Finished Objects Come in Threes

FO #1:

I finally finished my Prismatic Scarf yesterday morning! Is it just me, or do scarves seem to take forever? I mean, there is less yardage in this project than a pair of socks, yet it took me over three weeks to complete. Having said that, I am overjoyed with the final result. At 6” wide and 65” long it is the perfect size. And I love the cheerful colours and the soft feel of the yarn.

FO #2:

Late yesterday afternoon I sat down with my second Grun ist die Hoffnung sock and began to knit the 8” of stocking stitch necessary to complete the leg. I bound off the last stitch and wove in the end at about 10:15. The process was made all the more bearable by…

FO #3:

This arrived in the mail yesterday morning. Once my errands and jobs were out of the way (see how responsible I was?) I settled in with the book on my lap and Grun ist die Hoffnung on the needles and proceeded to plow through both of them, pausing only to cook and eat dinner and answer the call of nature. (Yes, I can knit simple things and read at the same time, a skill I perfected a couple of years ago while making six garter-stitch dishcloths for my brother-in-law.) When it comes to collections of essays or short stories, I always think that I should make my way through the book slowly, savouring each chapter before moving on to the next. Instead, I almost always finish one and immediately begin to read another and before you know it, I’ve worked my way through the entire book. This time I didn’t even bother to delude myself; I just got comfortable and immersed myself in the Yarn Harlot’s humorous and sometimes poignant storytelling. By the time I finished the sock I had only a few chapters left to read. I turned the last page just before 11:00, then turned out the light.

All in all, a good day’s work (I mean, play).

Something to Sink My Teeth Into

The more experienced a knitter I become, the more I find myself drawn to projects with interesting, unconventional construction. I enjoy trying new techniques and am frequently in awe of a designer’s ability to “think outside the box”.

The featured designer for SKA’s October Sockdown is Stephanie van der Linden and I immediately knew which pattern I wanted to make: Grun ist die Hoffnung (roughly translated, Hope is Green). Instead of beginning at the cuff or toe, this sock is constructed around a motif on the instep.


First, the square motif is worked in the round, gradually increasing in size until the required number of stitches is achieved (see 1). Three of the four sides of the square are put on hold, then ten rows are knit back and forth along the live stitches (see 2); this forms a foundation for a short-row toe (see 3).

Here is a view from the back:

Once the toe has been worked, you continue to work back and forth to form the sole, knitting together the first and last stitch of each row of sole stitches with the edge stitches of the toe foundation and the stitches of two of the three remaining sides of the motif (see 4).

When the bottom of the motif is reached the sock is once more worked in the round, with the stitches from the remaining side of the motif forming the instep. The rest of the sock is worked in stocking stitch, in a conventional toe-up manner.

This pattern was initially confusing--it didn’t help that it was translated from its original German—but it soon began to make sense, thanks to some support and advice from fellow Sockdown mates. Once I grasped the concept the sock came together quickly. I made the leg considerably longer than instructed and substituted a picot edge for the ribbing. I think it compliments the lace motif.

With one sock down and the other more than half finished I am ready for my next challenge. There are some upcoming squares for the Great American Afghan that should fit the bill.

On another note, we held our fall birthday get-together on Sunday, as planned. I am happy to report that my knitted gifts went over very well. In addition to giving Alison the felted slippers, I also gave her the Cranberry Biscotti socks I knit last June, along with some Cranberry Chocolate Biscotti made from the recipe included with the pattern.

And to my great relief, Jeanine seemed genuinely pleased with her Swallowtail Shawl and said she couldn’t wait to wear it. Phew, I guess I worried for nothing.

Happy Thanksgiving

The last bite of pumpkin pie has been consumed and as I sip a little Bailey's the soup is simmering away in the crockpot. I hope you enjoyed the holiday as much as I did. Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians and Happy Monday to the rest of you. :o)

Sometimes Less is More

When it comes to socks I am a sucker for multicoloured yarns. Hand-painted, hand-dyed, variegated, self-striping, self-patterning—I love them all. Self-striping and -patterning yarns look best in stockinette stitch or a simple rib but, as anyone who has worked with hand-dyed and-painted yarns knows, it can be difficult to find a pattern that shows them off to their best advantage. Stitch patterns can get lost among multiple colour changes or cause the yarn to pool or flash in unattractive ways. Sometimes it takes several attempts before the knitter finds the perfect combination of yarn and pattern.

