Wool Socks and 10 Gallon Hats?

Not a whole lot going on with the knitting, unfortunately. As some of you are aware, I have been job hunting for a bit now. I have also been planning to move to Maine (I'm in Michigan now) in February. My sister and her family are moving to Maine, my brother in law is in the Navy and they will be stationed there for three years. I figured I would head on out there too, why not keep them company for awhile. Well, last week I got a fantastic call for a job that fits my qualifications, and what I enjoy doing, to the proverbial 'T'. I had my phone interview and that was a great success. They are now making arrangements to have me flown in for a full round of face to face interviews. Flown in - to Texas! I looked at my new wool socks and started laughing. I am so going to have to re-think all of my knitting plans for 2006 if I move to Texas. I'm not complaining, I love to learn new things. I also love jobs that I enjoy so wish me luck! I did finish my Mosaic Socks finally. They are done in Regia which was nice to knit with, no complaints. They washed up beautifully and are the most comfortable pair I've knit so far. Each pair gets better and I think I have fine tuned my sock formula pretty well for standard gusset heels so I think I will try short-row or after-thought heels now. One thing that is a major advantage with this pair is that the cuffs are stiffer with the two colors so they stay up very well. One design I have been eager to try is the sculpted arch socks from Meg Swanson in Knitting. Not only are the patterns gorgeous, but the whole idea of custom, perfectly form fitted socks sounds like a little slice of heaven in wool. I have tiny feet with high arches, sounds like a perfect pattern doesn't it! With all of the stuff going on with interviews and plans for moving, I don't get much time where I can relax and concentrate on my knitting right now so I haven't made much progress on anything exciting. I did cast on for a new pair of socks since I completed the other ones. They are the infamous Jaywalkers and I'm doing them in Trekking XXL. So far I like the yarn a lot. It has color variation without distinctive stripes or color pooling. I may be nuts but I really hate self patterning yarns that make strange color pools in socks. The Trekking isn't doing that so far. The more I knit with it the more it blooms just from working with it so they should be pretty nice after they are washed. I was intrigued by the Jaywalker pattern because it is a negative ease design that claims to stay up very well. I like socks that are molded to my foot more than heavily ribbed to stay up so I thought I would give them a try. If I end up going to Texas, I'll have to find some alternatives to wool for socks won't I? Wish me luck!!

The Last Blog........

OK, I think I'm the last blog on the internet to get tagged with the latest Meme thanks to the Knitting Hammy ....... She tagged me in public too so hiding is probably not going to work. I find her Chairman of the Bored entry quite amusing in conjunction and think the meme should be ammended to include 4 eccentricities like: I can't stand it if my food touches on my plate and will eat everything but leave any edges that overlap. My bra and panties *have* to match, just have to or I'm out of synch all day. If I'm bummin' around the house my outfit doesn't have to come close to matching though. I have a *major* addiction to boots, all kinds - from combat to kid, but high heel with laces and long skirts of a modern and historic flair are the best. I don't think ceilings should be left plain white unless it is a specific design element in somthing like a white on white on white room. Otherwise, it looks like it was simply left out of the design plan. Now that tells you how much of a nut I may possibly be far more than what jobs I've had, now doesn't it? :) on to the meme....... Four Jobs You've Had In Your Life: 1. Project Manager 2. Business Analyst 3. Property Tax Superviser 4."Display Manager" - my first job - I arranged and polished plumbing fixture displays after school and I loved it. Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over ..........only if I can knit 1. Breakfast at Tiffany's 2. Highlander (only the first one) 3. Matrix (only the first one) 4. Anything with Katherine Hepburn Four Places You Have Lived ..........13 moves within two counties in the same state my whole life - but now I am supposed to be moving to Maine next month or possibly Texas if a job offer comes through 1. Royal Oak, Michigan 2. Clarkston, Michigan 3. Hamtramck, Michigan 4. Oxford, Michigan Four TV Shows You Live to Watch .........I don't watch tv much but when I used to.... 1. Law and Order 2. CSI 3. Star Trek - Next Generation 4. Charmed - I know, I can't explain it, it has to be the 'metaphysical chicks kick butt' thing Four Places You've Been On Vacation 1. Virginia - White water rafting, class 4's 2. Bruce Peninsula, Canada - every summer when I was younger, walking the escarpment and diving off the cliffs into Georgian Bay 3. Key West, Florida - ocean fishing and floating with dolphins, I was in love. I tried to run away to the Keys but lacked key resources........like cash :) 4. Chicago, Illinois - 10 hours sleep total in a 4 day weekend. I learned all about big city night life and shopping - wow! I'd love to go back with friends that appreciate culture. I don't regret the whirlwind party but I'd like to actually explore the city. Four Of My Favorite Foods- mmmmm.... 1. King Crab dripping with hot butter 2. Artichokes, whole and steamed 3. Filet Mignon in Burgandy Wine sauce 4. Pistacio ice cream Four Places You'd Rather Be Right Now 1. Doing something silly with my brothers and sisters. Something that doesn't happen as much now that we are older but is cherished when we have the chance. 2. Hot air ballooning 3. Knitting and Spinning in the hills of Scotland with a Fair Isle guru as a mentor 4. On the top of a mountain shouting down into a valley listening to my voice echo - just because Four Bloggers I am tagging : I think the internet is all out of victims, but if you missed out or think you escaped somehow, consider yourself tagged with the eccentricities included :) And leave a comment so we can come over to visit you!

