The Knitting Pirate

On Sunday I went to my parents’ house to celebrate Mother’s Day, and after lunch we sat on the screen porch and I helped Mom with the heel turn on her very first sock (and put some stripes on my own sock while I was at it). Here are the mother and daughter socks:

Knitting with other people is cool, but there’s something extra-special about knitting with my mom. L’dor v’dor, from generation to generation, this is what happy memories are made of. I’m going to have to start knitting around the nieceling in hopes that she takes an interest.

(Mom thought I would write it up to be embarrassing that she needed help with the heel turn but I didn’t, so there. And just in case, I will point out that on my Very First Sock, I was so confused about the heel turn that I set the sock aside and knit another project or two before I convinced myself to just do it. First heel turns *are* confusing and I wouldn’t hold it against anyone for needing a little help or guidance.)

Finally, this sock that’s been traveling around with me since Thanksgiving is finished. (Now I have to knit its mate. Such is the way of socks.) I wanted to do a toe-up sock, but the usual short-row heels don’t fit entirely right, so I went looking for different methods. This pattern from Wendy Johnson has a gusset and an interesting heel shape. It fits pretty well, though I’m not sure about the thick stripes on the heel section. This pattern would probably look better with a semi-solid or variegated yarn. I made the socks quite tall – almost too tall, as the ribbed cuff is stretching to fit over the bottom of my calf muscle. Once they’re washed they’ll probably be just perfect.

I used a figure-eight toe with sixteen loops, which has worked well, but on my next toe-up socks I’m going to experiment and try fourteen loops for a slightly longer toe with a wee bit more tapering. One change I made to the pattern was to extend the length of the gusset, and I’m glad I did. I snuck in six extra rounds during the gusset increases to accommodate my extra-long feet. The socks would have been too short otherwise, and probably too tight over the instep. I’m glad it worked out well; I would have been grumpy if they hadn’t fit right and I had to rip out the whole heel and gusset section!

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the sock perched in the redbud tree. This is the only one in my yard, but I see them everywhere and I love them. Maybe this year I’ll take some cuttings from my tree and try rooting them! Having a line of redbuds in the yard would be beautiful. I could alternate them with forsythia for the best spring colour ever. We’re supposed to have nice weather this weekend; perhaps I’ll put in some time outside working on the flowerbeds… when I’m not working on the second sock. I’d like to go for a walk too, or maybe get back on the bike. Lots to do!

Spring on the mountain is just so pretty.

The speed at which I’ve been knitting lately has given me a boost of confidence and renewed my energy for knitting. Two hats in five working days, a pair of armwarmers in less than ten hours? When I first started knitting, I never would have dreamed that I could crank out finished products so quickly. (And now, I’m making excuses like “well, it’s worsted yarn, it’s not like it was a pair of socks or anything.”)

So here I am, considering that it’s eleven weeks to Maryland Sheep and Wool, and wondering how many of my current WIPs I can finish before then so that I can feel no guilt about buying more yarn or fibre. (I’m rather pleased that I’ve used all the yarn I’ve bought so far this year. Three balls of yarn in, three balls of yarn out.)

Currently on the needles, I have the neglected Stripey Striped Socks, the not-yet-forgotten Napramach, my current traveling sock (I’ve just realized I’ve never taken a picture of it, nor of the last pair of socks I finished! Must rectify that.) and the light and airy Dancing Cranes stole.

The stole doesn’t need to be finished until the middle of October, but I know it will take a while, so I want to keep up with adding at least a row every day, and preferably two. With around 60 or 90 rows left to work, depending on whether I choose to do three or four pattern repeats, I don’t want to risk the chance of not finishing it in time. I do like working on it, but it’s a solitary sort of project, and I don’t always want to lock myself away to work on it.

The sock will just travel around with me until it’s finished – I’ve almost completed the first of the pair, and then the second will take up residence in my purse. When I’m done with that one, the second Stripey Striped Sock can become my traveling companion if I haven’t yet finished it at home. It’s not the best sock for the job, but it’ll have to do, because I really want it to be done.

Napramach… I actually don’t know how long it will take for me to finish this thing! It took me six weeks to make the first half of it, and I seem to be knitting much faster now. Maybe three weeks? Then blocking, crocheting the sides together, and sewing in the lining, and it’s done. I’m guessing that my friend has probably forgotten about the bag by now, or if she hasn’t forgotten then she’s given up hope that I’ll ever finish it for her. It will be a nice surprise for her when it’s finished – she only knew that I was making a bag for her, but I never told her what it would look like!

