desire socks

except that I've not woven in the ends, these socks are done, and I'm happy with them. They're rather short socks, but I like my socks either very short or very tall, and it was a small skein to begin with. It's always fun to see how handspun knit up; it's always a welcome surprise.

October is here already, and I for one am happy-- I love the fall, at least once fire weather passes. living in the East Bay, I'm always sketched out by fire weather, ever since the massive Oakland Hills fire in 1991, which burned down most of my elementary school and took the houses of lots of my classmates. At the Rockridge Bart station, there's a whole wall of painted tiles dedicated to remembering the fire, and I can still find the one I painted so many years ago as a ten year old.

But the best part of the fall and winter weather on the way? Fall and winter clothing! and knitting!

Shetland Triangle

Ah, the shetland triangle. What can I say about it that hasn't already been said? It has all the elements of knitting that I love: easy, easily memorized (well, sort of; i'm really hopeless at memorizing patterns), quick-ish, and looks absolutely stunning when blocked. Oh, and you can knit one with one skein of sock yarn, which always rocks. I even added repeats, since I was knitting on smaller needles, and squeaked by with about a yard or two to spare.



For once, I actually have a lot of finished objects, thanks to lots of time spent in the car on the way to and back from Portland, plus constantly knitting while there. I'll eventually get around to photographing, but this is what's currently on the needles: the Tempest cardigan from Knitty, in my ORIGINAL sock in colourways Agave and Celadon.





stripeys! I hope this cardigan works out well, because I love the colours, and the pattern is great. Plus, I really need more cardigans in my wardrobe.

It's great to feel able to knit sweaters again now, because a) there are a TON of fabulous new fall sweater patterns out there, and b) I have a lot of sweater yarn. Too much, in fact. I was going through my stash, and had the horrible realisation that I have five bins full of yarn, a box full of yarn, cubbies full of yarn....and it's pretty much all sweater quantities. No more yarn buying for me!

My stash is stressing me out for the various reasons:

1. I will be thirty in two years. I really do not want to have this much stash by then.
2. It takes up space. this is important in a small apartment.
3. It represents a lot of money spent. (although, I'm a really good bargain shopper, so I would say that 90% of the yarn wasn't bought at full price. This has sometimes led to mistakes...like, what am I going to do with twenty skeins of Jo Sharp comfort mohair in a weird greeney black?)
4. All of the yarn represents a really fabulous wardrobe for me. Unfortunately, I can't wear just yarn.
5. I occasionally get really existentialist and freak out about being such a consumer.
6. I could destash, but I really, really like all the yarn.

My only solution: no more sweater quantities of yarn until I've made a significant dent!

on the needles

Turns out that the thing that can get me knitting socks again is handspun. Handspun by me, at any rate. I couldn't resist caking up the skein of handspun superwash BfL in the colourway "Desire", and casting on; socks knit out of handspun are so much fun, watching the colours change in the lovely rustic striping so unique to handspun. With any luck, I'll get them finished by sock summit; they're a good traveling project, anyways, for the long drive up. (I'm splitting the driving with Girl on the Rocks, so I estimate I'll have a good four to five hours of knitting time. If I don't nap most of the way.)



They're turning out distinctly fraternal, but I don't care. I love them anyways.



I'm also on the edging chart of the Shetland Triangle, although I must admit to having lost my enthusiasm for it; why is it that so often at the end of a large project, or large-ish, anyway, it's so hard to push through to the end? I need to finish it and get it blocked before Wednesday, though, so push through I shall. Tomorrow.



It's astonishing to think that all those little egg carton bumps will block out into gorgeous lace. Knit from Original Sock in the "Woodland" colourway, which is amazingly hard to photograph correctly. It's both a little browner and greener in person.

Stonewash Scarf and a new favourite colourway

When I saw finished photographs of Veronik Avery's Lace Ribbon Scarf on ravelry, I knew I wanted to make it. I'd liked it when I first saw it on Knitty, but even more so when I saw other people's versions. The only thing was, I couldn't figure out what yarn I wanted to make it out of. Sometimes I get precious about patterns; I know I want to make them, but can't find just the right yarn, and don't want to spend the time knitting it out of yarn that is not "just right".

All that ended when I came up with the "Stonewash" colourway:

it's a delicate, lovely denim-y blue, and the way the dye interacted with the yarn gives it a sort of luminous glow. Immediately after it dried I knew that was the right yarn for the scarf.

Knitting it was fun, although it's not exactly a mindless knit, since you do have to pay attention. And it dragged quite a bit towards the end, when I just couldn't wait to get the damn thing finished. Now, however, blocked, it looks gorgeous, and will make a beautiful fall accessory.



I'm really into this whole knitting scarves and shawls from sock yarn lately; even though I have loads of sock patterns and sock books, I find myself not all that into knitting them right now. Knitting scarves and shawls seems to work, though, as a skein of sock yarn is usually quite enough for accessory-type shawls and scarves.

on sock yarn note: a new favourite colourway, "Bridle". This came out of the pot and I went "Whoa."





I like it. A lot.

simple yet effective shawl

This has been finished for quite some time, but for some reason I'm only just now getting around to blogging about it. The pattern is by Laura Chau, and is the "Simple yet Effective Shawl." An apt title, since it's ridiculously simple to knit; I'm a big fan of anything I can knit in movie theatres. I used one skein of Pigeonroof Studios Original sock, in the colourway "Comfort", which produced a perfect shawl/scarf. I won't wear it as a shawl, anyways; I'll wear it as a sort of larger neckerchief/scarf:


I'm starting to stress out big time over Sock Summit; I think that I won't be doing anymore shows after this. They're just too stressful, and the financial strain I'm always on before shows is really not fun. One of the upsides, though, is that because I"m dyeing so much, new colourways seem to be sprouting right and left. Two of my favourite ones are Cloudyfold and Bearded Iris; shown respectively, in superwash BFL and BFL:





I'm still updating my Etsy shop on a regular basis, so keep a lookout for lots of new colourways.

FO: Ene's Scarf

My first big lace project is done, and I'm pleased with it. Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style, by Nancy Bush, is not exactly easy, but it's not hard, either. There was a long hiatus between the start and finally picking it up and finishing it, for no reason other than it requires concentration, at least for me. There are quite a few mistakes, but since it's my first big lace project, I'm not complaining! I'll probably make it again, when I get the courage to tackle the massive cast on again.




The yarn is my Siren Two lace, and I love how it worked with this pattern. I plan on using this yarn again for more lace projects!




every so often I come up with a colourway that I fall head over heels in love with. Sometimes the colourway happens first on spinning fibre; sometimes it happens on yarn. The above colourway happened first on yarn, but I love it in spinning fibre too. The colourway is "Agave", shown on Siren Two sock and BFL. I don't know exactly what I like so much about this colourway; mabe it's the slight moodiness, the way the deep spruces and browns combine to look like varieties of rusted metal. I love rust; in fact, in college I did an entire print series based on rust.

another fo-- and a sneak peek!

Finished, blocked, and buttons sewed on...the Drapey neck cardi! I love this cardigan-- Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool is so soft and yummy, and the result makes me happy.






Lots of mods: I basically just used the cast on numbers and improvised, referring to the photograph a little bit. Straight sleeves, an asymmetrical front, and long front lapels made a cardigan that's unique and fun.

now, a sneak peek on my first big lace project, blocking happily and waiting for a semblance of sun to come out for a photoshoot. (what the hell is up with the weather here in the bay area? It's June, people!)



Ene's Scarf, knit in my Pigeonroof Studios Siren Two lace in the colourway "Saffron." It only took one skein, with leftovers!