Ring in the New Year with a Blue Moon

This year has been very difficult for many of us.

I count myself among the lucky: I love a good man who loves me. I have a home, a job, and my health, more or less. I have hobbies and once in a while some free time. Though the moon will not really be blue in color, this is a blue moon New Year, so if that saying is true, "once in a blue moon," I hope that we don't have another year like 2009 for many, many years to come.

Instead, I hope for better things to come, for us, and for everyone.

To all of those in our lives, and those who are no longer here,

Take a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
--Robert Burns

Happy New Year's!

Tudor Grace ~ Done Knitting

FINALLY finished knitting Tudor Grace:

Only the blocking left to do. I'm not sure if I should block this hard or not. The pattern really looks as though it should not be blocked to within an inch of its life like Rivolo, so I am not sure what to do right now. Rivolo certainly benefited from a stringent blocking to bring out the wavy look, but I really feel this pattern would look best without pulling hard width-wise, which would emphasize the purl columns in between the patterns. I don't really dig the purl rows that much in the final look, so if I make this again, I might consider omitting them. We'll see.

Project Specs:
Pattern: Tudor Grace by the imitable Anne Hanson of Knitspot
Yarn: Bronze colorway ~ Fleece Artist Basic Merino 2/6 Sock (100% merino wool; 115 gr; 354 yds; 325 m)
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace ~ 24" size 6 US

It's going to be very, very hard to give this scarf up. I just love, love, love this colorway, and I have been watching Loopy Ewe's inventory over the past year waiting for it to reappear. Sadly, it has not.

Merry Christmas!

(Fah Who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze!)
Welcome Christmas,
Come this way.
Welcome Christmas,
Christmas Day.
Welcome, welcome.
Christmas Day is in our grasp,
As long as we have hands to clasp.
Christmas Day will always be,
Just as long as we have we.
Welcome Christmas, bring your light.
Welcome Christmas while we stand,
Heart to heart and hand in hand.
Welcome Christmas,
Welcome, Welcome, Christmas Day.

~~ Dr. Seuss

Scarf Jewelry Review from an Etsy Shop and Romi

Last week, or maybe it was the week before, who can think this time of year? Last week I received this in the mail:

These are for me, the recipients of Tudor Grace, Rivolo, and another scarf that won't materialize until Christmas 2010.

The heart on the right is for me.

I am not sure who will get the others. Maybe I'll let my sister decide which she prefers and the others will go to other folks by drawing out of the hat.

I have to say that the lapis lazuli necklace (for me) is a bit disappointing, especially for the cost. Though touted as real, I don't think these are real lapis stones but merely painted jewelry beads. Very annoying. At least two of the beads look as though the color is peeling/wearing away. The craftsmanship is fine, but the stones are of dubious quality. This photo is crap, no light the day I took them, but maybe you can see that the stones aren't stellar by any stretch of the imagination.

On to the shawl pins.

Now, I get that one of the appeals of copper is that it tarnishes and takes on a life of its own, the beautiful green/bronze patina.

The shawl pins from Romi all came highly polished and perhaps even with a lacquer coating to prevent oxidation that results in the color changes to the metal.

Though you can't tell from the photo, the shawl pins from Bebe's Baubles (an Etsy shop) while groovy, were not polished at all. I don't know if I should experiment and try to clean them or if I should leave them as is and hope for the best:

Second groovy but tarnished BB pin:

So what I have are two very, very groovy swirly/angular pins and a necklace from Bebe's Baubles that looked better online than in real life. The two pins might look better if I can raise the patina faster or if I can shine them up and remove what looks like silver tarnish if such a thing is ever possible on copper. The necklace, though, if these are just manufactured beads, well, nothing can save it as the wear is already apparent.

The verdict is two thumbs up for Designs by Romi; no thumbs up yet for Bebe's Baubles.

Finished Fingerless Gloves

Another Christmas present done. Yippeee!! DH's lightweight fingerless mitts/gloves for household computing on cold winter days.

Hubby tried the left one on while I worked on it, and he kept assuring me that the fit was fine and what he was looking for, but I disagreed. After completing the first mitt, I made some size modifications on the second one since the right hand mitt would be working the mouse, and I thought the mitt needed a bit more play, especially across the palm and at the thumb join.

I used a larger size needle on one row of the round several rounds before beginning the thumb. Though I didn't want to use the size 4 needle all the way around, I did want a bit more breathing space, so I used the same needle, moving it forward on the round each time I came to it, so over three rounds the needle moved through each of the three working needle's rows. This technique seemed to work pretty well. I did this until I got to the thumb, and then switched to all size 4 DPNs throughout.

