KnitWerk

Oh, it’s hard to make something for someone I don’t know. I have enough of a hard time choosing patterns and yarn for my own projects. I’m new to sock knitting, so I wanted to use a simple pattern and feature the yarn in the design. Unfortunately, none of my LYS’s have a good selection of red handpainted sock yarn, Stitches was a bust as far as sock yarn goes, and going into the long weekend, I just wanted to get started. The deadline is looming.

I settled on a solid-color Koigu in a beautiful crimson red. That’s cool; I’ll use a pattern with some texture. I can deal. I really wanted to use the Diagonal Rib Socks pattern from the subscriber section of IWKnits, but it’s at 7 stitches per inch, and I like this yarn at 9 s.p.i. So I settled on the Waving Laces Socks from IWKnits Spring ‘04 issue:

The first leg is coming along nicely. The lace pattern is easy to memorize, it’s fun to knit, and two purl stitches on either side of the repeat make it nice and stretchy. But now I’m torn by doubt. I’m not sure it’s working in this color. Something about the red with a lace pattern just isn’t hitting it for me. I’m seeing these on a matronly woman in a kitchen full of geese with bows on their necks. Doesn’t seem right somehow. If, by chance, the recipient is a 20-30 something, would she like these socks?

Am I nuts? I’m close to ripping the whole thing and doing the extra math required to turn them into Diagonal Rib socks… Hmmm. Opinions welcomed.

Haven’t had a chance until now to show the glorious yarn I got from Stitches last weekend. I went with elder stepdaughter (a brand-new knitter), and we had a great time. Even though we didn’t make it until Sunday, there was still much to see and pet and buy. We heard that several vendors had sold out and gone home after Saturday, but we didn’t miss them.

I was pretty good, actually. My goals:

1. Hand-painted yarn for Clapotis.
2. Mountain Colors, Lorna’s Laces, Cherry Tree Hill or similar hand-painted sock yarn in a red colorway (no yellow) for Sockapalooza pal.
3. Something for a sweater for me.
4. Something to keep Meghan chugging along with her knitting.
5. Something in 100% silk, a gift for a redhead

First up, a steal from Interlacements. It’s a rayon blend, not something I’d normally choose, but it has a beautiful drape for Clapotis, a gorgeous colorway, and it was a steal. Two 725-yard hanks for $18 each (apparently an end-of-show special). This was my first purchase of the day, and I’m glad I did it; two hours later, they were all gone.

Next, a stop by the Webs booth, and I came up with 20 balls of this lovely stuff for a sweater for me – maybe a twinset? I love the feel of this yarn. Yummm… cashmere and silk. Plenty of yarn here:

Right before I left, I spotted this gorgeous 100% silk, and thought it would be perfect for my redheaded friend:

Notice a pattern? I admit, I didn’t realize until we left that everything I bought was almost identical in color. Interesting lesson: when confronted by too many choices and forced to make decisions quickly, I will choose my favorite analogous color scheme: purple/red/red violet mixed with orange. A pledge: my next yarn purchase for me will not include those colors!

But wait—there’s more!

Continuing with the color theme of the day, I got a really cute bag for my knitting:

It’s a sickness, really. Kinda embarrassing to see it all together like this… I really do like other colors. Just not as much, I guess. Let’s look at this one more time, all this yummy yarn in one place:

Gorgeous!

Meghan made out well. She got a really cute Guatemalan bag for her knitting (which I would have gotten if she didn’t want it) and a bunch of stuff for needle felting. I admit it, I didn’t understand the whole needle felting thing at first, but she was persistent. When I was off looking at other stuff, she saw a demonstration, and came back glowing. She dragged me into the booth, and then roped the owner into demonstrating the technique. I’m not into little gnomes and dolls, even with their oh-so-charming faces, but there were some terribly cool purses there, and beautiful color effects.

Booty not photogenic enough to include: Addi Turbos, US3, 40”, yummy handmade soap, and a needle felting kit for (ahem) my husband. (I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I used his stuff to make a purse…)

Things that didn’t work out: I couldn’t find the sock yarn I wanted for my Sockapalooza pal. Also, looking at the silk yarn a week later, I’m not convinced that it would be a great color for my redheaded friend. In my head this leaned towards rust-peach, with just a touch of purple. In actuality, this leans towards purple, and is really a better color for me. 3 out of 5 goals complete— not bad.

It was a great day!

Today was my weekly visit to the chiropractor for treatments designed to cure me of allergies. Husband and I refer to her as “The Voodoo Doctor;” traditional Western medicine doesn’t acknowledge this as a legitimate treatment, but I know a couple of people who’ve had good results. Hey, it’s Northern California, after all.

I’m allergic to a million things. I have a hard time imagining what my life would be without them – it would have a lot fewer headaches, I’m sure. Skeptics would say that it’s this promise that keeps me going back every week to shell out another 50 bucks. Could be I’m a sucker – who knows? Because I have so many sensitivities, I’m supposed to do this full, 13-week treatment for nutritional and environmental substances before we can even think about getting to cats (issue Numero Uno, IMO). Skeptic in me has already calculated the price of suckerhood to be at least 14 x $50, or a cool $700 of uninsured medical expenses. But the optimist chimes in right away, “But think of all the money you’ll save on allergy medicine! And no more skull-crushing headaches – ever!”

