Twinknit

I did it!  And I’m only a little embarrassed to admit a) how long it took me to figure out and accomplish a simple crochet chain (and the sweater is only 10 inches long!) and b) how proud of myself I was when I finished (I may have done a little dance.  Maybe).

And you know what’s amazing?  When I cut it, it turned into this neat and tidy little thing that never looked like it had been anything other than what it was — a cardigan.  It’s genius.  I now loudly declare that I LOVE THE STEEK.  Love.

On Tuesday (Election Day), two good friends of mine gave birth to their very first baby.  This baby was, in many ways, a celebration in his own right (not to mention the rest of the celebrating that took place that day!), and for months now, I’ve been planning dozens of delicious handknits to wrap him up in as soon as he arrived.

But my plans, as is so often the case, didn’t necessarily lead to the most productive knitting.  My early choices were duds (the baby surprise and tomtem were quickly abandoned as the little boy’s mommy is herself a knitter, and I knew she had BSJ knitting plans).  My middle choices were full of doubt (is this nice enough?  Will it look to homemade?  Maybe I’ll just wait until we know the gender…).  Finally, I settled on something I felt confident in — Trellis, from Knitty.  I’d been wanting to knit the sweater for ages and a friend had recently gifted me several skeins of perfect yarn (amazingly, someone left seven skeins of cotton/silk yarn in his bookstore and never came back to claim them) .  I figured my gauge and set to work.  The problem, however, was that I never loved it.  Knitting it felt like a chore, and I was never too pleased with the yarn/cables combo.  It was taking forever.  As a shower gift, I gave the mommy-to-be a store-bought hoodie and a knit baby cap.  I muttered an internal “shit” and promised to have a sweater knit for this baby by the time he came home from the hospital.

Thank goodness for Elinor and this pattern [Rav link].  This sweater, literally, grows like a weed as you knit it.  From start to finish, I think all of the knitting took me a week (and that’s with tons of work, an anxious election night, and two days of being too sick to knit).  I *love* it.  Except that the little baby boy was born five days ago, and it’s not quite done.   Today, I head into my first steek.  Hold your breath, wish me luck, and I’ll see you on the flip side.

(I’m glad I documented this as a whole knit, lest my steeking permanently ruin it!  More details when it’s done!)

I am beyond words.  All that is left, after the joy, the tears, and the chills, is the phrase I’ve been hearing all over Philly for the last few weeks — “This historic!”  Historic - not as an adjective, but as a noun, a declaration.  I love it and I join in.  Regardless of political affiliation or personal thoughts about this election and its candidates, it’s hard not to acknowledge that this Historic.

Here’s to the next four years!

Yesterday — hot, humid, and deliciously, unbearably sunny yesterday — was my first day of school. My first day as a teacher and not a student. My first day teaching three classes in one day. My first day with 48 scared college freshmen who I swear are getting younger every year. It’s nice to have purpose again (I guess three months of doing practically nothing was enough time off for me), but right now, I’m feeling a little frantic.

But I’m not talking about frantic now, because lately I’ve had one thing on the brain. That one thing is socks. I’ve been having kind of a love/hate relationship with socks in the last few months. Socks have always been my go-to project. My ravelry cue is filled with socks and I have even more projects mentally (and physically!) bookmarked. But ever since last winter, I keep finding myself casting on for new socks before finishing the old ones, often losing interest before I even finish one in a pair.

(this might look familiar. Yep. That’s ’cause it’s still not done.)

After I completed my tangled yoke, I had no interest in casting on for socks again — I was hooked on sweaters. And yet…

Cast on I did. For five more pairs. I would knit and rip, reknit and rip. I couldn’t seem to find myself committed. I settled on the Philistine approach to socks, figuring I would knit one sock in all of my sock yarns as motivation, and then cycle through, finish my pairs, and officially destash myself of sock yarn. Then, I reasoned, I could concentrate on sweaters, shawls, and CABLES (I am obsessed with cables right now).

But then you people! You people started knitting beautiful socks that I couldn’t resist. Like these. And these. And all at once, you started posting pictures of your beautiful sock yarn — like this, and this, and this (although, to be fair, every time Elin takes a photo of yarn, I want to buy it). And I find myself slipping back in, staring at my sock yarn, and wanting more. Gotta finish my pairs first!

Pattern: Donyale Socks (on Rav)

Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock and Baby Yarn (this yarn was a completely unexpected graduation gift from John and Carol, two of my favorite North Carolinians. Man, I miss them. They gave me two skeins of delicious sock yarn, a jar of pickled eggs and replenished my molasses supply, all without once being asked. Ok, I lied. I did mention the pickled eggs!).

Needles: US 1 dpns

Thoughts: I only have a few things to say. I added five extra stitches (an extra “cable) to widen them, as I was worried they would be too tight. My worry was not in vain; even with the extra stitches, they are still tighter than I would have liked. And, like an idiot, I thought I knew better than the patter (note to self: you rarely know better than a pattern) and did not follow the toe decrease instructions (I decreased every other row, rather than every third or fourth row). So again — a little on the small side. But totally wearable, and perhaps with a good blocking the yarn will ease up a bit. I have plenty of yarn left over if I need to be a big girl and re-do the toes. I finished these while in Kansas, visiting the incomprable Elinor. More on that in a future post. For now: One pair down, a gazillion more to go!

It’s that time of year — when you wake up in the morning and the air has a bite; when you feel the urge to go out and purchase crisp, new notebooks and deliciously inky pens; when your whole life feels like it’s taking a turn, and though it might not be a turn you’re quite ready for (I may or may not have flopped face down on the bed a few nights ago, declaring loudly that I wasn’t ready to go back to school), you know that deep down inside you really want it.

