manly socks

all of the snow we’ve been having has inspired me to dig out some sock wool i purchased last winter to knit (at long last) the manly socks i promised a certain someone.

the cuff, heel and toe will be charcoal grey, the rest of the sock is a striped black/white sisu – the whole thing will be 2×2 ribbed – for your foot pleasure.

where are all the knitters?

every time i (surreptitiously) take out my knitting in public and begin to work away, i keep waiting for a fellow knitter to come out of the woodwork.  someone – anyone! – to pull their ziploc baggie sock out and start working the size 0 needles next to me.  or maybe, unfurl a scarf-in-progress, inviting me to admire their a) yarn choice or b) stitchwork or c) bravery in wielding sharp sticks while standing on public transit.

i see more daily evidence of knitted busywork everywhere i go – a little girl at the drama queen’s gymnastics class had a noro silk garden ribbed hat on.  i got really excited (i know), but a sister-in-law had knitted it.  a friend walked by as i was shoveling snow this morning and when i complimented her on her beautiful purple scarf, she credited her (totally unrelated) sister-in-law in texas (must be a frustrated winter-lover) for the gift.

i wear my knitted goods like a flag – i’m semaphoring my efforts with my noro striped scarf everywhere i go – just waiting for a fellow knitter to catch my eye and acknowledge the effort with a nod or a knowing smile.

but no.

i know that there are thousands of knitters roaming the internet at any given time, and i know that they knit incessantly and compulsively – i’m one of them!

but where are all the knitters in the world at large?

how is your habu?

i realize i’m a bit behind the times with my enthusiasm for this scarf, but the habu textiles kusha kusha scarf is really intriguing. knit with a mixture of silk stainless steel thread and superfine mohair, then felted gently, the resulting scarf looks sculptural.

there are some beautiful versions at coloursknits and kat coyle.

and full instructions at the purl bee for knitting it.

the drama queen speaks

this morning, i was giving my husband a tutorial on the art of little girl pigtails.  the drama queen pointed out that daddy already knew how to put these in, as he used to do it to his own hair (which i had forgotten).

on the momentous occasion of her 5th birthday, we had a brief discussion regarding her sweater (a WIP that has the yarn but no progress).  She asked, “Mommy, what are you working on?”

I said, “My (ultimate turtleneck) sweater.”

Impatient sigh.  “But when are you going to do MY sweater?  You promised!”

She’s right.  I did.  And now i have to find a great pattern for a zippered hoodie made of somewhat hideous pink and brown bouclé that she picked out herself.  ack!

the ultimate turtleneck sweater continues

this is the state of my quest for the ultimate turtleneck sweater as of last night:

that’s right folks – i frogged that sucker. between the aforementioned overshaping issue and my own doubts about gauge (swatch? what swatch?), it seemed best to start anew.

the upside is that i have some great new ideas for shoulder-shaping thanks to elizabeth zimmerman and brooklyn tweed’s big blue sweater. i also took a gander at rowan’s jude sweater, which uses a superchunky wool similar to what i’m using. it will be better for it!

hope springs eternal…

mitten lust

i had never heard of poetry mittens before happening across this link. i love them – the poem reads:

When snow swirls
We begin to dream
Of dancing firelight
And hasten gaily home
Clapping hands
And words to
warm them.

The pattern is in the latest issue (Jan/Feb 2008) of Piecework magazine, but was also published in the Nov/Dec 1995 issue, according to ravelry. nanetteb seems to be a master of stranded colourwork knitting – check out these witchy gloves.

looks really difficult, but for these mittens, it would be worth it…

calmly, calmly into the void

i’ve embarked on my second pattern from the kim hargreaves heartfelt dark house collection – the calm sweater. i’m using rowan kidsilk aura in loganberry and it’s gorgeous, although fuzzy fuzzy. the back panel is about 3/4 done.

with help from ravelry group, i’m lengthening it by about 5 cm. not sure if it’s the translation from the british to the (canadian) english – who knew there was much of a difference? – but am finding the instructions for this “suitable-for-beginners” sweater a little confusing.

it is supposed to look like this when i’m done:

FO: christmas socks

finally finished christmas socks. just a basic pattern that i cobbled together from the yarn harlot’s generic sock instructions.

of course, if you note the date, i’m about a month too late. good thing there are always birthdays…

i finished something!

on the heels of my previous post – i actually finished something! skully on ice is complete after a mere 14 months on the needles. just in time for a bonspiel too…

the last stitch is the hardest

i am awesome at starting things.  no joke.  if there was a Olympics for the ability to think of a project (brilliant new idea!), figure out the project requirements (new wool!  new needles!), rush out to secure the ingredients (a trip to the lys!), and start (cast on!), i’m pretty sure i would be – if not world champion – certainly up there in the national rankings.

i would qualify for funding from our sport’s organizing body. my face would be plastered across packages of knitting needles. celebrity endorsement offers from the wool companies of my dreams (noro – do you hear me talking?) would flood my inbox. i would tape PSAs tearfully thanking my nana for teaching me to knit and imploring the grandmas of the nation to rise up out of their laz-y-boys and put needles in the hands of young boys and girls across the land!  it would all end in a sordid scandal involving the compromising use of caffeinated beverages and a secret stash that i regularly dip into.

but no.

sadly, the focus in our craft seems to be the mysterious production of the finished object.  especially to the non-knitting world, it is hard to conceive of the pleasure found in the process – learning  to read a new stitch pattern, figuring out the basics of gauge and tension and then building on these with ever cooler and more evolved construction techniques – kitchener stitch!  dpns!  lace!  cat bordi socks (i haven’t worked my way up to those)!

the casual observer throws a wet blanket on my yarn buzz with the innocent-sounding, well-meaning inquiry, “how’s it coming along?  almost done?”  or worse yet, “how did project x turn out?”  well, since you asked, it’s still sitting on the needles – abandoned in the fevered pursuit of my newest obsession.

in life, i am constant.  i am a responsible wife, partner, mother.  in knitting, i am a whirlwind of passion and fickle excitement.  i flit off to paris or tokyo or the peruvian alps for new thrills at a moment’s notice.  i dabble with mohair, wink at angora, and entangle myself with silk.  i two-time, three-time or even six-time knitting projects!

and i like it that way.

the last stitch is the hardest.