Last year I felt like my knitting was very unproductive. Between being slammed at work, having a daughter in musicals, and dyeing yarn, I didn't spend much time with the needles.

There's nothing like holiday deadline knitting to improve one's productivity - and a few long plane flights. 

Last night I finally finished the Broken Cable Rib socks, after re-doing the toes.  It usually doesn't take me 4 months to get a pair of socks done - and I have no idea really why these took so long!  But I am very happy with them.  The yarn is Creatively Dyed's Ocean, which is a blend of superwash wool and seasilk.  Seasilk, for those of you who don't worship fiber, is a rayon derived from seaweed.  The socks are pretty thick because I knit them on size 1 needles. 

    Ravelry details here.

My end-of-2008-rush included...

A Seaman's Cap for DH, knit from Toots LeBlanc yarn.  Ravelry details here.

 

Bramble Fingerless Mitts for K's teacher, knit in Classic Elite Maya.  Ravelry details here.

 

A potato chip scarf in Noro Kochoran, for CJ's teacher. 
 

And the Backyard Leaves scarf from Interweave's Scarf Style, knit in Classic Elite Charmed. The scarf is gorgeous, and I'm quite proud of it.  And I gave it to CJ's other teacher!   Ravelry details here.

 

In other news, Forrest the Cat got into a fight, and had to have his leg shaved, examined, and get some antibiotics.  He's fine now but his leg still isn't fully hairy!

 

And, I've been living on our Satsuma Mandarins, now ripe on our tree, which is on a pot on our deck!

Finally, after much ado and many months, I have finished one of the cable-rib socks!  Well, almost finished.  I'm not showing the tip of the toe because I haven't grafted it yet!

 

I'm on row 20 of the second sock... this will take a while. 

I got a question a few weeks ago -


I fear it is possible that she has outgrown it before I even finished it... In which case I'll be adding a cable to the sides before I seam it!

Over the past month, I have made a bit of progress knitting.  Really.

I took the Mona socks with us to Alaska, but didn't finish them.  I didn't knit much on them, in fact, because I had a plan delusion that I would might finish a Gathered Pullover for the Ravelympics.

So, during a trip to Evanston, I finished them!  Previous posts have shown a complete sock, so here I give you the heel and the toe.

 

Note that I used a reinforcing thread on the heel. I couldn't find the exact color, but the one I found wasn't too bad.  I love the toes of these.

As for the Gathered Pullover... well, I thought it might be clever to have waist shaping, which I saw on another Ravelry finished pullover.  I measured how much I'd need to decrease, and went to it.  But I didn't allow for enough space between the decreases and increases, and got this mess.

 

Which begat this mess.

 

And then, feeling revived, I made some serious progress.

 

I am nearly done with the back and then just have miles of brain-dead stockinette for the sleeves.  But since I'm knitting with Baywood Yarns Butter (50% silk, 50% merino, single-ply) it's awfully enjoyable to touch.

I needed to cast on a new sock, and a skein of Creatively Dyed Yarn that I bought at Stitches West was calling.  It's their "Ocean" which is a blend of wool and seasilk.  It feels a tad ropey, similar to Louet Gems Pearl, and I can tell the socks will be very durable but soft once they are washed. 



The pattern is the Broken Cable Rib from Interweave's Knitting Daily.  I'm knitting on a smaller needle than the pattern calls for - something like a size 2 when the pattern says to start with a 4.  But the pattern is for a size 9 shoe, and I'm a 6.5 or 7.  I might make the foot smaller (as I did with the Mona sock) to get a better fit.  So far I'm in love with these socks.

Question:  I do not really like or wear pink.  So why do I keep knitting pink-ish socks???

We have a strange cat.  Her name is Whisper, and we don't know how old she is, except to say "very old."  She has had radiation treatment for a hyperactive thyroid, has had many of her teeth pulled, and is a cranky little creature.

But she loves CJ's poncho.
 

And, I've noticed that my basil planting has looked quite pitiful all summer, never growing much.
 

Apparently the cat like to sleep on it.  Aha!
 

For knitting content... I'm in the home stretch on the Mona Socks, finally.  I love this pattern but these have gone slowly for me.  I think I have too much happening at work to knit much.
 