As before, DH kept trying the mitt on while I worked on it, and the second finished mitt fits much better than the first. I tinked back the thumb on the first mitt and increased the total number of thumb stitches for about four rounds and used the size 4 DPNs throughout, giving a bit more wiggle room to the left mitt. Hubby claims he likes the fit of both, but I have a feeling I might be starting completely over with the left one once he puts these to work. That's fine.

These aren't outdoor mitts by any stretch of the imagination, and they certainly are not dense like the original Fetching made of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran weight yarn on US size 6 needles. CTH is fingering weight at most, and I used a combo of size 3 and 4 DPNs, sticking with the same stitch count, so these are definitely not thick but sort of stretched out a lot to be rather breezy and almost lace-like while on.

DH doesn't often wear wool socks because they make his tootsies too hot, and he feels the same way about gloves/mittens. Even in the dead of winter it is difficult to get him to put gloves on when he's outdoors. The only time he will concede to gloves is SOMETIMES while shoveling snow. Other than that, even when going for walks in the evening after work in bitter cold, he just jams his hands into his pockets and goes glove-free. But maybe he will use these while computing when the temps drop.

Project Specs:
Pattern: Fetching ~ modified (Knitty Summer 2006)
Needles: Lantern Moon US size 3 DPNs and Plymouth Yarn Bamboo size 4 DPNs
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select Semi-solid (4 oz/420 yds; 100% superwash merino/supersoft-lower micron): colorway Loden
Mods: I used fingering weight yarn instead of Aran weight and size 3 DPNs for the cuff and beginning of the palm just above the wrist, then switched to one size 4 for a bit, then all size 4 after the thumb instead of size 6. I added more rows to the palm after setting up for the thumb (at least five more), and made the thumb longer. (DH has long fingers.) I did NOT do the picot bind off since it seemed a bit too frilly for hubby. I tried picking up more stitches around the thumb area to close up some of the gaps. If I make these again, I might consider making a normal mitten-type thumb with increases instead of the knitting on waste yarn thumb opening used in the pattern. I really dislike all those gaps this technique produces even if it is a quicker way to complete a thumb.

Overall we are both very pleased with the results. I love CTH. The colors are always beautiful, and it has great stitch definition. Plus the supersoft merino is soft to the touch, so it has great next-to-your-skin wearability. I've got a lot of yarn left from this skein (I'll weigh things out later on) though I doubt I have enough for a hat. But with some luck, I might be able to squeeze another pair of Fetching out of the cake. I told you this yarn wasn't going to linger in my stash.

Fingerless Mitts

This CTH Loden was going to be worked up into a pair of socks for my DH.

But he has been dropping hints about fingerless gloves for a few weeks now, so I began these for him for Christmas:

They are a modified version of Fetching from Knitty's Summer 2006 collection. Working on the first one has proven addictive, so I should have them complete within no time at all. Yes, the white stuff in the air is snow; click to embiggen if you don't have snow flakes in your area.

I want to figure out a way to make the thumb less holey, though. The photos in the pattern show some wide gaps in the thumb opening that will need tweaking.

Saturday Sky w/New Sock Yarn

I've had sort of an early Christmas: new yarn arrived in Tuesday's mail. Since it's all sock yarn, from Loopy Ewe, of course, it doesn't count towards my yarn diet restrictions. I've been extraordinarily good at adhering to my few years' old promise of using stash yarn up first. I have very specific projects in mind for all this yarn, so most is going to be used in the upcoming months instead of lingering in the stash.

Everything in the first bag is Cherry Tree Hill (CTH), the second bag has two more skeins of Fleece Artist.

From left to right there are two semi-solid Wisteria (CTH) that I have earmarked for mittens and a hat for me despite hubby's eyeing them in a sort of coveting way and mentioning that "that's a nice color!" I need the mittens soon, so hopefully I'll cast on for them no later than next week.

Next is semi-solid Loden (CTH) that I will be using to make socks for hubby. Then semi-solid Slate and solid Gingersnap, both of which hubby has also expressed enthusiasm for, but unless he actually starts WEARING these socks, I have no intention of knitting more to sit in his sock drawer or next to his chair. I think he likes the idea of them more than the actual use of them. He claims his Gentleman's Socks are too warm (Koigu), but he promises to wear them this year once the weather dips.

I am very, very careful to use only soft merino wool for all the socks I make, so I don't think the wool is uncomfortable. I very much dislike wearing rough, scratchy wool, though often I can work through knitting it up, but since I wouldn't wear scratchy wool, I don't expect others to either. Maybe the socks really are just too warm. He dislikes sweaty feet and changes his socks often, which is a good thing, and he uses mainly white cotton socks when he is home, so we'll see.

Hubby's well-worn green sweater is Lamb's Pride, which is fairly scratchy, but since he always has a shirt or two beneath it, the level of scratchiness seems to be acceptable, and that's why I tend to believe the issue is really warmth not scratch.

