Reversi Monday

After such a lovely weekend, it was difficult to get moving this morning (the cold & gray weather didn’t help).  Luckily I had some cheerful socks to keep me company on the train ride in.

This is the wonderful Reversi Socks from Jen at 144 Inches of I-Cord.  I’m mixing up my commuter socks a bit - first of all, no I haven’t finished the Not Quite Knee-Highs - though I do work on them at the movies (Ironman last weekend - love it!) or in the car.  Second, I’ve moved away from the plain stockinette socks I normally do. I just needed something a little more interesting to do on the train and this pattern is very easy to follow and looks great.

(yes, those are my dvds in the back ground, as well as the new project CB is doing - ripping out the the wood paneling so we can paint the walls)

Anyway, I love these socks and I really enjoy working with Gloss - it’s my first time & it’s lovely, though I need to be careful when washing it - I normally wash my handknits in cold on gentle and air dry them, but some of my older socks even shrunk in that and I hear that Gloss has the same problem.  I’ve been moving towards orange lately (colour of the week!) - I’m currently wearing an orange tshirt & a skirt with orange in it and my recent Malabrigo Silky Merino has a lot of orange in it.  It’s funny, it’s just not a colour I’m normally drawn to; I guess I’m trying to expand my colour palette more than the greens/blues/purples/reds I seem to get. (See previous post for an example of that.)

I did recently realize that most of my projects I’m working on are in KnitPicks yarn - do you think I have a problem or something?  I did start a new project this weekend in non Knit Picks yarn, but I’ll wait until it can have it’s own post before talking about it.

 

New Hampshire Sheep & Wool

Since I missed out on MDSW, I asked CoffeeBoy (nicely!) if he wouldn’t mind taking a little drive to New Hampshire so I can see some cute Alpacas (and it goes without saying, yarn!).  It’s not that far from us (maybe an hour) so he was agreeable and away we went!  Actually, we were going to go yesterday but I’m glad we waited until today - it was absolutely perfect out!

I’ve only been to one other festival - Black Sheep Gathering - so I don’t have much to compare it to.  But I had a wonderful time, wandering around in the sun & checking out all the wool!  CB actually came with me - we had thought he might be able to drop me off, but it didn’t really work that way.  I think he had a nice time in any case, he put up with me squeeing over everything and mostly just laughed at me.  I probably had a better time at BSG - mostly because I was with my mom one day and all my PDX buddies the next, but still it was a lot of fun.

I kept an eye out for any people with Ravelry swag since I knew there were some people planning on coming. I’m just so terrible at faces. (Case in point - last night at my favourite Lowell restaurant, CB recognized Ricky Gervais also enjoying a nice dinner there.  I was totally oblivious, and I adore him and The Office, while CB hasn’t really seen anything with him in it.  He’s filming a movie here in town by the way, and no, I did not talk to him.)

Anyway! While CB geeked out at a tea vendor (a lot of time CoffeeBoy is actually TeaBoy but it doesn’t really have the same ring to it) I busied myself with some shopping!

A shot of a row of booths - and Ball and Skein!

One of the very nice ladies at Ball & Skein and I had a very nice discussion about my sweater (Comfy Cardigan - yes I realize I still need to take some better pictures of it), she loved it & wanted to make one herself.  :)  I ended up spending the most money there actually, the yarns were all so lovely!

What we have here is 2 skeins of Arbori (50% Merino/50% Tencel), 1 skein of Super Sock (75% Merino/25% Nylon) and 1 skein of Tashi (65% Merino/20% Bamboo/15% Silk).  I know the Tashi will probably be another DreamSwatch - this time for myself - and the Arbori will probably be a stole/shawl/lacy thing.  It was all so pretty, I couldn’t help myself.

After that little purchase, I had to got see the Alpacas!

Unfortunatly, after this shot, my camera batteries died :(  But at least I got these guys!  I love Alpacas - they are so adorable & sweet.  I would seriously consider owning oneif I had the room.  I spent a lot of time in the Alpaca area, just watching them & listening to them make their little cooing noises.

We ended up getting some yummy fried fair food and watching the dogs do their sheep hearding,  and then I took a deep breath and did something I didn’t think I would ever do.

I took the spinning plunge.

