In another time zone , it is YPF

But first, August means soccer practice has begun and I lose my afternoon backyard light by the time we get settled at home. So it's indoors with the flash feature for my pics unless I wait 'til the weekend.

My first Solstice Slip is done! My first Rockin' Sock Club pattern where I made modifications. Seen here with 1" of k3p2 ribbed cuff on size 0 (2.00 mm) needles and the standard St st toe. I simply wasn't in the mood to do another garter st short row heel & toe despite the convenient option of knitting these cuff down. After doing the garter st short row heels & toes for my Inside Outs, I had that feeling of ennui about them. But how fickle I am as I will probably do the garter st short row heel & toe in the Ruffled Garden Socks in the August Magknits issue. (I've been admiring GFTC's work in the Socktoberfest group in flickr & see her post on Knitter's Review forums, so it's nice to "recognize" a designer.)

Back to the Solstice Slip, I did go with a heel flap but I was inspired to carry the zig zag pattern down from my Twisted Flower Socks fancy heels. Apparently, I'm finally recovering from the adventure of knitting the Twisted Flower 3x to make 1 pair of socks. (Only in knitting can you have 1+1+1=2.)

This makes my count of single socks go up to 3 in a month. However, I've already cast on for my second Solstice Slip and the other 2 orphan socks will find its twin in a couple weeks.


And nothing like the words "discontinued" to make me buy more yarn from an indie dyer who I thought I wouldn't be buying from for awhile. The top skein is Stormy, the bottom Sweet Briar Rose, both sock yarns from Sundara. Unfortunately, the flash is really washing out the Stormy. It's not that pastel-ish blue IRL.

I thought I had scratched that itch of exclusivity when I finally got her Cherry Blossom skein a couple months ago. But no, I had to read that she would discontinue her multi-color skeins over time and would only do semi-solid & solids from now on for her permanent collection. (I've tried once to buy a one-off skein of hers before, but I'm not competitive enough to enter that sharkfest every time.) So now I will officially declare my Sundara itch has been scratched for a long, long time.

Almost a Piece of (Red Velvet) Cake

Despite the nice compliments from tapmouse & others when I wore this to work today, I'm conflicted on the size I chose.

When I knitted my first Wendy Bernard pattern, the Marilyn Not So Shrunken Cardigan, I went up 1 size which was 2 sizes too large. I frogged that sweater with the intention of some day re-knitting it in a more appropriate size. Then, when I started my Simple Knitted Bodice by Stephanie Japel (Glampyre), I started 1 size smaller (recommended by other SKB knitters) but ended up going back up to my size for the top portion and back down for the rest of the sweater. This lead me to start the Something Red in my size instead of 1 size smaller with the intention of probably going down a size for the rest.

But then I made a tactical error and decided that since the ribbing for the rest of the sweater will pull in a bit, I would take the chance & not reduce the size. If I had swatched a piece transitioning from the St st to the ribbed portion, I would've known better, but did not. Now I'm thinking I should've started the whole thing one size smaller especially since the sleeves are on the loose side and I can't tell if the body in the ribbing section is just right or not.

On the plus side, the pattern in and of itself is elegant in its simplicity. I would definitely knit the pattern again, but maybe in Cotton Ease or Rowan All Seasons Cotton. The Knitpicks Main Line does feel a bit heavy despite it's 25% wool content. It's still cozy feeling and would be a good weekend sweater, but perhaps a lighter cotton blend would make for a better work cardigan. On the negative side, I didn' t realize the yarn sheds like the dickens. Perhaps the black cotton/lycra shirt I wore today wasn't the best choice under the cardigan, but it's still a bit annoying.

This is the second time I've knit with Main Line, but the first time for myself. I hope the Dusty Lavendar Otis I knitted for my friend last year didn't shed all over her. I'll belatedly apologize now for that in case she has a chance to actually read my blog while unpacking at her new home halfway across the country.