Speaking of well-worn, I offered to make him a new sweater this year and last year, but he declined, sticking with old greenie. Old greenie is not worn through and is holding up surprising well, especially for the amount of daily wear it gets during the winter months. Plus he is rough on clothes anyway, flinging them here and there after disrobing, so I am pleased that the Lamb's Pride is holding up so well. It pills a lot, though, so if you can overlook pilling, this yarn can take abuse and daily wear. This year, though, he did venture out on a mini-clothes shopping trip and procured a grey cotton hoodie that he has taken to wearing. It's rather thin, though, and seems unsubstantial, so I don't know if it will be suitable for January weather.

Back to the yarn bag: stretched across the top is CTH solid Light Purple that will be worked into either a hat or Socks for Veronique socks for me. What you can't see is that there is a circular needle in the back side of this bag.

The second bag containing Fleece Artist in Pansy and Cezanne colorways. Though hubby like Cezanne when I placed the order, he is very drawn to the Loden and Wisteria. I was hoping to use the Cezanne to make him a pair of socks because Fleece Artist is a bit heavier than CTH, so the socks would knit up faster. The downside is they would be even warmer than the abandoned Koigu Gentleman's Socks, so he probably wouldn't wear them anyway. He doesn't wear scarves, so I've given up that idea permanently. But, I can always use winter socks, and FA is great for scarves as gifts to female family members, so I will always have a use for FA.

We had our first dusting of snow just before midnight on Thursday morning, December 3. Another light brushing yesterday night. More is promised for tonight. We haven't had any accumulation, though. The snow just disappears once it hits the ground.

Lately our sky has been very grey but not menacing like summer grey skies.

There is very little visible texture, which results in a sort of monotone look. I imagine those on the lake can easily become disoriented from such a sky, particularly if the lake is grey, too, which it would be this time of year. In the distance, the sky and horizon would blend together, and even on shore, this blending is often dizzying and unsettling.

Daytime temps now barely reach the 40s F, and nighttime are starting to move below freezing. Winter is on its way.

First Snow

First Snow

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have lots to be thankful for, my mum and my hubby especially.

Support Our Troops ~ Knit Helmet Liners

Now that everyone is thinking about Christmas knitting, I think we should all do this: knit helmet liners for our GIs overseas.

According to CitizenSAM's Operation Helmetliner, "We currently have more than 200,000 troops in overseas theaters where they are subjected to sub-zero wind chills during the winter and extreme heat in the summer. Please help us have a warm helmetliner for each one of these troops before next winter and neck coolers in the summer. While this is a formidable goal, if everyone knows about the need, we can meet it. People are glad to help our troops if they know what they can do.

If you can knit or crochet, please consider making helmetliners or scarves for our troops. It must be 100% wool, as acrylic yarn is flamable and would endanger the troops should injury occur. If they do not fit properly, they will not be sent to our troops, because they could obstruct their vision.

Contact your local newspapers, churches, farm and civic organizations, electric and telephone cooperatives, etc. to publish the press release and helmetliner photo.

To date we've [CitizenSAM] shipped a total of:

23,599 helmetliners
52,483 neck coolers
4044 neck gators
1540 scarves

Grand total 82,720.

Contact your local fabric stores, VFW and AMVETS auxiliaries, 4-H Clubs, etc. to get the word out about the need for neck coolers."

I'm doing my part trying to get the word out locally. Those of you with large readerships can help even more.

Here is the URL for CitizenSAM:

http://www.citizensam.org/

You can find the free patterns for the KNIT helmet liners on their site as well as important info about making sure to use ONLY WOOL.

CitizenSAM's Important Information to remember before knitting ~

IT MUST BE 100% wool or it will not be sent.

Acrylic and acrylic blends pose a fire/melting hazard and do not have the same insulating properties as wool. Please include the yarn label to your finished item before sending on to us.

Select yarn that is dark. Black, dark brown, dark gray... BLACK IS PREFERRED. Tan is acceptable as long as it is dark.

Please remember we are going for function not style. I love knitting and know it is more fun to make a project unique but, what the troops need is warmth and protection from the elements. To help explain, this means no sayings or words, no designs, no fringe or tassels etc.

The troops have given us feedback and they much prefer the knit liners. They fit more snuggly and have more “give” to them. With the crochet liners, there has been some feedback regarding obstruction of vision, they are NOT able to wear the crochet liners.

Pattern changes will be posted. We will put a date on the new pattern and replace the out of date pattern. Please check back periodically.

In all that we do, we seek to HONOR, support and encourage our men and women in the Armed Forces. We want what we send to be useful and usable. Remember, the bottom line is support for our Military.

Please help, and pass this along.