Bandwagons

I don't jump on too many bandwagons or join in every group that comes along, but sometimes I just luck into some that I can't resist. Two that have been calling to me lately are the 2000 Socks KAL that Amie is doing over at her blog Rose By Any. She challenged Amy over at Boogie Knits to finish all of her UFO socks by February. Between these two I got motivated to dust off my poor unfinished socks that have been sadly neglected. I didn't mean to neglect them but I just lost my Tiny Needle Mojo for awhile. I don't know what was up but after I turned the heel on these puppies I kept knitting tighter, and tighter, and tighter - and it was awful. It hurt to knit these silly socks and I couldn't figure out what I was doing differently. So they ended up in the bottom of the knitting basket, footless and haunting. After the Amie/y's rousing motivational posts I dug the little guys out and low and behold my Mojo was back!! I still don't know what happened but I'm glad it is over and my Tiny Needles are flying effortlessly once again. Now they just need some toes and a little luv and they will be all set. The other group that has caught my eye is the SFCKAL hosted by Rebekkah at Bowerbird Knits. Sweaters From Camp is an excellent book produced by Meg Swansen, Amy Detjen and Joyce Williams compiling 38 color work patterns designed by Knitting Camp participants. The KAL starts February 15th and you can chose any sweater in the book as your project. Rebekkah is right, this book is full of beautiful designs that haven't seen much publicity on the web. The one that appeals to me most for now is Snow Sky by Ann Swanson (photo courtesy of Rebekkah at Bowerbird Knits from the book Sweaters From Camp, design by Ann Swanson.) I have already decided that I would not want to do this sweater in shetland. I want it to be softer, not pilly but more cuddly than shetland. It is only in two colors, a charcoal grey and a light grey. I was thinking it may be nice to add some hints of grey green and grey blue. I did some spinning experimenting with the tones and came up with this. I think it captures the very soft hints of color I was envisioning. Now I just have to find the right yarn in these colors that sets off the pattern and is nicely soft. Since these colors are so soft and so greyed I may have a challenge on my hands. And as far as dying them myself? I don't think I could recreate that experiment if I tried unfortunately. I do so love the color combination for this sweater though. I may not be able to participate in the knit along officially when it starts since I am also looking to move across the country at that time but go check it out. If you haven't seen the book yet I think you will be pleased.