In the future I'll just have to remember that Wendy Bernard designs have a bit more ease than Stephanie Japel for my upper body. From now on all my Wendy Bernard patterns will be made 1 size down (especially since I plan to knit the Tomato & Sahara tops at some point) and Stephanie Japel right at my size.

Of course, I have no idea how this personal rule of mine will have to be adjusted when I get to the decision point on my Ribby Pulli. Since it starts from the bottom, I have until 2" before the undearm to decide if I need to increase up a size. I'll need to quiz the Purlescence crew about this sweater since their mini-KAL for it is what got tapmouse & I started on this. (Also, most of the sweater will be in purple so it'll qualify as my second sweater in the Project Spectrum category.

And a quick belated thank you to Carrie for my blog contest prize. Her Lunasea is on the right, the one I bought at Stitches West on the left. I'll either make a shawl out of one (Forest Canopy?) and socks out of the other or make some whack knee highs with both. But it'll wait 'til I'm inspired.

Semi-FO's

Horcrux sock #1 done!
Yarn: Yarn Botanika super merino tencel "DK" weight from One Planet in Pine Forest
needles: size 1 (2.25 mm) Susan Bates dpns
mods: extra 15 rows after the lightening bolt section, longer heel section converted in Sl st insted of St st, ended toe decrease a row early as I'm not so pointy-toed.

And the knitting is done on my Something Red!

Yarn: Knitpicks (KP) Main Line in Red Velvet Cake from their sale last year - 12 skeins
size: 39
needles: size 8 KP Options
mods: extra 1" in the bodice section, 3/4 length sleeves

I reinforced the buttonhole and it's now washed & drying. I may to need to find a button as all my spare buttons in my sewing basket are 1" and the pattern recommends 1.5" button. I'll probably sew on the 1" button as an interim measure.

If the collar edges on the bottom still roll, I'll probably cheat and add a row of crocheted slip stitches to stabilize it. Don't want to add more in case it adds to much length in comparison to the rest of the cardigan bottom, but as it is, the rolling makes the collar edge look too short.

I have more thoughts on this cardie, but I think I'll voice them when it's dry and I can post some kind of modelled shot.

Next up (besides socks): Ribby Pulli - doing a mini-KAL w/tapmouse. More ribbing :p, but at least it's in wool. It'll be in purple too, so it'll count as my next Project Spectrum.

Pas de baa pour moi!

Amy Singer from knitty.com is in da house!

I didn't sign up for Amy's classes at Purlescence Yarns this weekend, but I did get the chance to have her autograph my book and hang out and do a little knitting. It was a blast as I got to witness another Hanna sheep siting. The Boba Knitters are so fun. Too bad I live so far, but maybe one of these days, I can pop in on their Sunday meet up.


And no trip to Purlescence would be complete without a Socks that Rock purchase. Hidden among all that Fire on the Mountain and other fun lightweight colors was the gem of Jewel of the Nile:

I originally thought I'd be buying a 3rd skein of Panda Cotton since I thought I would run out before I finished the first sock. Luckily I didn't and had a few yards to spare.

I finally succumbed to the lure of my Rockin' Sock Club yarn and cast on for my Solstice Slip. My first modification has been to do 1" of k3 p2 ribbing on size 0 needles in hopes that'll take care of any looseness on top.

But what I've really been wanting has been to do some lace knitting and the new (and early) Yarn4Socks August sock club package seems to fit the bill. The yarn is Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Sea Foam and the pattern is by Designedly By Kristi. Good thing I finished her Balance Socks pattern.

However, I may wind up my BMFA Geisha in Scaponia and cast on for a shawl. I saw some of the Purlescence crew knitting shawl patterns with their Geisha in I think from various patterns from Alison Jeppson Hyde's Wrapped in Comfort. (She was also at Amy Singer's book signing.)

The problem, however, is I don't know which pattern to make. I've bought both the Leaf Lace and Flower Basket shawl patterns and am considering getting Alison's book too. I really like the cut-out circle shape (I forget the correct term) of her shawls.

