Do you knit anything other than socks?

These socks were one of "those" projects. I cast them on in about the week after my Grandmother passed away - November last year. My Aunt was just such a great support I thought she deserved a nice pair of cashmere socks. So I cast these on. The yarn is from The Knittery. I cast them on on bamboo needles to see what they were like to knit with. Hideous as it turns out - my hands hurt so much that this became the least appealling project on the go and trust me I have a lot of projects on the go. And so .. I am sad to say that I only finished these last week. Now I got my camera up and going again, I can wrap these up and get them off to her in time for the cold weather.

They are quite tightly knit so I must admit to being a bit nervous about the sizing. Cross your fingers for me!

Socks!!!!!

Finally I can post the socks I sent to my dear friend in Tasmania for her birthday.

I wanted her to have a pair of socks just for her feet and I'm assured they fit. The story with this yarn - Claudia's handpainted - is that I made her pick out the skein she liked from Sweet Georgia's last stash available, which she did. Then I ordered it and then .. it took 4.5 months to get here from Canada. So T got her socks from my very special, post-clapotis (proper post to come on that) disaster stash. I liked how these came out and in the end, were more what I wanted to make than the Sweet Georgia colourway.




A different view, flash versus nonflash.

And note, I was testing out how well my Tin Duck Award would work as a sock display prop. Not well, as it turns out.

Socks!

After the Clapotis disaster, I was very sad and my mother suggested I go straight out and buy myself some yarn I love and make myself a new one. I couldn't bring myself to knit another Clapotis cause it was theeeeeeeee most boring knit (part of why I was sad - knowing I'd never reknit it). But she had a point and so I decided to splurge and buy yarn I'd never been able to bring myself to buy before. I decided to splurge on some Claudia's Handpainted and to only knit myself socks!

Well the knit them all for me bit kinda backfired but here in progress is the first pair. They kinda survived the laundry disaster that followed the Clapotis one.

A Hat!

My first adult hat. It's a chemo cap and I was kinda sad to make it - it went to my Mum's best friend who is currently fighting her second bout of Ovarian Cancer. I was making it in summer so I did take my time but then luckily had a stint of online reading, I think, one weekend towards the end of February (?) and finished it just in time for a cold spell in March. It's made from cashmere sock yarn from The Knittery and I doubled over the yarn. She wears it at night when her head is cold and it makes me glad to know there is a part of me giving her warmth and comfort when she is not feeling the best.

The pattern is available online from Knitty

Finally! A new post

I lost my knitting mojo about at Swancon and it's taken me a while to get it back. Worse, I've knitted 6 pairs of socks this year and I'm not sure I photographed all of them.

I'll try and so better. Here's a pair I made for my Mum - she bought 2 skeins last time I did a Socks that Rock order. This is one of those pairs, I think I owe her a second. Just a basic plain pair and I fiddled with width this time for comfort.




Not sure if I showed my Lisa Souza haul from a while back but I love it so I will show again.




Pair of socks I made from the Violet Pink Ribbon in the stash above for the bf's mother's bday. Again, a plain pair. I ended up only using half the skein.

No new photos today

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting! Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled,

"PULL OVER!"

"NO!" the blonde yelled back. "IT'S A SCARF!"

Other projects

I'm so bad at documenting all my finished pieces. I think it's so great when people have a gallery and can say, "yeah that's what I knit in 2007". I always forget to take photos, am usually working on 345 things at once and usually rush to finish things to gift or whatever.

I've been making these scarves as presents. This is one I kept for myself. There was one lurking on my bedside in a photo a while ago that I recently gifted for a belated bday present (in a dusty pink) and I'm making one now in purples and blues for another owed gift. It's a pattern from the Yarn Harlot. And the yarn I am using is sock yarn from Natural Dyes Studio. I had an addiction to them in 2006 and bought *a lot* of it. I'm glad to be able to use it in gifts for people I care about ... it was going to be a heck of a lot of socks, otherwise.



