See Jo knit!: 2008.07

31 July 2008

Happy birthday Harry!

In honor of Harry Potter's (and J.K. Rowling's) birthday, a treat if you haven't seen it:

This month I have been knitting Calorimetries like mad. I've made six in all, and with any luck, I will win the title "Queen of the Calorimetry" on the Selfish Knitters group. (ravelry link) The one I finished tonight is my favorite, I think.

As much as I love knitting Calorimetries, I'll be glad to get back to Summer of Socks full-time. I have two pairs of socks in progress, and if I regain my focus, I just might have TWO pairs to enter in the next bi-weekly contest.

Now if I could just keep myself from casting on a third pair...

30 July 2008

Status: LOVE

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Originally uploaded by knitjoknit

I know it looks like a black sock, but trust me. It is so much more.

I'm knitting the Bellatrix socks again, this time out of Wollmeise Sockenwolle in Poison No. 5. I am in love. I'm only doing the pattern stitch when the mood strikes, so they are lovely and random and the color is GORGEOUS. (Thanks, Sara!)

This is my first pair of Wollmeise socks, and I do have two small complaints. First, I had to change the way I tension the yarn because the yarn was giving me a wee blister. Ouchie. Second, it's kind of splitty. I'm using my trusty US 1 Hiya's (which are getting slightly bent with all the use they've had lately) and dropped stitches can be kind of hard to pick up. I think that might be a bit because the yarn is, oh, you know, BLACK, so unless I'm knitting in a really well-lit room (which I am usually not) dropped and/or split stitches are inevitable.

I love them. The yarn feels great on my feet. (I'm using US 1 for a gauge of 9 sts/inch. Yes, I like my socks to be bulletproof.)

24 July 2008

Knitters are wonderful.

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Originally uploaded by knitjoknit

22 July 2008

One down.

First sock down.

Fleece Artist Basic merino, color Paris (Thanks, AJ!) on US 0. The pattern is the Mockery socks (ravelry link). I like this sock because it didn't pool. And the pattern is interesting enough to keep my attention, but not too difficult to memorize. Coming from someone who can't count, that alone should be enough to get you to knit a pair of these socks.

And finally, just because it's fun, an oldie but goodie.

20 July 2008

Pretty pretty princess.

Somewhere deep inside me lurks an 8-year-old girl.

My pretty pretty princess socks are done! They are girly and perfect.

Two skeins Koigu KPPPM P806 (the girliest Koigu EVER, from Gwen!) on US 1 Hiya DPNs. I used a ruffle cuff and knitted them top-down (!) with a heel flap and gusset. I did a star toe because I hate kitchener stitch.

These took way longer than they should have, mostly because I hate knitting top-down socks. Why would I knit top-down when there's so many amazing toe-up socks out there? However, before someone points out that I could have knitted these toe-up, let me say that when I considered the ruffle cuff, I decided I'd rather cast on 256 sts instead of bind off 256 sts. The lesser of two evils, in my book.

The KS knits crew had their second annual picnic today in Lawrence. We had very tasty brownies. And some other stuff that was probably healthy, but I only remember the brownies. After lunch and some knitting time (it was a little warm, but we had shade a nice breeze, so it wasn't bad) we made a pilgrimage to that yarn mecca of eastern Kansas — The Yarn Barn.

I made it out with only mild stash enhancement.

Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino, color 417. I have one word for this: YUM. The clerk told me this was brand-new stock — they've only had this yarn since Thursday. 60% baby suri alpaca (SO SOFT) and 40% merino. LOVE. I am going to make something deliciously decadent to wrap around my neck in the winter. Did I mention that I love this yarn?

Also, strange story. Two years ago, when I was a poor college student (as opposed to a poor cube monkey) I went to Yarn Barn and bought three skeins of Koigu to make a pretty fingering-weight Clapotis. I've been second-guessing that decision ever since (only three skeins? What if I run out?), so imagine my surprise when I was pawing through the Koigu today and found a skein of the same colorway. I figured at the very least, I could alternate dyelots or something. I about fell over when I got home and realized it was THE SAME DYELOT. ::swooon::

17 July 2008

Seeing a pattern?

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Originally uploaded by knitjoknit

Is anyone else seeing a color theme in my recent yarn acquisitions? If you look back to the yarn crawl, I've been favoring greys and blues.

