Big update after holiday weekend!

I had a great weekend. We had dinner with my parents (who are travelling to Israel tomorrow), had meals with several friends, watched videos, took a nice long hike down by the river mouth. I worked on Grasslimb — it was so beautiful outside I put a picnic blanket down under the pine tree and read submissions outside. I did some gardening (raking, weeding, cutting flowers). I read a fun book (Bust, by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr). I read knitting magazines. I even cooked dinner on Sunday (sauteed beet, turnip and spinach greens with tofu on pasta). And I knitted.


These are a million shots of my completed Rib & Cable Fingerless Mitts from the Spring 2006 Interweave Knits. I love, love, love them.

Some of the reasons: Fabulous Sundara yarn (sport merino in Galaxy) with Rowan Cashsoft trim. Colors came out just the way I'd imagined them. Beautiful rib and cable pattern. Easy and fast knit — so satisfying. Warm. Soft. Comfy.

Even in this lovely warm weather, I don't want to take them off!

One of them is blocked in these photos, the other isn't. There's a slight difference in the sharpness of the cable. The yarn softens in the wash/block process, mmmm.

Pattern changes: I inadvertently made the thumb gusset shorter (7 rows instead of 14) in the first glove, and had to backwards-engineer my error so I could make it in the second one, too (they fit fine). Made two extra stitches when I picked up for the thumb, because I have fat thumbs. Made the thumbs and overall length shorter, because I have short hands. My guesses were good ones. They fit perfectly.

Here is my progress on Mariner. The picture came out too blue — yarn color is more magenta. This is the bottom of the front; I've just split off for the pocket (that's the hole, it'll be sewn up later). I'm on gauge, this SHOULD fit, but I can't figure out how a medium can ever fit me. If it turns out too small, though, it'd be easy to make side panels that look like they belong on it, so I'm not too worried. And I have tons of yarn, because I bought this yarn on eBay and it came in a bag of 20 balls. Even for size L, I'd only need 14.

Here are the completed last two pair of CIC socks. They're on their way in the USPS. I love them much more, now. And, they are very very soft:

Can't go without sock-knitting so I've cast on for some socks for Rob. I'm going to mess around with a couple of patterns in the Nancy Bush Vintage Socks book. This will also be my socks for the Trek-along.

And here's where I am on the baby sweater. Nearly ready to do the bottom rib! I might try a little short-row shaping on the shoulders just for practice, though technically I should have started that sooner given that it's for a baby, not a linebacker:

Do I have sore hands?
Well.. yes.

In which Lene changes my attitude

In the comments, Lene writes

Those socks remind me of my childhood. Then my mom used to knit socks out of left our yarns from other projects. And the socks would have stripes like yours. I don't think she ever shopped for sock yarn...

And suddenly my perspective shifted.

While I was knitting the last pair of CIC socks, I was laden with guilt. Here I am, a relatively wealthy American, who could perfectly well afford to go out and buy new yarn for socks for these little kids, but I was using scraps. What kind of respect did that show for these kids, who have every right to a nice pair of socks?

So guilt, guilt riding me every row, every guilty color change, until I was angry at the socks and myself, disappointed in my lack of generosity.

Then Lene commented. And I had a good long think.

But would it really respect children who have nothing best to waste the ends of yarn left over from other projects? Is it really the right attitude that buying something new and throwing out the old, still soft, still knittable, still lovely yarn is the appropriate way to gift the world? Is it giving if I am guilt-laden with every stitch?

I finished these socks with love, with careful Kitchener stitches, a warm wash. As I spread them out to block, I was able to think: These socks will warm a small child and they will be so very soft. My fingers have clothed them. My love goes from these fingers to that child's toes, and that's how I want it to be.

I'm not saying I'm entirely free of guilt. But my perspective has definitely angled upward.

And thank you, Lene.

The OTHER Secret Pal swap

Okay.. so. This is for my OTHER Secret Pal, not SP8. It's all very confusing, but I signed up for two because I really like buying people stuff, and I'm a shopaholic at the moment. I hope that is okay!!

To fill this form out, I answered one question with "About six months" and then, to keep the font right, I pasted that answer in to all the questions. I was really tempted to leave them that way. "What is the one thing in your knitting bag that you can't live without? About 6 months. My current color obsession is: About 6 months."

