8.7.09

When I headed to the coast this weekend, I took three projects with me: Traveling Bandit, Elemental Boatneck, and the mini-KAL socks.


My 7-year-old cousin was really proud of this 'sculpture' he came up with using my size 2 dpns and the ShiBui sock yarn

I woke up on August 1 and cast on the socks. I knit along happily outside watching the water.



I was obviously distracted by the water because 1) I knit the entire cuff in K1, P1 rib (should have been K1, P2 rib), and 2) I didn't notice the evil POOLING that was going on.

So I ripped it out, and after redoing the cuff I realized what Lisa had already figured out - we would not be happy with the pooling on these. Le sigh. So now this has been earmarked as "the Non-Pooling Sock Project". Upon Lisa's return from Sock Summit we are going to decide on something else (stranded or Mosaic?) that will eliminate that problem.

So I worked on the Elemental Boatneck most of the weekend instead.





Despite the fact that it's slow-going, I really like Linen Stitch. I'm about 50% finished - through 1/2 the body and 1 sleeve. I am concerned that this is going to be too short and that I am not going to have enough yarn - oh well. That means I'll have to buy more, and if I have to buy it at Webs, I'll have to buy enough to get the 25% discount, right?

Speaking of buying more yarn - I made it 10 weeks without purchasing more but I broke down because I needed another skein of Ultra Alpaca for Traveling Bandit (not posting photos here because I think the recipient may read this - see Ravelry), so I ended up getting:


Wisdom Yarns Poem Sock, for some knee-highs (I also really like the Ombre look) and...


Berroco Lustra in Rodin Bronze, and the Lustra Pattern Book. I am deciding between Lexical and Loope (going to eventually do both). Thoughts?

On to another cool, lovely, lazy vacation day. The difference today is that I slept until 915, so my morning productivity is out the door. Cest la vie!

Here's How The Last 24 Hours Went

Blog about knitting the 2nd sock from a long-forgotten project. Cast on.

Get past cuff. Try on original sock. AGAIN. Finally give in to that inner-voice (that I really should listen to more often) that the socks are way too big.

Rip out both socks on lunch hour.

Cast on for Pomatomus. Knit about 1/2 way through first chart.

Listen to that voice again that you really don't like that pooling.

Rip out Pomatomus.

Wind some Shepherds Sock from the stash. Cruise Ravelry for ideas. Settle on Herringbone Rib Socks.

Cast on for Herringbone Rib Socks. Crap, there's that voice again.



I don't know what my problem is, but I just can't get past it. From now on, I'm sticking to solid-colored sock yarn

Breathing Life Into Dead Ambitions

A couple days ago I got this renewed commitment to finish all these half-completed projects taking up room in my WIP basket.

First up was Glorious Colors Afghan, which (for those of you non-ravelers... DAD) is a giant afghan, that I not-so-intelligently started in June. 2 years ago. And knit one of the three panels before saying ENOUGH to sitting under a blanket in the Fresno summer. I was home sick and had a serious case of the chills, so I figured it was a good as time as ever to start up again. I knit the entire 2nd panel in one day, and now it's 1,000 degrees again and I don't want to touch the 3rd one. At least it was progress.

Next up was the Ballet Camisole that I started last May, knit up in a few days, then through a hissy-fit because I couldn't do the finishing to my liking. It took me awhile, and I'm still not 100% happy, but at least I finished it.



I'm now working on a pair of socks that, thanks to about 30 minutes of searching my blog archive, have a start date sometime back in the fall of 2005. Luckily I remembered the needle size, but I don't know what pattern I used or any other nonsense like that. So I am eyeballing the finished sock and hoping for the best.



I'm also still working on Buttercup, AKA the apparent "it" pattern of Summer 2009.



I was unsure if the neckline was going to be too big so I did the finishing on it and it’s MUCH better. Be sure you pick up the cast on stitches, not the row below, or it will be too big.

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In cooking, I made a delish salad last night I wanted to share.

Marinated Shrimp and Scallop Salad with Capers



Per my usual changes, I cut the oil in half and added more vinegar (we like TANGY in this house), and added some blanched asparagus on the side. YUMMY.

Mer-Lot's of FO's

Back for FO #2 of the week:



Pattern: BFF Socks by Cookie A.
Yarn/Needles: Koigu, 2 skiens. Size 2 dpns
Raveled



These took WAAY too long to finish. Heh, story of my [knitting] life. Also, they are already getting fuzzy, which is surprising given the yarn.

Yet Another Wedding Post

We FINALLY got our wedding album, and it was so, SO worth the wait. Here are some of my favorites:

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Also, I knit a sock.


Hopefully it's mate is coming soon.

Wine Gardening

This past weekend my friend Peter recruited a few of us to work in the Wine Garden at the county fair:


PS... I knit my hat.

Lots of fun. I think I was born to pour wine. And as always after I do something like this, I have a renewed respect for bartenders.



We didn't really venture out of the Wine Garden area, just to get a couple fair tacos (my husband thinks I am NUTS but I love those things, and if you are from the Fresno Area you KNOW what I am talking about) and a gyro that I cut in half with a giant carving knife.

As for Socktoberfest, I've decided that since I work well under deadlines, I am going to attempt to knit 3 pairs of socks this month: Finish my Merlot socks, Something thick and warm for my husband, and some Noro socks. I might be crazy, but don't tell me and let me try anyway.



PS - Have you seen this? It's 5 seconds to a better day, I promise.

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Edited to add: This post reminded me that I still have a wine post-in-progress. That's coming soon.