Or maybe it's the distraction of having too many projects going on at once. Or summer vacations.  Or cleaning the house while our wonderful housekeeper recovers from an illness.  Or dyeing yarn.  Oh yeah, that!  Check the Baywood Yarns Blog for the new yarn!

We just returned from our fourth year at the Lair of the Golden Bear, at Pinecrest Lake.  As usual, we were at Camp Oski, C Circle, with a fabulous group of families on the Tent Circle.



The first few days we were there, the air was smoky from the fires across California.  But that made for nice sunsets.



I made it up to Vista Lodge one morning to knit with Lauren, who I met on Ravelry.  I then went over for the sing-along at Vista.



They had a Fourth of July Carnival, which was fun.  (I didn't see Lauren there although I looked for her.)  They had water baloon winging.

 

They had a decorated golf cart parade.

 

And a cakewalk!



We also went horseback riding - no rattlesnakes this year, but my horse Bob got pretty annoyed with the horse behind us that kept nipping at his tail!

 

And I knit.  I finished knitting the Jaywalker Sweater, and it is blocking now.  I'll take photos of the finishing work.  I also found a mistake in the second Mona Sock... see if you can spot it!

 

  

 

... actually, I usually write about knitting.  I just haven't had anything to show lately beyond some progress on my projects that is so incremental it's not worth photographing.  But now, a finished sock!

 

This is the Mona sock pattern by Cookie A.  It's an enjoyable pattern to work, and pretty easy to memorize.  I love how the twisted rib works down the back of the heel from the pattern.

 

The yarn is Arwetta 100% merino that I bought in Copenhagen last summer.  It's amazingly delicious to knit.  I used reinforcing thread on the heel, but of course didn't photograph that - maybe when I finish the pair!

Tomorrow I'm enjoying the Health Care Quality & Outcomes conference, and presenting a paper...  and knitting the other sock!

At San Mateo Knitters last night, I finished the Mona Sock cuff. This is a great pattern - it's an easy stitch repeat to memorize and isn't it pretty?



I love the Arwetta sock yarn that I got in Copenhagen. It's very soft. I think the weight is a bit heavier than typical fingering, and it's not tightly plied... so I'm not sure how well it'll hold up. But it's a dream to knit!

I will blame Lucky Duck.

I'm working the props for the shows, which (as with all backstage work) involves flurries of activity followed by waiting for a scene to end.  What else but knitting for those gaps?  So, during Tech Week, I brought this:

 

Tiger Eye Lace Scarf, in Habu silk (the name has a lot of numbers in it... you can look at it in Ravelry to get details).  The problem is that the chart is worked over about 25 stitches, and it's awfully hard to keep track of those yo and k2tog moves on that many stitches in a dimly lit place - with a lot of interruptions!

After one night of that, I moved to this project:

 

This is Cookie A's Mona sock, in yarn I bought in Copenhagen last summer.  The first 10 rounds were twisted rib, which was easy enough. Now I'm at the chart... good thing I can figure it out before next week's Friday performance!

In the "good things completed" department, the show went very well over the first weekend - thank goodness!  There were minor mishaps (such as Aunt Leda's gifts busting open and strewing newspaper around the stage), but nothing that was devastating or embarrassingly bad.  Director Leslie seemed quite pleased today, and well-rested too!

I finished the Sea Otter socks at the Berkeley Conference on Global Health Workforce this weekend.  It was a great conference, with many interesting papers and a wordwide set of attendees.  I think those who traveled the farthest came from Uganda, although the woman from Thailand could have traveled farther.  There was a heavy emphasis on the health workforce issues of Africa, which are immense.  The issues are not simply with whether there are enough workers, but also whether the governments have enough money to pay them, whether they show up at work, and whether they live in the places of greatest need.  I heard several times: "The government pretends to pay the workers, and the workers pretend to work."  

This is a good moment to remember Knitters Without Borders, which helps provide key medical services to those in great need.

Anyway, here are the socks.  Project details on Ravelry.

   

I knit socks, of course!  You see, if I don't keep my hands busy, my mind tends to stray.  For those of you who don't knit, does it bother you if you see somebody knitting in a meeting, conference session, or such?

