All Spun Up, SW Merino (May/June 2009 Spinalong)

Pigeonroof Studios, SW BFL (Delight)

Just as I’m making a good start with the spinning again, I have to go and and leave town again (Hello Stockholm!). Despite the portability, the spindles will stay home. But there will be sock knitting. Lots and lots of sock knitting.

Whoa! This batt was so fluffy and huge, I was tempted not to spin it, but rather to use it as a pillow! I did a tradition three-ply here to make a heavy worsted/bulky yarn. Man, trad three-ply is hard with a spindle. As you can see I had to go digging for extra coffee cups to keep everything in line. The batt was beautiful but having never spun from a batt before, I was a little unsure where to start. I did some digging around on the CJ Kopec board on Ravelry and discovered a number of helpful posts where people when into some detail of how the split and spun their batts (ABAB or ABCDABCD etc.). I guess this really isn’t finished because I haven’t set the twist. But you know… What will it be eventually? I dunno? A chunky hat? A chunky neck warmer? Chunky mitts? Well, I don’t really know yet, but I’ll tell you this: it’ll certainly be chunky.

So I’ve been away for a while. But in that time I’ve done some knitting. Many many pairs of socks (it was all I brought to the Netherlands, afterall). And now that I’m back (Wisc WiscJennyAnn once again) my sock drawer is overflowing. So as I get my taste for blogging back again, here is a taste of what I’ve been knitting for the past 2.5 months.

1. FO: De Hoge Veluwe Sokken, 2. FO: “Lucky to be Coming Home Again” Socks,
3. FO: Jubileum Socks, 4. FO: Hollandse Nieuwe,
5. Krokus, ook… False finish., 6. FO: Dazed, boom. Socks

Getting used to being back.

NORTH (March/April)
Color: Green
Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks
Season: Winter
Element: Earth

It seems strange to be starting with winter just as spring is springing up all over the place. In Holland the crocuses and narcissus have been up for at least a couple of weeks now. The flower stalls are overflowing with tulips (and others) on the cheap.

Some days have big fluffy clouds, others are a bit more gray, but there is green everywhere.

And my knitting? I am charging through the yarn I brought with me. All socks. Of the seven pairs I planned in the weeks running up to my trip, I’ve knit three pairs and am half-way through the fourth. I’ve kept up with my goal of at least one pair of socks per month since October now. But while I will always love socks, my fingers are itching for something else. Maybe a lace project. Or maybe a sweater. (A sweater? Me? A sweater? I don’t knit sweaters!) But for the time being, I am sticking to the traveling sock stash. Although I did acquire a couple of new skeins for my birthday.

But as for finished objects, a bit of Green for Project Spectrum.

“Lucky to be Coming Home Again” Socks

Netherlands 2009
Project Spectrum IV NORTH
Socktoberfest 2008 (Attempted)

Pattern: Leafling by JC Briar (RSC March 2008)
Toe mods: A la KnittingSuzanne (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock – Mediumweight (Lucky, RSC March 2008)
Needles: US 1½ / 2.5 mm, US 1 / 2.25 mm, 47″
Start: September 28 2008
Finish: March 3 2009

(Ripped and reknit 3 times before finally getting it right. Ugh. Major gauge issues. Love the color, pattern sorta made me crazy.)

1. Bits of sunlight and blue sky., 2. Progress: De Hoge Veluwe Sokken,
3. AH Bonus and mapping a route to Zuid., 4. Sun! Blue sky! Yip!

As to take up a little room, so you can take note of the little spoiler logo and decide whether or not you want to see the pictures of my recently completed Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin Sock Club January 2009 socks, I will tell you a little story. And I call it…

Unlucky.

The day before yesterday I woke up with a sore throat, the sniffles followed soon after, followed again by some coughing. Oh yes, it was a cold. Not a big cold, but enough of a cold to make me think twice about the long long list I was attempting to tackle before departing for the Netherlands. I crossed a few items off, undone.

Yesterday, as I was bringing my freshly folded laundry up the stairs, I felt a tweak followed by a shooting pain. Whaaaa? I have a good back. A reliable back.  A back that takes on the world, unintimidated! Usually. So today I’m gimping around, very very slowly, unable to lift heavy objects (like suitcases or vacuum cleaners). A few more items have been removed from the list, undone.

