Cruise and Finished Object Report

We are back and safe.  Arrived just ahead of Hurricane Ida though we were treated to some awesome wind and seas.  For those who are interested here are some notes and some FINISHED OBJECTS.

Sunday, Nov 1–left Charlotte and my two furry boys.  Jake gave us the “skunk eye” from the window as we left.

On the plane I FINISHED one of Steve’s new socks.  Pattern coming soon.  Used Lotus Yarns cashmere sock yarn in colorway Jean.Wait–I actually finished something before I even left.  The Malabrigo Neck Thingie (pattern on Ravelry–one skein of Malabrigo). Did this after class on Saturday at the shop.

I had cast this on immediately after whining about not being able to finish anything.

We were sailing (back to the cruise) on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas (huge).  Our stateroom was very spacious and the balcony was my refuge.  That’s where I FINISHED Steve’s second sock.We do recommend the line for anyone interested.

More tomorrow.

Cruise wear

Thank you to my friends who responded to ARRRgh either online or in person.  I am calmer.  I did the only reasonable thing.  I started two new projects.

I’m knitting the Malabrigo Neck Thingie I found on ravelry.  Dead easy and it is Malabrigo.  My hands are happy.

I’m also knitting a capelet from the Alpaca I got from Joni.  I’m just making it up as I go and my hands are very happy.

The Wizard (Steve) came home Weds. with a brand new deep navy suit.  Thurs. he came home with dress shoes.  All of this is just for me so I will be comfortable at the two formal dinners on the ship.  I am humbled and touched and amazed.  So I went out and bought some Big Girl shoes.  No stilettos, but they are heels.

Packing has been easy but today is pick out the knitting day.  I’m taking the new Bordhi book and two balls of sock yarn.  Also Steve’s never ending socks.  The cowl (if I don’t finish it). A scarf I am designing with some beads and threads for embroidery.  The Anemoi mittens. The goal is to finish everything I have started and maybe get a good start on the Bordhi’s.  That’s in addition to the stuff I will do in classes which will be provided for me.  Maybe just swatches there.

I also plan to eat, drink and swim, but with superwash wool, I can knit while doing all of those.

I expect no yarn shops so one must prepare carefully.

God forbid I run out of yarn.

AR-r-r-r-r-rgh

I haven’t posted because I haven’t made significant progress with anything.  There is no point in posting new pictures if you really haven’t made any progress.  I did finish one mitten and start the other.  These are the Eunny Jang Anemoi mittens.  The Jaren Flood mittens that Beth gave me –well, they are no where near anything.  But I do love the Jamison’s yarn.

So I’ve finished “Like Jazz” and just need a good picture to make the pattern available.  My pictures suck.  I haven’t begged Meghan to come over and take any.  The Soh-cah-toa for Steve aren’t finished, but they are teaching me a valuable lesson.  The reason the standard sock heel is the standard sock heel is that it fits better than the other heels.  No matter how hard I try to make my take on a band heel be wonderful, it still isn’t as good as the standard.  So which heel goes in the pattern.  Maybe both?

The classes I’m teaching on the Great American Aran afghan are getting weird—but the students are wonderful.  Tuesday, the highlight of the class was picking out Jennifer’s Silestone countertop; Saturday Sally and I had fun with cast ons.  I’m not sure what any of that had to do with the afghan, but everyone seemed to be satisfied, so I must be doing something right.

The Melissa Leapman Tweedie Hoodie is limping along.  I did the short rows for the bust of the right front.  I’m still a basket case about the fit since it is bottom up knitting.  Losing 40 pounds is fantastic, but I’m not intuitively sure about the size and shape.Mostly I’m just whining.

Joni gave me some cool black and white alpaca that I have swatched a bunch.  I really want to cast on a new shawl, but it does seem reasonable to finish something first.  I haven’t even brought up the UFO basket upstairs.  I knit Meghan a sweater that only needs to be sewn up–I love sewing–but I hate it so much I’m afraid to finish it.

We leave on our Vogue Knitting cruise next weekend and I have no idea what to take to wear or to knit.  I’m kind of spooked by the formal nights because I am not formal and I am not willing to do that thing where you put your hair up and wear a prom dress and look like someone you are not.  I’m also living in fear of Steve showing up in cutoffs and flip flops and daring them to throw him out just to see what will happen.  I’m not happy about being away from Henry(dog) for a week; what if he dies?  I hate to think of making Meghan make that decision.

Are you beginning to see why it was better that I didn’t post?

SAFF was this weekend and I didn’t even want to drive to Asheville and look around. How sick is that?

Okay, I feel better.  But I really need to finish something.  You know?

Biker chic

This is my hunky husband who has never to this day had a picture made without his mouth being open.  Since he is a very silent man, this is one of science’s most ironic paradoxes.

He road the annual MS ride again this year, riding for one of our dearest friends.  His jersey, a gift from daughters, is a hoot.  It says Poseur.  Steve hates posers, so this works for us.  It also says Charlatan–what he has called the elected officials from Charlotte forever.  For such a quiet man, he does make a statement on that bike.  Yes, the newest one he has built for himself. Weighs about half an ounce.

Need bike advice?  He’s your man.

