The Knitting Pirate

Yesterday I had a chunk of time; Pirate-Husband was working late and I had already eaten dinner. So I decided to haul out the drum carder. In three hours I was able to card 25g of alpaca; I plan to do some more tonight. I’d like to have a bunch of it carded before I sit down to spin any of it.

I’m working with gratis seconds from the friend of a friend with an alpaca farm, and I have about eight pounds of the stuff. The fleece I was working with last night came from a tan and white animal named Valdir. I’m sorting out the white stuff first, and I’ll do the tan later. Other bags of fleece are darker, so I’ll keep those separate as well.

It takes three slow passes through the carder to get a batt I’m happy with. If I went faster I’d get neps and nubby bits, so I force myself to turn the crank as slowly as I can and I try to remember not to shove too much fiber in there at once. The 12g and 13g batts I made last night seem a little on the light side compared to the first few I did. Tonight I’ll weigh out 15g before I start carding and see how well that works.

My parents came to visit this past Sunday, and my mom brought with her the bare beginnings of a swatch for a stole she’d like to make from KnitPicks’ Alpaca Cloud in Smoke Heather, a lovely light silver-gray. When she saw my Ostrich Plumes scarf she decided that she wanted to make the same pattern, but knit lengthwise. It’s been over 30 years since she did any lace knitting, and she needed explanations of some of the stitches. So I got my scarf off the shelf and got her through a pattern row.

After they left, I thought to myself, “Wow, it’s been a really long time since I’ve put any rows on this scarf. I really should get to work on that; it’s been more than a year since I started it.” And now I remember why – I hate, hate, hate the needles. Long, slippery, blunt aluminum needles are just not suitable for this project.

So I just ordered an Addi lace circular needle in the right size, and I didn’t add any yarn or roving to my cart. Stickin’ to the diet! Yay willpower!

Even though I’m not a big fan of knitting with cotton, for a project that took less than six hours total I think I can handle it. Especially when that project is so awesome. I made a cotton pad for my Swiffer WetJet, using the Ballband Dishcloth Reusable Swiffer Cover pattern from Noelle at Strange Yarns ;; Skull Charms. I love the texture of the slipped stitch and ‘bricks’ pattern, and the bumpiness is really good at picking up dirt from the floor. We gave it a quick try, and I hate to say how much dirt there was even though I mopped with elbow grease last weekend. Maybe it’s time to admit that I should be washing the floors more often…

I did add an extra half-repeat to the pattern, and for the next one I’ll add a full repeat as well as making it slightly longer. Maybe my Swiffer’s a little bigger or my gauge slightly smaller, but I’d like the side pockets to be a little deeper. Pirate-Husband tried it out and it seems to stay on just fine, so maybe there’s nothing to worry about. You can see in this picture how, er, ‘rustic’ our wooden floors are. There are big gaps between some of the boards which just tore the disposable pads apart. I’m hoping the cotton stands up to them for at least five moppings. I think they pay for themselves at two moppings, so five would be spectacular. I bet they last even longer than that!

I love the idea of reusable where disposable once reigned. There’s enough yarn to make another Swiffer cover, and I’m already envisioning cotton soap sacks and washcloths (in less obscenely bright colors). I love handmade soap but it does tend to melt away quickly, and a soap sack should help it last longer. Or they’d make wonderful gifts, wouldn’t they? I’m not sure who on my gift list would really appreciate a handknit lace washcloth and soap sack. Most of the people with whom I exchange presents aren’t into handmade stuff, so it’s wasted on them. How sad.

I know I said I was on a yarn diet, but sometimes exceptions have to be made. In this case, two balls of Lily Sugar and Cream for my swiffer cover. My theory is that if I don’t buy the yarn, I can’t make the cover – and if I don’t have the cover, I can’t mop the floors. I do have one disposable pad left, but that’s obviously single-use, and the floors need mopping more frequently than I’d like to admit. And, probably, more often than I actually do it!

Besides, this should be a really quick project. It’s 69 stitches and 33 rows 34 rows, plus a bit of seaming – I can knock that out in a day, right? I also had to get new needles for this project. Who’d'a thought that I didn’t have size 7 straights? Fortunately I carry a card in my wallet with all my needles catalogued, so I was able to double-check before just buying ‘em. Now the question is – do I cast on RIGHT NOW, or do I keep working on the sock?

My least favorite part of the socks, the heel and gusset, are done! Last night I cranked through the rest of the gusset, remembering about the extra decrease on the second side, and now it’s just inches of mindless stockinette ’til I get to the toe.

I love casting on for new projects, and I love finishing projects, but between 75% and 95% of a project always seems so slow. That’s why I’m only working on this sock right now, never mind the other two projects on the needles, the tempting roving, or the as-yet-undetermined baby gift that needs to be done by early October. I just want it done with – not only because it’s a relatively quick project, but because I can’t wait to see the socks on Pirate-Husband’s feet!

And because I want something else to write about.

Yesterday I gave car-knitting a shot on the way to and from work. I’ve never been able to read in the car without getting lightheaded and headachy. Once I was able to knit on a larger-gauge hat project in the passenger seat, but yesterday I had some trouble with the socks. Ah well. Maybe once I’m past the gusset and don’t have to look at it so much, it’ll be easier.

Inevitably I end up picking up one more stitch on the second side of the heel flap. I figure it’s no big deal; the last decrease round will only decrease on that one side. I wonder why it happens, though. I pick up stitches through every slipped heel flap stitch, and always there’s one extra. Maybe that’s a natural extension of knitting in the round, the second side has to be one row taller than the first.