I'm a puff piece

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Since all my WIP pics are boring, I decided to see what house I'd be sorted into. I knew I wouldn't be a Gryffindor or Slytherin, but I kinda wanted to be a Ravenclaw. Heh.

I finally saw the Order of the Phoenix Monday night. I had finished book 7 the night before, so it gave some scenes a bittersweet flavor for me. I'm glad I didn't re-read OotP before I saw the movie since I'm sure I enjoyed it more that way, especially with the downplaying of all that whining Harry does at the beginning of the book. It was one HP book I wanted to throw at the wall since Harry's teenage angst was driving me crazy.

The Horcrux progresses.

But not at Stitch 'n Pitch. Not much lighting up in the nosebleed seats, so it was a bit dark to work on it.

Not a great birthday game for Barry Bonds and an okay SnP goodie bag. Monkey1 did enjoy starting the needlepoint set that was in the goodie bag when she finished her food and got bored. She caught on quick that baseball is boring. I was thinking about going to the Oakland A's SnP (they at least have a better record this year) in September, but now I'm not so sure.

Caught up to where I was before I ripped to re-do the increases on my Something Red. Still not happy with it, but before I stab my eyes out w/my knitting needles over the ribbing, I decided to just plug on and hope they're not so obvious after a wash & block.

But what seemed truly endless was the gusset section on my Menehune socks. Apparently my rows are short so I had a lot of stitches to decrease to get to the foot section. My gauge is also off so I will run out of yarn before the sock is done. I won't rip & re-do since the sock does fit now. If I re-knit to the pattern gauge, I'll have to go to the large size, but I won't. The yarn is rather loosely plied and I'm not sure how the yarn will be if I frogged and started over. Besides, I can be too cavalier about my frogging.


And last but not least, happy birthday tapmouse! She'll have to post her b-day swag since I neglected to take a picture of it before I gave it to her.

Interrupting the WIP's for Harry

Got my book yesterday and proceeded to ignore the house-cleaning and folding the laundry (at least it's been washed & dried) and put my mad speed reading skills into high gear. DH had a refresher course on what I used to do before I knit. ;)

My sister got the book the day before and we vowed not to call each other 'til we knew we were both done. Gotta love siblings that understand the Harry thing. She really hates being spoiled and was beside herself when people at the bookstore proceeded to, not only open the book at the end, but read parts of the book out loud. She did all she could to get the heck out of there with her copy unscathed.

Luckily, that didn't happen to me 'cause I got mine at Costco amidst the Sunday morning shopping rush. And DH thoughtfully stuck my copy in a plastic bag from the meat department so it wouldn't get stained from anything that could leak as he knows how much of a neat freak I am about my books.


But before I got the book, I did manage to get quite a few rows into my Horcrux sock in fingering weight. The pattern's available at the Six Sox KAL yahoo group. (The worsted weight version is available here.) Thanks to tapmouse for pointing me in that direction.

For some reason my brain associated horcruxes with the color dark green, so I cast on with Yarn Botanika's superwash merino tencel in Pine Forest. It's thinner than BMFA's Seduction as far as my initial swatching went, so it'll be a nice learning experience for me.

Also in so progress is my Menehune Cobblestone sock. So, so soft. Splitty as heck, but I guess I'm used to it when I've been working with cotton. It's also giving me a nice break from all the ribbing I've been doing for my Something Red (which I've torn back to re-do the increases) and the Horcrux sock.

In Full Bloom

Stick a fork in me. I am so done! The flower halves have been reunited!

Quickie recap:
pattern: Twisted Flower by Cookie A!
yarn: Louet Gems Pearl in Willow 2 skeins
needles: KP size 1 (2.50 mm) circs
size: medium


Comments not already discussed ad nauseum in previous posts:

Apparently the skein for my first sock was short anyway on yardage as I had to use the leftovers from the second sock skein to do the toe on this re-knit.