I divide my sock yarn stash into two categories: my “regular” yarns and my” good” yarns. I even store them separately; my regular yarns are in one of my night table drawers, while my good yarns enjoy a more privileged position in a basket in the living room. My regular yarns consist of conventional, commercially-dyed brands, usually sold in balls for about $10-$15 per 100g, and are destined to become plain, stockinette socks. I always have at least one pair of “plain socks” on the go to provide mindless knitting while waking up in the morning, riding in the car, or watching tv. I hardly even have to look at them, except when it comes to working the heels and toes. My good yarns, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, are of the hand-dyed and hand-painted variety, each skein a unique work of art and costing considerably more than my regular yarns. They are carefully selected, then tucked away, awaiting the ideal pattern to showcase their beauty.

In the spring of 2007 I was lucky enough to score a skein of SweetGeorgia sock yarn, just after Felicia had announced that she was indefinitely suspending operations to do some travelling and her yarn had become an even hotter commodity than usual (she has since resumed dyeing). I even managed to acquire the one colourway that had captured my heart: Coal Harbour. At the time I had only just begun to buy good sock yarn so I treasured this skein and vowed to make it into something special. I eventually decided on Pomatomus and knit almost a whole sock before losing interest and abandoning the project. This past July I admitted defeat, frogged the sock, and reclaimed the yarn for another pair but they didn’t work out either and the yarn went back into my stash.

A couple of weeks ago I finished my latest pair of plain socks and opened the drawer to select a ball for a new pair but nothing grabbed me so I shut the drawer and put the decision off for another day. I knew I had a fairly long car trip coming up and would want to have some new socks on the go but I couldn’t make up my mind. All those yarns seemed so ordinary and I was craving something a little more spectacular. The thing was, I already had several patterned socks in progress and besides, I didn’t want to “waste” my good yarn on plain socks. That’s when I remembered the photograph that had initiated my love affair with the Coal Harbour sock yarn.

As I cast on 60 stitches and began the 2x2 ribbing, I reveled in the soft feel of the yarn. When I switched to stockingette I enjoyed watching the watercolour shades of aqua and seafoam and purple stack up into irregular but appealing stripes.

Each stitch brought me pleasure and I didn’t want to look out the car window or watch tv. I realized that sometimes the perfect pattern for a hand-dyed yarn is no pattern at all.

On the flip side, just as some multicoloured yarns benefit from a simple stitch pattern, it is also true that many complex stitch patterns benefit from a simple yarn. For example, my newly completed Stricken socks by Cookie. A.

Many of the other featured designers for this year’s upcoming Sockdown challenges also specialize in detailed textured or lace patterns so I am deliberately acquiring a bigger collection of solid and semi-solid yarns to highlight their intricacy.

I don’t anticipate losing my affection for hand-dyed yarns any time soon but I will be less likely to hoard them, waiting for that perfect pattern. Instead, I will allow myself to enjoy them for their own sake, to find beauty in their simplicity. I’ve decided that more of my good yarns are going to become not-so-plain, stockingette socks.

In Which I Curse Myself

Despite my best intentions, almost two weeks have passed without a blog post. I know it sounds cliché but I don’t know where the time goes.

We’ve had our share of fall weather, a mix of glorious sunshine and west coast drizzle—sometimes, like today, we experience both in a matter of hours. Mother Nature smiled upon us a couple of weekends ago, which allowed us to install the railing on the stairs leading down from our deck. It is so satisfying to see the deck and stair renovations finally completed, considering that it was last summer that we began working on them.

Jessica observed yesterday that there were 78 days until Christmas and wondered how I would fare with my gift knitting this year. I made a big dent in it last week by completing five more squares for the Great American Afghan.

When I began this afghan back in July I did so without a particular occasion in mind to gift it to my sister, Alison. It seemed too extravagant for a birthday or housewarming (she and Stan moved into a new house last month) and besides, I knew I wouldn’t have it finished in time for either of those events. As my pile of blocks grew I realized that at the rate I was going I could easily have it done by Christmas so I enlisted my other sisters’ help and rigged the Christmas gift exchange so that Cameron and I drew Alison and Stan. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble staying motivated to finish the final ten squares but I must admit I am dreading putting it all together.

