Grr Argh

As you can see, the yarn gobbling monster that is this sock has eaten up all of the yarn, and with one repeat and the toe left to go. I thought long and hard about how to deal with this (since I saw it coming not long after I finished the gusset) but ultimately decided to use some leftover blue yarn from other projects. It is far from a perfect match, but is better than any of the other ideas I came up with.

Funny thing is: back on the first sock, I had to decide how long to make the leg. The pattern doesn't say anything different about the leg length for a size Large than for other sizes. Often they will specify if the leg needs to be shorter on the Large, to ensure you won't run out of yarn. I decided to gamble and make the leg the length they give (where so often I decide to make the leg shorter and end up with loads of leftover yarn.) Well, sometimes in gambling, you lose. Oh well. They'll still be cute socks: you haven't even seen the punchline yet.

Live Fast, Dye Young

A long time ago, I had a gift certificate for Blue Moon, and among the lovely items I got yarn for, I also picked up a skein of sock yarn on a whim. The colours looked lovely and I was pretty excited about it. Once I had it in my hands and wound it into a ball, I just couldn't imagine what pattern I would make with it. It's been sitting within my eyeline for months, and I have toyed with the thought of one pattern or another, but nothing seemed right.


In an unrelated whim, this week, I had an inspiration to make a certain sock pattern, but the yarn for it would need to be a semisolid bright red. Since I'm not buying new yarn right now, I remembered a skein of undyed yarn I had in my stash, and thought I should try another experiment in Kool Aid dyeing. Then I thought of this skein and an experiment in overdyeing, instead.

The base of it was mostly a very soft yellow, with some light minty green, a pinky red, and a soft brown. I figured that the red overdye would leave it many shades of red, some orangier (from the yellow) and some brownier (from the green and brown). It turned out pretty much like I anticipated, but with some spots less-dyed than others. I was initially a bit dismayed by this (probably from a combination of unsaturated yarn before going into the dye and also my own lack of stirring to ensure the dye was evenly distributed after the yarn went in) but it is really growing on me. I am going to see how it looks knit up, and then decide if I want to throw the completed socks back into some cherry Kool Aid to even things out a bit.


Aren't experiments fun?

Sock Summit Recap

You know how it feels when you find a person who understands your passion about something -- who doesn't think it's frivolous or weird or laughable, but nods excitedly and gesticulates animatedly and confirms that your passion is worth every minute, every blog post, every hand cramp? Now imagine being surrounded by thousands of them.

It's not often that I have felt surrounded by people who accept and understand me, on that level -- I can really only think of two other periods in my life like that, and I look back on both of them with a lot of fondness. Now I can add a third.


There was a real feeling through the weekend, of talented women together, supporting and lifting each other (not that there weren't also some men, both those who were knitters and those who were husbands-in-tow.) When I saw this plaque in the Convention Center, I had to take a photo because I felt it really encapsulated something -- the inscription reads: "This country fosters a kind of woman who never seems to bother about who she is supposed to be, mainly because there is always work, and getting it done in a level-eyed way is what counts most. Getting the work done, on horseback or not, and dicing their troubles into jokes. These women wind up looking 50 when they are 37 and 53 when they are 70. It’s as though they wear down to what counts and just last there, fine and staring the devil in the eye every morning."

It was a weird weekend, being in the presence of so many of the kniterati -- the first time I was face to face with Stephanie (coming out of the ladies' room) I was too shocked and excited to even pull together a proper smile, so I think I grimaced at her. By the end of the weekend, I'd seen her so many times (she was walking around amongst the rest of us like a Normal Person!) that I just shook my head endearingly at the fans that clustered around her for a photo. Myself, I am too Canadian (or too shy or too awestruck) to go up to the knitting celebrities that I was within arm's reach of, like Stephanie or Amy Singer or Lucy Neatby or Jessica or Casey and Jess or Cirilia (who wanted a photo of my bag!) or Sandi Wiseheart (but yeah, I will drop some names.)

As I mentioned, I didn't make it into any classes (which I hear were fantastic, alas) but I spent copious amounts of time wandering around the Marketplace, just soaking it in, and buying many many skeins of yarn.

