Did I Mention I Was Diving This Summer?

Busy, but Knitting, Part II:

These are the Spring Forwards, from Knitty. Made with STR In the Navy which I picked up a few years ago at Black Sheep Gathering. They are medium weight and thick and warm! I love the color and the pattern was fun.




These beauties are the March STR Rockin' Sock Club pattern. Secret Garden by Janel Laidman, in Wild Irishgirlie. I loved the roses and the gusset increases on this sock. Felt better doing these roses after the Yarn Harlot pattern Rogue Roses. Similar rosebuds in that one.













Ada Lovelace, the May 2010 RSC pattern. This is a steampunk-inspired knit in a very delicate "Sweet Pea" Colorway. Pretty! I am almost done with sock #1.













Stash Enhancement!


The July 2010 RSC kit arrived in Hawaii on August 3rd, pretty similar timing to the California Folks. Very pretty colors of Firecracker! I Don't know which pattern to do, yet. I have grand plans to knit every pattern they send me, just in non-club colorways for the patterns #2. Have yet to accomplish that...







Also an extra: Sock Candy in Granny Apple, and flip-flop (we call them Slippahs here) pattern, which may end up being useful for my lifestyle and disastrous to my slippah-tan.

Summertime Means Diving, Not Knitting, But Even So:

There have been socks: Whale Tails, in a rather busy colorway, for my friend who is off doing whale research in Australia. I didn't get them done in time for her going-away-party so these shall be a "Welcome Home" gift! Azure Socks, by Deb Barnhill, From Knitty Winter 2007. Steinbach Wolle, in a self-striping, maybe? Way too busy to see the Whale Tail pattern, and the wool felt thin after all the Blue Moon.




More Socks (In Progress): Spring Forwards in a decidedly wintery colorway. I am into dark blues right now. This is STR In The Navy, in Mediumweight. Off the foot, this pattern looks quilted, or entrelac. On the foot, the zigzag and lace is clear. Pretty!




Tiny iPhone Covers: For friends, using leftovers from socks. All Blue Moon Fibers. These are numbers 8 and 9 out of 10.





Stash Enhancement: Club package for May 2010, in Sweet Pea. Very delicate. My first thought was, "I don't want white socks! They will get dirty!" Which is funny, because most people in the nation have white socks. Just us crazy knitters who proclaim loud colors and want pristine socks. My second thought was, "OoOooh! Ada Lovelace is one pretty pattern! I guess I shall have white socks!"




The other is dark grey wool for a commissioned diving shrug!

Sweet Pink Honey!

This pattern is from Interweave Knits, and I was first drawn to the texture. Brioche-stitch... which is different than Brioche pattern?
It was easy and quick enough, and I like the look of the texture. I found the only problem was that I couldn't read the pattern too well, so if I put it down or paid too much attention to the movie, I found I lost my place.
The yarn is alpaca that I bought from alpaca farmers at the Black Sheep gathering in Oregon a few years ago. It is fuzzy and luxe.
Love it as a beret. But it is too pink: If I pull it over my ears cloche-style, it makes me look like a big penis head.
I asked DBF how he liked the texture, and he said, "It just looks like regular, only looser." Should have just made this with like size 18 needles?

The Twisted Socks in Reggae Tomato Colors

I wanted to knit these socks purely because I wanted to know how they were done. The bias is so interesting, the heel so swirly! To tell the truth, after I completed the first sock I felt done: Okay, THAT is how that was done! And I was not inclined to continue.
Que: The Dreaded Second Sock Syndrome!
(Which I had not heretofore felt. Much...)
I felt I needed to press on immediately or risk a single sock and a half-skein forever.

The yarn is STR Lightweight in colorway "Garden"; A summertime evokation of tomatoes and such. It is a little busy, and I thought perhaps showing off the stripes on the bias was better than the pattern that came with the yarn (Rockin' Sock Club).
So I like them. Sort of. The fit is perfect for me, and I hesitate to give them away because they are just so... Tomato colored. Striped. And the pooling is weird. But check out those great swirly heels!

Baby Shower Goodness

The recent three sweaters for two babies have taught me some things:
1) Baby sweaters are wicked cute, especially with cables or lace details.
2) Babies outgrow sweaters faster than you can say... well, anything.
3) Hats: Hats are more practical!
4) Babies outgrow hats faster than you can say how-did-that-huge-head-make-it-past-your-pubic-bone?!?!?!
5) Booties! Booties are practical!

