Well, nuts. Either technology has failed or my Crappy Red Camera has died. I don't think the camera has died. It turns on. I think technology, or my Geek (a/k/a Hubby) has failed. I was having some problems with Adobe and he fixed them, but in the meantime, now I can't get pictures off the Crappy Red Camera, and yes, I also popped the card out. It (the computer) isn't reading that either... Which makes me wonder if the Canon software got deleted.
Hmmmmmmm.
Anyway, I did want to catch everyone up so here goes, sans some of the better pics. Those will be later.
The TKGA/CGOA show in Indianapolis was really nice! The Sheraton has one of the nicest rooms...and I loved the mattress and actually conked out on feather pillows! TKGA = The Knitting Guild of America. CGOA = Crochet Guild of America.
We only stayed Wed - Fri, and we all took classes on Thursday. Mardi decided that a day-long Aran Sweater Class (even though the sweater was teddy-bear sized) was a bit of a brain fry. Karen loved her Crocheted Beaded half-day class. And while I loved the Magic Loop 1/2-day morning class, I wasn't as in love with the afternoon's Continental Knitting class. Perhaps a bit of brain-fry myself in learning two really different skills "under the gun" so to speak.
I will use Magic Loop, but I honestly can't see using the Continental stuff, at least for purling, and Heaven forbid for socks!! Not gonna happen.
Got home Friday after taking the scenic route. Who knew the Arsenal Road construction wasn't finished yet? Luckily, Karen's husband alerted us and we were able to get off on the Wilmington exit and take the route through town. Got everyone home safe and sound, only I wasn't exactly. Well, I was safe, but not so sound... My heart decided to misbehave, and I had Hubby check it.
Yep, flipping a beat or two every minute or so. Not enough for a trip to the ER, but enough to make me really anxious. Then, nothing Saturday, but then again Sunday afternoon, and now again today. I'm headed to the cardiologist's office at 2:30 today for a heart monitor - only 24 hours. We want everything spiffy for our big trip to Europe in August. I don't want to go into arrythmia on the plane...
So. I had a blissful weekend. Well, mostly blissful. More than I've had in a long time. I didn't have to work, so I could sleep in (well, 6:30 a.m....) on Saturday. I worked on the sock, got to the heel turning. I'd show you, but the Crappy Red Camera....
Oh, I do have pics from the Crappy Windows Camera. Hey, the new Nokia is coming out in April, so have patience, people...
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| Magic Loop Variation |
Anyhow, here's a shot of some of what I did in class. The Magic Loop thing was really very interesting. I could totally do a toe-up sock in that, or what our instructor billed as "the smallest pouch for an i-device known..." Either way, I can see that her class will be useful to me in the future. I may do a phone case, since there's nothing I'm happy with that fits the Windows Nokia I have.
The Continental class was something else. Yes, I learned more than I did the LAST time I tried it, and I've decided that it's really faster for knitting. Purling? Even the instructor said, "Purling in Continental SUCKS." Well. This woman writes books and produces DVDs. If she says it sucks, who am I to argue? Frankly, I can't remember why I had the yarn looped in my right hand. Look at the "Holding Yarn" picture and you'll get a better idea.
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| Continental Something... |
I knit like the wind. Well, like a lazy breeze in August. But I got that. Purling, not so much. She was very helpful and told us to "abandon whatever you're knitting now and do a scarf in Continental." Her theory is if you do that, you'll have that memory in your hands and you'll "never go back" to the other way of knitting. Hmmmmmmmm. Not sure about that.
I wanted to learn just so I was somewhat familiar if I ever had to switch. Having said that, you also know you can't switch mid-stream. It messes with your gauge.
The swatch I produced is something that our ancient canary could've produced. I haven't produced a piece of knitting that bad since I learned when I was 8 years old.
That being said, I get the whole practice thing. You can't just learn something one time and expect it to stick. Perhaps there's a scarf somewhere in my brain. She said to do it with sections: straight knit; straight purl; then do gradually increasing ribbing like K1 P1, then K2 P2, and she also said that this style of knitting was "made for" Moss Stitch. Which it would be. The yarn flips where you need it to be for that stitch, whether that was your intention or not.
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| Holding yarn |
I'll have to stash-dive for something decent, but which I won't be sad about if I rip it out 16 dozen times. I'm sure I have some of my Granny's acrylic that would work. What I used for the class was some "hand-me-over" that I used for a provisional cast-on for something else anyway.
