Knitters' delight

It rained hard all last night, and it kept raining for most of the day today. But at sunset, the wind began to blow and the sky began to clear. It's getting colder at last, even if for just a few days.

Bundle up, knitters!

Sunday with yarn and cat

So much for Sunday. It was a good day, while it lasted. Annie enjoyed the sun coming in through the door this morning (I have a new storm/screen door, thanks to D the Amazing Landlord), and I finally got around to cleaning the New Year's Day sand off my shoes. So what if it took me a week? Annabelle would like to make sure you know that this is not her best angle, and that had she known a picture was being taken, she would have insisted on a re-shoot.

I've had that old pain in the jaw again, and the dentist can't see me and my maladjusted night guard until Thursday. I'm stuck doing the best I can, which involves compresses and ibuprofen and even some of that PM stuff, which just makes me groggy for half the next day even though it helps at night. This is as annoying as it is painful, but at least I know what's wrong and what to do about it.

I would say that today's day off was spent recovering, but really, I spent it puttering and knitting and fixing the blog (watercolor on the header -- hooray!). I went out to get groceries because the refrigerator looked like nobody lives here, but that's it. I need days like these. Doesn't everyone?


Here's some of what I knitted today. I was in danger of becoming a complete Red Scarf Failure. I was about to let Norma down. How could it be January 7th already, and time to mail the scarves? What was I going to do? I'd frogged my first one, which was a failure because it wasn't nearly long enough, but I hadn't decided what to do about it.

So I pulled together the original yarn and two more from my stash. I cast on what I thought would be about 60 inches of a garter stitch scarf at the start of a three-episode marathon of "Foyle's War," a Masterpiece Theater thing I TiVoed for just this sort of situation. Now, at the end of the second episode, I have a 4.5 inch wide scarf. Give me another hour and I'll be finished. Another half hour after that, and I'll have it fringed and everything. There. Failure avoided.


I've also been making progress on my two Sundara yarn projects. The sock is still just one, but it's almost done. I want to knit more socks with yarn that is not so multicolored. The pattern and the yarn get to show off. I like vibrant handpainted yarns, but this quiet Lenten Rose color has my full attention at the moment.

The blue scarf is so easy to pick up and work on for a few rows, and I like the rhythm that develops as I knit the two cable rows. The yarn, of course, is the real pleasure. It slips through my fingers with a soft whisper, and the colors shift so subtly that I keep stopping to watch them play across the angles made by the cables.

Oh, I think I'll get back to Foyle and the red scarf now. I want to see how they both turn out!

Frogging is good

It's only January 3rd, and I'm already frogging everything in sight! My Lenten Rose sock was so boring. It plagued me all day yesterday while I was at work. The minute I got home I ripped it out and began a new, improved one, even though I was almost to the toe decreases. Sensational Knitted Socks came to the rescue again -- this is a five-stitch pattern, Yarn Over Cable. It's fun to knit, and easy to remember. I like the way the yarn's subtle shading works with the stitch's texture.

I'm very pleased with myself for ripping it out right away, rather than going through all the stages of hand-wringing and tossing the offending knit into a corner for days/weeks/months before the final admission of dislike and defeat. It felt so good that I did the same thing to the beginning of the blue scarf. It was knitting up into a fabric I wasn't fond of, even though I was getting gauge. Too dense for me, so I went up a needle size and I'm happier now, even after just a couple of inches.

If I have a knitting resolution for 2007, maybe it's that I will learn to act on my instincts more than just sometimes. I know when a fabric isn't working, or when a stitch isn't just right, yet sometimes I leave things as they are, hoping for a miracle. The other day I re-skeined two sock projects, last night this latest one, and this morning it was the scarf. It felt right. I have a few more stale projects here somewhere. Once I reclaim their yarn, I'll have a nearly-clean knitting slate, a good start to the year, and some really gorgeous yarn.

Happy New Year!

Well, I did say I was going to go to the ocean, didn't I? I lasted about five minutes, but I accomplished my goals. I took a long, deep breath of the windy, salty air. I congratulated myself on a year well done. I welcomed the new year, so full of possibilities. I also got very wet, because in those five minutes the wind strengthened off the water, and both rain and ocean blew my way.

I've stayed warm and comfy for the rest of the day, and lots of New Year's knitting has taken place. I began a Shifting Sands Scarf in this beautiful deep blue on blue merino from Sundara Yarn (more info was in Saturday's post). I tried to take decent pictures yesterday, when the light was good, but the variations in this yarn are so subtle that I think I failed. Please take my word for how wonderful it is. Grumperina's pattern is well-written and easy to remember. I might have to call my scarf something else, though, because it looks more like water than sand!

The other new project is a pair of socks in another Sundara Yarn. This is the latest Petals Collection shipment, Lenten Rose. It's another subtle and lovely colorway, and I'm really enjoying the knitting. I cobbled together a pattern -- the lace ribbed cuff continues in a narrow panel down the back of the stockinette sock, to the bottom of the heel. I'm just past turning the heel on the first sock, so it's zipping along. I'll post pictures when I'm finished, or when there's some decent light.

While knitting and enjoying the day, I've been watching the A&E Pride and Prejudice, which I treated myself to a couple of weeks ago. It's the perfect knitting movie, nice and long and entertaining. It helps, too, that it's so familiar. I can listen just as well as watch.

My hat's off to Bess, who has successfully -- triumphantly, even -- completed her "Year of No New Yarn, Fleece, or Fiber." She's written a wonderful blog post about her experience, which is an absolute delight to read, especially if you know the sound of her voice. Everyone who is participating in any sort of stash diet can learn something from it.

My own stash has grown in the past year, but not out of proportion. Most of it is useful, and I made all my Christmas scarves and the bag for my mother with it. I have a nice, cushiony sock yarn stash, in case of an emergency. It's enough, and it didn't come from yarn shopping binges. It's all, or mostly all, yarn that I love and want and that is a source of creative inspiration. Sure, I know we all say that, but I mean it. My fiber purchases tend to be specific, or because I find something that is just meant to be mine. I can't think of a single time that I've felt guilty about a yarn or fiber purchase. I'm stingy enough with myself already! Anyway, Bess has inspired this consideration of my stash, and the idea that I might like to honor it a little more, and I thank her.