Molecular Knitting

I’ve had very little time or energy for knitting in the past few weeks, but I did manage to finish my Embossed Leaves socks. My favorites!

What a pretty sock this pattern makes! I especially like the star toe completing the shape of the final leaves. I did a few mods, mostly based upon mods Weezalana does. She knits wonderful socks (among other things); if you don’t follow her blog and you love to knit socks, you are missing out! For mods, I did a long-tailed, not tubular, cast-on, as I couldn’t make the picture in the book and the written directions mean the same thing, and I wasn’t in the mood to fuss. I didn’t break the yarn at the heel–I couldn’t see why that was a good idea (weaving in ends is fun?). I decreased the purl stitches between repeats and at the edge of the instep so my sock foot was 60 not 64 stitches, so when I got to the toe, I didn’t decrease in the first decrease round, just purled for P2tog. I also knit the first three repeats of the leg on size 2 needles, the second three on size 1.5 needles and then switched to size 1 for the remainder.

Best of all the Dream in Color Smooshy in Gothic Rose matches my new shoes, whose color is listed on the box as Vampire Red. My feet are trying to go Goth.

I really love the Smooshy yarn. The color saturation is wonderful, and the twist is superb. It is very soft, yet it makes a very firm fabric at 8 spi, and it doesn’t look too thin at a looser gauge in the leg. I am hoping this bodes well for the longevity of these socks.

Perhaps soon we will have weather cool enough for me to wear them!

I do not have a true LYS. We had two: one run by a wonderful lady and one run by a different lady. The wonderful lady got pregnant with triplets and closed. I bought a lot of yarn in her store. The other lady closed her store for reasons unknown, and I didn’t buy anything at her deep discount, going out of business sale. I think you get the picture. About a month ago I found out that Vacaville (only 20 miles away) had a yarn store, called Spin A Yarn. This past weekend I checked it out. Not knowing anything about the store, I didn’t take my camera, but you can get a good idea by clicking the link above. Parri, the owner, was very friendly and welcoming and happy to let me browse. There was a nice selection of yarn, and I picked out a few goodies to buy:

Parri said many of her customers just had to have Mini Mochi to knit a diagonal scarf, and I think I will do something similar. It is very soft and pretty–the color saturation is fantastic, but I’m not sure the single ply would make good socks. But I know my other purchase will make great socks:

This is my beloved CTH Supersock in a “lottery” color. The skein looked a wee bit bedraggled, but it was very clean, and I liked this Easter-colored mix. I am not in general a pastel fan, but these colors were clear and soft without being cutesy. I’ll be shopping at Parri’s shop again!
After I got home, Kitty No. 34 stopped by and sat on my lap. She does this when she wants her chin scritched (and when I am wearing both dark and light colored clothes so maximum shedding shows). She is a purring machine.

Of course, I purr magnificently! How could such a wonderful cat like myself do anything less splendid?

Later, there was a gorgeous sunset.

I’d like a sock yarn with all those colors!

Here are the last six pairs of socks I’ve knit for myself:

They are nice socks and they fit well. Two thirds of them are blue. And rather the same blue at that.
Many of my readers know that I tend to knit socks non-sequentially. I’ll knit two separate single socks before knitting either second. So here’s two of my single socks:

Apparently, my personal sock “color story” is blue with some green. Blue is not my favorite color. I like blue well enough; it’s nice and versatile. But  I’m in a blue rut, and now I’m digging my way out:

Embossed Leaves–what a wonderful pattern! DIC Smooshy in Gothic Rose–what a wonderful non-blue color! Second sock is already OTN–in fact I’m through the gusset decreases, contrary to the photo.


Vesper Sock Club Yarn from Knitterly Things in Damsel. Turquoise (which a shopkeeper in London told me to pronounce tur-kwaaaahhhzz) doesn’t count as blue. It’s fun! It’s stripey! No blue! The pattern is chevron welt from Sensational Knitted Socks.


Toe Jamz by Happy Hands Yarn in Eleanor Rigby. That’s purple–not blue! I’m serious. NOT BLUE.  Another pair of Monkey socks. Nice yarn. Good dye job–intense color and good transitions.

I’m going to have to knit the second navy tweed sock some day. But not today.

Thank you for all your kind exclamations to my spectacular hunting prowess and overall magnificence! I am always pleased to hear from humans with the good sense to recognize I am a force of nature. Brenda told me to try for a little modesty in this post. I think I’ve done that superbly!

Yes, well, perhaps the least said the better concerning Kitty No. 34’s modesty. Let’s talk buttons! The Nubby Cardi sleeves and fronts are blocking. You may remember I was at a bit of a loss for buttons for periwinkle yarn. You had many good ideas, but I went bold. I went contrast. I got Shelby of Heartstone Ceramics to make me some killer buttons!

