Aw, Hail!

Today was, for the most part, a lovely spring day. Late this afternoon, Joe and the girls were hanging out in the driveway blowing bubbles while I started dinner. And then the tornado sirens went off. Even though the big clouds were way off on the horizon, I waved them into the house, then went on out and helped clean up the toys and junk before we all got inside. Twenty minutes later, the storm hit and it was a doozy!

We hung out in front of the big picture window for a while, and then we took the girls downstairs just to be careful when it really picked up.



That's a quarter.



We took the crank-powered flashlights downstairs with us, just to keep the girls distracted if nothing else.



And then Joe brought down a couple of hail stones...



Sophie said "Ice! Ice!"



The yards were all covered with hail stones, plus bits of twigs and leaves. But at least none of our stuff blew away, and there was no major damage in our neighborhood that I could see.



Bunny!



The storm passed, and the girls and I spent some time checking it all out.











The temperature cooled off pretty quickly, and fog lifted up off the ground.



Of course, there's video.


And here's the fiber-y scoop that I was going to give you before all hail broke loose...

Friday morning I finished plying that last bit of orange wool, then washed it in the sink to set the twist.



And then I ordered a Blue Moon Fiber Arts Fire on the Mountain Sheep to Shoe kit. The one I was drooling over last week. But later that night, I was in my office, and the poor naked spindle was sitting there staring at me.



And I remembered that I already have a bunch of high-quality roving laying around. It's in the felting kit I bought last fall during the shop hop, stuck in my closet and left ignored ever since.



Felting? Spinning? Spinning? Felting? Decisions Decisions....

(Barely) Controlled Chaos

Oh, how just a few weeks ago I was feeling so satisfied with myself, having focused directly on the Sunrise Circle Jacket from start to finish all in just a couple weeks. I was resolved to the idea of sticking to one main project and getting more FO satisfaction. Amazing how in such a short time that whole scheme can go to the crapper.

Let's take a few looks at the state of things.

First there's the whole spinning obsession. Oh, yes, it's still out of control. Witness -

The niddy-noddy in action



The latest plied skein pre-wash - I'm getting some fairly nice, thin yarn.



I'm still trying to get the whole twist-balance thing straight. This one ended up a bit puckery post-wash.



You can see all that I've spun here, and what's left of that original ball of fiber that once filled up the basket there. I'll have it finished up in the next day or two, I imagine. I've been flipping through spinning books like crazy as well - both ones that I've bought and from the library. Not pictured are a couple more floating around the house now, as well as a couple that I returned today. I have to say, there were a couple that made me laugh out loud with the crazy-yarn pictures



Oh, look what came in the mail*! I spent a few minutes poring through the lots, and it looks like the ones I'm interested in are pretty much the same as last year.



Then there's the new hat project. I should be casting on for it right now, but it's not going to happen tonight. I wanted to knit along with the class I'm teaching at the moment, but class is tomorrow night and I haven't even completely decided which stitch pattern I want to use. At least I've done the swatch and washed it. Yurg!



Just look at the crazy pile of socks in progress. Dare I even admit that there are more than even this laying around that I am not even going to show you?



Starting with the pink-and-red ones - my Sock Wars Detonators in progress. My current target just bowed out of the game, and I'm waiting to hear back from the Supreme Commander about my new target before I knit any further. Moving clockwise, the plain old Meilenweit cotton toe-ups for me that I'm pretty much ignoring till I need some super-mindless stockinette, and below those are the Opal ones which are screaming "finish us off, already!" but which remain my backup emergency knitting. And finally, those new black ones.



Dream in Color Smooshy. My tiniest needles for super-tight, lovely fabric. Perfectly centered 2X2 ribbing along the insteps. These will be lovely socks, and there is a deadline. This is what I'm knitting on when I'm not spinning right now.

Yeah, sorry diamond jacket.



Sorry Lace-Cuff sock pattern.



Yeah. The knitting part of my life is sheer chaos.

Look what Julie and I have been reading together this week*:



It's so good to start revisiting books I loved as a child. I'm not sure she's understanding the story fully - lots of new-to-her words in there. Luckily the chapters are short, and I make sure to talk through each part of the story before we move on. So far, she seems to like it and keeps asking for more.

Sophie is happy enough about her new bed.



She's sleeping in it no worse than she did in her crib. The first night, Joe put her to bed and thought she was going to stay there. Ten minutes later I looked up from my computer and saw her peeking around the corner into my office with a naughty smirk, having opened the door, scampered down the hall and climbed down the stairs all by herself. She's so tiny in this new big-girl bed. It's so incredibly sweet.

There's another little Sophie story that I've been meaning to share. Sophie watches Julie open the door on her side of the van and wants to do her side "by self" too. Only Sophie can barely reach the handle, and certainly doesn't have the leverage to pull it hard enough to open it. So I've been pulling a little trick on her. I count with her and have her try it one more time, then I secretly push the button on the remote control. The door opens and I get to see that glowing so-proud-of-herself smile.

Now it's 11:43. I have a big meeting to go to in less than 12 hours. One about a family matter, one which will probably leave me with more questions than answers, more worries than reassurance. I think I'd better go get some sleep.

*I really thought Photoshop was going to rotate these for me. Sorry - no time to go back and do it by hand tonight.

Holiday Weekend, A Good Start....

A few cute family pictures to share...

We were sorting out clothes, making the switch from winter to summer wardrobes (finally!) yesterday. As part of that process, I was digging through giant bags of hand-me-downs we'd gotten from some neighbors. Julie found this blue hat, loved it, and has been wearing it constantly since.



Last night we had friends over for a barbecue. The girls sat together at the little table for all of five minutes before they decided they wanted to sit in our laps at the big table.



Dessert was watermelon.



Julie ate about six pieces.



This morning we're having a video conference with Uncle Dave and Aunt Jinnie in NYC.



In a little while we're going to head over to IKEA and buy a mattress for Sophie's big-girl bed. We'd bought a bunk-bed set when we got Julie's bed, and we'll set up the second one separately for now.

I stayed up late last night knitting on my second pair of Sock Wars socks and spinning another cop of singles. (See how I'm all into using my spinning jargon?) This time I'm going for something much thinner and tightly spun. More knitting content next time, promise!

Jackpot!

Just a quickie post tonight - I was at the store earlier starting a new session of my two-color knitting class, and now I have a bunch of laundry-folding and other exciting chores to do before bed.

But I had to share my excitement at the windfall jackpot that came my way tonight. One of my coworkers passed along some old issues of Knitters' Magazine that one of our mutual friends from a now-mostly-defunct knitting group thought I would like.



Yeah, baby! These are from the '90s and well before I even knew how to knit, let alone started collecting knitting magazines. I've flipped through a few of them, and I may have to share some pictures of some of the more interesting projects in there. Still, there is some good information and a few patterns that might even be knittable or at least inspiring. Yay!

Also, I decided to knit a hat along with the class I'm teaching. I've had it on my to-do list to knit a new hat to go with my brown coat that I bought last winter, and I've had it in my head to use some purple (to go with my scarf that I knit a couple months ago) and some green. I'd thought I was going to use some of the Creative Focus from Nashua that the store started carrying not too long ago. But when I stood there staring at the wall of worsted-weight yarns, I liked the colors in the Berrocco Ultra Alpaca better, plus it's slightly less expensive and hey! half alpaca and quite soft.