But I didn't.

1. My favorite yarn to knit with is:
Sundara DK and sock yarn, Regia Silk, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino . I particularly like DK weight yarns.

2. I really do not enjoy knitting with:
Elephants. They don't bend well around the needles.
Snarky remarks.
Eyelash yarn and much bulky yarn (except cool handspun).
Bamboo needles.
Large needles.

3. If I had a choice, I would banish this yarn from my LYS:
Oh, nothing — I do believe it takes all kinds. But I don't really need to spend much time in the novelty yarn section unless I'm trolling for trim.

4. If I could knit only one more project for the rest of my life, it would be:
A mind-bogglingly intricate Aran sweater. With tons of great cables and kooky elaborate stitches.

For the elephant. Cuz, ya know, I'm hoping to live a long time.

5. My favorite flower is:
Watermelon.

Not really. I just felt like saying watermelon for some reason.

Gardenia, tuberose, jasmine and tea rose are all right up there.

6. My current color obsession is:
Green. Also black.

7. My other interests are:
Knitting hippopotami.
Seriously? Ethnobotany. Pharmacology. Music (I sing, play piano, write songs). Writing (I most write crime stories and some poetry). Editing Grasslimb, my literary magazine. Throwing parties! Having house guests. Crochet. Making jewelry. Glasswork. Reading (esp. noir detective novels). Weightlifting. Eating (sadly, more than weightlifting).

8. Something I wish I knew more about is:
Knitting sweaters, esp. gansey.

9. A knitting technique I want to learn is:
Entrelac. Also lace.

10. My favorite needles to knit with are:
My Inoxes — US #0, 1 and 2 DPNs and US #5 and 6 circs.

11. Do you knit socks?
Almost incessantly.

12. Please provide your foot measurements:

• length (longest toe to heel): ~10". (shoe size 9)
  
• instep circumference: ~9" (that is, it's a 9C).
• ankle circumference: ~9" just above anklebone.

I like quarter- to mid-calf socks, if it matters

13. What was your favorite childhood movie?
I don't remember; we didn't go to many. I do remember screaming in terror at 101 Dalmations.

14. What is one thing in your knitting bag that you can't live without?
A metal ruler. I'm constantly checking gauge.

15. What is lacking in your notions bag that you really, really want? (Cable needle, Kacha Kacha, Chibi, etc.)
Hmm... a more cool row counter than the little barrel ones. Ideally one that I could hang from my (circular) needles, more easily and gracefully than putting yarn through my barrel ones.

16. What is currently on the needles at your house?
A tunic, fingerless mitt, scarf and bathmat — see WIPs on the sidebar.

17. If you could do nothing but knit all day, every day, for the next month (and get paid for it!), what would you knit?
Either socks, or a complex Aran or gansey sweater.

18. Least favorite color(s):
Orange. But, you'd be surprised; sometimes I do like it. Not for me to wear, though.

19. Favorite genre of music? Or any way you want to answer that question...basically it's the what kind of music do you like question.
I suppose "alternative". I like post-punk, electronica, world music and folk quite a bit.

20. Favorite candy or sweet: Hmm. Gummi grapefruit, maybe.

21. What is the most challenging thing you have ever knit?
So far, just socks, and they were pretty easy. I haven't done that much yet though!

22. How long have you been knitting? About 6 months.

Mariner launches!

After (literally) six swatches, I have cast on! I think I may may may have gauge. And I reemphasize may. It kept seeming like no matter what needle size I used on the Schoeller Esslinger Palma cotton yarn (lots of sheen, smooth as silk), I got the same darn gauge. Too tight. But hopefully I'm okay now. Gotta think loose thoughts. Hmm, that sounds more like something you do for your bowels :-/

What I'm knitting? Mariner from Irresistible Knits by Kristen Cowan. The book was 99 cents — count 'em! — at the UCSD bookstore. Ridiculous. I want to knit half the book. However, I've already found a bunch of obvious pattern errors (doesn't match the picture if I knit it as specified, so I'm making changes). I'm a novice, so hope I'm correcting correctly! It's a long, slightly bell-sleeved tunic which I'd like to wear with jeans. Another worry (besides gauge and pattern corrections) is that I seem to be knitting it in a medium. Well, they say that's 44" chest size. I measured (not hand-)knit tunics that I own and they were all 44" in the bust. And I'm 43" and if I wear it as a top, I don't want much ease. My butt is also 43". And I did the stitch math, and at the right gauge, it's 44". Really. So it should fit, it should.

