Hedera in Wollmeise Sonne

I am on day 3 of my yarn diet and so far, so good. I did catch myself meandering over to the posh yarn website thinking that I NEED to get some cashmere yarn for Michael’s mother for Christmas. Then I remembered that I can buy it in September with plenty of time to spare. Whew, that was a close one. I am doing remarkably well so far, I don’t have any yarn envy (yet) and am genuinely happy for other people and their acquisitions. But the real test is one or two months from now.

I have the Gentleman’s fancy sock on hold for now as I await for my 2nd skein to arrive. I really should’ve just bought Elem’s one instead of ordering, but I also needed more mini-blockers for gifts. So, while that one is on the side (I did finish one side already), I am making Hedera socks for myself with my leftover Wollmeise Sonne yarn. I am really loving the color/pattern combo. I love this bright yarn! I used to get more darker and muted colors but lately I’ve found myself buying the brightest and most colorful stuff I can find! I think I’ll have enough yarn, since the Monkey’s that I made were a little above the ankle, and these will be as well. Only time will tell.

Also, at the last SNB, 3 of us knitters started discussing doing a podcast. It was Elem who brought up the idea and said it would be fun and we all rallied around him. It was soooooo much fun thinking up names and different ideas, so we’ll see what happens with that. We’re just in the process of throwing around names/ideas/format, so it’ll be a little while before we do anything. We want it to be crazy like L&V, but try to have different things and of course bring to light yarns that we have in Europe. I am kind of the boring one of the group, the “mother hen” if you will. The other two are hilarious and it is always endless entertainment for me to listen to them and their stories. So stay tuned…

Oh, and also, my SP found out who I am. Dang it all…I guess it’s so hard to be secret since the knitting community is so small. Especially when I don’t hide my pictures of the projects that I’m making for her AND I make something unusual like Gothic Spires!!! But really, what gave me away was the mention in L&V. I think she saw Elem’s site, and then he linked to me, so there it is. Hi Tini!

Michael’s fancy socks

OK, ok, pick yourselves up off the floor and stop laughing. Don’t believe me? Yeah, I’m guessing you probably wouldn’t. I have gone nuts ordering yarn and so I am going to go on a yarn diet (OMG, can’t believe I’m actually saying this) until September, where I will go to the textile market. Seriously. So you will see more yarn pictures, of course, but I ordered them BEFORE today. I will also put a disclaimer that this diet EXCLUDES any purchase that is needed to complete a project (didn’t buy enough the first time around). Also, since I mainly buy sock yarn, it DOES count! So please, don’t tell me about the awesome yarn you have and don’t go posting pictures on flickr!!! :)

OK, so after I wrote that, I went and bought more Jitterbug. You know why? Because I am such an idiot. I am. I was so busy fondling and oogling the yarn that I didn’t bother to check the yardage. BTW, do germans say yardage? or meterage? is that even a word? Anyways, it’s like 260 or something like that. DOH! I think I can get away with ankle highs for myself with one skein, but not for the Gentleman’s sock. Dang it all. So, I’m already hitting an exception in my diet. This is bad. But that never happens. Ever. Except today. Really. I mean it.

So on to good things. Last night I started the Gentleman’s Fancy sock from Knitting Vintage Socks for Michael. Boy, it sure feels good to type a pattern name and not have to link it! Heh. I’m doing it in none other than the Colinette Jitterbug in Blue Parrot (that’s why I ordered more). I love the squishyness of this yarn, but Yarnissima told me that she made socks for her son and it felted pretty badly. We’ll see. We’ll have to compare how my husband matches up with a 7 year old. It sure is hard to find sock patterns for men because all the interesting ones (lace) are for women.

I modified the pattern for 8sts/in. A lot of patterns in this book are for 9 or 10sts per inch. That is so painful. I don’t think I could knit something with that small stitches. It would drive me nuts. It fits Michael really well though and it is very stretchy so it goes over his abnormally large heel just fine and is still snug on his calf. I can’t wait for him to wear these, but I’ll have to wait for the 2nd skein to come in. Let’s just hope that the colorway isn’t too different. Even if it is, I’m sure no one will notice. It’s just socks.

