Shut Up & Knit!

It's not a Sunday morning until there's been running down a hallway

Sassy Otter Socks

My usual 2x2 rib top down socks with my short rows on heels and toes done with 2.75 mm dpns.

Sassy Stripes is the yarn.  718 is the rather zippy name the Cascade Yarns people gave this color way. 

If you want stripy socks and are afraid of not being able to get really matchy socks, this is the yarn for you.  Both skeins started at the same point and that made getting matchy-matchy socks dead easy.

While not a sexy or yummy soft yarn, it does feel like it will be a good workhorse sort of a yarn.  Hard to go wrong with a 75% superwash 25% nylon blend when it comes to socks.  Ya know?

Chance of better photos once this pair reach their new home.

& This ends my Summer of Socks. 

*  *  *

The title?

Yeah, well...

I'm multi-tasking and realized as I sat here happily typing away that I was five minutes late in taking my jasmine rice off the stove. 

There was running.

The rice is fine and I'm counting my run as cardo or something...

*  *  *

This weekend also counts as the unofficial end to summer.  School started here last week, so I'm sure lots of people would agree.  As there are hot temps coming this week, I'm not so sure I do, but no one ever asks me.  Do they?

Anyway,  I was looking back at my summer knitting goals and think I've done an okay job of working on the list. 

I finished the Man Socks, but canceled him and his birthday socks.  Finished Icarus and a few other shawls, but have yet to return to the pink or red lace.  I did knit my pink socks and lots of friend socks.  I never got to the fake baby yarn and it was too hot to think about sweaters.

I've also made some new friends, strengthened friendships, dealt successfully with some drama and weirdness without needing bail money.  I lost my Precious One, but did have most of the summer with her.  It's been a month and I'm still finding little bits of her, so she's still with me... in lots of ways.

It's been an interesting summer than I am very glad to see the back of.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Blocking Saturday

I just finished blocking the thing that was in my heartbreak box.

It

Is

Huge

!!!

Now I'm a sweaty mess and that needs to hit the grocery store.  I guess I should have blocked it before showering.

Let's hope I remember that for next time.

Oh wait...

I don't plan on ever knitting anything this big again.

Ever.

I hope your Saturday is not sweaty...

Unless it's a good sweaty.  ;^)

Happy Saturday, people!

Stash Stress

The back story for the new folks:

Last year, I had a moth scare and may have over-reacted a tiny bit.  Everything that was wool or a wool blend was bagged up and put in the upright freezer in the garage.  It filled the two baskets on the bottom of the freezer and that was fine.

I relaxed.

Watched some football.

Then there were holidays, knitting for friends who sent gift yarn as well as project yarn, a little shopping and one thing lead to another.  The freezer was suddenly full of yarn.  The door.  All the shelves had yarn on them.  The baskets piled high.  It was something.

Winter is coming.  Or, at least, it better be coming and I hated the idea of running the freezer all winter mostly for yarn.

The moth issue turned out to be an elderly box of wheat crackers in the pantry that had lodgers.  Once removed, no more moth problem.

A couple of Sundays ago, I took all the yarn out of the freezer and let it thaw out.  While I know exactly what I have, it was a good reminder of just how lovely some of the stash is and why I need to knit from the stash more.  The yarn was returned to the freezer while I had a ponder.

And ponder I did.

I had gotten a couple of tubbies to hold kitty things and ended up only using one.  I think that's where I got started.  Well, that and the fact that it is back to school season here in California and tubbies of all sorts are on sale all over.

Enter three more tubbies, some lavender and more quality time spent with the stash.

This is it.

Four tubbies.

Yes, only four tubbies.  I am sorry to disappoint those of you who thought it was a massive stash. 

Trust me.  It's more than I ever thought I'd have at one time.

Top one is worsted weight and assorted oddballs.  Yes, the famous black wool is in there, too.

Then lace weight.  I'm not sure if I should be surprised at how much of that I have or not.

The sock yarn is next.  I swear that stuff must breed in the dark or something.

On the bottom is the fiber and an overflowing bag of left over sock yarn.  There is a ton of the latter.

