Spring's Springing and Startitis Struck!

2009-03-25T14:47:00.002-04:00

Since my last post, I finished one project (Rilhilmina; sorry, no pictures). And started... hmm, 1 2 3 4 5 6 projects.

The new projects?

"Bulletin Board Border" (ooh... Boarder is an interesting variation there), based off the machine made socks that I still wear a lot... The name comes from the basis for the color combination, which is my first (and last so far) variagated Kool-Aid dyed yarn.
The Mardi Gras Vest--my first Doris Chan design, my first crochet garment... and it might not fit!
Zurich--the Renaissance socks in WotA Jalapeno (yes, I know, there should be that little tilde(~) like thing over the n, but I don't know how to put it there and am too lazy to bring up Character Map)
Riotous Colors--I'm using Regia in a Kaffe Fasette colorway, and my mom made herself a pair last year in Opal Sockenzircus. This seems to be the German Sock Yarn pattern. My Opal (in the caterpillar colorway) is destined for Lucy Neatby's holey socks in Knitter's Summer '08
Honshu--in one of those first Felici colorways. Remember Hummingbird? Coastal? Firefighter? Atmosphere? Arugula? This is in Coastal, but I intend for it to be a surprise pattern.
(restarted) Baby Cable Rib socks in KP Dancing in Hula. I'm trying out my 1.5s--the 2's are too loose (although I didn't find them so a few years ago when I knitted my third pair of socks in Dancing) and I don't want to use 1's with Dancing. No particular reason. There was some debate over how many stitches to cast on; I went with 64.

As if I needed any more projects.

"What fools these mortals be!"

Random thought: I've started a Les Mis/Victor Hugo/Hunchback group on Ravelry, feel welcome to join us at the Café Musain!

Adieu!

I'm [not] British. I know how to [fill my] queue! (und meine stricknadeln!)

2009-03-19T15:18:00.008-04:00

[Mis]Quoting none other than Arthur Dent of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film. (One of the few films, even of the few I've watched before I've read the book, that I liked better than the book). And cobbling together a German phrase-probably horribly...

So... I have too many projects on the needles, period. I did finish a Monteagle and the Shetland Shopper bag I'd had on the needles for months since I last saw (since a Mason-Dixon project is mentioned in this sentence--) y'all. I have no pictures of those, although they do mean I have only one bag project on the needles.

Categorized:

Bags:

Black Hole bag in pink #10 crochet cotton, #10 needles, i-cord handle in orange/brown/white twist Sugar'n'Cream on #2 dpns

Dishcloths:

Some sort of double knitting/knitting two stitches together twice over? technique I got from Montse Stanley's knitting guide back last summer in red, white, and blue striped Sugar'n'Cream on #7s. (Digression: I'm intending to take German instead of Spanish if I can find a course, and for some reason, after checking the gender of knitting needles, I'm having to resist translating random words and phrases into German. "zwei Maschen rechts zusammen stricken zweimal..."? last "sommer"?)
Crocheted flower dishcloths; they're really sort of a swirling hexagon. I made one and two more centers, then didn't finish the second one and left the third one with only a center bit.

Hats:

Inspired by one of Kelley Petkun's podcasts, probably from late 2008, I cast on another Koolhaas (for myself, since I don't have any handknit hats) in pale yellow JoAnns Sensations Tesoro, on the same #5 16" circ I used for my dad's Koolhaas at Christmas time.
Not a hat at all, but in the same yarn, Fetchings that I originally intended for a Christmas present for my English teacher, but they're not done, and she's retiring this year. But I still might give them to her as a end-of-year present to use later...

Lace:

Scarf from VLT in crochet cotton leftover from Tala on #4s. Not progressing very fast because I can't seem to memorize the lace or at least get away from the chart a bit.
Semi-circle shawl from VLT in Knit Picks Gloss Bluebird (Knit Picks just got in some new yarns! Yay! New lace yarns which are tempting me... and more cottons!) on #6 circs: put on hold because I was trying (and still haven't finished) a pair of truly diabolical, I tell you, slippers where I made unwise yarn/needle combination choices and didn't have a #6 16" circular needle.
Melon stole/scarf from VLT in Knit Picks Bare Merino Lace ~~died~~ dyed with Orange KoolAid into a mottled pale orange color: rather boring to tell you the truth.
A stole from AGoL in Yarn Place Graceful I bought at the last Wool Gathering. I'll tell you more about this in a future post, for now suffice to mention that it does need some time to get into any sort of pattern on it because it's cobweb weight yarn.

Miscellaneous Crochet:

Throw from a February/March or January/February issue of Crochet Today from several years ago, a UFO on an I hook.
Svanhilde, the last of the Doilies with a Twist series; I'm not sure if I have enough of the cream crochet cotton, but I don't care to buy another ball for just the last few rounds.
****f of my own design--Shh! secret project for a yarn shop contest!

Socks, of which there are way too many:

On #000s, a sock from MSKS in some sort of knit-purl block pattern in laceweight merely for the challenge... (KP Shadow in Redwood Forest (discontinued) left over from my Swallowtail)
On #00s, Jade/Eucrite. Lion Brand SockEase in Rock Candy. My own design. Hopefully the pattern is coming soon.
Also on #00s, a cabled design in the same yarn in Toffee
Also on #00s, DK 2-socks-at once. (KP Essential Peacock Multi)
On #0s, a cabled sock I'm calling Finglas after a LOTR Ent; pattern from SKS. (KP Essential Pine)
Also on #0s, the Coriolis socks (More Coriolis diaries? I may need some more Terry Pratchett via Stephen Briggs to get me motivated on the plain knitting for the toe; the first toe was mostly reknit while I was miserably sick to the audiobook of Making Money) (KP Essential Riverbed Multi)
Also on #0s, umm... The Estonian socks were finished, and I'm saving the next project (which is in the same yarn as the Estonian socks--I have a little stash of that Cascade Heritage) for a future post, like the above lace project.
On #1s, "Rilhilmina", my bizarre name for a Chevron sock, as seen in SKS (Reynolds Swizzle in a similar green to the Essential Pine, with CMY colored stripes, but that it's more of a bright blue than a pale cyan)
Also on #1s, the apprently unfinishable and frankly misnamed "Mlle. Gillenormand", my own design. Although I named it after a Les Mis character, the design looks more British than French... (KP Gloss Black)
Also on #1s, "Paganini" in Mountain Colors Bearfoot Firestorm; a shop sample from my LYS (which happens to fit my foot...)
Intended to be on #1s, a design of my own devising, possibly titled "Honshu" in an old colorway of KP Felici
Intended to be on #1.5s, Baby Cable Rib socks from SKS in KP Dancing Hula (the yarn is discontinued, but Patons Stretch Socks is similar)
On #2s, Spiral Boot Socks in deep purple Reynolds Soft Sea Wool. I don't much like moving the stitches, so this is going slowly, though I am finally in the ankle pattern portion.
On #3s, Arrow from the 8 stitch section of SKS in KP Parade, my last socks in this unfortunately discontinued yarn.
On #4s, I-should-have-cast-on-the-second-sock a lacy pattern in some Telemark in Drift, ordered when it first came out, that I tried to use for the 2 in 1 DK sock pattern but frogged.
On #5s, actually, an old UFO of gloves that I started working on again for Christmas but haven't worked on much since.
Supposed-to-be-on #5s: EZ's Wearable Art Stockings in Patons Classic Merino, but they aren't exactly working out so well.
On C hook: UFO of Button-Top Socks in the old version of Bernat Sox. The first was finished in, I think, 2006, while listening to Lyddie on audiobook... Wow. That's old.