Isn’t the pattern awesome?

I had a hard time finding a pattern for my gifted Natural Dye Studio yarn that my SP10 gave me. When knitted on US2′s, it had a 7st/in. I could’ve gone down a size or maybe 2 and it would’ve been 8st/in, but I hate knitting on needles smaller than 2′s. I was originally going to do Kew with this yarn, but I read that the sock doesn’t have too much give and the yarn doesn’t feel like it would be very elastic, so I looked around more. Then I decided to do another Baudelaire’s again because I wasn’t pleased with the striping on my 1st one. But then, from my German sock list, someone put a link to Vinnland and I was in love. It is such a pretty pattern and the gauge is the same. This yarn felt scratchy after knitting with Cashmere the last 5 or so days. I think anything would’ve felt scratchy! :) But after a few hours, it was normal. The pattern is perfect for this yarn and it just pops out at you. Thanks SP10!!! I can’t wait to finish these. The only thing that I didn’t like was that this yarn leaves dark marks on my fingers. I don’t know if that’s because it’s naturally dyed?

I changed the toe – I did a magic cast on (24 sts) instead of a provisional cast on. One of these days I’m going to have to learn how to do those. There was a page of directions and super confusing, so I stuck to what I know.

I found out recently that I can’t knit on straight needles anymore. Well, not that I CAN’T, but more like don’t want to. The needles are very heavy and cumbersome. I haven’t knitted with straights in awhile and so now it seems so foreign. I’m thinking about giving them away, but can’t quite part with them yet.

Also, now that I’ve gotten the hang of continental knitting, I’ve been knitting SO FAST! Not as fast as some of the German speed knitters, of course, but maybe double my normal speed. So all the socks that I knit I keep saying, “wow that was a fast knit”, but really it’s just because I’m knitting faster. I am so happy that I got shamed into learning how to knit continental style – thanks German SNBers!

Pattern: Vinnland by The AntiCraft
Yarn: The Natural Dye Studio BFL sock yarn
Needles: Knit Picks US2 classic circs
Started: May 10, 2007

Before I begin, I just wanted to share with you my clever punchline that I entered into the sock club contest. What the contest was, was to think of the answer to “how many knitters does it take to screw in a lightbulb”. Michael and I thought about it and his answer was “None, it is DH’s job”. This is funny because all knitters (except me) refer to their husbands not by name, but by DH (dear husband). MY answer was “Three. One to change it, one to take photos, and one to blog about it.” har har. I crack myself up. The 10 winners are chosen on May 25th, so please keep your fingers crossed for me. The winners get free STR yarn!!!! Woo hoo!

My first plain stockinette sock

So, Ingrid, my SP8, gave me some Posh Yarn for my birthday. It is 100% cashmere in really nice spring colors. Once I was done with my obligatory knitting, I had to cast these on. The problem is that when I get some nice yarn, I have a REALLY hard time choosing something to knit. At first I wanted to do a scarf. But I didn’t have enough yarn. Then I thought of socks. NO! No wearing cashmere on my usually dirty feet. And they would wear out at some point. OK, back to a scarf. I cast on for a chevron scarf and decided to just go until I run out. No. I won’t have enough. It will be too short. OK, how about a hat? Apparently, there are no patterns out there for hats to make with fingering weight, unless you want to make baby hats. Yeah, right. Like I’m going to give away my precious cashmere. Those babies will have to suffer!

So again, back to the socks. Should I? Am I that posh? To wear cashmere ON MY FEET??? Now, if you’ve ever seen my feet, you would say that I should ABSOLUTELY NOT make cashmere socks. Oh, but it’s so soft. And I have the right amount of yarn. And I can’t find any other pattern that I like. OK, socks it is! I cast on for a modified Thuja. I even completed one side. Didn’t like it. I didn’t like how the ribbing messed up the colors. Very small issue, but I didn’t like it. I did, however, like the bottom of the sock, just plain stockinette.