And of course, the promised photo of the Lisa Souza haul. I'd been eying her site for ages. I should take a photo of my display of sockyarn so you can see why I should not be just buying whatever I like. Of course now that I have decided to gift socks this year, maybe it will be okay? Why is it that there is still satisfaction in knitting with a stunning yarn even if you have to give it away? I always think "Oh this is perfect for so and so ... I can get myself another skein if I love it" and then am totally over it and cool by the time I am done. I must be a process knitter. For me, it's the act of getting to play with the yarn that's fun. Hopefully people appreciate the worth of the gift.

Where was I? Yes, so I have been eying off several skeins on Lisa's site. When I bought the yarn for the Clapotis, I told her she'd hear from me when I hit my next thesis milestone. And then Violet's colourway came up and I kinda felt like maybe I could buy a skein. But then of course, to save on postage (and to show Lisa some support) I had to buy more than just that colourway. So I thought what the hell and I bought pretty much all the skeins I had my eye on. Lisa thought I'd done well with the thesis! But no ... temptation got the better of me.

So.... Mars Quake is down the bottom, I thought it would be more glittery and golden but how can you resist the name when you publish science fiction? I ask you. Lying on top is Mombassa (a colour that is very similar to Milk and Honey but you can't see the dark blue grey at the other end of the skein. My mother was born in Mombassa. I shall do something special with this skein) and next to that is the Violet Pink Ribbon colourway. I think I will make the socks for the bf's mother's 60th birthday in March. Behind and under is Milk and Honey (a colour that is very reminiscent of several other newly acquired skeins). Right at the back is the colourway Delft which my best friend has picked for a shawl for her birthday, also in March.

Clapotis

I suppose the Clapotis deserves a post all of her own! Here she is. I made it out of Lisa Souza's sock yarn, colour way Can't Elope. Orange is not really actually a colour I like or wear but the name was so hard to resist and it was such fun to knit up with the little bits of green popping up here and there. Honestly, the Clapotis is boring boring boring to knit once you get the hang of the pattern. But then .... once you have one ... you kinda think you might need more.



Here is a more artistic shot of the Clapotis, in its more scarf-like pose.I wore it out to Shakespeare in the Park as a scarf and it was very warm.



Similarly though, it can also pose as a shawl, and is quite warm on a brisk summer evening.

Kinky Yarn Porn

I always thought that Lime and Violet were exaggerating with the rubbing of the sock yarn on their naughty bits. I just got a huge shipment of Lisa Souza yarn and I am literally sitting here with my yarn - I'm like in the yarn pile. Her yarn is so totally delicious. It always looks better than the pictures on her site which are too hard to resist as it is.

I took a photo and will upload tomorrow, I promise.

Of course now, its a toss up between working on all those projects for other people, and whipping them off my needles to make ME some socks!

I love knitting

For a while there, I was getting all caught up in the lace knitting. I cast on a second one. Yes, I know. And yet I still did it. You see I am one behind (for my sister's birthday, back in Nov) and I want to have the MIL's done in time for her 60th bday in March (New Year's resolution to be on time with gifts this year). And there I was, getting some joy out of executing the lace, albeit with grumpiness to the bf, the dog, and my emailing conversations, and wondering why anyone would knit boring things like plain socks or scarves. And then? And then I got an attack of insomnia and my brain went to mush. And all I could knit was scarves and socks!

Knitting is for all occasions.

Headbands!

Was just answering a comment by Knitting and Chocolate on another blog in another blogland far far away, and it just occurred to me!!! I need several, several I tell you, knitted headbands for my baths. I grabbed one the other day that I had made in desperation two New Years holidays ago when we were on board the boat for 10 windy days at the island. I really really hate my hair blowing in my face and in the end, I no longer cared what I looked like, I just wanted my hair out of my face. Same thing happened the other day when I took my first bath in this house. I just wanted something to keep my hair out of my eyes. And the headband worked a treat and I didn't care if it got wet or whatever.

