knitting « the thing itself and not the myth

[In Which I Knit All of the Socks]

I still have a stack of shawls, a few pairs of armwarmers (thanks to the obvious challenge of shooting one’s own hands), and two hats (possibly only one now, since I appear to have lost one) waiting to be photographed, but this weekend the sun briefly appeared and I took pictures of ALL OF THE SOCKS.

As always, click through to embiggen, & all the projects are on Ravelry, though notes might leave a little something to be desired. For example, probably very few of the published patterns were written toe-up. That is probably a good follow-up project. Anyway!

Chroma Striped Socks, same concept as the Noro stripey socks, but with a variation in the stripe pattern. Also toe-up, obviously. Colorway is “Galapagos”, which I may have selected mostly for Stephen Maturin-related reasons. Don’t judge.

Ravenclaw striped socks out of a mystery yarn. I’m sure the label is on my desk at home. Ah well. The weird bit on the grey toe is some out-of-control sun. Second shot is a detail of the jogless color change. Which apparently needed a bit of a block. Oops.

Slip-stitch socks from Hazel Knits sock yarn, “Hometeam Baseball” colorway (Go Mariners!)

Finally I am, as we all know, addicted to Knitpicks’ Felici sock yarn. This batch has three pairs of Felici socks.

First, Smoking Hot Socks, possibly my first miter experience? I really enjoyed the squishiness of the slipped-stitch pattern on the foot.

Second, Taffy Ripple socks. Yes, they are pink. I think they will look ridiculously cute with my kelly green Chucks. This pattern, though, was just about the death of me with all the purl rows. I thought I would never finish these socks. My favorite detail is one I added: the no-purl garter-in-the-round on the top of the cuff.

After the grind that was those purl rows, it was amazing how fast I flew through these Waterloose socks. Back to my old knitting form! And yet, I did throw in a purl row. This particular Feather & Fan version needed it.

…and that is all for now! Socks in the works at the moment include some delicious cabled socks in Three Irish Girls, simple two panel socks in Goth Socks, the infamous Doctor Who kneesocks, and mindless Jaywalkers in Felici sport. Plus a pair of Cookie A socks in Socks that Rock, which are finished, but needed to actually be blocked. Of all things!

It looks like all of these have more-or-less the toe-up gusset heel I learned on Baudelaire last winter. Some of the in-progress socks sport a purled gusset, which I think is a nice detail. All the toes are the same: figure 8 cast-on of 10 stitches. Bind-off is Grumperina’s stretchy bind-off. Oh, I do love sock knitting. Best!

29Mar

[Everything is uphill in Seattle]

After what felt like endless weekends of nothing going on (not that I really mind that so much: it gives me time to knit & watch absurd amounts of television) I had two weekends in a row when Stuff Happened. Like so.

Last weekend, knitwear designer Stephen West did a trunk show and a shawl class up at Village Yarn and Tea. I’ve been a fan of his designs for a while, but had yet to tackle one, so I signed up for the class, which was an excellent decision. I learned a few new tips and tricks, but more importantly, I got inspired again. We can all use that from time to time.

This weekend, as probably all of Seattle knows, the Alaskan Way Viaduct was closed for inspection. They do it twice a year, and while it’s closed, they do public walking tours. That’s how I found myself, shortly after 9 in the morning, donning an orange vest and a hard hat and walking up the Seneca St off ramp. A very odd experience. I wish that we had been able to explore more of the structure, but we did learn a lot in a brief time about safety measures on the Viaduct as well as regarding the process of taking it down and elements of the tunnel option for the waterfront (of which I am still not a fan, for those playing along at home.)

The whole thing was worth it if only for the chance to get a photo of Seattle’s Ugliest Mural. I saw it every day the three or four months I lived in West Seattle, and I was always horrified. The closer you get, the more terrifying it is.

Two obligatory walking-up-1st-Avenue photos:

Later that afternoon, I met up with Puck & their gran to see the live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. It was a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to listening next week to see what other Seattle material they can dig up.

After coffee with them, I went up to the Phinney Neighborhood Center to see Ellis Paul. I feel like I could totally live in Phinney Ridge if I was the sort of person who wanted to have babies and dress them in organic clothing and be annoyed that Seattle’s draconian drinking laws prohibit children in bars. Instead I want no babies and I ride the bus and drink coffee, so I live on Capitol Hill. But going to the neighborhood makes me feel like I’m in some weird parallel universe.

Anyway. The point was Ellis, whom I have seen live a lot. He’s probably rivaling the Paperboys & Peter Mulvey at this point. I try to make a point of going to his shows, even when they’re in weird neighborhoods, because as I said on Facebook, I always feel better about the world afterwards. And no, that’s not a given for a concert. For example, a Richard Shindell show is obviously always worth seeing, but for me that’s because his shows are cathartic. I have yet to attend a Richard show that didn’t make me cry.

At an Ellis show, though, something special always happens in a way that it doesn’t happen for any other artist, or at least not with such regularity. The last time I saw him at PNC, Antje Duvekot opened, but late in the show when he wanted to perform “Conversation with a Ghost”, she was nowhere to be found, so he wound up singing with a member of the audience. One half of a couple, by the way, that drove at least 6 hours to be there. And of course she was amazing.

The next time, in West Seattle, Ellis got a deep back catalog request. He gamely attempted it, but soon it was clear that he didn’t remember the words nearly as well as a fellow in the audience, who he brought up to help out.