This coming Sunday we are celebrating my family’s fall birthdays (since it’s so hard for everyone to get together, we celebrate our birthdays in bunches, three times per year). Besides knitting the shawl for my sister, Jeanine, I also made some felted slippers for Alison, by request.

I’ve made countless pairs of these slippers from Cascade 220 but after reading the Harlot’s recent review of Patons Classic Wool I decided to give it a try this time. I was really impressed with how quickly and nicely it felted and immediately bought some more to make a pair for my sister-in-law. That’s not to say I won’t use 220 for felting again but it’s nice to have a choice.

Other than the afghan I do not have a lot of gift knitting planned, just a few pairs of socks and a scarf. Knowing me, I will probably come up with more ideas between now and Christmas but for now I have it well in hand.

And yes, I do realize that with those words I have set myself up for a very big fall. May my ever-expanding stash cushion me when I land.

Two Day Wonder

The following is a true story:

Once upon a time there was a knitter named Carol. She got up Tuesday morning and wondered, “What shall I knit today?” She glanced at the three beautiful, partially-knit scarves in her knitting basket and thought, “I know! I’ll cast on a shawl.” And so she did. She listened to podcasts on her iPod and knit steadily, pausing only to eat, sleep, and browse her favourite knitting sites. When Wednesday evening arrived she snipped her yarn, drew it through the last stitch, laid down her needles, and proclaimed, “Wow, that was easy.” She blocked the shawl the very next morning and lived happily ever after. The End.

The Swallowtail Shawl, knit in Sunshine Yarns’ wool/silk in the “Stormwatch” colourway. At about 48" x 23" after blocking it's really more of a scarf than a shawl. I am giving it to my sister, Jeanine, for her birthday. To tell you the truth, I am not entirely sure if she will wear it, even though the soft blues will look great on her. She's rather (ahem) particular about her clothes and she may decide that she prefers a more conventional scarf to wear with her winter coat. In any case, it was fun to knit. I haven’t been feeling very well this week (some sort of virus, I think) and it was the perfect thing to work on while vegging out on the couch. The shawl incorporates three different stitch patterns, which were interesting to knit but simple to memorize. By the time I was beginning to tire of one, it was time to move on to the next. By now you know that I am rarely monogamous to one project but this one managed to keep my attention for two full days.

I've Got it Bad

This past week I came down with a major case of startitis, most likely a result of finishing my Monkey socks. For some reason I’ve gone on a scarf kick and have cast on three since last Thursday.

This one is the Party Lace Scarf, made from Haiku from Alchemy Yarns.

I can hardly express how much I love this scarf. It is light and airy and oh, so soft. My favourite part is the row of crystal beads along each end. I love how they sparkle when they catch the light.

This is the Tiger Eyes Lace Scarf, made from some Cherry Tree Hill that I had originally intended for socks.

It doesn’t look like much right now but blocking should reveal its large, striking central lace motif.

Finally, The Prismatic Scarf.

I fell in love with some Manos Silk Blend over the weekend and it followed me home. I wanted a pattern that would make the most of the yarn’s beautiful, variegated colours and went browsing Ravelry. To my delight, I found a pattern designed specifically for this yarn. It is simple, yet interesting, and features a very attractive I-cord edging.

On Saturday I bought a new, purple hoodie and was inspired to make some socks in the same colour—I just so happened to have some Hazel Knits in the perfect shade—so I cast on Stricken by Cookie A. This is my second project for September’s Sockdown. I happily knit away for about 2” before realizing that I had neglected to knit all the cable stitches through the back of the loop, as the chart indicated. Although the cables look beautiful as they are, they are much more effective knit tbl, so I really had no choice but to frog the socks. I immediately cast on again, just so I wouldn’t abandon the project completely, and will start all over again when I can stand to look at them.

My favourite acquisition this weekend was a new birdfeeder.

I haven’t put one up since 1996, when we got our cat, Misty. I didn’t think it was fair to invite the birds to dinner—with them as the main course. But now that Misty is older and doesn’t go outside in the wintertime as much as she used to, I decided it was probably safe to hang a feeder again. It doesn’t look like the birds have found it yet but it won’t take long until they do.

My least favourite acquisition this weekend is what seems to be the beginnings of a chest cold. I promptly put the remains of last night’s crock pot chicken to good use and made up a pot of soup. It is simmering away on the stove as I write and the scent of it is wafting downstairs. Pardon me while I hit “post” and go have a bowl…