The Great Indoors

I've been dodging quite a bit of hail lately, so basically I take this as the universe's way of saying, "stay inside! Make something warm." I will dart out in all sorts of weather in honor of my social calendar, but between the wool, the cloth, and a film class I'm taking, I'm happily popping Vitamin D supplements and crafting until my fingers are bloody. Hard core.

I'm ambitiously trying to finish up a big-ass men's sweater this week. I make one every year. This one isn't particularly technical, but it has a lovely stitch pattern and quite soothing to knit. I have been monogamous on it for the past week and a half, and I'm pleased to say that it's getting close to done.

Whooo! That's a ton of stitches. I'm using Cascade 220 tweed and size US 6 needles. I like it fine for the stitch definition and durability, but the tweedy bits are a bit crayonesque. I think I prefer a more subtle tweed. Too late for that though!

I've also been spinning a bit. Really!

I have a gorgeous little Bosworth spindle that's been working the wool lately. Above was a bad attempt at andean plying a really beautiful Ent batt of Corriedale. I'm still working out the logistics of trying to spin and ply with just one spindle, no niddy noddy, and a handful of TP rolls to roll the finished singles on. Next time, no andean. The beautiful lion-mane batt will be spun up and plied as well, and the two will be striped to make a really nice slouchy hat.

I currently have a really beautiful bit of indigo-dyed merino silk on the spindle from A Verb for Keeping Warm. It's so much fun to spin and it's turning my hands blue, as Indigo is want to do.

This is all made possible by all my kick-ass friends back in NYC who hooked me up with care packages and gave me the nudge to start spinning again.

Socks

I haven't had too much time or motivation to get any crafty things done, but I did start a pair of socks.

They are the Elm Socks by Cookie A, from the Knitter's Book of Socks. I love these big, slowly undulating cables. They are loads of fun to knit and actually fairly intuitive once you've gotten cozy with the pattern. It's pretty hot out this week, but I want my first winter here to be cozy. Also, all my linen and silk and lighter yarns...who knows where they are right now. I wasn't in the right mind when I was trying to pack up to figure out what to bring along and what to store. I have a feeling I'll be pleasantly surprised when I get the shipment next week. Hopefully I did remember to pack a few skeins of linen- a swingy cool top would be nice right now.

PS, the sock yarn is String Theory Caper Sock, and it's brilliant to work with.

Some Works in Progress

Two weeks in to 2012 and I've not cast on for a pair of socks. This means, despite having limited knitting time, I've gotten some real progress done on sweaters. Multiple sweaters.

First up is the Pas de Valse from Twist Collective.

It calls for fingering weight yarn but it works up pretty quickly at a loose gauge. I'm using Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in the Adonis Butterfly colorway. I can't wait for this sweater to be done and it's not because I'm sick of knitting it- I just love the way it drapes and I can't wait to wear it. It's almost like putting something on layaway. I keep plugging away at it, and one day it will be mine, all mine!



Because it is hand-dyed yarn and there are variations that can't be helped, I'm alternating every couple rows with another skein. That way, when I change skeins there won't be an obvious color change striping its way across my sweater.

Next up is a manly man sweater. It's the Lattice Sweater from Interweave Knits.

These are the sleeves and they only have a few more inches to go. You can't tell from the sample photo, but the sleeves have a line of rib in the center. The whole sweater is kind of boring to knit, but comforting on the commute. It seems really exciting at this point to do that cable detail around the collar. That's going to be like Christmas and my Birthday all wrapped into one when I finally get there. I am on the road for a business trip next week (that I'm seriously dreading) and I'm going to work on the body then. Flights and late nights mean that there is a chance I'll get a great deal of this knocked out without much effort. I'm using Cascade 220 Heathers in the color "Sparrow". We can't really make a man's sweater in an exciting flashy color now, can we? I'd rather it be brown or gray or a combination of the two and have the sweater get a lot of use. Maybe it can be dark green or navy if we're feeling particularly adventurous.

