FO: Spiraling Coriolis

Finished on the bus this morning, and immediately put on (without weaving in the ends) because the bus driver plays a butcher in another life, and was driving around in a diesel-powered meat locker. It was approximately 6 degrees in there. I definitely needed socks.

From the outside, these babies are pretty non-descript - slightly stripey, but not terribly interesting to look at.

But if you look at what's under the pants...

Spirals!

More spiraling!

Even more spiraling!

Pattern: Master Spiraling Coriolis (Rav link) by Cat Bordhi, from New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book 1
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, color #9816, 98% cotton/2% elastic, 2 balls (100 yds/50 g)
Needles: Susan Bates US 1/2.25 mm
Gauge: 7 sts/13 rows per inch
Comments: This pattern was my first from this absolutely fantastic book. If you are a sock knitter, and haven't looked at this book yet, run - do not walk! - to your nearest library or bookstore and check it out. It has 8 different ways of creating a sock; actually, it's more like 8 different ways to create tubes with a bulge in the middle for your heel/arch - the heels and toes are pretty standard. But Cat has discovered that you can put the gusset increases in a whole bunch of different places, allowing for infinite variety in sock design. It's phenomenal!

This pattern struck me, in part because it was touted as a good use for handpainted yarn (of which I have some in my stash that has been through three or four different sock starts, and failed miserably at all of them), and because spirals are pretty cool. Plus it's named after a physics concept. A concept that accounts for this:

Again with the spirals.

I picked up the yarn when I bought the book, since I'd never tried it but had heard a lot about it. Plus cotton is just that much more pleasant to work with in the Houston summer, not to mention more wearable! Having now used it for a whole pair of socks, I have to say that I liked it. It took a little while to figure out the correct tension to use, since the stuff can stretch like crazy, but it knits up into a nice fabric. It seems slightly heavier to me then other sock yarns I've used, but the "200 yds" in the two balls made a pair of women's size 10 socks with 5.5 inch cuffs, which for me is pretty long, so the "yardage" is good.

Given the green/brown and grey/cream color scheme, I'm also counting these against Project Spectrum Earth and Air. August 1 is the start of Water, which I think is going to be a big element for me - I love blues and purples and greys, so I've got a bunch of projects lined up for the next round.

And I guess this makes 8 pairs of socks this year, hunh? Maybe I can make it to 15+...But I've got my July pair done for the knitalong. And yarn in my bag to cast on another project from this book on the way home.

No, I don't have a problem. Why do you ask?

Socks, socks and more socks

One of my goals for the year was to knit more socks. To assist in that endeavor, I joined the Sock A Month knitalong. To date (6.5 months in to 2008), I have knit 8 pairs. Half of those pairs have been for me, two pairs are for Devil and one pair is a pattern I'm hoping to make available soon, and will go to a good friend. One last pair would have been for me, but they ended up too small.

It would be nice to have some more socks for gifts by the end of the year, but over my vacation I found myself casting on for yet another pair of socks for me. My trip to Windsor Button resulted in the purchase of a new sock book,

and some new-to-me yarn to try out a pair. Actually, I got yarn for two pairs of socks, but I've only got one photographed so far. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the cute little Fixation balls before I started. All I have to offer is this

blurry photo of the sock in progress. I'm onto the leg of the second sock now, and hope to have it finished by the end of the week. And with these colors, they'll count for Project Spectrum Earth and Air (even though they're late for Earth). A two-fer!

Here's hoping that tonight I can take some more yarn pictures and maybe even finish off the Brambler that was stalled for lack of handspun. What do you say girls? Gonna give Mama a chance to get something done? Sounds like a plan...

Flashbacks

I've been thinking back to eigth grade over the last few days, when I was young and nerdy, and my best friend was a basketball-obsessed Japanese girl. I can still remember the starting line up for the Celtics in those days*, and I remember watching them play the Lakers in the Finals. It was the first time I'd ever really watched basketball, given that my mom was not in to televised sports, and my dad leaned towards that Brahmin standard, tennis, rather then this new-fangled basketball thing.

But it was amazing, the whole rivalry. And tonight it starts up again. For the first time in 21 years. It won't be the same as those 80s matchups (no Magic, no Larry), but it's a nice example of history repeating.

For those of you playing along at home, here's another flashback, thankfully not 21 years old.

Pattern: Basalt Tank from Knitting Nature, Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Top, color 005, 5 skeins (960 yds)
Needles: US 6/4.0 mm
Mods/comments: I had some "issues" with the first version of this, and the size medium I knit bore a striking resemblance to a circus tent. So this is a size small (hahaha!), with modifications to the side hexagons and waist shaping as pioneered by Kelly.

