purlsandmurmers

Summer Blues: A Color Not a State of Mind

Hello Blog!

In the interim I was plagued with a bad summer cold.  Then I took a driving trip to Texas. No photos or thoughts on that but I have been journaling regularly again, so I remain convinced that blogging will fall into place in its own time.

In the meantime, I have finished objects! Two finished objects!

First:

I finally sewed up a sweater I finished in March.  The pattern is called Anise by Katherine Mehls. It was published in Noro knitting magazine #20.  It is just happenstance that I knit this sweater in the exact same color way as is shown in the pattern.  I had originally purchased the yarn, Noro Uchiwa in color Tokyo for another project but did not like the way the yarn was working in that project.  Luckily the store had another skein, giving me enough yarn to make this sweater, which I love.

My progress was not a shining example of thoughtful, intelligent knitting however.   The pattern is written as an oversized tee, and although I like the look, it wanted something a little more close-fitting.  So I decided to make a smaller size and did the math to make the sweater work with my own gauge.  Then I started knitting, and started second-guessing myself.  I thought perhaps I had made a mistake and the sweater would be too small.  This probably had nothing to do with my math, or even my initial decision-making process but with some body issue or another I was going through at the time.  So I decided to make the sweater bigger and added extra rows to the sweater as I was knitting the right front.  The sweater is knit from side to side.

Unfortunately, after I had done the center shaping and was working on the left front, I 'forgot' that I had added extra rows (even though I had written this down) and continued according to my initial calculations.  I knitted the back as originally calculated.  Only after I finished the knitting did I actually notice that the right front was a good 1 1/2 inches bigger than rest of the sweater.  Not a good look.  But there was no way I was going to rip back almost half the sweater and reknit.  Here the fact that this sweater was knit side-to-side had an advantage.  I could simply cut the sweater, unravel the excess fabric and invisibly join the sweater back together and no one would be the wiser.    I threw the sweater in the bottom of my knitting bag and contemplated this for a week or two before actually undertaking the process.  It all came out fine, and the joining was actually fun, but I like Kitchener stitch.

Then I blocked the sweater.  Since it was cool and the yarn is mostly cotton, it took a while to dry.  Big Ears Weekend and Easter Week came and went and I was still tired.  The sweater languished, once again relegated to the bottom of the knitting bag.  I finally sewed it up while I was in Texas.   I like the finished result.  I like the fabric created by the yarn, I like the weight, which is light and drapes for aran-weight.  The only thing I would have done differently is perhaps start and finish the pieces differently, so that rather than seaming the side seams at the cast-on and bind-off edges, I finished with either a (visible) three-needle bind off or kitchenered the pieces together (invisible join), only seaming at the shoulders and the brief underarm/cap sleeve.  Note for future if I ever make this again, although a second iteration would be for the more boxy version.

I wore it this week while the weather was bit cooler (70s).  As a more fitted cotton sweater in an aran-weight yarn, this is not a summer sweater for the bulk of the Tennessee (or Texas) summers.  Perhaps it would be more versatile as a boxy layering piece, but I suspect it would then suffer from being too heavy to layer.  The resulting top can be worn as a more fitted vest or as a solo layer under a jacket, and I believe it will see a lot of wear.

Second, socks:

I was given the yarn, Laines du Nord Watercolor Sock, in color 137, for Christmas.  Initially I thought the color was a bit staid, and the beginnings of the first sock felt almost boring.  But things picked up as I progressed through the skein.  In the end I really like the socks, I like the light fingering yarn and the resulting fabric.  These were knit on size 1 needles, using 60 stitches and they fit well.  

For the sock knitting nerds among us, I used a boomerang heel on these rather than the fish lips kiss heel I used in my last pair of socks.  I think I like both techniques equally, although the fish lips kiss would be more appropriate if I were using a contrasting color for the heel. 

I also modified the toe shaping from the standard technique, doing one-sided shaping that fits my foot better and creates distinctly right and left-footed socks.  I am trying this because I have had occasional issues with neuropathy in my big toe since chemotherapy and I find that socks pulling across that toe can be particularly painful.  Rather than opting for looser socks, which then bunch up if I wear boots, I thought I would try a more fitted approach.  We will see how it works out.