So, I frogged the whole sock (the beginning part of this ball of yarn is getting unplied at this point) and cast on for a generic toe-up stockinette sock. And I love it. Yes, you heard that right. Me. plain stockinette. yep. I followed the Baudelaire pattern for the gusset heel and then made a 2×2 ribbing. They are ankle socks and it is like wearing clouds on your feet. If any of you have a chance to knit cashmere socks, you should. It is awesome! And they are so warm too! Too bad it’s spring now – I am so looking forward to next winter! If you can’t tell, I am so happy that I frogged the Thuja and created this, even though it meant losing a day’s work.

Here’s the pattern if anyone’s interested (I’m writing this just so I remember if I do it again). It’s kind of a “sketch” and not really detailed, but you should understand what’s going on.

• Using the magic cast on, cast on 16 stitches.
• Work these two rows row 1: [k1, m1, k6, m1, k1] 2x, row 2: k all stitches until you reach 60 stitches.
• At about 3″ from the back of foot, start increasing for the gusset. Repeat these two rows until you reach 84 stitches. row 1: k all stitches. row 2: knit to 1/2 marker, m1, knit remaining, m1.
• Follow the Baudelaire pattern for the heel:
  Row 1 [RS]: K41, w&t.
  Row 2 [WS]: P28, w&t.
  Row 3 [RS]: K27, w&t.
  Row 4 [WS]: P26, w&t.
  …continue…
  Row 18 [WS]: P12, w&t.
  Row 19 [RS]: K11, w&t.

  Next Row [WS]: P11; p next 8 sts, picking up each wrap (loop of yarn wrapped around base of st) and purling it together with the st it had wrapped; pick up next wrap and place on left needle, p3tog (wrap on left needle, st which it had wrapped, and next st, all purled together). Turn work (do not wrap st).

  Next Row [RS]: Sl 1, k19; k next 9 sts, picking up each wrap and knitting it together with the st it had wrapped; pick up next wrap and place on left needle, sssk (wrap, st which it had wrapped, and next st, all worked together.) Turn work (do not wrap st).

  Next Row [WS]: Sl 1, p28, p2tog. Turn work.
  Next Row [RS]: Sl 1, k28, ssk. Turn work.
  Repeat these 2 rows 10 times more; all sts have been worked. 30 sts remain on this needle.

• Join back in the round and continue in stockinette until 1.5 inches from desired leg height.
• Do a 2×2 rib for 15 rounds. Cast off.

Gifts from elem

My first STR package – Walking on the Wild Tide!

Postcard from my SP10

Apart from the fun giveaway that I had, I had a semi-happy birthday. The first wee hours of my birthday were maddening. I spent 5 hours untangling/balling up a skein of Wollmeise yarn. I have balled up many of her skeins before with no problem. I don’t know what the deal was with that one. 5 FREAKING HOURS!!!! The other thing that made it bad was that I got sick. I had bronchitis last week and have been taking antibiotics for that, but then on top of that, I get a cold. Sucks! Michael (who is sick as well) took me out to dinner anyways and we tried to make the best of it.

I did get some awesome gifts and well wishes from some unexpected people. My sister sent me a box full of snacks plus a gift certificate to blue moon (woohoo!). I haven’t decided which one to get, and I’m also waiting to get my 10% coupon to “enhance” my purchase. Michael got me the Rockin’ sock club membership as well as a Wollmeise buying spree and a new monitor (desperately needed). Elemmaciltur got me a knitting stitch dictionary (always wanted one of these) in German because I mentioned that one of the areas I wanted to improve my German in is knitting. He also made me a sweet arigumi arigurumi amigurumi. I named her “cupcake” since he put her in a little cupcake pastry cup. I was really surprised that he remembered and even brought it to me when I wasn’t feeling too well. My neighbor Riki baked me a käsekuchen and promised a delicious stir-fry dinner next week! yummmmm…. Of course Ingrid sent me that great package and it’s driving me nuts trying to decide on what to make with that yummy yarn. The Wollmeise herself sent me a nice e-card (WOW!), my cousins Staci and Amy sent me one as well and friends Sarah and Shari and brother-in-law Denver sent me emails. It’s so nice when people remember out of the blue! Thanks everyone!

