The Knitting Pirate

This is Silkie Socks that Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Ravenscroft, a gorgeous black with hints of greens and purples. I’ll be using it to make Mom’s birthday present, a pair of gloves. Hopefully they go smoothly and quickly; I’ve never knit gloves before but I want to get them to her as soon as possible. Pirate-Husband actually bought this yarn, because I’m doing the knitting and the gift is from both of us.

On the left we have Cervinia “Forever” in awesome stripes. Forever was the yarn I used for my very first socks, which have held up quite well, and when I saw this colorway in With Yarn In Front last weekend, I had to have it. It passes the “blue jeans test” easily, that test being a single yes or no question: Will this yarn go well with blue jeans? On the right is some Universal Yarn “Ditto” that was on a serious closeout sale. It also passed the blue jeans test, and the price was too good to pass up! The cost of both was covered by the last of my pre-paid Visa, money that I’d set aside for yarn purchases, so I don’t feel at all guilty. Even though I’m supposed to be on some kind of yarn diet.

I’m quite tempted to cast on for a simple, 64-stitch, stockinette sock… but I have deadlines to meet. The baby blanket is somewhere between 75% and 80% complete, depending on when I decide to stop. I finished the third skein of yarn yesterday. The Bloo Socks are halfway through the gusset decreases. Progress is being made!

Friend Janis and I went to With Yarn In Front in Centreville yesterday to check out the yarn, fiber, and spinning wheels. I have really missed yarn shopping with her! We each got some sock yarn (I’ll have photos as soon as it’s sunny again) and tried spinning on a Schacht Ladybug and a Kromski Sonata. I’m sold on the Sonata, for sure! It spun very smoothly and was a good size. Now I just have to save up the money for it. I feel almost guilty for wanting to get something newer and slicker than the Traditional, which I haven’t even had for a year yet.

I’m doing my best to keep from casting on a simple toe-up sock with my new yarn. I’ve been knitting so much for other people lately, it would be nice to do something quick and easy for myself! But no, I have several projects with deadlines that really need to be worked on. Now.

The Book Pirate asked, “Avast! Have you ever knitted a pirate flag?”

Avast ye! I have not knitted a pirate flag, though I have several piratical projects in my queue.

This pirate hat and its matching set of pirate mittens are a must-have for any well-dressed pirate There are Jack Sparrow’s Favorite Socks in the “Black Purl” colorway and the Buccaneer’s Booty socks as well.

And while this Pocket Pirate is crocheted rather than knitted, she’s too adorable to leave off the list.

But a flag? It could be done, I suppose. I might end up wanting to use it as a blanket instead. The salty water of the high seas wouldn’t do good things to the wool, anyway. Hmm… a pirate blanket…

Edited to add: there is a comprehensive list of pirate-themed patterns here.

The Baby Blanket is about 65% done now; I’m well into the third skein of yarn. I haven’t worked on it in more than a week due to travel and a lack of carpooling, but I’m going to get back into it this weekend. The baby’s still due on November 1, but there’s been no word of a shower so I think I have a little extra time to work. My thought is to get it done as soon as possible, and then go visit my friend after the baby is born rather than before. I’m sure that won’t be a problem; what difference is it if she gets the blanket a few weeks before or a few weeks after the birth? She doesn’t know if it’s a boy or girl, thus the neutral colors. There’s some blue in the blanket, but it’s not enough to cry out, “this is a boy’s blanket!”

A sad but funny story that involves these socks: Last week at the airport, I pulled out the sock to knit while I was waiting to board the plane. When I looked up, I noticed that the man sitting next to me was a double amputee, with both legs off above the knee and some really nifty-looking artificial legs (I tried not to stare). I had a sudden moment of horror – what if he asked me what I was knitting? I’m making socks! and he has no feet! I’d feel terrible! Then I decided that I’d say “armwarmers,” since I’m not yet up to the heel and they *could* be armwarmers. Fortunately, he didn’t ask. Anyway, I spent most of the plane ride *un*-knitting, and didn’t recover my place until two days later. Now we’re back in business. I would like these to be done before Michael comes to visit in November, so I’d better get to work…

The trip to WEBS yielded these additions to the stash, and I think my new camera did them justice. The rocks in my front yard are great to take pictures on when it’s sunny out.

One ball of Lang Jawoll Color Aktion should be more than enough to make fingerless flip-top mittens with nice long cuffs, which I’ve been wanting for a long time. Mittens will keep my hands warmer, but there are those moments when I’ll really need my fingers free. I doubt these will be done by Winterlude, even if that’s when I’ll really need them. There’s a stew competition I attend every year which is held outdoors, and the bulky winter gloves I was wearing last year made it impossible to hold my spoon! The fliptops will also be good for driving, although I do plan to buy a new pair of lined leather gloves this year. My old ones are worn out, and leather is one of those things that knitting just can’t replace.

I’ve wanted to try Silk Garden for a while, and when I saw Everyday Autumn’s Razor Shell Scarf I knew I’d found the right pattern. I have three balls of the Silk Garden and she only used two for a scarf that’s just about five feet. I might decide to make mine a five-pointed scarf instead of three, because I like scarves that are both long and wide. My general rule is that a scarf should be at least six inches taller than its wearer. I’m planning this one for next winter, as I’m not feeling any shortage of scarves; I’ve already knit three for myself! The Razor Shell scarf seems like it might be a little more dressy than the ones I made before. Sometimes I need to look a little more sharp – what’s better than a Razor scarf to accomplish that?

