Addi Update

I'm so pleased... I just called knitpicks about my Addi Naturas (you may remember they broke). They are sending me a new pair, no questions asked, no need for photos. I'm so pleased.

Will You Miss Me?

Oh my. It's been such a long while since I last posted. And last night, while I was lying in bed, I came up with the best post ever. But it was late and I thought, "I'll remember that tomorrow." And, go figure, it's tomorrow and the poetry of what I wanted to say is gone, gone, gone.

I have not much knitting to show. I've been tangled up in some emotional and academic 'yarn' that is just now starting to sort itself out. For one, when I was in Philadelphia, I changed dissertation advisors. I'm still in the process of sorting this out. This kind of thing is not often done in my department, and though I feel very good about my decision, it's left me receiving some uncomfortable e-mails and being forced to send very political and diplomatic e-mails in return. I'm glad to be back in the mountains while handling the ends of this, though. When I left here a week ago, the flowers were blooming, but the mountains were still grey-brown and naked. When I returned a few days ago, everything had exploded. There are more shades of green in these mountains than I have ever seen in my life. I want to take a picture, send it to Sundara and get some yarn to commemorate it. Of course, that is out of the budgetary question right now. But I'll hold on to those pictures until next winter, when it's cold, dark and grey, and then maybe I'll do it... socks of hope. hee hee.

As for emotional yarn -- I hinted earlier at how difficult my trip to Philadelphia was. It is very strange to be in a place once so familiar, where now I feel a little like a bull in a china shop - awkward, uncomfortable, out of place. I felt immediately better once I returned to the mountains, and spent most of the weekend hiking around in them to celebrate. My friends Julie, Shawn and I went up to Pikeville, Kentucky for their annual Hillbilly days celebration. There are no words to describe this festival. I could post pictures, but I think they would do it no justice. Here are just a few, to give you an idea.







The decorated trucks and costumes were incredible. My video does it more justice. But... for those of you unfamiliar with Hillbilly Days (which I imagine to be most of you), check this out. I think it might help to explain things.

Sunday, Julie, Shawn and I hung out all day out on Kings Creek, where they live. We made an amazing breakfast, I fed the chickens (!), played music on the porch, and took a long long hike over the mountain, following Kings Creek to Line Fork. It was an amazing walk (wish I'd brought my camera, but I think I was able to enjoy it more without it), one that can only be made on a Sunday when there aren't 50 ton coal trucks lumbering down these narrow roads at ungodly speeds. It felt like such a priviledge to be out on such a beautiful day.

Views from the "Trad Shack" porch.




Breakfast for me (Julie is one damn fine chef)


Breakfast for the chickens (my friend Jennifer looooooves Chickens. Aren't they sweet?)


All of this is to say that it has been a weird, unsettling, and oddly comforting feeling to experience back to back the 'loss' of the city I once thought I would live in forever, and simultaneously come back here and feel at home. I've been thinking a lot lately about whether I want to move back to Philadelphia in the fall, when I'm 'technically' done with the research for my dissertation. On days like Sunday, and mornings like today, I think my decision has been made. We'll see...

Anyway, there will be some knitting content today. When I was on my way back down to the mountains, I stopped for two nights with my parents (well, my mom -- dad was out of town) in Crozet. Mom and I had a nice "girl's day out" with nice lunch and lots of shopping. I needed size 0 needles, so we stopped at the knitting store, where I also grabbed two skeins of Jawoll (love it for the name!) superwash cotton sock yarn. And, to celebrate my 'freedom' from my old academic advisor, I treated myself to a skein of Lorna's Laces (I'd never seen it before...I would have gotten two skeins, but this was the only one of this colorway, and I didn't like the other colors they had). I'm going to make myself a pair of 'celebratory footies'. Hurrah!



And I'll end off this long long post with a picture from my back porch -- see how green?!

Wow!

I'm overwhelmed by the feedback for my CdM socks. Thank you all so much! I've not been able to respond to everyone, so to those I've missed - THANKS!