So for my friend's upcoming baby, I made one hat (large) and two pairs booties (small and large), using machine washable cotton for the set. Mama lives here in Hawaii, but upcountry, so booties and hats are useful where perhaps a sweater would not be. Booties are the "Stay-On Baby Booties" pattern, which according to the inner-nets, actually stay on. Purple booties are Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, in the Muddy Autumn Rainbow color, left over from the December 2008 sock club.
The little girl is being welcomed into a family of water people: He is a fisherman and she is a diver, so baby will be surrounded by ocean themed items!

A Return to Socks

Whoops.
A Ravelry perusal of my 2009 projects reveal: Not one single sock! Perhaps it was an obsession with the Cromarty, perhaps it was the forced hours of knitting the Rogue Roses sock during a 13 hour stay in the Manilla airport, followed by airplane knitting- But SOMETHING made be be off socks in 2009. The one sock club pattern completed wasn't even a sock: I made it into fingerless gloves!
(Oh wait, I did whip out Holidazed, the Nov 2008 sock, at the beginning of January 2009, but those were so fast, and late 2008, that they hardly count stacked up against the rest of the year!)(DOH: I even proclaim in that Holidazed post how excited I am about the upcoming 2009 club.)
Add to that some guilt, as my membership in the 2009 STR sock club was a Christmas 2008 gift from my dearest...

But no more! The sock drought is over! After the impromptu gift of my knee socks to my mother, I decided I need to just give away all the socks I make, only keeping ones I adore or ones that are deeply flawed... and of course the stuffed sock drawer I already own. They are used, after all. The Following socks are in the Christmas basket.

I give you:
1) The finally-completed Manilla airport Rogue Roses. Completed January 2010!














2) The gorgeous (I may keep these) Raven Swirl Socks, completed February 2010!














3) The on-time completion of the January 2010 STR Club selection Cascadia!

4) One sock of an impending pair of Skew socks, made with STR Garden, a yarn but not the pattern of a 2009 STR club month. (Umm... Not photoed yet.)

And you know what I am making today? Baby Booties! Do they count as socks? What if they are made with leftover sock yarn?

I'm BACK, baby!

The Cromarty (3 years' worth?!?!)

Once upon a time, in late 2006, I saw an icy blue sweater in Alice Starmore's Celtic collection book, and decided it was time.

"...the icy blue colour and textured surface reflect the stone material. I used a unit of knotwork from the Nigg stone...[and] numerous Pictish stones in Eastern Scotland."

Delicious, yes? Although the yarn was discontinued, I had 4 balls of light blue Rowan of a similar weight.
Commence the search for more balls of yarn: The pattern called for 15. Following online advice and some magic and prayer, I found 16 more in the same dye lot, equaling 20 balls to the required 15.
Commence gauge swatches: Swatches, plural. Apparently I made 4. Got close enough to stitch gauge and nowhere near row gauge. Which leads me to:
What the hell does "Starmore's Bulletproof Gauge" actually mean?!?!? Does it mean that what she says is so perfect that it is un-arguable? OR does it mean her gauge is so tight that it will stop a speeding bullet?
Anyway. 22 rows from the cast on and some quick math led me to the conclusion that I did not have enough yarn. Commence a TWO YEAR time out!
...
...
...
...
...

A couple of years and a few sweaters later and a whim to at least finish the front, and re-work the math from there. I also cut out the 4th repeat of the cables, since it's a cropped length sweater anyway. Figuring the sleeves would take less than 1/4 of the yarn, and the math worked out!
The rest of the sweater flew pretty fast after that (with other projects in between, of course). Mirrored the shorter front and back, and made the sleeves shorter as well. Only other altercation was neckline strips in the round: I figured they would be less apt to roll and stretch, as the neckline was pretty stretched to begin with. They still roll, and look pretty thick.
Overall: The sweater is boxy and unflattering. It is also heavy (about 2 lbs) and warm. But: I am really proud of myself for completing this! I am proud that it is a Starmore, proud that it is an all-over cabled Aran, and proud that (after a long time out and dubious yarn supply) I finished it anyway.
So what is next?

Remiss Sock Club Packages!

Not only have I been remiss in photographing, blogging, and Ravelry-ing my last two Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Club packages, I have also been remiss in knitting them. Instead, I have been stash busting/ Christmas knitting these little iPhone cases. These are numbers 3, 4, and 5 in a series. (Here are #1 and #2 using Muddy Autumn Rainbow and Goody Goody) These used bits of My Blue Heaven and Dragon Dance, I believe.


