The Knitting Pirate

My first thought for the baby blanket I’m about to knit was that a feather and fan pattern would look lovely with the variegations in this yarn. I already know the pattern, it’s easy and memorizable, and it will look complex even though it’s not really. But then I started thinking… lace. Acrylic yarn. No blocking. Lace needs blocking, doesn’t it? There’s no blocking acrylic. The best you can do is “kill” it, which involves steaming it very carefully so as not to melt it, and stretching it to the shape you want, but that’s not really the same as blocking a piece knit from animal fiber. (Dear Canadian Sister, I typed “fibre” the first time I wrote that. You’re rubbing off on me!)

Ravelry to the rescue! I did a pattern search for feather and fan baby blankets, and turned up this lovely piece: Feather and Fan Rainbow Blanket. It’s knit in acrylic and the lace looks good! The ripples are all rippley and the yarnovers show the way they ought to. While I’m not going to use this pattern exactly, at least now I have some evidence that the stitch will work with the yarn I’ve chosen.

I ordered lace needles in size 8.

As for the Bloo Sock, Janis rightly pointed out that a k2, p2 ribbing doesn’t flow smoothly into a k3, p1 ribbing. I showed the beginnings of the sock to Pirate-Husband, who suggested that a k6, p2 ribbing for the body of the sock would flow nicely. I think it will also look better considering how many stitches there are, so that’s what I’m going to do. Flow problem solved!

A few weeks ago, in the Virginia forum on Ravelry, I ‘met’ someone who lives in my neighborhood. She was having a bunch of people over and invited me and Pirate-Husband to join in the fun, so last night we headed down the mountain to her house. We had a great time. It’s so good to have local friends. I love the internet! We probably never would have met if not for Ravelry.

So I didn’t get a lot of knitting done last night, but I do have to say that I love my new lace needles and I will never use anything else for lace again. They are worth every penny I spent on them.

Today, maybe spinning or maybe knitting. I haven’t yet decided.

My new Addi turbo lace needles arrived yesterday, before I even got the tracking number for the package. Turbo shipping for turbo needles, I guess! …okay, that was a bad joke. Anyway, I had time to do a couple of rows on the Ostrich Plumes scarf, and already I’m in love with these needles. When I get home from work I’ll try a pattern row!

Pirate-Husband’s socks are coming along as well. I’m a couple of inches past the gusset decreases and can knit in the car again since I don’t have to look so closely. I’d like to have them done before I go on vacation next weekend.

And, someone on an IRC channel I frequent has commissioned me to make a Swiffer cover for her! That seems like it will be good vacation knitting along with the next sock.

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!

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!

This is the beginning of Pirate-Husband’s Plain Sock. It’s made with Regia 4-ply in colorway 1039, a manly brown-brown-black. I did 20 rows of ribbing (an inch and a half) and now it’s a long stockinette journey to the heel.

I shouldn’t be working on these at home; they should be my traveling sock. I should be working on the Pomatomuseses or the Ostrich Plumes scarf. But I’m tired, and they’re easy, and I want to give Pirate-Husband his socks sooner rather than later. My feet can wait for Pomatomii and that scarf may be done before I’m 40, but at this rate I’m not sure!

Someone else offered to wind off some Pirate’s Booty for me. Knitters are the nicest people! I let her know that I’d already spoken to someone and expected the yarn next week, and thanked her profusely. I can’t wait for those socks to be done. It’s like they’re taunting me with their unfinishedness – just a few rounds to go, and they sit on my desk glaring at me for abandoning them. It’s not their fault. They don’t know that I’m waiting for their toe-yarn to arrive.

Cailleach asked, Have you considered NOT doing heel stitch as ‘written’? I knit continental, and knitting is faster for me than purling.

I also knit continental, but I haven’t noticed a real difference in speed between knitting and purling. Then again, I have never seen anyone knit continental the way I do (though I’m sure someone must) – I wrap the working yarn around the needle with my left forefinger, rather than picking the working yarn up with the needle. Then the needle sort of ‘ducks’ out through the old stitch with the new stitch on it. The movement is the same whether I’m knitting or purling.

The Garter Rib Sock came from Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Knitted Socks. Because this is the first pattern I’ve knit out of the book, I decided to do it as written, with the garter stitch edging on the heel flap. It’s interesting, and it does go with the sock, but I’m not sure I’d like it all the time. The lack of a slipped stitch edge makes picking up the gusset stitches a little… well, a little picky, pardon the pun!

I think my problem with heel flaps is that I lose the rhythm that I get when I’m knitting in the round. Having to turn the work every 36 stitches or so means that I keep getting to ‘stopping points’ long before I’m actually ready to stop. Being slightly (okay, more than slightly) ADD makes it even easier to put the sock down at the end of a row. When I’m working in the round, my brain forgets that there might be an end of a row at which I could stop.