Tomorrow I fly. Friday the 13th and I fly.

Unlucky is the word that I use to describe whoever it is in the middle seat next to me (I’ve got an aisle! Woot!). He/she is going to have to deal with my coughing, sneezing, fidgeting as I try to get comfortable (but ultimately fail because when you’re back is shot, there is no such thing as comfortable), alternatively standing up/sitting down every 10 min because “I gotta walk.”

On the other hand… I am lucky. I am going to the Netherlands to hang with the most wonderful man in the world and a bunch of supercool family demographers.

So on to those socks…

Curacao, Netherlands Antilles Sokken
Rockin Sock Club January 2009 Selection

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, Lightweight (My Blue Heaven)
Beads: Aggravatingly Small (Teal Blue)
Pattern: Queen of Beads by Sivia Harding
Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm, 47″
Started: Feb 1 2009
Finished: Feb 5 2009

OMG, those effin’ beads!! Ugh. While I was frustrated every stringing, forcing down the strand, placing moment, in the end I think they’re kinda pretty. I guess that’s part of the reason we join yarn clubs– to try new colors, fibers and techniques that we wouldn’t otherwise attempt. Oh, and we join for the community too. Knitting along and participating in the RSC group chatter over on Ravelry was a blast! If it weren’t for that group, I wouldn’t have thought to modify the toe. I was inspired by MomofTwins (Rav link), who has also been the creative mind between several other RSC mods that I luuuuv (stay tuned for a kickin Leafling mod!). Also by way of mods, I extended the heel flap to 12 repeats. In other news, big fan of the tubular cast on! Perhaps there will be more of these in my future as I’m staring down the barrel of several top-down socks.

Oh my, socks socks socks. It all started in October with Socktoberfest, but man! I’ve been knitting a lot of socks. Even finished my first pair of Netherlands Sokken last night! (oops!) And I haven’t even left yet! But to keep in the spirit of Dutch socks, perhaps the photo shoot can wait until Saturday. Till then… Doei! (And “goede reis” to me and the poor person who has to sit next to me.)

PS– New Project Spectrum to start soon!!!! Yip!

1) In August 2007 I was visiting my friend Smatt in Pittsburgh. He accompanied me to Knit One and picked out some sock yarn. In October we picked out a pattern and I started knitting him some socks. By December 2007 the first sock was done. But unfortunately I didn’t mention when I would actually be finished knitting them. Remember what I was saying about the importance of deadlines? Well, fast forward 14 months– enough time to make me feel that the second sock syndrome was way out of control. Also, inspiration came in the form of a couple of a-pair-a-month KALs on Ravelry (The Great Sock Off 2009 and 2009 Sock Knit Along). Suddenly the drive to finish rose up inside of me and Smatt’s second sock was done in two days! So these stitches will be traveling back to Pittsburgh where it all started 19 months ago. I expect Smatt is going to be pretty shocked to have them arrive in the mail. I wonder if he even remembers them…

The color is most accurate in the photo on the right.

Matt Makes Me Make Him Socks Socks (M4HS2) (Ravelry link)
Pattern: Earl Grey by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Socka Mit Bambou
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm)
Started: (HOLY CREAP!) October 2007
Finished: Feb 3 2009

2) The second set of stitches that will travel far far away this week are a pair of fingerless mitts I knit for my friend Elena in Stockholm. I haven’t seen her since July and I miss her terribly. But I look forward to a trip up to Sweden at the end of March. And until then hopefully these will keep her hands warm. I’m worried that they’re a little big for her, but maybe she can felt them up a bit.

Elemm’s Cabled Kolenya, for Elena (Ravelry Link)
Pattern: Kolenya by Carola Haglund, cable pattern from Shedir by Jenna Wilson
Yarn: Noro Kureyon (180)
Needles: US 4 / 3.5 mm
Started: January 30 2009
Finished: January 30 2009