Hawaii Short Row Heels

Okay, so we have beautiful sunshine today, but I didn't get outdoors to take photos until a few minutes ago, after 3:30 p.m., so everything is in the shade already ~ late time of year, you know, so the sun gets low early.

Nonetheless, here is the now discontinued but no-longer-lingering-in-my-stash yarn "Memories" from Knit Picks in colorway Hawaii.

Though I did opt for vanilla socks, I got a bit crazy and decided to use a short-row heel in garter stitch per Cookie A's directions on page 17 in Sock Innovation.

Historically, short-row heels have not been for me. First and foremost is because short-row heels just don't hold the same power or sheer transcendent joy for me that heel flap/gusset combos do. Why, you ask? Because nothing in knitting can beat the sheer engineering genius of working the heel turn. Nothing. Nada. Zip. I kid you not. No matter how many socks I make, or sweaters, mittens, hats, scarves, afghans, etc., for me, the absolute pinnacle of knitting is achieved in the heel turn. I'd be willing to bet most of you would agree.

Short-row heels, on the other hand, just don't hold that kind of fascination for me. Plus, when I see other folks wear socks with srh, I think the fabric in the heel area looks strained, as though it is always pulling against the stitches. To my mind, this would be a place for potential wear or at the least, some sort of excessive hole-age (yeah, that's not a word, but you get my drift), so this is the second reason I tend not to use srh for my socks.

But, lately I've encountered some problems with the fit of my heel flap socks. This started with the first Merike sock and continued with Pomatomus: the heels of both were jacked and required significant ripping, on Merike at least two times per sock if that can be believed. Sure, there were many years in between the first and second Merike, with shitty notes in the wake, but you'd think I could work a decent-sized heel-flap since it's my favorite part of knitting. The heel for Pomatomus was so big that I ended up going down at least one needle size and taking out two rows of length on the heel flap. I've noticed that with my own basic 64, 68, or 72 sts patterns that I've been encountering the same problem with baggy looseness around the heel. I don't know about you, but I just hate that excess fabric there. (Nah, don't get excited and say I have skinny ankles or I lost weight. No chance. Never had skinny ankles, and the day I lose weight, well, hell will either freeze over or pigs will fly.)

So, the long and short of it is that I decided to go for the srh even though they don't really do it for me. Now, this sock DOES fit much better in the heel than my previous two socks do despite using the same yarn and needle size. Another completely unexpected bonus is that this type of heel takes a hell of a lot less time to work. I couldn't believe it. I am a pretty slow knitter, yet look how far I got on sock #1:

I am almost ready to begin the toe. Now to decide whether or not to do a star toe or the standard flat angled toe for my stubby straight across Flintstone toes?

It doesn't look like that straining against the stitches action is occurring here, though, at least not while hanging from a tree.

I wonder if this will convert me? I wonder if this will cause me to stop making socks because srh aren't as fun to make?

Yep, as predicted, finished the toe, so one down, one to go:

Socks

After many starts and stops, I've finally decided my socktoberfest sock will be a vanilla sock with picot cuff. I don't think I've ever made a vanilla sock before, so maybe this is a first in and of itself.

Yesterday I tried to take a picture of a sock-in-progress, but the complete lack of decent sun prevented my point-and-shoot from capturing a good shot inside or out. While I posed said sock in a variety of outdoor locations, experimented with settings, flash, etc., not one shot came out even halfway decent. Ah well. Here she is mounted in my stunningly beautiful Chinese Paperbark Maple. It's quite impossible to capture that beauty, especially when the color of the leaves seem almost like liquid rust.

The colors in the leaves and sock seem to match a bit, don't they? In real life, or at least with my eyes, they don't really, but red is that impossible to photograph color, isn't it?
As is always the case, I spent the one, final nice day of Indian summer elsewhere: evaluating a colleague's class. No sun for me or my projects. Instead, yesterday was overcast, and today it has rained all day, complete with dreary grey skies. Bleh.

Fall and Socktoberfest

Not much goes better hand-in-hand than fall and Socktoberfest.

For at least a month and one-half, if not more, I have been looking forward to the beginning of Socktoberfest and trying to plan what kind of socks to knit in honor of it. In September I even wound up some wool in anticipation of Oct 1, but suddenly changed my mind and began a scarf (kernel). Now kernel has been sitting around neglected because I picked up the long-abandoned Tudor Grace, my sister-in-law's Christmas present scarf begun on May 1. I knit earnestly on Grace for about a week and suddenly developed a significant knot in my shoulders, so she has been sent to the table and given a time out.

I have a nice little stash of sock yarn though I have been working hard to use it up and not buy much yarn until I empty out my stash considerably. I've been doing a good job living up to that commitment, so I dragged out this Trekking from a sock I frogged last year:

I didn't get far on it prior to frogging:

Don't adjust your eyes. That picture really is out of focus.