The bonus prize of finishing Napramach will be that I’ll have most of each of six colourways of Rowan Felted Tweed to play with after the bag is done. I’m thinking of designing a colourwork hat with the leftovers; there should be more than enough, and I already know how nicely the colours go with one another. The second bonus prize will be on my yearly tally, because I’ll be able to cross off six balls of yarn from my count! I wonder if I should cross off all six balls, because I bought them specifically for this project? Or do I mark each of them as half-used, since there will be enough to make another project?

The Stripey Striped Socks are close to the heel on the second sock, and I can’t seem to find my notes on how many heel stitches I left unworked in the centre of the short-row heel. I think I scribbled them on a tiny piece of paper, not expecting nearly two years to fly by between sock heels. I’ll count stitches on the first sock and try to get the second sock as close as I can.

I’m going to love each of these projects when they’re done. And I hate having the Stripey Striped Socks and Napramach hanging over my head. I see them and think I ought to put some rows on them, and then I go do something else. It’s time to crack down and get these projects done and off the WIPs list so that I can start new things. At the same time, I don’t want to burn out on knitting again; I know that’s more likely to happen when I’m forcing myself to work on projects that I don’t like as much. I’m just going to work steadily on these four projects until they’re done, and I won’t start anything new until at least both pairs of socks are finished. Then, of course, I’ll need a new traveling sock.

About three and a half years ago, Pirate-Husband cracked up his motorcycle and a couple of ribs. While we were in the doctor’s office waiting for the x-rays to come back, I was working on knitting a sock (that ended up not fitting, but whatever) and he asked me if I would knit a pair of socks for him. I found it hard to say “no” to a man in a hospital gown, and eventually ended up making him a simple pair of brown socks, which he loves. In real life one isn’t shorter than the other, I promise. It’s just that one sort of slouched down when I took the picture.

Two weeks ago Pirate-Husband was in a car accident. Does this mean I need to make him another pair of socks now?

Here’s a picture of the results of a Miata kissing a Mercedes. Pirate-Husband is fortunately mostly undamaged. We spent a very un-fun afternoon in the ER of our local hospital, and this week he was seen by an orthopedist. The news is good: he’s only got a bruise on his knee that goes down to the bone, but nothing that won’t heal in a few months. Nothing was broken, there was no blood inside or out, and although we don’t know much due to the hospital’s privacy policies, we are thankful that the driver of the Mercedes was also not seriously hurt.

Our Miata’s been totaled, of course, and I’m pretty sure the Mercedes was as well. People keep asking if Pirate-Husband’s next car will be larger. He laughs and answers that his small car sacrificed itself to save his life, so why would he get anything but another Miata?

I do already have the yarn that will become his next pair of socks – this Opal Rainforest yarn in the Tiger colourway that I searched for years to find, and finally bought from a Raveler on the other side of the planet. Pirate-Husband likes tigers and I thought it would be neat to knit him a tiger-striped pair of socks. I’m not starting them just yet since I’m enjoying knitting for myself so much right now, but they’re definitely in the queue! I bought two balls so that we could have matching tiger-paw socks. I’m cute like that.

I have really missed knitting on a sock that I like. I like the yarn, I like my size 1 needles, I like knitting stockinette in the round, I like the stripes, I like everything related to this sock. I like that I know at exactly what point in the striping sequence I cast on for the cuff and when I started the heel, so that I’ll be able to make the second sock perfectly match the first. Pirate-Husband tells me that I am working some kind of awesome magic to make striped socks line up, and I’m not going to disabuse him of the notion.

While I did get the ribbing done before departing for New York, I like that I knit the entire rest of the sock leg while chatting with my maternal grandmother about her early dates with my grandpa to jazz clubs in Manhattan. It sounds so romantic! She told me that she ordered a “claret lemonade” and now I’d like to try one, just to see what it tastes like. I looked up the recipe: four ounces of bordeaux, one ounce of simple syrup, and 3/4 ounce lemon juice. Hmmm. Could be interesting!

Last night I knit the heel flap and perhaps on my lunch break today I’ll turn the heel. I like that I’m gentle enough with myself to recognize when I’ve sworn to something that isn’t working for me, and to change it – in this case to let myself cast on for an enjoyable sock, even though I haven’t finished previous projects. It’s all good.