Just a small purchase - a Schalcht Hi-Lo Spindle from Hillcreek Fiber Studio and 2oz of Merino/Tencel to play with from Mountain View Farm - about $25 total.  No idea what I’m doing, I never had the desire to spin before, so we’ll see what kind of mess I’ll make.

I also picked up a bag, which was silly since I bought two bags from the Ravelry store yesterday (right place right time!) but I needed to carry my stuff around in!  I forgot where I bought it, I think it may have been at a Humane Society booth. It has little paw prints all over it and was only $5.  It’s cute but I’ll probably give it to my mom.

I also didn’t want to leave Mina out.

I realize you can’t really see it, it’s a little felted Mousie and she hasn’t let it out of her paws since.

 

Early Surprises

So there was this package waiting for me when CoffeeBoy & I got home today.

Apparently, CB got my birthday present a little early

He diligently put it together.

But what is it?!?

It’s a…a…

Yes it’s a swift!

I’ve never seen this kind before but it’s pretty neat!  It’s called a Goko Metal Swift,  he got it here apparently. It’s adjustable & I love it - I immediatly put my second skein of Gloss for my Reversi on it - I had planned on a post about my Reversi socks but, I’m giddy about my early birthday present!

Who knew he actually listened to me when I complained about winding skeins?

Best. Boyfriend. Ever.

 

Happy Mondays

Okay, not really, but I liked the band.  I kept meaning to post for the past week, but wanted to wait until I heard about the job…but I still don’t know - it looks good, but still, I don’t know for sure (and spilling water on my work laptop doesn’t really work in my favor! Argh, dumb dumb dumb - at least the IT girl was cool and happy I told her instead of trying to hid it. )  But!  I want a happy post.  So things today that made me happy:

Sunshine & warmth after a week of dreariness & cold.

Cute new shoes!

Flowers in bloom (even if my allergies have kicked in).

And a Comfy new sweater I never want to take off.

(I know I don’t look very happy but I do love love love this sweater.  There was just something wrong with all of the “happy Stacey” pictures - blurry, joggers or bikers going by (and staring) in the background or just a truly terrible picture.  So it’ll be a “squinty frowny Stacey” for now and I’ll post the stats on the Comfy Cardigan with a happier picture later this week - I haven’t added the button yet in any case but I was so excited to wear it!)

 

Not Quite

Well, these are now the Not Quite Knee High Commuter Socks.

Once again, my fear of running out of yarn stopped me from making too long of socks. I have about 12 inches of cuff, so they are a decent length, just not even close to the knee. The length from the bottom of my foot to my knee is about 20 inches…so if I want knee highs, I’m going to have to buy at least another ball of yarn!

I thought I wouldn’t like the more uniformed stripes in the new Felici (the older, like my Stripey Commuter Socks, has random length of stripes) but it was really helpful on the decreases - every 3 stripes I would decrease, which is about an inch.

I’ll probably finish the toe of this one tonight on the train, then it’s time for the second! I haven’t only worked on this on the train, like my normal commuter socks - I had to do the afterthought heel at home because I couldn’t remember how to do one. And I just love this yarn so much I only want to work on these!

I love my stripes!

 

So much to say…

I have to quit having so much time between posts! Then I feel I have a long list of what I want to say & either the post is way too long for my liking…or it’s a bunch of disjointed paragraphs & pictures. This has turned out to be the latter.

So…where to begin.

Well, one reason I haven’t been in the mood to write…it’s been freaking gorgeous here all week! I stayed in late in Boston a few times this week - enjoying the weather and getting some extra exercise in (of course one long walk involved going to a yarn store…but exercise is exercise!) It was a nice break from the cold & damp, which showed back up today and it makes me feel more active. CB and I head out to Gloucester to see the ocean yesterday, which was so nice.

But the biggest distraction has been…I had my interview this week at work for a full time position. I’ve been a temp there since December and with the economy the way it is, they’ve been cutting back on hiring. But they decided that my current position and the other temp girl’s position combined is an important enough for the company to create a permanent job. So, fingers crossed! The other girl, for whatever reason, isn’t it applying for it, but they still had to post the position to the website. I just really like where I work - what I do, the people I work with, the location, everything! So hopefully I’ll hear something this week. I’m lucky because my boss/friend is a huge cheerleader on my behalf and I get along really well with the rest of the events team I work with.