The colors in this photo are not very true, but it was the cutest take of the batch. The one on the middle at the bottom is actually purple. I'll have to dig through my stitch pattern books for some inspiration and get at least a small start on the thing before next week. So much for sticking to my diamond sweater project - I'm still very excited about it, but this needed to be done as well. And the Sock Wars socks, and another project that I'm not going to tell you about till it's done, and my elbow's feeling much better so I'll squeeze in some more spinning. In all my free time, you know.

Oh, Yes I DO Have a Problem!

I have no idea how this happened.



Well, maybe an inkling. I mean, I was curious about how to ply my new singles yarn into something a little more well-balanced and less twisty-wormy. So I consulted one of the many books on spinning that I checked out from the library last week and ooh it looked so simple. Before I knew it, I woke up from a daze with an overloaded spindle full of newly plied yarn. Did you know that there is a name for the bunch of newly-made yarn wound around the spindle? It's cop. I had a big cop on my hands. I don't even want to think of who might arrive here having googled the words in that last sentence.



So yeah, new yarn. I washed it to set the twist and now it's hanging on the line in the back yard to dry. It's probably mostly dry right now. Because all of this happened before 9 a.m. this morning. Right before some little friends came over to play - their mom needed a sanity break, and Sophie needed some company while Julie was at school. A totally symbiotic relationship - especially since their mom brought me a giant Cafe Mocha from Starbucks when she came to pick them up.



But back to the yarn for a minute. While I was in that wool-induced haze of plying, something occurred to me. I tell my students in my beginning knitting classes something all the time. I tell them that although they are working on a pair of mittens, the real product they should get out of the class is the ability to knit. And they roll their eyes at me and keep swearing under their breath at their mistakes. But I find the thought to be comforting. I'm making some crappy yarn, yes. But I'm learning how to spin, and I'm having a great time doing it.

For those of you out there who are real spinners, can I ask a question? The resulting yarn seems relatively balanced - it doesn't twist up on itself when relaxed. But I wonder - could I have put a little more twist in the singles in the first place, and then a little more twist in while plying it? I was hesitant to put too much twist in the singles because they wanted to worm like crazy as I rolled them onto the spindle. I guess I'll be doing some experiments to figure it out for myself on the next batch - as soon as my elbow stops hurting.

And, in my defense - although my right arm is still sore from rolling the spindle down my leg to start it spinning, it's okay that I did a little plying this morning because you use your other side to ply the yarn - the twist has to go in the opposite direction.

A New Obsession

I think I may have a little problem. A problem that anyone not involve in the knitting and fiber-related scene will probably not understand. I'm liking this spinning thing maybe a little too much.

The last we saw my new spindle and ball of wool roving it looked like this:



I have to admit that I struggled with the first few tries. I got some crazy-lumpy stuff that really qualifies as yarn under only the loosest of definitions. Then I went back and read my book again and figured out that I needed to fluff up the roving and maybe even pre-draft it before I tried to spin it. And I had an ah-ha! moment. But let me just explain a bit more for those who, like me till just a couple days ago, read the word "pre-draft" on blogs that talk about spinning and either kind of glossed over it or tried to figure out what the heck it meant by context.

The roving is already prepared fiber - clean, combed, ready to spin. But it's been wrapped up in that ball for a while and the fibers have gotten all cozy with each other. They're tight, they're buddies, those little individual pieces of sheep hair. So it really helps if you simply grab a length of the roving and give it a (fairly gentle) whip-like shake or two. It loosens it up and makes it easier to pull apart just enough to get the right thickness of yarn. And on top of that, you can split the roving length-wise to get it even closer to the right amount. I started splitting my roving in half and then in half again and OMG suddenly it was working out much easier!

I spent a little free time while the girls were playing yesterday spinning it up. I kept saying "just one more strand of fluff" to myself. And then one more and one more. And I noticed that my arm was hurting a little bit and yet I still couldn't stop myself. I am not getting glorious, lovely yarn just yet, but I am getting better and most importantly I am having fun. Here's what it looked like when I took a picture a few minutes ago...



And then, even though my arm is sore today, I picked that spindle up and said "Just one string of fluff" And I spun it, and I wanted to do more even though I have a million other things I need to try to do during nap time today. But I found a scrap of self-control and banished the whole mess up to the top shelf out of sight till my arm is recovered a bit.



I think I have a project in mind for the finished yarn - it is something frivolous and small, something that will be fine knit in crazy thick-and-thin yarn. Something that I will tell you about when the time comes. You'll never guess, so don't even try.

In the mean time, I'm still working away on those purple diamond sleeves. I was sitting in my usual place on the couch watching a DVD and right in the middle of the row the other night when Joe emerged from his office. He's been playing the latest version of Grand Theft Auto, which I find quite horrifying. But we all pick our poisons and he does put up with my fiber obsession and other craziness, so I suppose I can look the other way when he chooses to play murderously violent games that spew language that makes even my potty-mouth face blush. He only plays it when the girls are asleep in their beds.

But he came out and looked over my shoulder to see what I was up to, and when I held it up for him to see, he stepped back in shock and uttered some choice expletives. I guess my choice of hobby is just as wild and crazy as his sometimes is.



It is a little scary looking.



But it's beautiful on the right side, and that mess of tails will eventually go away. I'm so glad I'm knitting these both at once, because knitting one knowing that I would have to go through the whole business a second time would be too daunting.

I'm still on hold for the moment with the Sock Wars business, but I have identified my next target - Emily in Wyoming. I'm waiting for her assasin to be killed off and send me her socks in progress to work on. It might be a few days. Maybe I can squeeze in a bit more spinning in the mean time - and I have to decide whether I want to try plying these wild singles or not.

Oh! and one other tidbit. I was thinking about my wedding anniversary that's coming up next month. It'll be seven years. Joe and I usually try to follow the traditional gift themes at least on some metaphorical level each year. I went and checked out the 7-year gifts, and it's copper or - you're not going to believe this - WOOL! Buwhahahaha.

A Good Day...

For dandelions and slides at the park by our house.

Socky Socky Sock Socks

The never-ending parade of socks on and off the needles continues around here. I have no news on the Sock Wars front - my target hasn't received hers yet, and I'm still working my way down the list of targets beyond her to send me some unfinished socks. The last person I talked to is stationed at the US embassy in Beirut, and was going to mail her socks off today. She's not sure when she'll actually be killed since she can't get her incoming mail what with the Hezbollah roadblocks keeping traffic from the airport. Yikes. That is one of the cool things about these exchanges. I never would have gotten to exchange e-mails with this very nice lady in such an interesting situation otherwise.

As for my assassin, I haven't heard from her in several days either, but she's still listed as alive in the database. Tick, tick, tick...will just have to wait and see for now.

In the mean time, I continue my dependency on plain stockinette socks for on-the-go knitting. I took them all out for a little field trip yesterday when we were at the park for our playdate...

Starting at the bottom, the Regia Silk stripe socks that I just finished, then the Opal ones that have been hanging around as backup because I'm not so in love with the colors, and then on top the skein of Meilenweit cotton-wool-nylon yarn that I was getting ready to cast on with next. I had a horribly hard time picking which skein of cotton-blend to knit next because they were pretty much all sitting there begging. I finally did the eenie-meenie-minie-moe trick to select this one.



I knit well up the cuff of one of the Opal socks while I was teaching a class today, and managed to split the new ball into halves and cast on for one late last night.

