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Maybe if I make a schedule for myself I’ll blog more often? I get in this pattern where I put off blogging (because I’d rather be knitting) and then it’s been so long since I blogged that I get overwhelmed with the amount of picture taking and uploading and writing and linking necessary to blog. Silly isn’t it? I’ve simplified my photo uploading process (no more resizing or naming individual files) and that speeds things up a bit. And an especially discouraging development was when my memory card went wonky this past week and ate all the pictures I’d taken, thus requiring reformatting the freaking thing and taking said pictures again. Except for the pictures of the lovely cotton washcloths I made for my grandma for her birthday and which have already been sent off to Arkansas for her. I’m planning on making more of the same for other birthdays and holiday gifts so you’ll get pics then but in the meantime, they were pretty and pastel and soft. Happy 77th, Mema!

Okay, knitting! Remember the Kauni Cardigan?

I started it a while back and was super excited and knit on it like crazy for about a week and then got sick of it and put it in hibernation. I told myself that it was because it was too darned hot to knit with that wool but when I pulled it back out again I realized that it is more than that. I love this yarn and the long subtle color changes all the way through the rainbow. The thing is that the way this pattern plays the colors off each other is a bit much for me. It’s sort of visually overwhelming and that’s not good for a girl who is easily visually overwhelmed with the result usually being some degree of dizziness and/or vertigo. So I ripped it out and started a new project that I’ve been wanting to do for a while - the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole by Kathleen Power Johnson, found in Scarf Style by Pam Allen. I was waiting for the right yarn and I realized that the Kauni yarn has the perfect coloration for it, although it’s not the weight of yarn called for. But I simply made a few small modifications to the size and number of the entrelac rectangles and, voila:

I’m loving the way the colors work with the entrelac so that the new color dips down into the old color and makes it visually interesting but not overwhelming. I’ve never done entrelac before and it’s really quite easy yet it somehow makes me feel tremendously clever in a totally illogical way. Here’s a closer look at the colors and the entrelac:

Just lovely.

Maia has released the final clue for her Mystery Socks and, wow, what a gorgeous pattern!

Close up of the leg:

The front of the socks:

And the back:

And a couple more:

It is rather difficult to take pictures of your own feet and legs, let alone flattering ones so please excuse the shots that make my calves look like tree trunks. They really aren’t that big.

There is plenty more knitting and even some spinning going on but rather than overload this post, I will end it here and leave a few things for next time which will be soon, I promise!

Tags: Knitting by Annie
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I’m finally taking the time to blog, fall is finally here, and I finally finished a few projects. (I know I’m behind on Anne for the podcast but I’m hoping to get in some recording time tomorrow.)

Behold, Clapotis:

It’s so beautiful and elegant, I’m not sure when I’ll ever have occasion to wear it! But doesn’t it look pretty with these flowers?

And a reminder, the yarn is La Luz Silk from Fiesta Yarns in Amethyst and the pattern is Clapotis by Kate Gilbert.

I also finished the Anniversary Socks:

I think these are beautiful and elegant too but unlike the Clapotis, I’ll wear them all the time! I think ultimately that is the greatest appeal of knitting socks to me - they are so practical.

The yarn is Regia Silk in Cream and the pattern is Anniversary Socks by Nancy Bush from the book Favorite Socks.

Here is Maia’s mystery sock through clue 2 (although I’m nearly finished with clue 3 and clue 4 should be out any day now but this is what I have a picture of):

I’m still enjoying it very much, in clue 3 the pattern wraps up the back of the leg - very creative!

I got a bunch of great sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe with birthday money and among them are a new yarn called Sockina Cotton which is wonderfully soft and self-patterning:

It’s nice and easy stockinette and the patterning keeps me amused. Also notice I’ve started knitting socks on 2 circular needles and like it very much! Of course there are still times when DPNs are more practical so I won’t be giving up on them by any means.

Well, there are a few other things in the works but the thing that’s taking up all my time is a sweater for my Dad’s birthday (which is Tuesday, 10/2). He decided he wanted a traditional Irish/Aran cable knit but in a deep red color. I happened upon a great old book at the library (and have since purchased a used copy from Amazon) called The Harmony Guide to Aran Knitting. I picked out a few cables and motifs from it that I thought would go well together and I’m quite pleased with it so far! No pics yet of course but hopefully soon.

Well, that’s plenty for now. I’m trying to get back in the habit of blogging more often but I guess when it comes down to it I’d rather be knitting!

