many sweaters, socks, scarves, shawls, and other things that begin with the letter "s" to knit; too many earrings, bracelets, brooches, and necklaces to construct; too many different batches of cookies, pies, stews, soups, and pastas to cook; and far too many mystery novels, books of poetry, travel memoirs, and cultural/social histories to read to have my brain going on a depressive fritz. Don't worry. My brain and I are really rather attached to each other. We are just having one of our many little tugs-of-war. It goes in for some sneaky guerilla tactics that catch me off guard for a bit, but I seldom let myself stay down for long. I can be very tenacious, and my brain should know that. M is very supportive and helps me to see when my brain is indulging in cognitive distortions, its hobby.

So, to keep my brain from thinking it is so amazingly important that a depressive fritz is OK, let's talk about the knitting. And the knitting front looks pretty good. The Aran Pocket Shawl is five repeats long now. The directions specify 28 repeats to make the shawl 87 inches long. That seems pretty gosh darn long to me, so I'll be wrapping it around me when I get farther along to see how far I want to go.

I am also almost done with my last Christmas knit: socks for M's grandmother. I am to the heel flap of the second sock. I hope to knit on that a little this evening and then photograph it tomorrow morning in good light, as I like the heel flap I designed.

The Landscape shawl has taken a back seat to the Aran Pocket Shawl the past week, but I am 26% done with it. It isn't the most exciting thing to knit, but it is gorgeous, and the fingering weight yarn will work well here in California.

Other projects are on the back burner. I am in a bit of a quandry concerning the Grapevine Lace scarf. I love the look of the scarf in the Black Purl colorway. But I haven't been able to memorize the lace pattern, so it is pretty tedious to knit. The lace pattern is from the first Barbara Walker stitch treasury, and so it is a text only pattern. The wrong side rows are just purl, so I have put the patterned right side rows on their own 4x6 index cards and I just keep flipping the cards as I knit. I have been trying to memorize the pattern, but the lace is pretty blobby on the needles so it takes quite a bit of work to see the pattern. Right now, I am not loving this scarf, and I wonder what Cara would do in my position.

I also joined the Victoria Lace Today KAL and I have balled my skein of berry Sea Silk. I just have to cast on...

But today I have to prepare the bead room (also yarn room, there are just a lot more beads per unit area than yarn) for students! Tomorrow Natasha and Meghan (another grad student from lab) are coming to learn how to bead a spiral rope. I gave a spiral rope necklace to Natasha and now she and Meghan want to make their own.

detail of simple spiral rope stitch
I think the hardest part will be getting Natasha to pick out colors for her rope. I have a lot of different colors and finishes of seed beads, and I am sure she will want to see them all!

I leave you today with a picture of M's and my Christmas tree this year taken in the morning sunlight. I've been collecting glass ornaments for about 20 years; I love the sparkle.

Counting to 10

2006-12-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or is beta-blogger driving other people nuts? I think I am going to have to sit down with HTML, XHTML, & CSS and just figure out how to make my own template. I am not finding Beta-Blogger easier to use, and what looks like a nice page element in the edit template and layout sections, does not look nice on the actual blog. So, I apologize for the mess of the Works in Progress and Knitting Together buttons. Tomorrow I hope to have a new post with actual knitting content, for I have blocked the scarf for M's Dad (Thanks, Mom, for the blocking wires! They ROCK!), and I want to talk about what I think is a nice looking heel flap that I made up to go with a 5-stitch repeat based upon a K3P2 rib. But right now I am going to knit on my Aran Pocket Shawl and let the soothing knits and purls of a seed stitch basket weave take away my ire with Beta-Blogger.

I love seed stitch

2006-11-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

I love seed stitch in diamonds.

seed stitch diamond from my first sweater

I love seed stitch in mohair.

seed stitch edgings on my second sweater

I love seed stitch in handpainted yarn.

detail from seed stitch chevron of Landscape Shawl

But I love seed stitch in basket weave most of all.

Aran Pocket Shawl

This past weekend I was freezing (I hadn't yet realized the thermostat was set for 64), so after making chocolate chip cookies and losing my excuse to have the oven on, I felt I needed to knit with a substantial yarn. I was curious as to how the Aran Pocket Shawl from Folk Shawls would look in the Berroco Ultra Alpaca* I had. So I taught myself the cable cast-on (great and easy!), and gave the shawl chart a go. I've wanted to knit this shawl for a long time (because of the seed stitch), and I am really pleased how it looks in this yarn. Now I switch between the Landscape Shawl (great during TV) and the APS (great to take my mind off the day and relax). I'll just have to make sure my next shawl isn't green!

Speaking of Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle, Trek recently acquired a copy and is considering a KAL. So, if you would be interested, let her know.

*For those faithful readers who vaguely remember this yarn in the start of the Cambridge Jacket, well it's toast. I didn't get gauge well enough for it to be my first cap-sleeved sweater. But I like the yarn better in the shawl, so all is good.

New LYS! and a Sock of a Different Color

2006-11-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday my friend Nancy and I set up a beading afternoon, and we needed to go to our LBS, which is in a small complex of restaurants and shops built around a courtyard. At the entrance to the Courtyard stood a sign telling everyone to go up to the third floor to the new YS, Knitter's Playground. I had to go (Nancy is a soon-to-be knitter; after all she wasn't a beader until she met me either). So after the bead store we took a look. I didn't have my camera with me, but believe me when I say it was fabulous. The owner, Rebecca, was smart enough to specialize in yarns and knitting that wasn't being carried well at the other LYS. So she had a lot of sock yarn and LACE yarn. She has all the Fiddlesticks and Fiber Trends shawl and scarf patterns. Wanting to support her business venture, I made a little purchase.

Jaeggerspun Zephyr in Admiral
She also carries Fleece Artist (but not the sock yarn) and Hand Maiden Yarns. They are expecting a shipment of Sea Silk: every colorway, over 100 lbs of Sea Silk! I am psyched. She also carries all the Brown Sheep yarns, which are some of my favorites for sweaters.

Last time, I showed a sock WIP for Michael's grandma for Christmas. I was hoping I was knitting the right size. I was not. But no matter! Grandma has very narrow feet, and last July I knit a sock that I thought would fit my medium-wide foot, but the yarn over cable pattern made it too narrow. I can get it on, but the fabric is pretty stretched, so I think it will be perfect for a narrow foot (we are both size 8.5 luckily). So now I am over half finished.

The yarn is Fleece Artist Merino in Renaissance. I can't say enough good things about Fleece Artist Merino. It wears well, keeps its shape and colors, and is very soft and warm. Pooling is also limited in the medium size women's socks I've been knitting. At Simply Sock Yarn Company, Alison has procured FAM in some of the Hand Maiden colorways.

Next time, I hope to show a FO, which is waiting for blocking. Until then, happy knitting!

For Natasha: WIP Wednesday

2006-11-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

Late this afternoon in lab, Natasha came over to my desk, put her hands on her hips, and said, "You have not updated your blog in a week. I had a few minutes this afternoon, and I thought it would be fun to catch up on your blog, but there was nothing new. You need to post again."

I hear and obey. I'm 15 years older than Natasha and almost twice as big (she's very thin), but she's a graduate student in the final throes of her Ph. D. research. I know not to poke a cornered creature with a stick; I'll leave that to the full professors on her thesis committee. So, here are some WIPs for Natasha and you.

First up we have the Landscape shawl which is almost 130 stitches across (enroute to 308 stitces with one new stitch per row). I calculated that I'm about 17% done. And in the photo, you can see that I've just started the third chevron which is stockinette stitch. I was glad I counted right and the YO at the base of this section is in the middle of the seed stitch triangle.

Second, a new WIP, a Christmas WIP for M's Dad: a diagonal rib scarf in Misti Alpaca chunky:

M's Dad had major back surgery two weeks ago, and his very experienced surgeon said his Lumbar 5 vertebra was the weirdest he had ever seen. Apparently, it was missing a part. So, I figure the guy could use a super-soft scarf in a nice, manly dark red. The color is richer in person. Some of the fibers actually look black, but it is very subtle. And I should mention that his dad is doing super well. He had a couple of morphine hallucinations while in the hospital (like seeing his sister and brother-in-law in the potted plant we had delivered). But they are all gone, and he is now doing a lot of walking. They live out in the woods of Illinois, so I hope the scarf will help keep him warm on his treks.