 

Last night I checked my progress on CJ's aran.  Here are the two fronts (the right front tends to roll, it's really as wide as the left front!)

 

One of the things I had to figure out was how and where to place the buttonholes.  I decided the bottom of the sycamore stitch would be a good place.  Other than the buttonhole I've opened up here, can you spot the others?  They blend in really well, don't they?  I'm using the one-row buttonhole from Nancie Wiseman's wonderful book on Finishing Techniques.  Actually, I'm using the modified version, for which you cast on 3 extra stitches rather than 1, and then do more k2tog's to tighten up the top of the buttonhole.



I'm on row 70 or so, and the front goes to about 120.  And then I'll have to figure out the back.  The plan is for the back to have the Spanish Tile cable and the 2x2 rope cable, but in the middle will be Cork Cables.  The bottom border/hem will be the sycamore stitch.  One of the more entertaining things about working on the back will be getting the sycamore stitch to line up well with the cables, and also decreasing sufficiently after the hem to keep the sweater from being too blousy.  As you can see in the top photo, the hem is pretty flat - it doesn't really pull in.  I thought CJ would prefer it that way because she seems to like clean lines.

We're off to Hawaii for a week! I'm going to bring the socks, and also might bring a scarf or shawl.

I am puzzling over a problem, and hope to tackle it soon. By soon, I mean before next winter. Your help would be appreciated.

My mom knit me this lovely sweater a few years ago. It's knit from Classic Elite Maya, in a very deep purple shade. This photo does not do the purple justice - it is much darker in person.



I love this sweater. It fits well across the chest, is a good length, and is soft. It is very warm and perfect for trips to the mountains in the winter and blustery days in San Francisco.

And here is the problem. See the sleeve? (The purple in this photo, for which I didn't use flash, is more true, by the way.) See that funny angle about 5 inches from the cuff? When I wear the sweater it looks like I have bat wings. The sleeve is fine at the armpit, but does not taper soon enough or gradually enough. It's a bit incongruous with the nice, streamlined appearance of the body of the sweater to have these big sleeves. They need to be narrowed.



See the black line below? That's what I want the sleeve to do.



Option 1: Disassemble the sleeve seams. This might necessitate undoing the shoulder seam as well. Unravel the sleeves from the cuff up, and reknit. The sleeves aren't that hard a pattern to figure out, but that's a lot of ripping out.  I have about 1-2 skeins of extra yarn that Mom gave me with the sweater, so if the unraveled yarn is too wonky, I have some back-up.

Option 2: Re-seam the sleeve along the black line, which I think I can do with mattress stitch without even undoing the old seam.  I can use the extra skeins of yarn for this.  Try on the sweater.  If the excess fabric tucks in to the sleeve without wonky bulges, call it done. If there is too much excess, sew along the inside of the new seam and cut the extra fabric away. Think of it as a steeking solution.

Which approach would you use?

I finished the first Sea Otter sock, and started the second. Have you noticed that when you knit a top-down sock, people always ask what you are knitting, and even after you have turned the heel, they have trouble figuring out the geometry of this thing with a missing toe? That did not happen at all with the toe-up sock. When a person asked what I was knitting, and I said "a sock", they could instantly recognize it as such, and I did not have to do a demonstration of trying it on for them to agree it was a sock in progress.



That said, at this point I retain my preference for a cuff-down sock. Apart from enjoying trying to explain how this funny looking thing will really be a sock one day (not!), I would rather graft a toe than deal with the fiddly increases a toe-up sock requires, and I like the sturdy heel flap of a cuff-down sock.

Cat Bordhi's toe-up patterns in her new book are really cool, however, so I will have to try at least one of them! 

On Saturday of Stitches West weekend, I was one of two moms charged with getting K's troop's Girl Scout Cookies from the regional distribution point.  Here's what Michele and I brought home...

  

That's 81 cases, or 972 boxes of cookies.  Thin Mints were the most popular.  I took home my share (125 boxes) and then picked up my share from CJ's troop (about 180 boxes, I lost count!).  Everything was organized in the living room, which is conveniently unfurnished now.  (The new couch will arrive within 2 weeks...)  I took a load to the office today, and a box is going to San Mateo Knitters tomorrow!