A grand total of: 29 projects (although this includes the "intended" projects). Yet, startitis comes with spring, and I have more projects I want to make, or dream of starting...

Whilst I was sick, I did make a couple of projects--crocheted Bluebird lace socks from Just Socks which I call the "Soul Cake Duck Tuesday Socks" (a Discworld holiday similar to a certain spring holiday of our own) and the knitted (obviously) "Cathedral" mitts from Gothic in Knitting New Mittens and Gloves (What is the next Knitting New... book, I wonder? I've loved both books in the series so far, although they are slightly different styles). Gothic took me about 4 hours of work, and the SCDT socks were crocheted in 2 afternoons/nights. Yarns: (guess which one when to which project, I dare you) Bernat Sox in Hippie Hot, KP WotA in Winter Night (which I ordered to evaluate it's navy-blue-ness (and, yes, I am totally addicted to parentheses; it's a running joke for which I blame my good internet friend Schmergo's version of a certain snakey antagonist)))

What projects do I dream of starting (and thus fufilling the title of this post)?

Well, in the sock department, I probably have at least 200 sock patterns (though this is probably only about half of the total I want to make) queued in my 30 page queue of 600, 700+ items on Ravelry, and I do have, as mentioned in my before-posting penultimate post/after this post antepenultimate post over 50 balls of sock yarn with associated patterns picked out. So, no new sock queueing for me. Must not do that...

I am wanting to basically go through Knitting New Mittens and Gloves and knit every single thing in there--perhaps the next two projects would be in Knit Picks yarn, to be ordered:

Sheltie in KP Suri Dream and WotA. Suri Dream in maybe Cascades or Aquatic or Wildflowers; WotA in oh, maybe Cobblestone heather.
~~the-cover-fingerless-mitts-whose-name-I-can't-remember-and-for-once-I'm-not-on-Ravelry~~ Filigree in the new organic cotton worsted weight probably in Malted Milk. And maybe the shorter length in Ginger?

I also got the book of Swedish Mittens out from the library, and am thinking about ordering Selbuvottar, so that would be more mittens. There are also plenty of free mitten and glove patterns on Ravelry that I have in my queue.

For some reason, I've wanted to make all those brioche berets from the brioche site, but I'll have to get yarn. I'm going to use the Bernat Felting wool I tried unsucessfully to use for the basic beret to make a pair of (or a variation thereof) EZ's Mitred Mittens. One of the brioche berets will probably be my next hat, and at some time a tam, and Fern Glade, and possibly some more hat-hats (like Koolhaas) such as topographie.

I, the inveterate sock knitter, am actually thinking about sweaters and vests.

Firstly, the vest came about because after seeing the Silky Wool at KnitWits yarn shop, I absolutely must make something in it. So, perhaps Honeycomb with the pattern from the Austrian socks on the front? I want Veridian, although I also love the other colors. Tweedy, heathery, I love that sort of thing.

There is also a possibly appealing vest in the current Spring Knitty, and I think I'll try a fair isle type vest before a Fair Isle sweater, though that may come after a rectangular project and a tam... Doris Chan's crocheted vests (and sweaters, which I'll mention in the next section) are lovely, and if I can find a good yarn for it, I might make Flower Power from her lace book.

Sweaters? Several things brewing in my head:

I've wanted to make Tangled Yoke for ages, and now that my school mascot is an eagle, I'm thinking of knitting an eagle, the school verse, and some Elvish into the sweater, probably in Knit Picks Palette, but it'll probably wait till the summer.
I first got hold of Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines while knitting Ice Queen in CPY Kid ~~Mohair~~ (Merino? Ach! I can't remember any of these names! After referencing Ravelry, I realized that the mohair content was misleading me)Merino. So, I'm wanting to do the Cardi Cozy in a deep foresty green, with either Kid Merino, or possibly Elann's Kid Silk Haze sub.
While inventoring at KnitWits yarn shop, I found that they had 5 skeins of a denimy color of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, and I thought about a slightly U-necked, saddle shoulder sweater (will that work) with the Seaweed pattern I used for one dishcloth... It's a thought.
The idea of a gansey has also been brewing in my head--Jess's Gansey, and I've gone so far as to research the Frangipani gansey wool. (Hint: If you are in the US, it very well could be cheaper but slower to order from the UK rather than the US source. It seems it--£18 for the cone of wool + £7 international air mail shipping = £25, which, according to Google, equals about $36.50 on 19 March, 2009, rather than the $65.00 Kirtland's Yarn Barn in Virginia is asking for a cone) Possibly in green... (I like green, and I seem to want green sweaters.)
Plenty of crocheted pullovers and cardigans from Everyday Crochet. I made up a long list a couple months ago of KP yarns to use with some of them.

And then there's scarves, which might help me to use up some cheap yarn I bought to make Christmas presents that never got made, and a bunch I just want to make period. Although this one cotton boucle from Araucania I saw at Knit Wits looks like it would be good for Meandering Stripes (in one color, though), I think Yarn Place yarn would be better than KP yarn for many of the Knitting New Scarves scarves, plus, I intend to order another cobweb weight yarn for another project, which brings me to the final category, lace...

I've seen five, yes five!, shawls since the beginning of the year:

Dragonfly from IC Winter 2009, to be made in one of Yarn Place's cobweb weight yarns with the D hook.
Fountain Pen Shawl from IK Spring 2009, similar to two shawls that I've made and enjoyed immensely, with its top down from the back of the neck construction. There are lots of new KP lace yarns...
The Sweet Lily Shawl, also from IK Spring 2009. I'm just sayin', some of those new colors are tempting me...
Shipwreck Shawl, from the Spring Knitty. I didn't notice it at first glance, although I liked the thumbnail (why are they called that anyway?)--for some reason I thought the cover picture was the Aeolian shawl (?!). This is made in a thicker yarn, such as Gloss Bare, and requires stringing a lot of beads... hmm
Aeolian Shawl, from Spring Knitty, by the same designer as Laminaria! Beaded Estonian lace, but in desert-y motifs this time. I'll probably choose a deserty color therefore!

Knitting in another language:

I'm fascinated by the German language, and while trying to figure out how wumbs on Ravelry did a sock heel over the language barrier, I happened upon an old German-knitting-word-of-the-day-month feature, "Stricken Sie Deutsch?" on Claudia's blog, starting here. It might just be helpful if I happen to some how (it's quite unlikely) get Stephanie van der Linden's book in its original German format. Plus, maybe I can understand German knitting patterns now.