Third up we have another Christmas knit, this time for M's Grandma. She needs socks to wear with her Birks (the only shoes that make her toes happy). I found out about this today. Currently, I am assuming she has the same size foot as her daughter, as I have knit a pair of socks for M's mom. This is the oblique rib from Sensational Knitted Socks (8-stitch repeat) in Fleece Artist Merino, colorway Lily Pond:

The cream colored cotton fleece sweater has suffered a cruel gauge mishap, even though I knit two different gauge swatches. It shall not be completed as it would be far too large to wear under a fitted jacket, which was my intention. Mistress Gauge and I are not speaking currently. I feel she is ~~a fickle bitch~~ in breach of contract. Both swatches were washed and blocked in addition to being practically 5 x 5 inch squares. This long holiday weekend I would like to swatch for the Charcoal Brocade jacket, and Mistress Gauge better behave. Because if she does not, I'm just going to knit scarves and shawls from my new copy of Victorian Lace Today, and we all know we don't need Mistress Gauge's permission to do that.

Am I threatening Mistress Gauge?!

Let's just say that the berry colored Sea Silk has shipped.

FOs and a WIP

2006-11-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

It has been a big week here at Molecular Knitting. As I reported in my last post, the La Gran cardigan is done. But did I stop there? No siree! I only had a half dozen or so purple necklaces to go with said lilac La Gran. So I had to make another one.

This necklace took some planning to get everything lined up properly so it didn't look oppy. Natasha, our lab's fashionista, covets the necklace and the La Gran cardigan, so I consider them successes.

I also made a lapis lazuli bracelet for Trek, the winner of my birthday contest. Trek said cobalt blue was her favorite color, and the lapis was close (plus it was the same hue as the blue in the CTH sock yarn she won).

I also included a little Scharffen Berger chocolate. From Trek's thank you email, I don't think she plans to share the chocolate.

In knitting FOs, I finished the Fleece Artist Merino socks in Paris for my MIL for Christmas. I love Fleece Artist merino sock yarn. It is velvety and the colors are really rich (and don't pool much or at all in most colorways).

I really like the eye of the partridge heel flap in this colorway. The photo is blurry (I used the macro and the tripod! Arghh!), but you can see how nicely the colors work out in the lattice of EoP.

What with all the FOs, I had start start a new WIP (some previous WIPs ran into insurmountable difficulties and will not become FOs, but that's for a different post). I started the Fiber Trends Landscape Shawl in CTH supersock in Green Mountain Madness. The colors are fantastic and I am totally enthralled with knitting this shawl. I understand Evelyn A. Clark's extremely well-written pattern perfectly, so it is a joy to knit.

Those are picots decorating the edge of the shawl. I can knit picots!

I've made it into the seed stitch chevron.

All these pictures of the shawl make me want to knit! I hope all of you are having a great week!

"It's Done! Done," I say, "Done!"

2006-11-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

Although this photo isn't pretty (due to horrific weather and no outdoor light to speak of), the La Gran Lilac Cardigan is DONE!

Most importantly, it fits. The sleeves are a little long, but I fold back the cuff, and then all is good. I wore it to church on Sunday, where they had turned the heat on. I nearly died. It is a very warm sweater. Elsie is taking me out for a late birthday lunch tomorrow, and I'll wear it there also. I just have to decide which amethyst jewelry I want to wear. Yeah, I lead a rough life.

This is my first cardigan, and I am pleased. I don't think I'll knit another mohair sweater for quite a while, as the hairiness slowed me down, and it's hell to rip. But all in all, I enjoyed knitting this sweater, so I can wear it with no bad memories attached.

I am close to some other FOs, so I'm off to work on those!

Added later:
I linked to this quiz from the blog Trailing Yarn. It just goes to show that you can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can't take the Wisconsin out of the girl.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Contest Winner!

2006-11-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

Trek is the contest winner!!
Congratulations!

I'd write more now, but I have to prepare to give a presentation at work (ARGHH!).
Have a great day everyone!

An Unexpected FO and Contest Reminder

2006-11-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already, scroll down to the previous post and read about the contest I have going on! M will pick the winner Friday morning, so be sure to comment or email to enter! Only 8 people have entered so far, so the odds are pretty good!

In knitting news, I have an unexpected FO. Sunday morning, M and I went to lunch with friends, Nudia and Javier, who are moving to Texas in a couple of weeks, where Javier will start in a tenure track assistant professor position. Another couple of friends, Nancy and Robert, also joined us. Nudia is five months pregnant, and Nancy was nice enough to think to give her a baby gift. I felt awful, especially as M mentioned that he thought we should bring a baby gift. I had to explain to M that his thoughts aren't real until he shares them with me (he wasn't impressed with my thesis). Anyway, I knew we would see Javier and Nudia next Sunday, so when we got home, I dug through my stash and came up with a skein of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Prairie Lupine (a color which does not photograph well). I knit up this little hat in the 9-12 month size, thinking that would be around the time she (they know they are having a girl) will need a hat.

The pattern is from Knitters (Summer 2001). I loved the seed stitch flying wedge design (originally from Babara Walker).

The seed stitch border isn't the stretchiest edge, but I didn't try to make the cast-on as loose as usual, so I think that will keep the hat on her head without looking too goofy. I always like how circular decreases look:

I did one more round of decreases than the pattern called for, as I thought 12 stitches were too many to end on and run the yarn through. I also knit the whole thing on dpns (US sz 4), even though the pattern called for a 16" circular. I cast-on to the circular needle, but I really had to stretch out the stitches, so I decided the dpns would work better, and I didn't have a problem. I hope the baby likes her hat! The pattern also includes a romper (looks like a clown suit to me, but I am not a baby clothes expert by any means), booties (also in seed stitch with no way to fasten a tie), and a blanket. And Cotton Fleece is the called for yarn, but there was no way I was going to get 5 spi on sz 6 needles. I was right on using the 4s.

Two packages arrived in the mail today. M snatched them up, and I don't know where he put them. He is very strict about not opening birthday gifts before the birthday; he's a big meany in this regard. I asked Mom for lace blocking wires from Knitpicks, and a long tube arrived! But I can't open it until Friday!!

Well, go enter the contest to win yarn and beaded jewelry!

Contest Time!

2006-11-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

It's time to have a contest! Next Friday, the tenth, is my birthday, and I think that calls for a contest. But as a disclaimer, I've never run a contest before, so I am making it up as I go along. My thinking is this: anyone who enters the contest will have the chance to win one of two yarns AND a beaded bracelet or earrings made by me just for them. So, the yarn is the easier part and I've chosen from my stash a sock yarn and a mohair yarn that would be great in a scarf.

CTH Supersock in Potluck Jewels

Luxury Mohair by King Cole in Florence (2 skeins)

The winner will get to choose which yarn she/he would like. They will also get to tell me if they want a pair of earrings (sterling silver wires) or a bracelet. I'll find out favorite colors, or if the winner wants to send me a picture of a favorite handknit, I'll design the piece of jewelry to coordinate (I already do this in my head when I look at all your wonderful handknits on your blogs). Then, I'll set to work, and send out the yarn with the surprise beaded jewelry. So, to enter, all you need to do is tell me so by leaving a comment or sending me an email (found under my complete profile link). In the comment/email I would like to know which yarn you would like, because if I get a lot of contestants, then I may make two pools and pick a winner for each yarn. Actually, I have asked M to do the drawing, and I plan to have him pick on the morning of the tenth. So all entries must be received by the end of November 9th (i.e. before midnight of the 10th) Pacific Time. I'm a pretty new blogger, so I don't yet have a wide readership (that I know of), so the odds of winning are pretty high, so enter! Good Luck!

That was Then, This is Now

2006-11-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

Back in the distant past of early September, I made knitting plans, and I shared them on this blog. It was time to knit lace in a triangle, i.e. a shawl. I thought the Ruby colorway of Fleece Artist Merino would make a fantastic Christmas shawl to wear knit up in the Diamond Fantasy Shawl. And it still would be if I were more a visual than an audio thinker/learner. Lace doesn't talk. You have to figure it out by looking at it. It's easy in a rectangle, but a triangle--I need some remedial help. I got this far on the DFS:

I was tearing my hair out. I was knitting stitch-to-stitch, my crochet hook clenched in my teeth for easily fixing mistakes, M would speak to me and I would grunt. The grunting brought me to my senses (grunting is NOT attractive). I wanted to enjoy knitting this, and then I wanted to be happy while I wore it. So, it will have to wait a little while.