Nervous Nellie, me. I'll be checking my gauge every five minutes or so. But I've never knit an adult-sized sweater before! (And. Yeh. I'm still not quite done with the baby sweater.)

Ahhh.

The universe definitely knew I was feeling down. It made my gardenia bloom.

The gardenias had both been eaten down to sticks by some sort of critter (deer?) last winter, so I wasn't sure what would happen. The plants looked so pitiful. But this morning, lovely smells wafted towards me when I went out the back door. Woohoo!


I cut the gardenias, brought them inside, and noticed that the roses on my dining room table had opened. They just glowed. I had to take a flash picture to really get the effect. They smell good, too.


Perhaps they know it's Colleen's birthday!

Last night I finished the drudgery (because I don't like them — otherwise, it's pleasant knitting) of the last pair of CIC socks. I wove in almost all the ends, too. So it's just Kitchenering and weaving in the last six ends, now.
Here's proof. I'll do the last bits tonight, honest.

PLUS,

you just can't imagine how cute I look in my nightshirt and legwarmers.

Hmm, okay, guess I really AM a child of the '80s (despite being born two decades previous) if I think I look cute in legwarmers.

Sigh.

Shopping!

I've been very stressed out this past week (mostly work-related), and unfortunately for my pocketbook, I am one of those people who de-stresses by buying lots of junk they don't need! However, this time it's Secret Pal 8 time, and so yesterday I went and bought goodies at the UCSD bookstore for my Secret Pal-ee. This is actually stuff for her third package — I mailed her second one this morning. I'd tell you what I got, but she could be doing searches on the blogs to see if she can figure me out. I suspect she's the Sherlock type.

Then today I had to kill 15 minutes between appointments and was, conveniently, next to the LYS. I'm not terribly fond of this store — it's small, it has a lot of acrylic blends (and they do things like post felting patterns right next to the acrylic blends — wow, useful) and novelty yarns and very little 'real' yarn. But they have a good backstock of old knitting magazines, so I picked up a few (I like reading patterns in the bathtub when I'm too tired even for my 1950s hard-boiled detective novels. Lately that's too often!). I also got some sock yarn for my Secret Pal-ee, and one tiny ball of sale wool for me.

Capped it off by buying a bit more wool from a fellow blogger who's destashing. It's kind of a greyish green sport weight, and she doesn't like that color. I happen to love that color (and I love DK/sport)! I love grey, black and white and I love green, and these "greenish neutrals" are favorites of mine. I'm not sure if I want to make a vest out of it, add another color and make a short-sleeved mock turtleneck (I live in this style of shirt), or just make legwarmers out of it. I know, I know, you're thinking "child of the '80s". But the truth is I get night-time charlie horses from time to time, and I can always tell when I'm going to, and on those nights, I wear legwarmers to bed and it stops 'em. And the only legwarmers I own are some shabby grey acrylic ones from the 1980s. Really. So I could use at least one more pair (probably several, but I'm trying really hard not to spend ALL my money right now).

I'm going to make some of these fingerless mitts for Aime. She requested black, and I'm thinking of trimming them with that hot rainbow bamboo I bought in Santa Barbara.. that should look truly awesome.

I love my fingerless mitt and I can't take it off. I guess I better make the next one, and take some pictures for y'all.

Lots of blithering!

So, as I mentioned, I cast on last night for these lovely rib-and-cable mitts from the Spring 2006 Interweave Knits:



I was inspired by falling in love with Sundara Yarn in Galaxy Sport. I bought 100g with no idea in mind, then saw this pattern, which called for a DK weight. Perfect! But I needed just the perfect contrasting color. My mind's eye told me a pale candlelight yellow would be ideal, but I had to find it. Finally dug it up — Rowan Classic Cashsoft Baby DK.

