Might as well face it...

Might as well face it. I’m addicted to socks.

Knitting socks that is.  I've been a sock knitter nearly since I started knitting in the late nineties.

I started with fat socks as many people do.  For beginning knitters, the size one needles just seem impossible.  So I began with a few pair of worsted weight socks - - warm and cozy in hiking boots.  Then I realized that they didn’t wear very well (particularly in merino).  But it’s okay… I learned the structure of sock.  The heel flap, turning the heel, the gusset, grafting the toe.

But in the last few years, my sock knitting has come along way.  Now even a slightly bigger sock yarn seems awfully large.  I just finished knitting a pair with Paton’s Kroy on what seems like HUGE 3’s for the leg; 2’s for the foot. I’m currently teaching a sock class, to bring other knitters into the fold.

So a little finished object parade, for your consideration…

 Vanilla lattes in Knit Picks Felici

Eirene - Paired cables in Knit Picks Bare sportweight.

 A slow slog of Circle Socks.

 

No pictures for the next few.  Seems if I wait to take pics, I'll never post this. 

3 X 1 ribs in Paton’s Kroy, with both legs knitted at a conference, where I did not see any other knitters.  Very strange.  This was a social studies conference.  At library conferences, there are LOTS of knitters.

There are under construction, with the pause button hit in various places for teaching purposes...

‘Blackberry waffles’ in  Lang Jawoll in a very dark purple colorway that has forced me to knit them under the full spectrum light.

Big fat socks in an unlabeled sock yarn from the FFW sale room.  Kind of a ‘denim blue fake fair isle' pattern.  Maybe Fortissima Colori Mexiko 6 ply.  Maybe.

Happily I have found the Ravelry group, 12 Socks, in which other sock-addicted knitters show  off their work, with monthly challenges.  I won a prize for the February challenge - -more sock yarn!

Socks 2015.1 Log Cabin Latte

Last evening I grafted the toes on my first completed pair of socks for 2015.  I used this pattern:  Vanilla Latte.  My first time with the pattern, I liked it.  The sock was a bit big, but that's okay as they are intended for the Strategic Gift Reserve.  Even though my feet are a generous 8.5, some of my sisters (the main sock recipients) have feet that are even more generous, as are their spirits. 

The yarn is Knit Pick's Felici in 'Rustic Cabin.' I am glad they brought that yarn back, and I particularly like the colorway.  As I found the link, I see that it has 'disappeared' again.  I guess I'm not the only one who likes it.  Glad I bought more that one colorway.

I have 2 other socks in the pipeline.  One is a cable sock made in a sport weight yarn that I purchased in error.  Turns out I really like both the yarn and the pattern.  Add the fact that sport weight socks knit up a bit faster, even on a size 3, and I had a hard time putting them down last evening. I'm already planning a variation for the next pair.

Upcoming events (for which I need to hustle):  Friends & Fiberworks annual Winter Retreat.  I'll be staffing the store and teaching a dye class.  Shortly after that the gang will head to the Statesville (NC) Quilt Show where my dyed fiber will be in the FFW booth.  Guess I'll be dyeing quilt show fiber in class.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Happy New Year 2015

As the new year rolls around we tend to take stock.  What was wonderful...other things...well, less so.  I find that I miss the blog.  Not the self promotion, that gets tired.  I've never been one for a parade of finished objects.  I can hardly remember to take pictures for my Ravelry page.

But I think that what I miss is the writing.  Writing a few times a week give me a time for introspection...thoughtfulness...as I try to put thoughts and feelings into words. I have used this blog as a diary of sorts, mostly writing about fiber (obviously), gardening, travel and the public parts of my life.  There's only a little about work, except as it gives me a few interesting travel opportunities a year.  My private life is only interesting to me - no drama to make salacious reading.

So in 2015, I'm going to revive the blog.  Other resolutions...