So, how to fix this problem? How do I get lace to speak? Well, I thought I could pay more attention to the rectangular lace I was knitting quite happily. Rather than blindly following the pattern, I could try to figure it out. What a concept! It isn't a new concept for me either. Biochemistry is a pretty visual field (cells and molecules aren't very chatty), and yet I managed to develop ways of understanding molecular structures even though I can't see the molecules in my head and spin them around the way M can (I think he's a bit of a mutant). If I could do it with molecules, I can do it with lace.

My Grapevine lace scarf (previously I kept referring to it as the trellis lace pattern, but it is not) is an 8 stitch, 12 row repeat pattern, and I've knit it to 21 inches long so far:

For the last 4-5 inches I've been anticipating before I start the next row what I am going to have to knit (it's really easy on the wrong side rows, they're all purl) before I look at the pattern, which is written be from Barbara Walker's 1st treasury. This has been very enlightening. So has knitting the lace border for the Lucy Top from Wendy Knits!:

I was confused at first about which way the decreases should go around a YO (I hadn't really thought about it before), and after speaking with my knitting guru, Elsie (who doesn't blog), I realized that I had "conceptualized" it bassackwards. Elsie was kind enough not to tell me I had it backwards (I thought decreases should point/lean away from the YO), but just that she had never seen a lace pattern as I described. Ah.

I now realize that in some part of my brain (it doesn't let me in there very often to poke around), that I knew I would have visual difficulties, and that is why several weeks ago I purchased the pattern for the Forest Canopy Shawl from Susan. Her pattern has an extensive tutorial and it's a beautiful, yet simple lace repeat for those of us who are learning to "read" lace. So, I bought yarn to knit it.

That's Schaefer Anne in Silver Sage. It's luscious. And, as someone pointed out, it matches my eyes. I also bought some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Green Mountain Madness to make the Fiber Trends Landscape shawl.

I bought that pattern several years ago when I first thought I would want to knit a shawl, but then I beaded much more than knit for a few years. I've been thinking of it in the GMM colorway for quite sometime, and Alison at Simply Sock Yarn Company had enough in the same dyelot. It seemed like fate (OK, I did email her to ask if she had enough, but it's still fate). Anyway, it is a triangle knit from the tip to the top with basic knit-purl patterns between YO increases. This also should help me get the whole triangle thing down, especially as it works the triangle from the opposite direction of the Forest Canopy Shawl. I am going to be a triangle-knitting, lace-knitting whiz before I am through. And that's as it should be.

Friday, marks a week before my birthday, so I think it will be time to announce a little contest. A way to win yarn and something beaded just for you. Check back Friday evening for details.

One is the Loneliest Number...

2006-11-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

My Socktober left a little to be desired in terms of new sock creations:

Just one sock for me. I either have to knit the second or hop. I loved knitting this sock, it's just that October was very busy and hectic with things like a scientific career, which is pretty nifty too but recently very time consuming. But back to the sock. As I said before, the leg and instep pattern is the Gingerbread all-over cable pattern from VK Stitchionary 2. It was very easy to knit as the garter ridge in the second rib of the pattern made it especially easy to count rows.

I used the Dutch heel from the Madder ribbed sock of Vintage Socks, that fits my foot very well (which I was not able to photograph tonight at all well). I planned on using a grafted toe, but my bulbous big toe misled me, and the sock was going to be a little short. I continued decreasing every other round for longer than I normally would have and then decreased every round to only four stitches. That fits perfectly (again can't photograph the sock on my foot in the stygian darkness that fills our living room--but boy did I try). I've cast on for the second sock but have other secret sockish things going also.

Elongated Corded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks in Fleece Artist Merino, colorway Paris

2x2 rib leg in Online Highland Colors #?? (sorry!). I bought both yarns from the Simply Sock Yarn Company (including the grey marled Jawoll of the cabled sock). The top sock has a giftee in mind who loves autumnal colors. The bottom sock could still go a couple of different ways, including my own feet. We'll see.

I did find time to sew the shoulder seams of the La Gran cardi and then knit the neckband. It is only the third neckband I've ever knit, but it is the best, so at least I continue to improve!

I studied picking up stitches along a neckedge in my copy of Vogue Knitting, marked every two inches around with a pin, did the math to determine stitches to pick up per 2 inches and went at it. Now I just need to do the rest of the seaming and sew on the buttons. I've been a little too frazzled the last couple of days, but I think by tomorrow I shall be ready to seam. The tenth is my birthday, and M is taking me to my favorite restaurant for dinner and I plan to wear my sweater. I just hope I don't spill on it! Did I ever mention that I'm a little clumsy? Spray 'n' Wash is my friend.

Now I need to decompress a little, knit a lot, maybe drink a whiskey and soda.

Beginnings:

2006-10-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned...

Yippee!!!

2006-10-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

The La Gran lilac cardigan is blocking!

What more is there to say?

Finished Pieces, A Rude Cat, and A Big Mess!

2006-10-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Much knitting has taken place here at chez Molecular Knitting, but before we get to that I have an update from Wisconsin. Faithful readers will remember that in September I sent Mom some feltable yarn for knitting cat beds. Well, after knitting and felting a really cool handbag from her own yarn,

she set right to work on a Kitty Bed for Rip:

It felted a little smaller than Mom expected, but it still looks great.

However, this was Rip's RESPONSE:

A Raspberry! What a RUDE cat!

According to Mom, he will have NOTHING to do with it. She's tried putting it on his blue blankie, and he ignores it. She turned it upside down so it was flat and put it on the heating pad, which Rip sleeps on as it cools down after Dad uses it every morning before his PT exercises. No go. He is completely ungrateful. He's 18 and a half years old in people years (about 70 million in cat years), and I guess he doesn't feel the need to be polite. Since Mom is also the Food Lady, I question his common sense in snubbing her handknit gift. But then again, his brain is very small.

Back here in California, I have completed knitting all the major pieces of the La Gran lilac cardigan. Yay!! I haven't blocked it yet, because my blocking surface has become a bit crowded.

This is an intermediate stage in a major reorganization in the bead room. Until this morning I had hit a snag. I have some non-beading, non-knitting crafting stuff I don't need or want anymore, and M figured out the perfect person to give it to while I lamented over what to do with the stuff during coffee. I need to contact her, and I hope she will be amenable. I don't like having more stuff than I can put away, and my yarn stash has been growing. By the way, the PVC pipes lying on the yarn pile are needle holders made for me by M. They keep my needles very safe, and M even drilled holes in the tops so the bamboo can breathe. M says I could drive our truck over the pipes, but I think I'll just trust him on that one.

I also did some deep background knitting that I can't share in photos at this time, but I hope to have more interesting knitting progress in the next couple of days that I can show. But now, it's back to the needles and string.

Back to Knitting!

2006-10-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

First, thank you to all the readers that left such nice comments about my sock yarn stash. Someday I hope to show socks out of it all.

Second, I can knit again!! My shoulder and arm took their sweet time, but they did unkink and by Saturday I could knit with impunity. I spent my weekend knitting time working on a sock:

I started this grey-charcoal marl because I wore a hole in one of my last pairs of purchased grey socks. I didn't think this would be an exciting knit, but I am really enjoying knitting these socks. The cable pattern with the garter stitch detail (Gingerbread #105, Vogue Knitting Stitchionary 2: Cables) is really fun and easy to knit. I've noticed that a lot of people switch the orientation of the cable for the second sock to make a mirror image, but I don't think I am going to do that. When I get dressed in the morning, I don't want to have to figure out which sock goes on which foot. I tried to take a close up of the cables:

Last night, I decided that I needed to work on the La Gran cardi as I'm on the last piece (right front). Something went horribly wrong with the second buttonhole as I ended up with TWO holes! I have no idea what I did, but I needed to rip out 2 rows, which with mohair was NOT fun (just trying to work down to the buttonhole and fix it did not work for me--I had really messed up). Then I very carefully redid the buttonhole and ended up with just one hole. Whew! I want to get this sweater done in October so I can devote November to the ruby Diamond Fantasy Shawl and my Black Purl lace scarf. Plus I want to knit more socks, more scarves, the brocade jacket, etc., etc. I guess this means I should stop blogging and get knitting.