I knit the right cuff last night while watching A Clear and Present Danger on DVD. Here's the front (palm) side of the cuff:



Here's the back, so you can see the cable, and how the yarn color is varied, from white through turquoise to purply-indigo:


And here, a slightly blurry picture of it on:


I also finished the next-to-last CIC sock, with the exception of Kitchenering and weaving in ends. I hate it:

I hope some kid thinks it's nice that it has all these colors. It makes me kind of sad, though.

Here's a Saturday picture of the baby cardigan. It's a bit further along now (~2" longer). Unfortunately I found out my friend is visiting San Diego not next weekend, but right now. Oops. So she'll definitely be coming over before I finish it. I'll just have to mail it to her. That's okay. Though I'm not enjoying working with the yarn, it's knitting up very soft and pretty.



Gotta pick out some good buttons!

I got some Sundara sock yarn in the mail on Saturday. I have two skeins each of Grasshopper, "Somewhat Solid" Greens, and Mixed Berry. The Mixed Berry (a mix of cranberry, raspberry, blues and purples) is either going to be a gift for my Secret Pal-ee, or a pair of socks for her. I need to think about it.

Marvelous soap, yummy veggies, and itchy fingers

I bought some soaps from Alchemic Dragon for my Secret Pal-ee and for my friend Kat, and they arrived on Friday. Wow. They smell good. My favorite scent so far is the Dragon's Blood (it smells similar to the resin incense with that name). Should have ordered myself some! Not that I have a shortage of soap, but you know me and soap. Addict!!

I slacked off on my weekly hike and we went to the Farmer's Market this morning with Carl & Elinor and Jopsy. I got all kinds of irresistible vegetables and fruit. We had some strawberries at lunch, and for dinner I'm doing roasted vegetables in the oven (yes, I do sometimes cook, but admittedly not often). Veggies I'm roasting include baby purple potatoes, baby beets, baby patty-pan squash in yellow and green (these are the ones that look like flying saucers), and some chunks of what turned out to be radish. I was hoping they were turnips, but I find it hard to tell the difference before cutting between giant radishes and small turnips. I think they will be edible cooked — after all you can cook daikon — but we'll find out soon enough. I threw in a couple of cans of garbanzo beans and tossed it all in olive oil, ground coriander, white pepper and Murray River salt. I normally use rosemary but oops! was all out, so we'll see how this tastes. I'll throw in some veggie sausages towards the end (it has to cook, covered at 475, about an hour normally). We're pretty much vegetarian at home (occasionally I buy lox for bagels).

I've been knitting away at the baby cardigan and the CIC socks (last pair), but neither one is pleasing me much. The cardigan is acrylic and the fiber kind of bores me, and doesn't smell good like natural fibers. The socks.. well, I ran out of Sundara yarn is really what happened. As I only recently discovered there was more to life than acrylic yarn, I don't have much of a wool (CIC socks must be wool) yarn stash yet except sock yarn, so I had to resort first to scraps, then to some Patons Classic Wool (that I had planned to use for felting) to finish them. They have a number of different colors and kinds of wool. So they are pretty scrappy-looking. I hope some child thinks they are cute, rather than horrific.

...And so I had itchy fingers. I need to cast on for Rob's socks, as I promised him they'd be the next pair of socks, but that takes some thought and quiet, so instead I cast on for the Rib and Cable Mitts from Interweave Knits. I'll show you tomorrow! They are fun so far, and should be a fast knit; I calculate the pair of fingerless mitts will take about as long as one adult sock.

Ooh! I have a secret pal!

And she reads my blog posts and everything. Woo!

Plus, I am a secret pal. I'm all stoked about this and shopping crazedly. Just another excuse to shop, I guess.

Ms. Secret Pal — thanks for being my Pal!!! Yep, I do know about those hyperbolic planes. Don't know quite what I'd do with one if I made it, however. And I have NO idea what to do with the alpaca. I don't make lace yet, and I'm a little unsure if the alpaca will work for this or not. It's fairly stiff (I think it's probably mainly used in weaving?), but maybe it would be softer as lace, or after washing. I was thinking of using the gold as a carry-along with some laceweight wool in forest green that I already have, and making socks (I think the two together would be close to sockweight). But I would not likely wear them, as I don't really wear warm colors like this gold, so it would be better to make something ornamental, or for someone else. I welcome ideas!!!