The treatments go like this: I hold an offending substance in my hand, chiropractor does some voodoo over me, I avoid the substance for 25 hours after treatment, and I’m cured for that substance.

This week the substance is metal. Do you know how hard it is to avoid metal? Plastic gloves are recommended. I look like this today:

“You’re lucky,” says Dr. VooDoo. “Your meridians will clear up by midnight.”
(Sara’s note: “!!”)

This, I learn, means that I can finally lose the gloves when I go to bed, so I don’t have to do the full 25 hours. Thank goodness. Until then, I have weird, alien Smurf hands. Willie, the reason for all the sneezin’, is deeply suspicious.

I received an anonymous package from New Jersey today. Secret Pal has struck!

A closer look

Included in the package was an iTunes certificate, a box of chocolates (yum! they’re gone already), and four terrific CD’s. Somehow Secret Pal was able to step into my head and came up with mixed songs to surprise and delight my taste – wonderful! Two of the CD’s were from an official bootleg of last December’s NYC Pixies concert. I haven’t made it all the way through the concert yet (a long conference call interrupted my listening pleasure), but I can report that three of the songs from the mix tape were on my intend-to-purchase list, and even better, there were a couple of bands I hadn’t heard before – and I love them.

Secret Pal scores big time. Thanks so much!

Cykelparkering

Ummmmm… wow. Saw this on String-or-Nothing and just had to point it out.

Where do I get the pattern (in English)?

Adding more functions to the new blog… Here’s a test; it’s a work-in-progress image that will eventually make it to the blog header once it’s spruced up a bit:

Hmmmmmm…. will my image function work?

Whoops—haven’t posted this yet. Here goes:

1. Are you a yarn snob?
“Snob” is a strong word, but yes, I do prefer high-end yarn (Mom owned a yarn shop—blame her). I do appreciate what a good synthetic like rayon can add to the drape of a natural fiber, but I otherwise prefer all-natural.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I haven’t tried spinning since I was a girl and made a miserable, curly mess. I’m interested in trying again as an adult, but I hardly need another hobby. I know how to crochet, but do so rarely.

3. Do you have any allergies?
I’m allergic to dogs and cats. I’m not a smoker, so I find the smell pretty awful.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Since I was very young—5 or 6, or something like that. I didn’t do much of it until mom bought the yarn shop, where I worked after school through junior high and high school. I did a lot of knitting in those years. Mom and I knit to about the same gauge.

5 Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yikes—I just checked, and my Amazon wish list is 3 pages long. There are a lot of business books in my queue, but they’ve lately started to get edged out by knitting books.

6. What’s your favorite scent?
I’ve never thought much about this. I like lavendar, pear… a lot of stuff.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Dear me, yes—but I’m doing the low carb thing right now. I can be immediately swayed from diet virtue by caramel, chocolate, English toffee or coffee-flavored treats.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I like to sew and make jewelry. Does painting count? I love to paint with oils. I also play oboe.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
Latest faves include The Shins and Iron and Wine. The Pixies were in concert on tv last weekend, and it transported me back to Surfer Rosa days (note to self: replace archaic 80’s cassettes with iTunes). I love my iPod.

10. What’s your favorite color? Or—do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
Purple and red are my favorites (and anything in between, like fuschia, burgundy). I’m a “winter,” and my favorites are cool jewel tones that are a bit muted (I like eggplant vs. royal purple, for instance).

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live with my husband and our little cat, Wilson. Yes, I’m allergic (see #3), but he’s definitely sneezeworthy. I take lots of allergy medicine, and have trouble with sinuses, but we fell in love with my oldest stepdaughter’s kitten when she lived with us last summer, and we wouldn’t give him back. She generously (reluctantly) allowed this to happen, and is currently looking into cloning options. My younger stepdaughter is up north, going to college among the redwoods.

12. What are your life dreams?
Holy cow, I don’t know. Lately they’ve been wrapped up with my business. It would be great to get the business to a point where we could go on a long vacation to Europe.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I like classic DK weight yarn in natural fibers. I adore the look of handpainted yarn, but I tend to enjoy them more in the skein, rather than knitted. Clapotis is a nice way to use the variegated yarns…

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not like?
Cheap acrylic

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I’m making my first pair of socks as practice for my Sockapalooza pal’s, and I’ve got several more pairs planned. I started Clapotis with 16-20-year-old stash, but it’s sport weight, and I’m not happy with the drape. I’ll rip it and carry something else along with it. I love scarves and shawls, and am planning a second one of those, too. I’m also designing a couple of sweaters right now.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Sweaters for me, though I haven’t done much of that lately.

17. What are you knitting right now?
See #15 above.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I like them, though after knitting three for Christmas presents, I’m a little tired of them. There’s stash set aside for mine, though.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circulars for everything, including socks and armwarmers on the Magic Loop.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
My faves are Addi Turbos. I’ve decided to collect at least one pair in each size.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Newly-born, yes.

22. How did you learn to knit?
I think my mom showed me (it could have been one of my grandmothers).

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
It’s a burgundy and black wool worsted mosaic turtleneck from the 80’s, and it’s a good and true thing that it was never finished. I’m going to enjoy the yarn once it’s frogged.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like cats.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Old wooden type blocks, musical instruments.