stashy

Just for the record, I haven't abandoned de-stashing. But yesterday an exuberant mood, sock inspiration, a long-lingering gift certificate, and a fair bit of luck combined to get me a great amount of yarn for very little cash.
First, I went to Northampton Wools. I had a $30 gift certificate from when I left my last job. I'd been in there before with the intent to spend it, but didn't find anything that grabbed me. However, this time I laid hands on some lovely Manos Silk Blend. The three skeins only cost me $31.20, because there's a sale going on. I paid the balance in quarters and dimes. My aunt has always loved Nothampton Wools, and it's a local legend, but I'm not as fond of it as others. I find that the people are a little chilly, and it encourages me to leave quickly when I do go in there. It's a shame, because it's a neat little place.

Still seeking sock yarn, I went down the street to WEBS, where their Valley Yarns (house brand) of Franklin sock yarn is my easy favorite. It's hand dyed by an employee, known as the "Kangaroo Dyer," and all the colorways are awesome. I thought I would get the "frog in a party dress" colorway, but ended up grabbing "miami vice" instead. It's going to become socks for a friend who, upon becoming an Army JAG, has to wear combat boots and digital desert fatigues every day. I'm hoping that a secret color riot on her feet will give her a psychological boost as she confronts what seems to be a rather difficult environment.

I also got a skein of Artyarns Ultramerino 4 in coloway 106. I'll be pairing this with some stashed purple Jawoll to make the Fred and George socks. I like the almost-the-same-but-not-quite aesthetic. The skein is mostly greens, with a little yellow, but the purple shots make me confident of a match.

But the greatest coup, by far, was courtesy of the Kangaroo Dyer, who, I will emphasize, is a lovely, generous, enthusiastic person. She spotted me snapping up the Franklin and we got into a conversation about her colors. She showed me some of her new experiments, including a really spring-timey one tentatively called "peeps." There was also a beautiful blue skein that was brighter than her other blue colors. She was showing me a new laceweight tencel, then gave me two skeins to try out! I can't believe it! I'm planning to make myself a Shetland Triangle because I was so sad to see the first one go, even to my mom. The yarn is so beautiful and soft, and it shines like silk. I'm so excited that I can hardly bear it. When I wound it this morning, it was very fine, and seemed quite strong.

On other fronts, I've finished one Rainbow sock, but will probably second-sock it for a while because I'm, once again, sick of Sockotta. The cotton content makes it a little joy-less to knit.

snowflake socks, snow-ish day

My snowflake socks are finished and blocked. They were a treat to make with the new technique I've learned: double-fisted colorwork. One color is held continental style, and the other English. I usually have brain block with new techniques, and I need to think them through rather than working until I get it. As usual, something clicked on the second repeat of the pattern, and I was able to go very quickly, finishing in about a week. One thing I noticed is that previously, I never had problems with color dominance, but that my continental-held color is now going to be dominant, being looser than the English color. As long as I plan for it, that should be ok. A bonus is that the colors never get twisted or tangled, making any frogging (it was minor) very easy.

Project Details. Pattern: Snowflake Socks by Chrissy Gardinier, Interweave Knits Fall 2007. Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport, 1 skein each of Aran and Eucalyptus. Needles, size 2 dpns. I would have done them on 2 circulars, but don't own the right equipment.

Next, I'm on to the Rainbow Socks by Suzanne Kitzmann. They're going quickly, but are truly strange. If you don't like short rows, don't attempt these socks. They look a little ugly now, but I think they'll shape up with blocking. Someone on Ravelry called hers "ugly ducklings" and I think that's exactly what these will be.

on the difficulty of photographing one's own feet

Argyle socks are done! And socks are always the most difficult thing to photograph. They always look best on feet, and I usually take my pictures during the day, when the muddy winter light is at least present, if not flattering. That means I'm stuck trying to take pictures of my own feet. The easiest place to do this is the stairs, because that removes some of the contortions, and there's a window right at the bend where the stairs are widest. But my stairs also have horrible brown mottled carpets that look mostly inoffensive in person, but ghastly in pictures. I suppose I could drape them in something, but today I just ended up using my favorite photo background: the goosedown. It's puffy!

