I did start (SURPRISE!!!) something else.

Speaking of starting, Tour de Sock starts up again June 1. I’ve got five sponsor yarns ready to go.

Plus if a rumor is true, I’ve also got most of this to choose from.

That’s the Socks That Rock. A few of those are medium weight, so not all of it would be eligible. There’s also one pattern that suggests either self striping or a long color repeat. I’ve got several of those in the stash, but none of them are from the sponsor. I figure that will be OK.

So what did I start? The Meridien, just like I threatened to. It’s a bit of an alternate construction, with the base piece a nice swoopy skirt.

I absolutely LOVE the color and how it’s knitting up. The picture above is truest to ow it looks IRL. This is a closer look at the various stitch patterns.

And my pictures of the tattoo were really crappy last week. Jim took one for me today that’s much better.

The shiny spots are places it hasn’t finished peeling yet. The itchies are almost gone (yay!!) and I’m not so worried about disturbing it now.

Knit In at Gourmet Yarn was great last night. Yesterday was pretty busy (work, hair cut, and Knit In) so I didn’t take any food this time. But we had a great time and I’m looking forward to next month. Hopefully the electrical work on the Center will be done in time for me to go. They’re saying it’s going to be a “longer” outage, but haven’t clarified what that means yet.

That is a finished Nuvem. The section that looks like a different color is actually just a different stitch pattern to break things up a bit.

I had forgotten how much I  love the finished fabric from Malabrigo Lace yarn. It’s so light, airy, soft and yet warm that it just makes me happy. I hope Mom likes it.

So since I can, I’ve knit on a couple of other things since yesterday. One is the plain old socks out of Opal.

And I started a new project. The Knit Girllls are having a KAL and I decided I’d be honest and not just pick up a project I’d already started even though it’s not very far along. This sweater is from a 2011 issue of Knitter’s Magazine using Ty Dy cotton yarn. I really love wearing this yarn and the pattern is pretty.

Interestingly enough, the lace pattern at the top is K3P1 on the right side with the actual lace work done on the purl side of the fabric. The Hiya Hiya Sharps are working really well for the P3tog in a worsted cotton yarn.

So the trouble I hinted at a couple of weeks ago? I followed through.

But first a gratuitous cat picture just because they’re adorable.

And for another cat picture, I present my right forearm.

It’s bigger than I was thinking for a first tattoo, but it needed to be to get the level of detail it needed.

I got it from Renee Little, who was guesting at Atomic Lotus in OKC. I felt really out of place when I walked in, because everyone on the staff had lots of ink and piercings. They made me feel welcome immediately, and by the time we were through I was totally comfortable. I was really impressed by that. Renee worked on the design based on pictures I sent her (hence the photo shoot of the cats) and did an absolutely amazing job. The blurriness of the photo is totally on me. It’s still a little bit itchy and is peeling, but the healing process has been simple. Other than the dark lines on the fillagree work (I missed it in the picture) and when she went back and added the color it really didn’t hurt.

See you next week!

That top edge? It’s bound off. I’m almost across the first of the long edges.

I started binding it off at 5 rows of seed with a K1P1K1 attached Icord, but wasn’t happy with the results. So I did four more rows of seed and changed to a straight 3-stitch applied and it’s much better. I am still changing my rate of bind off as I go, but I think I’m good now with a needle that’s .25mm bigger than the original and doing 3 rounds with a bind off and one round free. If it’s not perfect? I’m not doing it over. If Mom hates it she can give it back.

We took a bunch of pictures of the boys this week. These are two of my favorites.

And I did do a little bit of stash enhancement. BMFA had a Rare Gems sale and I got three water

and three earth.

I really need to stop collecting the stuff and start knitting with it.

But look what else jumped into my cart while I was there?

That my friends is eight ounces of 50% merino 50% yak. Yes, you read that right. Yak. It’s roll-around-on-the-floor soft. Going to be awesome to spin up.

I’ve got a very full week coming up, but I think it’s going to be very good. Talk to you next Sunday!