Tags: Knitting by Annie
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Holy cow, I’m behind in blogging. First off, a new chapter of Anne of Green Gables is available. Click here for Chapter 27: Vanity and Vexation of Spirit.

Now, on with the knitting! Here are Stephen’s birthday socks being modeled:

And here they are with my finished Embossed Leaves socks:

I think they are perfect.

They are even the same size!

I think the Star Toe is so elegant and comfy:

And the yarn is sooo soft.  It’s Panda Cotton in Vanilla Cream.

So, obviously I’m pleased with them. When I finished those I quickly cast on a new pair. These are “Anniversary Socks” by Nancy Bush, the pattern is in Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. The yarn is Regia Silk in a cream color and it is lovely to work with and really shows off the beautiful stitch patterns.

Here is the beginning of a cuff up close so you can see the beautiful tiny little cables:

Here you can see the front of the sock with its lacy diamonds and cabled ribs and the back is plain stockinette:

The heel flap is the Eye of Partridge pattern and I love it so much more than the usual slip stitch:

I’m also doing a Mystery Sock called “Scherherazade’s Slippers” that Maia is designing and releasing in patterns each week for August. The yarn is Fleece Artist’s Sea Wool in Brick.

This is with Clue 1 complete and I just printed out Clue 2 and I’m excited to start on that!

I love the idea of mystery patterns, it takes a certain leap of faith in the designer. I was disappointed when I found out about the highly popular Mystery Stole 3 after it was too late to join in the fun. So I was thrilled to find out about The Secret of the Stole. Same idea, different designer, and it’s not too late to sign up if you want to join in the fun! I have my yarn and I’ve swatched (pictures coming soon), I just need to get beads. My yarn is KnitPicks Shadow (KnitPicks is my new favorite choice for affordable yarns by the way) in the colorway “Lost Lake Heather.” It is a deep green, not quite mossy, with a touch of blue in it. It is hard to photograph and capture the colors accurately and this is the best I came up with:

Isn’t it lovely? I think so. I made three swatches with three different sized needles and as soon as I block them I’ll post and let you know what needle size I’m using. The first clue goes up on October 5th.

Speaking of October, my dad’s birthday is coming up so I’m going to be making him a sweater. The yarn should be here any day and that’ll probably be about all I work on for the rest of the month (except sock breaks of course) to get it done on time!

And speaking of gift knitting, I’m working on a sweater for Stephen, details coming soon. Also, I made these two Mason-Dixon washcloths for my Aunt Kay and along with a few fancy bath soaps they made a nice birthday gift:

The yarn is Twisted Sisters Daktari. It is really a bit too lightweight for this pattern and the slubby texture also wasn’t right for this design but it was what I had on hand. I love the pattern though, a fun and quick knit.

And speaking of birthdays, mine is tomorrow! It’s also Rosh Hashanah so I’m taking the day off for some good family time. I think that is most of the knitting news. More on Clapotis and Kauni in the next update.

Tags: Knitting, Podcast by Annie
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I got very little sleep Friday night and have been struggling all week to recover. Not enough sleep is yet another one of those things that exacerbates my MD. But the good news is that the bridge was down after Friday and the rest of the weekend has been clean up. It’s been a rough week with cutting back my meds and then the whole bridge business messing with my sleep. Hopefully this week my body will start to get adjusted and I’ll get back on track.

Anyway, on with the knitting! Remember how I said I was almost done with my Embossed Leaves Socks and they were the prettiest things I’d ever made? Well, I frogged them. Both of them completely. I started out with aluminum needles because I didn’t have the size I needed in bamboo (which I prefer) but then I got the bamboo needles midway through the first sock and switched to those but then my gauge changed so I went to needles a size bigger for the next sock but it still seemed too small so I went bigger again. By the time I was nearing completion I realized that, yet again, I was in denial about my gauge issues. One sock was too big, one sock was too small. At least at that point I knew what size needles I needed to use to get them just right (2.25mm for the record). And, knowing myself and that I wouldn’t be able to stand them not being perfect, I frogged them, rewound my yarn, and started over. I’m doing both at the same time since this seems to be the only way I’m capable of making two objects of the same size. Work on one for a while, get to a good stopping point, switch and work on the other for a while, repeat. And now I’m flying through these. This picture was two days ago, I’ve now turned the heels and finished the gussets on both socks so they’re in the home stretch:

They fit, they match, I’m happy. In between the frogging and the restarting, I finished up Stephen’s Birthday Socks:

The pattern is by Sockbug and is called Garter Bars. It’s a nice easy pattern and very gender neutral. The yarn is Tofutsies in colorway “Footsteps” - I love working with Tofutsies yarn and although I don’t care for these colors for myself, the striping was interesting to watch as I got further along. Most importantly, Stephen likes them and they fit, but he doesn’t get to have them till Friday!