After a couple of weeks of sock knitting - I cast on another pair - I’ve been steadily working on the Comfy Caridgan

I finally finished the sleeves & attached them - NOT fun I might add, I think I’ll stick with top down sweaters. I’m a little worried about the overall fit, but I should have it done this week. I still adore this yarn,so much in fact, I got a box full this week. This will be my next sweater:

I’m planning on making a hoodie - I haven’t settled on a pattern yet, but I might end up combining several together - I know I want a longish one like my Central Park Hoodie, but minus the cabling I think, because of the two different colours. I definitely want a zipper (scary!) and pockets. I know I’m going to use the Sea Foam for the main part, and trim it in the Fedora (I love sea-blue and chocolate brown - it’s one of my favourite colour combos).

I also started yet another pair of socks. Like Zonda - I’m working on Reversi, but in a colour I usually don’t choose - oranage!

That’s Gloss in Pumpkin - I’m not very far into them yet because of the afore mentioned Comfy as well as my Commuter socks, which I worked on a bit at home. But soon!

I’ve been drawn to orange this week (yeah, I know, I’m all out season with it), my other big purchase this week was more Malabrigo Silky Merino.

Oh gods, this stuff is wonderful. The colours are pretty washed out in this photo but I think this will be a gorgeous fall scarf/shawl…maybe even the famous Clapotis…

Last bit of fun - something I spotted in Gloucester.

Man, they can’t even spell my name right.

 

Mondays Suck

Nope, not just a Mondays Sock post. I’m so bloody exhausted today - I just did not sleep last night. There were a lot of strange noises (such as a car accident!) in the neighborhood and I think I probably I had a little too much caffeine yesterday, which made impossible to shut my brain off.. Had a wonderful day though, we went into Boston with my best friend & her husband for some exploring in Harvard Square and other areas and luckily Debb is a crafty girl as well (though a scrapper rather than a knitter), so it wasn’t hard to convince her to come with me to Woolcott (where I picked up some Malabrigo Silky Merino! Yum!) and Spark (which has all sorts of crafty things, include scrappy things for her). Very fun day, weather was nice, and we got A LOT of walking in - so it’s amazing I didn’t fall right to sleep after John Adams (where I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried my eyes out. Abagail & John! America’s Love Story!).

But alas, Monday always comes, and while it’ll probably be a quiet day (this will be my first Patriots Day in MA - not a holiday that I knew much about), I’m still here. And I have some new commuter socks to show off.

Once again, I’ve got Felici on the needles. I. Love. This. Yarn. Seriously, best price & feels so nice to knit with. I decided, since it’s such a fun stripey yarn (Gelato) with good yardage, to go with my first ever knee highs. Yes I should have gone toe up, but when it was time to cast on, I didn’t have any instructions with me, so it’s my usual cuff down instead. I figured, even if I run short, I have plenty of sock yarn I can use for toes. And this time, I’ll be doing an afterthought heel.

Although I realize, wool knee highs are probably not the best socks to make now.

But I have another sock on the needles, not a commuter sock this time:

Once again, we have more Knit Picks yarn - this time Risata. I started this a week back when CB & I were talking about going to the movies & all my projects at the time required a chart of some sort. So plain ol’ boring socks it is. I wanted to play with this yarn in any case, plus I’m going to need some summery socks soon. I sat on the porch most of the day Saturday working on these, getting a little sun & enjoying the warm air.

The Comfy Cardigan is still on the needles, but I’m in sleeve land at the moment, so it’s not that exciting. I hope to have some updated pictures very soon. Not only that - sigh - I have another box of Knit Picks for my next Comfy project showing up this week. I think I need an intervention.

And now, to work.

 

I (heart) Commuter Socks

Just in time for the warm weather - wool socks!

Okay, so they are 50% merino, 50% Tencel so not too toasty warm. They feel nice & silky actually.

I (heart) them

I (heart) Commuter Socks

Started: March 26th

Completed: April 16th

Yarn: Seacoast Handpainted Yarns Merino/Tencel in Blueberries & Apricots

Pattern: (Black)hearted by my fellow MA sock knitter Stariel

Needles: Size 1US Harmony dpns

Notes: First of all, I wish I had chosen a different yarn for this pattern - I love both, but the stripes really obscure the cute little hearts. Sad because I had the bright idea to add the heart to the foot to show when I wear my Mary Janes - although I put it too far up on the foot, so only these shoes work. Which is fine, I love these shoes.