I'm still in Philadelphia (and haven't even found time to go to a yarn store yet!), running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to make meetings, visit the library, see old friends, etc. It's a little overwhelming being here - the flood of memories, old friends, new faces. It's strange to not quite fit in to my old life and even strangers the way that habits stay in the body. I'm new now, and things have changed around me, but I find myself bizarrely falling in to old routines. I've been staying with my old roomate in our old apartment, and it has somehow tricked my body into old habits of movement -- ways to get to school, the bar, old friends houses (places where they no longer live). My mind has adjusted to my new enviroment and status, but my body is still on auto-pilot.

I've done next-to-no knitting, but will hopefully have US 0 needles (and maybe even a little wee bit of sock yarn) to show from this trip. More news when I return to the mountains.

Cowboy

Sometimes, I get an urge to knit that is beyond reason. Tonight I was catching up on my blog reading and I was overwhelmed by the urge to do insane knitting - to finish all the projects on the needles so I can start new projects. I want to create. I need to finish blue sock #2.

So, it's barely wednesday, but it's wednesday none-the-less, so here are a few things that have made me happy this week:

1. Spring!

Now I swear, I've never been so obsessed with flowers as I am this spring. But honestly -- it's just so amazingly beautiful, I can't handle it. So... a tribute (and next week, maybe no flowers).

2. Arlene


Arlene is a 1962 Airstream (I hope no one has to click that link to find out what they are!). I love airstream trailers in a way that can't be described. I was raised with this love, and when I met my friend the beekeeper and found out that he lived in an airstream... well, I knew we had to be friends.


3. Making Movies
In addition to keeping bees, the beekeeper makes documentary films. This is another reason I knew we'd be friends. For the last year or so, I've been really interested in making movies. I really enjoy editing and I like the idea of the documentary as a medium for relaying information (as opposed to the academy, that that's another story for another time). The beekeeper is making a film now about local politics and yesterday I tagged along on a shoot. I ended up helping with sound for the first time. It was awesome. I want to do nothing more than make movies for the rest of my life. Screw this PhD (just joking... mostly).

4. My Cowboy Boots



At Theresa's request, here are badly-flashed photos of my much loved (and worn) cowboy boots. I bought them in Woodstown, New Jersey (now, before you scoff at buying cowboy boots in New Jersey, let me tell you that Woodstown is the home of Cowtown, the oldest continually running rodeo in the United States. Zanes Western Apparel, where I bought the boots, outfits real cowboys). I went to Zanes with Spitey, who was in the market for a new hat. I never had any desire for cowboy boots before, but something about these called out to me. I tried them on a whim. I liked them, but decided not to get them. We drove away from the store and immediately, I started waffling. Spitey turned the car around, drove me back, and made me buy them. I haven't regretted the decision for a minute. I wear them every single day (as is evidenced by the damage to the heel... I need to get them resoled), in skirts and in pants. I even wore them when I gave my first professional paper at the national ethnomusicology conference. And I make all my socks to fit them.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Philly. My friend, known to all as "Jellybean" (long story, that I'm sure he'd rather I not tell) is going to be in the US and my friend Jennifer and I are travelling to Philly to see him. See, Jellybean is doing his fieldwork (he, too, is an ethnomusicologist) in Chilean Patagonia. So I don't see him often. I'm also going to Philly to do some research in the library and meet with my advisor. It'll be a good trip, but I'm feeling apprehensive about it. It's been a while since I've been there, and... I don't know. Sometimes, no matter how happy you are where you are, realizing that things are changing is scary. I love it here, and the longer I stay, the harder it is to imagine leaving. But I loved Philly, and it's strange to think that my life there no longer exists.... Anyway, I'm looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and getting some work done. I'm sure I'll post while I'm gone, and hopefully, I'll make some more substantive knitting progress. Stay tuned...

Thanks!

Thanks for your suggestions about the broken Addis. I'm going to try and get in touch with Skacel today and see if I can get a new pair. I bought them through Knitpicks (no LYS here) so maybe they can help. We'll see... hopefully I'll have a new pair soon so I can finish Orangina in time for the weather.

So after much wear, the toes on the CdM socks bother me less. They're 'blocking with wear' and are less pointy now. And it feels so decadent to wear such fancy socks hidden under my boots (you'll notice every pair of socks I make is boot length. That's because I live in my cowboy boots, and have for the past two years. Socks are no good for me if they aren't boot length!) They're like my little surprise (except, of course, I keep taking my shoes off to show them to people... I should have worn my crocs into the world today so everyone could see the fanciness of my socks.