Out of focus or not, you can tell that the yarn didn't work with the pattern or gauge. I'm certainly not in love with this yarn by any stretch of the imagination. It's scratchy, and the colorway is fuglier than anything I've ever bought. It was an online purchase where the monitor promised something much more delightful, something deeper and more intense than this pastel kid's ice creamness that it ended up being. It reminds me of melted Push-up Pops, those orange cream Creamsicles with some melted chocolate brown. Ugh. Melty ice cream. After all, no one intentionally buys fugly yarn, right? Well, I'm off to swatch to see if I can hack it enough to get at least a pair of socks done this month.

Socktoberfest 2009

Well, Socktoberfest 2009 has officially gotten underway, and I am still without an idea for a pair of socks. I've wanted to make these Socks for Véronik by Mona Schmidt since the IK Holiday 2007 issue came out. I love the delphinium blue yarn, and that is probably what caught my eye, especially since I tend not to have much use for lace socks. Sure, I love the Pomatomus, but that pattern isn't as lacy as the Véronik. I knit socks mainly for winter wear since in the summer I rarely wear socks, too hot. But I definitely need the warmth on my feet in winter, and I doubt these would provide much heat. I have some olive Rowan that I've had in my stash for about four years, so maybe I'll dig it out and get started.

I have also been hankering to make a tam, and the same IK issue has a very eye-catching tam/beret on the cover that I just adore. But I have a tweed tam in mind, more like a true Irish Tam O'Shanter like the ones worn by Maureen O'Hara's Mary Kate Danaher and the support cast in John Ford's The Quiet Man, and the tweed I have in the deep stash is worsted weight Donegal Tweed. I've been having a hard time finding a tam pattern that doesn't use feather weight or sock weight yarn. What to do, what to do???

Kernel

Here's what I've been up to. Two weeks ago I was rummaging through my sock yarn stash. Socktoberfest is right around the corner, after all, and I wanted to find a pattern and wind up some yarn in anticipation of Oct 1.

I had a skein of Cherry Tree Hill that had been lingering there for some time, two years or so, I guess, never quite sure which pattern would showcase the color best.

I've been knitting a lot of blues over the past three or so years, so I wasn't too eager to get into another of the same, but something about the shades in this skein kept calling to me: the deep, deep turquoise that moved into magenta onto the most breathtaking cobalt one can imagine, all the way to a soft, sky blue.

In certain light, my Ott task light for example, the cobalt just renders me speechless. I brought the skein into the office/yarn winding room and sat down to ball the thing up. I figured I would knit a pair of stockinette-stitch socks to let the colors shine through, but fortuitously, I went to my blog to catch up on my blog rolls and noticed the new Knitty icon, which means, of course, new patterns.

To my happy surprise there was something new from Anne and Cookie, and I downloaded both of those patterns faster than you can say lickety-split, but there, at the bottom, was a scarf that also caught my eye. Behold Kernel. I NEEDED that! Almost everything I've had on the needles this year is meant for others: Christmas gifts and such, and though I have two long-neglected WIP scarves for me, I know neither will get finished this year. But this Kernel, well, I suddenly knew this was EXACTLY what the Cherry Tree Hill had been waiting for!

Winding her up proved to be a complete pain in the arse for several reasons, though. Most of the yarn I use (Hand Maiden, Fleece Artist, Koigu, Shaeffer's Anne) use scrap yarn to secure hanks, but CTH apparently believes in waste not, want not, so getting her on the umbrella swift was a bit of a challenge (unknotting all those small knots, grrr!!). Then the yarn was very twisty and kept getting caught on the lower-edge of the swift, which annoyed me to no end, but I was determined to cast on that very hour, so I persisted, and was glad I did.

I was also lucky enough to have been able to bribe persuade hubby to run up to Michael's and bring home three or four packs of seed beads; he was so sweet and lovingly obliged, despite being worried about being able to find the right colors (which he did as you can see), and all it took was the promise of Potbelly subs, and I had my beads in hand by the time I got near the first row where they would be needed (well of course you have to click to embiggen; they're seed beads, after all!):

The pattern is splendidly simple and easy to memorize, and I invented a new way to read it by propping the laptop on my chair's arm. My biggest problem with patterns is that I can't see them without getting them close to my face; reading glasses work sort of, but I can't see to knit wearing glasses, so usually I have to pick the pattern up, note the next few stitches, put it down, knit, repeat. This process if very slow and never allows me to build up decent speed or progress. But the balancing laptop strategy worked well, at least for the first chart.

In my zeal and enthusiasm for my new-found reading method and the Tiger's game that was on, I completely forgot that the first three stitches on either side were garter all the way. One side-edge had turned out garter, the other stockinette. Nuts! To frog or not to frog?