 

2022 in Review

Another double-posting with Restingmotion.  This may be the final post here, or not.  I remain undecided as to whether or not reopening this blog was a good, or an outgrowth of periodic ennui.  

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Another glance over my shoulder perhaps, this time looking at my knitting progress in 2022.

Let's get the statistics out of the way first.  In 2022 I finished 10 projects and used up 71 skeins of yarn totaling 10,909 yards.  On first glance, it looks like I knitted less than the previous year in that there were two fewer finished objects, but the objects were larger and used more yarn.  Technically, it is not about yarn use, although that was one of my goals, or number of finished objects, but both of methods of accounting serve a purpose.

More specifically, the project breakdown was as follows:

• two blankets
• one soft-sculpture (toy)
• four shawls
• one pair of socks
• two sweaters

Now let's look at that more thoroughly.

There were no photos taken of the two blankets or the toy.  The toy and the first blanket was started in 2021 but never really photographed or blogged.  This was probably because I had mixed feelings about them from the get-go, but I was too pig-headed to give up, rip out, and start something new.  Instead I forced myself to finish both and promptly gave them away. The second blanket was one of those crazy ideas where I decided at the last minute to knit a baby blanket, finished it in a desperate rush, and immediately presented it to the new parents.  I really liked that blanket, but I was too overwhelmed at the time to deal with record-keeping. 

After that experience I decided I would never force myself to finish something again.  I would admit defeat or I would rip and repurpose. Luckily, my remaining projects of the year turned out to be far more satisfying, although admittedly there were some false starts and some ripping out.  Each false start then became a challenge and an opportunity.  Not all of those opportunities have yet been realized as projects, but I have found a certain satisfaction in the simple act of swatching, in letting a yarn tell me what it is, even if that initial exploration does not yield immediate results.

But now that the disappointments are out of the way, what about the successes?

I knitted four shawls, the first three of which were blogged (shown above). Shawlography, (pink, purple, green wool) was started as part of Stephen West's 2021 MKAL.  It was challenging, often fun, and sometimes maddening.  None of the techniques were particularly difficult in and of themselves, but West did put things together in ways I would not necessarily have thought of if left to my own devices.  Knitting this shawl was both fun and a constant struggle.  This was partially due to the fact that my fingers, beset with lingering chemotherap-induced neuropathy, struggled to maintain tension, and partially because I was constantly fretting about my color choices. Half the time I was convinced that the resulting shawl would only be suitable for a clown show, and it was not until I knit the final border that I could admit to being happy with the result. Even so, it gets the least wear of the three, primarily because it makes the boldest statement.  Still I think it was the accomplishment I was most proud of.  I learned a great deal knitting it, mostly because the brioche was not kind to my hands.  The brioche was ripped twice and reknit, even with the ripping and reknitting, I struggled.  The sense of accomplishment I feel for this shawl is primarily due to that brioche section.  Not only did I come to love brioche, I taught myself how to drop down to repair individual errors in brioche without ripping back and entire section, an accomplishment of which I am still proud even though I can honestly say that if the mistakes are many and frequent, it is still easier to simply rip back. Skill-wise, this shawl was my greatest accomplishment of 2022.

The cream striped Nantucket Summer shawl was the biggest shawl I knit in 2022, at 22 x 120 inches.  It is almost a blanket and it has admittedly seen me through many cool evenings on the patio as well as early mornings watching the sun rise, coffee and hand. The yarn was originally intended for a cardigan, but as I have a long-standing aversion to heavy cotton cardigans, I feared it would be a cardigan I would never wear.  The shawl is wonderful and I wrap myself up in it all the time, a perfect choice for me.

My absolute favorite knit of 2022 was the Artyarns silk wrap I named blue wave. This was an absolutely fun knit, full of short rows and changing colors.  It required attention but was not particularly difficult and it was so exciting that I raced through it.  This shawl was completely fun to knit and the results are absolutely gorgeous. Using 766 yards of Artyarns beaded silk and sequins light, knitting this wrap is an indulgence but well worth it.  If I could justify having two versions of such a distinctive wrap, I would happily knit it again.  It was that much fun.  