Off to work, but hopefully the next few days will produce the partner to the blue sock. Then it's on to new projects... (I'm seriously considering Anatolia from the spring Knitty, but in different colors... we'll see).

broken!?!

I just pulled my orangina out of the bag it's been sitting in to try and work on it. This is what I found:



Broken Addis!!! I'm so upset -- in addition to the fact that I have no other US 3 circulars and I can't afford to get another pair, I just got these a month or so ago, and this is the only project I've used them on. I don't understand how they could have broken... The project's been in a bag hanging from a hook for the last two weeks.

Any suggestions of what to do? They broke right where the bamboo meets the metal.


A crappy close to a crappy day (except, of course, for those finished socks... they were a highlight, and i still haven't taken them off).

Distraction

To distract myself from things-worrying-my-brain, I sat down this afternoon and finally finished the last Canal du Midi sock, in time to take pictures in the evening sun (how amazing, to have the sun still hitting my porch at 6:00 p.m. -- the mountains behind me used to block it out by 4 p.m.).


Pattern: Canal du Midi socks, from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Socks that Rock in "Marbles"
Needles: Those same metal dpns, US 1
Started: 23 March 2006
Completed: 9 April 2006

Notes: Well... I don't like the spiral toe too much. On the one I just knit, it makes a slightly uncomfortable ridge right under my toes. And it's pointy. Next time, I'd just do a regular, kitchner stitch toe (you can see on the right sock where I messed up the spiral.. the left is better, but they're still pointy).


But... that said, I love the pattern. It knits quickly (if it hadn't been for that long weekend with no fourth dpn and a house guest or two, I would have finished much quicker) and looks beautiful. I love STR, particularly this colorway. I want to make a pair of straight stockinette socks with it just to enjoy the color of the yarn. As it is, I think these look like tapestry. And I'm really pleased with the twisted technique of picking up stitches along the heel flap. No more holes!


If I were to do it again, I would use a solid yarn for this sock pattern. I think next time I'll also do a rounded heel rather than the square heel. But... I'm very, very happy with them.

Happiness, take 2

When I was in highschool, I saw this thing on Oprah about how we should all take the time to think about five things each day that made us happy. It sounds like a cheesy thing to do, but in times of desperation, I've found it to be very helpful. Today is far from a 'time of desperation', though I did have a pretty crappy morning, but I thought I would start a hump-day tradition of posting things that make me happy. This might alleviate the amount of bitching I do about the weather (though, to mother nature's credit, she's really been out doing herself recently here).

The bush outside my door.


The surprise I found in my hamper when I went grumpily to do laundry this morning. You know who you are, and you know what it is, and I'm not keeping it (though wearing it gladly today -- thank you!).

A big steaming cup of Yerba Matte with a dash of milk and a barely noticeable amount of honey (yes, it's the good honey, robert. robert keeps bees). I would have a photo of this, except my camera ran out of batteries.

[and now for knitting content] - The fact that I reached the heel flap for c.d.m. #2.

So there's four things that make me happy. What makes you happy?

Lost in Kentucky

Well, not really lost, but... may as well have been. It feels like ages since I've posted. I spent the weekend in Kentucky, working and playing. Obviously, I didn't finish the second Canal du Midi sock. Thursday, I left my house and carefully made sure to pack my unfinished sock, knowing I would have plenty of time to work on it and finish it before Friday at midnight. Of course, I wasn't that careful, and forgot to pack the fourth dpn. So I had the sock, but no way to knit it. Hopefully I'll finish up in the next few days. I want to reknit the toe on the other (I hate the pointiness of it). I'm hoping for an FO by Friday.

BUT -- to make up for lack of knitting content, I have a nice picture-show of my weekend. My friend Laura was out of town, but Robert threw an April 1st party at her house (with her permission), complete with ritual burning. As soon as it gets warm enough here in the mountains, people have bonfires. Friday night (the night of our party), I saw at least five other bonfires. It's like emerging out of hibernation when it gets warm here. The sun comes out, everyone is out on their porches, planting gardens in their yards, generally enjoying the amazing spectacle that is nature here. Our bonfire was most certainly the biggest fire I've ever seen. The highlight of the party? Hard to say, but the older gentleman (Wayne) who rode up the hill at dusk on his way home from "cruising" on his horse (Black Jack), drunk, with a saddle-bag full of beer is definitely in the running. It was a good night -- whiskey and moonshine were imbibed, there was the intoxicated (and WELL MONITORED) use of a chainsaw and an axe to dismantle fallen trees for the fire, stories were told, furniture was burned, the fire was 'jumped' and a lot of Hank Williams (Senior, of course!) was played... all in all, it was the perfect 'hillbilly' party and the best way to start the weekend.