Next we have the very late view of September 2009 selection of gorgeous River Rocked for use in Cat Bordhi's beautiful Knetted Pattern. I took this photo, then filed and stored and did not cast on. Totally forgot about these, which is odd, since I love Bordhi patterns and this colorway. I must have been busy...


Which is why I pressed myself to add these immediately. Well, after a couple of days. This is perhaps my favorite colorway ALL YEAR, the deep, subtle and varied Blackbird from the Raven collection. So many shades that i just love in this yarn. LOVE! There is green and red and oh so many pretty shades.












Also included was the mini skein. Recent activity on the STR blog has asked if we love these so much to justify the cost. Yes, I like them, and yes, could do without them. I have only used one of them, last year, when I ran just a little shy on the 2nd sock. All the rest of them are hanging from the knitting basket. They look very cute, and I like the immediate visual reference of how the colors look together. Sometimes the skein is a little chunked for a good idea of how the colors will look in the forthcoming sock.
However: I LOVE the mini stitch-saver! I have been looking to purchase a tiny one, but hadn't pulled the trigger. It is like useful jewelry!






Forthcoming socks indeed. This year I have made 1.4 pairs from this delightful club: Queen of Beads, which I made into opera fingerless gloves, NOT socks. Rogue Roses has almost one sock done. I needed a break after the 15 or so hours in a row I worked on these in the hot Manilla airport and part of the ensuing flight. I just couldn't stand to look at them after that.

The truth is: I have a massive sock drawer filled with beautiful hand-knit socks in wonderful painted colorways... and I hardly ever wear socks. Or shoes, for that matter. I need to knit socks and give them away!

Babies! In Knitwear!

Baby sweaters! When presenting a baby sweater at a friend's shower, one of the other guests remarked, "You don't have children, to have free time to do that, right?" True.
Three friends had babies this summer, and I made 3 sweaters... Only I didn't know about one baby so these 3 sweaters were made for 2 of the babies, but there you go.
I also read on Ravelry recently that the best baby gifts in knitwear are booties and hats, since they are quick, often worn, and last a long time. Sweaters are not recommended because they are warm, a certain size that does not grow with the baby, hard to make and hard for the mom to handwash and lay flat to dry. Whatever. These babies are loved and will be wrapped in handknits!
The brown and the pale blue are both the cabled Baby Yours by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. The green in a Peapod Baby Set by Kate Gilbert. All are cashmere, mohair, silk and generally luscious yarns.

Scuba Diving Surface Interval Shrug

A photo of this sweater in action shall be forthcoming: i.e. Over the wetsuit!
I love when things work out how I planned, and since this is a rare occurrence...
This winter it was very cold in the water, and I found I was not warming up between dives. During the summer we have sun. Winter is a combination of cold water, clouds, and not-thick-enough wetsuits. I moved up to a 7mm suit (the same thickness I used in California 15 years ago- bleah!) and began shifting through many sweatshirts and fleeces for in-between dives. Wouldn't a sweater be better? Of course it would. So I Ravelry-ed shrugs and found the Aran Cabled Shrug by Crystal Palace Yarns, which calls for a Bulky yarn. I am a bulky girl, and therefore avoid bulky yarns. I found some Cascade 220 Superwash (Worsted) at a local store, in a rust color unusual for me, but I love none the less.
My original requirements, as blogged here:

Requirements for surface interval shrug:
Wool (exothermic in salt water)
Warm (the water is 71 degrees in winter and we have had rain, clouds, and crazy wind for the past 2 months)
Long sleeves, closely fitting, can be shoved up while bending over rinse tank or boat lines.
Short enough to not get wet from folded down wetsuit.
Long enough to keep torso warm.
Fold-up shawl collar for back of neck warmth, can be folded down if remaining in hooded vest.
Color: Nice with black wetsuit, swimsuit colors, and sunburn.
Washable: Not only from salt water but the microbes present in salt water.

These requirements have been met. Because of the relative thinness of the yarn, I ended up doing more repeats of the cabled portion, which was narrower than the pattern suggested. This made the sleeves tighter, which I wanted. It also required longer ribbed sections (which turned out to be boring, and thus a month-long hiatus ensued) which I did in the round, trying on as I went until I thought I had enough length. It is now just long enough to meet the top of a folded down wetsuit. The collar is thick and warm if flipped up. Unfortunately it is a shrug and my chest is large, so the side flaps don't come close to meting in the middle, thus assuring a cold tummy, and negating the winter-time wearing of this shrug (hmmm... it's whole inspiration and purpose).
Which just means I need a winter-time surface interval cardigan... right?