I also wanted to mention that I received a postcard from Spain from my SP10 pal last week. I was a bad blogger and forgot. As Miss Violet would say “bad blogger, no cookie!” Sorry about that!!! It was so thoughtful of her to write to me while she was on vacation and look at those strange clay statues. Must’ve been amazing to see in person!

On the knitting front, I received my very first Rockin’ Sock Club package!!! I was hoping to get the February one first, but I ended up getting the April one. It’s funny because the tag says that it’s 89% merino and 19% silk. Huh? I’m guessing it’s 81% merino and 19% silk. Or maybe it’s 89% merino and 11% silk. Either way, it is really nice and soft yarn, I am so excited to cast on NOW! I promised myself that I would finish the Gothic Spires first and whadda-ya-know, I got them done tonight! I also started working on Monkey Socks by CookieA in Wollmeise Sonne colorway for a friend who has postpartum depression. I thought the bright colors in the colorway would cheer her up whenever she looked at them. The colors are not one that she would normally pick, but I’m hoping that this pair will be special. Her birthday is coming up (a little too soon though), so it’s perfect timing. I won’t get them to her before then, but within a couple of weeks.

1983 called. They want their sock back.

I’m still on a break from doing the 2nd Gothic Spire. Or maybe I just have 2nd-sock-itis. I couldn’t keep my hands off the Fleece Artist yarn so I had Michael pick out which color he liked best (he only had a choice of two). He picked the Nova Sock Sea Storm colorway. He also liked the Thuja pattern because it was a very simple and plain pattern. I was happy to oblige. I had to adjust the pattern to the thinner weight yarn. I cast on 52 stitches rather than 44.

I started knitting this and was instantly not happy. I didn’t like the way it striped up. It was kind of crayola like and reminded me of the 80′s and it’s neon in black light. Hmm. Michael said it was ok and he’d wear them anyways. I had a hard time continuing with it, but really, what else am I going to do? It was a quick knit though and I finished a sock in a couple of days. I decided to just bite the bullet and complete the pair by casting on the 2nd sock rather than knitting yet another digression.

I accidentally cast on with the other end of the yarn (not from the center) and by the time I realized this, I got a few rows done and didn’t want to pull it out. Strangely enough, this yarn is more what I expected and not so 80′s. It looks like completely different yarn. It is so weird. The first pair had a lot of black in it (every other row) and this one has almost no black. And then I noticed that in the center pull of the yarn cake it is very dark and on the outside it is not. Maybe that’s how it is? Kind of weird though. If anyone knows if it’s supposed to be this way, please let me know. Thanks! In any case, Michael will wear the mismatched pair.

1/2 way there!

Today I finished 1 side of the Gothic Spire socks that I’m knitting for my secret pal. It was a long road. But I’m pretty happy with it. Since my calves don’t fit in these socks, I had my neighbor Riki model them for me. The pattern isn’t that complicated, it’s just reeeeaaaallllly slow.

My So Called Scarf #2

I needed a break before knitting the other side, so I cast on my 2nd My So Called Scarf using Wollmeise worsted weight yarn in Dani colorway (medium). It is fun to knit something that goes so fast! I decided to cast on 36 stitches (instead of 30) and this one is going to be a regular scarf length. Because I only had 1 skein of the Lorna’s Laces yarn, the other scarf ended up being a little short. Enough to use, of course, but usually you want it to be a little longer. I got 2 skeins so we’ll see how it goes.

I have been on a yarn buying binge. Yep. That’s all I gotta say. Blue Moon Fiber got in more mediumweight yarns and I didn’t go too crazy. I’ve been wanting to make one of those chevron scarves that everyone is making. And I also picked up the fair isle book that they publish. I can’t wait to get their yarns!!!