But before I sign off, last evening's sunset was so pretty here, I have to show it to you. Don't you think the colors would make a good sock yarn!

72 Hours without Knitting: The Horror!

2006-10-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Sunday I slept "wrong" at least my left shoulder and arm seem to think so. They have decided that they have been abused and have a compressed ulnar nerve that makes knitting hurt (and everything else that requires an opposable thumb). Therefore, I have not been able to knit, and this has made me grouchy. My brain has tried explaining to my left arm that if only it would get over its little nerve issue then I could finish the final piece of the La Gran cardigan, the right front, and then it would look very lovely in the left sleeve. However, the left arm thinks the right front is not really necessary, afterall it's not part of its side. Things are getting tense. Since it is Socktoberfest, my feet are not at all amused at the lack of sock knitting, and they are starting to grumble about the left arm being a problem. They seem to think that with a little training they could probably learn to knit; they remember that when I was young, my dad called me "the girl with the talented toes." So, they think they can knit their own socks if they could just get rid of the left arm. Thankfully, both parties have agreed to peace talks, so I hope to be back to knitting soon, because I have some lovely sock yarn to knit up:

Top row, left to right (all yarns from SSYC):
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mixed Berry
LL Shepherd Sock in Purple Iris
Fleece Artist Merino in Cornflower
Fleece Artist Merino in Parrot
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck in Watercolor
Schaefer Anne in Jane Addams
Schaefer Anne in Gertrude Ederle
Bottom Row:
Purple Haze from Savvyminx's etsy shop
Aquamarine from Black Bunny Fibers's etsy shop

This isn't my entire sock yarn stash, but these are my current favorites. Plus, I've been studying many of the all-over cable patterns in Vogue Knitting Stitchionary 2: Cables, and I noticed there are several that create more of a texture and are less regular than strips of cables. I think some of those might work very well with the multicolored yarns. The cable twists might help break up any pooling. I really want to give this a try, and since my feet are fond of a snug sock, they are really behind the venture. If only we could get the left arm and shoulder on board. The brain has suggested letting the left hand fondle the yarns in the hopes that that might convince it into healing so it can hold the yarn while actually knitting. Keep your fingers crossed! At least metaphorically crossed, I don't want to hinder anyone else's knitting.

A Yarny Monkey off my Back!

2006-10-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

Much as I have enjoyed knitting my friend Nancy a pair of socks, it seemed that the knitting would never be completed. I'd like to be able to give the gift, not just "make progress." But now, although they need a bath before giving, the knitting is complete!

Better yet, I am pleased with how they have turned out. Now, as long as they fit...

Now to get the La Gran cardigan done. I am working on the right front as I have finished the second sleeve. And I have made my first buttonhole! I don't know why I had such trepidations concerning the whole buttonhole creation issue. In addition, I did figure out that the pattern has a major error in it, which puzzled me greatly for a bit. I assumed I just didn't understand the pattern, but no, it was wrong. Had I made the right front as the directions specified, it would not be a mirror image of the left front. The rib pattern is asymetrical (P2K2P2K4), so you can't really use the same chart for the two mirror image fronts, starting at the same place on a RS row. So, I just worked the rib to make it the mirror image (which, of course, is like the photo of the sweater in VK). I really tried to find a way to make the directions correct, but they were pretty specific and not open to much interpretation.

Anticipating the completion of La Gran, which is not like counting one's chickens before they are hatched, I took a gander at the new knitting books at a LBS. I didn't think I would like the patterns in Jackets for Work and Play from the Best of Knitter's series, as I have a love-hate relationship with that magazine (when I subscribe I hate the patterns; when I buy it from the newsstand, I want to make several projects from each issue). But I fell in love...

This is the Brocade in Charcoal jacket designed by Jean Frost. I want it. But I don't want it in charcoal. I want the edgings done in the charcoal, but I want the body of the jacket done in a dark (not navy or royal please!) blue. The jacket in the book was knit in Cascade 220, which is a yarn I like for jackets and outer sweaters as it is durable, can take a little weather (which is all we get here), and shows stitches well. I knit my first sweater in Cascade 220, and it turned out well, so I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to this yarn (good thing I didn't knit my first sweater in cashmere!). I had beady reasons for wanting the blue and charcoal:

I want to make a multi-strand necklace using the tri-cut blue iris seed beads as the main portions of the strands with the grey and dark red pearls scattered at pretty wide intervals throughout. The only reason I hadn't made the necklace already is that I had nothing to wear with it. But the brocade jacket will do, I think. I have an extreme ~~obsession~~ fondness for coordinating clothing and jewelry.

And speaking of jewelry, I have updated my Jewelry 2006 album (see link in Sidebar) to include the pieces I made in 2006 before I started blogging. So, here is your warning. Some of the jewelry pictures may lead the viewer into the temptation to start a new beading hobby (or so comments of my previously blogged about jewelry has suggested). If you think you may be one of those people, you probably should not look at the album. If you are made of sterner stuff, go take a peek.

In closing, just let me add, that I do take Socktoberfest seriously even though there is little current sock knitting displayed in this post. Sometimes some things can't be shown to just everyone before certain festivities later in the year occur. But I will have something to show for myself soon.

Buttons, WIPs and the Sock Hop

2006-10-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I promised to show the buttons I bought for my lilac La Gran cardigan. I must say that I am quite pleased with myself. I usually don't do this well at shopping.

They are made of Czech glass (if you know beads, you know that Czech glass is great quality glass) with a metalicky finish (look, Ma, I made a new word!). I got them from As Cute as a Button online. They may look like a strange choice for a lilac sweater, but I assure you I have an ulterior motive. I have made and received A LOT of purple jewelry, and I wanted buttons to complement the beads and gems, not overpower them. So how did I do?

We won't discuss the cost of the buttons.

As for WIPs, in a strange fit of arithmetical fever, I calculated the exact number of stitches per sleeve of the La Gran cardigan (you need not comment on the arithmetical fever--I know I'm crazy). I can say with great arithmetical (I looked up the spelling of this word, so now I intend to use it) confidence that I have completed 57% of sleeve two. Sigh.

Nancy, for whom I am knitting the Madder Ribbed Socks in CTH peacock yarn, made the gross error of telling me that I didn't need to rush with her socks when I apologized for taking so long. So, I finished the Rib and Cable Socks for me as I had less to do. I am on the knit even portion of the foot of sock 2 for Nancy. I need a power knitting session! They are turning out better than any other pair I have made, so it will be great to complete them. It is October after all! And I did join the Sock Hop at Romancing the Yarn along with Socktoberfest. I feel I should not double display, so I need to get the socks going! And I have...a little...

The self-striping yarn (I did NOT do that to the ball of yarn, I received it that way) is the second pair for my MIL. I have made these smaller as the others were too wide. I hope these fit. The grey are for myself. When I went to wear some black slacks the other day, I realized that I had very little appropriate sockwear. I can't wear black socks as the dye inflames the bottoms of my feet, but I can wear grey. I have no idea why I have this problem, and my feet aren't talking. But they have rejected black nylons, black polyester, black wool and black cotton sockwear. So, grey it is. I am making my own sock design! It is almost impossible to see in the photo, but here's a try:

The leg design below the K2P2 cuff is the Gingerbread Cable from Vogue Knitting Stithionary 2: Cables. I wanted a subtle pattern, and it is easy to knit, so I hope all continues well. I plan to show these at the Sock Hop. Nancy's socks and the MIL socks will probably go to Socktoberfest. So much to do!

Socktoberfest Plans

2006-10-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Naturally, the plan includes socks. I joined Socktoberfest, and I just managed to post my first photo to the Flickr group. It's an FO!

I finally finished the Rib and Cable Socks in CTH Supersock Potluck Brights! They were great socks to knit, but they seemed to take a while. There was some pooling of the darkest red in the colorway, but I liked how the colors worked out. I do have one pattern ~~mistake~~ design change. On the instep I started doing the cable one row earlier than in the leg. Counting is hard for me; I only got through my doctorate in school. Luckily, I realized my "design input" before I got to that point on the second sock, so I was able to knit it like the first.

