This is the official end of the year tallying-up post!

Incoming fibre in 2011:
33.5 ounces fibre acquired at Maryland Sheep and Wool

Outgoing fibre in 2011:
Er… I spun a little bit. Not a lot. Way more came in than went out.

Incoming yarn in 2011:
7 skeins of Red Heart for my first crocheting project
1 sock yarn for Michael
3 Lang Merino DK for Winterlude-inspired colourwork hat and armwarmers
1 skein sock yarn at Rhinebeck
2 balls Patons Kroy Socks FX
5 balls Sugar ‘n Cream for washcloths
1 ball Serenity Sock Weight in navy for heels and toes on socks
4 balls Elann Silken Kydd for shawl
—
24

Outgoing yarn in 2011:
1.5 – Baby Surprise jacket
2 – Michael’s Fleeps
3 – Winterlude Hat ™
2 – time traveling Jaywalkers
7 – Hexagon blanket
6 – Sweaters for the twins
1 – gave a ball of sock yarn to Mom
1 – white washcloth
1 – blue washcloth
1 – argyle washcloth
1 – greens washcloth
1 – Quick Relief socks
—
27.5

There are some fair amount of leftovers from the hexagon blanket and the twins’ sweaters, unfortunately. On the other hand, the leftovers may come in handy for swatching, experimenting, or knitting little toys. Still, more yarn went out than came in, and I’m pleased with that!

The Year in Knitting (and Crocheting):
2011 Projects

Favourite project:
I think that prize would have to go to the Winterlude Hat(tm), for being the only thing I knit this year of my own handspun. Between the wool and the fleece lining it’s a super warm hat, even if I think I made the lining a little on the small side. It stays on just fine when I tie it under my chin!

Least Favourite project:
Unfortunately, it was the Presto Chango sweaters. I am a little sad that I didn’t put as much love into my niecelets’ sweaters as I wanted to. Had I used a different yarn, I might have felt differently about them. The pattern was great, but the KnitPicks Swish and I didn’t get along very well.

Patterns Published:
None. But I have ideas! Many, many ideas…

For Next Year:
I know it’s a mistake to make too many resolutions, so here are the things I *want* to do, and if I get some of them done I’ll be happy!
- spin more
- knit something with handspun yarn
- design and publish two new patterns
- try a new sock architecture
- finish Napramach and the Stripy Socks
- finish the Dancing Cranes stole in time to wear to a wedding
- cast on for fancy cabled knee socks
- use up more yarn and fibre than I purchase
- get some stock in the Etsy shop

There is absolutely no progress to report on the Dancing Cranes stole. I spent Wednesday after work configuring my new computer (yay, new computer!) and so didn’t have time in the evening to knit. Last night when I sat down to put my two rows on I completely misread the chart and knit, then painstakingly unknit, about 80 stitches. Unknitting the SSKs was not particularly enjoyable, but eventually I’d gotten back to my mistake and worked forward again until I realized that my eyes were crossing from tiredness. Since sleepy lace knitting is a recipe for making mistakes in lace knitting, I put the stole down halfway through a row and went to bed.

I’ve been thinking about design again! The weather is getting colder and that makes me want to knit cozy warm things. I had the idea for a double-thick fingerless glove/convertible mitten, with colourwork on the outside mitten. Already I’m sketching out how it would be constructed. Both the inside and outside would be worked in DK weight yarn, possibly using different yarns for each. The outside would use a strong and smooth yarn so the colourwork would show up well, while the inside could be made of a softer luxurious yarn.

Happy Feline Friday! Could these two be any cuter?

Yes, Floyd does have bald spots around his lips. When he was a young kitten he had an allergic reaction that gave him horrible skin crusties in his ears and on his pawpads and lips. Poor little guy! We’re still not sure what caused it, but fortunately the crusties cleared up quickly and have never come back. Usually it’s difficult to notice that the fur doesn’t grow well around his mouth; the camera flash reflecting off his skin makes it seem worse than it really is.

Every so often I take a look at Blue Moon Fiber Arts to see if they’ve added anything new, or if anything jumps out at me. I really love the Socks that Rock yarn and invariably I find one or two (or five) colourways that I really want. Then I go check out the projects on Ravelry that were made in that colourway and wow, I am amazed at the differences.