Here's the glamor shot of the blue stripe socks.



I loved this project. I love knitting with this Regia Silky yarn - it is so smooth and soft. I love the stripes. I love the way they feel on my feet. I used two 50-gram skeins with just a little bit left over from each, but I have size-11 feet and like my cuffs longish. I do tend to knit loosely, and I used this pair of socks to try out my Addis in US size 0000. I loved those too - will definitely be using them for more socks in the future when the yarn is on the thin side of fingering.

Moving on to a quick dose of the cute kids - Julie had her pre-school end-of-year concert on Thursday. Unlike her holiday concert, when she absolutely refused to even step on the platform with the other kids, she participated fully this time and seemed to have a lot of fun.

I let her put on a pretty-pretty dress, and of course Sophie wanted to dress up too then. So we took some pictures...



The songs the kids did were hilarious. I got several of them on video, but for tonight I'll share just one. The video and sound quality are poor, but you'll get the idea.

The Next Big Thing

For at least a week, I've been meaning to post about the next main-feature knitting project on the horizon now that the Sunrise Circle cardigan is complete. I'm kind of excited about this project - finishing Sunrise as quickly and successfully as I did has given me hope that I can whip out the next one if I just focus on it as well. But then there was the whole Sock Wars thing...

I'm in a lull with the Sock Wars business at the moment - I shipped of my killer socks yesterday morning, and I'm pretty sure my target has shipped off her socks to her target. I'm waiting to find out if my target's target still has socks in progress and whether she will send them to me to finish before my assassin finishes her socks and gets them to me. The whole set of scenarios starts to get more complicated even than that depending on who "kills" whom when, so we'll just focus on the project at hand till definitive information arrives.

Here's the pair that I sent off.



They're not too bad, really. I don't think the stitch patterning shows up very well, and to be honest the Tofutsies yarn wasn't as horrible as I'd expected. I still don't like the way it's spun, but I think it will be soft enough when washed. I didn't bother blocking these because I needed to get them off quickly. And, because I know my target is reading, I'll just mention that I was careful to follow the pattern as closely as possible because that's what I thought the rules required. If I had realized that there was some leeway in the contest rules, I would have added a repeat or two to the cuff and done some more decreases on the toe.

So to get down to business with the "new" project. It's actually a quite-old UFO project which I am determined to get off my back. I started this sweater in February 2005, and put it away for several reasons including a)it was too complicated to be working on with a cranky toddler who never slept in the picture b) we were getting ready to put our house on the market, and I didn't have time to knit and c) I had reached a point in the design process where I felt stuck - in part because I wasn't sure I'd have enough yarn for what I wanted to do.

Well, life is a little bit simpler now. I at least have a couple of hours to myself most evenings these days, and am not quite so utterly exhausted all the time. I pulled that sucker out and did some serious thinking about what I wanted to do with it - either finish it or throw the whole mess away. This is not a good project for frogging and re-knit, as you will soon see.

I decided to see if I could get some more of the main color yarn, which would solve the main part of the problem. Schoolhouse Press to the rescue! I bought this yarn when I was at Meg's knitting camp in July of 2003, and I wasn't sure they even carried it any more. Luckily, the nice lady who answered the phone helped me determine which yarn it was, figure out which colors I needed - I decided to go ahead and order a bit more of all of them just to be really safe. I knew I'd be getting different dye lots, but since this is an intarsia project I think I can live with that.

And the very next day, this box showed up at my door - I'd called in the morning, and Schoolhouse Press is just a few hours away in Wisconsin. Still, that's awesome service!



Here's what was inside. Look familiar to anyone? Probably not. It's Bartlett Yarns wool, which is so very nice and heathery, a little bit squishy and not too itchy. Quite thick, and knits up a little heavier than worsted weight to make a great jacket-type sweater.



And this is what I had at home already. The main body of a sweater, the fronts and the back all as one piece, knit up to the armholes. The nice thing about pulling out a very old UFO is that it's sort of a head-start kind of project. I have only to knit the sleeves, join them up EZ-style to the body, and knit up to the neckline. I'm even knitting in the front edging in moss stitch with the body, so there will be no added button bands and very little finishing at the end.



Here's a picture of how the new dye lot of the main color goes with the old sweater. Quite well, I think. I've got enough of the old yarn for sure to finish the main body part of the sweater. I think I will use the new for the sleeves at least up to the join, and that should take care of things. After the join, perhaps I'll alternate rows or something. But they really are quite close, and with the various-colored diamonds to break things up, I'm confident that I can be satisfied with at least that aspect of the results.



Here's the back side of the main body so far just in case you're interested. I was a good girl way back when I was working on it before and wove in my ends as I went. But that is typical for me. I can't stand any more mess than absolutely necessary.



And just for fun, here is what that main body looks like when it's folded as you'd see it in use.



I had started the sleeves during the previous incarnation of the project, and had to rip them back when I realized (if I recall correctly) that they were a little too narrow and that I had put a color in the wrong place on one of them. That was the true breaking point that made me put the mess away.

So I'm casting out for sleeve island, and I decided to go ahead and knit them both at the same time on the same needle.



It is a big messy mess, but I know that it will be easier for me to slog through them both at the same time rather than doing one whole piece and then doing the same whole thing over again. In my brain, it is somehow easier to do it simultaneously and then when I am done with that part, I'm really done. I kind of like intarsia - love the results, in fact, and don't mind too much the wild yarn-wrangling that's involved. It kind of makes me laugh to look at the giant mess and know that somehow I am going to magically transform it into a thing of beauty.

In the mean time, this is what's piled (in one small spot) on my office floor. We won't even talk about what the rest of the office looks like because it is too scary.



I'll leave you with a cute family moment. Joe's parents were over to watch Sophie for a while this morning, and when I came home they hung out for a while longer so that they could see Julie when she got off the bus from pre-school. Joe's mom was singing songs (in Korean) with Sophie, and Sophie was loving it.

Coveting

I am busy. Oh so busy. Busy preparing for my class tonight, and also busy - really really busy - trying to finish these damned socks. Quickly, I will just share with you that I had one sock completely done and just waiting to be kitchenered at the toe when I realized that I had royally f*'d up the heel. There are pictures, but I am too busy to load pictures today. Naptime only lasts so long, people. So I ripped that sucker back, and now it is done and I am well past the heel of sock number two. I would reallyreallyreally like to get those sock in the mail tomorrow morning. Why? Because I think I actually have a chance of getting a second pair of socks in my hot little hands before I get killed off, and I think that would be fun. I can't explain why. It is inexplicable. But I do at least have the stitch pattern totally memorized now.

Enough. In the mean time, I haven't really touched my new spindle since I took that picture the other day. But a crack has opened in the dam of "I'm not a spinner" so now I am coveting all kinds of spinny things.

Things like sheep to sock kits...thanks to Cashmere Dreams, who posted on her blog about receiving one. Thanks, beeeatch. (Just kidding, love you dearly but it's still all your fault even though you don't even know me.)

Also? I think I might really want one of these. Because they're incredibly cute, and although I really love the look of those giant old-school spinning wheels, from all the stuff I see on the blogs and around the internet and even in person at the Sheep and Wool festival, people don't have them around all the time and they're really big and not portable. And because Aisha just got one. Again, thanks, beeeatch. And again, you know I'm just kidding. I love you dearly even though we do know each other and I'm at risk of you thinking I'm gonna get all stalky on you, which I promise I won't! Okay, this is getting a little freaky, I think it's because I've been working too hard on those socks.