• Finish the purple sweater (about 80% done).
• Rework red sweater.  So far I have pulled out the sleeves and washed the yarn.
• Knit at least 6 pair of socks (2 already on needles)
• Work out more - Notice that I did NOT quantify that. but I've either walked or done yoga nearly every day since the Christmas break began.
• Pay attention the Etsy shop.  I started by putting my patterns up.
• A little promotion wouldn't hurt (Facebook; Phat fiber)
• Add patterns to Ravelry.
• Keep my office cleaner.  It's currently quite tidy. Can I spend 5 minutes at the end of every day tidying up? 

So we shall see if I can keep this going.  Stay tuned...

Knitting along

Beginning in May, I'll be hosting a knit-along at my favorite yarn shop, Friends & Fiberworks ( FFW). The pattern that I've chosen is Berroco's Seabrook, a simple drapey  vest - almost embarrassingly easy.  The pattern was written for Captiva, but I''ve chosen Lago instead.

I wanted a fabric and color that went with a lot of summer things, but wasn't beige. So it's kind of a denim blue.  The yarn is a linen-viscose blend with a matte finish and a bit of texture.

With a pattern name like Seabrook and a yarn called Lago (Spanish for lake), I need a name that suggests water, but reflects my landlocked status.  Mountain stream?  Nolichucky? French Broad?  Both of those are rivers in this area.  Let's keep it simple: Blue Water.

Bad phone picture of Mount Vernon

It's been travel knitting for short jaunt. As I am on the advisory board for my grant, we get together a couple times a year to help with decision making. As some 'interesting'  changes are coming up, our feedback was rather important.  The meeting was in Alexandria, so instead of going across the river to DC to do my usual museum tour, I spent my time in this interesting city, both historic and modern.  I had a good time even with drizzly weather. Our meetings were at Mount Vernon,  but we got only a tiny bit of free time. My colleagues and I got to the outbuildings,  but not the main house.  Overheard a dad to his kid: "All you have to do is find a rich widow with lots of land."  Sounds like good advice, by the upkeep is tough. All the way around.

The first KAL session was last evening with my Knitters-along and a few people who were just there to sit and knit.  Everyone's Seabrook was getting off to a fine start.  And we've all decided to stick with garter stitch rather than seed stitch.  Too many purls!

This weekend coming up?  The 3rd annual Asheville Yarn Crawl. I'll probably get to a few - mostly to make sure my fiber is nicely stocked - and maybe to check out Echoview Fiber Mill. Although kind of a schlep, I've been wanting to visit so perhaps now is the time. 

Random Thursday Bits

Well, it seems that the only way to blog more is too...blog more. So, a few bits of blog...

1. Current knitting is a basic vest of my own design - hand dyed, handspun BFL in my rusty red colorway.  I'm knitting it in one piece to the underarms, then I'll separate the fronts and back.  Deep vee cardi. I'm very close to the separation point

2. I've been spinning a good bit lately, both the red BFL above and it's blue green cousin.  Also, even if the singles have been on the bobbin for and unconscionable time, you can still ply them.  Who knew?  That adds some lovely medium brown and creamy white to the stash.

3. I'm on my second round of sock classes with 2 fine students.  Since I knit along with them, I have (or will have) lots of new socks. Making a serious dent in the sock yarn stash, which is a fine thing.

4. Next weekend is the Winter Retreat at Friends & Fiberworks in Asheville.  Classes, vendors, yarn party all around.  Kind of hoping one of my classes doesn't make so I can take one.

5. Just got a big honkin' order for dyed mohair locks.  Kind of like these...

That's about all we have time for today.  Back to work (lunch hour blogging!  I like it!); then time for the little red Car-Car to get new tires.  Car-Car needs a new pair of shoes!

Still Knitting...

Yikes!  It's been since September?  Seems impossible that the whole fall season - ok, semester - has gone by without a post.  So, here's some of what happened...in no particular order...

SAFF - A wonderful weekend of fibery goodness.  I was holding down the action in the workshop building, so I didn't get around as much as I liked, but it sure was fun. Smoky Mountain Fibers sponsored the contemporary sheep to shawl demo, dyeing the yarn and roving in my Saturn colorway. 