One problem – I don’t have enough. But I do have a friend who just happens to be vending at the same show as Alisha this week. She’s grabbing me two more, and if they match well enough I’m knitting it out of this. I love this color. Absolutely love it.

Remember the Summer Solstice I knit a few months ago that I was worried about being too bright? This one?

I did actually wear it once. I felt about as conspicuous as a circus tent, so once was it. But I love the design, love the fabric, and didn’t want it to go to waste. So Monday night I stopped by the grocery store on the way home and grabbed some good old Rit dye. Then I made a mess. But when I was done? I had a wearable sweater.

I kind of wished I had left it in the dye bath a little longer, but I was tired of stirring. If I really want it darker I’ll just do it again for longer next time.

Zero spinning this week. I’ve been disgustingly monogamous. Well, technically I did touch a pair of socks last night in the car going to Norman and back, but all the knitting Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday-today? Monogamous. It’s killing me.

But as you can see I’m almost done with the third hank of yarn on the Nuvem. I’ve decided I’m going to do a few rounds of seed stitch with the next one – enough to stop the roll – then bind this sucker off. Of course the bind off will take forever because I’m going to do applied i-cord. Figuring I’m going to have to do about every third round free to get enough stretch. But it’s almost done.

Mom made her reservations last week for Riley’s graduation. I’ve got a few weeks, but I don’t want to put off finishing any more. Speaking of graduation, I got the announcement last week and found myself choking up. Hard to believe my niece is about to graduate from high school. I also got a second thank you card for the baby blanket I knit a couple of months ago. It’s always nice to know when a gift is appreciated.

I finished the Baktus (4th KAL for SSK) this morning. BUT – I almost had to redo half the knitting. Remember the wine glass from last week? It saved my ass this week. This little lovely

was singles left over after I plied the alpaca/silk blend I used in the scarf. I used it to practice n-plying, then tossed it in the glass. Which was a good thing, because I was down to 8 stitches (on the way to 4) when I ran out of handspun in the ball I was working from. Four lousy short little ridges before the end. But since I had this little sample I was able to finish the scarf and the extent of the damage was two extra ends to weave in. Whew!

One battle we’ve chosen not to fight is keeping this from happening:

There used to be about 8 eagle figurines on that mantle. Various media, most of them quite breakable. Including the porcelain Lennox one that took a nose dive onto the hearth and shattered into a thousand pieces. We gave up and cleared the mantle and just let the boys have it. We’re still fighting the dining room table battle.

I’ve made some progress with the spinning this week, but not as much as I expected to. The above cat is the reason – every time I’d sit down to spin when I got home from work he’d come lay down in my lap. And we can’t move a cat, can we? So I’ve made more progress, but didn’t ply this weekend like I expected to.

You haven’t seen my Bootiful Brandi for a while, so here’s a gratuitous gnawing shot. Her little face is almost entirely white now, she’s not quite as muscular as she used to be, but she can still run me ragged when she gets going.

Some progress has been made on the Nuvem, but I’ve been concentrating most of the week on the Baktus. Since the Nuvem grows by 12 stitches every other round it takes quite a while to get around any more. I did work on it last night at Knit In.

Knit In was awesome. Saw Jennifer, which I knew I was going to. Also had a great surprise and got to spend some time with Sarah. I hadn’t seen her in a year or better, and she looked amazing. I miss her, she’s a great person. Jenn and I discovered we’ve both been considering doing something, and decided we might go together. Sarah doesn’t want to play but is willing to go along and hold our hands. More details as we cook them up….

So that whole battle thing? This will be no big surprise to anyone, but I’m just dying to start something else. It’s the Meridien sweater by Joji Locatelli. I have a couple of prospective yarns in my stash, but decided on some Malabrigo Sock I got in 2011 for a different sweater. I’ve changed my mind, it wants to be this.

The picture doesn’t really do the color justice. It’s a shaded solid, closest in color to the unwound hank showing center top.

I went with the middle of the road for this particular temptation and wound the yarn so it’s ready to go when I finish a couple of other things. In the end, I’m very happy with the way my choices have turned out.