That reminds me that there are several sock knitting books coming out that I want (and I thought that the publishing market had probably had its fill of sock knitting!)--Cookie A's Sock Innovations, Wendy Johnson's Knitting Socks from the Toe Up, Stephanie van der Linden's Socken aus unser Welt (spelling/word choice is dubious, I'm typing that title from memory), and a book involving Japanese stitch patterns (which seem to be quite interesting and I seem to be developing an interest in ethnic knitting) in socks that I heard about on Knitter's Review while searching for that sock heel.

Other crafts:

Various events seem to have conspired to start me on a (hopefully fruitful) quilting/patchwork kick. Firstly, I have no interest in knitting a Mason-Dixon log cabin blanket, but hearing about Kelley Petkun's caused, I think, the idea of log cabin blocks to start brewing in my head. Then, she's piecing a block in public on her blog. Then I'm assigned a math project relating the Seminole Indians and their patchwork, quilting, and geometry, and then I decided to piece the center of Grandmother's Flower Garden block for that project. I think I'm going to try to piece a quilt top this summer, and maybe knit a sweater(am I crazy?)(!).

The mention of BSC Lamb's Pride reminds me that I have ambitions of making nalbound slippers in Lamb's Pride Bulky in one of the slightly mottled colorways. But I think I need a bit more practice first.

I've also seen two sock patterns for hand-spun sock yarn over the past few months (one was Blackrose in winter's Knitty, and the other was in Spindlicity) and that makes me want to spin. Spinning the lambswool I bought at... hmm my first Wool Gathering(? I think) on my Schacht Hi-Lo (thank you, Google!) was pleasant or at least rather fun, but the other wool I bought isn't nice to spindle spin--the grey is sticky and thus hard to draft, and the heathered forest green(which I'd call tartan colorway), I think a Corriedale, is a longer fiber length which I also find difficult to deal with. It probably needs a different drafting technique which I'm not ready to adopt on a spindle. I really think I'd spin better on a wheel, but it's kind of out of the question right now.

Then there's weaving, which I got into through my interest in spinning a few years ago. Unfortunately, I want a floor loom with lots of shafts, which is even more expensive and even more unlikely.

I've also run into temari in several places, which for some odd reason is associated with pysanky in my head, and this has given me a slight urge to go and make thread balls and color eggs.

And my mom and I also talked a little about sewing up some of our cloth stash over the summer, so that may be in the works.

St. Patrick's Day (and I forgot to wear green...) reminds me of tatting since I tatted a clover several years ago, which got me thinking about a tatted headband (would that even work? Perhaps a choker type necklace instead?) and then onto drawing pseudo-Celtic knots. I haven't tatted very much at all, and not very recently.

Then, that reminds me of macreme, which I also have dabbled in. (although the only thing I've made is a small bag in Sugar'n'Cream)

There is too much inspiration!

And I have written an excessively long post, which hopefully included most of what I wanted to include in it!

Auf Wiedersehen!
("goodbye" in German)

Postscript: And now my labels/tags have reminded me that I thought about cross-stitch and getting a "Swedish weaving" huck towel kit while in Hobby Lobby the other day (and they seem to be getting in some more new sock yarn--I read the shelf tags), which further reminds me of that humongous latch hook lighthouse and the locker hooked log cabin rug I have in progress.

Post-postscript(PPS): I remembered that I intended to mention that besides green, I seem attracted to browns these days. I got a lot of yarn the other day at Knit Wits, including a darks/brown colorway of JaWoll, Berocco Sock in a brown-y colorway, a southwest colorway of Jojoland Melody (Note to self: the lace/cobwebweight is Harmony, the worsted, Rhythm), and before that, the first Heart and Sole I bought from JoAnns was in Toasted Almonds, which is very brown, and I bought a camo colorway of Bernat Sox for the Whitby Lace Socks from Just Socks (disregarding the fact that that's a Lion Brand book and this isn't LB yarn).

PPPS: And loom knitting! I seem to want to branch out into different sock techniques--wanting to try magic loop (needle: check), 2 circs, 9" Hiya-hiya circs, loom knit socks (for which I want a Decor Accents loom), and crochet socks. Since they are my favorite thing to make...

PPPPS: This is the second spring I've had maniac too-much-inspiration/too-many-things to do syndrome. I have a different Bernard Clayton (Have I got his name right?) book out of the library-this one on soups, and I'm thinking of cooking... and gardening too!

Nearly Perfect Moments

2009-02-25T16:14:00.005-05:00

I am writing this at the library, at which I am on pretext of doing research for several school projects (I was assigned quite a few at once). This library is a very lovely one, and has a reading garden, where I was doing my algebra homework.

*Be forewarned that this post contains little knitting content*

My favorite month is March, though I was born in the other M month, May. March is named for the Latin god of war, Mars, apparently because it was the time to resume war after winter. But today felt like March. I couldn't take a picture, but it wouldn't be adequate anyway. Neither words nor pictures can exactly describe it. There is a very certain charm that I love to a day when the wind is blowing, it's cool, and the sun is out. It's my favorite sort of day. And sitting and snacking on pistachios and trail mix and doing my algebra was pleasant in the atmosphere. Nearly perfect. But all lovely things come to an end, and I came in halfway through my history because it had gotten colder and clouds were blowing in. (Also, I wanted a pretext to write this blog entry).

The funny thing is, I didn't want to go to school or leave the house this morning. I've had some problems going to school very much since the beginning of the year, because I've been sick, or exhausted, or there's been snow. I was very tired this morning, but when I came into school, I determined that if Eponine could make it through her conditions, I could make it through the day. And if I hadn't, I would have missed this. If you are worn out and hesitant to go out today, whatever day you're reading this, I hope you'll be encouraged and have a good time anyway.

As for knitting... I probably have way too many projects started, though nowhere near 52 projects :). I knitted on Eucrite/Jade today during biology class, since we were just reading, and my extremely nice* biology teacher didn't seem to mind. It is a mindless rib. I got about halfway through the heel turn on my DKed socks while I was at Knit-Wit's yarn shop last Saturday, and I've enjoyed my time there the past two Saturdays immensely. The only problem is, I see more and more stuff I want every time I go in there. Mini Mochi! Some sort of cotton boucle that I could use for one of those scarfs from Knitting New Scarves! Araucania Itata! Jojoland Melody! Lang JaWoll! with like colored reinforcement thread! Size 0000 4" dpns! ChiaGoo bamboo straights feel really nice. Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool!... Oh. I'd better stop, as I don't want to make you dwell on yarn you don't have the rest of the day, like I might. In any case, I won't be there next Saturday because I have to be at a play practice for a school production of Annie.

I would love to put on Les Misérables (there's a school version), but it wouldn't work out. We don't have enough boys that would take on all the serious parts. I'd want Eponine, because I don't feel that I fit Fantine or Cosette.

