Lacy Scalloped.

Here's the promised FO - Sockbug's Lacy Scallops. I liked this pattern - it was really easy to follow, and the resulting sock is comfortable and universally admired. They look great in my Birkenstocks, which is most important.




I loved knitting with this yarn. I'm so glad I bought the pink striped colourway in Victoria, now that I know how it knits up. It's not as lofty as Koigu, and feels as though it'll wear a bit better. The colours are beautiful, and are truer in this picture:



The only problem I have is the amount of yarn I have left:


This would have been enough to add two more repeats, per sock, to the cuff. I like longer cuffs, so that would have been good. Since the socks are knit top-down, I can't rip out the cast off and just add another couple of repeats, so this substantial bit of yarn (my scale doesn't weigh this small of an amount, but I'm guessing it's about 20 or 25 g) will go back into the stash.


Pattern: Lacy Scallops, by Sockbug
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino, unnamed colourway
Needles: Two 2.25mm Susan Bates circulars
Tension: 9 sts/inch
Cast On: October 22, 2006
Cast Off: November 15, 2006

Suffering in (near) silence.

Just jotting a note to stall you - I have indeed finished the Lacy Scallops socks, and the pictures are taken. HOWEVER. My husband compelled me to get a flu shot a few days ago, despite my better judgment, and I am now suffering from the most incredible malaise as a result. I was languishing on the chesterfield when he got home from work (only a little bit exaggerated) and made him go get take-out as punishment for making me get the shot.

While he's gone, I thought I'd log on quick to let you know that I will post the FO as soon as I feel better, along with progress shots of St Brigid (5 inches, people!) and a couple of other things.

Mr HSBoots tells me that when the pandemic comes I'll be thankful. I figure the pandemic will only come because of all these idiots getting flu shots every year instead of letting their immune system handle it. How do you spell "Superbug"? O-V-E-R-I-N-N-O-C-U-L-A-T-I-O-N.

The Peddler's Pack

I've neglected blogging for the last few days, because I didn't want to show you a picture of 2.5 inches of St Brigid, and the still-unfinished sock (I'm decreasing for the toe, but Brigid is keeping me busy). Then I realized that I said, right up front, that this blog would also be about sewing, so:

here's some of what I've been working on for the last two days. I took this:



and turned it into this:



Aren't they pretty? I took a close-up for you, of my favourite one:



I am SO ready for Christmas. I have finished six of my 12 people, and have started the gifts for the other six. Now, normally I would be piously deploring the consumerism of Christmas, but some days I just can't help but be excited about what I'm giving people. However, I did get this, to remind my kids of the True Meaning.



(There's some irony here, but I can't quite put my finger on it.)

Tonight is Stitch 'n' Bitch, so there will be more progress to report as of tomorrow. I have pledged myself to finish the Lacy Scallops socks tonight, so there will definitely be an FO tomorrow (or perhaps I should say "soonish"), along with whatever my Knit Sibs are working on.

Here's my next project, which I'm going to tackle as soon as I post this:


Wish me luck.

Not So Fetching

Okay, here is the FO I promised you the other day. It is yet another pair of wristers: the pattern is Knitty's Fetching.

I knit these out of the prescribed yarn, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I have been wanting to try this yarn for a while. It has a nice cushy softness in the ball, and pretty colours. I finally forked over the $10 for a single ball, thinking vaguely about swatching for a cardigan. When I got it to the counter, the girl pointed out a completed pair of "Fetching" fingerless mitts out of the very same colour I was buying, and I immediately decided to use those for my test-knitting object.

I cast on for these on Sunday night, and was finished by Monday noon, knitting them in between talking with my friend, meal prep, bedtime, reading stories to the kids, all the normal stuff. So, they are a fast knit and there are definitely no curve balls in the pattern. However, if you do some counting you'll realize that I have only had them for 6 days, in which they were worn a normal number of times, in normal circumstances, and they already look like this:



I don't know whether you can tell from the picture, but these babies are tired. They are sad, pilly, woebegone, slouchy, fuzzy rags. I sat gazing at them, wondering what they reminded me of, until I realized that I knit a pair of short wristers last year with Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk and those, too, look like last year's try-on sample in some discount accessory store.

I have to admit that both these pairs of limp, exhausted, wilted gaunts are soft and warm. They are comfortable to wear and were nice to knit (especially the Alpaca Silk - the Cashmerino Aran was less nice - I could feel that microfibre and didn't like the synthetic squeak) but they are utterly casual looking, very worn-in, and not at all the kind of posh, luxurious thing you think you're signing up for when you buy a designer yarn at $10 per 50g skein.

I am aware that the fibers used in both these yarns are soft and short-staple, which means they're doomed to a certain amount of fuzz right out of the gate. If they had developed a surface halo, say, or if the stitches had merely become a little indistinct, that would be fine. It's the cheap appearance that I object to.