Some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in Koi Koi, which I've wanted for yonks

More BMFA STR in Crabby McHappypants (yeah, the name won me over as much as the colourway)

Madelinetosh Sock in Lichen is the first find I made there that I just couldn't walk away from. I think this one is destined to be a mobius wrap (On a side note, I was entranced once by another yarn called Lichen -- it was the first 'expensive' yarn I ever bought myself)

Hazel Knits superwash fingering in Strawberry Lemonade (the photo doesn't do this one justice at all -- I saw it the first day in the Marketplace, and the colour haunted my thoughts all night until I finally went back and bought it the next day)

A sock kit from the Sanguine Gryphon, who are completely awesome and I have stalked online for ages but never before bought anything from (extra points if you know which kit this is)

Some handpainted merino silk also from the Sanguine Gryphon (admittedly I promised myself not to buy more fiber until I have spun what I already have, but how can I resist something so perfect and shiny (and called Transmogrification, to boot))

Some Louet Gems Fingering in Cloud Grey and Caribbean, for a double-knit hat in the current Vogue Knitting

Some wonderfully variegated Zauberball which I have already separated into two balls for socks -- I came back to this and held it and stroked it every day, until finally weakening enough to buy it on the last day of the Marketplace

The Luminary Panel was also amazing -- we were all so awestruck by the whole group of knitting crones (and I mean that in the respectful sense, before you get all wound up) that our emotions were incredibly heightened. I shed more than one tear just hearing them speak, and I'm sure we all cherished every moment of it. It was something you can't explain to most people -- at one point, Meg (swoon) Swansen told a story of a funny incident in one of her classes. Apparently Barbara Walker was in there, auditing the class, and when Meg mentioned the SSK stitch, she turned to Barbara, and asked if she had indeed been the inventor of the stitch. Barbara nodded quietly, and the other instructor of Meg's class just burst into tears. That's how amazing it was to be in the presence of these women. But how do you explain to someone that the woman who replaced SKP with SSK made you cry in public, just being near her?


As for the rest of Portland, it was still pretty great -- my hotel was totally posh and very friendly and was a great place to crash, exhausted, every night. Powell's Books was awesome (obviously) and I scored a couple of fantastic books there. I even made a little stop, at the last possible minute before I checked out and went to the airport, at the Portland Doc Marten store, where I scored this truly wicked pair of Docs.


Cupcakes are so last year. How about some freshly made donuts from Coco Donuts (right next to my train stop for the hotel) -- this one even looks like a skein of yarn (or am I just drunk on fiber?)

It was an amazing weekend and I am still in recovery. There is so much more to tell (like setting a Guinness World Record.) I finished some socks (duh) while I was there, but I will show you those next time.

the Aftermath

I managed to leave the fiber festival with only a few things: a knitting pattern book, a weaving pattern book, a couple of sets of buttons, and a lovely cake of laceweight alpaca. I have a plan for this little bit of yarn, and it will be lovely.

Last night, after a Herculean session of sweater finishing, I managed to complete the garter stitch cardigan. I have to admit that I usually choose projects that don't require much finishing, so sitting for hours sewing pieces together isn't something I'm used to. I don't have photos of it yet, but it turned out pretty awesome.

All I can leave you with today is a photo of the gauge swatches for my next two cottony summer tops.

Onward.

Great Things in Small Packages

Well today I learned a lesson about the importance of using the right tool for the job. I have been working on my Chevron Love Hat, and making some progress, but it's been a bit annoying, since I was fighting my way around double pointed needles with it -- don't get me wrong, I love my double-points, and use them for socks and mitts and all sorts of smallish projects. In this case, the number of stitches on the hat brought them awfully close to the ends of the needles, so I was always stressed about possibly dropping stitches, as well as worried about having the right length of yarn carried between the needles, so there wouldn't be either ladders (carried yarn too long) or puckers (carried yarn too short) between the needles. Last night I realized that it's silly to be so stressed out over what was meant to be a cute little Instant Gratification Project to take my mind off the endless entrelac lap throw. Today I just went out and bought a short little circular (which is what the pattern directed me to use in the first place.) I may never need it again in my life, but the $5 is so worth it, since this project is now infinitely easier and less stressful and will have better memories when it's finished.


The other exciting thing I have to show off today is this itty bitty little skein of yarn which I've spun myself for the first time ever! Whee! Yeah, okay, it goes thick and thin, and parts are underspun and parts are overspun, but in essence, it is yarn. And I made it. Despite my frustration at not being perfect with it the first time around, I am reminding myself that there is a learning curve to every new skill. If I am helping someone else learn to knit, I remind them over and over that while it feels awkward now, and the stitches look weird and uneven, in a few weeks or months, it will feel like second-nature to make those motions, and things will be uniform and lovely. This is the lesson I am reminding myself of when I despair that I am not made to be a spinner. Between my quilting and sewing and knitting, I will keep making tiny little skeins and before I know it, they will be beautiful and worth showing off. This one, I might frame and put it on the wall to remember how it all began.