*He's very, very kind. Really. Like he bought 20+ people lunch and a late breakfast on a field trip with only a $3.00 contribution from each. I thanked him, and I hope everyone else did.

PS. I've one of the Coriolis socks done, as, once I got to the beginning of the band, I just kept working on it, but I wasn't blogging. I may do more Coriolis diaries though.
PPS: I'm a bit annoyed at Blogger because this originally posted on the wrong blog, partially due to user error, but partially because Blogger wouldn't unhide one of my blogs at one point. (!)

Over a Year's Worth Of Socks

2009-02-20T16:00:00.001-05:00

Upon counting up all the sock yarn I have the other day, I discovered that I have enough yarn for more than fifty two pairs of socks; if I were to knit a pair a week, it would take a little over a year. Wow!

My! I have failed to post with any sort of frequency.

2008-12-15T15:16:00.002-05:00

Indeed.

I've been quite busy over the past month or more with the costumes for our school play, Babes in Toyland, which went over fairly well.

Now, I've got a dozen projects on the needles...

C'est la vie.

I am also reading Les Misérables. I love this book, although I started it on Election Day, and I've still only gotten to just past the incident where Enjolras imposed justice on that murderer, shortly after the barricade was erected. (But still, 950+/1232 or so is still good--wouldn't you say?)

I can't post any pictures because of the fact that I lost my camera cable (I'm not sure if I mentioned that in an earlier post) I haven't bothered to take any pictures for that matter.

I've started several bags and several pairs of socks (about 10 pairs on the needles) and I've finished the Oriel Lace ones since I last posted.

Should I not post before Christmas, I would like to wish all my readers (if you're out there) an unabashedly Merry Christmas!

Quite Prolix, or, rather, not very

2008-10-06T15:55:00.002-04:00

Prolix: 2: marked by or using an excess of words
~Merriam-Webster Online

which, I am, although I may not be able to demonstrate it in this post.

Sigh. School has been a mix of good and bad. I did transfer to a different school (did I mention that?) and everyone's been nice. However, I lost my purse on September 18. Inside the purse? A $99.99 graphing calculator, which has since been replaced, a cross-stitch project, my library cards for three counties, and...

The purple wave socks.

It still has not been found or returned, and I seem to have lost my knitting vigor, or at least my sock vigor with the loss of this pair.

I did attend the Wool Gathering back on September 20, and there I sat and wove... and wove... and wove... for the very first time on a 2/2 twill table runner at the SCA booth, where they were indeed kind enough to let me use the loom.

My purchases?

A Wool Gathering tee
Noro Kureyon Sock in... probably 092, if Yarndex is correct
Noro Silk Garden Sock in... uh, S245?
Opal Rainforest series in the caterpillar colorway
Kaffe Fassette Regia Landscape in the colorway fire, I believe
CPY Maizy (I wanted to try Panda Wool, Panda Silk, and Panda Soy, as well as the manufacturer's dyes for Panda Cotton, but I didn't end up doing so)
CPY Kid Merino, berry, to make Ice Queen
Knitting Notions Supersock in Pacific. I'm thinking I'm going to do LOTR themed socks with this.
Yarn Place Gentle, in greys
a rug hook
a cotton spindle (because I bought some Foxfibre cotton last year and couldn't do much with it with my Schacht hi-lo)
And, my last item, a swift, which seems to be oak, stained(?) in a reddish color.

I have also completed two more mesh bags to use for groceries. However, be forewarned, a project which I cannot seem to find again, is very small, and will not hold very much. The Saturday Market Bag, in Sugar'n'Cream is a success, though, and the Everlasting Bagstopper continues to be quite handy.

There are approxiamately 10 times as many items in my Ravelry queue as are in my projects...

"Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises."

2008-09-15T09:36:00.004-04:00

So said the late, great Elizabeth Zimmermann. And so I did yesterday, so long as I could see.

It is quite unbelievable...

The remnants of Hurricane Ike, somewhere between a tropical storm and a Category 1 hurricane level swept through Cincinnati, Ohio, and the surrounding areas yesterday afternoon. While I was happily knitting away on Aearlinnod, learning about tapestry, knotted pile, Scottish, Alaskan, and historical weaving and experiencing Convergence vicariously through Syne Mitchell, raging winds were ripping shingles off roofs and limbs off large trees. When I went out for a bit, the sustained wind seemed to be about a 6-7 on the Beaufort Scale; we must have had 10-11 force gusts. No, I'm not hurt, nor my immediate family (a bit discomforted from lacking electricity, as my hometown does as far as I know). There were indeed a few fatalities in the tri-state area.

I think I'm running a bit short of yarn for Aearlinnod. I have four long rows and the bind-off to do and my ball of yarn is about the size of a large clementine orange.

Anyway, if you were affected by Ike in any way, my prayers go out to you.

Gratias ago goodness Friday est

2008-09-05T14:54:00.007-04:00

(probably miserable internet Latin: "Thank goodness it's Friday")

I looked at the sidebar of my blog and I realized that I only have, what, 11 posts this year if you count this one? I had 45 in 2007, when I had the blog all year, and 23 in 2006 when I only had it half the year. I need to get posting, and maybe type up some of the posts I wrote out at the beginning of summer.

I still cannot give you any pictures, but there hasn't been a whole lot of knitting going on. I've gotten in maybe five rounds on the "Estonian" Socks this week at school, and I knitted on Aearlinnod last weekend.

The rest of this post has nothing whatsoever to do with knitting; caveat lector.

School has been rather exhausting. The first day I had trouble finding my way around. I couldn't exactly follow my class to every class because I'm taking a couple classes they aren't. (I used several senses of the word "class" in that sentence; shall I toss in a few more?") I've made a few friends and people seem to be friendly. Yesterday we finally got to choose lockers, but they're in a rather remote corridor on the third floor, while homeroom is adjacent to the stairs on the second floor. The restrooms are on the first floor and down the hall...
But... there's construction, so maybe it'll get better.

It must be a Murphy's law thing, for I lost my pencil pouch on the first day and it was returned to me in biology class the day after I replaced my stuff.

Are there too many italics in this post?

Anyway, this is my schedule:
7:50-8:00-- Homeroom
1st Period-- Algebra
2nd Period-- Biology
3rd Period-- Health/Phys. Ed.
4th Period-- English
11:25-12:00?-- Lunch
5th Period-- World Civilization
6th Period-- Bible Class (I go to a Christian school & we pray to start roughly half our classes!)
7th Period-- Drama

I'm not used to seven periods, and we start 10 minutes earlier than I'm used to, but we do get out earlier.

Anyway...

...and school uniforms, with lots of socks

2008-08-29T11:09:00.002-04:00

Guess what?

...

...

I took a picture of my "disastrous" error in Aearlinnod last night as I started some more tinking, and forgot to grab the camera! So, no pictures!

I'm a bit fed up with school uniforms, and I'll tell you why:
For the last 6+ years, I've had to wear either blue or khaki bottoms and light blue, red (originally pink), or white tops. This year, once more, involves uniforms: navy, khaki or black pants (and pants only, no skirts whatsoever, or shorts, or skorts, or whatnot) and light yellow, light blue, white, royal blue, or navy blue (I think) tops. School starts Tuesday.