Sock class - I taught a couple of people to make socks.  I knit my little fingers to the bone to keep my samples up to speed with my students & ended up with a pair of cozy purple socks.


Designing woman - Since my collaboration with Friends and Fiberworks, a yarn shop in Asheville NC, I am knitting lots of  small projects to show off the yarn.  Sometimes we knit up samples in the yarn companies' patterns but whenever possible we make up a simple pattern to give away with yarn purchases.  None of these are fabulous creations, but they are all just unique enough to declare an original.  And it really helps the yarn find its way to a new home. 

Knitting along - In addition to teaching classes, I'm also hosting knit-a-longs at the shop.  This evening it will be 'Fast, Fun Fingerless Mitts', or as I call them Fast & Furious Fingerless Mitts.

Just plain knitting - Both for myself and the various shops who carry my hats and scarves.  Now, can we get some cold weather, please? 

Dyeing - Both for my Etsy shop and the local trade.  I am currently spinning some delightful Blue Faced Leicester roving that I dyed in shades of orangey red.  And it's actually for ME! I have a vest in mind...

Other than these few little dibs and dabs, working most Saturdays at the yarn shop, the day job has been keeping me busy as well as my usual activities - yoga, gardening, dancing, goofing off with friends & family.  You know, life! 

Riding the Rails

View from the Jackson Street Blue Line stop

I'm writing this short post aboard the CTA - from O'Hare airport to downtown Chicago.  Whenever I travel, I like to take public transportation if I can.  In DC, I take the metro.  In Minneapolis, it used to be the city bus from the airport to my sister's house, now it's light rail.

Today I am traveling to Chicago for a 2-day business meeting.  I'm on the blue line and writing this post on my phone.  Multiple new experiences at the same time!  Since I had better than an hour, the train @ $2.25 seemed like a good value as well as a cultural peak into big city life.

Earlier this month my friend Sally and I took Amtrak to DC, a long night train ride.  This is very different. We trainsters are moving along while the cars are crawling. People getting on the trains include people in suits and Tshirts, speaking English and Spanish.  They chat, read the paper, play with their phones, write, and just sit with eyes open or closed.  I started to knit, but then decided to write this post.

Requisite knitting content:  A short trip, I brought only the llama-cotton vest.  I guess I am making an assumption that all will go well, though I did bring an additional book and MP3 player.  The vest is kind of a slog.  It is knit top down, with yarn overs that make each row progressively longer.  It's the second one, destined to be a combo shop sample and class 'knit along' but the class didn't make.  So now I just want to get it done!

I'll try to post this with a picture, though the learning curve will likely take its toll.

OK, I posted the picture back in my office a day or two later. A fine trip, everything ran on time and I even snuck in a trip to the Chicago Art Institute.

Cousins Count

This busy summer continues to roll along.  Between my professional work, my creative work and a bit of down time, it is hard to believe that August is here already.  There has been a good bit of travel (NC, VA, OH) with more to come (DC & Chicago).  The picture here is the view from a lovely hike in the New River Gorge (WV).

Last weekend I made a little trip to northeast Ohio to visit family.  When I was growing up, there were at least 2 family reunions each summer - often 3.  But we are all grown and spread out now, so it's hard to get together.  I was one of the cousins who moved away early.  I have not lived in the town where I grew up  since I was 18, and I really lost track of most of my cousins.  Since Facebook has made it easier to keep track of each other, we have reconnected.  So about a year ago my sister Ronnie & cousin Tony decided that we should have a reunion.  Last weekend the Quinn Cousins came together.

My mother was one of 8 siblings in an Irish Catholic family and they were nothing if not prolific.  I grew up with 38 first cousins, plus a couple of long-term foster children who I never knew weren't real cousins.  Now there are only a few of my mother's siblings and in-laws still alive, so it's up to our generation to keep this slightly crazy and very fun family from becoming lost to one another.  I think I chatted with a few cousins for the first time.  When you are a child, a few years difference is huge. Now, not so much.  So it was lovely to gather in the parish hall and visit.  We shared a meal, talked, laughed and caught up with one another.  Three of my sisters and their husbands were there and we had fun catching up and shared a few important conversations.