My final finished project of 2022 was the fourth shawl, seen above.  This shawl was knit in Noro Kakigori, a mostly cotton and silk yarn, using the "Stormy Sky" pattern by Ksenia Naidyon.   Originally purchased for use with another yarn in a different project, it became evident upon swatching that I hated the two yarns together and felt that this yarn was completely unsuitable for its originally intended use.   Upon further swatching I decided that I liked the fabric the yarn created and that it would be lovely as a relatively simple shawl.  It is a not particularly large shawl, with both drape and a touch of crispness, which I think will prove very versatile in Knoxville's climate.  I would happily knit with more Kakigori, because it creates a lovely fabric, although the yarn itself tends to want to twist up on itself while knitting, so it does require a bit of patience.

The one pair of socks knitted in 2022  have proven quite satisfactory.  I intentionally knit them longer than my usual, perhaps a tad too long, but they still get worn. The Mominoki Finnwool, used for the body of the sock, is 100% wool without the nylon usually added for sock yarns.  It was a remnant from Shawlography and put to good use here.   I actually prefer socks that are pure wool without nylon, but they don't tend to wear as well, and so, as it true for so many things in life, represent a trade-off.  These are holding up well, except for a bit of wear at the back of the ankle above the heel.  I suppose it is a bit early to see that much wear after less than a full year's wear, and that area will be mended when the time comes.  I love the socks nonetheless.  

As I look in my sock drawer, I see that I need more socks, and I am loathe to purchase them.  It seems that there must be sock knitting on the horizon.  I have thought of exploring breed specific wool, looking for hard-wearing wools that hold up better for socks and I may well do that.  In the end, however, I will probably mostly use nylon reinforced sock wool, which comes in many pretty colors.  Although I may struggle with a brightly colored shawl, I have no issue with wearing carnival-colored socks.  The first pair of socks I ever knit are still going strong, after 13 years, knitted with KnitPicks simple stripes, 75% wool yarn, a ringing endorsement if ever there was one. I will admit that the tutti-frutti color palette of that first pair is not one I would chose today, but those socks simply will not die. That specific yarn has been discontinued, but I would think KnitPicks' sock yarn would still be a good economical and hard-wearing option if that is a consideration.  But longevity is not my primary criteria when knitting socks.  I am all for knitting, and wearing, what one loves and we each make the compromises that best suit us. I am fine with balancing practicality with comfort in my sock wardrobe,  but also admit that there is nothing quite as nice as cashmere socks on a cold evening, even if they are not practical for everyday wear.  Perhaps my sock wardrobe needs a touch of softness, as well as an indulgence in frivolous colors.

Even though I was once almost exclusively a garment knitter, I only knot two sweaters in 2022.  The first, a cardigan finished in June, was not really worn until fall, when the temperatures had cooled.   Although it is not a winter cardigan, being knitted with cotton/nylon/polyester novelty yarns, this was not a sweater for hot humid summer heat.  It may have been had I followed the pattern as written, which was for a cardigan with more ease and drape..  After knitting my swatches however, the hand of the resulting fabric reminded me of the kind of light drapey boucle that is often used for soft Chanel-style jackets, and I decided that a short, more fitted cardigan was required.  I altered the pattern accordingly, individualizing it by taking in some of the asymmetry I was finding in my sewing pattern sloper development.  There was some fudging, and some ripping and reknitting, which is not easy when three rather snaggy strands are held together while knitting.  But I am absolutely enamored of the finished cardigan.  This is not a hard-wearing everyday sweater but more of an occasional item.  I need to take care not to catch the rather fine sequined filament that runs through the sweater on buckles, latches, or even rings and other jewelry.  This cardigan wants to be the star of the show in its own understated way.  It is a sweater I can imagine myself wearing for a long time. 