Do you know how hard it is to photograph periwinkle knitting with lime green + aqua buttons?! The buttons should be greener (less yellow) and the yarn purpler and bluer, but after several exposures with different color balance options, this is as good as it gets today.

But the buttons are perfect for the casual, fun look I want. Shelby was fantastic! Very cheerful and interested and pleased as punch to do a custom order. This is her Jonah button, and it isn’t what I originally convo’d her about. I wanted her make a pastel version of the periwinkle in a different style. She was cool with that, but she asked me to look at a couple of her color washes to see what effect I would like best, and that is when I found the lime green with aqua Jonah buttons and had to have them.

I hope to have this project done soon, and I am trying not to think about the 179 st x 10 inch collar. That should go fast, shouldn’t it?

Hello, I’m Kitty No. 34. I’m here to distract you from the fact that Brenda doesn’t have any real knitting progress to show you. Something about hot, dry August weather, blah, blah. blah. Now back to me. No, No. 34 isn’t my real name. I just live at unit 34. My people there got me to rid them of some mice. I killed 7 mice and 1 rat the first day I was there! Then they named me Cissy. Really, people? Cissy? 7 mice and 1 rat in 24 hours. Cissy. Sheesh!

Yes, I am very pretty with my tabby stripes, white bib, socks and mittens. I visit Brenda and M at their place, which is No. 30, because their grill makes it easy for me to get on the roof. They also live next to Unit No. 29, which has a nectarine tree and a peach tree. It also has college student tenants who don’t know to pick the fruit and let it fall to the ground. Rats like that. I like rats.

I killed a young rat during one of Brenda and M’s dinner parties (M had trapped the mother the day before). They and their guests were enjoying coffee and dessert out on the patio. They wondered why I ignored them and was so intent on the corner of their deck. Humans are stupid. I heard a rat, and I waited for it to come out from under the deck. When it did, in less time then it takes to say “one hippopotamus” I had killed it. One pounce and a little squeal from the rat and it was all over–for the rat that is. I trotted to the fence with my treat, jumped it (It’s over a 5 foot jump, and I’m about a 10 inches at the shoulder. Yes, I am spectacular.) and was over the top. I heard applause as I went over. I deserved them, of course.

Well, I’m outta here. I have vermin to kill. I’m Kitty No. 34, and that’s my story.

Before:

After:

Solids:

Variegated:

Finishing:

Starting:

And M says I write a lot when I blog!

Happy Knitting!

Every mid-summer I seem to go through a knitting lag. It seems like it will always be hot and dusty, and the weather will never be cool enough to wear wool socks or sweaters. I have finished the first sleeve on my Nubby Cardigan, and I’m half way up the left front, but I’ve got ennui like Mayhem. However, I can always turn to my first love: reading.

First, I know some of my readers have Celiac’s Disease or know people who do. The August issue of Scientific American has an excellent article on  the most recent research into the causes of CD, and new avenues for medication. The online the article doesn’t have the great figures that Scientific American is known for, but the text is all there. I think most libraries carry SA.

Second, I can be found on LibraryThing and on Goodreads. If you are at either, come by and friend me! I have M’s and my complete library (except for one bookcase–the ennnui thing) on LibraryThing, so I use it as a big catalog of our entire library. However, I find certain things awkward on LT, although the ability to use a barcode scanner to entire books is a real plus, that I don’t use it for keeping track of my current reading. For that I use Goodreads. I have always kept track of what I’ve read each year from birthday to birthday, so only the books I’ve read this past year are on Goodreads on shelf 45. On my next birthday, I’ll start a shelf 46. I’m really behind on the number of books I’ve read so far this “year.” But I’ve been doing a lot of reading that isn’t a complete book. For example I have a lot of sock knitting books, which I don’t read cover to cover:

However, perusing them lately I’ve realized that I haven’t knit a single pair of socks from some of them! I plan on redressing that issue. So, I sit by my sock yarn stash paging through the patterns and looking for the right sock yarn. Hopefully, as soon as I recover from my ennui, I’ll get more socks knit from these books.

I also have some yarn that I just can’t seem to find the right sweater pattern for, so I’ve gotten out these books and am studying the chapters on sweater fit and design.

Any other suggestion of other books on this topic, are welcome. However, I don’t need more sock books at this time!

Finally, I’ve been paging through these books for the perfect recipes:

The Spice Cookbook is my favorite. My mom has a copy that she received as a wedding gift back in 1962. I kept emailing for more recipes from that book, so she and my brother found me a used copy online and gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. Cookies may seem a simple thing to bake, but they’re my favorite sweet, and I like to bake the tastiest cookies possible.