Now I need to finish Nancy's peacock socks; I'm on the knit even portion of the second foot. I can see the finish! I have an ~~error~~ change of design in these socks also. I did the K1, Sl1, psso in the toe decreases by slipping purlwise not knitwise. This made the decrease much more prominent, but I'm OK with it.

Lolly, Creator and Moderator of Socktoberfest, posed some questions for paticipants (over 1400--a lot of people are knitting socks this month!) to answer. So here goes:

* When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I started making socks last Fall. In late Spring of 2004 I underwent some surgery that required substantial recuperation. My mom flew out to help me and M for the first two weeks. She brought along some sock yarn, dpns, and a basic sock pattern. She had never knit a sock either, but while I did some beading, she knit her first pair of socks. I saw the process first hand (turning the heel was like magic!), and I decided to try it myself. It took me awhile to get to it as I was doing a lot of beading, but a year ago I used the pattern Mom used, and the whole heel turn thing worked for me too!

* What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?
My 1st pair were a K2 P2 rib with a st st foot. They were cuff down with a round heel and a grafted toe. The yarn was Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Ragtime. Late last Spring I got a hole in the cuff of one sock. I think I must have caught it on something. I can be hard on my handknits.

* What would you have done differently?
I would have used a smaller needle size. I used US 2, I think US 1 would have made a denser, more comfortable fabric.

* What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
I have really enjoyed Cherry Tree Hill Supersock and Fleece Artist Merino. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock is also really nice. I just received some Schaeffer Anne from SSYC. I can't wait to try it; it is so soft. I am also eager to try some Trekking XXL I've purchased. I have a significant sock yarn stash. I can't tell you how large my sock yarn stash is because my mother reads my blog.

* Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
I use dpns. I don't understand what the Magic Loop method is, but I am curious to know, although I really like dpns.

* Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
I prefer flaps. I've not tried a short row heel, but I've heard a lot of people say it doesn't fit that well. I don't like how manufactured socks fit, and they seem to have short row heels.

* How many pairs have you made?
10 pairs--Not enough! Must get back to knitting!

Tomorrow: buttons for the La Gran cardigan! They're really pretty.

Another WIP Wednesday

2006-09-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today's WIPs are one that is really a pseudo-WIP, some previous and still WIPs, and a new, exciting WIP (at least for me). First up, the pseudo-WIP. I have two balls of aqua La Gran from my stash that I thought might make a nice gift scarf. I found what looked like a pretty mohair scarf pattern. The pattern mentions La Gran and several finer weight mohair yarns. After starting it in La Gran, I realized the pretty picture is of a finer weight mohair, and the La Gran just won't do here.

In two dimensions the lace looks pretty good, but the solid diamonds are really dense, like wads of mohair. Not pretty. It's got to go; the goat wants its mohair back if the other option is this scarf.

Moving up the scale of positive news, the CTH peacock socks for my friend Nancy are progressing. I am suffering from some SSS, but that will vanish as soon as I get the leg done. I really want to get these socks to Nancy, but the last few days my hands get tired knitting with the size 1 needles, so progress lags.

I haven't had much time to work on the La Gran Lilac cardigan, but the second sleeve is started. I have some buttons on order that I hope will look great; I hope they arrive soon so I can show you. I kept in mind the purple beaded jewelry I have, I want the buttons to work well with it.

I worked on the Trellis lace scarf. I've used 20 g of the first ball (each ball is 56 g), and unblocked the scarf is 14 inches long. I figure that means I should get about a 70 inch scarf (unblocked) if I want. Nifty. I don't know if I'll go that long, but it's good to realize that I'm not going to get to 3 feet and be out of yarn.

I just have to add a note about the needles I'm using for this project. I love them! Can you see how pointy the tips are? They are an old plastic pair of Chester needles my Grandma Frances gave me. They are magic plastic--very slick and warm. I also have a pair of size 5s from her. I liked these so much, I googled Chester knitting needles and found some for sale at ebay, but they were parts of large lots of used needles most of which were the nasty colored aluminum.

On the most exciting WIP front, I have started the Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding! I've finished the first chart (only 35 rows); I had to rip back two rows once, but then I paid more attention and I do seem to have made a lace diamond like the pattern's photo, and the edging looks right too.

This is my first non-rectangular lace and I'm inordinately thrilled to be knitting a triangle. The DFS is knit from the bottom tip to the top, so after this I want to do a top-down triangle shawl. I have several patterns on hand to try, but I am leaning toward Susan's Forest Canopy Shawl. I have a few possible yarn choices for that, but the DFS comes first. I first saw the DFS at Carolyn's blog; hers is gorgeous. Actually, everything Carolyn knits is gorgeous. I learned of her through Grumperina. I love how knitters refer to other knitters and we all get to know each other and our knitting.

Well, if want to be able to show good WIP progress next Wednesday, I better stop blogging and get back to knitting.

Exploring the Knitting Blogosphere

2006-09-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

I don't really like the word "blogosphere" but I am going to use it out of sheer perversity. Today I visited Beth's blog and found out that of all the shades of orange she is a pumpkin. So I clicked on her link, and low and behold,

You are Apricot

Soft and sweet, over time you let your provocative nature shine through.
You are definitely unconventional, but you don't broadcast it.
You offer people a fresh perspective on life - so fresh that it can be shocking!

What Color Orange Are You?

From there I found out,

You Are Whiskey

You're a tough drinker, and you take it like a man
That means no girly drinks for you - even if you are a girl
You prefer a cold, hard drink at the end of the day
Every day, in fact. And make that a few.

What Alcoholic Drink Are You?

I seem a bit conflicted, no?

After all this fun, I went to one of my favorite knitting blogs, Grumperina, a fabulous knitter and writer as well as a fellow scientist. On Saturday she posted a knitterly meme and wanted others to take part. Today she expressed disappointment that so few people had done so. I had planned to take part on Sunday when I first saw the meme, but had laundry to do, but I see I had better do it NOW! So, without further ado...

10 Knittery Things You Didn't Know About Me, a meme

1. My love of seed stitch could be called an obsession. I love any sweater pattern that has seed stitch diamonds independent of any other considerations, such as having 3 sleeves--I'd still consider knitting it.
2. I knit Continental kind of. I hold the yarn differently than I've seen anywhere else, but I've never had the even gauge issues that are supposed to plague Continental knitters, so I'm not changing.

3. My first FO was a pair of mittens knit flat using Ruhama's pattern from the 1970s my Grandma Frances gave. Grandma Frances is now 95 and still knits children's mittens with this pattern for chaity. She knits several dozen pairs a year. I hope I can still knit (and breathe) when 95.
4. I've never read anything written by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I looked at one of her books at a bookstore and she mentioned hating to purl. I closed the book and put it back. This may have to do with #1 on this list. I now realize that I may have been hasty in my judgement.
5. It's taken me nearly 43 years of living to realize that I don't look good in crewneck sweaters. It took me very little time to realize that the vast majority of pullover sweater patterns have a crew or turtleneck (turtle is even worse).
6. I've knit lots of scarves but I've never kept one for myself. This is about to change.
7. In the basic knitting class I took, I made my intarsia fish with two tales and no head. I have not gone back to intarsia.
8. I think cables and twisted stitches are cool and I am very intrigued with using them functionally in design and in non-traditional ways. Cables on a seed stitch background are the bee's knees, the cat's pajamas, etc.
9. Before July I had no idea what a rich, inspirational and fun world the knitting blogosphere is. Now I read knitting blogs almost everyday!
10. I am becoming addicted to knitting lace, and so far I've only made lace scarves. I'm a bit concerned as to what will happen when I start a shawl. I have purchased several shawl patterns and several thousand yards of lace weight yarn. My current thinking is that it will not be possible to have too many handknitted shawls and wraps.

