Finally bloomed!

Canada Post finally coughed up the second half of my Bloomin' Feet package!

OzKnitter sent a gorgeous pair of lace socks (based on Nancy Bush's Friday Harbour pattern) in a gorgeous hand=dyed merino-cashmere blend. The socks are amazing and were her first experience with lace socks. My feet never had it so good. There is also rose-scented soap leaves and a rose-scented anti-moth block, currently residing in my closet. (Can you guess that my favorite flower is the rose?) Thank you so much, OzKnitter for being such a great knitter and Amanda/clothesknit for organizing Bloomin' Feet. (Boo to the post office for taking so damned long!)

I've been making the post office work this week, though. Today also brought the rest of my Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab order (I ordered a bottle of the limited edition Poisson d'Avril and an imp pack, and the Poisson was missing from the first shipment - although that is not indicative of their customer service, and it was rectified as quickly as possible.!) It will be the last shipment for a long while, since the postal rate increase has now made shipping costs insane.

Monday, I picked up my yarn from Allison at Simply Sock Yarn Co:

That's Panda Cotton in Fuschia for Mom and Lorna's Laces for me in Pewter (will be Mad Weave socks) and Pale Pink (will be Twisted Flower socks). A tiny sample of Meilenweit Cotton Stretch yarn came along for the ride, and knit up really nicely into a teensy square. If (a)shipping ever becomes reasonable again or (b) my local LYS stocks it (and in solid colors!), I might pick some up.

OK, time to post this before my internet conks out. (New modem is on its way, as is an upgrade in the service.)

Hark! I see a blossom!

Tim Tams have arrived! Socks, however, not so much. (I blame Canada Post. They're...erratic.) The Tim Tams were mailed separately, because of something in the other package that might have damaged them. Thanks, OzKnitter!

Knitting progress? I have a couple of finished objects to be shown at a later date (gifts) and Dauphin is currently blocking in the dining room:

The Chinese Leftover socks are awaiting a heel turn, the Sarcelle has been lying fallow (skipped knitting group last week because Mom had an eye appointment) and I've started the Mad For Fair Isle Batik Style socks from Sock Madness, but they're currently inside out to try and ease my stranding issues, so they look like a black/grey and pink blob. Pictures eventually.

Surfacing again

This has not been a stellar year so far for blogging. I blame it on Saturn's retrograde period. (As good as an excuse as any.)

This post will be finished objects. I promise to follow with current knitting and recent acquisitions in the very near future. (Oy, the acquisitions. Must. Stop. Shopping.)

First up, Day Two of Round Three of Sock Madness:

I was definitely out by 1 pm Thursday, and I was probably out earlier than that, but I wasn't sure who my opponent was on Flickr. I was OK with it, because I really didn't like those socks. The pattern was too wide for my feet, and the gauge given was far too loose for the Socks that Rock. I'm not a fan of cuffed socks - I find them too bulky. I might have been happier had I used the STR and the specified needles rather than the specified gauge (which goes against everything I've been taught about gauge), but I don't think I would have been happy. The yarn will wait for another pattern. Other lessons I've learned from Sock Madness is that (a) I'm a control freak (I kept thinking, "But why? I would do it [this way]." and (b) I like a VERY tightly knit sock. That said, I loved the fourth round pattern, and will be knitting it at some point in the future.

Now, some pretty pictures of the Bloomin' Feet socks:



Look - spring blossoms! (Especially incredible considering we had snow two days before that picture was taken.) My package was mailed off today, and should get there next week. I hope the recipient likes it!

Random family knitting. The now seasonally-inappropriate (knock on wood) Esther Williams Hat:

The pattern called for crochet trim, but I seem to have a very short head, and the trim would impede my vision. I have two fresh balls of Mission Falls in Raspberry to knit another one for my mother, who has a hard time finding hats that cover her forehead as she likes.

I'm back to knitting socks for Mom, since she's been neglected this year. At the end of March, my LYS finally received the long-anticipated shipment of Koigu (it was due in originally "end of October, early November). Two skeins had to come home with me:

Since I pilfered the STR that I had intended to use for Pomatomus socks for Mom, and in hopes that the Koigu would not stripe like the Lorna's Laces I used for mine, I wound up the Koigu and knit away:

Oh well. They not only striped, the stripe reversed direction on the foot. They're still cute, though.

A Finishing Machine...

I finished up my Bloomin' Feet socks!

Well, mostly finished. The crappy photo is mostly there to prove that there are two complete socks. That strand of yarn floating around? Last end to be woven in. After some momentary panic when cropping the picture - Ohmigod, the socks don't match! War! Panic! Mushrooms! - a bit of experimenting determined that they are the same size, but one had been on my foot and the other hadn't, meaning one was slightly wider and shorter. A good wash will fix that. So, when I can find a blooming spring plant (or, if necessary, abscond with an African violet), proper photos will be taken. The weather just needs to make up its mind first.