I also worked on the toe-up Sea Otter sock.

 

So far, so good on the sock, and I'm enjoying the way the yarn is working out a lot.  

And then I finished the right front of CJ's Aran Sweater.  I like how the Spanish Tile Cable works up the front, and the Sycamore Stitch is going to be great for the button bands. 
 
I need to figure out how many buttons I'm going to use, and figure out where they will go, before I start the left front!  I hope that I'm happy with this endeavor when it's done... but since it's a kid's sweater it'll be ok if it's not perfect.  How long could she possibly wear it anyway?  Oh yeah, she's been wearing the Butterfly Cardigan nearly 2 years now.

How appropriate that I finished the Seduction Socks on Valentine's day!



Of course I don't really celebrate the day. When I was younger it was Important.  I spent time deciding which kids in my class would get the "you're fine!" versus the "guess who?" cards.  In middle school, the boy next door brought me a heart-shaped box of candy one year.  We proceeded to hold hands around the school for about two weeks, kissed once, and that was the end of that.

 

Now that I have two kids, and wonderful husband, and a busy life, who needs forced dinners and more candy? 

 

That said, DH surprised me at work with a bouquet of orchids!  What a lover. 

P.S.  Seduction Socks by Ann Budd, knit in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction (Merino & Tencel), in Carbon Dating colorway.

After the quick progress on a series of scarves in December (and the near-instant gratification of Fetching), I am itching to FINISH something. Everything I am working on now is half-baked.

1. Seduction socks, one complete. See? I told you it was HALF baked.

     

2. CJ's aran.  This is not even half-baked, but at least it's out of the Frog Pond and back on the needles.  Photos soon.

3. California RN survey - still beta-testing, so we can't even say we have a survey questionnaire yet.

4. IT study - still coding interview data, and awaiting the rest of the staffing data.  I guess this is more than half-baked, but...

5. Paper to resubmit - need to review it one more time to make sure I answered all the reviewers' comments.  But of course I'm blogging instead!

6. Window replacement in our house - all the windows are in, but nothing has been painted, interior or exterior.  Oh yeah, and window coverings.  Oh yeah, and we decided it's time to get new living room furniture.  Anybody want a sofa or chairs?  Cheap!

And to add to my anxiety - in Belize we had a bit of a scare with CJ, which has resulted in some medical tests now.  The first test indicates "mild apnea" when she sleeps.  We'll be seeing an ear-nose-throat specialist about this.  And we still haven't seen the pediatric neurologist... Good thing she is overall a healthy kid, because this would be extremely hard with a truly sick child.

Enough bitching, time to finish that paper!

I finally wet the Fishtail Lace Scarf (in Alchemy Silk Purse) and set it out to dry.  I didn't pin very aggressively because I thought the sides would get wonky on me.

 

So it's a bit past Christmas, but I'm sure Georgie the Swimming Teacher will be happy with it.  It's a suprise!

Today during a seminar I cast on Seduction Socks by Ann Budd, in Ellen's Half-Pint Farm Merino-Tencel.  I finished the cuff and one pattern repeat, on size 1 needles (Inox steel - 2 circulars).  Hate it. 
 

I like the yarn, and I like the pattern, but I do not like the yarn for the pattern.  I think the yarn is too dark - it really wants to be lace.  
So I frogged it and made a ball out of my Blue Moon Fiber Arts seduction in Carbon Dating to see how that looks.  I have a long car drive tomorrow for a meeting in Fresno, and a colleague is driving, so I should make some progress.  

We are heading to Tahoe this weekend, and I want to nail down a project or two before we go!

They are done, and all I can think of is this.

(Apologies to the Beastie Boys)

 

(chorus) Sock Monkey - that funky Monkey
Sock Monkey - junkie
That funky Monkey

Got this sock that's more than real
Knit Sock Monkey - here's how you feel
Put your left arm down - your right arm up
Knitting needle in your hands - tea in a cup
Cookie with the pattern - Mama E rocks the yarn
Knitty gets nice with wool in the barn
We knit when we sit, we knit on the bus,
Wherever we go with bring the Monkey with us
January One knit six, I did one
We all love this pattern its tons of fun
I knit Sock Monkey and I knit well
I'll knit it again and I want to yell:

Sock Monkey my funky monkey...

