Affliction Update

After agonizing here, here, and here about color choices for the Color Affection shawl, I finally realized that world peace was not going to depend on my yarn choices, and I happily cast on with Socks that Rock in Winter Solstice and Jasper, and a skein of Tess Sock.

Well. This is a lot of garter stitch. And a lot of stitches. Still, it's pretty obsessive. Just as I got tired of increasing the plain gray, I got to stripe in the purple. Just as I got tired of the two stripes, I got to add a third, and whoo! short row as well.




But, you know, because I am me, I have to complicate things. It's Mad May, a celebration of Madelinetosh yarn, on Ravelry, and I am entering the Color Affection Plus KAL contest. My current Affliction isn't eligible, so I am starting a Stripe Study by the same designer in Madelinetosh Sock in Candlewick and Tern.


God help me, this is a lot of garter stitch.

Today Was A Good Day

And I didn't even have to use my A.K.*

Seriously.

• I had dinner in the crock pot by 9:30 AM.
• I cleaned out my spice shelf.
• I made plans with a friend to clean out my Hoarding Room over Spring Break. My old PhD office will now officially become a yarn and reading room.
• The weather is beautiful!

I finally finished my Ishbel, in some Sundara that Michelle gave me a long time ago. After several failed attempts to make this years ago, the shawl almost flew off the needles this time. Yvonne blocked it severely, and I think she made it look terrific.

* With apologies to Ice Cube and Jimmy Fallon.

So the Rumors are True

Hello. It's been thirteen days since I last purchased yarn.

My husband has "challenged" me to knit from stash in 2012. It's not like I don't have a lot of stash. It's not like my knitting time has decreased thanks to a certain adorable baby.

I am still in the Rockin' Sock Club as well as the Pro-Verbial Shawl Club, so small amounts of yarn will trickle in. I also have a layaway bag at the store that I last put yarn into on New Year's Eve, so as that gets paid off, that will come home with me as well.

But yeah, knitting from stash. Here we go.

So This No Casting On Business...

I should not have given myself the out of being able to cast on for hexipuffs. I got distracted by puffs, and I also have been in some serious denial about how little time I have to knit (and to blog). The month of no casting on was not really a great success.

I did finish two pairs of socks in my pile.

Cotty in madelinetosh tosh sock in the Foxglove color way, part of the Year of Stash Socks on Ravelry:

Breaking Hearts in Socks that Rock in Cozy Fierce Scummy Girl, part of the Socks that Rawk KAL on Ravelry:

Fall Cleaning

I'm feeling...not anxious, but a little frustrated about the number of WIPs I have and my now-reduced knitting time, so I'm declaring the month of September to be FALL CLEANING TIME. That means I will not cast on for new things (except maybe, maybe a hexapuff or two) until October 1. I did some spring cleaning back in April 2010 and it worked out pretty well.

I have nine active WIPs and a bunch in hibernation. Let's see how I do.

Under the Porch

Some kittens from under the porch

My mother had this tough old broad of a Manx cat named Feather. Feather was our Cat Matriarch. Every few years, she'd give birth to a litter of kittens (please, no Bob Barker Flames; this was a barn cat in the 1970s). Before she went into labor, she'd disappear, usually under the porch, and then emerge a few days later with the kittens.

That's the way I'm feeling. Nature is telling me to get under the porch.

But there's only so much hiding one can do with a family to take care of. Henry and I have been watching Dancing with the Stars, and I've been sitting on the couch casting on for every sock pattern imaginable while he explains the complexities of Lightning McQueen to me.

Sunday morning

On Sunday mornings, my husband teaches violin lessons, and the Preschooler and I hang out on the second and third floor of our house. Right now, the Preschooler is watching Sesame Street upstairs while I putter around in my bedroom. So far, I have

• gone through a pile of books to loan to friends
• chosen the my yarn for the staff Stash Epiphany Gift exchange
• knit a few rows on my Clockwork, and
• I'm having a Jane Austen film festival! Persuasion -- the 1995 BBC version, the best one, of course -- is on now, and Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson!) is next.

Not a bad way to spend a dreary, rainy Sunday morning.

Baby Boys

It's baby boy season around here. Everyone I know is having a boy this fall, and of course, these boys must be outfitted in handknits.