You might notice a new entry in the Finished Items column - the Esther Williams Hat (scroll down to the third entry). I printed this out a long time ago, and finally knit it. It's a speedy knit - I cast on yesterday afternoon while websurfing, took it to band practice, and finished it up this evening. No photos yet - I'm waiting for daylight. I'm going to skip the crochet trim, because I seem to have an abnormally shaped head and it's already just past my eyebrows. The crochet trim would probably block my vision!

So, what's up next? Round 2 of Sock Madness. The new pattern calls for a sport weight yarn. I finally found one that I loved - Angora Valley Fibers Monarch, especially the Field of Dreams. Problem? I found it on Saturday. There isn't a snowball's chance in Hades that it could have made it here in time. (One of my Zip DVDs took a week to get here from Calgary.) So, it was either stash dive or buy some Briggs and Little. Exfoliating as the B&L would have been, I turned up something I hope will work in the stash:

That would be some ... well-aged Esprit Print from Elann in Summer Sky. You may have seen it in such projects as my first-ever socks (the ones that were two different sizes) or my fishnet stockings. I got gauge, and if I run short, I'll just have obnoxiously mis-matched toes (I'll probably use the leftover Fourth of July I used for my Broadripples.) A couple of other people are looking at using it, so I won't be the only one in trouble if it doesn't work. The pattern is to be released tomorrow evening, so I'll find out then how this goes.

And, I succumbed to the siren song of Elann last week. Usually, I wait until late afternoon, at which point, the colors I want of a given yarn are long gone. Not so much with this:

Seven skeins of Rowan Pure Wool in Ultra Marine. It will become Cambridge, a RYC pattern currently available free from the Victoria and Albert Museum website. I've been wearing one of my Ribby Shells as a vest and really liking it. So, more vests in my future!

Socks are Bloomin'

I have been busily knitting away on my Bloomin' Feet socks, once my wrists recovered from the first round of Sock Madness. The yarn is doing what handpainted yarn tends to do - confound expectations:

The spiraling stripe changed direction on the sock leg! How interesting. I think it's neat-o, and I hope the recipient will feel the same way. The striping is less obvious on the side view:

I changed up the cuff pattern, or so I thought. The Nautilus pattern calls for several rows of stockinette, which curls over. I decided to continue upwards in a 4x2 rib for 10 rows. Which curled over. Odd, but I really like the effect, so it's staying.

As for the striping? It got even weirder on the second sock:

I've just started the leg, so how that's going to end is still a mystery. I hope to finish it up either tomorrow or early next week. The second round of Sock Madness should be starting at the end of the week, so I want my schedule freed up. I'll probably knit a hat after the BF socks are done, just for a change of pace. I've also got a mystery lace project that needs a bit of tinking before it can progress.

Sorry for the absence

I was knocked out by a particularly virulent something-or-other. I spent the better part of a week in bed, half-watching wedding shows while attempting to hack up a lung. I didn't even leave the house for a week and a half. I am back to relatively human form.

No knitting occurred while I was ill. (I also didn't sleep much or eat much.) However, I have started my Bloomin' Feet Socks:

This is the third attempt at these socks. The first time, I just grabbed 2.5mm dpns and cast on 64 stitches and started a pretty leaf pattern out of BWII. The socks were a good quarter inch too big on my feet, and my feet are wider than the recipient. Rip. I knit a tiny swatch on 2mms, letting me know I get 10 spi on those needles. Hmm. I pull out Sensational Knitted Socks, but nothing sends me. I pull out my binder o'patterns, volume 2 and poke through. I pull out my Badcaul pattern and start in, back on the 2.5mms - it's fewer stitches! It will be fine! The cables ended up totally lost. Rip again. Pull out Nautilus and cast on on 2 mm needles, rejiggering for the tighter gauge. Finally! Success.

I've also got some more sock patterns coming. A friend went to Stitches West and picked up a couple for me: Thelonious and Twisted Flower socks by the amazing Cookie A. Add to that the upcoming Sock Madness, and it's just all socks all the time around here. I foresee a summer of hats.

Yay! Yarn!

My Lisa Souza yarn arrived today! (OK, yesterday if you're being picky, but I don't count the day change until I go to sleep.) Marky Mark finally came through. (The postman's name is Mark, and I've corrupted it to Marky Mark. He bears no resemblance to the original Marky Mark.

That's Sock!Merino in Mars Quake (for Mom), Violet's Pink Ribbon (for me) and Shade Garden (for my Bloomin' Feet pal.) The Mars Quake is more red than I had expected, but Mom likes it, so that's OK. I think the Shade Garden is perfect for my pal, so now I just need to find a pattern.