Monsoon, for example. The picture of the skein looks like the yarn is two shades of gray, green, and a little bit of brown. But then, check out the socks that were made in this colourway. Where did all that blue come from? I still like it, but not quite as much as I thought I would from the original picture, so I’m not going to buy this one. The gray and green that I thought I’d be getting has a similar feel to the sock yarn I bought at Rhinebeck, anyway, so I’m finding it easier to resist now than when I first saw the colourway.

Green Eyed Monster is the same. I’ve been coveting this one since I first saw it. It’s even described as down and dirty greens, and reminiscent of Oscar the Grouch. So again, where did all the blue come from, and where has the brown gone? The picture on the website looks like Oscar, but those finished socks… not at all. I’m disappointed; if the socks had really looked like Oscar-colours I absolutely would have bought a skein, but I’m really glad I waited for some other people to knit it up so I could see what it looks like for real. I’m generally an optimistic and cheerful person, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Oscar. There’s a little bit of Grouch in all of us, sometimes!

Bella Coola is another one that I keep going back to look at. In the SCA I go by “Belaset,” and everyone calls me “Bella” for short. (note: I had this name well before those Twilight books came out. Grr.) Given my nickname, I thought this would be an appropriate yarn for me. The picture from Blue Moon shows two blues, green, and gray. The socks that people made actually look like they came from that same skein of yarn! I’m still tempted to buy a skein of this, but I’m holding out until I knit up some more of the sock yarn I already have in my stash.

I know that hand-dyed yarn can have a lot of variation from one batch to the next, but when it comes to Blue Moon, I will always check Ravelry first to see what projects have been made using a colourway before I choose to buy. The differences are sometimes so great! Their base yarn is wonderful and I love how it knits up, but I’d hate to be disappointed in a colour that just doesn’t match what I thought I’d be getting.

(Disclosure: These pictures are from Blue Moon’s site, though I saved them to my own webspace first. Hotlinking is bad, but I want to give credit where credit is due. If Blue Moon wishes me to take the pictures down, I will.)

I’ve started a page for the Knitting Pirate over on Google+, which I greatly prefer to Facebook. If you use Google+, please feel free to add the page to your circles and spread the word! And if you still only use Facebook, don’t worry – I’ll keep posting links to new posts over there, too.

When you want some instant gratification, crochet is definitely the way to go. It’s so much faster than knitting! I decided that a crocheted cotton washcloth would be the perfect project for my weekend, and after some searching of the Ravelry library I decided on the free Big Girl Dishcloth/Washcloth pattern, upsizing it by 150% because big washcloths just seem so much more luxurious.

My own beginnerness at crochet caused me to run into some trouble getting started, but after six or seven beginnings and watching a few tutorials on YouTube I was able to get past the first row. I probably tore out half as many rows as I crocheted; I kept missing stitches or ending up with too many stitches at the end of a row, but by the end I was cranking away at it. Not counting the several attempts at starting, it took me one evening and a solid day to make the washcloth. The next one will go faster; I’ve learned a lot about crocheting from doing this one, and if I don’t lose time working rows and tearing them out again… yeah.

I used about three-quarters of a ball of white Sugar ‘n Cream, and the finished cloth came out to be around 10.5″ x 11″. It will almost certainly stretch out to an even larger size as I use it. If I hadn’t made a bigger washcloth than the pattern specifies, I probably could have gotten two smaller ones out of one ball of yarn. As it is, I will use the remainder of the white for edging on other projects.

Things I’ve learned: The chain and the first row need to be worked a lot looser than I would have thought; that edge pulls a little tight. I’m not sure if I like the little loop from which to hang the washcloth, so I’ll see if I end up using it and then decide whether to include it in the next one. Maybe a fancier border would have been fun to try. And, I learned that washcloths aren’t too difficult at all… perhaps I’ll design one of my own! Combine a few different stitches to make a nice design and texture, add a nifty border, test it out a few times, and voila – a new pattern to offer. That makes it sound really easy…

I tested out the new washcloth on my face, and I am so thoroughly impressed that I’ve already begun a second one.

In other news, this is the blog’s five hundredth post! Wow, huh?

What better way to end a summer hiatus from the knitting blog than with a trip to one of the biggest Sheep and Wool festivals?