Depending on the project, I usually frog, but this time I was not inclined to do so. Instead, I channeled EZ's advice to be the master of my knitting, and I was determined to drop the stitches down to the offending row and reknit 'em.

Now, I've done this with dropped stitches when it's one stitch down any number of rows, but I've never dropped two in a row, so this was going to be interesting. Thank goodness I used to do fine crocheting when my eyes were better, so I sought out my thread-sized crochet hooks that took no small amount of time to locate:

and dropped those babies back:

Then I chanted to myself, back, font, back, front, and looped the stitches back ala garter and voila, I was good to go in no time at all!

I am SO enamored of this pattern and this yarn! What a PERFECT pairing!!!


See:

I tell you, I cannot wait to wear this!

Now all I need is a sock pattern.

A Sad, Sad Day for Puff, the Magic Dragon

For all the former hippies out there who were young enough to love Puff, the Magic Dragon, Mary Travers passed away today (well, officially yesterday since it's so late at night).

Quesdadillas

Hubby is an excellent chef. More often than not we have quesadillas for lunch, and that's what we had yesterday; they satisfy my cheese, corn, and black bean cravings:

I'm hungry!

Saturday Sky

Blah, no knitting going on, but today was certainly a beautiful end of summer day with a pure blue Saturday Sky. A CH-47 Chinook helicopter was flying overhead this afternoon:

It's hard for me to find anything more exciting than the sound of a helicopter just above after having spent many years on Marine Corps Airbases, especially at Kaneohe in Hawaii. Whenever I hear the air being chopped by the blades and the putter of the engines, I jump up, look frantically for the camera, and run outside, scraping the back of my calf on the stairs as I go, struggling to turn the camera on, the flash off, and flip the monitor screen around. By the time I get out there and lift my point and shoot toward the sky, the low flying birds are usually too far away to capture.

On August 23, Selfridge Air Force Base put on its annual flight show, which I missed, but we live sort of near enough to have some jets fly over in formation:

I'm always late getting the camera when these opportunities present themselves, and these digital cameras don't afford fast snaps like film cameras do, especially a camera with a fast feed like a Leica. Ah, well.

Last year sage overran our herb garden, yet the oregano, thyme, and chives still managed to spread like wildfire, but the basil and rosemary didn't do too well. We probably use basil and rosemary the most, except for maybe the oregano, so I really wanted some tall, leafy basil. This year I tried, nearly in vain, to remove most of the bedded sage, and I decided to try sage, basil, and rosemary in pots on the side of the house. I don't think anything is quite as evocative as the smell of freshly watered basil. It makes my mouth water. Hubby and I play this game where we drag our arms through the herbs and smell our arms throughout the day. It's intoxicating. Really.

I dug through the garden shed for medium pots for the herbs and planted three basil, two rosemary, and one sage. Ha, they didn't do anything. Usually I get monster herbs even in pots. This year, nada in the pots ~ hardly different from the day they were planted, but the bedded sage came back with a vengeance, and so did the chives and oregano. I think when fall gets into full swing, I am going to try to cut everything down in the bed, pull up as much as I can, and throw some landscaping fabric and potting soil down to see if I can't start over next year.

Merike Socks Part Trois

Finally finished the Merike socks that I started in July 2006. I completed the first sock on July 15, '06 but then it sat in the sock yarn organizer until the last week of August this year. I finished the second one fairly quickly, but my sketchy notes from three years ago were dicey to say the least.

I really THOUGHT I had decent notes for the significant mods I made to the heel, but alas no. The first sock is on top, and the second, while it looks a squidge wider in the foot near the toe, looks very similar to the first in the heel area. Until I put it on, that is. Then, the egregious weirdo thing that happened last time with the first draft of the heel also happened here. Way, way too much fabric around the heel. Grrrr!!!!!!!!!! If you think I am frogging back to the heel now, well, you should know better than to do drugs. Maybe I will snip the stitches at the heel and re-knit the heel and see if I can't figure out a way to Kitchener the foot to the new heel. I have been annoyed as hell by the second one after trying it on, so I had to have a time out before touching them again. Maybe I'll just leave them in a drawer forever or at least until I decide to burn them.

For the life of me, I CANNOT understand what the deal is with that sock and the heels.

Now, since I am obviously full of vitriol, I might as well rant about Joann Fabrics. Yes. Read that again. F.A.B.R.I.C.S.