Also, note to self, when knitting stripey socks, use an afterthought heel. I’ve done them before, but didn’t think of it until I was doing the gusset on the the second socks (did both at once). Ah well, I actually didn’t know this yarn was going to stripe so nicely. The shoe straps obscure the odd pooling anyway. I think the only changes I made to the pattern was adding the little heart on the foot & made a plain cuff rather than the very pretty fancy ones - I try to make my commuter socks as simple as possible And I’m boring that way.

I broke these in in a big way - on Thursday I met my best friend for lunch at Faneuil Hall (extra fun since I’m addicted to John Adams on HBO- and I’m currently reading Founding Mothers. I love living in (ok, near) such an interesting historical city). Since it was so nice out, I walked. It was a very long walk & was in a hurry to get there, because I didn’t leave enough time. Boy I was sore (but feet were very comfy). But I am working on getting in shape because I’ve been so miserable this week, just hating myself when I look in the mirror - I tried to go shopping for some summery clothes & ended up buying nothing because I just couldn’t bear to try on anything. So I’ve joined up with some fellow knitters in the Fitness-A-Long!

Hopefully that will help my mood, poor CoffeeBoy has to put up with my dark self loathing mood all week.

One thing that did make me smile - I’m a knitting princess! Aww…And just in time for my next Commuter Socks. (that will make more sense when I unveil them on Monday)

 

I like yarn

I love to play with it and talk about it.  I rarely do memes anymore more, but this one was fun.

No one tagged me for it (but I’ve seen it on a couple of blogs) and I refuse to tag anyone, but if you decide to do it, please let me know!

************

Out of the top 100 yarns on Ravelry (by number of projects):
Bold the ones you’ve used and would use again,
Cross out the ones you’ve used and would not use again,
and italicize the ones you’ve never tried, but would like to.
Add comments as desired, and then pass the meme along to 5 knitters/crocheters.
Link back to this post and to the person who tagged you.

1, Cascade 220 Wool
2, Patons Classic Wool Merino
3, Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted
4, Noro Kureyon
5, Caron Simply Soft,
6, Lily Sugar’n Cream Solid,
7, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (Just not to wear on the skin directly)
8, Red Heart Ltd. Super Saver Solids
9, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid (ugh, I hated working with this)
10, Noro Silk Garden
11, Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM)
12, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (my favourite sweater!)
13, Lion Brand Homespun (Ugh, although I still love the blanket I made from it)
14, Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
15, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi
16, Manos del Uruguay 100% Wool
17, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky
18, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (not worth the price)
19, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock - Lightweight
20, Plymouth Encore Worsted
21, Cascade 220 Heathers
22, Lily Sugar’n Cream Ombres & Prints
23, Zitron Trekking (XXL)
24, Patons SWS (Soy Wool Stripes)
25, Rowan Kidsilk Haze
26, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
27, Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc Peaches & Creme Ombres
28, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
29, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock - Mediumweight
30, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick
31, Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc Peaches & Creme Solids
32, Cascade 220 Superwash
33, Berroco Ultra Alpaca (Love! Defiantly going to make a sweater in the fall with it)
34, Knit Picks Swish Superwash
35, Knit Picks Essential
36, Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Solid
37, Colinette Jitterbug
38, Lion Brand Lion Wool Solid
39, Knit Picks Shine Sport
40, Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Baby Ull
41, Lion Brand Microspun
42, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino
43, Knit Picks Palette
44, South West Trading Company TOFUtsies
45, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
46, Mission Falls 1824 Wool
47, Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK
48, Red Heart Ltd. Super Saver Multis/Ombres
49, Rowan Felted Tweed
50, Rowan Calmer
51, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Heather
52, Knit Picks Merino Style (In the stash)
53, Garnstudio Drops Alpaca
54, Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering
55, Knit Picks Andean Silk
56, Red Heart Ltd. Soft Yarn Solids
57, Elann Peruvian Highland Wool
58, Tahki Cotton Classic
59, Dream in Color Smooshy (in the stash)
60, Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton
61, Dream in Color Classy (though I did use the merino worsted before they started calling it “Classy”  It was when they first came out - I don’t know if it’s any different)
62, Rowan Big Wool
63, Peace Fleece Worsted
64, Caron Simply Soft Brites
65, Plymouth Galway Worsted
66, Karabella Aurora 8
67, Rowan Wool Cotton
68, Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton
69, Knit Picks Shine Worsted
70, Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock (I have some in the stash still, but I just don’t like it)
71, Lion Brand Fun Fur Solid (Ugh.)
72, Misti International Misti Alpaca Chunky
73, Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk (whenever I start knitting lace…I drool over it at the LYS)
74, Mountain Colors Bearfoot
75, Lion Brand Jiffy Solid
76, Knit Picks Shadow
77, Bernat Softee Chunky Solids & Marls
78, Austermann Step
79, Bernat Cottontots Solid
80, Cascade Ecological Wool
81, Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud
82, Patons Shetland Chunky
83, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky
84, Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted
85, Malabrigo Yarn Lace (in the stash)
86, Bernat Satin Solids
87, Lily Sugar’n Cream Stripes
88, Knit Picks Gloss (in the stash)
89, Lion Brand Magic Stripes
90, Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk
91, Cascade 220 Quatro
92, Rowan All Seasons Cotton
93, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Solid
94, JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18
95, Novita 7 Veljestä
96, Rowan Kid Classic
97, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton
98, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi
99, Cascade Fixation Spray Dyed/Effects
100, Patons Kroy Socks 4 Ply (just didn’t like it)