On this last time, the sock obviously went faster due to a comfortable familiarity with the pattern, but also due to finding a cabling w/o a cable needle tuturial that worked for me thanks to Carrie. It's amazing that no matter how perfectly logical and well written the various tutorials are online, what it boils down to is what works for one's style & tension in knitting.

I love this pattern, but it's safe to say that after knitting what would be considered 3 socks, I won't be doing this pattern again in my lifetime. Well, at least for a very, very long time.

Off to ribbing island on my Something Red cardie and a Horcrux sock, though I'm already tempted to finally cast on for my STR club Solstice Slip socks. I should get back to my Menehune Cobblestone sock though.

Balance

yarn: Yarn4Socks My Soc camel/lambswool blend in Hunter's Glen
pattern: Balance Socks fingering version for the April Yarn4Socks sock club installment in the medium size
needles: Susan Bates sock set size 1 (2.25 mm) dpns to get pattern gauge of 9 spi in St st

Random Project Thoughts:
Between the stiffness of the yarn and the left twist (ktbl in the 2nd st, k 1st st, then drop both off), it was slow going on the left sock. I still enjoyed this pattern so I think if I do another one (it came in sizes child, S, M, L) in a squishier stretchier yarn, it'll go a bit faster.

The yarn was a good learning experience, but I wouldn't buy it on its own if they keep the heavily fragranced softener. I'm assuming they used the softener due to the stiffness I've mentioned before, but it took me a long time to geting around to knitting with this yarn because the smell was so off-putting to me. I'm guessing the camel must be much lighter that regular wool since it came in 2 oz, 300 yd hanks, but it didn't knit up super fine like Scout's BFL I've swatched around on. I had a lot left over from both Y4S skeins for both socks.

eta: I just rinsed the socks over the weekend in a vinegar/water bath which I should've done in the first place to get rid of the softener smell. (Thanks, Batty for the reminder. I'll need to do this on the next yarn that's either smelly or stiff.) The socks themselves aren't appreciably softer, so I think the stiffness is a property of the camel down. Time will tell if it'll soften with wearing.

Next up, the Twisted Flower re-do! I've finished 1 repeat of the leg chart and would finish the 2nd 'cept I have to do that real life thing called folding laundry.

Early or late YPF?

Flashing stuff I recently got:

Three Irish Girls (formerly Irish Baby Knits) Caitlin & Megan Adorn sock yarn. I am a sucker for these particular Irish/Celtic names. Caitlin had to be special ordered since it's no longer listed on the site.


Since I couldn't justify paying the shipping on the 2 Dream in Color sock patterns only, I snagged a couple more Dream In Color Smooshy yarns in November Muse and Wisterious. Chosen solely on the fact that as eye shadow colors, they'd be awesome...just not together. ;) Well, I take that back. I might (read my favorite Nars MA might) be able to.


From Tyler, his hand-dyed sock yarn in Chocolate Paradise as a thank you for testing his sock pattern that he entered into the Hill Country Yarns sock pattern contest.

And what I've been listening to since I got back from vacation:

Manoa DNA played at my friend's reception and we got their CD in the cute gift bags the bridge & groom gave out.

Still on Hawaiian time

How much knitting I can get done on the flight from Oakland to Honolulu:

Left:
Yarn - Crystal Palace Panda Cotton Painted Iris
needles - size 1 (2.25 mm) Clover dpns
pattern - Menehune Cobblestone socks

Right -
Yarn: Classic Elite Star from my first & only Patternworks grab bag buy last year
needles: Clover size 8 dpns
pattern: Arizona Flip Flop Socks

I didn't get a chance to knit at the wedding reception as we were too busy doing stuff. But I did manage to get the requisite "travel sock at the wedding reception" pic.

Did the second AZ flip flop (or as they're called "slippah") sock during the trip and finished it off at mom's the day before I flew back.


Not too thrilled at how loose the Star knitted up, but Monkey1 thinks they make great wrist-warmers so they stay & won't be ripped & re-knit.


