Qué lástima

My boots are leaky.







And it's rainy.

Socks 101

My March socks for Sock-a-month3 are done! With a few weeks to spare. Admittedly, they're kind of cheaters, a fulled footie pattern written by Larissa for her upcoming book instead of my regular fingering weight calf-length socks. I knit them in order to test-knit them (a test-along, if you will), but I stalled halfway through, and decided to rip the first out and reknit them as mediums instead of smalls. They're for my granny for Christmas, a little late. Also, my granny turned 94 last week (holy crap!).


Pre-fulling


After fulling, on location in Laurelhurst park, while walking The Trickster

The Specs:
The Pattern: Socks 101, by Larissa. Attempted as a test-knit for her new book, but due to re-sizing I did not finish in time. However, when I started the better size, I knit them in a day. It's a lovely pattern, and a great way to use one skein of a luscious yarn. They're super super cozy, and I'm planning on using this extensively as a gift knit in the future. I think they're more comfy than Fuzzy Feet, and from the sounds of things, much more straightforward. I can't wait to buy Larissa's book; I think it's going to be a keeper.

The Yarn: Less than one skein of Manos del Uruguay in color 118, Mulled Wine. The pattern calls for two skeins, but it looks like most people have made it with one. I had a fair bit to spare. I bought it at the Yarn Garden. Perhaps you've seen their ad in Interweave. Brief Yarn Garden review: I know a lot of people view Yarn Garden as the end-all-be-all of Portland yarn shops. They certainly have the most yarn. If I can't find it at other shops, I'll find it at the YG. And their cafe is very charming. However, I've found their staff to be a little arrogant. They're very pushy about their classes, and they've treated me as if I have no knitting knowledge, which is irritating. Maybe they are just accustomed to new knitters, but a lot of people do know how to knit already, and know what they're looking for. And, why don't they carry Blue Moon Fiber Arts, especially since it's an Oregon yarn? The staff I talked to didn't even know what it was, even when I mentioned Socks that Rock. Do you live under a rock? In my several visits there, I have had one delightful staff member: the guy working the espresso machine who wound my yarn.
Anyway, I'd never knit with Manos before, and it was luscious. However, (warning: heresy ahead) I prefer Malabrigo. It's much softer. I'll be happy to knit these socks with Manos, or Malabrigo, or Rio de la Plata (from Abundant Yarns), or whatever.

The Needles: Chiao Goo Bamboo DPNs, size 10. Purchased from Yarn Garden. They're fine. I'm not too picky about DPNs.

Thoughts: Great pattern. The only mod I made was too make them a little bit and full them a little more. I haven't sent them to my granny yet, so we'll see what she thinks.

I'm already working on my next pair of socks, another pair of Jaywalkers. I anticipate them taking until April, so they'll be my April socks barring catastrophe.

In other news, today is the last day of my vacation, and Oregon is rewarding me with lots of rain. Maybe I'll get a little house cleaning done. At least the weather was nice for the Shamrock run yesterday. It was a great time, thanks to my hard-core coworkers who rolled out for the race.

Odessa

Here's a quickie. My friend KR turned 30 this year, and requested a hand-knit hat for her birthday. I didn't *quite* get it done it time, and took the liberty of wearing myself a few times before giving it to her. But we finally connected over pedicures one day when a mutual friend was visiting, and I had the presence of mind to snap a couple of pics.


Em's in town! KR had a b-day two months ago!


Close-up of Odessa


We need to do this more often

The Specs:
The yarn: Rowan Calmer in Peacock, less than one ball. I can't really afford to use Calmer for sweaters, etc. Not that I really knit many sweaters anyway. But I do like to use it for hats. It's soft and warm, and completely non-itchy. I've started another Shedir with my last remaining ball. It's been languishing in the UFO pile, but maybe soon. Anyway, good yarn choice for this hat. And I really liked the Peacock color. The beads were from Dava Bead and Trade in Hillsdale. They're #6 round beads, sort of a purple/blue/green, not really metallic but more like a Raku-ish finish.

The pattern: Odessa, from Magknits, by Grumperina. I followed the pattern precisely, aside from my yarn sub. I love it. Simple, quick, and lovely. The beads are subtle, charming, and easy. Grumperina is pretty much amazing. I've started another pair of Jaywalkers. Has she started a religion yet?

Thoughts: I think I said it already. Love the yarn, love the pattern, love the finished product. I think KR likes it, too.

