The Knitting Pirate

In six years of knitting, you’d think that I would have learned one very important lesson: that I should never knit anything more complicated than stockinette in the round when I am exhausted. And readers, yesterday I was very, very tired. A combination of things had conspired to keep me from sleeping on Wednesday night, beginning with kittens hopping on my ribs at 02:00 and ending with the fact that, for some reason, it was approximately seven million degrees (Fahrenheit, though I think at that temperature it doesn’t matter much) in our bedroom. As a result I spent much of Thursday shuffling about in a zombie-like daze, but I couldn’t resist the siren call of the yarn in the evening when I sat down at my desk.

Because I was ahead of schedule, I rationalized, I could work for an hour on one of my own projects and still manage to get everyone’s gifts done in time. I reached for the second of the Timey-Wimey Jaywalkers, figured out where I’d left off (in the middle of the gusset decreases) and knit an entire stripe before I realized… I’d been forgetting the slipped stitches that edge the stockinette sole. I had no recollection of these stitches at all. I examined the first sock – yep, there were slipped stitches there. I examined the parts of the gusset that I’d knit back in July – slipped stitches there, too. Rats!

Someone recently asked on the Ravelry forums if she was alone in making mistakes, if other people knit everything perfectly the first time around. I’m pretty sure everyone who read that had a good laugh, because there is no such thing as perfect knitting all the time. Even super-prolific knitters like the Yarn Harlot and Wendy Johnson make mistakes, and they blog about them, and we all have a good laugh and a “yeah, me too.”

The greatest thing about knitting is that it’s so forgiving. 99% of the time it’s possible to just pull the needles out, rip the yarn free from mistaken stitches, and do it over again. No harm, no foul. So I’ll be ripping out everything I did last night and doing it over again, including the slipped stitches this time. It’s just the way things go sometimes.

(Actually, no. The real greatest thing about knitting is that I have perfectly fit, delightfully customized wool socks, scarves, hats and gloves that I could never buy in any store.)

Angie’s baby shower was last weekend, so I finally got to give her the pointy hat and booties. She and her husband absolutely loved them, and I am looking forward to seeing pictures of the baby wearing them in just a few more months.

This Baby Surprise Jacket that I knit three years ago was passed along for the new baby, too. It’s wonderful to see handknits being treasured, kept, and worn again by the next baby to come along – it makes me feel so good to know that my work is valued by the people I knit for. Well, the babies don’t realize it, but their parents do, and that’s what matters, right? Maybe in a quarter-century or so, my friends’ babies will be dressing their own babies in that very sweater, and so on down the line. It’s a happy thought indeed.

On Tuesday I had to bring my car in for an oil change, and I made sure that I had Mom’s sock-in-progress with me. I don’t go to any of those “quick lube job” places where they have you in and out in ten minutes, but rather to the Mazda dealership… so I knew I’d be waiting there for an hour. They do have a very comfortable waiting area, with comfy chairs, a big television, free tea and coffee, not to mention a PlayStation with Gran Turismo and steering wheels for two players. But instead of playing video games, I knit (and took this blurry picture with the phone’s camera). I was able to finish the foot section while I waited, and decided to save knitting the toe for when I got home.

When I got home, though, I didn’t knit the sock toe. Instead, I wrote up the pattern for the socks and got it ready for publication. It’s simple, and it’s much like the Sibling Socks, but I think there’s enough difference to make it worth releasing as a separate pattern. It’s exciting to have three patterns out now. I’m starting to feel like a Real Designer! A couple of people have asked me if there’s a toe-up version of the Cakewalk Socks available. Unfortunately, there isn’t – I find that socks with flap heels and gussets fit my foot best, and that’s what Mom requested for her socks as well. I know that there are patterns for toe-up socks with gussets and flap heels, but since I haven’t knit one yet, I don’t feel confident designing one. It’s on my list of things to do, that’s for sure! I like toe-up socks when I want to use every last yard of yarn, or if I don’t know how far my yarn will go.

Here’s a “montage of some of today’s most-visited pattern pages” (which is actually from yesterday, now) on Ravelry. My Cakewalks are right up there near the top! How awesome is that?

On Wednesday evening I finished up the toe and grafted it together. One more project down! It’s almost time to start thinking about that Jacob hat for myself. I’ll need to swatch, of course, and then pick a pattern. I’ve a few in mind already. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to line it with polarfleece. The wool might be too itchy to wear against my skin, and fleece would certainly make for an even warmer hat. Given that this is a hat meant for Canada in February, warmer might be better…

Due Date …… Project
10/3 ………… Angie’s gifts
11/1 ………… Second Fleep, hand section
12/1 ………… Mom’s sock #2
12/1 ………… Dad’s hat
1/1 ….………. Gift for Janis’s baby boy
2/1 ………….. Mitten tops and thumb caps on Fleeps
2/1 ………….. Jacob Hat
3/1 ………….. Twins’ sweaters

Introducing… the Cakewalk Socks!