I like that the baby for whom I’m crocheting the hexagon blanket was born yesterday. Both mother and child are doing well. (And now I really must get back to finishing up that blanket!)

I feel guilty for even thinking about it, but I’m considering the idea of casting on a new sock before I’ve finished the second Stripey Striped Sock. The thing is, I can’t really knit on the Stripey Striped Sock for very long before my hands start to ache, so it’s not a very good traveling sock at all. But then, I know that once it’s finished, I’m really going to love it. The first sock, despite my issues with the yarn, fits perfectly and is delightfully colourful.

I’m going to be hanging out with friends over Memorial Day weekend and I know I’m going to want to have a sock in my hands, so I may be breaking my promise and casting on a simple, 64-stitch, stockinette sock for myself. I’m going to go back to the oldest yarns in my stash, too.

These Lana Grossa Meilenweits are two of my earliest sock yarn purchases. I got them from Red Bird Knits, which no longer seems to be selling yarn, during a “Socktober” sale. One of them is going to become my new traveling sock – but which? I’m leaning towards the brown and gray Magico as I think it will look better in a stockinette, especially the thin jaquard sections. The more colourful Fun and Stripes colourway would probably look good in a simple ribbing as well as in stockinette. Guess that answers that question, then!

I’d like to see just how much of the Stripey Striped Sock I can get done in small bursts. Doctor’s appointments, lunch breaks, you name it – I’m planning to pull that sucker out every chance I get. Meanwhile, my plans were shattered on Monday when I went to the allergist and had a perfect twenty-minute window of knitting… during which my hand was numb from the shots and so no new stripes were added to the sock. Boo.

This weekend I’ve two five-hour car rides to look forward to, along with lots of family time as we’re all getting together to celebrate my grandmother’s 90th birthday, so I think I’ll bring the Pink Sweater for the car and the new sock for the family time. Yeah, so about that “considering”… I’ve considered, and decided. There shall be a New Sock!

I’ve been carrying the second Stripey Striped Sock with me almost wherever I go, but almost never working on it. However, I’m not allowing myself to cast on for any new socks until I finish this one. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Rien. I have ten stripes completed and 42 to go (if I count the heel as three stripes, which I am, even though it’s not striped, because it will take longer than two stripes). Last night I put two stripes on while I was waiting for bread to rise, and I’ll do another stripe or two on my lunch break today. It’s not the greatest traveling sock ever, but it’s what I have and so I will work on it. I am determined. I will not start any new socks until this one is done.

In fact, I have a plan to refrain from starting any new projects until all my current projects are done, excepting the Pink One’s Sweater, because that’s not really a new project so much as it is the other half of the Sweaters for Twin Niecelets project, and that’s one of the things that I’m on a deadline for. The twins are expected in the end of March, now. I’d better hurry.

The other night I took out all my sock yarns under the pretense of airing out the tote and moving the bag of cedar shavings around. I don’t expect the cedar to really keep any bugs away, but it does make the yarn smell nice. Just looking at the pile of yarn was enough to give me inspiration and motivation to get going on the works in progress. I really want to start something new!

“Starting something new” is one reason I’m really enjoying working on the hexagon blanket. If I concentrate, I can work up a hexagon in just half an hour. Each new hex feels a little bit like starting a new project, but then I get to watch the blanket grow by leaps and bounds. There are 23 hexagons done, 16 to go, and then an edging which will probably be made up of a few stripes of single crochet. I don’t think I’ll use all seven colours; that might be overkill. We’ll see when I get to that point.

The Purple One’s Sweater has just a little more of the body to knit, and then two lace panels to work up. It goes quickly when I sit down to work on it, but so far I think the best knitting time I’ve gotten on this project was on an Amtrak. Maybe I need to take another train ride so I can get it done faster…

I brought the Stripey Striped Sock with me to Canada, because it fit in my purse and was easy to carry around, but I can’t knit fine-gauge work like socks in moving vehicles or I get horrible headaches. I can, however, knit with worsted weight yarn and size 8 needles! So I also brought along this yarn, which is KnitPicks Swish Worsted in Amethyst Heather, to begin the first of the sweaters that I’m making for the soon-to-be twin niecelets, whose due date has been moved up to the end of March. I’m using the free Presto Chango pattern for both girls; one will get this purple and the other will get a matching sweater in Carnation Pink.