Last weekend I went to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, which everyone just calls “Rhinebeck” because that’s where it is. It was so much fun, and not too crowded either! Much thanks to Michael for driving up there, for taking all the pictures in this post, and for thinking that *of course* a llama parade is reason enough to go anywhere. We gaped and gawked at millions of skeins of yarn, bags of fibre both raw and processed, spinning wheels and drop spindles, and everyone’s handknits.

In my opinion, no Sheep and Wool festival would be complete without a lamb gyro for lunch. There was really no question about where I’d be eating, once it got to be lunchtime. We also got to taste some local New York wines and cheeses in one of the barns.

The sheep had hay for lunch, of course. These two kept nuzzling each other’s neck and face, but just like with Floyd and Kipling, I’m not sure whether the attention was meant to comfort or to annoy. They seemed to be good friends, though!

Now that I’m looking at the picture, I think I should have bought this hat. Apparently hat-wearing is my mutant superpower. (We all have one! What’s yours?)

I did buy this skein of sock yarn from Periwinkle Sheep. The colourway is “Grass in a Crack in the Sidewalk” and it called out to me from the rack where it was hanging. Surprisingly, there was nothing else that jumped out at me the same way. Some years I go to a Sheep and Wool festival and feel like I need to buy everything, but this year I just bought the one skein of sock yarn. I couldn’t leave completely empty-handed; I always buy at least one souvenir!

When it started to drizzle, we ducked inside the barn where the llamas and alpacas were housed. One or two of them seemed distressed by the crowds of people, but most of them were happy enough to munch their hay or to pose for pictures. Some of them were humming little alpaca songs to themselves, which always makes me laugh. This spotted fellow appeared to be meditating his way into peace and contentment.

We thought we might have missed the llama parade because of the rain, but it cleared up soon and as we were making our way towards the exit, there they were! A little girl with a goat was leading the parade. (You can see the goat here, but not much of the little girl.) When they told her that she had to slow down, she protested that the goat was pulling her to go faster. Someone knelt down next to the goat, rubbed its forehead, and gently told it to slow down. It was a cute moment that I’m glad I saw.

I had not expected to see any lemurs at a Sheep and Wool festival, but there was a traveling educational zoo right before the exit. They’re even more adorable in person than they are in pictures.

And so, with a renewed zest for both knitting and blogging, I’m happy to return to posting on a semi-regular basis!

It may be impossible for a cat to enjoy being scritched more than Kipling does. He would be happy if I spent all my time scrubbing his ribs with my fingertips like he was a washboard, with brief intermissions for bellyrubs and ear-scratches.

I think I’m going to be taking a summer break from blogging here. I’ve got a camping-trip vacation coming up, followed by travel for work, and a bunch of other distracting stuff going on.

Pirate-Husband and I are embarking on a big home renovation project. Log homes require much more maintenance than I’d realized. We need to wash, strip, bug-proof, repair, stain and seal the entire house. A contractor gave us a quote that was way too high, so we’re going to be doing it ourselves. To be fair, Pirate-Husband is going to be doing most of it. Just not today; the heat index is up around 127F/53C and it’s a day for staying inside.

Once that is done, we hope to be putting new windows into the house before winter sets in. That one, we’re not doing ourselves. We’ve gotten quotes from a number of window companies and picked the best one. It’s still going to be some major work!

On the knitting front, I’m almost done with the first of the stockinette socks I’ve been carrying around, and I got started on the second front half of the pink sweater. I’ll probably end up making my own buttons for the sweaters, either from shrinky-dink or out of polymer clay. Store-bought buttons are so expensive!

I’ve managed to spin a little bit for the Tour de Fleece, but not nearly enough as I’d hoped. Ah well, the wheel is oiled and ready to go, even if I only have a few free minutes. I have it next to my computer so that I can turn 90 degrees and spin a few yards at any moment.

And that’s the State of the Pirate. I didn’t want to just drop everything and leave with no explanation, but I can safely say: I’ll be back!

After I’d taken pictures of many sheep, I met up with friend Holly at The Fold’s booth, where we tried to resist buying every single skein of Socks that Rock. The colourway that I was looking for was nowhere to be found, unfortunately.