While I really want to get this sock done (so I can start on the next one) I’ve also been wanting to spin lately. I spun up half the BFL roving that I bought at MD Sheep and Wool this year, and I should probably do the other half in a similar weight. …and then both skeins will go on the Etsy store, I think. That is my eventual goal – to spin sock yarn for myself, and other yarn to sell. I don’t expect to get rich, but if I can make the hobby pay for itself, that’ll be enough for me.

I went through all the new sock patterns I’ve queued up and assigned most of my sock yarns to the future projects. There are a few I left unassigned, so I can do whatever I like with them, muahaha! Okay, it’s the short-yardage multi-colored yarns that I love but have no plans for yet, other than being sure to weigh and split the skein before starting, and working toe-up.

The heel on Pirate-Husband’s second sock was completed last night. Since it wasn’t my turn to drive to work (hooray for carpooling!) I got several rounds into the gusset. I expect to do more on the way home this afternoon.

I spent quite some time yesterday searching for the perfect sock pattern for the next pair, which are going to be a gift to my best friend. Originally I’d wanted to surprise him, since our feet are the same size, but then I felt the need to ask how long a cuff he’d want. Once the surprise was ruined, I started asking him all sorts of questions from the exact height of his heel to what sort of sock he might like to wear. I think we’ve settled on Mr. Pitt’s Socks from Kaitlyn Wong at Sassy Stitchess. They’re simple, easy, and subtle – just the thing! I’ll be using Trekking XXL in colorway 71, which is shades of blue.

While I was going through sock patterns, I added eight (!) more to my Ravelry queue. I don’t have the yarn to knit all of them yet, but I will eventually! There are so many things I want to make and not nearly enough time to make them all.

I also added this reusable Swiffer cover from Noelle at Strange Yarns ;; Skull Charms. After years of wanting one, I finally got a Swiffer WetJet last weekend, but the disposable pads annoyed me. Why use disposable if it’s not necessary? I’m going to break my yarn diet just for the cotton yarn that I’ll need for this pattern. It’s cheap and also I plan to use it right away, so it won’t be taking up space in the stash-basket. (Not to mention, I mopped the floors with one of the disposable pads that came with the Swiffer, and they look so good that I’m tempted to mop again sooner rather than later.)

The unfortunate thing is that there are no conveniently-located Michael’s or Joann’s stores near me where I could get the Sugar & Cream yarn. I’m debating ordering it online; even if I pay for shipping on it, it might come out to less frustration than trying to drive into town. There’s a Michael’s “coming soon” to a shopping center relatively near me, but even that’s still ten or twelve miles away, and it’ll probably be another year before the store is open.

Last night I started on the heel flap for Pirate-Husband’s second sock; I got seven rows in before a late dinner and early bedtime. Hopefully this afternoon I’ll be able to finish the flap and possibly even the heel turn! He is looking forward to having the socks complete to wear with his brown sneakers. Black socks look so silly with brown shoes!

I’m planning the next sock, to be made with blue Trekking XXL (colorway 71). It’s a gift for someone else, and I’m not sure if I’m going to make it with any stitch pattern or just do ribbing on the cuff and stockinette the rest of the way down. I guess it’s really up to him, since it’s not a surprise sock.

And then there’s Cookie’s sock class that I’m taking in September! I have an idea for a stitch pattern but I need to swatch it out before the class. Since the stitch pattern I have written down is for flat knitting, I’ll have to convert it for in-the-round and then see how it looks, as well as taking gauge measurements. I’m thinking of using either the Tess Super Socks & Baby in amber (450 yards) or the Ellen’s Half Pint Farm in very green (500 yards) for this design. Either way, I plan to weigh the yarn out in advance and wind it into two even balls. I recently got a kitchen scale and I’m thrilled to think that never again will I have to wait until the toe of my second sock to discover that I’ve not got enough yarn.

I thought you might like to see a picture of the Jojoland Melody that Pirate-Husband bought for me last week. He asked me if I had a pattern in mind, but I don’t yet – I only know that I want to knit them toe-up so I can make use of every last inch of the yarn. Maybe I’ll finally try the toe-up flap heel with gusset about which I’ve been hearing such good things lately. A complex stitch pattern might not work so well with this yarn. I’m thinking something mostly plain, maybe with a little texture. A fancy rib, perhaps, or a feather & fan variation. I have no doubt that whatever pattern I choose, even if it’s a plain stockinette foot with a ribbed cuff, the socks will be gorgeous – and I will have Pirate-Husband to thank for my warm feet!

To the commenters on my previous post about this – Pirate-Husband says he is available for loan, but I’m not sure cloning would be the best idea… I did tell him about the “hooking and looping” and his reaction was “…pfff, that’s not knitting, that’s crochet.”

I had an idea last night for a knitted lace headscarf, the kind you’d wear while zipping along the Oregon coastline in a rented convertible. It would have a long tie that could either go under the chin or around the neck, and the kerchief part would be triangular.

Originally I was thinking that I’d do the long part of it first, then decrease down to a point… but now I’m thinking it might be better to go the other direction: do the kerchief point-up until it’s the right size, then add the tie to it afterwards.

It doesn’t seem as if there are too many kerchief patterns out there. If I’m pleased with this one I’ll put it into pdf format and offer it both here and on Ravelry. If it comes out really nicely, maybe it will be my first pattern for sale rather than for free!