 

After what seems to be ages without a FO, I have half a FO.

Look!  A sock!



This is my first Monkey, knit from Mama-E's superwash in Beauregarde.  I like the pattern, and I like the yarn.  I started on 2.75mm needles, and then switched to 2.25 after 4 repeats - I feared the socks were going to be huge on me.  The larger size on the first four repeats worked out well since it fits over my calf really well.

I've already cast on its partner.

As I was trying on my sock and enjoying sock bliss, I realized I hadn't shared a tragic event.



These were my favorite shoes.  They are Riekers, purchased from Sierra Trading Post at a nice discount.  They are quite comfy, show off the socks well, and are fine for summer and winter.  They carried me all over Copenhagen quite nicely.

And then this.



Yep, the elastic edging came unstitched.  This and the realization that I beat the crap out of these shoes over the year I wore them resulted in these.



They are from J-41, called Heritage Sport Shoes.  Sierra Trading Post still has them - at 40% off regular price!  They are at least as comfy as the Riekers, maybe more so.  They have more space between the toe and strap to show off socks, and they have the cute hot pink contrast stitches.



I am ready for winter!

Don't even ask about the zigzag tank in Barcelana cotton...
 

OK, I've read the really horrible instruction manual and think I can operate my new Canon SD1000.  It's really cute.

Can we just admit that I've made virtually no progress on this?



Yeah, I'm just not feeling it.  It's been so darn cold here that I've given up hope that I'll wear it this year at all. Of course just when I completely give up on this tank top, it'll get really warm, right?  (Let's hope so, I'm freezing!)

So I'm cheating.



Yes, I've succumbed to the lure of the Sock Monkey.  I'm using Mama-E superwash that I got in last year's Project Spectrum Club.  It's called Beauregarde (as in Violet...).

So far I've tinked only 3 rounds.

The Negative Bricks socks are done!



I love them, and they are mine.  The stitch pattern was fun.



They fit absolutely perfectly.



And now for the 20 questions...

1. Name of Project:  Negative Bricks socks
2. Pattern Source:  Sockbug
3. Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight
4. Fiber: 100% superwash merino
5. Color:  Pebble Beach.
6. Where did I get the yarn?  Stitches West 2006
7. Is it the yarn called for?  No.
8. How long did it take to knit?  One month
9. Did I change anything?  Yes, I cast on 52 stitches rather than whatever the pattern calls for.  I have small fit and the yarn is a bigger gauge than the pattern yarn.
10. What would I have done differently?  Nothing.
11. Were the instructions clear?  Yes, the pattern is written really well.
12. What did I learn?  How to try a sock pattern, and rip out when it doesn't look right.  This yarn was going to be Jaywalkers, but the yarn pooled badly and didn't show the pattern well.  I messed around with different variations of Jaywalker and finally gave up.
13. Was it worth it?  Yes.
14. Would I do it again?  Yep, but why bother when there are so many good patterns out there!
15. What seaming methods were used?  Kitchener, at the toe.
16. Will I knit with the yarn again?  Yes.
17. Do I think I’ll wear it?  Already have!
18. Process or Product?  Both.
19. Do I have shoes to match? Yes, cute little mary janes.
20. Final Thoughts:  Sock Bug has some great patterns!  I really liked the yarn, it is nice and squishy.

I've been skeining yarn.  Sock yarn to be precise.

This is the new Baywood Yarns Pearly Twist sock yarn in Blackberry Jam and Jewel Box.



On the left is the basic sock yarn, in an old dyelot of Jewel Box, next to the Pearly Twist on the right.



And the gratuitous close-up shot.  Pearly Twist on top, tradition on the bottom.



The Pearly Twist is Louet Gems, which is an awsome yarn.  The traditional also is really nice.  The traditional is a bit smaller and will thus knit a somewhat thinner sock.  Both hold up well and are very soft.  These have gone to Nine Rubies already, and some will go to ABCs soon!