So, what do you like to read? Do you have summer knitting ennui? A favorite sweet or cookie? Take a second to leave a comment.

Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts concerning my headaches! I am being more vigilant in keeping them at bay and have been reasonably successful. Some evenings when I get home, if I’ve had to spend most of the day on the computer, I just don’t get Archie out of his bag, and then I keep off the computer at home. That helps but limits blogging. I also figured out that although M can have a cocktail and then a glass of wine with dinner, I cannot; I can’t mix different types of alcohols. I mentioned this to my mother, who reads the blog and asked about the headaches, and she said most people were like me, not like M (something he was very pleased about). Apparently, there is a saying about not mixing the “grape with the grain.” Also, apparently, I was already supposed to know that. *sigh*

Anyway, with less time on the computer, I’ve been knitting away on my Nubby Cardigan. I’ve finished the back (Yes, it does need a wee bit o’ vicious blocking!).

And I’m to the raglan decreases on a sleeve:

When I first posted about this cardi (in March!) I wrote about how I had been inspired by the designer Deborah Newton ever since I was a newbie knitter. The next day, Deborah Newton had left a comment on my blog! I was surprised and ecstatic. I told M, and he was happy for me, but he had to add, “You better do a good job on the sweater.” (He likes to think of himself as Evil Incarnate. *sigh*) So far, I don’t think I’ve screwed up on the sweater, and I’m enjoying the knitting. I’d like to get as many pieces of it done as I can this summer. As the collar is the last thing knit, and it is ginormous (10 inches wide), I will have to knit it when having a big, wool sweater in my lap won’t cause heat stroke.

I have no idea what sort of buttons to consider. I need 4 1-3/8-inch buttons. The yarn is so very periwinkle. I don’t know if I should try to match the periwinkle or go with something pewter? Maybe a dark wood button? I love buttons, but buttons are hard to come by in my neck of the woods. Any thoughts?

Well, it’s time to peruse the bags and baskets of WIPs, pick one up and add some rows/rounds. Happy Knitting!

So many things to say and so little time! Archie, my laptop, goes back to Applecare tomorrow. He still overheats and shuts himself off. This will be his third trip this year. I am to “run him like a rented mule” after he returns to make sure he is really fixed this time. I don’t like it when Archie gets a fever of 240 degrees and shuts down. So, I may be more incommunicado than usual this week.

The most bestest news (hey, if Shakespeare can use double superlatives, then so can I!)! I won a super fabulous prize from Claudia’s MS bike ride extravaganza!! I can’t show it to you yet, but I am one of two lucky winners to get a subscription to the Vesper Sock Yarn Club for this summer! In July, August and September, I’ll get Vesper sock yarn arriving at my door. I wonder what it will look like?! I am hoping for stripey.

It has become very hot here. M and I have been trying summer cocktails, and he actually did a blog post at Cocktails with M! It’s the Tom Collins, which is very delicious when NOT made with bottled sour mix. Real lemons from our friend Briana’s lemon tree were involved. I like this summer cocktail thing.

This weekend I finally finished my La Gran mohair cardigan! Yay! It was again well over 100 degrees today, so if you think you are going to see it modeled on my person in this post–ah, no. I tried it on twice: once for fit and to show M. I think I had it on for a grand total of 20 seconds including the time to button and unbutton it twice. I am very pleased with it, and in the autumn, I may get M to take some photos of me wearing it outside in the cool autumn sunshine so you can appreciate the lovely coral color it is. For today, you’ll just have to pretend. Here it is enjoying a mojito in the cool AC of our living room.

Mohair is not known for showing off stitch definition, but the simple cable rib with seed stitch neck and button bands works in this uber fuzzy yarn.

I thought this cardi would be huge, as my choices in size had negative 0.5 inches of ease or +5.5 inches. I chose the +5.5 inches, as Vogue Knitting (Fall 2002) described it as “loose fitting” cardigan, and my bust is really a size smaller than my shoulders, arms and waist (we’ll just leave out the whole hip thing). However, although I blocked it to size–pinned it dry as pieces and then sprayed it until I thought it was pretty soaked, it pulled in after I took the pins out. This has made it a semi-fitted, +2 inches of ease jacekt/cardigan, and that is actually better. It looked a little tailored for the 10 seconds I had it on when I looked in the mirror. Perhaps when we get our Delta Breeze back, I can do a more thorough examination without risking heat exhaustion.

Well, I hope to be back with all of you soon. I have email and all my scientific research is on a lab computer, but it just isn’t the same without Archie and all my bookmarks, and he knows my passwords for GoogleReader and the like. Sigh. When I get back I can show you another FO. Here’s a peek:

When you knit socks from the cuff down, that photo means you’re done.
Have a great week, everyone!