FO Show and Tell

2006-09-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here at Molecular Knitting there are 2 new FOs. Well, one is new, and the other was in hiding until given as a gift. My MIL wanted to knit socks; she knits scarves on very big straight needles. She bought two different balls of Lionbrand self-striping sock yarn and some dpns and went nuts. She couldn't stand it. So she sent me the yarn and asked me to knit the socks for her. That she tried both balls of yarn I find a bit perplexing. But anyway, I knit the first pair for her this last Spring but not in time for Mother's Day. So we sent them as part of her birthday gift earlier in September, and she did tell M to thank me for the socks. But she didn't say how they fit (she had sent her measurements with the yarn). I made M ask her this past Sunday and it turns out she finds them too big in circumference (I made an 8 inch sock for her 9.25 inch foot). But the problem is that she wasn't going to tell me! I know she didn't want to hurt my feelings, but as I have the second ball of yarn to knit up for her, I really needed to know how the socks fit. I'll knit the second pair with fewer stitches and see how that works, but there won't be any other surprise pairs of socks until I know how the second pair fits. But here is the first, too large pair:

On the subject of handknitted Christmas gifts, my mom has some novelty yarn that she tried to knit into a vest, but it just didn't work out. She figures the yarn wants to be a scarf, but she opined that another scarf was "the last thing she needed," so the yarn has gone to stash. I guess I won't think about knitting her a scarf for Christmas. My gift knitting projects are vanishing. More time to knit for me! I think Mom is way too smart to ever say she doesn't need more jewelry even though she doesn't. Hmmm....

But my other FO!

Don't you like the bandage?

At first I thought fingerless gloves was to be honest a stupid idea. But then I thought about how cold my fingers get while reading in bed in winter when our thermostat is set at 62 F. Suddenly I saw fingerless gloves in a whole new light. These each took part of an evening to knit on size 10 dpns. The yarn is Misti Alpaca Chunky, and it is super, super, super soft. The pattern was free with the yarn purchase, and it worked pretty well, although I was not overly impressed with the plan for the thumb gusset. I did it as written, and it worked, but I think the Fetching pair from the Summer 2006 Knitty, has a better construction plan. I will have to try that pattern too. On this pair I liked the mock cable made by ktog, leaving both stitches on the left needle and then knitting the first stitch again, slipping both stitches off the needle. It went fast and easy.

The success of these gloves with their missing parts has led me to think about other knits with missing parts. I speak of the shrug. I have really thought the shrug a ridiculous article of clothing, but as with the fingerless glove, I am experiencing a change of heart. I work in a lab that is "environmentally" contolled so well (you should sense the deep sarcasm) that temperatures fluctuate almost wildly and the various areas of the lab have very different microclimates (it's a pity we don't work on making wine). A T-shirt or blouse is often too cold, but a cardigan too warm. A shrug just might the answer. I'll have to ruminate on this some more.

If you need a laugh on Thursdays, be sure to check out Jessica's blog Rose-Kim Knits. Thursday is dedicated to "What the hell is this?" You have to look at last week's winner; it's a beaut.

WIP Wednesday

2006-09-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

While familiarizing myself with the knitting blogosphere, I found that many knitters make Wednesday work in progress show and tell. So, since I have some WIPs, I'm game.
First, the pile of completed pieces of the La Gran cardigan grows:

I have the first sleeve done, and I have decided to do the second sleeve next. Some might think that is because I am chicken to start the right front with its "reverse shaping" and buttonholes. But it's really not that at all. I decided to make the second sleeve next because...well, just because.

As for the peacock socks for my friend Nancy, the first sock is done and the second is started:

I really like the toe of these socks (Madder Rib from Vintage Socks). It's a variation of a star toe. I guess I have pointy feet. I hope Nancy does too.

I have also worked a little on the trellis lace scarf in the LLSS Black Purl. I've pinned the lace a little here to give you a better idea of how the lace will look when blocked. I like how it really looks like little bunches of grapes hanging from a trellis.

The CTH potluck brights socks are languishing a bit until I get the peacock socks done, but in the meantime, I couldn't keep myself from trying the Misti Alpaca I bought on Saturday. I started the cuff of the fingerless gloves:

The chunky Misti Alpaca is amazingly soft and easy to knit. The color is richer than the photo due to needing to use the flash (my tripod is on backorder!). The needles are new; they're Bryspuns that were recommended to me. I am not in love with the needles. It seems to be unusually difficult to do the K2tog. The needles aren't slick at all. Maybe they will improve with use.

Well, that's all folks. Next week I want to be able to show the start of the Diamond Fantasy Shawl. There it's in writing on the internet for all to see. I better get knitting!

Progress and a Trip to an LYS

2006-09-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for the past few days, but I have not been idle. Discriminating viewers will notice that I have changed my blog's template, and I am still in the midst of fiddling with colors. M, alpha geek that he is, gets so excited when I play around in CSS and HTML/XHTML, that I have caught his enthusiasm. In addition, he found the Mac app dragonfly for me at the Apple site. It is a web color chooser and gives the hexadecimal code for each color, and it allows you to make a palette of four colors. Plus it has a toggle drawer which shows the color with text over them, where you can play with text colors. It's a little addictive.

But I have been knitting. The left front of my lilac La Gran cardigan is done and the first sleeve (I decided to knit a sleeve before the right front to break up the sleeve making process) is coming along:

Sock progress progresses, but not in an interesting to photograph manner; just around and around heading for toes.

Since the La Gran carigan is going well, I wanted to get started on the diamond fantasy shawl in Fleece Artist Merino Ruby. Alas, I had not the appropriate needles. Therefore, I braved a Saturday shopping expedition with M. I am NOT a shopper. M usually has quite a list of errands, and so taking me along can be problematic. For you see, when I am done shopping, whether I have even finished my list, much less anyone else's list, I AM DONE SHOPPING. Trying to bribe me with promises of ice cream often fails. Luckily for M, I will usually sit in the truck playing solitaire on my PDA or knitting a sock. Shopping often gives me a headache. I am not a good consumer. Madison Avenue ad execs find me disturbing. But I did OK today, and M was very patient at the LYS (local yarn store, for my readers who aren't bloggers).

My favorite LYS is Rumpelstiltskin in Sacramento. The store is cozy and FULL of all sorts of wonderful yarn and possible project ideas. Plus the staff are kind and helpful if I want help. Otherwise, they have no problem letting customers browse and oooh and ah. I went in for needles, but I found some beauties that also had to come home with me:

The dark blue Misti Alpaca is for some fingerless gloves. It was unbelievably soft, and a pattern for the handwarmers came free with the yarn. It's a bulky weight so the gloves are only 27 stitches in the round in a twisted cable rib.

The second is Trekking XXL for socks. I was so glad to learn at Romancing the Yarn that sock yarn does not add to one's stash. That was a real relief! I like how the little bit of lavender in the yarn looks near the bit of my lilac sweater that's hanging out of my basket. A serendipitous color find.

Third is some mohair for a scarf that was just too pretty to pass up. But my favorite find was this:
It's so pretty it deserves two pictures. It's a thick and thin wool from Italy, and the luster is fabulous. I may try a bias, thin scarf; we'll see.

Beads, Wire, Yarn: It's All Good

2006-09-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

I put on my dark berry T-shirt and couldn't find any earrings to wear with it. I found dozens of pairs of earrings, but I'd worn them all before, many times. I was suffering from earring ennui. It was time to retire to the Bead Room at get at it. I took this postcard I bought at the Monet in Normandy show M and I went to in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago.

After a bit of poking around in my drawer of Swarovski crystals, I grabbed some sterling headpins and my pliers and made these:

The pliers in the picture point out an important aspect of making these earrings. You have to mark the pliers! I used the second mark on the long nose pliers to mark the distance from the crystal to the place to make the loop. And the mark on the round nose plier tips showed me where to wrap each loop. I made wrapped loops. I almost always make wrapped loops. They are just so much more secure than a simple loop. Only if the wrapped loop would severely compromise the design, AND a simple loop wouldn't cause pieces to fly off (I've had it happen! I learned this lesson the hard way.) will I think of considering a simple loop.

Are you old enought to remember mood rings back in the 70s? I didn't have one, but my friend Margie did. Her hands were always so warm that the "mood stone" was always a deep royal purple. This meant she was relaxed and at peace, in love with the world. Well, Margie would get bored with her purple ring, so during recess and lunch, she would have me wear it. I have low blood pressure, so my hands were/are usually cold. Margie would watch her ring turn from deep purple to royal blue, turquoise, gold, brown and then black on my hand. Black meant I was tense and anxious, at odds with the world. She shared her Little Debbie snacks with me at lunch, so I put up with her teasing me about my "mood problems."