Finally (not finally, but all I have time for today) And I don't even have time to find a proper link - but I really need a class. Maybe from here. And some time to take it and practice and stuff.

But for right now I've got to go knit some killer socks.

News From the Front

Hey, so the war is on! It's all been a little confusing because a bunch of the dossiers (including mine) didn't come out when they were supposed to, but the pattern was up on the website so anyone who wanted to could go ahead and start, but there were a whole bunch of whiners making up excuses about why it wasn't fair and how they couldn't start till they knew the identity of their target yadda yadda stupid. There were topic after topic of flames on both the Sock Wars forum and in Ravelry as well. People were spending all day on the computer instead of knitting.

Finally, though, the administrator just put all the assassin/target information up on the web site so that everyone would have it. I got a nice e-mail from a lady in Chicago, who is knitting my socks (Hi, Shelley! Sorry about the size-11 feet!). I sent an e-mail to the lady for whom I'm knitting socks - she's Canadian! And in the mean time, I've been knitting as time permits. Which means not as much as I would like.

I started off yesterday morning thinking that I would take sock pictures as I dragged it around through my day. I took one picture as we were in the drive-thru line at Starbucks on our way to our park playdate, and then I forgot about the idea.



But I did take some pictures at the park.



There was much running around and business yesterday, and I had very little daytime knitting opportunities. So I knit for most of the evening, until I found my eyes closing automatically and then I dragged myself to bed.

Because today was another exciting, busy day. Today I had a class to teach at the store, and then I ran off to Shepherd's Harvest. Yay! I can't believe how big this festival is getting. The vendors are filling three barns now when it used to be just one! And they now have a couple decent food vendors besides the totally-awesome kettle-corn.

I managed to resist most of the lovely wool, although a few things followed me home. The first one I can hardly believe...



The person who bought this must have thought she had a burning desire for copious amounts of overspun thick-and-thin bulky yarn, plus the time to make it. I have no idea what I'm doing here. I do have a book, and I know a couple people who know how to spin, so maybe one day I'll figure it out. My friend Sarah also bought some wool to spin - someone gave her a drop spindle - and she said something about a video someone recommended. C-R-Z-Y crazy.

I also bought some yummy-looking homemade jam from one of my readers (Hi, Karen!!!) and some summer sausage from a guy who was handing out salti-licious samples - I figured I had to bring prizes home for the family.

And of course there was the obligatory skein of sock yarn.



This is a skein from Sandy's Palette, and it is machine washable wool/nylon singles. I knit a pair of Jaywalkers from a skein of her yarn a couple of years ago and they turned out pretty and have worn really well, so I knew I needed to get another skein from her.

And finally, a new giant project basket. This will be big enough to hold all the yarn and parts for that project that I just pulled back out of the naughty corner of the yarn closet. (Cat included for scale.) This came from Handspun by Stefania, who had lots of high-quality baskets that I wanted to buy, not to mention a ton of beautiful roving. If I hadn't already bought a giant ball of the stuff, I would have snagged some from her.



I have to show you my sock wars sock, don't I? It's pretty ugly, I'm afraid.



The sample sock for the pattern on the Sock Wars website did a nice little stripey thing. This nasty pooling does nothing for the stitch pattern, but no way am I ripping back or starting with a different yarn. The clock's a-tickin'! And speaking of which, I must go get to work.

On the Eve of Battle

This thing totally snuck up on me. I'm going to have to delay the big unveiling of the new project again because I have more important business to discuss tonight. Tomorrow is the start of Sock Wars III. You know, the thing where they e-mail you a "dossier" on the person you are supposed to "assassinate" by knitting them a pair of socks and sending them in the mail. And in turn, there will be an assassin out there knitting a weapon with which to "kill" me.

I can't believe I'm doing this. On the one hand, it's fun. I'll be part of the thing that all the bloggers will be talking about and I won't have to feel all left out like I did last time around. Plus I'll hopefully and eventually end up with a pair of hand knit socks. Really, I just hope I get to finish at least the one pair for my one target. There is supposed to be a winner in this exercise - if you are killed before you knit your socks, you have to send the unfinished pair to the person who killed you and they in turn will finish them and kill the person you were supposed to kill. Eventually, there will be one person left alive, and there are prizes.

I wasn't going to buy new yarn for this thing. I was going to pick something out of my not-exactly-tiny sock yarn stash when the game starts. But then someone mentioned that one of the prizes - the grand prize, in fact - is 60 balls of Tofutsies sock yarn. The only catch is that you have to be the last knitter standing and you have to knit your first pair of socks with Tofutsies.

The catch is, I don't even like Tofutsies. I mean, it comes in really great colors. But the texture is not at all pleasant. It doesn't have any of the bouncy feel that I love about wool. And I can tell it's going to be splitty from the wonky way it's spun. Just the concept that it's made out of soybean by-product kind of weirds me out a bit. I dunno. So why would I go out of my way to buy some yarn that I don't think that I'm going to enjoy knitting in order to ensure a vague possibility that I can win a giant pile of every color they make of the yarn I don't think I'll like? Because I'd feel like a giant ass if I were the last knitter standing and I hadn't knit the first sock out of Tofutsie and had forfeited the giant prize.

This whole mess starts first thing in the morning. I should be getting an e-mail with the sock pattern and information on my target's foot size around 7 a.m. my time. I've heard rumblings on the internet that some people are planning all kinds of crazy ways to get their socks done faster - things like calling in sick to work on Friday and stuff like that.

I, on the other hand - well, I'm going to be doing my regular job of hanging out with my girls. I'm still going to (hopefully) go to our normal playdate, do the dishes, fold some laundry, change diapers, fix snacks, and all the other great mommy stuff I do all day. Then, on Saturday, I will be teaching a class at the store, then running off to Shepherd's Harvest in my fabulous new sweater. Sunday will be Mother's Day, and I will be returning to my normal mommy-ness even to the extent of sending Joe off to play disc golf in the afternoon (because I'll have already enjoyed my Mother's day present of being by myself all afternoon on Saturday and because the man needs a break every once in a while too) But I'll probably not have to cook dinner at least.

And the socks - well, I'll work on them in between. Hopefully Sophie will go to sleep when she is supposed to, which will help. Hopefully, the person I'll be knitting for will have small feet. Hopefully, the person who is knitting for me will be a slow knitter who is very busy with other things and lives very far away. Hopefully the pattern involves a lot of mindless knitting that I can do while multitasking.

At least I have my tofu yarn wound into two equal skeins ready to start as soon as the situation allows.



And my poor, loyal companion socks that have been hanging out in my purse at the ready for the last month or so and are almost done - they say "What are we, chopped liver?"



Update at some point soon. In the mean time, the next big project has been started a bit, and as soon as the contest socks are done, it'll be right on track.

The Big Sleeve Fix

I was SO going to unveil the identity of the next knitting project in the lineup tonight, but Michelle wanted to see how I fixed the sleeve length on the Sunrise cardigan. And, um, I haven't really done much to the new project yet anyway.

Really, though, doing creative little fixes like this can be a little scary. This particular fix is a pretty darn simple one as fixes go, but getting over that jumping-in bit is the hardest part. I didn't have any trouble, but my heart was in my throat for a few minutes while I got started. I have to say that having seen many fixes like this on other blogs makes it a little easier to believe that I can do it too. (Even though I have, in fact, done similar fixes in the past - it helps me believe that they weren't flukes.)