(In the name of full disclosure and because y'all know who would be asking me later, I will admit that there is more yarn.  There is some silk lace weight that most of you have never seen that really needs the right pattern, so I can knit it into something fabulous.  And there are two sweaters' worth of cotton blend yarn around somewhere.  Plus some oddball cotton.  And that's it.  Tons of yarn compared to some.  Next to nothing compared to others.  Oh, and there's a sweater's worth of yarn in the sock box.  :p)

Terry made some super cute baby booties and linked to the free pattern over at KnittingDaily.  I tried to log in to download the pattern, but could not.  I joined again and tried to log in and could not.  I am now remembering why I stopped receiving their spammy emails and had not been over there in ages. 

I have emailed their "customer service" people, but don't think anything will come of it.  Good thing I'm not on fire for those baby booties.

Better still, thank goodness figuring out baby socks isn't a big deal.

Edit:  I used a different browser and was able to log in and download the pattern.  Still cranky, tho.  :p

Oh, and the stash stress?

Yeah, I have no idea where to put the tubbies.  I have mixed feelings about having them live in the garage, but not sure I want them in the house.

Right now, they are in here with me and slowly driving me crazy.

Yes, it's a short trip, but still...

And this concludes today's I have nothing, y'all saw it all yesterday post.

Happy Thursday!

Heatwave Wednesday

WTF! 

It's still summer here, and it is taking a toll on the knitting.

We are not amused.

This is the Good Luck Cowl.

We love this pattern.

The yarn is sadly discontinued. 

Yes, I know.  Yarn from Jo-Ann's. 

However(!)...

It's a soft fluffy 100% wool (I'm guessing  here) aran weight yarn.  It was love at first feel touch sight.

Thankfully, I was given four balls of the stuff, so I have enough to make something soft, fluffy and, yes, Carole, pink.  I saw the Good Luck Cowl pattern last week and had to print it out.  Not just because everyone and their dog is knitting cowls, but because I happen to like the pattern.

Even though, with my giant head, I knew going in that I would have to change the pattern a little.  Big giant head, people!

So, after finishing the Oyster Bay Shawl, I grabbed the pink yarn and cast on for the Good Luck Cowl.  Then I got bigger needles and cast on again.  I knit a few repeats and tried it on.  The color looks lovely on me and I think I love the whole cowl business.

However, it's August in the Sacramento Valley, so I'm not sure because it's HOT.

No, not HAWT.

Hot.

Partly because of this, the Good Luck Cowl is on hold.  However, part of me is thinking that this yarn would be better suited for a scarf or something.  Must ponder while I wait for the weather to cool/change/become livable.

Thoughts beyond the fact that I need to stop whining about the weather?

And because there is always a sock or two...

I did not pick the yarn.

Yes, that's all I have to say.

How much can be said about a pair of stripy socks?

Ya know?

They are socks.

And they are stripy.

Oh, and they should be done before the end of the Summer of Socks thingy.

Woo?

No, the socks are fine.

I'm fine.

The stash is fine.  A little confused, but fine.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about the stash because all I've got are those socks and even I can't have them done for tomorrow.

Shut up.

Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay

Two skeins of Malabrigo lace weight in Emerald Blue

US 5 Addi Turbo Lace needles & 1 US 8 tip for cast off

80 inches across the top

40 inches down the spine

Started:  08-17-08

Finished:  08-24-08

I changed the cast on to what I think of as the Evelyn A. Clark style cast on because I like how it looks and know it will always work for me

I knit 8 repeats of the second chart before moving on.

I think I may have blocked this version harder

than the one on the designer's site.  Joan's looks equally well blocked as mine, so I'm in good company.  And many thanks to my Joan for suggesting this pattern for the yarn in question.  She really is a whiz, that Joan.

For a while there, I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough yarn.  Perhaps because of what is going on with the shawl in my heartbreak box.  Thankfully, this one worked out just fine.  I've got several yards of the yarn left.  Close, but we did it.

Better photos to come once it's at it's new home with the KnittyOtter.