 

Blue Gable

I swear, I think this sweater hates me.

I finished it - oh nearly 2 weeks ago - and I haven’t until now gotten a picture of it (and not really a great one either).  First, the ends curl - my fault because I put the lace on the bottom and on the arm cuffs but didn’t think about the curling (CB now knows what “curling” means as I ranted about it).  Then it took 2 days to dry - not unexpected - and I wore it, think I could maybe get a picture of it during the day.  I spilled hummus on it, right on the boob.  Not a good look.  So I rewashed it, waited for it to dry…and then the weather was pretty horrid all weekend so I decided to wait to take a picture.  Then I wore it yesterday…and I got really sick, I thought it was the flu, but since I feel better today, maybe not, but I felt awful.  Worse off it took me 3 hours to get home - when you have to rely on public transit & you live an hour away,  it sucks.  I came home and slept for something like 15 hours, in between trips to the bathroom.  I feel better today, but stayed home just in case.

Since it was a beautiful day, I figured I would take some pictures before the sweater killed me in my sleep or something.

Blue Gable

Started: February 17th

Finished: March 30th

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, Lapis - 3.25

Pattern: Green Gable

Needles: Size 4US & 6US

Notes: I’ve had this pattern & yarn for nearly two years, seriously.  I’m glad I finally made it but I don’t feel it’s the most flattering sweater on me - or maybe I’m just cringing at the pictures because of my weight gain, (which I’m working on).  Anyway, I love the way the Zephyr Girl knits look, but they never seem to turn out right on my body shape.  I still have yarn & the pattern for Rusted Root but I think I’m going to stick to cardigans for awhile.  I did a couple of mods - decreased much lower for my long waist and increased a bit.  Then I added lace to the bottom a la Turtlegirl & to the sleeves - but as I mentioned before, I should have planned better and bound off differently.

In any case, while not my favourite knit, probably one I’ll wear (unlike Wicked) - I do like Cotton Fleece & I love the colour.

I’ve been reading quite a bit - which may explain my blog negelect. I bought 3 books this week - the new Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (I love her, but this isn’t anything different), the new Jennifer Weiner (who’s book & blog I adore, although this one made be bawl my eyes out), and today I got in the mail Clara Parkes’s The Knitter’s Book Of Yarn (we won’t mention the sock yarn I got as well), which I think will be very handy.  I don’t talk about books as much on here anymore - I still read, but not working in a bookstore makes a huge difference.  I work across the street from Borders but when I go in, none of the books seem to speak to me.  I’ve been on another one of my Jane Austen kicks until this week.  But I did read an excellent book a couple of weeks ago - The Monsters of Templeton.  I loved it - I don’t think I can even try to describe it with out it sounding ridiculous but it is fantastic.  I would say the best novel I’ve read in a very long time.  The author’s blog is pretty excellent too - I can’t wait until her next book.

Also, I’ve been annoyed by several threads on Ravelry lately.  I wish everyone there would read this before jumping in on things they don’t know anything about.  (If I can’t put this on my blog, where else can I?)