For the next several hours we perused as many of the vendors’ offerings as we could. Despite my best efforts to buy nothing, I had gone into the day knowing that I would probably buy something, and indeed I did:

Two braids of Blue-Faced Leicester in the “Stone House” colourway from Three Waters Farm. I’m not sure what I’ll make with this yet, which is why I went for two braids instead of one – I’ll have more options that way. BFL is great for socks, and with eight ounces I’d surely have enough for some nice tall socks. If I made regular-length socks, I’d probably have enough yarn left over for a second pair, or maybe armwarmers. When I unbraid it, I’ll decide whether I’m going to do a three-ply or a chain-plied yarn. I like the barberpoled look of a true three-ply, but then the striping of chain-plied yarn is tempting.

Two ounces each of Ashland Bay’s merino-silk blend in McKenzie, Concord and Sea Lilac will eventually become another colourwork hat. The spun-up samples of the two darker colours were nothing like what it looks like now; they were lovely heathered shades without any hint of striping at all. I’ll have to sample to see how to get that effect. While I do generally like to buy hand-dyed fibre from small companies or individual fibre artists, Ashland Bay’s fibres are always appealing not only because the colours are beautiful, but because the prep is so consistent; every piece of fibre is just as smooth-drafting as the next. The first real usable yarn I spun was from Ashland Bay fibre, so I guess I have a soft spot for it.

From Little Barn, eight ounces of unbleached tussah silk and eight ounces of silk noil for carding into blended batts. The drum carder is set up in its new station and I’m excited to get started on producing some beautiful batts. I have about 14 ounces of Corriedale top in a variety of solid colours, some undyed mohair and nylon that can be added in for sock blends, quite a bit of alpaca in natural shades, and now the silk.

Then, Holly gave me a bag full of Cormo locks that she prepped. I’ve never spun Cormo before and I’m really curious to try it! She warned me that while it’s clean, it does still have a bit of lanolin in it. I think I’ll try spinning it as it is, and then wash it in hot water with dish soap after it’s all plied up.

Being around so much fibre has gotten me anticipating this year’s Tour de Fleece, a spinning challenge that parallels the Tour de France. I’ve already joined “Team Kromski” as I’ll be spinning on Grace the Sonata. So far I haven’t set any goals for myself other than “spin daily, and spin more”. Last year I left the wheel out in the living room and was reminded to spin daily. This year with the cats I don’t think that would be the wisest of ideas. They think that Patience the Traditional’s drive band is a great toy and I can only imagine what damage they would do to any fibre I left unsupervised.

The only problem is that the Tour begins on July 2, and I’ll be out of town until July 5. So I won’t be able to start until the fifth day, and that puts me in the “Lantern Rouge” group of spinners who can’t quite do the whole thing but participate as much as possible. Will I be able to catch up and match last year’s spinning if I start late? Will the cats begin to hate me if I spend nearly three weeks locked away from them with my wheel? Will I actually set a real goal or will I just leave it as “spin daily, and spin more”? Time will tell…

On Saturday morning I was up bright and early for the drive up to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. It took just under two hours to get there, and I didn’t hit any traffic until I got off the highway. Then it was just a lineup of knitters, spinners and crocheters all the way from the exit ramp to the fairgrounds.

Once inside, I wandered around by myself for a little while with my camera.

You know what this weekend is? The Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. I’m going to head up there on Saturday morning.

You know what I’m going to buy? NOTHING. Last year I came home with two and a half pounds of fibre that I’d bought, and then I was given another three and a half pounds of wool roving and a goodly amount of alpaca fleece. So this year I really don’t need anything.

You know what else? I’m a big fat liar. I can’t go there and buy NOTHING. That’s just an impossibility. But I’m not going to buy a LOT, okay? The only really splurgey thing I might get, if I find one, is a box picker to fluff up the eight pounds of alpaca fleece that’s too compacted to run through the drum carder the way it is. One day I’d like to have a triple picker and a supercard, but that day is not today.

Wildcard – Embellish the story
Embellishments come in all types and forms. Some are more than purely decorative and form a practical function – pretty buttons are as much part of holding a garment together as mere decoration, and some are just there to give a piece an extra ‘something’. Blog about an embellishment, be it a zipper, amigurumi eyes or applique patch which you are either saving to use or have in the past used to decorate a project with. Write about whether you are a very minimalist kind of knitter with classic lines and timeless plain knits or whether you love all the bells and whistles or sticking sewing and otherwise attaching decoration to your pieces.