Last Spring, while looking at bead auctions on ebay, I found some new mood beads (I don't remember the site, and I couldn't find it today). The beads were on my beading table, so I strung those up with some Thai silver beads that look faceted. I wanted to string the beads on black leather cord, but the silver beads' holes were too small, and I really liked the faceted silver so the leather idea bit the dust and size 6 Czech black seed beads filled in. I like the look.

Mood and silver beads up close and personal:

I wore the necklace today to work, and the beads were turqoise, blue or purple most of the day. I was relieved that they weren't black, that would be pretty lame if my neck were that cold when the beads were greeny-gold lying on my desk.

And in yarny-knitting news, I've finished the gusset of the first of Nancy's Peacock socks. I chose to do what I've read called "eye of the peacock" slipped stitched heel flap. I thought it was appropriate with the yarn colorway ;)

Must go knit and watch House.

Is this right?

2006-09-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

Help! Of the six people I know of who read this blog, 2 are master sweater knitters (yes, Mom, I'm including you in the 2!). I am not sure I have done the neck shaping correctly, although I can't think of another way to interpret the instructions. The shaping I've done looks like this:

The directions read from Vogue Knitting:
Next Row (RS): Work to last 7 stitches, place these sts on a holder. Next Row Bind off 4 sts (neck edge) work to end. Cont to bind off from neck edge 3 sts once, 2 sts 2 times--29 sts.

I assumed that meant the binding off always had to occur on the WS rows, where the neck edge was the beginning of the row. Binding Off at the end of the RS rows would leave my yarn away from the live edge of the knitting, which I thought must not be what I was supposed to do. But binding off on the WS rows made little steps, and these little steps have caused me concern. So, did I do this correctly? Will the little steps all get fixed with the seed stitch neck band done later? Or do I need to rip back and fix things? Help please! And, if you haven't voted on the sock issue from the last post, take a gander at it and cast a vote! Thanks! (My future cardigan thanks you also from keeping her from looking ghastly.)

Shameless, Truly

2006-09-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I must rectify my neglect from yesterday (even though I wasn't called on it). The cat photos were taken by my brother, Thomas, on his new digital camera. He's become a really good photographer. I meant to give him photo credits, but then I forgot. You can't trust a big sister with anything. Thanks, Thomas!

I have found out that at least six people read my blog! OK, one is M, and he reads it because as soon as I publish a new post I bring it to him on my MacBookPro and say (shoving the computer in his face) "Read my new post!" And, yes, my mom also reads my blog; she did teach me to knit, so it would look pretty bad if she didn't read it. Plus she's a former high school English teacher. She probably fears I'll give her a pop quiz on blog content during one of our weekly phone conversations. But four other people, who I am not related to legally in any way read my blog. Two even have me bookmarked. So, I better get to the knitting stuff before all of you give me up as a lost cause.

I am almost done with my potluck brights socks. This means I may now officially start thinking about the next pair to knit. And herein lies my difficulty: I can't decide. So, I shall leave it to any readers who care to comment. I'll give you two possibilities, and whichever gets the most votes, I'll make first. As I also have gifts to knit, I am running low on time to knit socks for myself, so this is a weighty matter (to me anyway).

Choice #1:

The pattern is the Friday Harbour Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, and the yarn is Fleece Artist Merino in the Hercules colorway (color is more accurate in the second photo).

Choice #2:

The pattern is RPM from the Summer 2006 issue of Knitty. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Potluck in blues/purples. It is out of focus (tripod is on order, yay!), but the color looks good on my computer.

So there you have it. Only YOU can save me from indecision and cold toes. Don't let my little toes suffer. They beg you to cast a vote.

To put you in a beautiful frame of mind, here is the end of the sunset at our place today (it was even more gorgeous driving home from the grocery store when I didn't have my camera, naturally).

Have a great weekend!

It's a box!

2006-09-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a box of yarn. A care package soon to be on its way to Wisconsin, where the winters are cold, and kitties need felted kitty beds. Mom, the knitter who taught me to knit, has promised to make some. I sent her the links to the pattern on Wendy's blog. I hope that soon Wendy will have a bed for Rip and one for Katrina to add to her album. Speaking of Rip and Katrina:

Aren't they cute? Rip is an 18 year old Burmese, and he is starting to show his age. Katrina is 5 years old and birthed by a feral mother, but she decided she liked people, so my family adopted her. Rippy was 13 at the time, and he really didn't see a need for a second cat in the house. A sort of cold war detente now reigns as each pretends the other doesn't exist. Katrina would like you to know that even though she isn't a pedigree cat like Rip, she is an Ur cat, which is a fancy way of saying all her coat markings are dominant genetically. She thinks this makes her very special. It's a good thing cats don't have to take a genetics class.

In other knitting news, I haven't made a lot of progress since my last post: bit of a heel flap, a bit of leg, the start of neck edge shaping (for some reason the bane of my existence). But I do have a picture of some Fleece Artist merino that is going to become a Diamond Fantasy Shawl (I hope) from the gorgeous design by Sivia Harding.
At least that is the plan, and I hope to have this done in time for the holidays. The scarf version, which is what I'm planning to knit, takes only 350 yds of FA merino, so I am hoping that it won't take me forever. The colorway is Ruby.

Well, the heel flap is calling to me to get cracking and get it turned. One must always obey the knitting.

It's September. It's Autumn. No Shirking Mohair.

2006-09-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I've tried to do some prioritizing (I'm pretending that I can stick to this). Namely, what I need and want to have done by Christmas. I am not the fastest knitter in the West, so now is the time to get that sort of thing clear. First and foremost, I want to be able to wear the La Gran cardigan I worked on last spring and then put away during the heat of summer. The pattern is from VK (Fall 2002) and I have wanted to knit it since I first saw it in 2002. I just couldn't convince myself that I was a good enough knitter to buy the yarn. To get out of that bind, I asked for the yarn for a Christmas gift last year, and my mother-in-law, Nancy, was generous enough to get it for me. I love, love, love the yarn. The color is lilac. I got the back and about half the left front done last spring, and now, 99 degree high tomorrow or not, I must continue. I worked more on the left front this weekend:

On my computer screen, this photo captures the lilac color perfectly (Thanks, M, for the help with camera light settings!), and yes, our sofa is ruby red.

Now what is that bit of naughtiness lying on my sweater front?

It looks like a lace scarf to me in Lorna's Laces shepherd sock in Black Purl. This is not on my list of things to have done by Christmas. I was making a pair of socks, and I didn't like how the color was pooling, so, as I was browsing through Barbara Walker volume 1 (a wonderful, dangerous book!), I thought to myself, maybe Black Purl would look better in the trellis vine lace pattern. I had to see. And I like it. The scarf calls to me on the wrong side rows of my sweater. You can see the pitiful extent of my willpower. I keep going back to the scarf. It even matches the sweater. But I really want the sweater, too. Do I really need to sleep?

And here is a teaser for Nancy, one of the three people I know of who reads this blog.

It's a start, and it seems to be going well. They are birthday socks for Nancy, whose birthday was July 31st. I know this makes me sound extremely tardy in the gift-giving venture, but I asked her on July 29th if she would like a pair of handknit socks, and then we had to browse at Simply Sock Yarn Company for the perfect color. This is CTH supersock in Peacock. SSYC offers free shipping on orders over $50, so of course, I had to order more sock yarn for myself to get the free shipping. It would have been financially irresponsible to pay for shipping on one skein when I could order a few more and not pay shipping. Right? But short of a broken hand, these socks will be ready before wool sock wearing season here in the Central Valley of CA.

An FO and Seymour

2006-09-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

In reference to Tuesday's blog with Golden Gate Bridge picture, be sure to read Marnie's blog and see her almost identical GGB through the windshield photo. Plus, she has gorgeous photos of the Redwoods and the Oregon forests and fireman.