I love fall.  It’s not just the weather (because what knitter doesn’t love the arrival of sweater weather?); there’s something to this season that just makes me feel like I have new purpose.  It makes me feel happy inside the way no other season can.  Yesterday, I arrived on campus for the first time since graduation and realized that despite my (previously mentioned) resistance, it felt good to be there.  School is what I do; it’s all I’ve done for years now.  I look forward to being a teacher more than I am a student.  I look forward to having the opportunity to “do it right” this year.

But this transition from vacation to work has me thinking about fresh starts.  There are a lot of changes going around lately.  There have been weddings (the photo above is courtesy of the most recent one, in Kansas).  There are babies on the way (and a lot of baby knitting).  Promises have been made and roles are being redefined.

In the midst of all of this, I’m struggling to figure out where this blog stands.  I’ve neglected it for months now, only posting occasionally.  I never intended this blog to be a parade of FOs, but that seems to be what it has become.  Originally, this blog provided me with a much needed community of knitters.  I was living alone in a small and isolating community, and I never cease to be amazed by the support and encouragement I’ve gained from the friends that I have made and sustained through blogging these few years.  But when I returned to Philly, the role of this blog shifted, and I’m not sure I’ve ever really found my footing.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m done with blogging, but I read everyone else’s posts and enjoy them so greatly; I feel compelled to remain a part of this community.  So pardon me while I stumble around and try to figure out what I’m doing here.  I know that some day the urge to tell stories (particularly some of the amazing fiber adventures I experienced in Peru) will return.  For now, I’m going to mess around a little… It’s time for a fresh start.

Just popping in to say that I won’t be popping in.  I’m on my way for a two-week trek through southern Peru.  I’ll be back in a few weeks with photos, a new WIP, and (I’m sure) a lot of yarn!  See you in a few.

That long post about new things and what have I been working on? The oldest FO in the bunch.

Northern Lights Mittens, in progress since January of 2006 (thank you Ravelry!)

For some reason, during the hottest week of the summer, I decided it was a good idea to work on fair isle using an extremely sticky wooly wool. But for some reason, I’m loving it. Here’s to getting these done in time for this winter!

ETA: Ravelry LIED!  It’s only been since January of 2007.  I’m not sure how much better this is, since it’s still be almost two years, but still…

After so many FO posts, I find myself reconsidering my WIPS.  I have some projects that have been languishing in baskets, tucked away in closets, for far longer than I care to admit.  I’ve been thinking about a large scale movement to get rid of these WIPS once and for all (either finish or rip).  But instead, I find myself casting on for new projects.

New socks.

The potential for new socks.

New quick projects (to be revealed soon).

New commitment projects (finally using this lovely silk).

And while I was in New York this past weekend, my cousin took me to her local yarn store and offered to buy me a treat.  I was thinking some sock yarn.  Instead, I walked away with ten skeins of this silky goodness.

Expect another sweater from me sometime in the future.  Guess the WIPS will have to wait…

Getting tired of old FO shots? Well I am. This set should round it up. I’m sure there’s stuff I’m forgetting, but who cares?! I knit both of these pairs in February and March, alternating between the two.

Socks for me:

Pattern: Mad Color Weave (Rav link)

Yarn: Shibui Sock, in “Chinese Red” (2 skeins)

Needles: US 1, dpns

Thoughts: Pattern: Loads of fun; Easy, but not too easy; Many nice details. In fact, I liked the pattern so much, I’ve thought about making another pair, maybe in a slightly more variegated yarn. Thoughts on Shibui: I wanted so badly to love it, but I’ll be damned if Shibui doesn’t pool. The pooling drove me crazy while I was knitting, although it bothers me less now that the socks are done. Unfortunately, this means no more Shibui for socks (or cowls, apparently. It pools for both).

Socks for D:

Pattern: My own

Yarn: Koigu, semi-solid in black and a tiny bit of Sundara, in a color purchased so long ago, it was back when she had a million numbered colors and you could pick whatever you wanted and she’d dye it up for you.

Needles: US 1 dpns (my favs)

Thoughts: I wanted to knit some more socks for D, since he loved the first pair so much. He requested black socks (arg!) and I spiced it up a little with the colorwork on the toe. I knit these toe-up and just experimented with the colorwork. I wanted to include more at the top, but that limited the stretch of the socks and he couldn’t get them on, so I ripped it out and did plain black up to the top.

Still working my way through FOs. I know this can get a little old, and when I get back from touring with D, I’ll have some progress shots of what I’m actually working on. In the meantime…

Patterns: Razor Shell Neckwarmer (on Rav)

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca, Alpaca-Silk (2 skeins, held doubled)

Needles: US 7, 4.5 mm

Thoughts: First and foremost, all photo credit here belongs to the talented and wonderful Minty.  I was unable to attend the photoshoot due to ridiculous post-dissertation illness.  As has been documented by several others, a few of us knitters gathered in Philly for a little hang-out/cowl exchange.  I had the pleasure of knitting this cowl for the utterly imitable Ms. Frick (and let me tell you — knitting for Julie was some of the most intimidating knitting I have ever attempted!).  Fortunately, it seems to have been a success.  See how modeleque she looks?

The cowl itself is a great, mindless and lovely pattern.  It would work great with a worsted yarn, or a DK held doubled (my choice).  I might be knitting another.  Just maybe.

I’m majorly bummed that my not-quite-pneumonia and stupid graduation (Ha!) got in the way of meeting most of the ladies, but I expect my post-dissertation life will allow for future travel and future meetings.  Here’s to that!