I think I shall hunt out some sockyarn leftovers and make myself a few. And then I have found a use for that leftover box I had from a The Body Shop gift - you know the ones? Too nice to throw away so they hang around waiting for a use? I think I shall pop that on the bath with a nice bunch of headbands awaiting bathing time!

Pictures to follow!

Yarn!

I bought yarn today. I haven't yet put myself on a monthly budget for yarn so technically I haven't broken it. I was flitting round Lisa Souza's site. See I needed to buy some yarn for a friend's birthday. I'm thinking and preparing ahead. And surely you get points for that? And then of course, to justify the postage .... well all hell broke loose and I ordered 5 skeins of sock yarn!

oops.

Sock Club

Just paid for registration for the Socks that Rock Rockin' Sock Club for this year. I umm'ed and ahh'ed about it for a while. I have so far ony knit one pair of socks out of last year's seven skeins and didn't used the accompanying pattern. I'm not sure how many of the skeins from last year were in my personal taste. However, their yarn is really beautiful to knit with and um ... I have this completionism issue where I'll keep going in order to maintain the set. It's awful, I'll resubsribe to magazines I no longer read just to keep the full set.

This year though, I have been very strict on my magazine resubscriptions which should save some money. I have also cut down purchases from a couple of the other online yarn stores that I got addicted to last year. I'm yet to do the maths but I'm hoping I somehow will come out ahead. Maybe?

Sock Appreciation

I haven't been knitting socks for a while. A shame since I have more than a few in progress. But I've been busy finishing other more urgent projects and reading.

And then in the last couple of days, I've picked up a cashmere sock I had cast on (the second of the pair) and have been happily knitting on it without drama whilst finishing my short story marathon from hell.

And it's been quite pleasant, I forgot the joy of knitting a simple sock. I love the rediscovery!

Stashing again

So yesterday I pop past to check my PO Box. Things have slowed down now that the nomination period for the fiction awards I've been judging is over and it's a bit sad to not have any mail.

I like the small post office where my box is. It's that old skool Australian vibe thing, small business and family run and they know who you are and stuff.

So the conversation yesterday:
Me: Two (red cards) today!
He walks off to get them from the back room and comes back with two decent sized packages. One looks like a book (and it is).
Me: Ooh! They look exciting!
Him: And ones from overseas, darling!

For some reason when a really ocker man over 50 calls me darling, it's not offensive at all.

So I wander off wondering why I have an overseas package. I see it's from Sophie's Toes and thus that it must be yarn. But for the life of me I could not remember ordering any. I have a feeling I paid for it whilst we were sitting in mourning for my grandmother who past away (late October).

It was indeed yarn that I did indeed purchase. I am very happy with two of the colourways (latte and walnut) although I think one might have been for socks for the bf, which is a bit sad. Debated whether I could make a pair for him that I could still fit into. The third skein is like, hello? the same as two others I have bought this year. It's called City Lights but looks pretty much like Chocolate Covered Cherries which looks like another one I also bought. I do that. My wardrobe often has shirts that all look kinda the same. I like something and then I just continue to like it. A lot.

I mean it's okay cause it means one of them could be a sock gift for next year without too much pain. But still.

I'm thinking of putting my favourite skeins on display. The bf's sister suggested it - that it could be an installation in constant transition. It's not a bad idea - I like the skeins for themselves alone, regardless of whether I knit with them. Why not get to appreciate them whenever I walk past them in a room?

Relief!

I can't express how great a feeling it was to rip out Sarcelle, put away the ridiculously small needles for such thin yarn and pull out a new pattern and start over. I really love the Print o Wave Stole by Eunny even though I left it tinking back the first row on the second repeat! It is a much simpler pattern to learn on and I have raced through (my measure being when I surpassed the length of the yarn I had ripped out from Sarcalle) and even though it's only an inch long, I can see that I could finish this.

Sarcelle looked like maybe I never would even pick it back up again.

Although I should not knit lace at 7 in the morning. And I should remember this and work on the many socks in progress instead.

I feel like I should have a knitting new year's resolution.