So I went to WEBS and had a wonderful time fondling all the yarns. Michael the Enabler, he for whom the Bloo Socks are being made, carried the basket and helped by saying things like “you should buy that” and “yes, that is soft” and “wow, this wheel spins for a really long time.”

I didn’t buy the wheel (it’s wasn’t a Sonata), but I did buy two new bobbins for my Traditional, three skeins of Silk Garden for a scarf, and one ball of stripy-jacquard sock yarn for fingerless gloves that will have flip-top mittens.

I’d like to go back to With Yarn in Front and test the Sonata they have there. If I like it, then I’m going to start up my savings fund for it. And if I don’t, then I’ll know and I can stop drooling every time a used one comes up for sale! Pirate-Husband asked me if I’d ever spin on the Traditional again after getting a double-treadle wheel. I said that I didn’t know – maybe? and if not, I can sell it to someone else. It’s a good wheel and there’s no reason I can think of that I wouldn’t continue to spin on it.

My new camera should be arriving today, so soon I will be able to take pictures of everything I’ve been working on! I made some progress on the Bloo Socks while I was on the airplane, in spite of having to unknit six or seven rounds to correct a mistake that I must have made while at the wine festival. No more drunken knitting for me! (I did try to drop the stitches down and pick them up in the right orientation, but that didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, so I unknit.)

The funniest thing happened yesterday! On my way home from work, I thought to myself, “Self, you should stop at With Yarn In Front, that new LYS you haven’t been to yet. See what they’ve got!” And then I thought, “Rats, I’m not exactly sure how to get there. Ah well, I’ll go another time.” Just as I’d decided to go straight home, I looked over at the car next to me. It had big magnetic signs on its doors saying “With Yarn In Front.” I was driving next to the shop owner!

Needless to say, I followed her to the shop (and I’m glad I did, because if I had guessed which way to turn when I got off the highway, I would have guessed wrong). What a neat little place! Lots of yarn, spinning wheels, looms, roving… I will definitely be going back there. They have a good selection of sock yarn; I’m surprised that I was able to resist buying even one skein.

Speaking of yarn stores, I have a pilgrimage to WEBS planned for tomorrow. I was very careful to make a list of exactly what I want, to try to avoid any really impulsive purchases. My budget is dictated by a pre-paid Visa card, and I won’t go overboard. Really. I mean it!

I spent an hour tonight spinning singles for my sock yarn until my wrists hurt. I’m going to have to take it easy again and rest up, or I’m going to have a problem beyond just a few aches. After I was done spinning, I decided to skip knitting on the blanket in favor of drinking a glass of scotch and resting my arms. It’s just not worth hurting myself to get a few rows done, as much as I hate to admit it.

Would it be heresy if I knit my first two handspun yarns into a bowl and felted it?

Yesterday, Pirate-Husband and I went to a wine and bluegrass festival at our local vineyard. It was a lot of fun – we drank wine, listened to music, and were invited to join a group of people on a picnic blanket and partake of their grapes and chocolate. I had the Bloo Sock with me, and I pulled it out of my bag so that I could get a few rounds in.

Before I knew it, everyone was talking about my socks, how beautiful and amazing they were, and how they “used to knit but haven’t in years,” and did I ever sell my work? I laughed and gave the usual answer that no, I don’t sell my knitted stuff, but I would be happy to teach anyone who wants to learn.

Maybe it was the wine or maybe the sun, but I didn’t sleep well last night. I am not allowing myself to do anything fiber-related tonight, because I know that I am sleep-deprived and I know that whatever I do, I’ll just have to undo tomorrow. This is especially disappointing because I can hear the spinning wheel calling to me, but I really don’t want to mess up that fiber!

My new camera is on order and I should have it shortly. I can’t wait to take pictures of what I’ve been working on!

This is superwash Merino from C*EYE*BER Fiber in the “Ember” colorway. I spun half of this braid into singles, trying not to overspin. Then they sat on the bobbins long enough that they lost all their energy, and as a result the plied yarn is somewhat on the loose side with a bit of a thick-and-thin effect. Not exactly what I was looking for, but it’s very soft and I’m looking forward to knitting with it.

I have 64 yards of it and half left to spin, which means that it’s coming out slightly thicker than the Blue-Faced Leicester yarn that I spun into two skeins of close to 75 yards each. I think I may want to reskein those, now that I have a winder with a counter, to be sure of their actual length. The grist (the thickness of the yarn) is probably close enough to the same that I can work with these two yarns together, and the colors are similar – the BFL is more orangey-green, and the Merino has darker colors, which will go together nicely. I was thinking of making up a quick drop-stitch scarf, but with the loose spots in my spinning, I’m not sure it will hold up very well.

So with 280-300 yards of sorta-worsted-weight yarn, there’s probably too much of it to make just one hat, it’s too thick for socks or gloves, and not enough to make the kind of long, wide scarf I generally like to wear. Maybe I’ll make a narrow scarf, stripe the two yarns together, and it will just have to be as long as it is – of course I’ll love it, because how can I hate a scarf that’s made from my very first wheelspun yarn?