Bethany and Chad pick on the porch with Black Jack. Some things just can't be described in words. Those saddlebags on Black Jack are holding about a case of beer.

A pagan-esque shot of us around the fire. I love the sense of space you get -- there are tall trees and sloping mountains all around Laura's yard, which is perched on a hillside itself. It's pretty amazing there.


The fire at its height (those old closet doors really burned. Wayne suggested placing them so they folded slightly inward -- this created a chimney effect that set the whole thing ablaze in a matter of seconds!).

Nathan jumps the fire. [I can't believe I caught him midair... I always get pictures like this when I'm not trying!]

We found the axe in the yard the next day.


I did a lot of writing and thinking this weekend, if not a lot of knitting. I'll make up for all that thinking this week, hopefully with a lot of knitting. This weekend promises a trip to Louisville (and hopefully a knitting store -- I need smaller sock needles!). Knitting content to come in the future. Thanks for your patience (and nice, supportive comments!). Now I've got to catch up on the blog-reading that I've missed...


Addendum -- [Sorry -- this is a gratuituous kitty post]

I just posted this and was catching up on my reading when I heard a loud purring coming from the corner behind me. I turned around to see which kitty was so happy and saw this:

Those white canvas boxes contain my WIP. They are on my knitting table, a location both kitties know is a no-no (and so they are constantly trying to get up there). Sorry for the blurriness of the photo, but when I got up to snap it, Hank started to jump down (he thought, rightly so, that I was coming to chastize his naughtiness). Ironically, the WIP he was curled up on was the abandoned kitty pi. Maybe it's a sign...

plugging along

Thank you all for your feedback on my dream. Slowly I'm making sketches, thinking about what I 'saw' and what I can make from it. When it takes more shape, I'll let you know.

In the meantime, I'm pushing along, trying to finish canal du midi #2 before the end of the month. Do you think I can?

Not much else to say now. My friend Lizzie (recipient of Jaywalkers #2) came for a visit early this week and so I've not gotten as much knitting done as I usually do (thus the rush on the second C.d.M). More to post later. But I'll leave you with this (think of these scenic photograph as something akin to the end of the Sunday Morning program, where they close with a minute of beautiful wilderness) -- a view of Kentucky (minus mountain top removal) from Pine Mountain.

Dreaming in Argyle

or a long and [perhaps too] personal post in which jennie misses she who is gone and thinks of ways to knit her back

My best friend in high school died suddenly and unexpectedly about six weeks before graduation. It was my first experience with death and for months afterward I grappled with an extreme of emotions, ranging from depression to anger, guilt to sadness. Night after night, she would appear in my dreams. And because real life is nothing like tv shows or movies (no medium or sixth sense here), rather than 'listen to what she had to say' in my dream, I would always start screaming and wake in a start. The dreams were terrifying, despite the fact that nothing ever happened in them. Then, one summer night a little over a year after she died, I had a dream where she appeared and, rather than scream, I sat still and listened. We talked, for what seemed like only minutes. But in those dream minutes, I was able to say everything I wanted to say and never got a chance to - that I wished I'd been a better friend, that I was sorry I hadn't been home that day, that I loved her and missed her. And she said all the things I guess I needed to believe she might feel, if one can feel beyond life -- that she was sorry and that she loved me and missed me too. I woke up feeling peaceful. And, for the past eight years, I haven't dreamed of her again.

Two weeks ago, I woke with the distinct memory of having 'seen' my friend. It was a disconcerting feeling that didn't wear off after coffee and work, and I figured I must have dreamed about her, though i could remember none of the specifics of the dream. and then last night, I dreamed about her agian, but this time I remembered the dream -- my friend and I, we didn't talk. She just appeared, as though walking into a room, and then that was it. But get this -- she was knitting. My friend did not knit when she was alive, that I can recall. Her mom did -- I remember looking at her knitting basket and seeing a sweater she was making for my friend -- it had cables on it and I remember thinking how amazing and miraculous they were -- how did she get them to cross? [to this day, whenever I make anything cabled, I think of my friend and her parents, with whom I am no longer in contact].

