The Knitting Pirate

Last night I took the new Trekking Ribbed Sock to SnB, and I stitched while I bitched and then suddenly realized that I’d knitted where I should have purled. Drat. Intrepid knitter that I am, I dropped the stitch and tried to pick it up the right way. Except I dropped it again. And again. Lissa took the sock from me and got all the stitches back on the needle, then Gwen got them all turned around the right way, and now I have purls where there should be purls, thanks to the wonderful women I knit with on Wednesdays.

When I came home I got to work on the Jaywalker toe. I knit as fast as I could, but it got to be bedtime and I was still only about halfway through the toe. Am I a slow knitter, or does time go faster when it’s almost bedtime? Anyway, tonight I sat down with determination and I have finished! my! socks! They fit great, though as is usual for Jaywalkers, they’re a little hard to get on. I know they’ll break in just fine.

Something else from last night – Lissa told me I was the most efficient knitter she’d ever seen. Well, how about that? I guess I do knit with an economy of motion. Not only that, but she volunteered to teach me to spin on one of her wheels! That’s the coolest thing ever. I am so excited! (There may be a wheel in my future. It might be my birthday present. I’m not thinking about that yet. It’s too far ahead and who knows what might happen between now and then.)

So tomorrow, the Trekking Ribbed Sock and I are off to the airport, where it will keep me calm as I wait for my flight, which is almost certain to be delayed. I hope the TSA doesn’t steal my needles; this is the first time I’ll be trying to bring aluminum needles on a plane.

A day of steady sock-knitting has gotten me to within a few inches of the toe. My goal is to have it done before Friday evening, so that I can have a Whole New Sock cast on for airport knitting. Hopefully the airline won’t have a problem with five size 0 aluminum DPNs!

Now what I have to do is decide on color. I’ve already decided to go with the Trekking XXL, and I’ve already picked a ribbing pattern, but I have two colorways (66 and 90) and choosing between them is difficult! I’m leaning towards the 90, which is deserty browns with a little bit of blue thrown in. 66 is dark greens, purples, navy and burgundy. Pirate-Husband says the brown one will go with more of my clothes, so I think that’s going to be the winner this time. I’ve taken it out and have it on my desk to remind me that if I hurry with the Jaywalker, I could be casting on for a new sock (and wearing new socks, too) in just a few days!

In spinning news, I’m eyeing wheels and drum carders. What a dangerously costly hobby this is turning out to be.

Okay, the stripes *almost* match from the first Jaywalker to the second, but they’re close enough that I think I’m going to just stop worrying about it. The heel is turned, the gusset stitches all picked up, and here comes the foot!

Pirate-Husband gets “Awesome Points” for the following conversation, in which I told him about the thing that’s been bugging me for a few days:

me: …and when I’m done with the Jaywalker, I’m going to cast on for the second Pomatomus. The only thing is…
PH: What?
me: Well, the stripey striped scarf is almost done. That’ll leave me with two lacy projects that I can only work on at home. So I was thinking I’d cast on for a second, easier sock that I could take places with me.
PH: Oh, well yeah! You need a traveling sock!

No hesitation. No sarcasm. I need a traveling sock. It’s just a fact of knitterly life! I don’t know why I thought that I might be, y’know, going overboard by having two socks going at once. Maybe it’s a concern that I’ll only work on the simple one and not finish the more complicated one? Anyway, I decided that it’ll be a simple ribbed sock with some of the Trekking XXL that Janis gave me for my birthday. I may have said that before, but now I have to decide which colorway (purplish or brownish) and how many ribs of what width.

But first… Jaywalker foot!

Last night I got through the heel flap on Jaywalker #2, but decided to go to bed rather than turn the heel. That’s the kind of thing I prefer to do all in one go, so I don’t lose my place and have to start over. I was right, the stripes are off by two rows, but I’m going to ignore that. They’re close enough that I’ll consider them matching!

I also spun up another section of orange roving. Man, pre-drafting makes that go so much smoother! I kept having to stop and pick out little bits of straw and crap, which was a little annoying. I’m happy that I seem to be gaining a little bit of speed with the spindle. Pirate-Husband wants to know what I’m going to make with this yarn once it’s done. I’m really not sure at all – guess I’ll have to see how thick it turns out after plying, what kind of yardage I get, that kind of thing.

I haven’t worked on the Stripey Striped Scarf since last week’s SnB, so I’m going to bring it with me tonight as it’s the only current WIP that’s simple enough for me to work on while I chat. Though I said I was going to end it when this ball of yarn is done, I found some leftover Kureyon from a Booga Bag I made, and I’m thinking of extending the scarf a little. This thing will never be done at this rate, or it will be as long as a Doctor Who scarf! The theme of tonight’s SnB is “Show and Tell”; I’m looking forward to seeing what people bring!

I’m in the middle of the heel flap of the Jaywalker, and had to take a break, so I’m stretching my fingers out and typing a little. For some reason, I didn’t want to start the heel. I think it was because I did my best to get the stripes to line up, but eventually came to the realization that I would be two rows off no matter what. Either the second sock leg will be two rows short, or the stripes on the foot will be offset by two rows. Eventually I decided that I would rather have my sock legs be the same length, and started the heel… only to stop two rows later and daydream about a pattern for the next sock.