So we decided the market was ok. Much nicer than Stitches because it was smaller and you weren't overwhelmed. I got the stuff on my list (blocking wires and some additional Kollage needles) and a Namaste cross-body mini-messenger bag for our trip to Europe. It's small enough to pass as a purse for carry-on purposes, and roomy enough to stash a small project for the times we'll be driving or the times we'll be relaxing.
No. Hubby doesn't know about that purchase, but he knows I've added to stash.
I haven't had time to photograph the new additions, except for what you'll see shortly. I did stop in Stephen B's booth. My, my, my... flamboyant is a rather mild term for him. His booth was sloppy-chic, and I stopped in but didn't purchase. Saw some things, but nothing leaped out and stood in my way demanding to come home with me.
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| Koigu Shawl |
The Friday, we figured we'd stop by The Knit Stop. This was an exhibitor who's about a mile away. The shop was a little denuded because so much was at the show, but there was still enough left. Mardi bought a Herdy pillow kit. Karen, though wool-shy, bought some superwash in the perfect pumpkin color for a baby hat. I bought the Koigu Kersti. There's a shawl that will be beautiful. Mardi helped me pick out colors, because if I had done it myself, it would have been mostly monochrome. Top to bottom, this is basically how the shawl will lay out, though I may start at the bottom. However the shawl will have the colors in this order. It's a cute little triangle shawl, without fringe.
Ghahhhhhhhhhhh - I don't like fringe!! Anyway, it's got a nice picot edge, and I suppose that if I don't want it, I can skip it.
Mardi invited Karen and I to a wool fest in Wisconsin, and we made a pledge to knit SOMETHING from what we purchased before that outing in September. Knit and FINISH... And that doesn't count my socks. Mardi said she'd drive; we'd stay in her family's vacation house. I'll cook and Karen will bring sweets. We polished off a bag of See's Bridge Mix while in traffic on the way home...
When I got home, this was the blissful part: I had the weekend relatively to myself. I skipped church. I had nothing planned. Hubby went on a 7-hour rescue transport on Sunday and I stayed home.
Of course, with the heart fluttering stuff, I really just wanted to chill anyway. I filled bird feeders. I tried to get our solar fountain in the bird bath working (failed). I was able to go out and buy some bras that actually fit (!). And I canned.
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| Pickle Relish |
Our pickling cucumber plants are starting to produce. I had 8 of them, so it was time to make relish. I've actually got a ton of pickles left, so this will be The Summer of Relish. I used red and yellow peppers in this one. It's a sweet relish, but I put some cracked black peppercorns in there. The peppers are sweet, too, and I figured it might need a little bite.
This is all hand-cut. I am food-processor-impaired. And anyway, I kind of like using the original food processor: a knife and cutting board! It's the recipe out of the Ball Blue Book. A nice standard. I have some in the back of that stack that are a little light on pickle relish, but Kid #2 says that the brining liquid is great for marinades or salad dressing. I'm good with that. It'll all be eaten.
Anyway, after all that, even though the weather had cooled off from our heat wave, you can imagine how warm it was in the kitchen. Even with the A/C running. Even with the stove fan on over the water-bath pot. It was a little steamy.
I was able to hear the very satisfying "plink" sound from each of those 10 jars of relish. Which was great. I washed the jars down, made the labels and stuck 'em on the lids.
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| Heat wave! |
Next up will be relish with red and green peppers, and maybe the time after that, relish with banana peppers or something else. Just not overly hot. I won't eat any of this because I have a problem with both onions and peppers. But the kids like it and so do the extended family. If we have a grill-fest, I have to bring this. Everyone loads it on their burgers and dogs.
Anyway, the heat. Here's how Tippi preferred to handle it. She's sprawled out about 4 feet from the tower fan which sits just aside from the living room's A/C vent. That girl knows how to live!
Now if we could only stop her from licking her shaved foot...
So, I'm going to try to be more consistent on the blogging thing...
We managed to escape any t-storms last night; today, it's clouding up a bit (and will most likely break loose about the time we take the dogs out the door to the vet) and there may be t-storms. I got brave, though, and put all the feeders back out and put the gazing balls back into their holders.