I figured out today that I have more than 400 items in my Ravelry queue!

Anyway here's all the socks in progress, descending needle sizes:

U.S. 5's: Wearable Art Socks (my first fair isle style knit)
U.S. 4's: Open Lace(6) from SKS
U.S. 3's: Arrow(8) from SKS
U.S. 2's: Spiral Boot Socks from Interweave Knits Summer 2007
U.S. 1's: secret sock project that is my own design. will not be pictured. May submit it somewhere.
U.S. 1's: Oriel(12) from SKS
U.S. 0's: Mock Wave Cable Socks from Favorite Socks
U.S. 0's: Charade
U.S. 0's: "Estonian" Socks from the Vogue Knitting Ultimate Sock Book (different from the ones in Folk Socks)
U.S. 00's: DKed socks
U.S. 00's: My own design in Sock-Ease

That adds up to: 11 sock projects. My, my, my, my, my. My, oh, my, look how the time flies, look how the world changes in the blink of an eye, my, oh, my, see how the years have gone, see how the hmmm-hmmm, my, oh, my. Sorry there. I reminded myself of a song.

In which I discuss socks, how I failed the Ravelympics, and school uniforms...

2008-08-26T15:34:00.006-04:00

I have not posted in a while! (not that anybody really reads my blog anyway... if you are out there, please leave a comment, even if it's just "Hi!"! If you're not posting advertisements or obsceneties, I don't mind if it's spammy.) Hmm... Probably a few more exclamation points than I really need. Anyway, I've been meaning to post my wheel of socks for a while now, but never got around to it:

Starting at the right with the white pair, and going clockwise:

Simple anklets with spot lace motif on instep. Patons Grace, Snow. Finished in November 2005.
Elongated Corded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. (oh, thank you, Ravelry!) KnitPicks Dancing in Swing (discontinued). Circa summer 2006
Ribbed Lace, again from SKS. KnitPicks Parade in Daffodil (this yarn had an error on an insert about a gauge error on the lable, calling it "parade following yarn"!) (discontinued) Circa summer to fall 2006.
Welt Fantastic, SKS. KnitPicks Simple Stripes in Sweet Tarts (discontinued). Circa summer to fall 2006 (hmm... I thought it took me longer than that, but then I don't generally have socks on the needles that long.)
Simple rib with Dutch Heel. The heel is from Folk Socks. ModaDea Sassy Stripes (A yarn I don't love-squeaky acrylic) in Storm. Winter 2006
Braid Cable with Garter ridge from SKS. KnitPicks Essential Ash. Circa summer 2006 to January/February 2007. This, Welt Fantastic, and Ribbed Lace were all started at about the same time, but this took the longest time to finish, due to size 0 needles. Also, should you ever see a close up of this sock, I knitted it following the mistaken chart which erroneously inserted too many rows.
Laburnum from SKS. Patons Grace in Lavender. The yarn doesn't wear that well. Winter to spring 2007.
Little Shell Rib from SKS. KnitPicks Palette in Apricot. Spring to Summer, possibly into fall 2007.
Basketweave Rib from SKS. KnitPicks Parade in Gumdrop. Finished circa fall 2007(?).
Volare-my own version of a stitch dictionary pattern imposed on the Chevron stitches for self-striping yarn structure from SKS. KnitPicks Felici in Hummingbird. Fall 2007.
Meida's Socks from Favorite Socks. KnitPicks Risata in Dusk. Fall into winter 2007
Mocassin Socks as detailed in the November chapter of Knitter's Almanac. Patons Classic Merino in Paprika and some brown color. I don't remember when I started these, probably fall of '07. They were finished in February of this year--much of the second sock was knitted while watching The Two Towers movie, which I mentioned in a February entry.
Crossover Rib Socks, SKS. KnitPicks Dancing in Tap. Started but frogged in September or October of '07 and knitted on while stranded in stand still traffic on the way back from a field trip to Frankfort, KY. Restarted winter '07/'08, finished around April or May of '08.
"The-Socks-Not-To-Be-Named" or so I've been calling them. I originally called them Thrascia's socks or a title based on her name, but as Thrascia is my own character from a fanfiction that hasn't been published, no one knows who she is! They're my own stitch pattern imposed on the cable chapter skeleton from SKS. Knit in KnitPicks Essential Tweed Marina(color discontinued). Started in summer '07, finished probably in May '08.

Not shown:

My very first pair of socks in a very basic pattern. Bernat Sox (the old sort) in Jazz Hot. December '04-May '06 or so(?) Because: They're my mom's, and I didn't bother to get them for photography.
Purled Ladder, SKS. KnitPicks Palette in Nutmeg. (I think both colors of Palette I've used here are discontinued). Sept./Oct. '06 into January '07. Because: They're my dad's (supposed to be a Christmas gift...) and again I didn't bother to get them for photography.
Austrian Socks from Favorite Socks. KnitPicks Palette in Rainforest Heather. Sept '07 to June '08. Because: Not finished on May 10, when this photo was taken.
Entrelac Socks from Interweave Knits Spring '07. KnitPicks Palette in Ivy and Brindle Heather. January-July 2008. Because: Not finished by date of photo.

I do have in progress photos of the latter two, but no finished photos:

To the left/first photo: first Austrian sock, up in the air.
To the right/second photo: first Entrelac sock, again up in the air.

And now, to break up the monotony, we present:
(drumroll)
Reason #4,375 why Estonian lace and knitting group are not a good combination:

[imagine dramatic photo of mangled shawl here. Cry, weep, and optionally tear at clothing]

Okay, so I'm being over dramatic. In any case, I haven't made any progress on Laminaria (alias Aearlinnod) since early July due to this, with the dubitable excuse that I was going to take a photo. While at my knitting group, I was knitting on Laminaria... and forgot one of the 3-into-9 stars. I didn't notice this rather large error (the sort a non knitter would notice if they looked at all closely at the shawl; it also messes up the pattern) until I had purled the wrong side row (we're talking around 200 stitches or more) and knitted across to the error. My standard method of fixing things is to drop stitches down. Isn't gonna work. There is most certainly not enough slack in the yarn to make nine stitches when only three were knitted. I'm also not about to frog the thing. Hello? I'm into the blossom pattern now. So: tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink until about to defenestrate knitting, and tink some more.

(Note to self: This is a minor problem. You can do this, and with minor complaint, too. Settle down with some inspiring but non-distracting music and tink.)

How to fail the Ravelympics, in twelve steps:

Step 1: Be sure to overcommit yourself.

Step 2: Don't train.

Step 3: Don't have yarn and needles and pattern ready and waiting to start.

Step 4: Cast on laceweight while tired.

Step 5: Try to read and re-read Discworld books while not knitting.

Step 6: Introduce self to Discworld MUD. Play for hours on end. Repeat.

