Monkey Off My Back

In her description of her Monkey socks Cookie A. writes, “…the true driving force behind these socks was ADDICTION. There was no other way to get them off my back than to knit them.” Sadly, the driving force behind these socks for me was a sense of obligation (self-imposed, I might add).

I have really enjoyed being a member of Ravelry’s Sock Knitters Anonymous and taking part in the group’s monthly Sockdown challenge. Through it I have been exposed to new designers, patterns, yarns, and—best of all—knitters. Furthermore, knitting to a deadline has provided great motivation for me to finish a pair instead of giving into the dreaded SSS. When I learned that Cookie A. would be the designer for September’s Sockdown I was really happy because it gave me the opportunity to finally knit Monkey, a pattern that had been in my queue forever. I had even found the perfect yarn for them this summer, some beautiful teal/jade Koigu KPPPM, one of my very favourite sock yarns.

I happily cast on for these socks at the first opportunity on September 1st and worked through the cuff and a few pattern repeats fairly quickly.

And then I stalled.

I knit a few rows here and knit a few rows there but I couldn’t get into them. Eventually I found myself grafting the toe of the first sock and promptly cast on the second.

And then I stalled.

I can’t explain it. I’d wanted to knit these socks for a long time. I love the yarn. The pattern is simple and easy to memorize. Why was it such an effort to stay focused?

I still don’t know the answer to that question. What I did know was that I needed to get this particular Monkey off my own back. It was weighing me down and preventing me from completely enjoying the other projects that I was working on.

And so on Tuesday night I picked up the second Monkey and I knit and knit. By the time I went to bed I had finished the heel turn. Yesterday morning I picked it up again and did not let myself knit anything else all day, finally finishing about 7:30 last night.

I love these socks. I love the colour. I love the pattern. I love the way they fit. I am pretty sure I will love wearing them.

I am only sorry that I did not love making them.

Three Weeks Later...

So much for my resolve to blog more often. The last couple of weeks have gone by in a flash. Thanks to a long spell of good weather, much of that time has been spent outside painting the trim, doors, and stairs on our house. A week ago Sunday Cameron and I had a marathon painting session and I didn’t knit a stitch the entire day. Believe me, that doesn't happen very often.

With most of the outside work now out of the way I have once again gone back to my knitting in earnest. In about three days’ time I managed to finish one afghan block and crank out three more. This one would have been done a lot sooner if I hadn’t screwed it up and had to rip back about 35 rows.

But it was well worth it since I think this is my favourite so far.

Despite how complex it looks, this square by Kathy Zimmerman knit up quite quickly. I really love it too but then I am a sucker for cables.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t really inspired by how this one looked in the book but I actually enjoyed knitting it and like it a lot more in real life.

And finally, Square #10. I'm kind of ambivalent about it.

Ten down, fifteen to go. There are a couple of good ones coming up in the next row. Although I didn’t start out planning to knit them in order, after a while I decided I needed some sort of system so that I wouldn’t do all the good ones first and be unmotivated to finish the less inspiring ones. So I’m doing them row by row but not necessarily in the order they appear in the book. So far this seems to be working.

Sockdown 08-09 has now begun and one of September’s challenges is to knit socks by Cookie A. Even though the pattern itself is not very challenging I am doing Monkey, since these are socks I have wanted to knit for practically forever but never got around to until now. The pattern is very simple so I expected to be done long before this but for some reason I seem to have lost my sock mojo and they are taking an eternity. Maybe, just maybe, it’s because I keep getting distracted by other projects like this.

I fell in love with the Autumn Rose Pullover as soon as I saw it and immediately sent away for the kit. Although my swatch has been done for over three weeks, I only just got around to casting on for the sweater a few days ago. I don’t have much experience with stranded knitting but so far I am enjoying the challenge of holding one yarn in each hand, knitting English-style with my right and Continental-style with my left. The most difficult part was working the purl stitches of the ribbing with my left hand but eventually I got the hang of it and was able to build up a rhythm.

I had really hoped to have my Berry shawl done by the time I receive my new Year of Lace shipment at the end of this month but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I still have four more repeats (80 rows) to go before reaching the halfway point, with each repeat taking about 2.5 hours. At one time I thought I could manage if I did one repeat a day but I just haven’t been able to maintain that focus—there are so many other wonderful things to knit!

Speaking of, have you seen the latest issues of IK, VK, Knitty, etc.? It’s a conspiracy, I tell ya.