I'm on vacation this week (thus the blog posts). I decided to just relax in Portland and do things I don't usually have enough time to do, like go to Stumptown any time I want. I'm trying to take Loki out to some of Portland's dog parks that we haven't tried yet as well.

A little Portland flavor for you:


Coffee prOn

To Libby: I knit at night, often, when I should be reading the Green Journal, the Compendium, TeLinde's, Gabbe, Novak's, or Williams. Procrastinate much?

Psychadelic Pomatomuses

I finally, finally, finally finished my Pomatomi. The Pomatomi I started in October when I was in Sock-a-Month2. The reason I only finished one pair of socks for Sock-a-Month two. And gleefully, my first pair of socks for Sock-a-Month 3. These are actually my February socks. I finished them a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to photo and blog.

Although I'm making it sound as if I didn't enjoy making these socks, I really did. The pattern is intriguing and engaging. And, it looks pretty wicked, too. But they're not exactly mindless knitting, so they simply took a while. I couldn't pick them up during my weekly lectures, and they sort of simmered for a while as I was focusing on a wee bit of holiday knitting. I enjoyed making them, love the look of them, and I'm glad they're done and I can start some different socks.

A photo montage:

The yarn


Better colors in this shot


The yarn, on my new, totally radical Nostepinde by Hello Yarn

I've been using my Nostepinde for a couple of months now. I got it from my mom and dad (who henceforth shall be known as Ole and Lena) for Christmas. No, it's no fancy, shmancy ball winder, but I like the low techiness of it. I'm starting to get very even, very appealing balls of yarn from it. And it definitely beats by previous low-budg solution: winding it around my index finger.


Close-up of the yarn on the Noste


#1, in progress, on 2 circs


Close-up of los dos finished Pomatomi


Gusset, heel, and ankle


Are your eyes going buggy yet?


Vertigo

Ok, I will be the first to acknowledge that this was perhaps a busy yarn choice for an already busy pattern. But, you know what? I don't care. I wear scrubs to work almost every day, so socks are my way to spice things up a bit. The Pomatomus pattern still looks awesome, and this yarn is one of the best I have used so far. Very soft, very squishy, very durable with no pilling or other ickiness after a few runs through the washer AND dryer.

The Specs:
The Yarn: Spunky Eclectic SUPER SOCKS. Hand painted Superwash Merino Wool. Fingering weight sock yarn. 100 g = 420 yards. Colorway is Aztec. I won this yarn in a contest on Jennifer's blog. I really love it. It's durable, soft, and very comfortable. The colors are fantastic.
The Pattern: The famous Pomatomus. This is the first one of Cookie's patterns I've knit. I'll agree with the pattern description in that it's a bit of a challenge, as far as most sock patterns go. But if you've knit lace before, or you know how to read a chart, then it shouldn't be much of a problem. The pattern is repetetive, so you do get the hang of it after a while. The only problem I had was in Chart B. Make sure you note the highlighted stitch in row 1. It says: Slip 2 st. Place two slipped stitches back on left needle. Knit three together tbl. I had mistaken it for a similar symbol for "Knit 2 tog tbl" for a while and it was messing up my pattern and stitch count. Overall, the pattern in the work of genius.
The Needles: As per usual for my socks, socks on two circs. Addi Turbos #2.
Thoughts: This sock is very, very stretchy, and is very comfy. I would lean toward a tighter versus looser guage. I made my feet a bit too long, as well. But they're very, very comfy, and I will enjoy them very much. On their virgin voyage out in the real world, I received several compliments from non-knitters.

Part of what was stressful about these socks was knitting them cuff down from one large skein of yarn. I don't have a scale, so after sock #1, I felt I had enough for the second sock, but no objective way of knowing. As I knit down on sock #2, I started to have the sinking feeling that I would run short. Since sock #1 was done, this would mean ripping it all the way back, past the heel, to take out one pattern repeat in the leg (I had done 3). I decided to risk it, but I was really hoping to make it just to the toe of sock #2, where I would not be totally heartbroken to finish the toe in some other crazy leftover yarn. Miracle of miracles, I made it. I have a little bitty nubbin of a ball left. I'm so glad I was able to make it through both socks. After working so hard on these, I really wanted them to be near-perfect, but I would not have had the energy to rip both socks back past the heel again.

I'm elated with these socks and recommend the pattern to anyone up for an engaging sock-knit!