This is silly – the next sock is going to be the second Pomatomus of the pair. Then I thought, “but I’m almost done with the Stripey Striped Scarf, and that will leave me with two projects I can only work on at home – Pomatomus and the Ostrich Plumes scarf. I’m going to need a simple traveling project.” Well, simple doesn’t require much daydreaming, does it? I think I’m going to do a ribbed (4×1) sock in some of the Trekking XXL which Janis gave me for my birthday. That oughta be simple enough to travel with.

This weekend I upgraded my WordPress installation and added a new feature – a JavaScript lightbox effect. Try clicking on a picture. Isn’t that neat? If you’re the type who likes pictures to open up in their own tabs/windows instead of getting the animated effect, you can still right-click > open in new window, or middle-click if you use Firefox and enjoy that tab thing. Middle-click may work in IE7 as well.

Also this weekend I mentioned to Pirate-Husband that, other than socks, I’m running out of things I really want to knit for myself. Kinda. I want to make the Shedir hat (link to pdf), and some purple-and-green armwarmers to go with my green-and-purple scarf, and a pair of fingerless glove-convertible mittens. He said that I should feel free to knit him a sweater. A cabled sweater. A big warm gansey, in fact, is what he has in mind for himself. I laughed. If anyone’s getting a hand-knit sweater around here, it’s me – but other than baby sweaters, I’m not sure I’m interested in making one. It seems like a lot of work… who knows? Once I say “oh, I’m not interested in that,” it’s almost a sure thing that at some point in the future, I’ll be interested.

This is just a few ounces of the eight *pounds* of fleece currently awaiting rotation through the freezer. I am thrilled to have it; I just need to decide what to make! Alpaca mittens would be nice, or maybe those fingerless gloves I keep thinking of – or maybe convertible fingerless glove mittens! Yeah!

Unfortunately, pictures of this green roving don’t do the color justice at all, though I tried and tried. I found two bags of the same color, but they were obviously two different dye lots, so I’m going to card them together and split the difference. It’s very tightly compressed right now and feels a little bit rough. Originally I was thinking of making a hat with it. If it still feels rough when I card it, I might have to change that idea, or make a lining so it’s not too itchy on my head. Here’s an older picture of me, from two years ago, but there are my eyes… and there is this roving. It’s incredible. I’ve never found anything this color before, so if I’m ranting a little, please forgive me!

Another thing I bought at Pennsic is this cobweb-weight silk/cashmere blend. It’s the same as the coppery brown stuff I already have, and bought from the same person. She says she keeps this and several other colors in stock, or I’d've been tempted to purchase two spools of purple as well. it’s amazingly fine. I spent a long time in front of the tent just admiring the different colors and gently touching the yarn.
When Pirate-Husband picks out a pattern of lace that he likes, I’ll put the project in my Ravelry queue. I’m certain that I will be able to make two cuffs for him by next Pennsic. If I make it three times the circumference of his wrist, it should ruffle nicely from the cuff of his shirt and look really spiff!

Speaking of lace, here is the Ostrich Plumes progress, gently pinned out this time so the pattern shows up better. I’m still not sure how long I should be making this, but I’m developing a reputation for dressing however I please and still pulling off the look – so I’m confident that it will look good whether it’s short or long. I’ll just wrap it around my neck and go. How could it be bad?

The Stripey Striped Scarf ought to be finished before autumn, since I really want to wear it with my gray coat. I am so pleased with the way the colors are playing out! It doesn’t seem like it should work, then for some reason it does. It may sound egotistical to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway: one of my motivations for finishing the scarf is to hear other people’s reactions to it when I wear it.

And now, the Jaywalker. By some miracle, I got the second sock to start in almost the first place as the first sock. I think the color is only off by two rows. I’m going to start the heel in the same place so that matches, because no one will notice if my socks are an eighth of an inch different in height, even me, especially if they slouch a little. I love that the tip of the toe and the tip of the heel have that tiny little bit of light blue in there. If both socks have that, I shall be very pleased indeed! Once the Jaywalkers are done, I’m going to go back to the Pomatomus sock and make a mate for it. After that… well, I really want to start designing my own socks. I’ve been really inspired by the patterns that Wendy has been coming up with during the Summer of Socks, and I’ve had some great ideas (at least, I think they’re great) for patterns of my own.

And I decided not to take any pictures of the Ninja’s Sekrit Yarn Gift. She’s just going to have to wait until I see her in person!

Ahhh, vacation. I finished one Jaywalker and am halfway down the leg of the next. Everyone who saw the socks-in-progress was impressed, which makes me happy even if it is a very simple pattern. I tried carding some of the alpaca fleece but I’m not sure I know what I’m doing – and mostly it was too hot and humdi to work with fleece, so I knit instead. I’m hoping someone at the SnB knows about carding alpaca fleece and can show me a trick or three.