And we're back

I must say this blog feels quite funny - like I'm talking into a big empty hall. But that's okay cause it does work well to chart and log progress of projects. That's something I'm hoping to be more diligent about next year. Especially since I've already gone through the year's knitted gifts and allotted items to birthdays and so on. So I should really be able to plan all that a bit better in 2007.

I'm having difficulty taking photos too - I think it's an issue of light and the time of day I am home to catch up on things like this.

But the most important things to say is 1) I finished the Clapotis. I hated knitting the second half of it. It was sooooo boring and as soon as I was finished, I loved the look so much I am honestly contemplating another one. But see I do that. Enjoy a project and then flog it to death (see photos to come of the scarves I am working on). 2) I am giving up on Sarcelle. For now. I think when you don't work on a project that says something to you about what you think of it. And knitting should be fun and the gift is wayyyy late. I'm going to try Eunny's stole tonight and see how I go with that.

And that brings me to the saddest part of the post. I am in the midst of doing my yearly wrap up and self examination of performance (I gave myself a 7) and setting of goals and aspirations for 2007. One of the things I want to reach for next year is balance in all things. And it's made me realise that in order to do that, I have to work less knitting in my week. I think that's sad and I will likely miss it (although have had very little time these last 3 weeks for knitting and I've been okay) but I need to admit I've been a tad over-obsessed with it to the detriment of other things (like cleaning the kitchen, doing the laundry, going out to do things with friends). I think this summer we will do lots of gadding about with talk of the outdoor cinema and such. I don't really think I'll be taking knitting along with me. So I think there will be less of knitting, which maybe there should be. I was getting into about 6 to 7 hours a day, sometimes 2 hours before work and 6 or more afterwards.

I'll need to rethink the bootie thing too. But that's for another post, another day.

Knitty Gritty

I just saw my very first episode of Knitty Gritty which only just premiered on Australian cable this month.

I dunno. The very first thing that struck me is that um, it's al upside down. I had no idea what she was doing from the angle it's filmed from. But, you know, it's cool that there's a whole show on knitting.

And I enjoyed the Simply Quilts which was also on. Again, the instructions were hard to follow - maybe it's the medium, I just can't follow it.

The Clapotis

Very little knitting got done last night. I was a very lucky girl in that I got picked straight up from work and whisked off to the casino with the bf and another couple to have dinner and see Kylie Minogue. Twas a fantastic concert but a late night.

When I got home, and after the friends had had supper and left, I had to finished detangling my ball of yarn. And it got a knot in it that could not be undone. So ... yes. I had to start over with the Clapotis. By the time I left for work this morning, I was right back where I had originally got up to! Sigh.

gj got her groove back

All day yesterday I dreamed about my Lisa Souza Can't Elope colourway. What would I make out of it? What pattern? When could I start? Could I justify knocking something of the needles for it. And then it came to me! They don't have to be socks!!!! And from there, it was easy. I thought about it and I thought it was time for the Clapotis to be trialled again.

I had a terrible time with the Clapotis a fair few months ago. I bought yarn specifically for the project but could never get the pattern to work - either it was too light, or the needles were too big or not sharp enough or maybe wrestling with Sarcelle has given me some lace knitting practice. In any case, Can't Elope is making itself into a Clapotis and I'm enjoying it - I'm still untangling my ball which is pretty much par of the course with me (never enough patience to ball the skein up first, and usually start knitting whilst balling and/or don't take the time to ball it up properly and tangle the last 20 m or so. I never learn).

Can't Elope is probably a lot more rockmelon-ey in colour than I was expecting. My version has just the slightest hint of green in it. I shall have to give the pattern a little bit longer to knit up before I decide on it. Photos to come when I get my camera back.

In addition, I had extra time yesterday afternoon so I knit a miniature sweater - like it's maybe 2 inches long? I got the pattern from What's that Gonna Be's post the other day. I used some leftover sockyarn that is supposed to be knit into baby socks for sale on my new website ... but, um, yeah, gotta a new miniature knitting addiction.