Baby Boy #1 is the son of my sister-in-law's sister (did you follow that?). SIL's Sister is pretty conservative, so I went for a traditional baby shape and color. This is the Garter Yoke Baby Cardigan (sort of, as lately I catch myself casting on according to the instructions but then just going off in another direction) in Socks that Rock Mediumweight in My Little Color Brain. The slight variations of the yellow shading is about as wild as I felt I could get. The sweater went off to the baby's Christening party before I could get a picture with the buttons on.

Baby #2 is the baby brother of The Preschooler's betrothed (we have arranged their marriage and have already planned out the cookie table). #2's mother is a knitter, and I knew I could get crazy with the color. I chose three colors of the brand new Malabrigo Rios, a superwash yarn. I'm generally not crazy about superwash worsted, but the Malabrigo broke the stereotype of lifeless superwash: it's crazy soft and springy and still has all the depth of color of regular Malabrigo worsted. The pattern is Cosy's Baby Beau, with a smidge of Super-Natural Stripes thrown in.

Finally, Baby #3 is a serious matter. My good friend from high school went on vacation over Labor Day at 30 weeks pregnant. Apparently her body took the "Labor Day" concept seriously, and her water broke as she stepped off the plane. She's been in a hospital over 1000 miles from home for almost a month in the hopes that Baby Boy will stay in a little longer. He's set to arrive this Friday at 34 weeks, and I started a Baby Surprise Jacket in the fingering weight Mini Mochi, hoping it will be a good size for him to wear in the chilly fall to come. I also thought it was appropriate because I made my very first Baby Surprise for his big sister.

Not that I'm bitter or anything

A customer and friend once asked, after looking at my Goodreads feed on Facebook, asked me how I have time to read so much and knit so much. Here's the secret: I neglect my child. No, seriously, and I don't know how this happened, but The Preschooler has always been remarkably self-entertaining. Right now, he's lined up his Toy Story figures on the windowsill to watch the landscapers and is having his Buzz Lightyear, Tickle Me Elmo, and two baby dolls act out this elaborate game based on something he saw on Dinosaur Train. I am not allowed to play. I know how lucky I am.

So, Summer of Socks and Lace. I lost. I'm okay with that. Really. Steven is a worthy competitor. I finished eighteen projects:

• Six shawls
• Nine pairs of socks
• One pair of baby booties
• One lacy baby cardigan
• One semi-lacy scarf
• 9539 yards total

My mistake? I knit from stash, which wasn't always Natural Stitches yarn, which counts for double.

I did, however, get through at least some of my Socks that Rock stash. I finished my Ten Shawls in 2010! Overall, it was a pretty good summer, knitting-wise. Now on to knitting something in plain stockinette!

Multnomah

Although yesterday's "Creative Time" was abbreviated due to massive piles of laundry, I did manage to block out my Multnomah Shawl. This doesn't count for the 10 Shawls in 2010 because I started it way back in September. It had been in time out because, in spite of it being the stitch pattern that new knitters cut their teeth on, I cannot manage to do Feather and Fan to save my life. Apparently, I cannot count to six with any kind of consistency.

The yarn is Creatively Dyed Tradewinds, a superwash fingering yarn in the Sour Orange colorway. I blocked it a little too severely, and the scallops look more like points; I've softened the edges somewhat since taking it off the blocking wires. Blocked, it looks like a Cylon Raider, doesn't it?

"Creative Time"

A few weeks ago, I had the realization that my so-called "creative" energy was being directed at anything and everything except my own efforts. Wednesday mornings have become the precious time that I have alone in the house -- no work for me, husband at his work, The Preschooler at, well, preschool -- and so that has become my "creative time."

Have I been wildly creative? Well, no, but it's a time I can gather my thoughts and work on something that's just for me. Last week, I was inspired by the 10 Shawls in 2010 group on Ravelry and tagged, um, more than 10 shawls in my queue that I'd like to work on this year. While my choices don't exactly fit the perameter of the Ravelry group, it does give me a focus, and, more importantly, it helps me plan out projects for yarn I already have. Then I gathered up the patterns for those shawls and put them in one binder.

That was last week. This week I

• Knit one pattern repeat on my Shetland Triangle that I cast on for the Blue Moon Cast-On.
• Watched Hoarders.
• Jumped up after Hoarders was over and sorted out a bag of recyclables, lest I be on the show next.
• Walked to the library and back.
• Knitted another row on my shawl. 

Perhaps next week will be better.