So maybe you'll watch mine and get a little vicarious thrill out of it, and maybe remember it later when you need some confidence about chopping up and fixing your future project.

Let's get started. We start with the sleeves in question folded back to an acceptable length. In order to get to this point, it involved lots of standing around shrugging my shoulders, wiggling into different positions and then back, and fretting that whatever length I choose will be the wrong length. Eventually I settled on one, and marked the fold with stitch markers. Markers because I marked both sleeves so I could average out the measurements. Oh, and you can also see in this picture how the facing is tucked under and tacked down on the cuff.



So then I took the sweater off and unfolded the cuffs. And then I stuck a stitch marker in at the same point where the orange one was on the inside. Just for fun I measured it too. I don't know why, I just did. Looks like I wanted to get rid of about 2 3/4 inches. Then I counted how many rows the markers were from the edge on both sleeves - they were one row apart, so I moved one to match the other (so the sleeves would match in the end).



Now the real fun starts. I picked out the stitching holding the facing down, then unpicked the bottom of the seam just past the point where I planned to cut.



Then I grabbed a size 0 circular needle - not the size I knit the garment with which was a 4, but it's much easier to get a size 0 in those stitches without stretching them out. I used my needle to pick up all the stitches in the lowest row I wanted to keep - the one right above the orange marker.



The stitches I wanted were now safe and stable, so I used my sharp scary little scissors to snip one single spot in one single stitch in the row above.



And then I picked out that whole row. Confession time - because I'm a big chicken, I actually snipped that stitch in two rows above the one I wanted to keep. Which meant that I had to do twice the picking out, but it felt safer. Doesn't that look kind of scary right there?



Then I got a little distracted by Will Smith getting all sweaty in I Am Legend. mmmm....



Okay, and back to the sweater. Suddenly I had a needle full of live stitches waiting to be knit back down to the cuff.



I did my purl row for the turning point right there, knit eight more rows in stockinette and bound that sucker off. I sewed the seam back up with the yarn that was still attached, tacked the facing back down, and look!



Slightly shorter sleeve. Wash, rinse, repeat for second sleeve. I'll be wearing it to Shepherd's Harvest this weekend - unless the weather turns out to be warmer than the currently-forecast high of 58 F. TaDa!

Live From The Yarn Store...

A bunch of first miters. There were more, but some had already left, and
one was still in progress. (Hi, ladies!)

Redecorating

Over the weekend we did a tiny bit of redecorating in the living room. I thought I'd share it with you while I wait for the UPS driver to bring me my yarn. But the redecorating story really starts several months ago...

One night, Joe casually mentioned at the dinner table that he had purchased four poster-prints from an artist couple that he admires, and that he planned to frame them and hang them on our dining/living room wall. I was a little annoyed at not having been consulted. I was actually a little pissed off at the time. I have to live in the house too, and am present in it much more often than he is. Why should he get to make a decision like this unilaterally? I tried to stay calm.

And then I saw the prints and thought, "Hey, they're kinda cute." But still, there were four of them, and they definitely would contribute to whatever theme we're going for in our room, which up to now consists of somewhat asian, mostly kid-friendly and used.

And on top of that, he thought he was going to be able to go buy poster frames for "relatively cheap" and just hang 'em up. Uh, no. They are not standard poster sizes, and if I was going to have something hanging on our walls for some indeterminate and probably very long time, I wanted them properly framed. So we sat on it for a few months. Finally a few weeks ago one Sunday morning, Joe ripped the coupon from the JoAnn's ad, and we dragged the girls off with us to go pick out frames. That process took a Very Long Time, and involved much measuring and entering in of forms to the computer and trying to keep the girls from climbing on the stool at the counter, putting their hands all over the prints, and generally causing mayhem. Eventually, Joe took them off to the kids' craft part of the store while I waited for a final price. gulp. It was a lot of money. But I sucked it up and paid.

And then they were finished, and I picked them up, and hey, they look pretty good after all. I wish I had picked a darker frame, but we were kind of thinking we wanted to generally match another framed picture that would be on the next wall over.



The artists are kozyndan, and you can see better pictures of the images in question here. They're actually quite whimsical, and beautiful at the same time. I like them, and I'm happy that Joe pushed us to take a step towards a more beautiful home. (And now it's my turn to spend some money on new couches, right honey?)

While we were rearranging pictures, we moved the family pictures over here to the corner. I wasn't happy with this placement at first, but it has grown on me and now I like it. There is room for more photos as we collect them in the coming years. We love the photographer who did our wedding, and have gone back to him twice now for family sittings. We realized this weekend that it's been a couple years and we'll need to go back either this year or next.



We moved this picture - actually a framed cross-stitch that I did many moons ago, lo in the black years before I learned to knit. It's a little country-cheezy, but I still like it. Now it's over by the door. These kinds of things are supposed to be right by the door, yes?



And finally, this piece was on the big wall where the posters are now. Joe's brother brought it back from Korea for us as a wedding gift. It's an original painting, and I quite like it. It took the place of a Georgia O'Keefe print that I was getting tired of anyway. We put it in the pile of things we're planning to sell at a garage sale later this spring.

Blue Sunrise, Complete

I struggled all weekend long to find time to finish sewing up my new sweater. It was not easy, as Sophie has not been sleeping very well this week. Finally, though, after our first picnic-table lunch of the year, I stole a few last moments and finished tacking down the facings in time for a late afternoon photo shoot.

An aside, we had kind of a mish-mash lunch going on. I going to make grilled cheese sandwiches, then I noticed the bowl of leftover potstickers in the fridge from the duk gook the night before. So I fried those up as well, and along with some carrots and grapes our late lunch became almost an early dinner.




And then it was show time. I put the sweater on, and it fits beautifully.



Except for the sleeves, which are a good 2.5 or 3 inches too long. No real surprise, there, as everyone else on Ravelry had the same problem. And Susan's sleeves were pretty long on me as I recall, too. I tried to ignore it at first when I put the sweater on, but the truth is I will have to cut off the ends of the sleeves and reknit the facing.



I've decided that this sweater will not be State Fair material. I'm quite happy with it, but there are a few not-quite-perfect technical details. Plus, not entering it in the fair means I don't need to put buttons on - and I don't really want buttons. I've got it closed in this picture with a pin (the pin from two years' ago shop hop for locals). But what I really want is one of those awesome shawl pins that I keep seeing all over the place and never buying because I don't have a need for it. Now I do - and it will be one of the things I'll keep my eyes open for at the Shepherd's Harvest festival next weekend. If I don't find one there that I love, I'll start looking online.



Alright, then. Should I go ahead and give you the wrap-up details?

Pattern is Sunrise Circle Jacket by Kate Gilbert, first published in Interweave Knits Spring 2006, and now available for free online.

I used 15 skeins of Wooly Stripes yarn by Nashua in the Faded Blues colorway.

And wow! I started re-knitting this sweater on April 18, finished it on May 4. That's gotta be a record for me - an adult sweater in 16 days! Of course, fixing the sleeves is at least another evening. I may do it later this week - maybe Wednesday if time permits. But I want to make sure I can wear it, even if it is with sleeves tucked in, this weekend, so it may wait till next week.