Didn't get too much of the Menehune Cobblestone sock knit on the trip back as I developed a headache and I won't be working on it 'til after I finish the left Balance sock and the re-do of the first Twisted Flower.

Half Flower

I've probably gone off the deep end in ripping Twisted Flower sock #1 when I decided to tie a story in with the process. The legend of the naupaka popped in my head while contemplating to rip or not to rip. It is one of my favorite childhood Hawaiian legends. Nothing so tragic as the classic story of two lovers from different classes/worlds being torn apart with only a glimmer of hope of them ever getting back together again.

(The heel isn't perfect, but I love the stitch definition the Louet Gems Pearl gives.)


My favorite part of the legend being if you collect the beach naupaka (the commoner man) and the mountain naupaka (the royal lady) and put them together that you could once again reunite the two lovers.


So one day, Twisted Flower 1 will be reunited with Twisted Flower 2 and I will actually have a matching pair while someone on Oahu will be reuniting the mountain and beach naupaka together.

P.S. Toddler hat modelled by Cheer Care Bear (the soccer ball is MIA) knitted from the free pattern on the Charmed Knits KAL. I used the orphan blue (shade #219) and yellow (shade #216) Rowan All Seasons cotton yarns purchased from Article Pract's big sale last year. No orphan "bronze" or "gray" skeins, so my Ravenclaw beanie had turned into a Cal Bears beanie.

She called it!

Tapmouse knew I was in Project Manager mode when she called that I would finish this pair by the end of the week. What she probably didn't realize was that due to Monkey2's love of the Wiggles, I had that darn song "Do the Monkey. Ooh, ooh. Ah, ah. Ooh, ooh. Ah, ah. Monkey, monkey..." running through my brain the entire time.

Quick recap:

Socks that Rock Algae lightweight
Monkey by Cookie A
size 1 (2.50 mm) Knitpicks dpns
no mods


I'll have to re-take the picture for my Scout's Indie Swag June package, but you can see better ones in Scout's flickr group. In addition to Cookie A providing the pattern for this month's swag, she also chose the color for Scout to dye. When I told Tapmouse this, she asked if it was in the green color family, but I couldn't tell her 'til I got the package. Scout hides the actual color when she previews it in her blog. And what do you know, Tapmouse was right! It's green. A teal green, but still...green!

You can get a better looks at the pattern photo here since the hard copy printed out too dark to see the details of the sock.

So now that I'm done with my Monkeys I have no excuse for not working on my second Twisted Flower sock. I initially entertained the thought of leaving sock 1 as is with the leg knitted on size 2 (2.75 mm) dpns for a "large" and the heel & foot on size 1 (2.50 mm) circs for the medium, but the more I get into the second sock, the more I realize I need to re-knit the entire first sock. Aside from the nightmare option of cutting the sock in half and then knitting the leg as a medium then grafting it to the other half, I realized I should've reduced the number of stitches for the foot to 72 sts (the "large" again), not the 68 sts for the medium. Then there's the realization that I also should've done one more repeat on the foot before decreasing for the toes. I'm not fond of toe jams in shoes or socks, especially when I can fix the sock.


In between all this I'm still managing to get a couple rows on my Something Red here and there though I've slowed down since I got to the ribbing section. My poor April Y4S club second sock is being sadly neglected.

Oh, by the way, I got in Ravelry this week. My name there is Nartian. It'll be slow going loading my projects and stash into my notebook since I can't cheat and do it at work, especially since flickr.com is blocked from our network. I'll be sticking the Ravelry button on my side bar at some point.

Another meme. This time about birthdays.

I got tagged by Carrie (Irishgirlie).

The Birthday Meme rules are to go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post 3 events, 2 births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday, then tag 5 friends.

So, on my birthdate of November 24 (shared at one point w/3 other co-workers - how's that for coincidence?), these happened:

3 events:
1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species.