I admit that I did not go to all the events -  I missed dinner on Friday night, touring the town were we grew up, the poker games and Sunday picnic.  I wish I could have stayed through Sunday, but a deadline required that I head on down the road.  I am so glad that I went.  My fiber-geek reputation is not unnoticed.  I brought home a bag of alpaca fiber!

I'm also glad that I stopped for a hike half way there.  Rather like family, you have to see the big and glorious picture (like the photo above), but remember to pay attention to the small, but remarkable details.  I looked down to see a couple stands of Indian Pipes.  A walk in the woods is a great way to break up a long drive.

Official Fiber Content:  I started a 2nd Equinox Raglan - this time in Noro Silk Garden.  I like the cotton/linen one so well (I'm wearing it now), that I know that I'll want to keep wearing it when it gets chilly.  I have a vest class on the schedule at Friends and Fiberworks, but I'm not sure it will make.  I'll make my own even if no one else joins me!
  

A Trip out West

I'm currently writing this from Davis, California.  I'm here for an Advisory Board meeting that rotates through the member cities.  I hosted the August Meeting in Asheville, so it's nice to travel to see other campuses and organizations.  UC Davis is a large campus with 33,000 students.  It started as the Agricultural college for Berkeley and continues its heritage with a vet school, equestrian center, actual cows and experimental and demonstration gardens and vineyards.  The picture to the left is the Arboretum walkway that follows the creek that runs down the east (I think) side of the campus.  The redbuds are in bloom, the stand of California Redwoods is remarkable and the whole trail is just lovely.  As we walked along we saw 2 sweet baby horsies (foals I believe they are called) nursing on their mamas.  The first day we were here was lovely, students cycling around (no cars on campus), spring in full bloom.  Then the storms moved in and the rains began, but it was still quite nice as long as you don't mind getting wet.  We even walked into town for dinner last night.  Wonderful food, both American and Thai.


Before I came here to the Valley, I spent a couple of days in Portland, visiting with family and had an opportunity to go snowshoeing on Mt. Hood.  More fun in wind and snow, walking through the woods with my sister and her Springer spaniel.

All this travel means knitting time in the hotel rooms and airports and on planes.  I started the Jujuba top using Seduce yarn, the yarn it was designed for.  I'm not sure I like it, but I'll continue on, as I think I might like the top once it is finished and washed. The yarn is a bit stiff and snags on any rough places, including the wood needle and my cuticles!  With about 6 hours of knitting time today, I should get a good bit done.  The top has a very interesting construction - from the cuffs up, sleeves are knit in the round, then the side 'seams' then in toward the center.  I took the approach I often use with socks:  first both sleeves, then the sides to the neck decreases, then both fronts, then both backs.  Eventually I'll join both halves with a 3 needle bind off, front and back.   I sure hope I like it!

Saturday, I'll be teaching a dyeing class at Asheville's Friends and Fiberworks.  It should be lots of fun - join us if you can

Still knitting and teaching and dyeing...Oh my!

Well, it's been a month since I posted - a month of a new semester with a good bit of course development work.  Last term when I taught Going to College 101, the freshman kept me on my toes and I pretty much ignored my regular class.  I can't do that too often - I have to get it back up to speed.  I'm also teaching knitting in the Art Ed class.  I think  my students are a bit confused when they see me in the computer lab and I show up waxing eloquently about the glories of wool and other fibers!

Additionally I have begun working at a friend's knitting shop on the weekends and usually an evening or 2 per week.  I have to say that I really enjoy working at the yarn shop.  Friends & Fiberworks is an amazing place.  It's a yarn shop with LOTS of yarn and spinning fiber and there are classes offered several times per month.  They also host a Winter and a Summer Fiber Retreat with lots of different workshops taught by awesome instructors and a number of vendors.   Lisa, the shop owner invited me to put my dyed fiber, patterns and hats in the shop and I agreed to work a modest number of hours per month.  Turns out I really like it!  Helping people with their projects, teaching classes, just hanging out with like minded people is a very nice way to spend a Saturday.