Although, last night I very nearly bought a skein of BRIGHT YELLOW SMOOSHY! The color is called Butter Peeps, and it's divine. However, with the impending arrival of my parents on Saturday, it's probably best not to buy more yarn. I'm going to have to figure out where to hide it all as it is.

Also: thanks to everyone who replied to whether or not I should fix my mom's socks. I've decided that they've had a good run, and one of the two sock legs will be repurposed into a camera case for my darling Sony. Mom will get a new pair of socks.

14 July 2008

Love love love

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Originally uploaded by knitjoknit

This is some yarn I got from an Etsy dealer, Macek Designs. The yarn is Harry Potter-inspired. The color is called "Invisibility cloak." I am in love. The yarn is 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon and it's very soft. The colors are colorfast, and the shipping was extremely prompt. One satisfied customer, right here.

I am having the worst allergy attack of my life and I can't find Claritin anywhere -- none in my purse, none in my desk. It's so bad I am considering running down to the Evil Empire to get some.

Joyeux jour de la Bastille!

10 July 2008

Lucky bitch = Jo

So I went down to Knit Wit in Olathe to find a birthday gift for my favorite person ever, J. J just moved to Chicago, my favorite place ever, and once I go to visit her she will have a hard time dragging me off her couch. My favorite person, IN my favorite place? That would just be too much fun. Anyway. The gift is wrapped and ready to be sent (Happy late birthday! Pretend your mail got stopped by Dobby!) and I may have found a little present for myself when I was at the yarn shop:

WOLLMEISE! In color Raku-regenbogen. IT WAS THE LAST SKEIN IN THE SHOP. It was meant to be mine. I love love love it. I will knit a pair of socks with this before the summer is out.

08 July 2008

Sock on its deathbed.

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Originally uploaded by knitjoknit

These are the first toe-up socks I ever knitted. (Koigu, US 2 DPNs) They went to my mama two years ago for her birthday. She brought them to me this weekend and asked if I could fix them.

What do you think, folks? I have leftover yarn that I could use to knit a new heel, and maybe do some sort of slip-stitch for reinforcement. I'm not positive of the state of the other sock, but it's not nearly as bad as this one. Is it worth the save, or should I just send them where good socks go to die?

07 July 2008

Good weekend.

Bos
Originally uploaded by knitjoknit

06 July 2008

Blogging live from California.

I am here on the couch at my parents' house, with the dog curled up next to me. The neighbors are still shooting off fireworks and Bosley is very agitated. (Really, I think he needs to pee but is afraid to go outside with all the noise.)

I didn't pack my camera cable, so y'all will just have to wait to see pictures of the puppy cuteness. He got a haircut and bath just before I got here, so he is fresh and clean and cute. And he smells good, which is a nice change. He's also on a serious diet and has dropped oodles of weight just since I was here in February.

Also, the airline lost my suitcase and it didn't arrive until this evening. Just in time for me to fly home. So I haven't accomplished half the knitting I'd hoped to, but I have played ridiculous amounts of fetch and taken naps and looked at houses (my parents are going to buy one) and I've eaten more food in the last 24 hours than I'd eaten the entire previous week. Pie and hummus and strawberries and home-grown tomatoes (salmonella-free) and more tasty steak than I ever thought possible.

That is all. See you when I get back to the Midwest.

03 July 2008

To clarify.

Let me make it clear that I have NOT been knitting a sock a day. Shit. If I could knit a sock a day, I'd be through my sock stash in.... well. About a year. But I have too much to do to knit a sock a day, so instead we have a pair a week.

This week's pair kind of is appropriate because they sort of remind me of fireworks — the smoky charcoal, the white smoke and then THE COLOR. Every color you can imagine is in these socks. I know it doesn't seem like it, but it is. Everywhere. Beautiful.

Specs: 2 skeins Colinette Cadenza, purchased at Twist Yarn Shop in lovely Wichita, Kan. If you're in the area, go visit Shelly, because she has a great shop with great yarns in stock, and COUCHES! If you're going to have a yarn shop where people want to sit and hang out and knit, you've got to have couches, and Shelly's got couches. Really. Go see her. The shop is that much fun. Promise.

Rest of the specs: US 2 Hiya DPNs (steel), magic toe, 56 sts around, wendyknits.net heel flap with gusset from the toe-up. I like this method. It seems less fiddly to me than knitting a heel flap, etc. 3x1 rib on instep and leg, 1x1 rib for 10 rows at the cuff.

First Summer of Socks '08 entry: COMPLETE!