In my dream, my friend was knitting something argyle. But not a normal argyle... I've been trying to draw what I remember from it since this morning, and I think I've figured it out. It was primarily navy blue, with blue accents (I remember thinking in my dream that blue against blue was strange, but interesting) with an accent color that I can't place (yellow? orange? white?). And now I am obsessed with figuring it out and knitting something in honor of my friend.

Is this crazy? I don't know. My feelings about life, death, and friendship were dramatically shaped by my friend's death. I've never been much of a religious person, and I'm not one now, but I always imagined that last dream to be a 'goodbye' of sorts. So why she's suddenly 'appeared' again in my dreams baffles me. But... there is something kind of neat (?) about seeing her knit, remembering what she was knitting, and trying now to recreate it. Maybe this makes me crazy, but I feel connected somehow through the activity, as though knitting this project keeps her around. It's amazing how much you can miss someone nine years after they've passed away. Who knows if we'd even be friends now if she hadn't died (though, of course, I like to think we would).

Anyway, we'll see where it takes me.

Canal du Midi #1

As expected, I finished the first Canal du Midi sock last night, with about a quarter's worth of yarn left.


Some thoughts:

1. For the last time, Jennie, SWATCH YOUR SOCKS!!! This is the second time in practically as many days I have made a pair of socks that I realized mid-knit were too big. So I messed with the pattern, which I was wanting not to do because i'm trying to use these socks as technique building experiences (not that sizing down isn't technique building, just not the kind of added bonus technique i want to throw in while learning new stitches, new heels, new shaping, etc.).

2. I wish I had continued the ribbing all the way down the heel. I think it would have a better fit. I can't tell if it would be different if they were knit to gauge or not. I think they also might fit better after blocking (i've never blocked socks before, but this yarn has a lot of streatch and i think it needs it).


3. related to the post about, the square heel (is this what it's called? when you round the heel, you pull in the stitches so that there are always 8 stitches being knit across, rather than rounding out as you ssk or p2tog) doesn't like to stay ON my heel. Will blocking help?


4. The toe is POINTY. My big toe points right through it. It looks fine as long as i'm wearing it, but... I think I'm over the spiral toe. I prefer even decreases and then sewing it up at the end. I don't mind doing this and I think the toe looks cleaner. But now I know.


All that said, I love it. I love this particular colorway of STR that I want to buy another skein and just knit plain socks. The way the colors alternate... it's gorgeous. This photos do it no justice. And I particularly like the kind of tapestry-effect that is created by the combo of the pattern with the variegated yarn. Admittedly, it hides the pattern, but who cares? It looks neat.

So... It's less than a week until the end of the month. I've knit three single socks in the last week. Will I have a pair finished by the end of the month? Stay tuned...

P.S. OH MY GOD. Why did I never use flickr before to download photos? Seriously. I think I've wasted a year of my life if you add up the time I've waited for blogger to get photos up. With flickr it took about two seconds.

P.P.S. I had a dream last night that I just remembered... It will make this the longest post ever if I tell it now, but it is actually knitting related... Maybe later.

jennie's first meme

Oooh! I got tagged, I got tagged! Leah tagged me for my first meme (and if she thought she was the last person to do this... well, she was wrong). Little Jennie's all grown up.

I think everyone in the world has done this meme, but if you haven't, consider yourself "it".

4 jobs I've had:
1. Chocolate specialist (I kid you not, this was my title) at Lindt Chocolates. This sounds like a dream job, but believe me - I never wanted to eat chocolate again after working there over holidays for a year and a half. I could never get the smell out of my hair or off my clothes.
2. I worked in the Vivarium in the Biology department at UVa cleaning hamster cages. This job sucked. It sucked so much I did it really quickly and finished by lunch every day. So they taught me, just out of high school with no interest in science at all, how to do histology. An even pay off, I think.
3. I taught for two years at UPenn while doing my coursework. It's fun to be a "college professor". Especially when you're only a few years older than your students. I taught World Music and Jazz History and loved it. Most of the time.
4. On again off again Bartender at my dive bar/home in West Philly - Fiume. I miss it. I miss it a lot. It was my cheers. It got me through two challenging years of grad school. It was a terrific way to make great money. And fun, to bat.