I've been knitting up a storm.  I recently finished the above top-down cardigan made from Peace Fleece yarn in a tweedy grey-green, and am nearly finished with a purple eyelet yoke sweater.  Quite lovely, both.  I have since started a dark red jacket, based loosely on Maureen's Cardigan, but I added cables up the front to break the monotony.  I'm knitting this with Christopher Sheep Co. yarn that I bought several years ago, but never quite got around to knitting up.  So not only am I knitting a warm and cozy sweater, I am virtuously knitting down the stash!  Now this is my kind of knitting: bottom up in one piece and it will be divided  for the armholes.  Sleeve will be knit from the shoulders down.  I'm currently about 10 inches into it after only about a week, so I should be wearing it sometime in the spring. 

This weekend I'm leading an English Country dance, teaching a dyeing class and I'm sure I'll be knitting on my red sweater.  I have a wonderful life!

Still Knitting

This is the time of year when I knit a lot of hats.  Although I try to knit throughout the year, it seems that it catches up with me about now.  Shops want hats, matching hat & scarf sets and this year, fingerless mitts.  I set a goal of 50 hats in 50 days but I slid a bit behind this week.  I shifted to a couple pair of fingerless mitts (aka texting mitts) that took longer to make than hats, but they are selling nicely at one of my customer-galleries, so I promised a few more pair.

My studio is a total disaster.  This is the view from the wide end of the ironing board.  Lots of yarns, grouped by color.  Some a re little bits and pieces; others are full (or nearly full) skeins.  As I get yarns matched up, they go into bags and the bags go into a tub.  Then I can grab a bag without thinking too much and knit a hat.  By the time I get to the bottom of the tub, I have forgotten what I put in and there are always a few nice surprises.

But this is the view from the other end of the ironing board.  It's a nice stack of hats in red, orange, pink, purple, and a wee touch of green.  There are even some naturals in there.  I made my hat tracking system even easier this year by using Google docs instead of Excel.  I can get to my spreadsheet from any computer and although it isn't totally fabulous, there is nothing that I wanted to do that I wasn't able to accomplish.

In the first 30 days of the challenge, I knit 36 hats and 2 pair of texting mitts.  Though not a world record by any means, (and I just admitted to slacking off), still this is acceptable progress.  I'll be calling a contra dance tonight, so I'll take a bit of knitting.  I have a preference for hats, mostly because circular knitting is easy and mindless.  I have one on the needles at about the 1/2 way point, but as it has a slightly fussy stitch pattern, I think I may need to cast on something simpler.  I'm talking about you, Windy City!

Definitely Summer

There are a number of indicators that it's summer.  Well, it's hot out.  Today it may well hit 90 degrees F.  91 will break the record, but I'm ok if we fall short.

Yesterday was Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer in the US.  Thanks to the vets who keep us safe.  I really appreciate the men and women who died for what they believed in.

We cooked burgers on the grill.  I love burgers cooked outside with mayo and mustard and a slice of tomato, even if the tomatoes aren't very good yet.  We had a big salad, potato salad, sugar snap peas from the garden and peach shortcake.  It was wonderful!

My dyeing has slowed down a bit.  I dyed a good bit of roving for a fiber fair where my colleagues were vendors brought a lot of it back, so I'm caught up.  I am dyeing some colors I need - and washing and dyeing mohair locks.

I want to hang out in the basement - a clear sign of summer.  It's cool and dark and I can card fiber for later spinning.  I've also been doing a bit of de-cluttering again.   I'm hitting kitchenware, clothing and quilting fabric this time.

Knitting?  That too, is in summer slow-down mode.  A hat or 2 a week, I'll likely finish the June socks fairly soon, since they were recently pulled from the marination chamber.  I actually like to spin in the summer, so I'll have hand spun yarn come fall.  I finished 2 skeins last week and the recent carding will help in that department.