That said, I finished the heel flap and picked up the gusset stitches, and I’m cranking my way down towards the toe. I expect to get a lot of knitting done this weekend. Pirate-Husband and I are headed down to my parents’ for Passover. When we’re not cooking or eating, there will be lots of down time for knitting! I promised to show my mother how to do each of the stitches in the Ostrich Plumes pattern, too. They’re easy enough, but it’s been so long since she’s done lace work that she asked me for a refresher.

Cici commented, “I liked seeing your ostrich plumes.. I just got the pattern and am ready to cast on.. I was dissapointed that there wasn’t a chart. Did you make a chart for yours? Is it easily read without it? I think charts are lifesavers.”

The Ostrich Plumes pattern is so simple that I didn’t bother to make a chart. I did, however, write out the pattern with each instruction on its own separate line, which made it easy for me to follow. By the second run through the pattern, I found that I didn’t even have to look any more. It’s repetitive and easy to memorize (especially the odd rows, which are “purl across”). If you are more comfortable working from a chart, there are only two rows which would need charting – the pattern for rows 4, 8, 12 and 16, and the pattern for rows 20, 24, 28, and 32.

On the other hand, I’ve found the chart invaluable for Pomatomus. I don’t think I’d make it through those socks without referring back to the chart at every round!

In other news, last night at SnB, I was able to borrow the needles for my Sekrit Winterholiday Gift Project, and that should be cranked out this weekend. I’ll take pictures, but I can’t post anything until the gift has been given!

Also at SnB, I got up to the part of the Trekking Ribbed Sock where the toe begins. I wanted to re-measure against my foot before starting the decreases, so I stopped there and chatted for a bit before heading home with the toe-less sock. I’m still a little worried that the sock will be too small, but I’ve had this fear before and everything turned out okay then.

Samantha asked, re my plan to block the socks right on my feet, “Won’t your feet be cold? Mine would shiver…” That’s what the hairdryer is for, to keep my feet warm and expedite the drying/blocking process! Unfortunately, I don’t have real radiators in my apartment, and I don’t think I can hold my feet up to the registers in the ceiling. (I love having central air, really I do, but sometimes I miss radiators.)

The new local yarn store is quite nice. It’s a small store in Fairfax, near a good pho place. They have a bunch of yarns I’d never seen before, but unfortunately not the stuff I was looking for (and no sock yarn that really called out to me, either). But! the people there were incredibly nice, helped me look around to see if there was an acceptable substitute, and directed me to two other semi-local stores which do carry one or both of the brands of yarn I’m in search of. Very cool.

The lace is going well. I’m getting back into the swing of it and it’s not quite as slippery and futzy any more, though I do have to pay close attention on pattern rows still. I’ve finished three pattern repeats in total (32 rows each) so I do feel like I’m getting somewhere. Even if it is slow. It’s so pretty, I want to finish it before spring so I can wear it!

As far as the house goes, there is no news yet. The bank has two offers on the place. They’re going to do an appraisal (why wasn’t this done first, I wonder?) and get back to us, probably by the end of the month. I hope it doesn’t turn into a bidding war because we really haven’t got much more to offer, and I promise to keep you all updated as I find things out (since you asked). If I’m not writing it’s because I don’t know – or because I’m annoyed that there’s a second offer – or because we didn’t get it and we’re really annoyed about that, “annoyed” being a much more polite word than the one I’d like to use.

In yarnier news, on Monday I’m going to go to one of the semi-local yarn stores on my way home from work, as it’s kinda-sorta on the way. I hope they have the yarn I want. Normally I’d call ahead to find out, but since I’ve never been to this store before, I want to check it out anyway. If they don’t have it, I’m going to have to order online, because the other semi-local yarn store is not on the way home from work and is not so convenient to get to, and I’m in a bit of a hurry here. Not a panicked hurry, but a hurry nonetheless.

Last night I finally sat down with the Ostrich Plumes Scarf and put five or six rows on it. It’s over 12″ long now when it’s stretched out, though I think serious blocking would have it at more than that. I’m not finding it to be very relaxing knitting at all. The yarn is slippery, the needles are slippery. I have to concentrate on each stitch, even on the knit across or purl across rows. Once I start a row, I can’t stop or I’m convinced I’ll drop a stitch – fortunately it’s only 81 stitches across! That said, I’m enjoying the project. It’s coming out beautifully and I am really looking forward to having the finished object.

On the way home from work today, I plan to stop at Nature’s Yarns, the new yarn store in Fairfax. I haven’t been there yet and I’m excited to check it out for myself! I have a thing or two in mind to purchase, but it’s related to winterholiday gifts, so I don’t want to say anything. (If I can’t find it at this store, I’m going to order online tonight and hope it’s delivered quickly.) Of course if I find some spifftacular sock yarn, I won’t be able to resist it!