Like hell. I wanted to make three or four pairs of slacks for work based on a couple of pairs of slacks I already have. I was looking for 2 and 1/2 yards of lightweight rayon, a most delightful, soft, nearly wrinkle free fabric with a lovely drape, usually in very pretty prints, that can be machine washed, line dried, and here is the important part: NOT ironed. Since going through the "change," I can't tolerate things like wool suits, gabardine suits, medium or heavyweight linen, or any fabric that isn't very lightweight, and since that three-month-long contact dermatitis problem from something in the garden last year, I need very soft fabric if it comes in contact with my skin. I don't mind cotton, but come on, even the softest cotton is going to require IRONING. Screw that. I don't mind ironing to death while sewing. It's a matter of course. You cannot sew without ironing. But after the thing is done, no more ironing for you.

In my prolific sewing days, I never went to a Joann's unless I was somewhere beyond the range of my local fabric store. They just didn't have the rep, if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, the place calls itself a fabric store; they even claim this in their name, so I figured, if that's all that is available now (the other good fabric stores have long since closed in Michigan), ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

On display in the sidewalk bins were piles of pink and purple fleece. No, don't get excited. It's not THAT kind of fleece. It was the other kind, you know, polar fleece.

Inside, the store was divided into quarters: the front right quarter devoted to fabrics. In a fabric store. There were five or six rows of quilting material, and the entire wall that the ran the depth of the store had more quilting material.

Then there was one half a row of bridal/evening wear.

A pod of costume material, a pod of holiday (Christmas) material. A pod of something that seemed to be back-to-school for tiny tots. Since fall is approaching, a pod of corduroy. A row of the ever ugly sports team cotton that looks like the team spirit sheets for eight year old boys.

Then an entire wall of fleece. Then two more pods of fleece. Then half a row of fleece.

There was, of course, the ubiquitous and very disagreeable polyester that tried to pass itself off as silk and satin (silkeen and satineen). If it wasn't fleece, then it was polyester.

Let's face it, rayon is a very common fabric. It's not Dupioni silk that can be tricky to find in the States, for heaven's sake.

Not a bolt or remnant in the store. Instead, miles of quilting fabric. Okay, that's hyperbole. The only thing they had miles of was scrapbooking crap and fleece.

There was one display of zippers, one of other notions like elastic, zigzag trim (who still uses that after 1965??), and bias-tape. A couple of displays of buttons, and two racks of thread that looked crappy. Oh, and the ever craptastic Fiskars scissors that should only be used by kindergarteners. Not a good pair of shears in sight. Not a pair of pinking shears in the store.

I was pissed. I guess I am going to have to try to order material online. What an absurd concept. At least the Tigers won.

Merike Socks Part Deux

Sorry, these images are a bit sizey.

Three or so years ago when I first started this knitting blog, I was working on a short sock named Merike from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. The shaped heel didn't work out for me, perhaps because the yarn had a lot of elastic in it, which I wasn't quite used to. I had to frog that sock several times, and after completing it, I was involved in Knit the Classics, so I basically put off starting on the second sock. You know the story: out of sight, out of my mind. I did put the completed sock in the front of my sock yarn caddy, though, so that I could see it every day, and this led to varying degrees of guilt, annoyance, and disdain for the linger UFO.

Since August is quickly nearing its end, and fall approaching with the start of a new semester this week, yesterday I decided to finally wrestle with the mate. I casted on and worked on it during the Yankee/Red Sock game yesterday and got to the point of the heel flap. Today during the Tigers/A's game, I basically finished the up to the point where the heel shaping begins (click to embiggen. really. click.):

There is little that gives me as much joy or satisfaction as turning the heel of a sock. Now some may think that odd. What a dull life she has, you must quietly say to yourself. Sure, this may be true now that I've gotten older. But, those of you who knit socks must admit the heel turn is the part of knitting that is just quite extraordinary. I used to make sweaters and lots of scarves. Now I make lots of hats, lace scarves or shawls, mittens, and socks, but socks by far provide me with the most satisfaction, especially that heel turn.

Yes, tricky lace can be rewarding, as can complex color work, but the heel turn is a thing of beauty and engineering genius, and I never get tired of how the square flap can be massaged into the box-shape that holds the heel of a foot.

I just wish I could make sense out of my three year-old notes to figure out what exactly I did for this heel turn. Let's hope it was just a basic Dutch heel from the Folk Socks book.

Okay, so a very close look at the stitches here would prove that under my fingers, this yarn does not exactly knit up straight (this is where embiggening is critical, so go ahead, I'll wait, click on it):

The stitches do not line up nicely but instead are crooked and too mashed together like so many teenagers at a concert, yet I don't drink, so alcohol can't be blamed. I think this may have a lot to do with the way the heel emerged from the pattern on my original try. Maybe I should look around IK to see if there is an errata section for this book, though.