Step 7: Fail to utilize lots of free time as knitting time.

Step 8: Find out that you are not supposed to knit in the car when your paternal parent is within.

Step 9: Divide time between three pairs of socks.

Step 10: Need to recalculate rib pattern for sole of one sock.

Step 11: Worry about school; detracts from knitting time.

Step 12: Realize that you might just be finished if you had not decided to knit projects on size 0 and 00 needles.

And here's some pictures of my Ravelympics projects:

Or no... I don't have time to get the pictures up!

We Greatly Apologize for a Lack Of Posting...

2008-06-26T16:36:00.002-04:00

This happens to be the eighty-first post on Arachnera's Web, and I believe I am approaching, if not past, my second blogiversary. Eighty-one happens to be the square of nine, which is the square of three. What my point is in pointing that out to you, I don't quite fathom, but I like the fact that 3⁴ is 81, the number of this post.

I know I have been neglecting you--after school got out, I haven't had consistent internet access, but that's really an excuse, because what I've really been doing is reading fanfiction, some of it really bad, hanging out on forums, and drooling over some on-sale Kureyon. I've drafted perhaps five blog entries in a notebook while I was not at an internet connected computer, but these never got typed up.

In the time between the last post and this one, I have:

Finished the Austrian Socks
Knit the Everlasting Bagstopper
Finished my Swallowtail Shawl (had I started it in last post?)
Started Laminaria, which I am calling Aearlinnod (Sea-song in Elvish)
Nearly finished the Entrelac Socks (Knitting on the cuff right now)

Unfortunately, I don't have much time left on the computer, so I will have to truncate this entry for now.

The Coriolis Diaries, Part II

2008-05-16T17:30:00.002-04:00

Due to the title of this post, my first object of discussion is the Coriolis socks I started a week ago tonight.

Perhaps I was really too tired to be starting another pair of socks late at night, but I made the choice. When it came time to start the Coriolis band (digression: I keep trying to type that "Coreolis") I discovered an oddity: I was minus three of the seventy-two stitches I should have(or so I thought). "Oh well," I thought. "I'll just have another repeat of the Coriolis band rows to add in the missing stitches." I placed my marker and started knitting a whole repeat of the three band rows, but without any decreases. Okay, I should have 72 stitches now. Guess what? I didn't. It seems I was missing 5 stitches in the first place.

Upon investigating the mystery, it seems that my inaugural experience with the JMCO did not work out so well; I lost a pair of stitches, so that there were only seventeen stitches on two edges of the garter square toe. Next, it seems that I didn't pick up enough stitches on the other two sides; leaving me with (3x17)+16=67 stitches. Now, I'm not really sure what I should do, so I'm putting up a poll on my blog as to what I should do:

(Hopefully this will work--this is the first time I've used Bravenet)

In other news, I have finished two other pairs of socks recently, and started several others. I took a picture of all 14 pairs of socks I've made for myself, but at the moment it isn't convenient to attempt to upload pictures.

As well, I got to visit my "L"YS today, and I bought the following:

3 skeins Reynolds Soft Sea Wool in Color #0320 (which is a plummy purple) for the Spiral Boot Socks (Link to Ravelry; non-Ravelers can see the design on this page--scroll down.)
2 skeins hemp for knitting allhemp6, in what I think might be color #102 for the Everlasting Bagstopper (This link is to Knitty--no Ravelry membership necessary)

The Coriolis Diaries, Part I

2008-05-16T17:23:00.004-04:00

Technical note: Unfortunately, this post, which was intended to end up on my blog via email, and was written last Saturday, did not appear. I attribute this difficulty to the fact that I have moved control of the blog from my arachnera@the-large-free-email-account-provider-whose-name-begins-with-a-y-here-obscured-against-spammers Google account to the one associated with my Gmail address and the auto-publish blog email was associated with that account. So here it is:

Have finished two pairs of socks and started my first pair from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I chose the spiraling Coriolis master pattern, wrote down my master numbers, and wrote out a summary of what I need to do as I knit. I'm using size zero needles--4 dpns, and KnitPicks Essential Multi in a now discontinued color way Riverbed Multi. I chose to disregard the whirlpool toe for the moment and go with a garter toe, so I learned the JMCO. Interestingly enough, because Riverbed is a mixture of blues and orange-browns, the colors in my hands were the same as those in Cat's illustration. My gauge is actually at the maximum end of spi in the master stitch number charts! But because my foot isn't that large, I don't have too many stitches.

I haven't reached my E point yet, but I'm working on it. Although I do have to wonder how the toe works out.

I have to wonder though, why in the world, according to the average foot size charts in the back of the book, I should wear a size 5 shoe, but instead I wear a size 7 1/2 to 8. Curious, anyway.

I will try to show you some pictures, but at the moment certain technical factors prevent me from placing pictures in this post.

This is duck's weather, and it's STILL raining!

2008-03-19T17:26:00.003-04:00

Some roads are closed, there's high water just about everywhere, and the weather is just generallly nasty. Good weather to stay inside and knit, but that I don't have knitting with me...

Theoretically: many stitches, many words, many things to do...

2008-03-18T18:02:00.004-04:00

If, perchance, there happen to be sixty-six stitches across the width of a latch hook rug...
And there happen to be ninety nine rows in this rug...
There will be six thousand, five-hundred, thirty-four pieces of yarn in the rug.
This would be the reason why the latchhook kit I recieved December 25, 2006 has long gone without any progress.
But I have managed to complete about 10% of the latch hooking recently. Enough to start getting the lighthouse in there.

If, perchance, there are five long lines and one shorter one per stanza of poem...
And there are, oh, about eleven or so words in each long line...
And about four or five in each of the shorter lines...
And there are eighteen stanzas in the poem...
There are about one thousand, sixty-two words in the poem
No small feat.
But I've memorized The Raven.

If someone should chance to check out approxiamately thirty books from one library at one time...
And one of those should happen to be about quilts, three (albeit one that wasn't very good) about basket making, hmm, I don't know; about a half dozen or more on crocheting and knitting, a tree guide, three -For Dummies computer books, two books on languages, three fiction, four or maybe even five weaving books...
And this person also needs to look up 180 words in the dictionary, do a report for psych class, complete assignments from when they were absent, figure out some wacky square roots, and complete a bunch of work book pages...
Well, needless to say, they will have difficulty getting everything they want to do done.
But I haven't managed to complete all this, yet, either....

Postscript: Hello, hello, hello. This is your beloved antagonist speaking here--Er, wait. Firstly, go over and read Harry's entry if you haven't already. Secondly, for your information, Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events (movie) is mildly beneficial for your knitting, as long as you don't try to eat rather messy popcorn at the same time.

Um, no, there haven't been many posts lately...

2008-02-21T17:54:00.003-05:00

Really, there haven't. I have started work on Tala again, and I've started yet another pair of socks.

But I did discover that LOTR2: TTT movie is really great for knitting Mocassin Socks. Over the entire three hours, give or take perhaps thirty minutes for pausing for heel turning, I knitted 90% of the second sock!