Green-blues, purples, reds, and neutrals. No doubt where my color preferences lie. I’m not sure what I’d call favorites, but two standouts are the blonde fiber on the left side of the neutral photo – that’s a silk/baby camel blend from Spinning Straw Into Gold. My spinning proficiency has improved enough that I’m ready to tackle some exotic fibers just to see what they’re like. The other? Well…

Just LOOK at all that sparkle! I may hate it when I actually spin it, but the batt was too much fun to pass up. Plus it’s purple.

There was also some actual festival swag. The bag was included because I took a class, the cup and project bag were extra purchases.

Class on Friday with Beth Smith was outstanding. Once again in the neutrals photo, the bag of small bits of fiber in the upper left is what the class materials fee covered. It’s 8 different kinds of fiber to spin, plus a pattern for a sample shawl. Some of the fibers I’ve spun before, some I haven’t. I’ve got to admit though, I was spun completely out an hour or so before class actually ended. Since we had pretty much talked about everything and were “just” spinning together, I took advantage of the time and got a head start on my shopping. I really thought I’d do better this year and not spend as much.

Right.

I spent about the same as last year, but I felt like I was a little more discriminating with what I bought. I don’t have as much bulk to show for my trip this time, but I’m very satisfied with the packages.

I spent the time in the car down and back knitting on the Nuvem. I’m actually past the half way point, although you can’t really see a huge difference from last week. If you look very closely though, I’ve switched from seed stitch back to smooth stockinette right up by the cable.

I don’t think I ever showed this before, but this seems like as good a time as any. For my birthday last year we had dinner with our friends Kim & Mike and Connie & Matt. I got a bottle of my favorite wine from Kim, and Connie brought me a glass for it. No, really.

The bowl is about a foot deep, and the glass overall is about two feet. I took my leftover little bits of spinning that had just been wound into a big ball and wound them into individual little color bits. Those and a few small leftover bits of yarn have been being tossed into the glass, which is sitting on my hearth. I love the way it looks.

During hang out and knit time Friday night after dinner I worked a bit on the Inspiration socks. Not a whole lot of progress, but I have started the heel flap on the first one.

On the spinning front, I’ve done a bit more work on the current Loop batt. This one has very long color sections, so it may not look very different to you from last week. Trust me – there has been progress.

I have started on my Camp contest, but I’m not far enough along yet to be able to tell if it’s going to work or not. Obviously I’m not going to put pictures up.

The 4th knit along for SSK started April 1. The featured teacher for this one is Jacey Boggs. Jacey is a spinner, not a knit designer. Leslie and Laura decided to just go with her initials, so the KAL is for any pattern starting with “J” or “B”. I’ve been thinking about knitting a Baktus for a long time, so I started one out of some Gale’s Art hand spun alpaca/silk and some black alpaca that’s been in my stash a long time.

I really like the way it’s coming out, but this scarf/shawl is the main reason I said my spinning proficiency has improved. The yarn is a bit uneven which I can live with, but some of it is seriously over spun and/or over plied. The colors are fabulous, but my execution left a little to be desired.

So – here’s hoping you have a Happy Sunday, and that next week is as good for you as last week was for me.

I love spinning these Loop batts. The prep is so wonderful, it’s like they spin themselves. This is one of the March/April/May spin along batts, called Galaxy. I’ll n-ply it once I finish the singles.

Speaking of fighting, the boys are endlessly entertaining. Of course they weren’t really “fighting” they were just playing.

What to do when packages come in the mail? Get happy and rip them open. I needed a really long cable for my Hiya Hiya sharps and GYC didn’t have one in stock. I found them on line, but needed to spend a whole lot more money to get free shipping. So I ordered a pack of special edition TOFUtsies yarn. It’s from 2008 but I really don’t care. It also came with 8 patterns and a little project bag.

