My stash runneth over

I hope I'm not the only one I'm sure other knitters have had a similar experience...you know, the one where you're rooting innocently through whatever stash storage system you have, looking for something-or-other (in my case, the swift and ball winder), and you see some yarn, and you think, "My goodness, I did buy that, didn't I?"

And then you feel remorse...not the "Yuk, whatever I was on, I sure hope it was legal" kind, but rather a deflated feeling when you realize that yes, you did in fact fall in love with some perfectly nice yarn, buy it, bring it home, think of it fondly while calculating how long it would take you to finish some WIP so you could start knitting with it...and then COMPLETELY FORGET THE YARN EXISTED.

And I won't tell you what yarn it was, either. It doesn't deserve to be shamed like that.

Speaking of WIP, the computer/camera duo is functioning again, so I can finally post some more photos! First, there's the stocking:

I've added a few stitches and part of an extra repeat to keep the size close to that of the original pattern.

Next up are embryonic log cabin blankets.

The red one is in Knitpicks Swish Superwash, but I can't say much else about it because it's supposed to be a present. The other one used to be part of a Jaywalker sock, and will probably be frogged and turned into a plain sock at some point, but for now it seems pretty happy to chill in garter stitch.

World o' cats
I once heard someone recite an essay that began with, "Do cats have lips?" Some cats certainly do, and they're not afraid to use them.

100% typed

(or, why I need a real computer of my own)

There won't be any photos today, alas...my husband's computer, where I usually save pics, is kind of strewn about the room waiting to have some things installed, and my computer doesn't have the right hardware. So I'll try to recap mid-September in text:

1) I spent the last few weeks running around town and out-of-state (this is Rhode Island, after all) with my husband as we planned a re-wedding (the planning actually took about a year but most of the freaking-out occurred close to The Date). To make a long story short, we didn't have time for anything big when we got married a couple of years ago, so we had a formal ceremony+reception earlier this month with family and friends present. The weekend in question was a blast, but I have to admit we're still relieved it's finished.

And before anyone asks, yes, we do have two anniversaries now but we haven't figured out yet how to celebrate them (celebrate both each year? alternate? take the average? use one as a spare?).

2) The Christmas stocking has increased in length from XXXXXXXX to XXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Around the XXXXXXXXXXX point I looked at the colours really carefully and thought, "Gee, that looks kind of pink." Finally I checked the ball band number (4227 in Dale of Norway Baby Ull) and sure enough, it was Burgundy instead of Red. Initially it bothered me but I've recovered--after all, if candy canes can come in every colour under the sun, why not stockings?

3) I spun some of the new fleece on my MIL's spinning wheel with mixed results. For a while I had a nice single that was about ======= thick instead of =======, but the single snapped and the loose end got lost somewhere on the bobbin. Then, as I was fishing around for the end, I noticed my wrist was hurting from pinching the fleece, so I decided to take a break from spinning.

4) The identity-crisis sock still hasn't figured things out. Its most recent incarnation was as part of Jaywalker, but the yarn colours didn't really work with the pattern, so I frogged it. It may be happiest as a plain ol' sock with no fancy patterns...or as a ball of yarn driving around in a new bright red convertible--oh wait, that's for MIDLIFE crises.

So wrong but so fun

Look what came in the mail!

Clockwise, from front: Corriedale, alpaca, and Blue-Face Leicester, all from Paradise Fibers. I still have a bunch of other stuff to spin up, but after I read that Corriedale and Blue-Face Leicester, with their long staple lengths, are good for beginning spinners (for which I, despite my best wishful thinking, still qualify in spades), I had to check them out. As for the alpaca...well, I can't explain that, at least not rationally. With what I already had, I should be set for a year or so :).

I've been going rather slowly through the fleece (? is that the right term?), partly on the drop spindle and partly on my MIL's spinning wheel. The latter is a blessing when it comes to plying. Here's today's attempt:

It's more for practice than anything else, hence the motley assortment of singles that ended up together. I should probably take some classes when I have time.

Next step: teaching the cat how to draft.


World o' knitting
I finished something! Behold the Traveler's Stockings in their slightly variegated glory.

Snowflake junkie

Because nothing says "Labour Day" and "early September" and "hanging on to summer for dear life" like starting a Christmas stocking. :)



Yarn: Dalegarn Baby Ull
Pattern: Christmas in Tallinn, from Nancy Bush's book Knitting on the Road. I added 18 stitches at the beginning because the yarn was a bit thinner than what the pattern used. In hindsight, it probably wasn't necessary.
Reason: Just because. Actually, it's a present but I'm not naming any names.

It's my first foray into knitting with >1 colour that wasn't simply stripes. So far the knitting has progressed more quickly than I had expected, except for those times when I mess up on counting.

The Annual Frog

(or, how much abuse can cobweb-weight merino take?)

Back in 2004 I bought 2 hanks of Ornaghi Filati Merino Oro while in Bridgton, ME, on a vacation. For someone who hadn't worked with anything finer than fingering weight until then, just looking at the yarn was exhilarating. I wound it into balls soon after getting home and cast on for a shawl.

Two years later, this is how the "shawl" looks:


There have been, to put it mildly, a few mishaps. Shawl attempt #1 was the Lily of the Valley shawl from Knitter's Magazine's Summer 2004 issue. The m5/k5tog bobble combo was a bit irritating, but tolerable. However, it wasn't until I was about one third of the way through the shawl (summer 2005) that I finally noticed there were supposed to be short rows on the long side edging. So I said "Aaaaaaaaagh!", frogged the whole thing and decided to try something without the k5tog.

Attempt #2 was Galina Khmeleva's Medallion Square shawl from her Gossamer Webs Design Collection (yes, there is a trend here). Things went much better this time.


But there were doubts. I used the needle size suggested in the book but the shawl seemed a bit small, so I asked around and found out that Russian knitters tend to knit very loosely. The shawl sat neglected for several months while I agonized and considered turning the shawl into a baby blanket, but finally I decided the stitches just looked too tight, so last weekend I frogged it. The pattern is lovely though, so I think I'm going to redo it on needles a couple sizes larger. But oh, the poor yarn! Who knows how much more it will take before it decides to run off and join a spider colony or something.

The store, by the way, was Down Home and Company, on 150 Main Street. The day we stopped by, the owner had closed the store so she could tidy up after bringing her yarn back from the county fair, but she let us browse anyway. So if you haven't been there and you're in the area and (I hope!) the store is still open, please go in!

Cat stuff
It's not completely symmetrical but it's pretty darned close.