New inspiration

Now that I've finished up a couple of long standing projects, I'm free to obsess over what to start next. Of course, in order for true procrastination, I've had to do a bit of stash enhancement to get the creative juices flowing. Just a bit. And since it's all arrived this week, I have to share.

The first installment was a new sock book (link to Amazon, but I think you can order direct from the publisher too). After seeing the Rivendell socks in various places, I went to the website and preorder the book. That was about a month and a half ago, and I'd basically forgotten about it until it arrived on Monday. And for the first time, I think I want to knit every pattern. Every single one. That never happens. The layout is great, the photos are exquisite, and there's enough variety between lace, texture, colorwork, toe-up, toe-down, and sideways constructions that any sock knitter should find something to their taste. Its just wonderful. I took it to knit night last night and had to be extra careful that it came home with me.

All the way from Oregon: two skeins of StR lightweight. The first is for a knitting friend of mine who is going to be test knitting a pattern for me. She got to choose the colorway, and decided on

Pirate's Booty. I have to admit that I looked at the picture on their website, and wasn't too excited by this colorway, but in person it is so beautiful. It looks just like a parrot - rich, vibrant, glowing colors. I'm excited to see how this knits up - the pattern was originally done with a semi-solid, so it will be interesting to see how it works with a more dramatic colorway.

Since I was already placing an order, I figured I might as well get something for me to use. And before I knew it, this had fallen into my cart:

Atomic #6. But it should really be called "Mallard" or "Drake". Gorgeous teals and maroon. This might even be manly enough for some boy socks. We'll see. Suffice to say that it is taking every ounce of willpower not to bust open this skein and cast on immediately. I'll already have socks on the needles - starting another pair will totally derail the socks-in-progress. Must. Resist. StR.

Ok, I think the yarn fumes are starting to clear out a bit in here. But (unfortunately) there's more. In fact, I think the fiber fumes are getting pretty thick...

In preparation for my first spinning lesson last week (giving a spinning lesson that is), I started trolling around looking at spindles. I had the idea that maybe spinning laceweight would work better on a hand spindle, so I ended up with this: a new Bosworth mini from Carolina Homespun, along with some gorgeous superwash merino/alpaca that Morgaine included as packing material. Purpleheart, 0.7 oz, and patiently waiting until I finish the other handspindle project and my socks before I try for some really really fine laceweight stuff.

So I think my project needs are satisfied for the next little while. I hope they are!

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Progress report for May:

Finished:
Turkish Walrus socks
Devil's sock yarn skirt (as yet unblogged as an FO because I have yet to get her to put it on and stand still long enough for me to get some pictures)

That's it. Methinks the grant writing was more of a time suck then I originally thought. I did have a couple of big projects going on though, which will show up on June's report.

For the grandparents, another progress report:

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.

FO: Turkish Walrus

These are my May socks for the Sockamonth5 knitalong, and they are a total cheat. The whole pair was knit in March/April 2006, but I never finished them because I screwed up the cuffs. And then I had to make "buttons" and knit up a little tab to sew them on, and they got stuck in the back of the cupboard and forgotten about. Occasionally they'd make an appearance and I'd look at them guiltily, thinking that I really ought to just get them done. But then I'd stick them back in a bag and forget about them for a few more months.

In the spirit of finishing off long-lingering UFOs (and in panic because my other socks are no-way-no-how going to be finished by the end of the month), I pulled them out last night and finished them on the bus this morning.

It took 15 min, max. Pshaw!

Pattern: my own, named for my lovely sister-in-law B, pattern available as soon as I get my butt in gear pattern now available as a pdf file - email me (porpoiseknits AT gmail DOT com) if you'd like a copy.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport, 100% wool, in Sunburst Gold (308), French Clay (N17), Burnt Sienna (101) and Sapphire (N65)
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm
Gauge: 28 sts/36 rows per 4 inches in stranded pattern
Comments: My SIL, who is actually Turkish, gave me a pair of beautiful socks many many Christmas ago, which I wore until they got huge holes in the heels. And then I wore them some more. And then I realized that I couldn't wear them and needed to make a replacement pair. These socks are a toe-up, quick knit in sport-weight yarn, with a garter stitch buttoned cuff. A nice easy pattern if you are a beginner to stranded/Fair Isle knitting. You can use as many colors as you like, making the stripes as thick as you like.

Cuff detail

Toe-up heel flap

I'll be wearing these with my Birks this summer to protect me in the Houston AC wars. Hooray for new socks (that required less then one bus ride to finish)!

Fiber Friday: Spiral boot socks

I realize that having a Fiber Friday post that includes a finished item is something of an oxymoron, but these are the second thing I've made for me with my own handspun, and I am excessively enamored of them.