Socks on the needles (~~in no particular order~~ Scratch that. In order of needle size):

Crossover Rib (SKS), size 2s
Austrian Socks (Interweave's FS), size 1s
Eunny Jang's Entrelac Socks (Interweave Knits Spring '07), size 1s
The Socks that Shall NOT BE NAMED (SKS adaption), size 0s
Mock Wave Cable (?) (Interweave's FS), size 0s
Peacock DK socks (Knitty article, Fall '06 (?)), size 00s
Wearable Art Socks. (Homespun, Handknit) size 5s

The WAS is my first attempt at Fair Isle style knitting, and it isn't working out too well. The blue of the design is recedeing (ARGH!) and the FI part has very little elasticity.

PS: If you haven't, you should check out Fleegle's blog today.

Hello...

2008-02-05T18:29:00.000-05:00

I guess I haven't been posting much of late. I have been busy with Ravelry, on the whole not knitting a whole lot. Also, I detest (no insult to psychologists) psychology and fractions that include polynomials, both of which I unfortunatly have to study. Would much rather work with derivatives?...

Besides that, the camera is embleer full of pictures, and the batteries may be low. I also have tons of socks on the needles, designs in my head, my own derivition of Tolkien's Elvish*, and a Ravelry queue chock-ful of stuff!

* Ah, ahem, yes. I have been reading too much LOTR. And I did finally get to watch the Fellowship of the Ring movie, and perhaps got about eight rounds of knitting done on a cabled 72 stitch sock (more on that later) during 2hrs.58min.59sec. (I think).

Random thought:
Why do I have a post tagged spinnning?

January thinks it's March!

2008-01-07T16:43:00.001-05:00

The weather is balmy and perfect for even short sleeves right here today (albeit perhaps a bit on the cool side). In fact, I wonder what I'm doing sitting here at the computer typing this when I should be outside. Anyway, you deserve the first blog entry of 2008.

Question:
How many socks do I have in progress?

The answer--enough to keep most of my needles busy
(but no pictures)
Let's see-one set of 0's, two sets of 1's, one set of 2's, and one set of 00's.

The 0's are occupied with my variation on the cable design, the set of four 1's in the Austrian socks(which are suffering from my SSS), the set of five 1's in my pair of Meida's socks, the 2's in a pair of socks I frogged back in September and am now restarting, and the 00's in my second attempt at Extreme Knitting.

and

Question: What sock stuff do I have on order?

The answer: 22 items that are related to socks-enough yarn for 9 pairs (one of which is for Eunny Jang's Entrelac Socks from Spring 2007 Interweave Knits) and Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book 1. (I also order some undyed worsted weight, which I will elaborate on further, shortly, and a couple skeins of laceweight that I felt were quite truly a bargain. )

The worsted weight, well... My knitting group meets tonight, and we are supposed to be starting a class on making a sweater without a pattern. I am not sure whether I will participate or not. I am a quasi-non-sweater knitter, and I think I would prefer an EZ style sweater even though I think the class is for sweaters knit in the flat. Additionally, I've never tried a wool sweater, though I love Tangled Yoke and think most of the sweaters from winter's Interweave are absolutely exquisite. Speaking of magazines and catalogs, I recieved a seed catalog the other day. Really very little space for a garden at the moment, but a girl can dream, can't she?

In any case, I'll make myself some more wristwarmers.

Postscript: If you're on Ravelry, you may have noticed how tags are sorted into alphabetical order. I find it rather funny. As well, I'm glad Blogger doesn't do so. Otherwise, I'm afraid I should have tagged this post "for, knitters, new, pathways, sock"

Tidying up Loose Ends

2007-12-20T15:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes, I've been promising readers my notes on my Volare socks (link to ravelry, sorry non-ravelers). Well, here's the instructions, at least the best I think I can give you without copyright violation:

Volare:

You will need:

A Copy of Sensational Knitted Socks if you would like more detailed instructions for some points. (please note that this book provides a lot of the instructions for this sock, though experienced sock knitters should be able to deduce the pattern from the given information)
Needles in the required size to give you your wanted gauge (I used four size 1 dpns, but do note that you may find the toe and heel significantly easier if you use two circulars, magic loop or five dpns)
Yarn, in my case, KnitPicks Felici, in Hummingbird
A tapestry needle
A scrap length of yarn (about a yard should be enough)

Gauge:

I got approximately 8.5 stitches to the inch in stockinette, but if they fit, don't worry about it. I used 66 stitches; your cast on needs to be a multiple of 11. Or see Charlene Schurch's notes about modifying the stitch patterns.

Instructions:

Follow the instructions in the "Chevron stitches for Self-Striping yarn" chapter of Sensational Knitted Socks, using the following stitch pattern: (essentially, cast on a multiple of 22 stitches and work a few ridges in garter stitch before working the pattern) You may also desire to substitute my variation on the ~~Afterthought~~ (forgive me, Tsock Tsarina) Peasant heel (follows stitch), as I did, because I find the Forethought heel annoying:

From Barbara Walker's Craft of Lace Knitting.Crest of the Wave Pattern:

Rnd 1 (and further odd numbered rounds): knit

Rnds 2 & 4: purl

Rnds 6, 8, 10, & 12: *(k2 tog) 2 times, (yo, k1) 3 times, yo, (ssk) 2 times

Arachnera's heel/toe variation: (Actually, this starts with the toe. To use my heel, knit a row in scrap yarn on the heel needle at the requisite area and ignore Charlene Schurch's heel instructions. Note that this may cause you to encounter some difficulty in trying the sock on.)

At the toe:

Purl to approx. the middle of the instep. Stop. You are going to move your stitches around. Right now, your stitches are arranged something like this:

with the sole stitches on those two upper needles, and the instep stitches divided between the other two needles. You are going to divide the work so that you have at least thirteen stitches on either side of the red stitches(which are the first sole stitches on either side) [ETA: Important errata: In which case, I didn't read my instructions carefully enough to make the picture, as it has been a couple months since I made these: the red(pink) stitches are pictured on the wrong needles] on two of the needles, and the extra stitches of either the sole or the instep on the third needle. You have moved the beginning of the round to the middle of the instep. Make a note of the first stitch on either side of the sole. These stitches are going to be the center of your double decrease and are important.

Repeat these two rounds until 34 stitches remain (16 rounds):

Rnd 1: Purl to stitch before side stitch (If you so desire, place a marker to remind you of this point), sl1, k2tog, psso. Knit around to the stitch before the other side stitch. Here, sl1, k2tog, psso. Purl to beg of round.

Rnd 2: Purl all purl stitches and knit all knit stitches. (Knit the side/decrease stitches)

After 34 sts remain, repeat rnd 1 four times so that 18 stitches remain. Divide these eighteen stitches into sole and instep stitches and graft using regular stockinette grafting. Rejoice. Weave in ends...