These simple socks are a piece of cake to knit – thus the name! They fit snugly thanks to the ribs, and would make a great gift for anyone. The ribbing continues down the back of the heel flap, and there’s no break in the purl ‘gutter’ between the leg and the foot of the sock.

Heel and toe numbers are provided for three different sizes.

SIZE: M [L, XL]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS: To fit a foot that’s 8.5 [9.25, 10] inches around at widest point. The ribbing is stretchy and quite forgiving, so erring on the small side is all right.

YARN: Cascade Heritage or any fingering-weight yarn you like. The very blue sock was knit in size M using Cascade Yarns Heritage Paints in the “Isle of Skye” colourway. The more subdued socks were knit in size L in the “David’s Eyes” colourway (and photographed before I bought a pair of sock blockers, sorry!)

GAUGE: 36 stitches = four inches/10 cm (9 spi)

AND ALSO: five US 1/2.25mm double-point needles or size needed to get gauge, darning needle.

Cakewalk Socks Pattern – .pdf format

Cakewalk Socks page on Ravelry.com

Important Copyright Information:

The Cakewalk Socks knitting pattern by Knitting Pirate is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. You may make copies for your own personal use, but you may not sell copies of the pattern. You may sell the socks you make provided that credit is given to the Knitting Pirate for the design. If you have any questions about what you can or can’t do with this pattern, please feel free to contact the Knitting Pirate.

Saturday morning found me hurrying to finish the heel flap and turn on Mom’s second sock so that I could bring it with me to my parents’ house, where we went in the afternoon to meet my second cousins once removed, who were visiting from England. It was wonderful to finally meet them! So wonderful, in fact, that I got caught up in conversing and completely forgot that I was supposed to be knitting while we talked, even though I had managed to get into the gusset before we drove down to their house. Mom tried on her first sock, and *whew* – it fit perfectly.

Dad’s asked me if I can make him a hat in charcoal gray – a standard toque or watch cap, with a turned-up brim. I’m going to see if I can get that done in time to be his Chanukah present. The due date list has been shifted around to accommodate for the hat and also to account for babies who aren’t going to be born until Spring. I’ve been told that I won’t need to have the twins’ sweaters in time for their birth, since I’m making them in a size for *next* winter, but I’m still going to aim to finish them in advance.

I did get to work on the sock a little more over the weekend, but most of my knitting time was aimed directly at the second of Michael’s Fleep-Tops. I’m knitting both hand sections first, leaving off the mitten tops and thumb caps until I can measure their placement on his hands. By knitting as fast as I could until bedtime, I managed to finish the ribbed cuff and knit the hand section to the base of the thumb opening. The second glove needed no measuring since I’d taken careful notes on the first one, so it goes along much faster. I’m sure the fingers will be just as fiddly, of course.

Due Date …… Project
10/3 ………… Angie’s gifts
11/1 ………… Second Fleep, hand section
12/1 ………… Mom’s sock #2
12/1 ………… Dad’s hat
1/1 ….………. Gift for Janis’s baby boy
2/1 ………….. Mitten tops and thumb caps on Fleeps
2/1 ………….. Jacob Hat
3/1 ………….. Twins’ sweaters

Before the rain came through on Sunday, I was able to get outside to take some pictures. This is the merino top from Baba Black Sheep that I picked up at Maker Faire last weekend. It’s just under 4.5 ounces. I bought the fibre without having any plans for it. The way it spins up will help to determine what the knitting project will be. The deep blues and greens might be good as the background in some colourwork with a cream yarn for the contrast. Maybe some of the alpaca I have lying around would work for that. It was quite difficult to get the true colours of this fibre to show in the picture. The camera kept veering too light or too dark or too washed-out. Maybe it’s time to think about setting up a lightbox or even getting a new, better camera…

I finished the pointy hat for Angie’s baby on Friday night. It is adorable, and I’m sure she’s going to love it! Cascade Fixation was a good choice. The knitted fabric is firm enough that the hat doesn’t flop over at all, and the elastic will help keep it on. I’ve gotten started on the matching booties, and made myself go to bed at bedtime last night, even though I was so close to finishing the second bootie. Ah well, I can finish it up tonight and cross another project off my list. That’ll be a good feeling.