For socks, I usually use bamboo dpns, but this time I opted to use some colorful Knit Picks dpns. They are nice and pointy, which helped a lot because this yarn can be splitty if it wants to be. These needles are wood and also have a very nice finish to them, sort of like a high polish or wax feeling to them, which really helps, especially with this yarn, which isn't the softest stuff I've ever felt. A very nice thing about these needles is that there are six to the package, and most of you know how very helpful THAT can be, especially when fidgeting around some socks or yarn that just don't cooperate, causing breakage and many swear words. Nothing sucks more than breaking a needle close to a holiday when the LYS is closed for two or three days or more.

The downside of these, though, is that they are the shortest sock needles or dpns of any kind that I've ever run across. They are only 6" long instead of the 7" or sometimes 8" bamboo dpns I own. I'll tell you, that extra inch is imperative, especially if you have over 70 sts onboard, so I ended up using four needles to hold the stitches until I got to the heel, where I was forced to use two bamboo needles to deal with the 36 sts of the flap. So far, so good, but I really noticed the drag of the bamboo, which isn't polished or waxed to the degree the other needles are, and the much blunter points. Carry on, soldier, carry on.

Some Like It Hot, But Not Me

I love the delicate lavender of the flowers on some hostas:


Weatherpersons' predictions were a bit low in terms of heat. Most predicted we would have temps in the mid 90s, but this is what we had in the early morning; by 11:00 a.m., we were already decidedly hot ~ 102, and notice that the sky is fairly overcast, so it was also very humid. Imagine what it would have been like if it was full on sun:

It's fairly safe to say that later on when the sun came out for a tad, this was a bit beyond my liking, especially since the humidity was very high and we had heavy downpours most of the late afternoon and evening with power outages and downed trees everywhere. Temps that reach 116 in a state that is not dry like Arizona or New Mexico are absurd!!

Needless to say, we really needed the rain that came:

Poet's Birthday

My very favorite poet was born on this day in 1809: Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Here is my favorite poem:

Tears, Idle Tears
Tears, idle Tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair,
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields
And thinking of the days that are no more.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns,
The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

Dear as remember'd kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy-feign'd
On lips that are for others, deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret
O Death in life, the days that are no more.

--Tennyson, 1847

This, of course, was written while at the ruins of Tintern Abbey, a location of some noted influence on many poets of the time and a place of haunting beauty I would love to someday visit. Like In Memoriam A. H. H., I believe this poem to be written about his dear friend Arthur Henry Hallam.

Tennyson replaced Wordsworth as England's Poet Laureate, and held that distinction for 42 years, longer than any other poet.

Sock Summit

Sock Summit at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon runs August 6 - 9. I REALLY want to go!

Fini

I certainly didn't suffer from second sock syndrome with the NY Dolls Socks as I finished the partner in a record four days, so here's the pair:

Yeah, they're ugly overall ~ so much pooling. I gotta tell ya, I am always drawn to variegated yarns even though I know that I absolutely hate the results of pooling and dislike the way most strongly variegated fabrics look.

The ill-fated star toe is a bit fugly in its own right but functional nonetheless:

After some light felting this winter, these will fit fine and will be soft as butter, so really, who can complain? They will be warm, soft, and fulfill their main purpose, to keep my feet warm at home in winter. I'm of the age where I'll take function over form any day, especially at home.

I wanted to do a bit more yard work today, but as usual, the weather is not cooperating. We have some eager wind, over 25 mph, and scattered showers. It seems each time I'm out there in the dirt of the garden, the rain starts, and I am playing in mud. Last weekend hubby and I managed to clean out the shed and rearrange it. We only have a few more tweaks to complete before fall begins, so I am happy with that project.

I think I'll watch the Tigers game tonight. One of my favorite pitchers, Joel Zumaya, is on the DL again, and I think the last game he pitched was against the Yankees on July 17:

Apparently he re-injured his shoulder and will have surgery sometime in the middle of this month. I'm fairly bummed about this.

In 2006, Zumaya threw a pitch that registered 104.8 mph.

Yep, that's right, he threw a ball faster than 104 miles per hour!!

Now, we Tigers have some fast pitchers, and our main go-to guy, Justin Verlander, also pitches pretty darn fast, topping out at 102 mph. The thing about Justin, though, is that he isn't a relief pitcher like Joel is. Justin is a starter, and that means he usually pitches more than five innings, and in fact, he often pitches well into the seventh or even eighth inning. Joel, on the other hand, is usually a relief pitcher or sometimes a closer, which means he only needs to face around three batters and throw about 12 pitches, so it is probably a lot easier to get that speed when throwing so few pitches. Verlander has to face many innings and many batters, and he has even pitched no-hitters, but most importantly, he has to maintain that fast ball for a lot longer than just the one inning or so.

I was pretty interested in the Yankees v Tigers series in July because another of my favorite pitchers, Joba Chamberlain, was pitching. I love those fast boys, just about as much as I love those flyboys!