Cold hands, warm heart

Usually it is my feet that are cold, so I ‘m not sure what to think about my heart.  But I was in a mood the other night.  Mittens.  It had to be mittens and they had to be fair isle.  I didn’t want to mess with fiddly glove fingers, but a thumb is nothing.

First I went to my copy of Nanette Blanchard’s self published booklet on glove knitting.  You can buy a downloadable copy from her website and it is a great resource.  She advised about various thumbs so I started to worry about the patterns I had amassed on the computer.  I used valuable knitting time looking through my files and then hit Ravelry and finally googled by thumb name.

Eunny Jang’s Anemoi mittens rang my bell.  I liked the rounded tops, the colorwork pattern and the compromise thumb.  I also like the immediate download and Paypal combination.  Here’s my start:This is the palm.  The corrugated ribbing was knit differently than I have knit it in the past, so that was an unexpected new lesson.  As you can see I am using a magic loop technique.

I really like the scroll work pattern for the top.  I’m using leftover blue  Lavold Silky Wool from my Slinky Rib and some Louet sport weight Gem merino.  The black  Louet is just a bit larger than the silky wool.  It’s all on a #1 needle since I knit so loosely.

Actually this is anything but loose.  It is dense, yet the two yarns are so soft that it isn’t exactly stiff.  Just dense which is good for warmth, right?

I had in mind to give these as a gift to my daughter to wear on her walks.  Maybe.

New shoes-Purple

Sheila, who owns Foot Solutions next door to Charlotte Yarn, met me in the parking lot holding these shoes.  It took me four seconds to pull out my plastic.

They are Wolky shoes and they are amazing.  I have black ones I bought last winter.

They show off my socks well, but mostly, they make sure I never take myself too seriously.  I just love purple shoes.

Henry would love them too if he could stay awake long enough to sniff them.  Doesn’t this make you fear for his neck?  He seems content with it.

OTN-Tweed Hoodie

This is the Tweed Hoodie from Continuous Cables by Melissa Leapman.  Natalie knit one for Charlotte Yarn.  I made the mistake of trying it on and fell in love.

I am so nervous about the fit because I am knitting it bottom up as written–at least so far.  I’ve measured it about fifty times.  It is fun to knit.  The basic st pattern is quite easy and has such nice texture.  The cable medalion was lots of fun.  I love patterns where you just knit the knits and purl the purls on the wrong side rows.

The wool is Paton’s Classic Wool Merino from my stash.  It’s a favorite because it is so sproingy.  Pronounce that and you will know exactly what I mean.  Some wools just lie there and look pretty. This average little wool always makes me want to dance.

Now to make decisions about the fronts.  Will I do it as written?  Will I use some modular work instead of the cables? Will I chicken out and knit it top- down?  I’ll have some coffee and think about it.

Besides, I have other projects on the needles.  No need to hurry.

More about Socks

What I really like about socks is how personal they can be.  This is a heel done in linen stitch.  It’s my new pattern, but the pattern doesn’t call for linen st.  I was just in the mood.  Probably had been reading akabini’s blog.  That girl is obsessed with linen st.  Anyway, the mood struck and I knit the heel.  You can do that with socks.

I just finished a sock class and I took pictures at the last class.  Not great photography, but the socks are great–even somewhat inventive.  Here they are:

This is Gina’s and if you look carefully you can see a few welts.

Christy used Tofutsie yarn and this is her very analytical sock.

This doesn’t show the color correctly.  Isvara’s sock is really purple and grey.  Much more elegant, as is she.

Judith finished and kitchenered her toe.  It’s a great fit.

Cristi is teaching a class at the shop now using toe up technique ( her fav) with her own re-engineering of Cat Bordhi’s Riverbend architecture.  I need to go sit in and give up some of my cuff down bias.  Cat’s second book is out and I hear nothing but raves from friends who have taken a recent class based on it.

I lay awake last night thinking of ways to dispose of gusset stitches other than my normal standard sock.  And I called akabini obsessed!!!

The Great American Aran Knit a long

I just love it when knitting students enjoy themselves.  I have two sessions of this knitalong going and they are totally different.  Everybody likes different things and I am having a blast.  These are what the group brought in Tuesday night.

We work on cables and chart reading and tricks to make knitting easier.

Using different yarns and different colors teaches us all something which is the best part of my teaching—learning from the class.

Jean is knitting all of her swatches in one long piece.  All she needs is a border and she will have a scarf with a story.  Actually I wish I had thought of teaching the class this way.  Make a scarf and have the ability to make entire afghan.  Maybe next time.

Off topic—This is Jake doing a Winston Churchill with cigar imitation.

Athens Yarn

Cristi sent me a note about some fab grey yarn she had seen in an etsy shop.  She had met the dyer earlier and liked her a lot.  Thought I would definitely want this yarn.  Thought right.

I checked the etsy shop and saw the Lotus Yarn dyer was from Athens–where I was headed in a few hours, so I emailed a plea to come and touch.  Melanie quickly said call and you can drop by–I did and this is what I got.

Sock yarns in tone on tone solids.  Maybe fair isle?

The details and the website.

Steve picked this sport wt. yarn with a bit of cashmere.

This yarn is so rich in color and soft to touch that it may become shawls.  So many possibilities.  Check out Melanie’s etsy store and also we look forward to hosting her for a Charlotte Knitting Guild Meeting in the spring.