Although Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011 is technically over, I thought it would be fun to do the wildcard post anyway!

The best embellishment work I’ve done to date was attaching little snappish magnets to the tops and cuffs of the Fleep-Tops I made for Michael. My own Fleeps flap; he requested that his could button or snap back out of the way. It took several tries to get the snaps just right, as does most of the embellishment work I attempt. For example, it took several tries before I successfully crocheted buttons onto a sweater, not to mention the one where Pirate-Husband had to help me seam a pair of Blu babypants after I’d tried and failed multiple times to get the orange seam-yarn to show up properly.

Once I’d gotten the basic idea, though, it wasn’t terribly difficult to sew on the felt and then sew on the little snaps. (Who am I kidding? It was a pain in the butt. I had to do it over and over again to get it right.) They look really, really good subtly embedded into the cuffs… and they work really, really well, because they’re incredibly strong little magnets. They work *so* well, in fact, that I’m almost afraid of them pulling out the fabric even with the felt reinforcements. My next pair of Fleeps will have snaps of their own, and then I will no longer have flapping Fleeps.

I’m not really much of one for actually *doing* the embellishing or accessorizing, but I do appreciate the finished look of a project with trim or an edging, and I can really appreciate it when an embellishment is both beautiful and functional, like a crocheted button or a perfectly set snap.

Day Seven: 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time.
Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter?

I always carry a sock with me, and so if I have more than a few minutes to wait I can knit wherever I am. But when I’m at home, I shut myself into my cat-free loft room, settle in front of my laptop, and spread the yarn out on the table. Especially if it’s a project I’m slogging through, or not particularly enjoying the work on, I’ll force myself to knit so many rows or so many inches and then give myself a reward of checking Ravelry or another website. But if it’s a project I love, then I can’t wait to work on it. As soon as dinner is over, I dash off upstairs, tossing a quick “Going to knit! See you later!” over my shoulder to Pirate-Husband as he’s booting up the XBox or his laptop.

Knitting while watching TV (or streaming Netflix on my computer) is frustrating in that I can’t really pay attention to the knitting or to the TV show, but I sometimes put on music. More often, I work in quiet. My cup of tea usually goes cold while I work. While I often knit “alone,” I’m not truly alone as I almost always have IRC running and am chatting away with friends. Sometimes I go to the #ravelry channel and sometimes to another network.

Soon we will finish up the basement craft room and then I will have another place to sit and knit – but now I won’t necessarily be alone, as there will be plenty of room in the new space for Pirate-Husband and I to work together on our hobbies. I will have to get used to working along with his music, and he’ll have to get used to my muttering “44.. 45.. not now, counting! 46, 47..”

I do miss going to the weekly Stitch ‘n Bitch. Although I didn’t always get very much knitting done, and sometimes I had to rip back everything I did do while I was there, it was always a fun time to socialize with other yarn addicts. It’s unfortunate that I haven’t found another group as good as my old one!

Day Six: 2nd April. Something to aspire to.
Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make but can admire the result of those that have.

There’s very little that scares me about knitting anymore. Even the most complicated lace pattern can be broken down to doing it one stitch at a time. Turning a short-row heel, a process which once left me nervously knitting a scarf while procrastinating on the sock, no longer fazes me. Colourwork with three colours in one row? No big deal. (Slow going, but not intimidating.) Entrelac? Doesn’t interest me, but I bet I could do it. Steeking? Sure, why not?

No, for me the aspiration is design. I have so many designs in my head that I want to knit up and write up and publish. I have both well-imagined patterns and vague ideas to work from. But I knit slowly, and often get frustrated with poorly-written patterns. What really intimidates me now is the time it would take to figure out the complex patterns I want to knit, and the idea of knitting them not just from a poorly-written pattern, but from no pattern at all.

So what’s on my list to design?

The green lacy sock that I began in Cookie A.’s class several years ago
Several more simple sock designs, one with a little bit of colour and one with texture
A Winterlude-inspired hat and armwarmers or gloves/mittens set
A pattern inspired by the geometric shapes of a bridge I crossed on a road trip
A shawl that uses the same motifs in both a triangular and a rectangular version

It’s going to take me *years* to get these things done, and that’s what’s most intimidating about it!

Day Five: 1st April. And now for something completely different.
This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.