Waist shaping detail

Those of you familiar with the pattern may notice something odd about the first picture - it does not look like the pictures of the finished garment in the book. This angle may help:

Ironman told me to "Do something interesting...like flex!"

When I put this thing on with the correct side facing front, it was obscene. As in, its a good thing I'm not better endowed up front because I would have been flashing the world like a German beer wench. Plus it gaped in the back, and there was no hiding that.

So I put it in the washing machine to try and shrink it a bit. No dice. Then I had a brain flash (I think the little grey cells are coming back already) and turned it around. Ta da! Problem solved. The only thing I don't like is that the seam for the bottom edging is now right in the front. Only time will tell if that bugs me enough to rip it out and redo it. For now, the Basalt tank is off the needles and wearable. Thank goodness!

* Larry Bird, DJ (Dennis Johnson), Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Danny Ainge

FOs: Thank you brain

FO#1: a large research grant, which is out of my hands and off to the lovely administrative folks at my institution to submit to the Grand Poobah of Federal Biomedical Research Funding (otherwise known as the National Institutes of Health). I am looking forward to reclaiming my very worn out brain cells and returning to the land of the semi-coherent sometime in the next week or so.

FO#2: the North Roe shawl in my own handspun...

Pattern: North Roe shawl by Odile Buatois-Brand
Yarn: 70% merino/30% mohair, colorway Verdant, from Hello Yarn, 5 oz/approx 650 yds
Needles: US 8/5.0 mm
Size: preblock, 60 x 26 inches; post-block, 70 x 36 inches.
Mods/comments: Loved the pattern, loved the handspun, even though I ran out and had to spin more. I even love how the striping came out, and I'm not big on striped shawls. Since I was light on yardage even before running out, I worked fewer repeats of Charts 1 and 2 (4 repeats and 3 respectively), and made it 8 of 12 rows into the edging before I decided that binding off was the better part of valor. Since running out again and having to spin more "laceweight" at 10:00 pm Sunday night would have dissolved me into a puddle of tears on the living room floor. This is my third lace shawl, and as with all the others, I am enamoured of the process of taking unblocked blob:

and turning it into this:

Chart 1

Chart 1 morphing into Chart 2

Chart 2 morphing into edging

Bliss.

FO#3: will have to wait for another day - I can't put all the goodies in one post now, can I?

So, while I was away

OK, I admit it, I haven't actually been any where. But I have been spending the majority of my waking hours working on a large pile of paper designed to convince the Feds to throw some cash my way so I can be gainfully employed for the next few years. A process not conducive to extensive blogging. But I have been doing some knitting and spinning that I can share with you.

On the knitting front is the Basalt Tank, Version 2.0 - now with waist shaping.

The waist shaping tip came from Kelly, and has made a world of difference. Version 1.0 was 4 inches too big in the chest (swatches lies, I swear) and looked like a potato sack. Now I'm actually thinking this might look pretty good.

I'm maybe a third into the last full hexagon on the back. After that there's one half hexagon and a veritable mile of garter stitch edging to do. But I'm still hoping that this one will sneak in under the wire for the Earth installment of Project Spectrum.

Next up: Flukes for Porpoise:

There is a lovely group on Ravelry called The Thrifty Sock Knitters Club, for folks who like the idea of a sock club, but aren't willing to fork over the big bucks to join one. The moderators pick several free patterns each month, and everyone chooses their own yarn. This month (June) will be the first one I've actually participated in, but they've introduced me to a bunch of cool patterns that are now queued up for knitting sometime in 2030. This is the first top down sock I've done in a long time, and I'm having some paranoia issues about yarn shortages...

Finally - spinning! The best thing so far for me about Ravelry has been the opportunity to meet some other local knitters. I now have a group I meet on Wednesday at lunchtime down at work, and a group I meet with on Thursday evenings. A while ago, someone got in touch with me through Rav and asked if I would help her learn how to use a drop spindle. Last Thursday we met up at the evening meeting and had a lovely time messing about with fiber, getting odd looks from the Whole Foods shoppers passing by.

My hand spindle has been sorely neglected since I got a wheel, but it was so fun to go back to it. I was so inspired that I came home and stayed up for another hour and half to get more done. The first half of the fiber is now wound off onto a "storage bobbin"* and I'm ready to go on the second half. No idea what weight it will end up or how many yards I'll have, but I would love to have enough to do Anne's new little nothing, Brambler.

So, even though I may be MIA in the blog world, the fiber stuff does continue. I've only got until next Monday to finish screwing around with this grant though, so I'll be back more regularly after that.