Odds and Ends

I really admire those people who produce a blog post every day or at least one every other day or so. Most of the time I am too busy doing and making to post about it! Thus, this blog post is all about catching you up on the things I have been working on for the past few weeks. When I think about it, there’s really rather a lot to write about!

First, I managed to finish the “Winter” cross stitch sampler before heading to the US (although it still needs a touch up with the iron).

Excuse the poor photo—it is dark and rainy here today.

Second, I finished the Basket Check Socks while in the states.

As you can see, the hotel bedspread provided a pretty good background for them! Once home I turned my attention to the Great American Afghan again and knit up two more blocks.

It was fun making the miniature socks for this one but the embellishment took a long time. It was my first experience with duplicate stitch and although I wish the lettering was a little less puckered, I’m quite pleased with this square overall.

I’m also pretty happy with how this block turned out.

I did not enjoy doing the bullion stitch for the flowers in the two outer columns but thought the whole thing looked a lot better once it was blocked and the embellishments were added.

Speaking of blocking, check out my new toy:

Knitter’s Block, a set of interlocking blocking boards from Cocoknits. The 12” square blocks can be assembled in whichever configuration suits your project—maybe a 3x3 square for a sweater or a 1x6 rectangle for a scarf. I bought the large set, which comes with eighteen tiles, a press cloth, a tin of T-pins, and a tote bag to store them in.

A couple of days ago I finished a pair of plain socks, which are much too ugly to photograph. In fact, they just might be too ugly to wear. I really liked the bright colours and the way the yarn (which shall remain anonymous) looked in the ball but I was very disappointed with how it knit up. I suspect these will end up in the donation pile since I can’t think of anyone I dislike enough to give them to. On a happier note, I finally cast on my Rocky Mountain Waterfall Rib Socks.

I love everything about this yarn, especially the colours. They vary a lot, depending on the light, so it’s hard to capture their true nature.

I’m also happy to report that I have now finished more than 25% of my berry shawl. As I’ve stated before, it’s hard to take a pretty picture of lace in the making, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Finally, I picked up my Ella Jacket again last night and completed the first sleeve this morning. When I first began this back at the beginning of July it seemed to take forever just to knit a few inches and I soon lost interest and set it aside. For some reason, this time around it doesn’t seem to be taking as long. The entire garment is knit in Fisher’s Rib, a variation of K1, P1 ribbing. It’s funny—whenever I have to knit ribbing for a cuff or the bottom of a sweater I am anxious to get it over with, eager to sink my teeth into the meat of the project. However, when the project is ribbing, I am quite content to lose myself in the rhythm of the stitches and let my mind wander. I should be daunted by the miles of jacket still in front of me but I’m not. I’ll provide a photograph when the sweater looks more interesting and the light is better.

As you can tell, I have been very productive these past couple of weeks. I’ve also been somewhat destructive too, as this photograph attests.

The black and off-white used to be my Graphic Hoodie, begun with great anticipation last January. With typical denial, I kept knitting for 11” before I finally admitted that I was unhappy with the tension. I had originally swatched with 3.5 mm needles but went down to 3.25 mm to achieve the suggested gauge. However, while the sweater was working up to the correct size, the fabric felt too stiff and heavy. I tried to convince myself that it would become more flexible with blocking but the little voice inside my head kept whispering otherwise, so I frogged it. After a suitable period of mourning has passed I will try again, this time knitting a smaller size but with larger needles. If my calculations are right, it should all work out in the end.

The golden brown yarn is all that remains of a pair of socks that Jessica had been in the process of knitting for her ex-husband. Now that all of the bad mojo has been cleansed away the yarn can become something new and wonderful. Just one of a number of symbolic gestures to help put the past behind us.

Only a few more days and it will be September. With the weather we’ve had this week it already feels as though autumn is upon us. In many ways September 1st feels more like New Year’s Day than January 1st, most likely because for so long it signaled the beginning of the new school year. With Jessica’s life now settled, it’s time for me to start thinking about what to do with mine. First, though, I plan to enjoy the last long weekend of the summer. Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone!

Victory!

As the name suggests, I mainly think of this as a knitting blog and don’t often include a lot of personal details about my life. To the casual reader, between the holiday pictures and the knitting stories, it must seem like my life is more or less carefree. Those who know me better know better.