There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms…

ODE TO A SOCK

O sock, O most-loved knit garment
What joy there is in your embrace!
Such happiness I take in knowing
That while I run the daily race
My toes will stay dry and warm-

into the shoes you now must go,
Hide your delicate stitches from sight.
While the winter wind’s still blowing
My feet need not fear frostbite,
My mood will never be low.

People laugh, and people tease,
For socks may still be bought with ease.
But store-bought socks cannot be said
To bring pleasure like the socks I made.

(Okay, so I stretched the rhyme a little from the first verse to the second, but it still sort of works. Mostly. And as for that winter wind, even though it’s technically Spring, it’s freaking cold outside! I am indeed wearing handknit socks today.)

Day Three: 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches.
How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

Once upon a time, my entire yarn stash fit into this picnic basket. The top tray held all my tools, needles, and the ball bands from yarns I’d used. Underneath, I put all the yarn I owned. These days I laugh at that. The top tray of the basket still holds tools, but the main compartment is now completely reserved for handspun yarn – and it’s filling up!

I bought a bunch of large plastic totes at Costco, and sorted my yarn into them. One holds only sock yarn. Two are stuffed with raw alpaca fleece waiting to be carded and spun. A third has my collection of dyed fiber and a fourth has batts that I’ve carded and haven’t yet gotten the chance to spin. Yet another tote is for heavier yarns and leftovers from previous projects. I don’t have a picture of the totes, because it’s not really that impressive.

Right now all of this resides in my loft room, but the plan is to move them downstairs when Pirate-Husband and I finish building out the craft room in the basement. That should open up a lot of space for me upstairs. Who knows, I might even start letting the cats go in there!

Almost every yarn I own has been photographed, and each one has a listing in my Ravelry stash. That helps me to keep track of what I own, and when I’m having a bad day I can pull up the stash photos and think about the different projects that I’m going to make with all that beautiful yarn. I like making lists, so I’ve crosslinked my yarns with the projects in my queue. Of course, I don’t always work from my queue in order… but at least the organization is there.

Day One: A Tale of Two Yarns.
Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

Let’s get the bad out of the way first, shall we? Noro Kureyon Sock. I want to love it. There’s so much about it that I could love. The colours, the striping, the rustic thick and thin, the way it softens in the wash. But then… I just can’t stand knitting with it. It’s hard. It’s rough. It feels like knitting with cotton because it has very little bounce and stretch, so it actually makes my hands ache after a few rounds on the sock. But every time I see it in the store, I want more of it. And the Stripey Striped Sock really is gorgeous. Maybe it would be better if I crocheted it? Or maybe I should just never buy it again.

But then there’s Cascade Heritage Sock. There is nothing about this yarn I don’t like – except maybe that it’s difficult to find some of the colourways in stores. The Cascade website shows Heritage in a multitude of colours, but even WEBS doesn’t seem to have most of them.

I’ve already made two pairs of socks out of this yarn, and there are two more skeins in my stash waiting to be knit up. (One of them will even be for myself!) It’s smooth and soft, but machine-washable and sturdy. I used it to design the Cakewalk Socks, which gives it even more of a place in my heart. The same yarn is available in solid colours, and also in 150g/492 yard skeins. I think it would be great for colourwork socks, too, although that may be a little on the ambitious side for my current knitting schedule. Maybe I could use it for colourwork armwarmers instead… ah, there I go, dreaming about the future again.

Are you ready? Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is coming! Run by the inimitable Eskimimi, Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is a “week of blogging for knitters and crocheters, where individual bloggers could all simultaneously post about the same topics over the course of seven days, so that for one week readers might be able to read from blog to blog and enjoy a community of bloggers all talking about elements of their craft in their own unique way.”

I’m really excited for this. Not only is it great to have a week’s worth of blog prompts, but it’s so much fun to read everyone else’s take on the same subjects at the same time. I can’t wait to see what the topics are! Last year, they were released a little in advance to give us time to consider and maybe even write some posts ahead of time.

Once again, I visited my sworn-sister the Knitting Ninja (along with a bunch of other friends) in her hometown of Ottawa for the annual Winterlude festivities. In addition to the usual things we do there – eat stew at the cook-off, drink lots of beer, buy fancy cheeses and make a meal of them, watch the Super Bowl – we visited two yarn stores.