The garden is planted and weeded and mulched.  Not much to do except cut the grass every week or so, keep ahead of the weeds and pick the vegies and fruits as they ripen.  The peas and onions are pumping out, we are eating kale, the beans are climbing.  The poppies are beautiful, but I don't take any credit for that.  They simply grow and spread their seeds around.

One of the surest signs of summer is the mood on campus - pretty relaxed.  My day job is a 12-month staff gig at a small liberal arts college.  Although I am busy getting ready for my summer workshops for teachers, the overall place is a ghost town.  The faculty are gone, except when they are here to teach a class.

Summer time, and the livin' is easy!

April Socks - Teal and Sparkly

Back in April I knit a pair of my all time favorite pattern, the blueberry waffle socks in Berroco Sox Metallic in the lovely teal colorway highlighted with lime green and purple, charmingly known as Acai.  probably.  the label was lost when I took it in trade from the local yarn shop for whom I do a bit of work.  Although I knit them quickly, sock #2 sat around waiting patiently for its toe to be kitchenered until I needed those particular needles.

Today is their first wearing.  Although they will be more comfortable once they are washed, I like them very much.  I wanted to dress sort of like a grownup, even though summer is a ghost town on many college campuses.  However there is a wee reception this afternoon and sparkly socks will be all the rage.  Actually footwear will primarily be sneakers and sandals, including the ubiquitous Birkenstocks, the Asheville shoe of choice.

The purple socks of the last post are completed, but still unphotographed and unworn.  Watch this space!

Asheville Yarn Crawl! and more...

I am lucky enough to live in a community that values art and craft.  So it's no great surprise that this weekend is all about - and this time it's not just me!  There are 2 big fiber events going on this weekend.

First is the yarn crawl? The what?  Well, the independent yarn shops throughout Western North Carolina and even into upstate South Carolina want to make sure that the fiber enthusiasts and artists are well acquainted with all the shops as well as the companies that supply and distribute the yarns and accessories we carry.

So much like a studio tour, there is a self guided itinerary for the exploration of  eleven participating stores, fiber farms, and galleries. Starting in downtown Asheville, there are 3 shops in walking distance of my home!  How cool is that?  The organizers contacted the yarn companies and they are contributing full sized samples of yarns, needles, and other great products that are included in raffle baskets that will be available at every store along the crawl. There is one raffle basket in each store, I should make it to at least 4 shops, possibly more!


Saturday is also the Southern Highland Craft Guild's annual celebration of textile arts at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  They'll have spinning, dyeing, weaving and quilting demonstrations, vendors and hands-on children's activities. There will even be wearable art fashion show. 

I've set myself a budget for the yarn crawl & intend to stick to it, but I do need a few things.  Note to self:  bring yarn to match for Windy City hats!

Still on a Binge

A sock knitting binge.  But I think it has nearly run its course.  At the end of April I am completing my 4th pair of socks in as many months.  I've had this yarn for a few years.  It's Cushy ColorSport DK Washable Merino by LynnH.  I've been a fan of her blog, her patterns and her yarn for many years and it's time to get these finished.  I have knit 2 other pair of socks from this yarn - one for me and more for a friend.  I love the yarn - quite thick and cushy, it washes well and really lives up to its name.  I don't remember the color name, but its a variegated light pink and purple.  The heels and toes are a semi-solid lilac.

I knit these in the 'gull lace' pattern and plan to write up the pattern, but in a finer gauge yarn.  I like the pattern as it is eay to memorize and adds a bit of style to the socks without much of a brain drain. After making a false start on this yarn during last spring's self-imposed sock club, I took these on a trip earlier this month and then blasted away.

Also begun in April are a pair of waffle socks in Berroco Sox Metallic.  I finished sock #1 on the afore-mentioned trip, then knit the Gull lace socks and have began sock #2 on Sunday evening.  I knit a good bit of the cuff in a session of a Netflix guilty pleasure, Weeds.  This is my second pair in this yarn.  These are wonderfully blue-green-teal; though the earlier pink ones were lovely too.