Pattern: Spiral Boot Socks by Veronik Avery, IK Summer 2007
Yarn: Toxic superwash corriedale, 3 ply, approximately fingering weight, dyed by Hello Yarn (more details on the spinning are here), 515 yds.
Needles: multiple sizes -- US 1/2.25 mm and US 2/2.75 mm dpns from Brittany, US 1.5/2.5 mm dpns from Knit Picks
Started/finished (this is why I love Ravelry!): 3/12 on my way to Portland/4/14/08.
Comments and modifications: Where to start? I spun this yarn hoping to end up with some subtle striping, and it worked out better then I ever imagined once the yarn was knitted up. I knew from the beginning I'd need to do a bunch of modifications since 1) I wanted to knit the socks toe-up so I could use all of the yarn and 2) the pattern schematics indicated a top leg opening of only 11 inches. Since I spent the better part of three days this winter trying to find a pair of knee high boots that would close around my "shapely" calves (18 inches!), 11 inches was not going to cut it.

My gauge with this yarn on US 1/2.25 mm needles was about 7 sts/9 rows per inch so I did my standard toe increases up to the number of stitches called for in the pattern and tried it on. Everything looked good, so I forged ahead. I simply worked the charts as they are printed in the pattern for the length of the foot. When I had about 6.5 inches of foot done, I started increasing one stitch on each side of the heel stitches every other row for the gusset. Once those were done (14 increases total) I turned the heel as in the pattern directions and then worked the heel flap in sl1/k1 rib just as I did for the Firestarter socks.

Once the heel was done, I started working the leg patttern with US 1/2.25 mm needles. I did 15 repeats before increasing one stitch before the YO. 15 more repeats and then increased one stitch after the YO. Note: this is not what was called for in the pattern, but I didn't read closely enough to catch the mistake until I was almost at the top of the leg. So I didn't bother fixing it. This increase in stitch number as you go up the leg creates subtle calf shaping that works pretty well.

I did 15 repeats of the final stitch pattern and then switched to US 2/2.75 needles for 12 more repeats. At that point, I figured I was going to use up most of the yarn, and started on the cuff. In order to tighten up the top of the sock and help keep them up, I switched to US 1.5/2.5 mm needles for the cuff pattern. Again, I didn't flip the chart at all, just worked it as written, did the final few rows of lace and used a standard bind off (k2, pass 1st stitch over second, k1, pass 1st stitch over second, repeat ad nauseum). This is not a particularly stretchy bind off, but it fits well, and hopefully will force the socks stay up.

Now the next question is: will it ever be cold enough in Houston to wear them? Because knee high wool socks and shorts are not a fashion statement I'm particularly willing to make!

FO: Firestarter socks

Pattern: The Firestarter by Yarnissima
Yarn: Plymouth Happy Feet (Rav link), color 5, 2 skeins
Needles: Susan Bates US 1/2.25 mm
Comments/mods: These socks were the first project I started for PS, way back in the beginning of March. The first sock went along very quickly - I increased the number of stitches for the foot to 68 (up from 60 given that I have size 10 feet), and the number of foot repeats from 5 to 8. Once I turned the heel, I worked the heel flap in sl1/k1/purl back to give the standard ridge heel flap look. I also kept the front and the back of the leg in stockinette instead of the ribbing called for in the pattern. After a couple of pattern repeats, I increased 12 stitches (4 sts per round, 3 times) spaced out over a couple of repeats to give a bit of calf shaping.

When I got to the top of the leg, I decreased 8 sts evenly all the way around before working ten rounds of k1tbl/p1 ribbing. I decreased stitches in order to keep the twisted stitches from the side panels flowing smoothly into the ribbing. I really enjoyed this pattern, and I'm very glad I did this one before attempting something like Bayerische. Once I got the hang of working the twisted stitches, they moved along pretty quickly. I love the purl texture of the gusset next to the twisted stitches, and the pattern was very well written. They're nice and cozy, just in time for Houston summers!

The only slight downside to this project was the yarn. The colors are beautiful, but it was a bit splitty to work with. I've been thinking alot recently about spinning sock yarn, and how tightly spun/plied it needs to be to wear well. This stuff just seemed too softly spun to hold up well, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!

In the interests of science (geek alert) I also kept track of how long it took me to knit one sock. Details are in a Flickr set if anyone is interested. Suffice to say I won't be making a living knitting socks for sale anytime soon!

Given my goal of knitting one pair of gift socks for every pair I knit for myself (the kid socks don't count), the next pair I cast on will have to be for someone else. There's enough options in my Rav queue to keep me busy for quite a while.