The second sweater was for a wool shell or vest, knitted to be worn as a layering piece.  The pattern was Carol Feller's Trellis top, and I used the recommended yarn, Stolen Stitches Nua Sport.  Even thought I used the designer's yarn I did not quite manage to get gauge, My gauge was slightly tighter in stockinette, but the same as the recommended gauge in the pattern stitch.  Since I wanted to make my sweater a bit more close-fitting than the pattern, this was easy enough to manage.    Aside from size issues, I more or less knit the pattern as written with the exception of the shoulder shaping and the finishing.  The original design is looser and more casual, with  button bands in lieu of seamed sides.  As I was seeking a more classically close-fitting silhouette that could also be worn under a jacket, I simply seamed the sides.  I am very happy with the result and this sweater has already proven to be a favorite.  I wore vests frequently in my 20s and early 30s, did not wear them in the intervening decades, and find I now reach for them again and again, something to consider as I contemplate future knitting.

As to 2023, who knows.

My plan is to begin the year by finishing the temperature blanket I started at the beginning of 2022.  This started as a whim, but I have mostly stuck with it.  I put the blanket aside during the hot months and picked it up after Thanksgiving, trying desperately to catch up.  When the year ended, I had knitted the blanket through the last day of September, or three-quarters through the body of the blanket.

I am determined to finish this blanket before finishing anything else this year.  Since January 1 I have knitted 47 garter ridges, which finished out October and put me half-way through  November.  I should finish the body by early February and then I need to pick up and knit the borders, As you can see from the blanket, spread out on my bed, the borders will be long, and I am thinking now that I do not want them to be particularly narrow, although I am considering the idea that the side borders may be wider, perhaps, than the top and bottom borders. I haven't yet calculated what color the borders should be, but if I am serious about finishing this, I should figure that out and make sure I have the yarn in house before it is needed, simply to avoid further delays.  I do know that should I put it aside, it will be difficult to pick back up again, so best to keep knitting until it is finished.  The blanket itself is fun because I love watching the color patterns unfold.  The border of course will be more tedious, but the reward will be in the joy of curling up under it on chilly evenings.

Also on the schedule for this year is to finish a modular, log-cabin style blanket I started knitting out of Plymouth's Baby Alpaca Grande,  I do think I will take a short break between blankets, finishing something smaller.  I have another sleeveless cotton sweater on the needles, although I am not devoting much time to it at the  moment.  The cotton sweater is my portable project, but the blanket remains my main focus and the center of all my crafty energies at the moment. Expect that knitting updates may be few and far between at least for the first quarter of the year. 

Where does the time Go?

I finally finished something. I was beginning to doubt myself, doubt my ability to focus, doubt whether I had any sense of discipline. I had, still have, such great hopes and plans.... and yet nothing. Until now.  Does this signify a shift, or just a blip? Who knows,

Presenting a pair of socks. These are long songs, longer than any socks I have previously knit.  They also took longer to knit than any pair of socks I can recall, considering I started them three months ago with the intention of finishing a quick project.  This is only partially due to their length.  There is also the fact that I jumped in with only a vague sense of what I was doing.  I knit the top of the first sock through the heel, decided I didn't like it, ripped it all out, abandoned the project, came back to it, started over.  That has been pretty much my story this spring, thinking I wanted one thing, deciding otherwise, moving forward, moving backward, beginning again and again.

 

In the meantime, after I reknit the leg of the first sock, turned the heel, and finished the sock, I decided I had made another design error.   My original intention had been to have several rows of the deep purple stripes before beginning the toe.  I forgot however, knitted one row of purple and then began the toe.  I also realized that, in my eagerness to just finish, the socks were also a tad too short.  

Rather than ripping back however,  I simply used two circular needles to pick up two rows of stitches, and then cut the sock apart where I wished to insert some additional rows.  I did need to perform this operation underneath the magnifying mirror that resides in the studio, and which I had heretofore used pretty much exclusively for fine embroidery and needlepoint,  However, it made picking up small stitches on size one needles quite simple, and I wondered why I hadn't thought of this before.

Here are the two pieces, waiting for alteration and rejoining. They had to sit a bit because I had already begun the second sock.  This time however, knowing what I wanted, the  second sock progressed quickly and the alterations to the first sock were a breeze.  Kitchener stitch in a small tight circle near the toe was a little tricky due to space considerations, not because I couldn't see.  I did not need the magnifying mirror, but I did stay up late to finish simply because once I started, I didn't think it wise to stop before everything was done. 