The sweater is begun from the back hem and is knit up and over the shoulders and sleeves before splitting for the two front sides; the button-on lace panel is worked separately. I got started on the train up to Connecticut and was able to get about halfway up the back before arriving. I knit a little bit in the hotel while drinking beer with friends, and I knit in the car on the way back from Canada, and I knit on the train coming home.

(I did not once take out the Stripey Striped Sock to work on it. I think I have built up such mental resistance to it that I can’t even stand the sight of it. I *will* make myself finish that damned sock before the year is up.)

The Presto Chango pattern is, so far, quite good. The yarn… that’s another story. It’s superwash merino, but it feels squeaky like acrylic, and it’s incredibly splitty. I had to drop down to correct a stitch and getting the yarn back onto the needles was a real pain. I’ve got it so I’m going to use it, and it’s washable so it’s great for baby sweaters, but I don’t think I’ll ever be buying this yarn again. It’s unfortunate, because it’s inexpensive and it comes in some really great colours, but I’d rather knit with yarn that feels good in my hands.

I’ve been carrying the Timey Wimey Jaywalkers around with me for months, putting on a stripe here and there, not really paying attention to how long the foot was getting. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that when I measured the sock, I’d gone several rounds past where I should have started the toe! Grumbling, I un-knitted three rounds, got all the stitches re-aligned properly, and then put the sock on a corner of my desk while I worked on other things and went to Canada on vacation. (Yes, Canada. Yes, in February. Yes, I’m crazy. I’ll tell you all about the Canadian trip in the next entry.)

The sock stared at me every time I sat down.

When I couldn’t take it any more, I told myself that even though I had lots of deadlined projects for babies to work on, I could take an hour to finish the stupid sock and cross the project off my list. So I did! The two socks are almost, but not exactly matched. The first one has a little tip of white at the toe; the second doesn’t. This may have been due to dyeing discrepancies, but more likely it was changes in my tension as I worked.

This was my first time using KnitPicks Felici yarn. I thought it was good in some ways and less good in others. For the good, it is quite soft and smells deliciously of wool and dye. For the bad, it’s slightly thinner than regular sock yarn. Also, the two balls I had started in wildly different places in the striping sequence, so I lost a significant amount of yarn in making the socks match up. (Yes, I like my striped socks to match. Yes, I’m willing to sacrifice sock height to get matching socks. Yes, I’m crazy.)

These are the third pair of Jaywalkers I’ve made. I guess that makes it my favourite sock pattern? It really is a great pattern: the socks fit snugly, striping yarn is shown off even better than usual, and the chevron pattern is interesting but not at all difficult to remember, so they make good traveling socks. I’m sure I’ll knit another pair of them eventually.

Aubrey M. Tinyfierce lost her fight with FIP yesterday. In the end, her fierce was just too tiny for a disease which is inevitably fatal. To say that we’ll miss her terribly is an understatement. At least for now, her picture will stay in the banner of my Etsy shop, which should be opening for business in the next couple of months. If I can’t do it to support her any more, I can still do it in her memory – and to build up a fund for Floyd T. Underfoot, should he happen to get sick. Right now we’re grateful that he’s healthy as a horse, sleek and energetic.

Friend Stef came over yesterday to keep me company and help distract me from thinking about Aubrey too much. I showed her the Winterlude Hat ™ which I’d blocked over a perfectly-sized ceramic bowl¹, and she fell in love with its awesomeness. Then, because she has more sewing experience than I do, she helped me pin the fleece lining for the hat. It went much more smoothly for having an extra pair of hands involved. We had a good time chatting about craftsy things while I began sewing it up. I’m so close to being done with it and I can’t wait to try it out when I get to Canada in a week and a half.

While I’ve got the sewing box out, I need to sew the magnet-snaps into Michael’s Fleeps. And on the subject of projects which are really, really close to completion, I’m within a few stripes of the toe on the second Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey Jaywalker. I’ve been working on it here and there while I wait for things like car maintenance and allergy shots. The other day I pulled it out to knit a few stripes and was actually surprised to discover that it’s almost finished!

I didn’t get much done on the blanket this past weekend, but I plan to work a couple of hexagons in tonight. And soon, if I’m feeling tired of crochet and want to get back to knitting, I can start on the pink and purple sweaters for the twin niecelets.

________________________________________________________________
1. Which shall be my hat-blocking bowl forevermore, when it’s not serving its usual role as a fruit dish.