The other thing that came this week is the March RSC. I’m not terribly crazy about the color, but the patterns might grow on me. For now it’s popped into the stash while I think about it. I know something will come to mind. That’s how it works with fiber/yarn clubs, sometimes it’s a home run and sometimes it’s a strike out.

What to do when you have a collapsed sewer line and this is going on in your back yard?

You finish these:

That’s the Three Ewes Twisted in Fiber Cashewe, toe up, afterthought heel in the Zombie Brains color way. I hadn’t washed hand knit socks in about three weeks so I ran a load last Wednesday night and wore them Friday. They feel really good on my feet.

We won’t talk about how many pair of hand knit socks I have that I went three weeks without washing them and still had more I could wear. However, it does mean maybe I should look at other things to do with sock yarn besides socks. There’s just a teeeeny bit in my stash after all.

Speaking of other things made from sock yarn, what to do when you fall out of love with a project like this one?

This.

That red Zauberball really wants to become something though, and the blue/green/purple is a really good compliment to it. I’m thinking maybe a pair of stranded mittens.

So after saying I don’t need any more socks, what to do when you’re the passenger on a two and a half our round trip in the car? Start more socks of course.

And why did I need the really long cable mentioned above? The 60″ cable, that’s only about 2″ shorter than me? I needed it to keep going on the Nuvem.

That’s just one end, but you can see how the shaping works. I’m almost done with the second ball of yarn. Just(!) two more and the edging to go and I’m done. I have decided not to do the ruffle it calls for, but an I-cord bind off.

What to do when a sock accidentally winds up in the wash with the jeans? Especially one that’s already borderline felted?

You pitch them. Some things just aren’t worth messing with.

And what do you do when you don’t like how a wash cloth is knitting up, even if it is for charity? You rip that sucker and cast on a different design. Which I did, and it turned out much better.

So, Hag kasher vesame’ah, Happy Easter, or just (if you’re like me) plain old Happy Sunday!

We went to Grand Turk, San Juan, Saint Thomas, and Half Moon Cay (the HAL private island). The seas were too rough for our snorkeling trip at Grand Turk, so it cancelled. Boo! We did a Biolumeniscent Bay kayak tour in Puerto Rico, which was way cool. Except the part where we, the inexperienced kayakers, had to paddle ourselves back through the narrow, twisting channel through the mangrove swamp in the dark to get back to the open ocean. In the very dark. That kind of sucked, but it was fun. On Saint Thomas we went to a place called Ocean Coral World. It was interesting, but I’m not sure I’d do it again. Half Moon Cay was absolutely lovely. The sand was gorgeous and powdery soft. I wish it had been a little warmer and the water a little warmer, but it was still a nice day.

The flights home were uneventful, although we were delayed about half an hour out of Chicago. The plane was delayed on an air traffic hold coming out of Newark. Unfortunately my allergy shots only work on the things they’re formulated for, so the pollens on the islands totally kicked my ass. I’ve always dreaded flying congested, and it was every bit as bad as I was afraid it would be. At least my ear drum didn’t burst, but that’s about all I can say was good about it. So between getting over that and lots of work last week (got home at 10 pm one night) I never did get the blog post done. I did very little knitting last week, so everything is pretty close to where it was when we got home anyway.

Today has not exactly gone according to plan. The second load of laundry was in the washer when Jim flushed a toilet. The kitchen sink made an ominous gurgling sound. I mentioned it but we kind of both shrugged it away. Then every time the washer drained, we heard it again. Yeah – whole house was backed up. Draining, but very very slowly. Jim went and got a snake and couldn’t find anything up or down stream. So, we called Mullen. They came out and he snaked downstream far enough that he got it open. He also came back with a muddy (like in Oklahoma red dirt) snake. Tomorrow they’ll be back to run a camera down and see how bad it is. Shit. Maybe even literally.

But here I am with a post anyway. Because I love you Elaine.

I spent some knitting time on the cruise on a test knit. I’m going to wind up ripping them because I don’t like them, but it needed done. I worked on my Zombie Brains, which is also what I’ve knit on the little bit I’ve had time for this week. I’m almost done with the second sock body, then only have the heels to put in.