4 flims I can watch over and over:
1. the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. I know it by heart.
2. Charade (Audrey Hepburn AND Cary Grant? Does it get any better?)
3. Cold Comfort Farm
4. When Harry Met Sally

4 tv shows I love to watch:
1. America's Next Top Model (don't laugh, please don't laugh)
2. Law and Order (in order of preference: CI, regular Law and Order, and then SVU)
3. House Hunters on HGTV (though I love almost all HGTV shows, especially the ones where they take houses that don't look that bad to begin with and then gut them and make them even nicer for a bazillion dollars)
4. Sex and the City (yeah... I know...)

4 places I've lived:
1. Charlottesville, Virginia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. New York City (Brooklyn, to be precise)
4. Philadelphia, PA

4 places I've been on holiday:
1. Antalia, Turkey
2. Bailey's Island, Maine
3. Paris, France
4. Ocean City, New Jersey

4 websites I visit daily:
1. WHYY (I like to stream philly npr)
2. nytimes.com
3. Sundara Yarn (just to drool and make plans for future projects)
4. so many knitting blogs, it doesn't seem fair to single any one out...

4 favorite yarns:
1. Blue Sky Alpaca (I've never owned any... just petted it non-stop in the yarn store)
2. Debbie Bliss Baby alpaca-silk (another love-to-pet)
3. Socks that Rock (yes... I love it, I do)
4. the silk that I bought in Memphis

I've turned the heel (with some ripping and reknitting) on the canal du midi sock. I keep meaning to post pictures, but then figure I'll knit more. I'm gonna try to finish tonight, so maybe there will be a dark completion shot later. I hate to post without a photo, so...

I was supposed to out of town this weekend to hear Dwight Yoakam play in Atlanta. But my travel companion and trip-organizer had meetings all day that he couldn't get out of (don't feel bad Robert!), and so we didn' go. I have been feeling a little stir-crazy lately, so yesterday, we hopped in the car and drove the two hours down to Johnson City, Tennesee. I'm a strong support of the idependent bookstore, so keep that in mind when I say that I spent the day in a Barnes and Noble yesterday and rarely has suburban mega-shopping made me so happy. It's been a very long time (since January?) since I've been in a bookstore. I spent a long time picking out books for my two year old godson (I can't wait until he's a little older... there were so many books I wanted to get him that he's too young for -- Richard Scarry's "What People Do All Day", Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends", etc.). I looked through Cultural Studies and Social Science books (because I'm a dork). I felt overwhelmed by fiction and disgusted by the sadness of their music section. And then, because a girl can't resist, I went to the craft section and looked at knitting books. Which brings me to the picture. There was something really nice and small-world-ish about being in a Barnes and Noble in suburban Tennessee and finding a book by a fellow blogger. I didn't buy it (tight budget - only books for the godson were bought), but took a picture to mark the moment.

Wow. It's kind of a blurry picture. I blame it on the coffee.

Personal growth

I'm a selfish person. Ask my parents. I like to do things for me and I like to get my way. My friends in college used to joke that I thought I was the center of the universe (I'm not quite that selfish) and once, in the lobby of a hotel, my friend Jonthan rotated like a star around my sun to illustrate that fact to his wife and my friend Jennifer. Yep. Sometimes, I let what I want get in the way of what other people want. Now, I think this selfishness has gotten better as I've gotten older. I'd like to think of myself as more thoughtful, a much better listener (this I know to be true, actually), a better friend, more giving. But this year is the year to beat all years -- because this year, knitting made me a less selfish person. Why?

Because I love knitting for other people. I don't know what it is... I love making things for friends. I love giving away knitted things. I love buying yarn with the intention of sending it, miraculously transformed, to someone else. There are actually very few things I have knit for myself. I woke up this morning, started reading yarn blogs, and started planning yarn to buy for friends when I'm allowed to buy yarn again. I don't know why I feel this way... Maybe it's because nothing really lives up to my expectations and I can only see the flaws in it? Or maybe, and this comes as a shock even to me, it's because I love the process more than the actual product (except, maybe, with these Canal du Midi socks -- progress photos to come later because the ones I just hastily snapped against my keyboard computer stink and it's too cold to go outside in my pjs). I can't wait until April. I have two gift designs in my head that I'm dying to buy yarn for... at as a treat to myself (and the gift recipient), I'm going to buy the yarn for that project from Sundara. Because I'm dying to try what everone else loves (did I mention I'm a follower too?)