Knitting and Hugs

The mosaic & cable scarf would have been done this weekend as planned. All of the yarn was gone, it should have been done, right? Not exactly. Apparently I like wide scarves snuggled up to the neck and crossed over in front under my coat. Other people like to wrap and flip an end over one shoulder, or tie in front either over or under a coat. Other people need a much longer scarf than I do. It didn't occur to me originally that Mom would be like other people and may have much different scarf requirements than I would. It's a scarf, it's not lace or anything, it wasn't supposed to be complicated. When I started the scarf I made it too wide for her needs so it ended up too short. It's perfect for me, but it's not for me. I had a choice. I could either frog the whole thing and start over, making it thinner or I could pray my LYS had another ball left in the same dye lot - of a yarn I purchased 3 months ago, and make it longer.I figured the decision basically came down to whether or not they had any. They did - one ball in that color that just happened to be the same dye lot. So the decision was made, and I'm still knitting. So on a chilly Sunday afternoon, I curled up with my knitting and the girls curled up with each other, and a couple of tasty bones. Kya is the brindle and white greyhound and Lily is the brindle greyhound pillow. Ahhhhh.......wonderful.

Rosemarkie Mulberry Colorway

I had some questions on the yarn and colors that I am using for this project. The yarn is Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift from Two Swans Yarns in the following colors: a.Mulberry 598 b.Pine 234 c.Moss 147 d.Twilight 175 e.Foxglove 273 f.Purple Heather 239 The pattern is Rosemarkie from Alice Starmore's Celtic Collection. The original yarns were Rowan and have been discontinued since the book was published. The yarn I chose knits to gauge but the colors are completely different than the original. Use the original colors, my colors or your own colorway. I highly recommend it for anyone that is looking for a relaxing fair isle project.

Added Commenting and Trackback

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog. I added Haloscan comments to capture your email addresses when the comments are emailed to me to help me respond to everyone.

A new year, a new blog, and a few old projects

Well everything can't be new at the same time I suppose. I considered starting a new project to ring in the year but realized I had too many on the needles already. How many is too many? The magic number at the magic combined level of dedication or intricacy that makes me feel overwhelmed at the thought of trying to complete them. I don't like that feeling. I am not a speed knitter, or even a quick knitter, so if the pile is too high, I feel daunted. If it isn't high enough, I don't feel challenged. Tricky formula, verrry tricky. So to christen my new blog, I decided I could take another picture of.... ....you guessed it. Step by step........ sloooowly she grows...... step by step...... Rosemarkie that is. Really. She is growing, she is a whole 10 inches tall now, but I have a committment knit that I have to finish before I can dedicate the time to her that she deserves. And she deserves a lot of my knit time. She is colorful, appealing, has a fabulous sense of rhythm, glides what seems like effortlessly across the needles, she is a divine knit. I had to make a concession that the last row I knit for the night is one row on Rosemarkie so I wouldn't be crabby. So far it is working. It is so hard though with only a few inches to go before some excitement happens and I start steeking for sleeves and stuff. Oooooo steeking!! Yep, I'm excited. It has gone much quicker than I expected. I started in on December 15th and didn't get to work on it too much over the holiday. It's the rhythm of the pattern I think, each row has a definite rhythm in the number of stitches in each color so it's a breeze but not just boring. I understand why this was rated as the easiest pattern in the Celtic Collection. So what is the committment knit? That crazy scarf I promised my mother. A scarf you say? A scarf is supposed to be one of those wickedly quick projects that are whipped up in no time flat, what's my problem? I like the scarf, the stitch pattern is easy, the yarn is super soft and nice to work with, it doesn't roll anymore than it shows in the picture, sweet colors..........but I'm using 3 balls of yarn at the same time and the tangle makes me nuts. I now know to never plan a large scale intarsia project. I could accomplish it, but it wouldn't be my cup of tea. Bright side, it should be done by the end of the week. Then the next committment is Kepler but I'll deal with that when I get there :)