Things I bought: 50g white silk/cashmere cobweb weight, to make lace cuffs for Pirate Husband’s SCA shirts. 8 oz or so of beautiful green wool roving that is exactly the color of my eyes – mostly green, with some orange and some flecky bits and some blue. Some SHH QUIET IT’S A SEKRIT yarn for the Knitting Ninja, partly because the color just screams NINJA and partly because I was drunk at the time, but sober enough to say “no no no I’m on a yarn diet… hey, that means I can buy it for someone else, doesn’t it!”

Thing I did not buy: A spinning wheel. But I really, really want one. I was mesmerized by it. Round and round and yarn twisting out of fluff and round and round some more. (This is when I bought the Ninja’s sekrit gift yarn. I’d been to a margarita party, see…) When I buy a house and have room for a wheel, it’ll be one of my first purchases. Again, I’m hoping someone at the SnB has a wheel and will let me try it. I hear that people can be picky about letting unskilled hands on their wheels, but maybe if I ask around someone will take pity on me.

The house is full of laundry, both washed and unwashed, but other than that we’re pretty well unpacked. Everything smells delightfully of woodsmoke, except the yarn and roving, which was carefully kept in an extra cooler, serving double purpose as packing materials for some pottery. And tomorrow, it’s back to work! Life is pretty damn good right now.

On Wednesday, I took my scarf to the Stitch ‘n Bitch and had a much easier time multitasking. Other women were also commenting that they find it difficult to knit and converse at the same time, especially given the involved sorts of conversations that we often have. I found a few mistakes on the Jaywalker. Though I didn’t think they were worth going back for, I didn’t want to make more mistakes, so I brought the scarf. I’m about halfway through the second two balls now, and everyone loved the thing.

There’s another SnB scheduled for this coming Wednesday, but I’m not sure if I’m going to go. Pirate-Husband will be out for the evening, which gives me a chance to sit and curse at the sewing machine. I started this miniature quilt experiment, see, which was meant to become a pillow, see, since our couch pillow recently split along one seam… but I’ve never quilted before, and while I can use a sewing machine, I do tend to get incredibly frustrated and no fun to be around while I’m using it. Therefore, sewing is something I prefer to do alone. Very, very alone. With the music turned up. And lots of cursing. I do want this thing to be finished before my two-week electricity-free vacation.

Today I brought my sock down to my parents’ house and knit while visiting with family. I’ve finished the gusset! Actual progress has been made! A milestone reached! Just the foot and toe remain… and, oh yeah, the second sock of the pair. I wore my first pair of Jaywalkers with my new paisley skirt and received lots of grandmotherly compliments on the construction, the softness of the wool, the beauty of the colors, etc. etc. etc. She was amazed that my handknit socks are machine washable. Ahh, the wonders of modern yarn technology.

Pictures soon, really!

There are two occasions when it is necessary for me to work on a traveling sock at home – turning the heel and grafting the toe. Now that the heel is turned on this one, it’s gone back in the bag to await the next bit of travel – which is Thursday, so it won’t have to wait too long. I think I’m going to finish this pair before going back and knitting the second Pomatomus. Then I have so many ideas and plans for socks… good thing I have a whole set of aluminum sock needles in addition to these trusty bamboo size 1s!

This scarf, on the other hand, is always going to be a project which I’ll only work on at home. The further I get, the faster and easier it goes… but I wouldn’t want to mess this one up when I’m not in a place that I could just put it down and calmly walk away from it. I still don’t know how long to make it, or how to wear it, but I like how it looks so far!

I ordered these shoes last week from a store in the mall, and I am so thrilled that they fit! They are just perfect for showing off handknit socks (shown – last year’s toe-up Plain Old Socks, Regia Canadian Colour 4743). They are also suitable for wearing to an office, when I find a job. Too cool.

This Stripy Striped Scarf alternates two colors of Noro Kureyon (147 and 158) in a 1×1 rib over 49 stitches on size 8 needles. I like to have a project going that doesn’t require a lot of concentration. I can take it to the Stitch ‘n Bitch, or watch TV, or have a conversation while I’m working. From this blog entry at BrooklynTweed I got the idea of slipping the first and last stitches on every second row to make a nice neat edge. It’s working quite well! One thing that had really frustrated me when I was working on the So-Called Scarf is that when I was alternating between balls of yarn (in that case, to keep from wild color changes between skeins), the yarn that was carried up the side didn’t look right. Slipping the first and last stitches on the second rows keeps everything tightly together, which looks a lot better to me.

The traveling sock traveled up to Pennsylvania this weekend to visit family, and began looking stripy too. I like the reactions that I get from different people when they see me working on a sock. It’s everything from “How long does it take you to knit a pair of socks?” to “Wow, I’d never have the patience to do something like that – but I do like counted cross-stitch,” to “How hard is that to learn? I need a new hobby.” Since I’m back home, the traveling sock has been returned to its resting place, awaiting Thursday’s airplane ride.

I got my Ravelry invite today, and as a result had to set up a Flickr account. There probably won’t be much there that isn’t here anyway, but feel free to check it out! Ravelry looks like it’s going to be a very cool community. When the site goes live, I hope there’s a personal page for me to link to.