 

I also knit my first fish lips kiss heels on these socks.  I have knit short-row heels for years, and I tend to prefer them, they seem to slip around on my feet less than flap heels, but this could just be because I haven't taken the time to perfect my flap heel technique for my narrow heels.  Short row heels also offer the option of being knit as an afterthought if one's mental state is somehow only up to simple mindless knitting and simple tubes.  It requires little effort, although a tiny bit of thought, to add half a row of waste yarn stitches where a heel is meant to go, and continue on mindlessly.  I tend to keep a tiny bit of contrast yarn in my project bag when knitting socks, just in case.

 

Actually the fish lips heel is no different from my normal technique except in the way the wrap is performed.  I liked this wrap, it is easy to memorize, looks neat, and does not gape, making these heels pretty much as mindless as a short row heel can be.  I did knit these heels under the magnifying mirror.  Seeing the wraps, and picking up stitches in a very dark eggplant colored yarn on tiny needles is beyond the capability of my aging eyes.   Under the magnifying mirror however, I felt like I was doing wraps in aran-weight yarn and the heels moved very quickly and very smoothly.  Apparently I can still learn new things.  Perhaps I no longer will even need to knit afterthought heels.

I ended up with a pair of socks I love.  I don't yet know if I will love wearing them, but I suspect they will be perfect for my needs. They were knit long to accommodate two pairs of boots I wear all fall and winter.  The pair of socks that were formerly my longest pair of socks, the green sock seen in the photo above, are, when pulled up to their full length, exactly the height of the boots in question. But we all know that socks don't stay pulled up, or at least mine never have, and I hate the feeling of the leather of a boot rubbing against my skin. I believe these will work well.  In which case there will eventually be another pair this length.  

Details:

Basic sock (no pattern). I cast on 64 stitches on size 1 needles and went from there. Fish Lips Kiss heel.

Yarn:     All yarns are remnants from Shawlography.

            Mominoki FinnWool in Coral

             Mominoki Sock Fine in Copper, Nasu, and Cassis.         

The Finnwool and the Sock Fine are slightly different in gauge,  However, since the Finnwool predominates and the areas using the Sock Fine are small, it worked out.

 

I have only finished a pair of simple socks, and yet, through this convoluted process, I feel like I have gotten my knitting mojo back.

Current Project Update

I spent a little time yesterday getting my active knitting projects in order.  Yes, projects.  I currently have four active projects, although only 3 of them are on the needles at this moment.  

 

In some ways this seems strange, and perhaps a little stressful, as I am entering a couple of very busy months and I feel like I am behind on absolutely everything.  On the other hand, the four projects are on four very different needle sizes, and none of them are particularly complex patterns, so I have four options for daily stress relief, depending on my state of mind and the flexibility of my hands at any given moment.

 

Why don't we take a look at what is going on?

 

First up, a pair of socks.   I started these immediately after finishing the Shawlography shawl and are being knit with the leftover yarn from that project.    I had a rough plan for striping and how to use the yarn in my head and I made great progress in the beginning, finishing the leg, and knitting the heel, only to loose interest and motivation.  Ultimately I admitted that I did not like my initial striping pattern and I decided to rip out the sock and begin again, ripping to the point just past the last dark purple stripe you see in the above photo.

I like the new striping sequence better, and I am ready to knit the short-row heel, but the last few evenings I have been quite tired.  Other projects have taken precedence.

 

I have also started a summer cardigan.  This project is being knit using two strands of a sport weight tweedy yarn from Lana Grossa, About Berlin Spotty, and a strand of the thread-weight Diamante.  I am knitting using size 10 needles and am getting a light fabric that is coming in at just under 4 stitches per inch.   The pattern and the yarn are both from L'Atelier in Redondo Beach, California.

I am not far on this yet, only about 5 inches into the back, but you can see the fabric and the pattern above.

 

The other two projects are long-term projects that I do not think I will finish before the end of the year.

First up is the Alpaca blanket, on which I have made no progress since I last posted about it in February.  This is the same photo I posted at that time.  I probably will not pick it up until I finish at least one of the above two garment projects, and it may wait until late May or June, when life will hopefully be a little less hectic.  Each time I pick it up I intend to finish another modular block, and as the blanket is already 3' x 3' those squares will increase in size, and require an ever larger investment in time.  Leaving this on the needles for long periods is not an option however, so it will serve more as a transitional project between other pieces.