Our first stop was the new Yarns Etc., where I acquired a skein of Cascade Heritage Paints in the understated blues and grays “Thunder” colourway. Understated blues and grays… if you’ve been following along for a while, you may have guessed that this is going to be socks for Michael. (And if you haven’t, now you know!) I have no idea when I’m going to get to them, and first he has to tell me where the last pair of socks could fit better, but eventually there will be a new pair of plain ribbed socks for him.

Since it was within blocks of our hotel, we walked down to Yarn Forward. Last year I’d gotten two skeins of Lang Merino 120, a smooth DK weight superwash yarn, in black. This year I supplemented them with three more skeins, one each of cream, green, and blue-ish. The colours aren’t exactly wintery, but somehow they remind me of winter. Blue and green are more springlike, but with the cream in there they make me think of ice. So I’m thinking of designing a Winterlude-inspired hat and armwarmers set to be my very first for-sale patterns.

To that end, I wandered around the ice sculptures in Confederation Park looking at, and sneaking pictures of, people’s hats. There was lots of inspiration to be found, since of course in February in Ottawa it’s cold enough for nearly everyone to be wearing a hat, and many of them are hand-knit.

Many of them also have earflaps, which was my motivation last year to knit the hat that I didn’t want to buy. I finished sewing the lining into my Winterlude Hat(tm) just a day before leaving, and got the cords in with some help from Pirate-Husband, and was quite pleased with how warm it was while I traipsed around Ottawa. There are a couple of things that I would change, if I were to be making it again: first, I’d make the earflaps wider. They are wider than my ears, but still let wind in unless I tied the cords under my chin. And second, I’d make the lining a teensy bit larger, because it felt as if the hat kept riding up on my head unless I tied the cords under my chin. So third, I’d make the cords a couple of inches longer, because it was hard to tie them while wearing gloves. Even without those things, I absolutely love my new hat. Wearing something made of yarn I spun myself is so gratifying! The polar fleece lining kept me from having a terrible case of hat hair, which is definitely a good thing. (I know I’m squinty in this picture. It was very bright out.)

Speaking of gloves, there’s another finger to repair on my Fleeps. They still kept my hands warm, though I can definitely feel that they’re getting thin. Maybe I can wear them for another year, but then it will be time to make another pair for myself. Meanwhile, Michael’s new Fleeps made their debut and did their job wonderfully. He says he’s going to show them off to everyone, and I totally believe him. The magnet-snaps that I sewed in are seriously awesome. My next pair will definitely have those included.

As a designer, I love to get comments (and constructive criticism) on my patterns. It can totally make my day to see that notification pop up, and to read even the shortest of positive comments.

As a Raveler, I look almost-daily at the new patterns that have been listed and at the patterns my friends have queued or marked as favourites. I might pull up a dozen patterns a day to look at, and put some of them in my own list of favourites as well.

But I’ve noticed something recently that’s made me a little sad, and that’s the fact that I very rarely leave comments on patterns, even ones that go into my favourites or my queue. That’s not cool at all. So I’m resolving to leave more comments on patterns I like! The social aspect of Ravelry is one of its best parts, and I want to make the most use of that by letting designers know when I think a pattern is cute, clever or just plain awesome.

Will you join me?

Hello, 2011! I think you and I are going to get along quite well. The year started off just right, waking up with two little kittens snoogled up to my legs. (Sorry for the crappy quality of the cell phone picture.) Now it’s time to light a fire under myself, because I have lots of plans for the year ahead!

First of all, I know of four babies who are going to be born in the first half of the year, and I’m planning to make something for each of them. I’m well on my way to finishing a (secret) gift for the first one; I’ve already bought the yarn for the second and third and I have sweater patterns picked out. But I have no idea what I’m going to knit for the fourth baby, who is due to arrive in May. Something autumn-ish in a six-month size, perhaps, or maybe a toy.

Second, I want to learn a new skill this year: I want to learn to crochet. Not just to put edging on a hat, but to actually make things with a hook and tangly stuff, rather than pointy things and tangly stuff. There’s a bunch of kitchen cotton in my stash waiting to be made into new Swiffer mop covers, and I keep eyeing this Prairie Star afghan as something I’d love to have over one of the guest beds. (Hm! Maybe I will crochet a toy for the fourth baby, and kill two birds with one stone.)