Here is Clapotis with two stitches dropped although I’ve now dropped three. It’s such a fun pattern! I’ve decided this will be my birthday present to myself.

I’ve been taking a break from spinning for three or four days now. I had been spinning every day and just loving it but I was getting a lot of pain in my right thumb and shoulder and decided to take some time off rather than aggravate it. I think it’s due to the pinching and lifting the spindle into the air as I draft more fiber before I wind on the spun yarn. I really want a wheel but they’re not cheap so I’m taking a break and looking into a super light weight spindle. But, I do have some newly spun yarn from before this break so I’ll post that soon.

Tags: Knitting, Meniere's, Spinning by Annie
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We’re on the second story of a brick house duplex. It is a long and skinny type apartment. The living room is in the front of the house which faces west. The living room has lots of windows. When it is 100+ degrees outside and you have sun shining on those windows all afternoon (regardless of the fact that the blinds are closed), the effect is quite simple. It is like living in a brick oven.

Plus, being on the second story of a brick house, it is impossible to get our apartment to cool down once it gets hot. The last few days I’ve had the thermostat set to 70 degrees and the coolest the apartment has gotten is about 82 degrees. You can feel the heat increase when you walk from the rest of the house into the living room so I’m guessing that with our AC blasting, it is still 85 degrees in our living room. Hence, we live in a brick oven.

I don’t do well with heat. I overheat very easily. I tend not to sweat nearly enough so my body just stores up the heat until I get sick in one way or another. This aggravates my Meniere’s Disease and makes me miserable in general. The last few days I’ve been hiding out in the bedroom which is in the back of the house and thus far away from the afternoon sun and, as a bonus, there is a ceiling fan. St. Louis summers almost always get this bad. The humidity is what makes it unbearable. You walk outside and I swear it’s hard to breathe. But I’m not used to being this miserable even when I’m inside. Last year at this time, I was still living in my parents’ basement. Believe me, I’m very happy to have moved on and to be here with my man but I now see the advantage of living in a room that is 2/3 underground with 2 very small windows.

Okay, enough whining, I know it’s hot everywhere and most of you feel my pain. So, on to the knitting!

The Kauni is hibernating until such a temperature as I can bear to deal with 100% scratchy wool. The second Embossed Leaves sock is nearly finished. I finished the Camo Raglan Sweater a while ago but I don’t have pictures for you yet because of the whole 100+ degrees not going well with 100% wool thing. I’ve been knitting on socks for Stephen for his birthday. These are also my socks for the Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous group’s monthly challenge. (Get yourself on Ravelry’s waiting list if you haven’t yet!)

The pattern is called Garter Bars Sock and is by Sockbug. The yarn is Tofutsies in a brown/black/white colorway (737 - Footsteps). Here is a closer look:

It’s a nice easy pattern to memorize and Stephen likes them and they fit well so far so that’s good. Tofutsies is so nice to work with and I’m nearly to the heel flaps so those are going well.

Two days ago I decided to dump my rule of no more than three projects at a time and cast on a very special project I’ve been saving. You see, the Kauni is in hibernation, the Embossed Leaves Socks are nearly done, and I was craving something cool and smooth and shiny to work with. That’s right, there was silk in my stash and it was calling my name. As a graduation gift to myself I bought some La Luz silk yarn made by Fiesta. It is Amethyst, it is shiny, it is luxurious and even a bit decadent. I bought four skeins of it with a specific pattern in mind. I present to you the beginning of my Clapotis:

I’m farther than that now, on to the straight rows and I’ve dropped my first stitch and was highly amused as I unraveled it. I’m working it on 95 stitches instead of 107 because I decided I want it a big longer and skinnier than the pattern calls for. The silk is wonderful to work with and the color is just gorgeous.

That’s in natural light so it’s pretty true to the actual color, at least on my monitor. I’ve never worked with silk before and it is a real treat.

So, that’s the knitting update. I’m off now to figure out some way to block the windows because the heat shows no sign of breaking and I can’t stand this. I’ve had black trash bags recommended by a co-worker and Stephen found some big pieces of cardboard so we’ll see what I come up with. It won’t be pretty but hopefully it’ll be cooler.

Tags: Knitting, Meniere's by Annie
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