I also became intrigued by the idea of a temperature blanket and so I began yet another blanket project.  Blankets remain on my mind.   This one was inspired by posts over at Modern Daily Knitting, and following their lead I am knitting my blanket in Rowan's Felted Tweed using Kaffe Fassett's Garter Stripe Shawl Pattern, using one garter stripe for the high temperature for each day of the year in 2022. 

 

Please note that I did not start knitting this until March 1, and although I was eagerly knitting it for almost a week, I then put it aside until a day or two ago. I started off behind and I am still behind.  What you see in the photo is only the first half of January.  I do think I will be mostly caught up by sometime in May, at. which point I may be able to progress by knitting one ridge per day, with the exception of post-travel catch up here and there.  Blanket projects are basically too big to be traveling projects.

 

Truthfully I dithered with the blanket idea and it took me until the end of February to figure out my plan and acquire the Felted Tweed.  I am not worried about the yarn acquisition.  I have fallen in love with this yarn and have several projects I want to knit with it, especially some color work projects for the house.  One of my goals for this year was to accumulate a small collection of Felted Tweed consisting of at least single balls in every color, which I could add to as new colors became available.  In the end I will probably do something similar with a fingering weight yarn as well -- creating my own palettes, always available when the urge to play strikes.

 

 

 

And the First Shall be Last

Apparently I never posted the first improvised toe-up sock.  For Shame.  In fact, they were still languishing in the bottom of my knitting bag, never even worn.  Double Shame.

These were finished in February. And now that I've discovered them again, I've also discovered that I did post them on my general blog, but I never linked that post back here. And I never added them to Ravelry.  Those omissions have been hereby been rectified.

 

Again, I can't identify the yarn, although I am certain that I intended to save that information.  I know they are mostly cotton with just a touch of wool, a yarn my mom bought hoping to knit socks for herself, before discovering that they had just enough wool that she couldn't knit with the yarn, much less wear the finished product.

 

I had a little trouble the first time around with these, the shaping was slightly different at the toes, than when I knit top down.  It is possible that, had I consulted  a pattern, the process might have been easier, but I was in the mood to just knit to fit and see how things went.  The result was a few miscalculations and some practice ripping out and reknitting.   In the end they are acceptable.  They are a little loose around the heel.  I changed the number of short rows in the second pair, the two halves are not symmetrical, and if you look closely you may be able to see that in the photo.  Then again you may not.  On me this modification truly enhanced the fit, but whether that is completely due to my modifications or the higher wool content of the yarn in the second pair I really can't say.

 

These socks are nice.  But I really prefer wool, which somehow manage to always be warm enough without being too warm or too damp no matter what the weather.

Toe Up Socks

The second pair of my basic, lets wing-it, toe up socks is finished and I am very happy with the results.   There is nothing like a mindless basic that is easy to knit and provides instant warmth and a sense of coddling when on the feet.

 

The socks are the same length, the measure the same next to each other, and I do count rows.  Obviously my impromptu modeling and photography skills are not up to par, but nevermind.

 

The yarn is by Regia.  I don't remember which yarn and I don't have the label.  I believe I even told someone I was using Zitron Trekking, which is completely wrong.  

 

I haven't blocked them yet.  They went on my feet immediately after binding off the last stitch and the tail is hanging out inside the cuff of the sock,  I will have to take care of that later.  And blocking will even out the little stitch rows, but I am happy regardless.

There's just something nice about hand-knit socks.  Kind of sad it took me so long to realize that.

Blue Socks

I've been making better progress with knitting than I have with photographing or blogging.

 The blue socks were finished about 10 days ago, and then, because Moisés thinks that hand knit socks are toys to be chased around the house and tackled, they were neatly put in a drawer.

I wore them over the weekend with my boots while I was out working in the garden and they were quite comfortable.