Although I have a pair marinating on the needles in Knit Picks now-discontinued Dancing, [rav link] I believe I am taking a break from sock-knitting after this. Unless they travel to Washington with me next month(...hmmm...) it's time to get back to hats and my Mossy Cardi.  I even have a another cardigan done but for the finishing and the UFO's might just call my name.  As the semester's finish-itis is certainly upon me, let's see if it won't carry over to my knitting life. 

Stitches South; Dancing Everywhere

Stitches South is coming up soon in Atlanta.  Seems like almost everyone I know will be there.  Even though I won't be there, my knitting will be.  Friends & Fiberworks, one of the local fiber shops that I work with will be a vendor for the first time.  Now this shop has an excellent presence at SAFF, so a number of their followers are sure to find there way to the booth.  I developed 2 patterns that will debut at Stitches along with a number of other exclusive patterns by Asheville designers.

One pattern is a reworking of my Trailside pattern - in 2 versions and a smaller gauge.  Some people (mostly men) really like a ribbed brim that folds up.  Rather traditional, it keeps your ears extra warm.  But there is a 'hat head' factor, that some of us wish to avoid.  So I also wrote an alternate brim that people can push back and make the hat a bit puffy.  Both should be  good for both men and women and work well in solids, heathers and tweeds.  Both are one-skein patterns designed for Berroco Vintage Bulky, but will work just fine for any other yarns in that weight, like Lamb's Pride Bulky.

The other pattern is a garter stitch pattern meant to show off a wilder yarn.  I wrote this for Berroco's Borealis - a multicolored yarn that creates subtle stripes.  Now I will admit to my blog readers that it seems ridiculous to claim that this is a pattern, but at SAFF last year, people kept asking for it.  I told them how to make it, but over and over I heard, 'No, I'll never remember that.  I need the pattern.'  So I finally wrote it down.  in two sizes.  and tested it.  and printed it.  Now it is going to Stitches.  I'm sorry I will not be there for the acclaim or catcalls, and I imagine there will be both.  That is, if the Southerners aren't too polite for the catcalls.

I hope to make both these patterns available on Ravelry.  However since the yarn shops want to sell them, I can't make them free downloads.  They will be low priced however and I'll let my readers know when to expect them.  

Instead of hanging out with knitters at Stitches, I will be calling dances all around the area.  If it's Friday it must be an English dance in Greenville, SC.  Saturday takes me to Greensboro, NC for a contra dance with Ted Erhart and Dean Herington founding members of Footloose and Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops!  On Sunday I am back in Asheville for our regular English Country Dance.  I also called contra dances last Saturday and Monday.  If I had just that kind of ego, I'd declare myself on tour.  Instead, I'll just consider it being busy with dance calling.

Socks and Socks - It Continues

I kitchenered the toe of Easter Egg sock #2 last evening and immediately tossed them into the suitcase to come along to Nashville, TN.  It's a short trip - not fiber related.  Day job related, but that's okay.  It was a tough decision whether to fly or drive.  It's that funny distance, where flying and driving take about the same amount of time.  But flying was less expensive and you can't knit while you drive.  you can read and listen to music & the radio, but really it was the knitting that was the decision maker.

It's funny that I called these Easter Egg socks, when I could have called them natural, organic socks.  Oh?  in those funky pastels?  Compare the colors here with my friend Laura's organic orangey-beige and pale green eggs from her own chickens.  I particlularly like how she arranged them in the carton in the checkerboard fashion.  Spring, when the young chicken's fancy turns to making more chickens!