And I hit the LYS for one skein of sock yarn. Go ahead. Laugh. So the LYS is having a KAL. (Translation: The local yarn store is having a knit-a-long) And the yarn they're using is Trekking XXL - a sock yarn. The KAL benefits Ovarian Cancer research, so the color is Teal and it's called Susanne. It's really pretty - a bright pop of color.
The KAL is for a toe-up sock. Ain't happening; I'm going to do my own pattern - well, someone's pattern that I like. I think it's crying for a great leg; perhaps a little simple lace, or a chevron. The nice thing about the yarn is that there's a TEN DOLLAR donation PER BALL of yarn to research. That's phenomenal.
I have 2 very simple patterns; and I might just do the swirly rib that I'm using for Robin's Nest. Sure, it's the same pattern, but what do you want to bet that it looks totally different in a solid?
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| The Collar of Shame |
Tippi got The Collar of Shame last night. She was messing with the site of the pain patch. They removed the patch, but she's sensitive to the adhesive, apparently, and it irritated her skin. I tried to just be stern, but it didn't work, and I wasn't going to stay up all night making sure she didn't mess with the irritated leg. So this happened around midnight. She tried the "stink-eye." Then she tried the "sweetheart" -- and then she gave up. This picture was taken in her favorite hideout: my bathroom. She got it off to eat, but it's now back on. What happens is that she gets grumpy and then she figures out it's a good pillow. We go to the vet for the next bandage change; she's not bothering her incision at all. Thank goodness!!
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| Cascade Heritage Silk |
So, what else did I get at the LYS? Lots of Opal. I love the colors and it wears like iron! Here's what I have: Opal Sweet & Spicy, in colorways as shown on the pictures. Also, I've wound up the Cascade Heritage Silk. I was going to change to another yarn for G's scarf, but looking at the Heritage, I really want her to have silk. I added this to Ravelry, so you need to go there to find the pattern. The pattern is called Lettuce Leaf Scarf, by Janice Lynn for Madelinetosh. You can also go to the actual Madelinetosh site to find this; it's a free pattern.
I'm noticing a lot of blue so far! Yikes!
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| Opal 6752 |
Now for the Opals. They're all, as I said, in the Sweet & Spicy variety. I loved what 6752 looked like in the picture. There's a nice tweediness in the heel if I follow their pattern. Either way, it's a very pretty sock that would be good in a clog or even just a Birkenstock. I know - socks with Birks is cheesy. But I'm spending $20 per ball here, people... I want to show off my socks!
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| Opal 6755 |
The next one is 6755 - a very nice spring-ish green pattern with hints of taupe. What I like about this one is the variety of colors in this one, and how it's got that pop of orange in it. I think I can still use my size 2 needles. It can go down to a size 1, but I knit fairly tightly on the DPNs, so I don't have trouble doing a few rows and see how it looks.
I did for grins just buy another set of DPNs - bamboo ChiaoGoo. Not my favorite, but just in case I delay putting the scarf on needles, I wanted a spare set of DPNs in the smaller size to get cracking on socks. At some point, I'll have to go order another set of Kollage. I do have some Kollage size 1 circulars...Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe I should just do one of these in Magic Loop? There's a thought.
Magic Loop would certainly work better on this kind of yarn rather than the hiking socks that I tried it on! I have the basic idea, so it shouldn't be that hard to just wing it. It's only yarn. All I can do is try. If it doesn't work, I'll frog it.
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| Opal 6757 |
This Opal 6757 was the first one I actually purchased; this was acquired about 3 weeks ago. It's a great fall colorway and I love the star anise on the label. Maybe that's what the German means? Who knows? I can barely ask where the bathroom is in Spanish. And even if I asked, I don't know enough Spanish to understand your directions anyway.
So as I go forward with these socks, I will be sure to keep you posted.
I actually went ahead and listed some of my favorite knitting blogs on my site. I really like several of these and I admire the dedication of these folks to blog -- Every. Single. Day. I wish. I was doing that for a while, but I fell off the rails on it. Now I really do need to get back to it.
Oh, the Robin's Nest? I think I'll start the decreases this weekend. I'm at about 6.75" now, and I have to go to 7.5" before I start decreases. The straight knitting is a breeze.
On the news hole...I've kind of skimmed. I just didn't want to go there. It looks like Gov. Quinn might veto the initial handgun bill in IL. Actually, I'd really like to smack the NRA nutjobs; the only thing Illinois did right was to have the ban. But now, noooooooooo - it's more important for people to carry guns, as opposed to listening to those of us who don't want to be collateral damage.