Blue Socks:

No pattern was used.  Picot hem at tops.  For the heel shaping I used Luni's boomerang heel technique, described here.  These variations on short row heels, boomerange and yo-yo as Luni describes them, tend to be my preferred versions, depending on the yarn I am using.  I knitted the heel on 60% of the stitches, to a fairly narrow point as I have narrow heels.

The toe shaping was done primarily on one side creating left and right socks.  I find this works better for me; the socks fit more snugly and they don't twist or creep around when I put on boots, or while I am wearing them, making the sock and the boot far more comfortable.  

All in all, these are successful socks and I will wear them, even if they were a fairly boring knit.  I prefer a striping or patterned yarn if I am knitting a stockinette sock just because watching the colors change is endlessly entertaining.   Apparently I am rather simply entertained.

Micro-progress

 The second sock is underway.  Most of the progress has been made a row or two at a time , while waiting someplace or another.  Still it adds up, and it feels like progress, more so than than the Ruby Bubbles Cardigan, which is also progressing but somehow seems like it is moving more slowly, even though the opposite is most certainly true.

 It took me one whole evening to cast on for the left front of Ruby Bubbles, not necessarily because the piece is long -- it isn't that long, but because I was working on other things.  And it seems more often than not I get partially across a row when I have to put the thing down and do something else.    But mainly I have just been tired and somewhat restless in the evenings.  We have moved things around and I don't, at the moment, have a place to sit and watch TV that is also a comfortable place to knit.  That will have to be addressed in time.

 In the meantime, G has been asking to learn to knit.  

I cast on for him, using some worsted weight acrylic yarn and he has knitted 8 inches or 1 1/2 rows of garter stitch.  This took about 4 hours with me talking him through every stitch;  making the last few stitches he was beginning to understand how to finish the stitch once I got him started.  I am happy to see progress.  I wonder however if I should have started him on something even bigger and bulkier until he got the hang of knitting a stitch.  

A sock nearly abandoned (twice)

 I finished the first sock of a pair, a sock that has been in various stages of "on the needles" since the beginning of January 2009.  In fact I have nearly given up on these socks several times.  I was originally knitting a rather pretty sock with this yarn but I seem to recall that I got bogged down and abandoned it because I really didn't like the way this particular yarn looked in this particular pattern.  

Looking back at it now, I can't imagine what I was thinking  because it looks lovely in the photo I posted (see link above).  

Anyway, it sat, abandoned until sometime last summer or early fall, when Moisés discovered yarn and learned how to burrow into my knitting bag and pull out the projects.  The sock got mostly unraveled and I decided to unravel it completely and start over.  

The second time around I decided to knit a basic sock with a picot hem at the top, pretty much my basic sock when using a self-striping yarn, but of course more boring with a plain yarn.  I got as far as knitting finishing the picot hem and then I put it aside.  A few months later, needing a portable mindless project I picked it up again only to put it aside again because I didn't feel like knitting the heel.

I would guess I picked it up again about a month ago, knit the heel, twice, as I didn't like my first short-row technique and redid it another way, and continued knitting until I got to the toe shaping.  Then I noticed an error back at the base of the heel stitches and I had to rip it out.

I ripped and ripped and ripped some more.  I considered ripping it all.  I considered abandoning the sock.  Truthfully I didn't really like the way the knitted fabric felt as I was knitting the sock.  It was very scratchy.  But I decided to try again, knit one sock and wash it to see if the yarn softened up in the wash.  I ripped back beyond the heel to some point on the leg.  I had decided to make the sock a little longer over the ankle so I could wear it with a particular pair of boots.

I finished the sock Saturday night.  Sunday I washed it and left it to dry.  It is very very soft.  I started the second sock this morning in yet another waiting room at yet another doctor's office.   

Another Pair of Boot Liners

Very simple, fairly boring knitting.  But just up my alley some days, and oh so necessary.

The boots and the boot warmers are getting heavy use this year.

I have started swatching for another sweater.  It took a couple of rounds of swatches but it looks like I am set now.  

For a crazy bit I was possessed with a bit of madness, scanning in the pattern editing it with my changes, and then turning the whole thing into a new PDF, but then gave up.  The OCR was having fits with this particular pattern and I decided that I would much rather spend the time knitting.

Progress soon.