So, all in all, I was completely disappointed by the yarn. The pattern, however, had its redeeming qualities. It is not absolutely my kind of thing aesthetically, but I really wanted a fingerless mitt (i.e., a thumb opening to keep the wristers from sliding back into my sleeve) and I thought this would be a good place to start. I did make a few modifications to this pattern. I used 3.75mm needles (lucky I did - these have stretched out like mad and I need every bit of cling I can get here). I also changed the cable from twist-every-sixth-row to twist-every-fifth. This was an accident - I glanced at the instructions instead of reading them carefully, and once I had done a repeat and realized my mistake, I also realized I preferred the ones I had done. I just added in the three missing rows to the ribbing above the cable, before the thumb opening. My only other mod was the cast off. I originally worked it as directed, with a little picot-thing every few stitches. I HATED this - it was very loose and gapey - so I ripped it out and reknit it, not only sans picot, but also with a decrease added in every fifth/sixth stitch. This was much more comfortable, fitting closer to the hand without flaring.

I wouldn't knit this again - either the pattern or the yarn. I would use the pattern as a jumping-off point, but would take so many departures that it would be unrecognizable when finished. I would do an all-over cable, to tighten it; I would use a smaller needle to make a tighter fabric; and I would lengthen the wrist portions to a more practical length. These are too short to be of real use as warmers - although they work well under a long-sleeved sweater that is in no danger of riding up. I find I am constantly tucking them back into my sleeves. I think tightening them up would go a long way towards solving this problem, too.

Sigh.

But I have cast on for St Brigid, since I got gauge with my first swatch (hooray for bamboo needles!) and can't wait to start. I am only on round 2, so the cabling hasn't begun yet. It's going to be a challenge - but so fun. There are 5 different charts on both the front and the back, so you knit in this order:

Chart A, Chart B, Chart C, Chart B, Chart D, Chart B, Chart E, Chart B, Chart A

Woot!

Almost finished the Lacy Scallops socks - I am this close. I have rounded the corner into the straightaway, and am galloping along at a fine clip. I should be decreasing for the toe tomorrow night. (I LOVE the end of the second sock. It feels great to weave in the ends, pull the socks on, and take the pattern straight to the recycling.)


Fetching
Pattern: Knitty
Needles: 3.75mm Clover Takumi bamboo DPN
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, in colour 603
55% Merino, 33% Microfibre, 12% Cashmere, 90m/50g
Cast On: Sunday, November 5
Cast Off: Monday, November 6
Modifications: see above. Cable, needle size, cast-off.

No Faithful Hound to Recognize Me, Sadly.*

It's great to be home. I missed blogging...I didn't have internet available where I was staying in Victoria, nor did I have time to do any writing while I was there. But, for your interest, I offer you the whole fascinating story... as an old boyfriend used to say, "I laughed - I cried: it was an emotional roller coaster." (Yes, I know he was quoting.)


We started out last Saturday, boarding the train in Courtenay at 1:00 PM. For some reason I didn't take pictures of the train trip at all. I actually remember thinking "I'll take some on the trip back." We had one-way tickets.

We stayed with a Friend in Victoria. She's one of my oldest and dearest - we met in 1993, when we both joined the UVic women's rowing team. BA lives in Rockland, one of my all-time favourite neighbourhoods in Victoria. This is the view from one of her windows:



and this is the view from another one:



This is Craigdarroch Castle, where I got married almost ten years ago...the preposterous but pretty residence of this chap, infamous Vancouver Island coal baron. It's a beautiful place - more of a house than a castle, but gorgeous. Well worth a look if you're ever in the city. I had intended to visit it again during our trip, along with the Lieutenant Governor's house, but the torrential downpour made this impractical. Next time.




This is Emily, playing with what to the casual observer may appear to be regular rocks: in fact, they are Arctic Rocks (regular only if you are a caribou, a kermode bear, or Inuit). My fabulous friend and her equally fabulous (read, smokin’ hot, charismatic and sexy) roommate are both kayak guides, of the “extreme adventure” variety. During the (northern hemisphere) winters they work on cruise ships in Antarctica, leading kayak trips from the ship onto the ice cap. During (northern hemisphere) summer, they go to the Arctic and guide tours there, in places like the Svalbard Islands. Roommate Phil collected these rocks from the Arctic when he was there.

Okay, enough small talk. Let’s get to the shopping.

On Sunday I made a beeline downtown, kids in tow. I was on a mission – a Buffy mission. Yes, I got it – the entire seven season, 40-disc “Chosen One” collection. And I am a happy, happy girl. I also picked up this great little disc, and a Christmas present for my husband. The husband in question does not read this blog, so I am perfectly safe mentioning it.