3) And finally, next Friday me and my stitches will be traveling to the Netherlands for two months. I’m very very very excited about this trip. And the first order of business as I start to pack… deciding what projects to bring with me. Lately I’ve been feeling very strongly about sock knitting, so they will dominate the queue. It’s all so inspiring! I’m focusing on projects from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks. But as a celebration of the Netherlands, I’ll bring a couple of Yarnissima patterns: Spina di Pesce (the featured pattern for the next KAL in the Yarnissima group on Ravery– starting some time around March 7) and Cleopatra’s Stockings, the May 2008 Rockin Sock Club selection (Ravelry link). I really enjoy planning my knitting ahead of long trips. It was so much fun to have a knitting “set list” when I was in Sweden last year– the yarn all wound up, matched to patterns. With a plan and a fixed amount of yarn it’s amazing how much you can get done! Despite this anticipated knitting productivity, I do think I’m going a bit overboard– so far I’ve picked out five patterns. Two months really isn’t that long and I will need to be working some of the time as well. Oh and I suppose I should give Wouter some attention too. I wish yarn/knitting weren’t so hard to resist!

How to decide?

Last week, “January 31 2009″ stood looming. Since mid-December I’ve been knitting along on La Digitessa socks with a group over on the Yarnissima Ravery board. The KAL divided up the sock, with a weekly goal (toe, foot, gusset, heel, leg, cast-off), and through the first of the year I was on track. Then a couple of “distraction fairies” arrived in the form of a grant deadline (there’s that word again!) and in the form of a gentleman aboard a KLM flight from the Netherlands and… well… let’s just say I got a bit off track.

Officially the KAL ended the third week of the month and I was distraught. I’ve tried KALs before and I usually get distracted. I’ll miss one of the intermediate deadlines and that’s it. Once the spell is broken, my focus will !POOF! disappear and I might as well rip the whole thing out cause that UFO is done for. (The Secret of the Stole KAL last year is a perfect example of this. Frankly I have no idea where that stole is. Did I even bring it back from Sweden??? Oh man, I miss Sweden.) So yes, with deadlines missed I was distraught. I have a deep seeded love for Yarnissima patterns. The intricate details. The challenge. The lovely presentation of the pattern in beautiful booklets. The Wollmeise. The whole “Dutch” thing. But even so, I felt off track and at risk for never finishing these socks. Ever.

But there, at the end of the week stood January 31. And that was it. I my gaze was fixed and I was gonna make it. And so Wednesday, Thursday, Friday… straight through: project monogamy. And suddenly I was caught up, knitting the cross and the ribbing (OMG, that cross on the back and how it works into the ktb1p1 ribbing? Sooooo pretty!), and casting off. Tada! My first successful KAL! And having that deadline of the end of the month inspired me to find some groups on Ravelry that aim for a sock a month: the 2009 Sock KAL, the Great Sock Off of 2009 and Sock Knitters Anonymous.

Will I make it through to December 2009 with twelve pairs of socks? I dunno. But having deadlines sure does help!

FO: Digitessalong
Pattern: La Digitessa by Yarnissima
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle 100% superwash (La Digitessa)
Needles: US 0 / 2.0 mm (40" circs)
Two at a time, woot!
Started:  December 11 2008
Finished: January 31 2009

My deep love of the Blueberry Quartz spindle brought me back to Butterflygirl Designs. While I’m not typically someone won over by flowery designs, this spindle is just lovely. It is 1.3 oz top-whorl and the whorl is made of Italian resin. The silver shimmers when it spins and oh does it spin beautifully. I couldn’t be happier.

So happy in fact that in the span of four days I managed to spin and ply 4 oz of yarn!

Fiber: Superwash Corriedale Combed Top
Colorway: Dead Leaves & Dirty Ground, September 2008 Fiber Club Selection
Spindle: Butterfly Girl Designs 1.3 oz top-whorl Italian Resin Silver Flower spindle, Navajo-plied.
Started: 22 January 2009
Finished: 25 January 2009

And oh boy did spinning and plying and new handspun make me happy! So happy in fact that I charged right into the next roving!

Fiber: Shetland
Colorway: My Winding Wheel, October 2008 Fiber Club Selection
Spindle: Butterfly Girl Designs 1.3 oz top-whorl Italian Resin Silver Flower spindle, probably will be 2-ply
Started: 25 January 2009
Finished: ?

What a happy new year this is turning out to be!

And yet, I have this feeling that this year was just the preamble to amazing things to come… 2009? Bring it on! I can’t wait.

Happy New Year!

* Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Spain… errrr… Catalunya, Latvia, New Orleans, CT, and again CTMANY, and of course Madison.