No! Wait! You're not done yet. Go-back-to-the-heel...Using one of your needles, pick out the spare yarn and pick up the heel stitches. You can do this however you like, however, I highly recommend utilizing the normal knitting direction around the sock for the stitches at the top of the heel. The best way I found to to this is to pick up the stockinette stitches along the sole first without unpicking the waste yarn, then unpick the waste yarn as you go picking up the stitches at the top of the heel because the yo's on row twelve of the Crest of the Wave are difficult to catch otherwise. Okay. You are going to pick up 1-3 extra stitches as you feel necessary at both corners to catch holes. If you wish, match your stripe repeat(you may want to note KnitPicks's note on the stripe repeat if you are using Felici), but you can just start knitting. You are basically going to repeat your feat at the toe, except you are going to not going to purl one side of the toe-so go back to the toe section and repeat that. Graft the stitches shut. Weave in ends. Finally! You are finished with one sock. Now, just wait! You haven't made the other sock yet! Or have you? Well, anyway, if you seem to be in need of a second sock, repeat the whole directions. Wear and show off.

Good luck!

Letters, part I

2007-12-06T17:21:00.000-05:00

Note: Arachnera's Web apologizes for bringing you the message that there will be no pictures today. Sorry.

I realized that I have been neglecting my blog, and neglecting to update my Runagogo totals yesterday but was unable to post. Note that these letters are not meant to be taken seriously.

Dear Knitty,
Why in the world do you have to offer such wonderful sock patterns, and so many of them, too? I have "queued" all the sock yarn I own, and I have dozens of sock patterns, including my own ideas yet to knit! Please, Knitty, don't publish any sock patterns for a season or two, so I can catch up on my sock plans! On second thought, though, what if you substitute beautiful hat patterns or something?
-(*Not so*)Sincerely,
Arachnera
P.S.: And why did you have to post that article about spinning!? You're making me want a currently unattainable Kromski wheel even more.

Psst! The winter Knitty is up! Go take a peek. Sock patterns-check. Jeanie-check. Ice Queen-check. Aoife-check. (And no, for those of you on Ravelry, I will not add these to my queue [this is my problem word. I can't remember how to spell it. Along with plateau.])

Dear Ms. Pearl-McPhee:
Regarding: Second Sock Syndrome

I am afraid you seem to have neglected to mention my type of second sock syndrome in your book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off or else I have a combination of types. I suffer from an unwillingness to complete and/or cast on the second sock and sometimes wait so long after completeing the first sock that I forget what exactly I did on it to copy on the second sock! Why, I have about 60% of a pair of Meida's Socks done, and about 52% of my Austrian socks and exactly 49.5% of a pair of socks based off Charlene Schurch's cabled socks in Sensational Knitted Socks, but the pattern of my own devising, based off a Barbara Walker stitch pattern.
Oh! Sorry, Ms. Pearl-McPhee. This is not at all your fault. I just have to develop stick-to-it-ness.
Apologies,
Arachnera

I AM still here...

2007-11-21T15:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm here. I've been on Ravelry a lot lately. I've completed a pair of socks, but not the Bavarian socks, and I don't have a picture of them. Regardless of that, here's a picture of something that has been complete for a while and needs to be blocked:

My snowdrop shawl!

I've been wearing this all day, so that's the reason it's wrinkled. Plus, as mentioned above, it needs to be blocked.

P.S. (ETA) Happy Thanksgiving!

Now I go a Raveling, a Raveling

2007-10-31T16:54:00.000-04:00

There has been very little progress as of late on anything, but I am now on Ravelry! (I'm Arachnera, of course!)

Here are a few of the things in the design works here at Arachnera's Web:

Unknowns(i.e. I have the ideas and may have started some calculations, but they're on the back burner):

A fair isle style sweater (Theme: a country autumn)
A yoke sweater that I persist in calling the "Chestnuts" sweater after the Christmas song
A unique cabled pullover w/ empire waist
A fiber arts shawl
A shawl themed after the children's classic The Secret Garden

Of those, 1, 2, & 3 are the top priorities, and 5 has been put on the back burner temporarily due to the loss of the acquainted sketch. Still, they are big projects and I do not have a reputation for finishing large projects quickly.

Socks(which should come along sooner:

"Antonym" (hibernating)
A variation on SKS cables (in progress)
Crest o' the Wave variation on SKS chevron aka Volare (finished/notes yet to be written/scrapped full pattern due to copyright, etc.)
G. socks w. cable based on the classic string figure "Jacob's Ladder"
S. socks w. intwining cables
H. socks w. basic texture patterns.
R. socks w. lace patterns
"Pomegranate" socks
socks which violate a cardinal rule of Knitty (tee-hee!)
socks with corn (the existance of which is questionable)
present socks (for Christmas)
knee socks (to be further abreviated ks) in traditional patterns: Aran
ks Fair Isle
ks Norweigian
ks lace
ks Gansey
twisted stitch socks (Die Blau Donau)
twisted stitch socks (In der Halle des Berkonig)

I've left quite a few question marks, I'm sure. Guess what 4, 5, 6, & 7 were designed as a set inspired by?

ETA: the lists above are supposed to be numbered lists! Hello, Blogger?

Dies ist Wetter für Enten.

2007-10-23T15:47:00.000-04:00

I beg of you, look at this forecast for my region! This is nothing but weather for ducks. Unfortunately, the Austrian socks have not been given much time, so there is little progress. On the flip side, I apparently made a good deal of progress in the two weeks between my first two piano lessons (No, they are not supposed to occur every other week, but there were certain circumstances that lead to this this past week)

If anyone chances to be reading my blog regularly, they may have noticed that I was promising a pattern for Crest of the Wave socks. Unfortunately, Charlene Schurch beat me too it. So really all I did was combine a technique I learned from EZ (oddly enough, I really don't believe that technique was the one that she was trying to teach), the "Chevron Patterns for Self-Striping Yarn" skeleton, a pattern that both I and Ms. Schurch (in all likelihood, now don't quote me on Ms. Schurch) pulled out of stitch treasuries, and my variation on the toe. So, I will not be giving complete directions, just a quick and dirty chart to show you my modification, a few numbers, and my notes on the heel and toe.

I do have some other sock design ideas, though.... Including ones inspired by the musical compositions featured in my titles (Die Blaue Donau the Blue Danube, which seems to be working out, and In der Halle des Bergkönig In the Hall of the Mountain King, which looks like it will require some tinkering, both of which are twisted stitch designs)

As for Runagogo, I haven't updated my progress meter lately, but I haven't been walking that much, either, and I'm not sure how I might accomplish that in this rainy weather. We'll just see...

Bayerische Stricken in der Halle des Bergkönigs

2007-10-19T16:20:00.000-04:00

And still on go the Austrian socks. And Arachnera learns to play "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt" Suite No. 1 (listen here)

Doppleviereck mit Dradhi mit Ketterl auf die blaue Donau

2007-10-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

[Insert picture of Austrian Socks WIP here]
(ETA: Here's the picture:

Sorry! Forgot to take the picture.
Coming Soon: Picture and pattern for Crest of the Wave pattern socks.