In other news, I made cookies - Gingerbread Palmiers from the December Martha Stewart Living. Properly made, they look like this:

Mine? Not so much:

Not a recipe I will do again.

Random sock-related news

1 - I have purchased yarn for Bloomin' Feet. It is winging its way to me - Lisa Souza Sock!Merino. There's a skein of Shade Garden for my pal, a skein of Violet's Pink Ribbon for me and a skein of Mars Quake for Mom. Looking locally turned up nothing I thought my pal would like.

2 - That's not to say my local shopping was unsuccessful. I did pick up a skein of Tofutsies in "One Foot In Front of the Other" for Mom:

I'd be happier if they'd make some in solid colors, which I prefer to self-striping. (Yet hand-painted makes me happy - something about the randomness.)

3 - I finally finished the Broadripples for me:

The second picture is more accurate colorwise. I say finally because I kept breaking the casein needles I was using, and broke the second needle (which left me with too few to work with) on a Friday, and I waited until knitting group on Thursday to replace them with nice sturdy Aeros. (Don't mention Magic Loop or 2 circulars. I've done both and they drive me nuts. They work for some, but I'm a DPN girl.)

4- I started another pair of socks, of course. Simply Lovely Lace socks by Karen Baumer, from last spring's Interweave Knits:

These are made out of the same Koigu as the Spring Leaves socks I knit last year. I'm currently decreasing out the gusset stitches.

I need to start working on some non-sock projects. I'm thinking that the Phildar sweater I bought yarn for off eBay would be a good choice. I am using my Sea Silk for a stole, but that will not be seen as I'm considering submitting it for publication. (That and I cast on way too many stitches, and need to restart it.) It does make a good knitting group project, leaving the Phildar sweater for alternate home knitting.

Edited to answer Helen's question: Bias is still lying around my house in pieces. My middle name would be Procrastination if I ever got around to changing it!

More Finished Stuff

I've been spending my time knitting, not writing, clearly. Still no pictures of the Slayer socks (but they did accompany Mom to the sleep clinic.) So, here are the Sleepy Toasty Toes socks:

Just a cute little pair of anklets, whisper light and toasty warm. And currently covered in flannel-sheet pills. I was really concerned about how much yarn I had, since my little digital scale told me I had 50 grams or so. The remaining ball weighs about 27 grams, so I could knit another pair in the future. Thank you very much for the yarn, Rachel!

Then, I knit up the Whiskers and Paw Prints socks by Theresa Walunas. When you have kitty-cat colored yarn (Koigu KPPPM P313), knit kitty-cat socks! (Clicking on the photo will take you to a larger version, which better shows the detail.)

These were an easy knit for me, and would be an excellent introduction to lace. These are currently my mother's socks (with a possibility of defaulting to me if there's any laundry shrinkage.) When I managed to find more kitty-cat colored yarn, I will knit another pair for whoever doesn't have ownership of these. (I also bought the Here There be Dragons sock pattern.)

I also finished up the knitting tote and knit a little bag to hold wallet/cell phone/lip gloss/assorted other things that were always getting lost in my knitting bag (note use of baseboard for approximate scale):

The tote was based on the Southwestern Style Bag in Paton's "Fabulous Felting" booklet - I just ignored all the beads/bobbles/color changes and knit 10 round stripes (the total number of rounds for the sides was 110, which worked out perfectly.) The base and I-cords for the straps were done in the Chestnut Brown. The little bag was knit from the Sophie pattern from Magknits, but modified to be a buttonhole bag. I cast of 21 stitches on the long sides on row 46, and cast them back on on row 47, and then bound off all stitches when the pattern directed me to bind off most of them. The Classic Wool felted easily, although I think there is probably room for it to shrink some more.

As for new projects, I've wound my Seasilk, but am missing the pattern that came with it (which I wanted for a rough starting stitch count). I'm knitting a pair of Broadripples with the Fourth of July Esprit Print I bought from Elann eons ago (I'm slightly disappointed, because the red on the ball mysteriously becomes hot pink as soon as it leaves the ball - so much for my Canadiens-colored socks!) and the Desperation socks progress slowly, because I want to leave them for knitting group knitting.

In addition, I'm looking for the right yarn for my Bloomin' Feet socks. I've spotted several online options, but am sort of hoping to find something locally. Mostly because ordering will end up being "One for pal, two for me, one for mom - good grief, look at that total!" Couple that with my recent perfume find/addiction, and it does add up. Especially when you order sweater kits in blue just because. (I ordered it from my LYS, but this was the first link I found that gave the alternate colors.)