1904 - The first successful caterpillar track is made. (Being totally engineering geek here.)

1951 - The Broadway play Gigi opens with a then unknown actress by the name of Audrey Hepburn in the title role. (One of my all time favorite actresses.)

2 births: (Both chosen 'cause they were on a little tv series called Roswell that I once loved)
1977 - Colin Hanks, American actor
1978 - Katherine Heigl, American actress - better known as Izzie on Grey's Anatomy

1 holiday (excluding US Thanksgiving give or take every few years):
Feast Day of Saint Colman of Cloyne - Cobh, Ireland

I'm tagging, if you feel like it:
Tapmouse - like no one saw that coming!
Kel
Knitting Betty
Chicken Knits
Wei

Goal

Did some obsessed knitting last night:

One Monkey down, one to go.

I really should get a real sock blocker...'cept I keep buying more yarn instead.


Usual specs:
Monkeys by Cookie A
Socks that Rock Algae lightweight
Knitpicks size 1 (2.50 mm) dpns
no mods - am curious to see how the St st heel will wear. Besides, when (not if) I knit another pair of Monkeys (thinking darker colors), I'll probably sub in the usual slip st heel

Now, I can either do the relaxing and easy Something Red or tackle my Twisted Flower more. Of course, it doesn't mean I won't be winding my STR Firebird. ;)

It's a Rockin' Sock Club kind of YPF day

I'm posting other YPF-ish pics at the beginning of this post, so if you don't want to be spoiled on the June Rockin' Sock Club yarn, don't scroll past my Monkey-sock-in-progress pic.

First up is my Sunshine Yarns Dragonfly sock yarn. When I saw a flickr pic of this yarn knitted up, I really wanted it. I finally got around to e-mailing Dani and when she told me it would be up in her shop this month, I had to order it.

Just for filler:

yarn: KP Essential Tweed in Marina
needles: KP size 1 (2.50 mm) circs
gauge: 9 spi
pattern: an aborted test pattern using Magic Loop (ML) toe up

I had finished this test sock in April, but the designer stopped the process after seeing a couple of the test socks and decided she didn't like the way the pattern was coming out.

The KP Essential is a really soft feeling yarn. I love it 'cept it splits like there's no tomorrow, but it might be the KP circs I was using. Since the test pattern has been abandoned, I'll be ripping out the fold-over cuff portion instead of ripping out the whole sock. (Thank goodness I had to foresight to not cut the yarn when I was done.) At some point, I will probably re-knit the leg in the St st and end with a typical 1" of ribbing unless I find another fold-over cuff pattern to sub in. Maybe the lace cuff one in IK's Favorite Socks?

It's my first ML method and it's fine, but I don't think it'll be my go-to method for sock knitting. I may have had an easier time with this since I've already done socks on 2 circs.

(Here's where to stop scrolling just past the following pic:)


I promised myself that I would start the June STR club sock until I got at least one Monkey sock done. (If I was really, really good, I shouldn't start 'til after the Twisted Flower is done, but I'm going to be realistic.) I should be done with this sock by the end of the weekend at the latest. I want to save the second Monkey sock 'til I get through the cabled portions of my Twisted Flower sock as it helps me keep in the right mindset. I may need to do a second pair of Monkeys if/when I re-knit my first Twisted Flower to match the second.

So, without further ado, the STR Rockin' Sock Club June yarn:

The pattern can be done toe up or cuff down, so I'll be doing these cuff down. Nothing wrong with toe up ('cept that whole short row heel vs reverse heel flap thing), but I prefer cuff down. And the yarn's in the lightweight base, my favorite of BMFA's sock yarns so far. Well, I still have to try the heavyweight and knit up the Seduction beyond a teeny tiny swatch, but what made me fall in love with STR was tapmouse's lightweight leftovers for me to play with.

Thanks to all of last year's sock club KAL members for the idea of taking a pic of the opened skein! It always helps me figure out where to start my second sock so I have a decent chance of having the 2nd sock match the first.