So for some project details, here goes. The pattern is Argyle Sock by Edie Eckman. It's put together as a lesson with clear and complete instruction. Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth that seems to accompany argyle, I didn't find these that difficult. Of course, I did duplicate-stitch the lines. Knitting them in seems to increase the complexity by many fold. The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport for the MC and CC, the lines are purple Dalegarn Baby Ull and Valley Yarns Franklin in cancun. Done on size 3 dpns and a short circular for the flat parts. I would not recommend this for anyone who doesn't like sewing in ends. Also, I might use a DK weight if I were to do these again. The fabric is certainly not a sturdy as my usual socks, but I imagine they'll hold up to normal wear. If not, they were quick and fun enough to make that I wouldn't cry to do it again.

scrapghan and minimitts

It seems that de-stashing is a popular goal at the beginning of the year. With minimal employment, it's also the most frugal way for me to go right now. Considering these goals, I've been working on the ubiquitous mitered-square afghan. It's working well for me, considering that I can't bear to throw out even some of the smallest yarn fragments left after a project. I like the idea of making something useful from them, even if some people find the idea tacky. I, for one, like at least paying lip service to the idea of being less wasteful. It's also fun to look at the squares and remember what you made from the originals. In fact, I can look at each square and tell you the content and original project for each yarn. I guess I'd be a little surprised if a knitter couldn't do that, though.

I have also been making some awesome mini-mittens. These, I feel, are the ultimate yarn-user-upper. Mere yards of yarn disappear into a cute little object of delight. Some people may find them fiddly and strange, but I think they will make fun christmas ornaments. With cats in the house, it's a good idea to have crash-proof decorations. It's also fun to put them on your fingers and go "eeee!" because they're cute. In my crazier moments, I plot how to knit them in the round. Maybe I'll make the thumbs out of i-cord next time, though... hmmm

a new baby

Yesterday, my cousin Joshua's little girl Julia Grace was born! Apparently, it was a bit of a nail-biter at the end. They took her to the NICU afterward, but let her out within a few hours. Doesn't she look sweet... and tired! It's kinda funny, yesterday I was thinking "didn't they say she was due in January? It's hardly January any more..." Lo and behold, my uncle Ted called a few hours after that.

Though they didn't know it at the time, it seems that Julia is a family name. My Grandpop's parents were Hungarian immigrants living in Pennsylvania coal country. We knew that one of his younger sisters was killed at the age of four by a lightning strike. What we hadn't heard was that at some point, his mother took three or four of the children on a trip back to Hungary. They were delayed at Ellis Island on their return, and two died while they were stuck there. One of those was Julia. Another one of his brothers died during the War, when his hospital ship was torpedoed in the Pacific. Grandpop always told us a lot of stories about growing up, but we never heard about Ellis Island.

On a happier note, I have a really cute outfit to send to little Julia. It started with Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater. Then, I added Saartje's Bootees, which are incredibly sweet and easy to make (my mods here) To top it off, I made a little hat based on the jacket. It's almost sad to part with them, but I'm determined to send them off quickly; "little" Julia's actually 9lbs 8oz! This also means that the matching Tomten jacket will go to Duncan, another cousin's baby. I hope to make something for Mitchell this winter. He's got a cute hat, but the little guy needs a sweater, in my opinion.

Sweater details:
yarn: Araucania Nature Wool (currently on closeout at WEBS)
needles: size 6 straights and circulars
buttons: metal celtic-motif from webs. plastic for the booties.

argyle!

My brother really wanted an argyle sweater for christmas. I chickened out and didn't make him one. I did, however cave to a fortuitous combination of queued pattern and stashed yarn. This argyle sock pattern is written for a sport weight yarn and I had quite a bit of it stashed from some a fair-isle folly a few years ago.

The details: the yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport for the main colors. The purple CC is Dalegarn Ull and the pink/orange CC is Valley Yarns Franklin. They're currently on size 3 dpns, but I used a short circular for the flat upper portion.

The intarsia and duplicate stitch are not the hard part of this project, but you need to be very precise in sewing the many seams with mattress stitch. That can be a little tedious. It's actually going surprisingly fast, and I'm looking forward to wearing them!

destashy!

I'm quite proud of my new leftovers vest. No new yarn was purchased to make this somewhat eccentric fashion item. I set it aside for a while; as you can see, there are some (ahem) gauge discrepancies in the lower portion. However, they disappear when I'm wearing it, so I'm not one to fuss.

There is one issue, though: odor. My friend Janice, who gave me lots of yarn to use in this project, stores a lot of her things in mothballs. I let the yarn out-gas in my unheated hall closet, hoping the cold, fresh air would do it some good. (Yes, I know things evaporate better at higher temperatures, but it's winter!) It helped, but when I blocked it, the smell of mothballs wafted up from the sink, probably activated by the heat. I tried to neutralize the smell of naptha with a touch of fabric softener, but like the klutz I am, I dumped a bunch in. :( Now it smells a bit strongly of softener. I should rinse it again, but it took forever to dry, and I'm enjoying it (at short stretches) for now.