My downstream pal received her package and she loved it. It makes me so happy when someone really treasures the gift that you give them. I think I get more enjoyment out of hearing that someone really liked something I gave them, than me receiving something myself. Unless of course it’s Socks that Rock! Just kidding… I don’t know if I told you but she is also in Germany so I’m trying to make the packages as un-German as possible. And also I save a lot on shipping! DPD delivers to her overnight – that’s really good to know. I thought the package wasn’t going to make it until after her birthday (being the Easter holiday and all), but it arrived today!

I frogged the pattern part of the Gothic Spire socks that I was knitting because I really didn’t like the way it was too tight with the yarn wraps. So it had bands of “tightness” and then regular the rest of the sock. It irritated me so much. I knitted maybe 2.5 pattern repeats, so it wasn’t that much to frog and I even considered just letting it go. But since I am doing this for someone else, I really don’t want to give them something that I knew I could’ve done better. So, frogged it down to the ribbing and started over. Last night and today I am almost back where I was (completed 2 pattern repeats), and it’s so much nicer now that I didn’t pull the yarn wraps tight. I am really happy that I decided to do it over. Also, this yarn doesn’t have any kind of pooling, no stripes, no real pattern, which is strange to me. Or maybe since the colors are similar, I can’t see it as well. Anyways, so if anyone out there is planning to cast on the Gothic Spire, remember to not pull the yarn wraps too tight!

I also got hooked on listening to Lime ‘n Violet’s podcast. I usually don’t listen to podcasts at all, but just out of curiosity, I downloaded the file. They are h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s!!! I really enjoyed listening to them talk about whatever and the stories are too funny. I got the serious urge to buy more yarn and it kinda made me crazy to buy EVERYTHING that they ooooohhhed and aaaaahed over. I thought it was just me doing this but I talked to d.knit at SNB today and she said that she had to stop listening to them because it made her go crazy with wanting to buy so much yarn. Wow, I’m glad it’s not just me!!! I guess when somebody talks about something and it’s like the best thing in the world, you just gotta have it. So, needless to say, I bought some Trekking XXL and some Fleece Artist. I still would like to buy some Socks that Rock (any color, they are all good), Mountain Colors, Colinette Jitterbug, and Cascade 220. My poor parents will have their suitcases full of yarn when they visit!!!

Now to the Secret Pal questions:
1) How old were you when you learned how to knit?
I was 20 years old and working for the Space Sciences Lab at UC Berkeley. I was just a lowly old “Principal Clerk” doing various administration tasks like answering phones, making copies, typing email, letters, faxes, etc. One of the women who worked there (Kath) was my idol. She was really smart and nice and worked her way into a programming job from an administrative position. She had 2 boys who were the most well behaved and smart boys I ever met, and basically I just wanted to be her. I tried my best. Now, 16 years later (gasp!) I also got a programming job at Microsoft, although now I’m a stay-at-home-mom of 2 year old twin BOYS! I don’t have her beautiful blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and thinness though. Damn. I hear cosmetic surgery is coming along though. Look at what they’ve done with Michael Jackson! ;)

Anyways, she brought in her knitting one day. I remember exactly what she was making. She was making afghan squares for a friend and it was of various San Francisco landmarks. I particularly remember one of the Golden Gate Bridge. I thought it was really neat and I liked watching her knit, it was mesmerising. Do I sound like a stalker yet?

That didn’t get me to start knitting though. Another day, she brought in some dishcloths or maybe I saw it at her house. I thought they were the coolest thing ever. I don’t know why. They were just dishcloths. She had a huge pile of them and she always gave them as Christmas presents. Well, that just made me squeal with delight and I immediately bought a book, yarn, needles, whatever and started to learn how to knit.

I got really serious about knitting then and hammered out a sweater in a week. I was quite impressed with myself. I still knit the dishcloths though and give them as Christmas presents. A lot of the people I knit them for usually has raggedy earlier versions of ones I gave them and felt too bad to ask for more. That makes me happy! I like useful knitting.

2) Who taught you?
You would think that my friend and idol Kath taught me. But really, I learned from a book. But Kath did correct some of my stitches. I was crossing some. I didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of my idol, so I had to teach myself.