As I wore it around Sunday afternoon, it was perfect with my short sleeves underneath in the upper-50s weather. I kept doing a little happy song-and-dance and Joe kept giving me the wry look. And finally he said "Yes, you finally finished a sweater. Just in time for Spring!" This stupid thing has been riding on my back for more than a year because I was busy doing other things, and I'm so glad I finally took the time to finish it up.

The next project - well, I had one thing in mind - had actually made a promise to start a new sweater with some yarn that I thought I was getting. Not sure if it's still coming my way or not. So instead, I'm pulling out something I started a long time ago. Something I still love, and am looking forward to finishing. This one might just be a State Fair contender. Or it might not. But it will take longer than 16 days to finish, I'm sure. More on that later in the week.

Tomorrow night I'm teaching my mitered square class at the store! Should be fun.

A Meme!

Hi, I'm busy knitting on my Sock Wars socks. There was a slight mishap, and I spent a good portion of last night recovering from it, but the battle continues. More info later, but I need every moment I can get to knit. In the mean time, I typed up this meme last week so you can enjoy it now.

Hey, I've finally gotten tagged for the yarn meme, and I'm doing it! Thanks, Sarah!

Using the top 100 yarns on Ravelry (by number of projects):
Bold the ones you’ve used and would use again;
Cross out the ones you’ve used and would not use again;
and Italicize the ones you’ve never tried, but would like to.

Add comments as desired, and then pass the meme along to 5 knitters/crocheters. Link back to this post and to the person who tagged you.

1. Cascade 220 Wool - I so totally love this yarn. It's my bread-and-butter go-to for worsted weight solid colors. I have a whole bin in my yarn closet devoted to leftovers of it.
2. Patons Classic Wool Merino - I think I used this in some of my swatches for the Master Knitter program. As far as I can remember, it was perfectly useful wool.
3. Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted - Yum! This yarn is soft and lovely and felts beautifully. The only drawback is that it pills something fierce. The tiger hat and mittens that I made for Julie last year got pilly even though the mitts are felted.
4. Noro Kureyon - Yep. I made a pair of mittens out of some, and it too felts great. Love the long stripey color repeats, too. My LYS of choice no longer carries it because of troubles with the distributor, so it's unlikely that I'll be buying any again soon, though.
5. Caron Simply Soft - Nope. Yuck.
6. Lily Sugar’n Cream Solid
7. Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted - Nothing better for the felted clogs, baby!
8. Red Heart Ltd. Super Saver Solids
9. Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid - I know I've at least purchased this for community ed class students - no wait! I think I knit a sample doll jacket out of it for said class. I remember it being kind of splitty. Not something I would knit an actual garment in.
10. Noro Silk Garden - yep! A sweater I knit on my LK-150 machine. I wear it all the time.
11. Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM) - yes, too many times to count. Socks, baby hats, babushkas...and I have an entire box of "Koigu Bits" in my yarn closet for a future scraps project.
12. Knit Picks Wool of the Andes
13. Lion Brand Homespun
14. Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
15. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi - I think so. I think there was a pair of socks somewhere in the deep distant past. I also think that may have been my first pair of socks with a blown-out heel. One of my many pairs of socks that never made it into Ravelry.
16. Manos del Uruguay 100% Wool
17. Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky - what would I knit with bulky wool?
18. Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran - I can't remember what this yarn is like off the top of my head, but I'm sure if I had a pile of it, I'd eventually knit something with it.
19. Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock - Lightweight
20. Plymouth Encore Worsted - this makes for good baby things when you're giving to someone who wants to machine wash and dry. Is nice and soft, holds up forever.
21. Cascade 220 Heathers - I'm sure I have some mixed in with my solids leftovers...
22. Lily Sugar’n Cream Ombres & Prints - Yes, a baby blanket of all things before I knew any better. I haven't heard how it held up, or if they even used it.
23. Zitron Trekking (XXL) - yes, there is some in the blankie, and I think I made some socks for a friend out of it too. There's some in my stash.
24. Patons SWS (Soy Wool Stripes)
25. Rowan Kidsilk Haze - this yarn has been so popular, I wouldn't mind trying something lacy in it. I have to wonder why my friend Sarah had it crossed out on her list.
26. Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino - sure, why not?
27. Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc. Peaches & Creme Ombres
28. Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
29. Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock - Mediumweight - I've got two skeins in my stash, one of which is secretly cast on with a toe. It is yummy!
30. Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick - I can not think of a time when I've willingly knit with bulky yarn, and I'm sure as heck not going to do so with that stuff if I can help it - maybe as a visual aid while teaching a class? (oops, haven't actually used that one!)
31. Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc. Peaches & Creme Solids
32. Cascade 220 Superwash
33. Berroco Ultra Alpaca
34. Knit Picks Swish Superwash
35. Knit Picks Essential
36. Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Solid - not in a million years, Vanna! (oops, haven't actually used that one either!)
37. Colinette Jitterbug - I've fondled this many times in yarn stores, but the three skeins necessary for a pair of socks keeps putting me off. And we don't carry it at my preferred LYS.
38. Lion Brand Lion Wool Solid
39. Knit Picks Shine Sport
40. Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Baby Ull
41. Lion Brand Microspun
42. Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino
43. Knit Picks Palette
44. South West Trading Company TOFUtsies - I'm not sure why this yarn doesn't interest me. I don't think it has enough sproing, maybe.
45. Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool - in the stash, waiting for some love.
46. Mission Falls 1824 Wool - my first sweater was made out of this. It would have been great if I hadn't used it at a gauge that made it all floppy-drapey-netlike.
47. Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK
48. Red Heart Ltd. Super Saver Multis/Ombres Haven't actually used this one, but also wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.
49. Rowan Felted Tweed
50. Rowan Calmer - I'm not normally a cotton-knitter because it hurts my hands - would really like to try it after reading its praises in No Sheep for You.

51. Lion Brand Wool-Ease Heather
52. Knit Picks Merino Style
53. Garnstudio Drops Alpaca
54. Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering - very nice stuff. I knit the adult version of my quilted hat out of it.
55. Knit Picks Andean Silk
56. Red Heart Ltd. Soft Yarn Solids
57. Elann Peruvian Highland Wool
58. Tahki Cotton Classic
59. Dream in Color Smooshy - in the stash, waiting for the perfect moment
60. Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton
61. Dream in Color Classy
62. Rowan Big Wool
63. Peace Fleece Worsted
64. Caron Simply Soft Brites
65. Plymouth Galway Worsted
66. Karabella Aurora 8
67. Rowan Wool Cotton
68. Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton
69. Knit Picks Shine Worsted
70. Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock I don't have a good reason why, but I simply do not like this yarn.
71. Lion Brand Fun Fur Solid
72. Misti International Misti Alpaca Chunky
73. Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk
74. Mountain Colors Bearfoot
75. Lion Brand Jiffy Solid
76. Knit Picks Shadow
77. Bernat Softee Chunky Solids & Marls
78. Austermann Step - I know some of this was in the blankie, and I'm pretty sure I have some in stash.
79. Bernat Cottontots Solid
80. Cascade Ecological Wool
81. Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud
82. Patons Shetland Chunky
83. Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky
84. Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted
85. Malabrigo Yarn Lace- have some in stash, haven't heard it calling yet.
86. Bernat Satin Solids
87. Lily Sugar’n Cream Stripes
88. Knit Picks Gloss
89. Lion Brand Magic Stripes
90. Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk
91. Cascade 220 Quatro
92. Rowan All Seasons Cotton
93. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Solid
94. JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18
95. Novita 7 Veljestä
96. Rowan Kid Classic
97. Mission Falls 1824 Cotton
98. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi
99. Cascade Fixation Spray Dyed/Effects I hate the feel of the spandex in this yarn.
100. Patons Kroy Socks 4-Ply These socks were made with either the 3-or 4- ply. I can't remember. It's fine, but I can think of nicer solid sock yarns I'd rather use.