I actually finished this sweater a couple days ago but I haven't had a chance to get pictures yet. So here is what it looked like a couple weeks ago:



It's the Leyfi pullover by Romi Hill. It's a top-down seamless sweater with a great lace collar and a pretty leafy lace pattern that continues down the sleeves. I'll have more on it later, but I love it and it fits and it's flattering. The yarn is Cascade Eco, which knit up in no time at all once I got over the intricate lace.

An Amazon giftcard from a co-worker went to good use:

Squeeee! My quest to find comfy pumps that don't look frump resulted in these cute Mary Janes from John Fluevog. They have a nice round toe and a sturdy heel, so I've had no complaints at all. I walk quite a bit during my day- not only am I on my feet a great deal at work (well, not a waitress amount, but quite a bit) and then I'll usually have to qualms about walking a mile or so after work to run errands or avoid taking the subway at rush hour. I don't like to carry an extra pair of shoes around, so I'd rather just get something I can walk all day in without crippling myself.

I'll be out of commission for a bit as I go rah rah rah for corporate life and put on my serious face and powerpoint present my ass off. Let us all hope that it does not permanently steal my soul.

I Am Running Away to Join the Circus.

It seems as though a series of odd, tragic, stressful and downright weird events has been plaguing the people around me lately. I feel like everyone I know has been the recipient of bad news and the past few months have been especially trying because of it. Before you draw conclusions about my toxic effect on people, I'm pretty sure I'm not the Bad Seed. Just a helpless-feeling bystander.

Also...my job. It's gotten a bit too much lately. I know I get compensated monetarily quite nicely and really have nothing to complain about, but more days than I care to count I feel like I'm ready to move on. I have the Peace Corps website open in another tab. Oooh, Fiji. Really? You send people to Fiji? Wait...but I have to speak Hindi or Fijian, or be willing to learn? I must admit, my Fijian is a bit rusty at this point. Wait...you don't serve any English-speaking countries at all? How about un peu français, non? Well then. Maybe the Peace Corps is not for me after all. Sitting in an office in Manhattan is really quite nice actually, with the running water and flush toilets. Never mind.

Happily, I am planning a nice little vacation next month. It's piggy-backed with a work trip, but it's in a location that I love and would gladly go for a nice vacation on my own. More on that soon.

I've been knitting in fits and starts, but I chose a bunch of projects that require my full attention at all times. None of this round and round we go stuff...I'm making a lace shawl with the lace pattern on both sides, which means one little mistake could end in disaster and I try to tink back to the blissful and innocent time where I didn't make mistakes. I'm also making an oversized cable sweater, where the cable pattern runs on both sides requiring me to stare at the pattern with laser-like intensity. Then I cast on for an "easy" project, which involves a laceweight and delicate silk/mohair blend to be adorned with dozens of tiny beads. So much fun! Not stressful at all! My dentist says I should try not to grind my teeth during my waking hours!

Maybe it's time to start a really simple hat, or a pair of socks.

I did get something pretty in the mail a couple weeks ago:



It's the March Essential Luxury club from A Verb for Keeping Warm. A very touchable blend of baby camel, merino and silk. I can almost feel my stress melt away as I dream about spinning it. It's gorgeous dahhling, gorgeous. It's going into a bin for a bit as I am still spinning my Shetland fleece and I'm [trying my best to be] a spinning project monogamist. I can actually fill a bobbin with the Shetland in about 45 minutes.

There's been lots of other fun stuff going on- lots of pork cookery and dumpling folding and beer making and spin-ins and jewelry creating and honey bee education and trying not to fail at it all. Being bored in New York means you probably have no pulse.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

My workplace is kind of relaxed. If I have to have an office job, I feel pretty fortunate to have landed one that allows for me to have some freedoms. I'm not micromanaged, I work at my own speed, I get time off when I want it. I put in lots of time there every week but I can still sneak outside on a nice day and sit in the park for a couple hours on occasion.