While I had the camera out, I got a picture of Mom’s first sock. The blocker that I made in two minutes from a wire hanger seems to be working well. The pattern is pretty simple, and very similar to the Sibling Socks, but I’m considering writing it up for publication anyway. Why not? There are a couple of things about it that are different from many of the ribbed patterns I’ve seen: first, the ribbing goes all the way down the heel, and second, I really like the way there’s no break in the purl ‘gutter’ between the leg of the sock and the foot. I’ve got the numbers written up for two sizes already. Might as well share, right? What do you think?

Speaking of design, I’ve got another pattern in the works. I’ve written most of it up, but the final version will have to wait until I can knit one up as a sample, to make sure I’ve got the numbers right. Then I’ll release it as another free, Creative-Commons licensed pattern.

Aubrey the Adorable. (Floyd is also adorable, but being both squirmy and dark-furred, he’s much more difficult to photograph.) I got this picture of her the other day just as she was just waking up from her afternoon nap. It’s amazing how empty the house seems without the kittens – they’ve spent the weekend at the vet’s for their spay/neuter surgeries. I’ll be picking them up after work today. Hopefully they haven’t felt too lonely and abandoned, and hopefully their recovery will be quick and easy!

Remember how I said I wanted Mom to try on her first sock before I got started on the second one? Yeah, forget that. I cast on for the second sock last night while Pirate-Husband and I were watching a recording of Sunday’s F1 race from Singapore. Well, he was watching; I was listening and knitting.

You see, here’s the thing about the sock. Several things, in fact…

Thing one: Everything I have knit for other people has fit them just fine, perhaps minus one hat for which I didn’t take measurements ’cause it was meant to be a surprise, and I’ve no one but myself to blame for that. Everything for which I’ve measured has fit just fine. I have no reason to think that these socks would be any different – other than fear, which is really silly. So, onwards.

Thing two: I have no time to wait. In looking over the list of projects and deadlines yesterday, I came to the happy conclusion that I can get everything done… but only if I don’t slack off on it. Mom’s sock is the only easily portable project on the list, so casting on will allow me to bring it with me and work on it while I wait for things like mechanics and allergists. I can knit most of a sock without thinking about it, unlike all of the other gifts I’m making. If I wasn’t bringing Mom’s sock around with me, I’d have to bring one of my own, and then I’d be knitting on something without a deadline while more urgent projects sat around untouched. The horrors!

Thing three: I really, really like the Cascade Heritage yarn. A lot more than I like the Cascade Fixation I’m using for Angie’s gifts. It kept looking at me from the ballwinder, saying “knit me, knit me!” How could I resist a plea like that? I couldn’t.

Thing four: I enjoy working on many projects concurrently. What’s one more?

So I cast on and knit the cuff of Mom’s Sock #2, without much interference from sleepy kittens. Pirate-Husband kept them distracted after they woke up so that I didn’t have to worry about any sneak attacks. He’s incredibly supportive of my hobby and I think he deserves some brownie points for it. (Not that it’s really such a hardship for him to play with kittens, but still.)

I have a confession to make: I love lists. I love writing lists. I especially love writing lists on paper, putting line-items in order, and then re-writing the list in my neatest handwriting on a fresh sheet of paper. It makes me feel better about everything I have to do, helps me to see that my queue isn’t life-threatening. And it really isn’t! I’m feeling a lot better now, though I know I’ll have to be fairly disciplined in order to get everything done on time.

The cats are headed to the vet on Saturday to be spayed and neutered, and due to a bloodwork requirement we won’t get them back until Monday. The boarding is free, at least, but I feel a little bad about leaving them all weekend. On the other hand, that totally frees up two whole days for knitting without kitten assistance. (And cleaning the house, I suppose. These things have to be done.)

This weekend I can finish up Angie’s baby shower gifts and get started on the one for Janis. (Hey Janis, do you want it to be a surprise, or shall I blog about it as I go?) If I am vigilant about knitting some every day, and if I account for the usual life-craziness and procrastination, I can expect it to take about a month.

That leaves me with one sock for Mom, which I can’t start until she tries on the first sock, and the glove part of the second Fleep for Michael. If I can get all of that done by Thanksgiving, I can spend December on the twins’ sweaters – but I can’t even buy yarn for them until I know if they’re boys, girls, or one of each, so I’m just not going to think about it until I get that piece of news. And then I can spend January on the colourwork hat of the Jacob yarn I spun, and putting mitten-tops on the Fleeps.

So, for my own records and your amusement, here is my list of projects and their deadlines. I will probably certainly without a doubt look back on this list and laugh, next year…

Due Date …… Project
10/3 ………… Angie’s gifts
11/1 ………… Second Fleep, hand section
12/1 ………… Mom’s sock #2
1/1 ……….…. Gift for Janis
2/1 ………….. Twins’ sweaters
2/1 ………….. Mitten tops and thumb caps on Fleeps
2/1 ………….. Jacob Hat

Is that realistic? Am I crazy?