Third, this year I am going to finish all the projects that are currently in progress. It’s time to get them done and move on, no matter how much I might dislike working on them. Maybe even the hibernating projects, like the Ostrich Plumes lace.

Fourth, I am going to design, knit, and publish a new pattern this year. It may be socks, or armwarmers, or a one-skein fingering-weight shawlette.

The fifth one is the real biggie: There are two rooms in my basement. The front room has gym equipment and a guest bed futon in it, as well as a TV for watching while working out. The back room has the washer and dryer, but other than that it’s been sort of a landing spot for unwanted things since we moved into the house three years ago. I want to rebuild that room into a crafting space. Pirate-Husband is totally in; he wants a space in which he can do leatherwork. How awesome would it be to be able to work in the same room on our projects? To be able to leave the carder or the sewing machine out and not worry about a cat shredding anything in the night? To have a dedicated carding station! And one for leather! And one for drawing, too! To have a lightbox setup that will make it easy to take great pictures! I want to make it a cozy and inspirational space, a room that I’d want to hang out in, a room that just calls out “spend time here! do wonderful things!”

In closing, I’m going to share with you the New Year’s wish that Dad sent, because I think it’s just perfect:

I hope that all of you have a new year filled with happiness, and health.
Set your goals, set your sails and head off.
Let honor and goodness be your guides
Let peace and respect be your muses
Enjoy the journey as much as reaching the destination.

Happy New Year, everyone!

End of year tallying-up post!

Incoming fibre in 2010:
3572 grams / 7.8 pounds – some handpainted top, some natural roving. Nearly four pounds of wool and one pound of alpaca were unexpected gifts to me! And I won a lovely 4 ounces of combed top in the Tour de Fleece, pictured here. It’s the brightest fibre I think I’ve ever owned.

Outgoing fibre in 2010:
Spun 450 grams / almost one pound. Participating in the Tour de Fleece sure helped with that number, but I’m hoping and planning to spin even more next year. Knitting with handspun yarn is a wonderful thing, and therefore I must make more yarn so that I can knit with it. This three-ply Corriedale would make great thick armwarmers, and I have some foresty green and gold merino/silk that would be wonderful as gloves or socks, and some bluesy-green Falkland that would be perfect as a hat.

Incoming yarn in 2010:
28 skeins in, which seems high, except eleven of them are small skeins for the twins’ sweaters.

Outgoing yarn in 2010:
19 skeins out, if I include the almost-done projects in my count. That might be cheating a bit. Twelve, if I only count 100% finished projects.

Here are the things I knit this year! Five pairs of socks, three of which were gifts. One pair was made from my very own handspun yarn. Two baby hats and a pair of baby booties, and an adult-size hat. Three more projects – Michael’s Fleeps, a hat and a secret baby gift – are very close to completion. Wow, I only finished two things for myself this year? Crazy.

Favourite project:
If I have to pick a finished project, Pirate-Husband’s Paraphernalia socks were the most fun to work on. Keeping them secret was part of the fun, and so was modifying the pattern to fit his feet.

If it’s not cheating too much to pick a project that’s not 100% completed, I’m going to say the Winterlude Hat(tm). It’s knit from two-ply Jacob yarn I spun myself, it was a fun challenge to do the colourwork and get it even, I learned how to do a crocheted edging, and it’s going to be the warmest hat ever after I line it with polar fleece.

Least Favourite project:
If I have to pick a project that I finished, I think it would be the Gnome Hat and Booties. Not because there was anything wrong with the pattern, but because the yarn was no fun to work with.

Since I liked everything I finished this year, I’m going to go back to an unfinished project and say the Kureyon socks. I love how they look, but knitting with the Kureyon sock yarn is no fun for me at all. Perhaps I will buckle down in 2011 and get them done, already, and never buy this yarn again. Some people really like it, so I’ll leave it to them.

Patterns Published:
Two! First the Sibling Socks, a fine-gauge sock that grew from the need for a suitable pattern to use with Trekking XXL at 45 stitches per four inches. Then, in a more sensible gauge, the similar Cakewalk Socks.

I’d like to release at least one new pattern in 2011, and maybe even two of them! I’ve got plans in mind, it really will just come down to having enough time to sit down and work on them.