As I wrote several months ago, in January our daughter, Jessica, chose to leave Washington State and her husband of three years and move back home to BC. Although she gave it her best, she realized that she could not be happy in a relationship in which she was not permitted to play an equal role. When it became apparent that her situation was not likely to change, she made the courageous decision to reclaim control over her own life. Since then she has scored several small victories but on Tuesday she truly had cause to celebrate.

Because she and her estranged husband had reached a stalemate in their divorce proceedings, the court ordered them to attend a settlement conference. Needless to say, she was very nervous about the prospect, especially since her husband had recently made some outrageous demands in an effort to intimidate her. And, needless to say, I was very nervous too.

Surprisingly, though, as we made our way down to Olympia, a sense of calm came over us. Instead of tossing and turning, we both slept well the night before the conference and when she woke in the morning, Jessica said she felt lucky. Even though our nerves increased as the time of the meeting drew closer, we managed to disguise our unease—you know, never let ‘em see you sweat. And once the conference began, the nerves genuinely subsided altogether. Maybe that had something to do with having truth on our side.

Without going into detail, I am happy to report that Jessica kicked ass and came out of the conference having achieved everything she wanted. Her husband, on the other hand, was firmly put into his place by the judge more than once and was denied all of his eleventh-hour requests. It certainly didn’t help that his cellphone went off during the proceedings, interrupting the judge mid-sentence (snicker). The marriage has now officially been dissolved so Jessica can put that part of her life behind her and move on.

As her mother, I am so proud of the way Jessica conducted herself throughout the whole process, always taking the high road and never stooping to his level. Sitting in that courtroom she clearly had the upper hand, for perhaps the only time during their marriage. She emerged from the courthouse radiating happiness and self confidence. Victory is sweet, very sweet indeed.

Taking Time to Stitch

Not so long ago cross stitch was my primary hobby of choice. I have walls full of pictures and a bin full of new and partially finished projects to prove it. Although I’ve completed several large needlework projects over the past five years, it is knitting that has really taken centre stage in during this time.

Just before I set out on my “road trip” with my sisters last week I threw a small cross stitch project into my knitting bag on impulse. I knew that my sister, Anna-Marie, would probably bring her cross stitch to work on and thought I might work on mine alongside her. As it turned out, it never came out of the bag but a couple of days after I got home I pulled it out and finished up this sampler:

The entire thing is only 4”x4” and divided into little boxes, each featuring a unique design. A variety of stitches and the addition of beads and charms made for a fun and interesting project.
I finished its companion last year:

Well over a year ago I bought the supplies for another small sampler set, this time featuring the four seasons.

It only took me a couple of days to complete “Autumn” and I plan to stitch up “Winter”, “Spring”, and “Summer” over the next couple of weeks. (Note to self: Do not get distracted and put it away for another six months or more.) I’ve really enjoyed my return to cross stitching and have found it a pleasant adjunct to my knitting.

Speaking of knitting, it feels like all I’ve made lately is socks. (That’s probably because that’s practically all I have been knitting lately—go figure.) Besides working on a couple of plain pairs, I finished the Bluebell Rib Socks

and the first of the Basket Check Socks, both for July’s Sockdown.

Unfortunately, as much as I like how the Faceted Rib Socks are turning out, I have concluded that they are too small and will have to be frogged and reknit with more stitches.

I have to go out of town for a couple of days next week (most definitely not on holidays) but hope to settle down with a large project when I get back. I am aching to work on a sweater and would like to devote more time to my Berry shawl, so that it could be done by the time I receive the next Year of Lace shipment at the end of September. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to work on some small projects, to clear the way for fall knitting and a new year of Sockdown challenges.

Flower Power

I've had little time for blogging lately so will give you a little more eye candy from our trip.





I hope to make a real blog post soon. Stay tuned!

Water, Water Everywhere

I love waterfalls. I never get tired of looking at them, mesmerized by the sights and sounds of untold gallons of water thundering over a cliff face and boiling up into clouds of foam in the river below. There was no shortage of waterfalls on our trip through the Rockies. Here is a sampling:

Rearguard Falls

Athabasca Falls

Sunwapta Falls

Tangle Falls

Bow Falls

A couple of months ago I bought some Great Adirondack “Silky Sock” in the Rocky Mountain colourway and I have decided to knit it into Waterfall Rib Socks as a reminder of our recent vacation.

Rather fitting, don’t ya think?

Click here for a live action shot!