Thank you all for your posts and thoughts and comments. I really appreciate it. I'm trying to learn how to make it so I can respond to posts via e-mail with out having to look up the poster's e-mail address and then type it into my gmail account, etc. etc. There must be an easier way... other people do it. And I have responses to everyone!

So... the sun shines yet again, despite the rain and snow and blackness we had yesterday. I have three rows of canal du midi to rip out, six to knit, and then I'm onto the heel flap (and I have the disturbing thought that I might need a second skein of STR to finish these, making them the most expensive socks of all time... i'm keeping my fingers crossed).

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Four things made me very happy this morning. They are:

1. Sun. The sun is shining for the second day in a row, and although it is still pretty cold out, there is the hint of spring in the air.

2. Coffee.


Coffee always makes me happy (what does it say about me that sometimes, when I drink my morning cup, I feel a sensation akin to love for my coffee?), but it makes me particularly happy to drink it out of my favorite coffee mug. The Green Line was the cafe across the street from my house when I lived in West Philly. My roomate worked there. My friends 'lived' there. I knew the people who owned it. It was the quintessential 'neighborhood hang out.' Now, I love living in Virginia. I'm very happy here. But sometimes, I miss the city so much, it hurts. The Green Line is one of the things I miss the most.

3. Canal du Midi socks, in STR Marbles (see how much the ball of yarn looks like a marble? I LOVE this!).

Ok, so maybe I've fallen in love again with variegated yarn. Because this stuff is lovely, and as far as I can tell, it's not going to obscure the pattern (fingers crossed). I also have been reminided that I really do prefer knitting on dpns over magic loop. I have a beautiful STR jaywalker on the needle right now that i just can't bring myself to work on because I don't like doing magic loop... dpn socks seem to fly off the needle for me (or at least the first one does... i'm treading dangerous terretory starting a new sock when I haven't finished the mate to yesterday's blue sock).

4. This. I love knitblog love. Theresa totally made my day.

I hope you all have a day that is as good as today promises to be.

P.S. some time, somewhere that I can no longer find, someone posted an alternative to blogger for downloading pictures onto this site. I have been having a b**ch of a time getting photos onto here the last two days. Suggestions?

Lots and lots of Blue Sock(s)

So I finished my first Yukon sock. It became a good technique-learning sock and I'm really pleased with the results (except that it's a little large...)


I was really careful in the construction of this sock and I think it is the first sock I've ever made where there are no mistakes (did I just jinx myself?). I learned some stuff too -- I learned to pick up the front half of the chain stitch instead of the whole stitch when picking up along the heel flap. If you knit the front half through the back of the loop, you don't get those annoying little holes all along the heel flat.


This is also the first time I've shaped the toe by even spacing the decreases at the end of each needle, rather than at the end of needles 1 and 3 and the beginning of needles 2 and 4 (is there a name for this kind of toe shaping?).


I'm not crazy about the yarn. I think I'm tired of variegated yarn, or at least yarn with such large color changes. I want to make patterned socks, and this yarn fails. I began this sock as the Conwy sock from Knitting on the Road. You can see where I began the pattern at the top of the sock, and the fact that the yarn completely obscures all detail. I just shifted into a nice rib and made the sock, and again, it's a perfectly serviceable sock. But... I think I'm done for a while with variegated sock yarn (at least, I'm not buying any more of it... I still have several skeins in my stash I'll probably use to make similarly 'boring' and yet serviceable and tecnique-enhancing socks). Eunny made a nice point of variation, and while I love the color combos in variegated yarn, and find myself drawn to sharp color contrasts in yarn-in-a-hank, I'm never as pleased when I see it knit up. The distraction if it now is too much... it's time to grow up and embrace solids :)


I also need to get size 0 needes. I used US 1 for these and they knit big. I'd like a denser fabric with this yarn.

P.S. I hate blogger. It took me all day to post this. grrr...