My boss doesn't care that I knit during meetings or conference calls. I'm not able to knit a lot, but I do manage to get a row here and there done. I find it easier when I'm on a conference call to pay attention if my hands are occupied. Otherwise, the computer distracts me and I start zoning out while answering emails and getting caught up with work, instead of focusing on what I should be.

I was on a call Friday, knitting away on my Big Cables Little Ones Too sweater. I started it back in February and put it down a few times since. I finished a sleeve and have most of the second sleeve done. So I'm plugging away listening to a call and I put the sweater down on my desk in order to take some notes. Except I couldn't find my sharpie pen. Where could it be?



Yup. Right underneath my sweater. Behold the wicking power of wool.



I found a Tide Stick (which makes me always want to say "Thai Stick") and after soaking it and loading it up with handsoap and club soda, I went to work with the stain-remover pen. Lots of gentle blotting.



I got home, soaked it more and then put laundry detergent directly on the spot. More ink leeched out.

So now I have a sweater that has a wee bit more sleeve to go. The ink stain is at the top right of the neckline. It's about the size of a quarter. It's faded, but it still looks like a stain. I was very careful to be gentle, but all the blotting and futzing has made the area a little felted- the stitches aren't as well defined. Since it's top-down, if I tore it back from the neck, the stitches wouldn't line up perfectly since I would be then knitting bottom-up. I'm going to try to duplicate stitch over the spot, or maybe just wear it as a badge of stupidity.

Some Knitting Progress

The craziness surrounding a corporate move has yet to calm down. Today I have a crew replacing tiles that got gouged during construction in the reception area. The moment I walked in the door this AM, I got a rather overwhelming view of plumber's crack. That vertical smile is greeting everyone coming into the office. Classy, eh? I also have some people here from the furniture installation company to replace pieces that were delivered damaged, but they are spending a lot of time being confused and they seem to be missing the new furniture. This should be interesting.

On to the knitting. I'm ignoring reality today.

I finished the body and sleeves of the Lion Neck Cardigan, and now I'm working on the ruffle collar (the Lion Neck part). I failed to get a picture, but it's all bunched up on the needles anyway, so I'll wait until that's finished. It was a fairly quick knit, but it was too big and heavy for me to get into my day bag (and far too awkward to take out on the subway or bus) so it didn't get a whole lot of attention. Just a few rows here and there when I could find the time.

I'm almost done the body of the Baby Cables and Big Ones Too (which I just refer to as my Biggy Smalls, since the sweater title is infuriatingly complex to try to blurt out when asked).



So far, I love it. And I love the yarn- Valley Yarns Northfield. It's soft and lofty from the merino, drapey from the Alpaca content, a little bit of sheen from the silk, and the whole thing is plied into a tight, springy cabled yarn. It's a steal- it's comparable to luxury yarns twice that price.

My other knitting project is, of course, my A-Z Aarlan Arwetta double-thick mittens.



I ran into some needle issues with these. I loathe double-points, so I went out and bought 2 size 0 circs for these. I decided to try something new (and on sale!) and went for the "Square Circulars" that Kollage makes with horrible results. To be fair, I only tried this one tiny 0 size, so maybe the rest of their needles are great. I gave up after only 3 rounds. I liked the square shape, but the cords were useless- they were too floppy and they kinked and bent too easily to push my stitches around. It became a small war. I switched to DPNS, but they kept sliding out at inopportune moments and made me a bit crazy. I put the mitts down for a few days and ordered a couple of addi turbo circs (addi has yet to fail me with any of their products) with a gift certificate that a co-worker gave me to Yarnmarket.com (which I undoubtedly feel that I've earned) and I'm now once again happily plugging away at them.

Well, the furniture installers did not get about half of what was ordered here, so I will be dealing with them again next week. Hopefully the vertical smiles will be done in a while- I've been putting off a bathroom break to avoid that sight.