This amorphous blob is the Nuvem. I’ve decided to alternate plain stockinette and seed stitch, switching every time I start a new ball of yarn. I’m waiting on a longer cable for my needle tips, but I can keep going for a while longer. I could use two circulars, but for something like this I really prefer to just use a longer needle. This is nice boring soothing round and round knitting, takes almost no concentration.

I finished my Roadside Attraction socks well before we left, but on one of them the cast on seemed too tight. That’s a bit of a surprise because I used the German Twisted cast on, but sometimes it happens. This morning I picked it out, then used EZ’s Sewn Bind Off to finish the top. Much better now.

And because I know Robin someone will ask, no I have not worked on the Hey Girl this week. I want to finish a couple of things first.

I have started a new project this weekend. The DFW Fiber Fest is in a couple of weeks, and their charity project is wash cloths that will be given out at a cancer center when patients finish their radiation treatments. It’s somewhat symbolic, because apparently a common theme among the patients is that they can’t wait to wash off the aiming marks at the end of their treatment. The first one is finished.

The second one is just started. It looks much more complex than it really is. It’s only seed stitch, but changing colors every row. Knitting on a circular needle makes it simple to do.

One of the yarn and fiber vendors I really like here in Oklahoma found out a few days ago her husband has cancer. She’s a warm, lovely lady and he’s a very nice guy. Please keep them in your thoughts and send good healing vibes to them.

On the spinning front, I finished plying my Antony and Cleopatra today. It came out like I wanted, about a worsted weight. Approximately 692 yards, 10 ounces.

I’m not positive what I think about the color combination. Hopefully it will grow on me. I’m figuring I’ll do a sweater out of it, combining it with a commercial solid – probably cream colored since the Antony was a gorgeous set of browns.

Most of the week I’ve been working on the Flapotis for the third SSK KAL. I’ve been making great progress on it.

Obligatory artsy shot:

For some reason the word “googliped” keeps popping into my head when I think about it. Re-reading too much Dan Simmons lately I guess.

I busted Cracker yesterday surfing the web. He swears it wasn’t porn, but I saw he was on YouTube where all those cat videos are….

I’ve done a little bit on the Hey Girl sweater, but not much.

I did finally order some of the Loop! Spinning Clouds. Holy shit this is some soft, lovely stuff. What’s amazing is how much floof is packed into one of those bags.

The loose stuff on top is the same weight and came out of the same size bag as the bunch on the bottom. It’s a little bit deeper in color than that picture shows, but it’s hard to get the richness of some colors with that camera.

No post next week, but there will be one on the 17th.

And finally we have my husbeast who doesn’t like cats. Just ask him!

Uh huh.

It still needs a heel, but it’s going to be a really nice cushy sock.

On the spinning front I’ve got all of Cleopatra spun and half of Antony. I’m just going to ply them together. After all the really thin spinning lately I’m doing this a little fluffier on purpose and it’s going very fast.

This morning I whipped out a couple of these little things.

(sorry for the horrible photo) and Crackhead became Niphead.

He rolled around with that thing for quite a while, then promptly fell sound asleep.

I started the sweater like I threatened to last week. Haven’t got very far yet, in part because I screwed up the cast on and had to redo some knitting. The yarn (tosh Pashmina) is absolutely luscious to knit with.

Working on another test knit. It’s stranded and kind of slow going. I’m not sure I’ll even be able to wear them, because they’re 70 stitches around and that’s generally too big for my foot. I can’t really crank down on the gauge because I’d wind up with the floats too tight and distort the knitting. We’ll see how it comes out.

Jim actually asked me to fix something specific to eat. He wanted chicken and dumplings. I had never made them before, but dove right in. Yesterday I roasted a chicken and we had it for dinner. Afterwards I boiled the carcass, pulled all the meat off, and then made stock from the broth. Today I did the dumplings. Dudes, I did good. That stuff is really yummy. I probably would have made myself totally sick on it, but I held back because there’s also a cherry cake in there. Nom!