On SCOTUS. I'm sorry, you can gut the Voting Rights Act, and call that "effective use of time" but the DOMA thing you're having a problem with??? Justice Scalia is a nitwit. I would have loved to see Justice Ginsberg catch Alito in the eyeroll.
On Texas. Well. What can you say to a Governor who's willing to spend millions in taxpayer dollars to legislate vaginas, but who won't pass a jobs bill, then claims to be "passionately pro-life" as his state executes its 500th person. And who says of those executions, "I can sleep at night" and not worry whether they're all truly justified. Lovely. Not.
So, what's on your needles? What are your summer knitting projects? What else can I add to my own WIP stack??
OK, so you all know that I kind of like DPNs. I learned socks on them; I've finished hats on them. I did EIGHTEEN small Easter Eggs and 3 "chocolate" bunnies on DPNs.
And let's face it -- how cool is it to have FIVE needles in your hands and actually look like you know what you're doing, while not dropping stitches or stabbing yourself? Really, I work in higher ed. I'm surrounded by PhDs who are humbled. HUMBLED, I tell you - when they see me weilding my 5 DPNs on a sock or a hat.
It's really hard to humble your average PhD. Trust me on this.
So. Today, at my friend Joan's house, I was dragged, kicking and screaming, to the Dark Side. To the land of the Magic Loop. (sigh)
I was just minding my own business, sitting there with Spikette, the MinPin who was determined that since I smelled of Elkhound and dog treats, I was probably an "ok human" -- and I was ambushed!! I had directions coming from both of the knitters there, simultaneously, with one of them saying, "OK, take that yarn off those DPNs and put it on this circular." Wow -- mental overload. I started out with a size 3 (32" circular) bamboo, but when I got home, I transferred everything (and didn't drop a stitch, by the way!) onto the Kollage 40" - it does give me more room to manipulate.
I know it's just another notch in my needles as a knitter to be able to do this. And I know that 2/3 of my knitterly friends do Magic Loop for everything up to and probably including hats, sweaters, scarves and gloves. But I was the one who liked "old school." I was (and frankly - still am) the one who liked the challenge of doing a sock or the top of a hat without any "runners" (which are those "holes" or spaces you can get if you don't tighten up the first 2 stitches as you transition from needle to needle.
Behold. My sock on Magic Loop. It's done on size 3 Kollage square needle (40" circular) and in Cascade 200 Heathers, which is 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. The yarn band says "needle size 7 - 8" (US size, sorry).
But the book I'm using is "Knit Socks!" by Betsy Lee McCarthy (publisher is Storey Publishing), and it's the Starter Stockinette. Her theory is that if you go down several needle sizes, the sock is heftier and wears better. These little stinkers will be lovely! The yarn's hand is gorgeous, and the weight of the sock will do well since I wear a lot of shoes that can kindly be called "hiking boots." She states in her book, "I generally need a needle 3 to 5 sizes smaller than the size recommended ... for general knitting" and states that this provides a "long-lasting sock fabric." I'm cool with that.
Oh, and the colorway is 9454, which is a nice purple-y tweed with hints of tan, yellow and blue in it. Here's a close-up of what the yarn looks like. Double-click on the picture to see a detailed photo. It's coming along great.
As for turning the heel, I also have "Sonda's Basic Sock on Magic Loop," a pattern copyrighted by my friend Sonda Lee, who died this past May of melanoma. She taught me the "Sonda's Basic Sock" on size 7 DPNs with the theory being that if you started out on "fairly large" DPNs, you could (a) manipulate them better; and (b) see more clearly the construction so that you made "3 pairs right away" - on a size 7, they do move along quickly - and you put all the pieces together in your head and hands. Muscle memory and brain memory. It works. And as she often said: "You're only knitting on 2 needles at a time, one stitch at a time -- and that's what you're doing whether it's a sock, a shawl or an afghan."
I would tell you where to get Sonda's pattern, except that you can't anymore. But if you want to see some of her designs, take a peek at the One Skein Wonders books, both "Luxury Yarns" and "Sock Yarns." Her designs are in there.
So I'll tell you how it goes.
If nothing else, because I'll be stretching my body in yoga teacher training, perhaps it's good that I'm also stretching my mind trying to anticipate turning a heel on a circular needle!