Two days away from blogging, but at least I have an FO to show for it:

I DID NOT, repeat, DID NOT try to match the stripes. It just happened. Really. I was at the end of the K1P1 of the cuff when the deja vu hit me, and I checked the first sock. I was excited enough to show M. I mean, what were the odds? He thought I should try to match stripes for every pair, but I would rather live with the suspense. I hope this weekend that my new manual on all things HTML, XHTML and CSS will help me to put a link in my sidebar for an FO 2006 album. I'll have to wrestle the manual away from M first, but if I ask him to help me (we usually both need a cocktail after that), it should get done.

May I introduce you to Seymour? Seymour is our Anthurium cubense plant, which we have had for 2 years. When we bought it at the university horticulture department sale, the horticulturist said it was a "vigorous" grower. Seymour was in an 8" diameter pot. Now Seymour is in a 16" diameter pot, which if you remember geometry has 4 times more area than the 8" pot. Two weeks ago, I noticed that Seymour was putting out his second new leaf of 2006:

And now, a mere 14 days later:

Seymour is very busy. The leaf directly behind the new leaf is Seymour's first new leaf of 2006, which appeared in March (notice the corner of the lightswitch cover peaking out from behind the leaf--it's 4 feet off the floor). M and I love Seymour, but we are very concerned. Getting downright frightened actually. Is our apartment big enough for the three of us? And what about in November when our 6-foot Ficus benjamina wants to come inside? Seymour has taken over his place, the only place we have for good light. As I said, we are concerned.

Well, blogging does not an FO make, and I miss my yarn and needles.

San Francisco and Monet

2006-08-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

We drove to San Francisco today (about 70 miles from home) to see the Monet in Normandy exhibit at The Legion of Honor (links in yesterday's post). Home in the Central Valley was, of course, sunny, as we get no rain from mid-May to late October at the earliest. But over the Coastal Mountains and heading into the city over the Golden Gate Bridge, skies were overcast and the fog hadn't lifted.

That was a nice change. Don't get me wrong, I like sunny weather. But day after day of dry, blazing sun makes this native Midwesterner appreciate some fog and clouds.

The exhibit at the Legion of Honor was spectacular. Monet lived as a child in Normandy, and Giverney, his adult country home with extensive gardens, is also in Normandy. The exhibit started with early Impressionist paintings of the landscapes Monet did while visiting various towns, mostly during the summer (late 1860s). Many of these are just branching into Impressionism and maintain a great deal of realism. Some of the early paintings foreshadowed his later works by using more abstraction and capturing reflections in water. It was clear how Monet always worked to develop his talent and skill. He was absent from Normandy for the 1870s, and returned there after the death of his beloved first wife, Camille, in 1879. The early 1880s paintings in the exhibit not only show a large jump in Monet's artistic vision from the 1860s, but also seem to show how his paintings of thrashing ocean waves and sea storms helped him work through the loss of his wife. The final room of the exhibit showed several paintings from the gardens at Giverney, including several of waterlilies or wisteria. They were simply sublime.

Afterward, we did not linger in the city, but went back across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Anselmo to have a late lunch at Insalatas. Even though it was only 1:30 in the afternoon, I had a Passion Drop cocktail (orange vodka, peach infusion, lime and a little vanilla bean). It was sweet but tasty, and I wasn't driving. When we arrived home, I found this in the mail:

What pretty colors! My order from TheKnitter.com. I haven't been able to find Trekking XXL in LYSs, so I was glad to find it online. Shipment was very prompt and FREE!! A pity I can't take a few weeks of vacation and just knit. Ah, well, the anticipation will have to suffice.

Manly, yes! But I like it, too!

2006-08-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

I realize that by using an old Irish Spring soap slogan for today's title I am dating myself, but it fits the sweater I've started. Ann Budd designed her Cambridge Jacket (IK, Spring 2006) with men in mind, but I think it will do just fine for me.

I had purchased this Berroco Ultra Alpaca (50% alpaca/50% wool, color 6246) for a different sweater (a free pattern that came with the yarn) and then when I read the pattern, I changed my mind (needing two 29-inch circular needles in use simultaneously--yikes!). The jacket in the IK was knit on Cascade 220, and Ultra Alpaca is described as worsted weight, so I thought I would give it a go. My gauge was totally different, so I am making it two sizes smaller than I would have chosen, which makes me nervous. But I did the math several times, and as a scientist, I do math a lot, so I told myself to buck up and believe the math. So far, the size looks right.

I am not overly thrilled with the yarn, however. It is very soft and the color is quite rich (greener in real life), but twice in the first skein I have run into 1-2 feet stretches of yarn that is significantly thicker. It looks like there is a "fuzzy" on the strand, but it can't be plucked off, and it goes on (as a thickness not a fuzzy)for the 1-2 feet. This does not make me happy. I'll keep everyone posted if I find more incidences of this, and I'll try to photograph it. Ultra Alpaca is a new yarn this year.

On the sock front, a Regia Cotton Tip&Top Color sock is done and the second sock is under way. Here is the one sock:

I bought the yarn at Jen by the Fjord in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, when M and I were in the area for a scientific meeting (naturally I googled to find yarn stores in the area). The owner was such a nice and helpful lady, and she had a lot of sock yarn. I like the colors of the stripes--perfect with brown clogs and jeans. I even grafted the toe to remind myself how I hate grafting and love round toes. This was my best graft job to date (no unsightly loops that I can't loosen or tighten that I then pull to the inside), but it was no picnic.

Tomorrow M and I are taking a vacation day and heading west to San Francisco to see the Monet in Normandy exhibit at the Legion of Honor. I love Monet's paintings and will let you know about the exhibit.

Beginning In Media Res

2006-08-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

I'll begin this blog in the middle of things because that is where I am. Any scintillating background I can fill in as explanations demand. Suffice it to say that I have always been fascinated by knitting, and now I knit whenever I can (M, my husband, likes to hum the Neil Young song I've Seen the Needle, the Damage Done as he walks by me as I knit). Last winter I learned how to knit socks. At first the engineering of the knitted sock caught my attention, but after I got a few pairs knit, I realized that hand knitted socks were superbly comfortable. Just about the time it got hot here in the Central Valley of California, I vowed to knit enough pairs of socks so that I wouldn't have to wear store bought nylon socks ever again. My feet looked forward in anticipation. Summer 2006 would be renamed the Summer of the Socks. Knitting started out well.

These are garter rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks in Fleece Artist Merino colorway Midnight. The colorway acutally looks different now since Fleece Artist has changed spinners. It's now darker and not so blue, but still gorgeous. My toes, which can be quite picky, really like the feel of Fleece Artist Merino.

My mother-in-law gave me this self-striping Sockotta cotton/wool/nylon blend yarn as a Christmas gift. I knit them up to prove that sock yarn is an excellent gift, and I love the colors and the cotton/wool feel of the yarn. I mostly made up the pattern, but the ribbing and toe are from Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. Both socks are done even though you can see only one here.

After this, well, the temperatures shot up over 100 for several days in a row, and I couldn't think (at least that is my excuse). So, I made a sock with a mock cable on smaller needles than I usually use for that particular brand of yarn, and I didn't increase the number of stitches. I have a very narrow long sock which does not deserve to have a photo of it take up space in my Flickr account. The least said the better.

But now things are again moving along swimmingly, as I put my yarn, needles and hands under the expert directions of Nancy Bush and her Rib and Cable Sock from IK (Fall 2005).

The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill supersock potluck in Brights. The yarn is actually a little warmer in color than the photo shows, what looks purple is really a dark maroon, but I like it. The sock has a star toe of three points and a Welsh heel, which I try to show here:

I like the Welsh heel, this is the second pair of socks I've done using it. The decreases on the bottom are comfortable and are meant to add longevity to the heel. You may be able to see the small YOs along the top side of the heel in the picture. It's fun for me to mix up my heels and toes among the different pairs of socks I knit. I have yet to try a toe up sock. I just viewed the lovely toe-up sock knit by Cara, a champion cuff-down sock knitter, and she is not convinced by the wonders of toe-up socks, so I think I shall bide my time for awhile. Oh, and by the way, I do not intend to wear my Brights socks with the blue/turquoise/fuschia skirt you can see in the picture.

I have other projects in the works and even more planned, 2 sweaters, some lace (deep, deep breath!), and of course, more socks,but darling M says it's time for Sunday afternoon cocktails, so those will have to wait until another day.