And then….then I went to Beehive Wool Shop. Here’s where the whole thing kind of went sour. I can sum up my entire one-hour shopping experience there in one word: RUDE. There were about four staff members on, none of whom was over 25 years of age, I’m sure. The Beehive has turned into quite a trendy place, with lots of novelty yarn for the scarf-knitting crowd, no toys or books to keep children occupied (you should have seen the contemptuous look when I asked about it), and, as it turns out, haughty staff. One of them snapped at, then snatched from, my two-year-old little girl, who was playing with a little stuffed alpaca she had found, and harming nothing. Another was intolerably snobbish to me on the matter of yarn choice, sneering at me because I was committing the idiotic mistake of looking at an aran weight yarn for a pattern calling for 16 stitches over 4 inches… “Well, first of all, you’re looking at the complete wrong yarn. You need a bulky yarn for that. BULKY.” [The tone here was loud and slow, as if talking to a particularly stupid and slow child, or to an ancient person with complete loss of both hearing and intellect.] The rudeness went on and on, and finally ended with me putting back all the yarn I had planned to buy, except one little skein of Fleece Artist merino sock yarn, and vowing to darken the door no more.

I proceeded to Boutique de Laine (no website) in Oak Bay, and gave them the $120 I had intended to spend at Beehive. They were polite, friendly, helpful, and perfectly respectful. It’s a fairly small store, with good stock, knowledgeable staff, and (apparently) a large storeroom downstairs, whence the staff unearth sweater bags at the slightest hint of interest. They really are wonderful. (By the way - apologies for the lack of yarny pictures. I sort of forgot all about the camera until I was outside, so I just snapped the window of the shop, decorated soberly for Remembrance Day.)



One of the best parts about Boutique de Laine is the block where they are located. I could have spent an entire afternoon there. There is a charming consignment store next door, a lovely fish and chip shop called “The Galley”, a home décor place that I was DYING to go into (but didn’t have time), a wonderful toy store, and this:



I was thrilled. Despite having no time, I dashed in and grabbed a total of 3.5 meters of the most divinely drapey interlock, pictured as the backdrop in the photo below, which shows all my acquisitions posing in their new home – my living room.



Clockwise from bottom left:
- pink interlock jersey fabric, 3.0 meters, for a halter-style, bell-sleeved, flared dress.
- Fleece Artist sock merino, lovely pink candy-striped colourway
- more Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, in dark moss
- BUFFY!!
- Paul Simon CD (centre)
- blue interlock jersey, 2.5 meters, for a long peasant skirt.

I did some knitting while I was away, and have a finished object to show you. Maybe tomorrow. For now, good night unto you all! I have some DVDs to watch.

* A skein of sock yarn to the first person who correctly identifies the reference WITHOUT GOOGLING!

Jiggety Jig

Well. I am back from Victoria, where I spent five days with my daughters. It was an exhausting trip, since my husband didn't come with us, so I was on deck 100% of the time with the kids. We didn't have a car, either, so it was public transit with two tired little muffins in the Utter Deluge. Yours truly slogged through the record rainfalls and the lashing wind, dragging several permutations of kindergartner, two-year-old, stroller, sling, knitting bag, backpack, raincoats.

I did have a purpose for this trip, which was largely a buying venture...Beehive Wool Shop, A&B Sound, Boutique de Laine, Stretch&Sew Fabrics, Munros Books, Murchie's Tea, Foxglove Toys. For the most part it was successful - despite being handicapped with all the baggage mentioned above, I managed to get around to most of the places I wanted to go, with minimal tears and tantrums.

Later today (hopefully), a (patchy) pictorial record of our trip.

She's right, it IS fun.

Yesterday I went to my favourite LYS' moving sale. After I had been in the store for a few minutes and had done a bit of recon, I prudently asked for a basket. I went down my mental list of projects, and started loading up. After I had 10 balls of Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool in the basket, four Gedifra Sportivo sock yarn, and a pattern book, I got a bit lightheaded and felt like I needed a little lie down, but I just sat on the floor for a few minutes until it passed.

In case you're wondering what you can get for $240 at Fun Knits, feast your eyes on this.


Clockwise from bottom left:

- four balls of Gedifra Sportivo sock yarn: two green, two blue

- 3 balls of Lavold Silky Wool in pink, the matching dye lot of 2 balls I already had, for This

- little bitty blue sock yarn (for a friend. There is also green, but it didn't make it into the picture.)

- 10 balls Lavold Silky Wool (it's a DK weight) in brown, for ERIS. That's right, you heard me: ERIS. I swatched the SW a couple of nights ago and got gauge, and beautiful cables, with this yarn.

- sweater bag of Classic Merino (oh yeah, come to Momma) in "New Denim", for either Cromarty or St Brigid, I can't decide.

- 3 skeins Malabrigo kettle-dyed merino in Hollyhock. I saved the best for last here...it's stunning. The colour doesn't come through in the picture above, but it's pretty true here:


The Malabrigo is destined for a self-designed vest. I've got something specific in mind but it might take me a while to work up the schematic and the construction.

In the centre is a much-needed needle gauge and ruler, and the aforementioned pattern book, Elsebeth Lavold's Designer Book One: Viking Knits Collection. It's all Silky Wool, all the time in this book. There are several designs I would knit, and I love the yarn, so it was definitely a good buy. I have my eye on a cardigan as well as the tank mentioned above.

So that's two full sweaters, a tank, a vest, and several pairs of socks, plus a pattern book and a steel needle gauge, for $240. Steal.