Whew! That's a lot of work. I'm not very good at memes, and I can't bring myself to tag anyone else. So if you haven't done this yet and would like to, TAG! you're it.

I scream...

Two little girls behaved themselves exceptionally well at the post
office even though they really wanted to stay home. So we celebrated
with our first trip to Ben and Jerry's of the season.

On Why I was So Cranky.

This is a follow-up post to my little blow-up last week. I need to write this post. I have been struggling for more than a week to find the right words to say what is floating around in my mind. I still don't think I have a cohesive message here, but perhaps if you read it you will get the gist of it. I don't really expect to change any opinions or sway any minds, but I do hope to add food for thought on knitting designs and giving credit where it is due no matter what the medium involved.

I want to make two things clear up front. Two things that I truly hope you'll be able to keep in mind as you read the rest of the words here.

1) I know that I am a tiny, little speck on the face of the planet, on the face of the planet which is a tiny little speck on in the universe. And on that planet, in the worldwide knitting community, I am still a tiny little speck. Most people who knit will probably never know my name. I'll follow up on that part in just a bit, but I want to make it clear that although I'm about to reference some people with much bigger names, I am not claiming to be anywhere near their league in notoriety or significance.

2) I am, as always, extremely grateful to my readers, to the people who write comments, to the people who have knit any of my designs, and to the people who have in other ways reached out to me through this blog. I write this for myself, but very much with my readers in mind as well. Thank you for being here. And I'm sorry that I am not so great at following up on comments and responding to e-mails and even commenting on others' blogs as much as I would like. Still, thanks for being here. You make me happy.

Okay, let's move on to one clarification about the situation I described last week. I learned about the class from a post on Ravelry by someone who has signed up to take it at the store in Michigan. He seemed, from his words in the post, to be under the impression that the person teaching the class was the one who designed it. That, and the reactions of both the store owner and the class' teacher, were the sources of my anger. I have to admit that I have never been in this store, I have never received their newsletter. I'm not sure exactly how they've promoted the class (aside from the fact that they do or did have a blanket on display that looks remarkably like mine). I have drawn conclusions from what the guy on Ravelry said. If one customer was led to believe that the designer was teaching the class, and I found out about it, well...where does one's mind lead one?

Moving on to some other background information.

There are and have been all kinds of arguments and discussions about copyright issues among knitters and others all over the internet. Look in pretty much any community of knitters and you'll find one. I've read more than my share of these, and I know by now that I can't copyright my blanket. At most, I could (and have done) copyright the words and pictures I use to describe how I made it. And I could probably trademark the name blankie in reference to blankets like mine, but then I would have to protect that trademark by tracking down anyone attempting to use the name and fighting them legally. I can't do that. I don't have the resources. But my point here is to note that I am not accusing either the store or the teacher of doing anything *legally* wrong. Just want to make that clear.

Okay, and it's kind of hard to explain why this other thing has been rattling around in my mind as I think about this issue, but I will try. Terry Gross' 2001 interview with Paul McCartney on Fresh Air was a good listen - you can still hear it if you follow the link. In the interview, McCartney describe how he and John Lennon co-wrote many songs during their years together in the Beatles, how they agreed to have dual attribution on all of the songs no matter which one had done most of the work on any given song. Even if the song was written pretty much or even entirely by one or the other.

One example was the song "Yesterday," which was written and performed entirely by McCartney. For whatever reason, Lennon's name was always listed first for all the songs, and McCartney has never, even in later anthologies, been able to convince publishers to simply even put his name first for the songs he wrote. So in this modern age with computers and limited space for author names, McCartney's name is getting cut off so that he gets no credit for his amazing work. Really, go listen to the interview - you'll understand much better from the way he described it.

Obviously, I am no Paul McCartney. But it's a great example of how history works. These men were friends who agreed to share credit for their work, and yet the end result seems unfair. How much more unfair is it if someone with whom I never agreed to share credit should end up being thought of as the mother of the Blankie? Even though McCartney's voice is recognized world-wide and my blankie is a flashing speck in the moment of a tiny community, the principle is the same.

McCartney also mentioned in his interview that some people have asked him "what's the big deal?" Even just having to fight a fight like this muddies one's name. Annie Modesitt has been talking quite a bit about copyright and her designs, and fair compensation. It's a slightly different angle to the issue, but it is the same issue, and she has also noted that idea about how it can hurt one's popularity (and thereby one's business) when they stand up to complain about these issues. Which is why it's all the more hurtful when someone creates a situation where we have to.

Moving on to another point for which I have less documentation, but which I think most of you will understand. As connected as many of us are through the online knitting community - blogs, Ravelry, Yahoo groups, etc. - we are a tiny minority of knitters. It is so easy to forget that! My name, even within the online community of knitters, is not very well known. Yes, if you're reading here you know me. But I bet even most of the Yarn Harlot's readers wouldn't remember my name (but maybe they would the blankie if they saw it). That's just one sphere of influence. In real life, I think if you polled local knitters in the Twin Cities, probably less than a quarter 10 percent of them would recognize my name - fewer than that if you count those who are not active in the guild or regulars at their LYSs.

Now look nationwide - or say - look at some place like Michigan. How many of the knitters who randomly walk into a LYS there would recognize the blankie? How many of those would remember my name in connection with it? Not many. Almost none. So if the project and the class description don't include my name at least in an "inspired by" credit, they will never hear my name. Because even if the teacher does mention me in her class, a heck of a lot more people will float through the store or read their newsletter in the mean time.

Now multiply that times however many teachers teach however many classes in however many stores. That's a lot of people potentially thinking that someone else designed that blanket first.

Okay, moving on to another point. A point that is personal to me. As much as I would like to travel and teach classes elsewhere, and as much as I'm up for it as my schedule allows, I know that if every store in the country, or just one in each major market, or even down to as few as 10 different stores asked me to come teach, it would be a long time before we could make that work in my schedule. Because I love my family. I have small kids who need me, and who I need to be with. I have a great husband who gives me time off when I need it, but it would be incredibly stressful to all of us if I were away overnight even one weekend every month. Actually, it would be great for me, stressful for them. The coming back and dealing with the aftermath would be stressful for me.

I am not suggesting that nobody else should ever be allowed to teach a class on mitered squares or even on my blankie. I think I would even welcome it in most circumstances.

And here is the point of the whole post. For gods' sakes, give me some damned credit. Just mention in the class description that your blanket is inspired by Shelly Kang's blankie. If you're going to display a blanket like mine in your store, label it as inspired by mine. I do that in my patterns when I use a stitch pattern from a Barbara Walker book, or base some mittens on a pair of mittens I saw in Marcia Lewandowski's book. It doesn't take that much effort. It's the conscientious, ethical thing to do. This whole mess could have been avoided with that simple step.