Even before these were completely finished, on Friday evening I cast on for another pair of socks.  This time they are a multicolored blue-green with a silver glitter thread that runs through it.  Berroco Sox Metallic in the Acai (1361) colorway, probably.  It had lost its label so I took it in barter at my local yarn shop.  I'm knitting the Blueberry Waffle Socks for maybe the 10th time.  Even on size 1 & 2, I'm blasting through it.  I am knitting the gusset on sock #1.  I am writing this post in the Charlotte airport as I wait for my next flight.  I could be knitting you know, but in the interest of possible delays, I thought I'd check my email and dash off a few words.  But not to be underyarned on this trip, I took this yarn and yarn for another pair of something a bit fancier.  Alter all, you never know what might happen and you need more yarn.

Spring Knitting: Socks

It seems that all I want to do is knit socks, but that frequently happens this time of year.  The hat business goes on hiatus for a while.  No one is buying hats this time of year, so it's time for me to let my creative muscles relax - new designs will find them.  Although I am currently knitting a sweater, I won't wear it until October or so, so no need to get too far ahead.  My early gardening is done, the beds without baby plants have manure on them, so the frequent rains will spread the manure juice into the earth. 

After finishing the 'Blue Jeans' socks on March 20th, I immediately cast on the springy 'Easter Egg' socks that you see here.  In just a little over a week, I am well into sock #2, and have just started the gusset.  Granted, these are very straight forward - the kind of socks that self patterning yarns are best for, IMHO.

I have a brief trip next week.  I think I'll take another pair of socks, as they are nearly perfect travel knitting - compact, they take a good bit of time.  Best of all, I'll have another pair of socks at the end of the trip!

Old School

I was knitting away on my Easter Egg socks during a web meeting today and I finished the heel flap, quietly rooted around to find the recipe for turning the heel, then I picked up the stitches around the gusset.  Obviously the meeting ran long.  Note to all:  I was actively engaged, my computer screen was actually displayed to the universe (ok, the other participants) and there was nothing embarrassing displayed.  Not sure how that happened.

The only hassle was that I did not have my circs available, only double pointed needles.  The good part is that they don't match.  I was rooting around in my dpn collection as I started the socks the other evening and grabbed the first 4 of the right size.  Two are bamboo, one is an ancient plastic, one is aluminum.

But here is the yarn and half a sock, sitting on my laptop in all their mismatched dpn glory.  The truth is out!

Knitting and Dancing

I've been knitting, but not blogging lately.  Between the day job and dance calling gigs, I've been on the go.  I'm writing this in a Bruegger's bagel place in Durham, NC.  The wireless in my hotel last night was so poor that I was forced to watch cable TV and knit on my demin blue socks.  I've been blasting through these at nearly record time.  In fact I knit from midway down the cuff & most of the heel flap last evening, after I took the picture on the right.

I really like this yarn - Paton's Kroy Socks in a demin blue colorway that fades lighter & deeper as one ply changes at a time.  The socks don't truly match - and that's okay.

I've also been knitting on my green cardigan.  It's a yoke sweater based loosely on this pattern, but I doubts I'll start with the lace motif.  It's very pretty, but I think the character of the yarn might be better suited to a moss stitch section, then maybe a garter rib, then a seed stitch with a couple of garter ridges in between. I can hide the decrease rounds in the garter rows.  Seems like it might be a good idea to knit a swatch of this pattern combination - what a concept!

The dance schedule has been quite busy.  I attended the English Country Dance SpringFest in Durham last weekend - I had a wonderful time dancing to Helene Cornelious & the Sun Assembly's house band, Collard Greene (great name!).  I called the TCD contra dance on Friday night, I'll be calling the Asheville Advanced Dance this coming Friday night - that's tomorrow- and I'll be calling the ECD on Sunday afternoon.  I'm usually not this busy, but all of a sudden I have a bunch of calling gigs.  Also, there are dance events all over the place.  I'd love to go to the Nashville Playford Ball, but its kind of a haul - about 5 hours of driving each way, though the band and leader are probably worth it.

In the mean time, I've been dyeing and shipping orders from the shop, but mostly the day job has kept me quite busy.  In a few minutes I'll be on my way to a meeting at UNC-Chapel Hill to work with a collaborator.  We are developing a Summer Institute for teachers using the Library of Congress and the Paideia method. Ah, spring break!