I have a problem with Ravelry.

No, no, wait – before you run me out of town, hear me out! This is my problem: There are so many awesome patterns available that I’d never have known about, if it weren’t for Ravelry. And if I didn’t know about them, I wouldn’t want to knit them all. But now I do know about them, and I do want to knit them all.

For example, the Oktoberfest sock. I mean, really, it’s a sock kit with a pattern that makes your socks look like glasses of beer. The kit comes with beer-coloured yarn in three different flavours, and it even has a foamy white head. How absolutely awesome is this sock? Of course I want to knit this (psst, anyone who buys me gifts, I like the “Irish Red” colourway and I’d need the large size) but even if I got it now, it might be Oktoberfest 2013 before I get to wear the socks. That doesn’t stop me from wanting it every time I see the pattern come up in one of the banner ads. (Picture is from the Holiday Yarns website.)

Here’s one I just found today: a twelve inch doll, knitted in the round, with adorable foofy hair and even a little belly button. I bet I know a three and a half year old nieceling who might like a little doll so that she can play Mommy when her twin siblings are born next spring. But I also bet I know that I can’t take on any more time-based knitting commitments in the foreseeable future. Arrgh, if only I could take a month off work to sequester myself with yarn.

So much to knit… so little time!

I did not knit at all last night. Instead I had a good conversation with Pirate-Husband while we dragged a string around on the floor for the kittens to play with. It was 100%, absolutely, incredibly worth it. They are adorable little monsters. I hope they won’t be too mad at us next weekend when we drop them off at the vet’s to be fixed. They’ll be gone from Saturday through Monday, and the house will seem so empty without them!

Last week, Pirate-Husband and I went to visit my parents for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. My brother, sister-in-law, and the nieceling were also there, so we had nice festive family meals together. I was thrilled to hear the happy news that I’m going to be an aunt again in April! Yesterday, my brother called me and said that not only are they expecting Baby #2, but also Baby #3. That’s right, she’s pregnant with twins. I am so happy and excited for them!

Of course, I want to knit something for each baby. So I’ve gone back to my current projects with a frenzy! I want to get some things finished before I begin working on the baby knits. Last night I sat down and worked on Mom’s sock, and finished the first one before it got to be bedtime. My sock blockers are too big for her socks, so I refolded a wire hanger into a foot-shape. Not that the socks need blocking at all, but they’ll photograph much better if they’re stretched a little to show off the ribbing.

My sworn-brother Michael came to visit over Labor Day weekend, and I made him try on the Fleep-Tops that I’ve been working on for him. I’m glad I did, because they were still a few rounds too short for his hands. I’m going to add those rounds and the fingers before the next time I see him, so that he can try on a finished glove. I’ll have to determine where to put the mitten part while the gloves are on his hands, or they might end up in the wrong place. Customized knitwear for people who live far away, what fun – but they will be done in time for Winterlude, I swear it. I have to come up with some way of marking his Fleeps as separate from mine. Sure, they’re slightly larger, but they’re made of the same colour yarn, and they’ll be easy to confuse. Maybe I will put a little stripe into the mitten tops for him.

While my friends and neighbors at Pennsic said that I’d made amazing progress on Mom’s sock, I’m actually a little disappointed. I made it past the heel and through the gusset decreases, but I’d hoped to get the entire first sock finished while I was there. It was really just too hot to knit much of the time, and there were other things going on, too. That said, it’s coming out beautifully. There’s a little bit of pooling around the gusset, but I expected that. I love this yarn just as much as the first time I used it. I’m using almost exactly the same pattern; the only change I made was to take out four stitches, because Mom’s feet are just a little bit smaller.

My Pennsic-friend Alaric makes wood and stone drop spindles, although he himself doesn’t spin. Last year I bought one from him to give to Gaerwen, another SCA friend, who was receiving an award for her skills in spinning and natural dyeing. This year I came home with a twelve inch long, 25 gram, cherry spindle of my own. He had some which were all wood, and some with stone whorls, and some with double stone whorls that could be swapped in and out to get different weights. Every time I see him, I tell him to get an Etsy shop set up and then to advertise on Ravelry!

I really liked this particular spindle of the ones he had, and it fits well into my collection – now I have a 14g (from the Spanish Peacock) for really fine stuff, this 25g for medium, and a 34g spindle (the Cascade Little Si) for slightly heavier yarn. I generally like spinning at the wheel a lot better than using a drop spindle, but there are times when spindles are convenient. They’re certainly lighter to carry and take up less space, but also I’ve found that it’s easier to teach new spinners on a spindle.