Okay, and of all the hate mail that I've gotten in the last week, the bit that just kills me almost more than anything is when one anonymous person pointed out for the umpteenth time that I got all the materials for my project "for free". Um, hello? Do you see any ads on my site? No? Well, I put a lot of effort and some money into this blog. I get enough hits that I can't use the free blog hosting services, even if I wanted to. Not complaining, just pointing out. I followed through on my part of the bargain - I promised to post pictures of and thank the senders publicly for every package I received. Done and done. I promised to either use every scrap of yarn received *or find a good home for it if I couldn't use it myself* Done. And done well, I might add. I passed on tons pounds of yarn to charity knitters. I passed on pounds of yarn to blankie knitters. Not just across the country but in Canada and England as well. I paid for all that postage out of my pocket and did it gladly. I often included other little gifts as well. So get over the "free" yarn bit. They were gifts, given freely, and I dare say I earned them.

That's it. We don't need to discuss this further. Moving on, I've finished the Sunrise Circle (mostly) and we took pictures yesterday. Pictures after bedtime tonight, hopefully. Thanks again for your support, friends!

Cliffhanger

So I left y'all with a little cliffhanger last night. I know you've just been clicking refresh on your browser all day and evening waiting to find out what happened with the back of my sweater. Oops - no - I think I'm the only one who does that ever, and even then only more exciting things like when is the Yarn Harlot going to post about her visit.

Well, it turns out I had plenty of yarn to finish the sweater. In fact, I had almost a whole skein's worth left when all was said and done. It's blocking now - I managed to get it laid out while dinner was simmering, and after an evening with the fan on it, it's almost dry. I'll leave it till tomorrow, though, since it's getting close to bed time and I want to make sure it's completely dry before I mess with it.



I mentioned the neck shaping that Susan suggested after knitting her Sunrise, and it turned out to be easy. It's funny how I often find it much easier to figure construction out with the needles in my hands versus pencil and paper. I just inserted a couple sets of short rows on either side of the neck on consecutive rows. I might have been better off with another set, but it'll do.

In the mean time, this evening I went ahead and seamed up the sleeves as planned...



Then I tacked down the cuff hems. This sweater *is* going to be done in the next week! Woot! (and knock on wood)



Oh, hey, and I finally got to use a little set of gadgets that I've had sitting around for I can't remember how long. I have no idea when or where I got these - were they part of some secret pal exchange? Did I pick them up at a local yarn shop? Did I buy them at the Yarnery? I have no clue.



I hardly ever seam things up. I can't remember the last time I had to seam anything. These are for holding the pieces together and keeping them lined up while you sew. Not totally necessary when you're dealing with a striped sleeve where the color changes clue you in, but still kind of fun.

Oh, and in answer to LyndaLou's question, the Ravelry link to Sophie's blanket is here. It is my own undocumented design, but you can replicate it fairly easily by looking up the two stitch patterns in the referenced books.

Oh, and Shannon - the yarn is Wooly Stripes by Nashua in the Faded Blues colorway. It's funny - there are almost no sweater projects listed in Ravelry with this yarn, but I really like it. It wasn't exactly cheap to buy, but I just had to have it. Some of the other colorways are beautiful and bright, but I chose the blues because I figured I'd get more wear out of it as an everyday throw-on sweater. It's lightly spun single-ply wool. It's quite soft, but seems to be long staple and fairly tough. It would felt beautifully, but it also washes really well. I had knit most of this yarn into pieces for a different sweater, frogged and washed the yarn. It knit back up just fine, and the blocked pieces look pretty good so far. I think it will take wearing it a few times to see whether it pills.

Little Monkey

She certainly does earn her nickname...

Sunrise Update

I really can't believe how fast this sweater is knitting up. I think it's because I'm so used to knitting with fingering weight or finer yarns that I've simply forgotten how (relatively) few stitches go into a worsted weight sweater. It's too late at night for me to try to do the math, but I *am* still rebounding off the blankie project.

Speaking of which - I am going to have another go-round on the cranky from the other day, but I'm still thinking through the situation a bit. I've gotten a bit of hate mail push back on that post, and I have been considering what I said and how I said it. I don't think there are any apologies forthcoming, but I believe there is some further explanation due.

For tonight, we will focus on the my burning-hot size-four circular needles. I know, size four for worsted weight. It's crazy. I knit incredibly loosely, and that's what I have to use to get gauge. But I am spot-on for gauge. I managed to get quite a bit done last night, today and tonight on the back of the sweater. There was the meltdown over the socks that set me back early in the afternoon, but after a calming down period the girls played together quite nicely with the building blocks for a long time.



Julie was totally bossing Sophie around in this picture. Such the big sister.

So I had some time to knit. Last night when I went to bed, I was thinking to myself "You know, I just might have enough yarn for this project after all." Because I've been a little worried as the supplies started dwindling. I found a nice lady on Ravelry with two skeins of undetermined dye lot that she's willing to sell me - ship to me Priority Mail even - for a very fair price. But that would mean waiting and also it would mean ending up with leftovers for sure.

So I knit furiously all day, hoping to either get to the end of the back or the end of my yarn. I am about 2/3 of the way through my last previously-unknit skein, and I took a few minutes just now to unravel and wash my gauge swatches so that I can cannibalize them. Here's the big picture:



The piece on the left is the right-front and sleeve, which are still damp and blocking. I've got a fan on them to speed it up a little. The one on the right is the left-front and sleeve that I started with- It's been waiting around bored for the last couple of weeks, and starting to re-curl a little. That one in the middle is the back, and I've got it lined up with the raglan edges of the other two pieces so we can see how many square inches need to be filled in yet. It's gonna be close. That skein sitting there is less than half full. The pile of yarn in front looks a lot bigger than it is because it's all crinkly.



See? It's hanging up drying now, and it looks a little pitiful.

The last time I ran this short of yarn was when I knit Sophie's baby blanket. I was using 20-year-old discontinued Pomfret yarn for which there was absolutely no hope of finding more. I only wish I had taken a picture of the remaining yarn - it was about three yards' worth.

When you get backed into a corner like this, you start to knit faster and faster because it feels like maybe if you hurry you'll get to the end before you run out of yarn. I would stay up and knit all night, or at least till that skein was gone, but I have another cold and I have to keep the kids busy tomorrow. I need my sleep.

Luckily, I've got a few days before my self-imposed deadline. About a week, actually. I figure that tomorrow I can knit up the rest of the yarn that I have and maybe it will be enough. If not, I can buy the yarn from the nice Ravelry lady who is waiting patiently and in the mean time, I can go ahead and seam the sleeves and the lower part of the bodies together. That would also allow me to work on the hems until the rest of the yarn comes. It's a pipe dream, I know.

Oh, and one other thing that is both in my favor yet still baffling me a little is this post by Susan. She recommends doing some back-of the neck shaping on this sweater, which she discovered a need for after hers was done and corrected with a steek-type job. I've seen that sweater in person, and it looks flawless. And it fit me great, so I want to do the shaping (not to mention that it would save a bit of yarn). But I'm trying to figure out just what the best way to knit that shaping in might be. Should I try to do some short rows where I skip the middle stitches and give the sides extra rows? Or should I wait till I get almost to the top and bind off the middle stitches early? But I don't think I can exercise that second option with the facing that is attached. Yurg! Susan? Are you reading?

Okay, I'll know a lot more by the next time I post. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday, and that I get two days of semi-relief from 24-hour parenting.

Ding Dong...

The girls and I made these "bouquets" with a certain set of friends in mind (Hi, J, M and H!) but there was a meltdown about not wanting to put socks on when it came time to go out and deliver them.



Happy May Day!