Tonight at the half, a family pointed out to him that it was Earth Hour, so he came down into the middle of the hall (which in itself was not uncommon) and did “Let it Be” off mic in the dark. I am not a religious person (which is perhaps the understatement of the century) but times like that are transcendental.

…and that’s all for now, folks. Though poking at my Flickr, it seems I have a backlog of knitting to show you. Perhaps later this week.

01Mar

[With Glowing Hearts]

Filed in crafting | knitting 3 Comments

So, how awesome were the Olympics? I mean, really. I didn’t get to watch a lot of it because a) the coverage in the States is truly awful and b) in the middle of it all I went to 15 movies, but still. Pretty great. And as an American living close to Canada, I was most pleased with the results. USA with the record number of medals? Canada with the record number of golds? The USA forcing the hockey game to OT to make Canada fight for the win? Basically, so far as I am concerned, that’s pretty much the best way it could go. Well done, everyone.

I am a sucker for the whole thing, though. I blame the fact that I had bronchitis for the entire Lillehammer games, and thus am fairly sure that I watched every minute of coverage.

Of course, the most important thing about the Olympics is that they are a pretty fantastic opportunity to get some crafting done. To that end, I participated in the Ravelympics again, and I will tell you all about it after the jump. (BTW, I just changed the RSS to full posts, so a) we’ll see how it handles the jump and b) sorry if there’s feed barf. These things happen.) Continue Reading

23Feb

[Confessions of a sock knitter]

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Before we get started, a housekeeping issue: I am 90% convinced to change the RSS feed of this journal to full posts. I had it as a teaser initially because a lot of people read it on LiveJournal and I post a lot of photos. But now I think most read it off of other services, like Facebook or Google Reader, where full posts would work much better.

I’m mostly just mentioning this so that I can apologize in advance for any feed barfing that might happen when I change it. So, sorry.

Now onto what’s really important: knitting. I have been doing a lot of it, though it has been hard to tell from here. There’s a lot of stuff that still needs to be blocked & photographed, and of course I am now in the middle of the Ravelympics (I’m crocheting a sweater and knitting two pairs of socks, which is only a little bit crazy until you consider that I’m also in the middle of ten days in a row at the movies).

Recently, though, I did manage to photograph the rest of my finished socks, which was quite an accomplishment, if only because it meant I could finally take them out of the FO basket and wear them. New socks!

Four pairs of socks, after the jump. Links go to the Ravelry project page, click through for larger photos: Continue Reading

02Nov

[There's a girl with a crown and a scepter]

Filed in crafting | knitting 5 Comments

In a fit of insanity I decided to make a Max costume for Halloween. (I started it before I saw the film, so it’s lucky that I turned out to be totally obsessed with it.)

Pictures of the hoodie, crown, & scepter, plus more than you ever wanted to know about how I made them, after the jump (or by clicking “view original post” on Facebook.) Continue Reading

20Oct

[Baby stuff!]

Filed in crafting | knitting 4 Comments

We had a baby shower today, which was pretty exciting, partially because I have had my contribution wrapped up in my living room for nearly two months. (The baby herself has been around for nearly three!)

It’s also exciting because it means I can finally show you guys some more of the crafting that I did this summer. What, you want me to blog things chronologically? It’s never going to happen.

After the jump, baby knitted & crocheted things of cuteness. Continue Reading

09Sep

[Labor Day Weekend]

Filed in knitting | life | photos | seattle 4 Comments

Things I still have to post about: movies seen since July, things I did at work this summer, stuff I’ve made.

What I’m going to post about instead: this weekend! Two of my aunts & one of my cousins came over to the coast, which was lovely. Pictures after the jump! Continue Reading

13Aug

[What I did on my summer vacation, part the second]

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This weekend, I went 3 hours in the opposite direction, to Portland, for Sock Summit. Yes. That would be an entire conference … for sock knitters. I took two classes, one of which wasn’t quite what I expected (I was hoping for more technique, but it was still inspiring, particularly to get serious about Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways), but the second was a knee sock class & it was *fabulous*. Continue Reading

13Apr

[Gondor needs no knitting]

Filed in knitting | photos 3 Comments

I just deleted over 600 comments in the SpamTrap, so if something from one of you snuck into there, I am sorry. Usually when I clear it out, it’s 3 or 4 comments. So you can see how 600 was a little overwhelming for me. I am not sure what is going on with the Internet this week, but I disapprove! But yay for the trap working, I suppose.

On to the post! I was under the impression that there was oodles of knitting that I had done and not told you about, that I just needed to photograph. The window of time where there’s sunshine in my living room *and* I’m home *and* awake *and* everything isn’t too much of a mess is apparently as easy to find as Brigadoon.

It seems I am on crack, though, because when it came down to it, I just had a lace shawl & a pair of socks. I had to dig out some WIPs to make this worth an actual entry. It lives after the jump. Continue Reading

05Mar

[Knitting the new year]

Filed in knitting | photos 4 Comments

And what you all were waiting for, a knitting update! Complete with pictures, after the jump. Continue Reading

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I live in Seattle. I have a BA in English & an MLIS, but instead of using either of those degrees in an obvious way, I work in human services. My top three addictions are coffee, film, and knitting. Sometimes I like to pretend I am interesting. Generally I fail.