Vacation knitting

On the way from NJ to DE, I worked on Maude Louise until the two fronts matched the back and I had to switch to smaller needles and knit the lattice pattern. This is good news! The cardigan had been sitting for a while because the left front seemed much lighter than the right front and the back (in indoor/office lighting which is where I'll wear it). I put aside the "old" piece and reknit it with a different ball of yarn that's closer in color. I didn't bring the smaller needles so I'll have to start the lattice another time.

While in DE, I didn't knit much...just a row or two of Little Lambs.

On the way from DE back to NJ, I worked on Dennis's Socks. Since I couldn't figure out what I'd done on the heel of the first sock, I just knitted this heel in stockinette so it'd at least be flat. It's definitely wider than the first heel flap so I just held it up to sock #1 every once in a while to make sure it would be the same height. (We'll see how that worked out when it's done and my husband tries it on.) I turned the heel, picked up sts, and started on the gusset. I made it to the point where I'd have to dec 10 more stitches to get to the original number of stitches. The end is in sight and next time you hear about these socks, it'll be in the (hopefully positive) official FO post!

[I say NJ rather than NY in this post because my parents babysat my dog and the drive to/from there didn't allow for knitting because I had a squirmy Shih Tzu in my lap!]

Mostly pics

Stitch markers from left to right:

Set of 8 Amethyst Heart Medium Loop Snag Free Stitch Markers (two are in use and are *beautiful* in person!) from janettejed's Etsy shop

Set of 8 Cancun Droplets from crimsonorchid's Etsy shop (check out the holder with matching blue bead)

Set of 10 Dude's Rose Droplets from crimsonorchid's Etsy shop (check out the holder with matching green bead)

As you're able to tell from this picture, I was probably too tired to wind my hank of Montreal yarn into a center pull ball. It seemed to be going well while being wound off the swift but when I finished there was a loop of yarn sticking out and...well, you can see the result. I'll fix it next week...

Knitting Updates:

Last weekend I went on a long-weekend family vacation with my side of the family (husband, parents, sister, brother-in-law). Dennis and I took mass transit to my sister's town and we carpooled; since I was a passenger, I got to knit a good amount of Little Lambs.

This coming weekend, I'm going on a long-weekend family vacation with my husband's immediate and extended family. I will bring a bit more knitting: Little Lambs, Maude Louise, and Dennis's Socks. Updates next week! [I'm bringing all this knitting because we don't have to worry about squeezing into the car but I may need all of it to stay sane! I adore my MIL, FIL, and SIL...it's the extended family part that has me a bit nervous.]

Note added later: The in-law trip ended up being lovely. In the morning everyone put their stuff on the beach in the same spot and then people were able to come and go during the day (shops & boardwalk right there) so you didn't get sick of anyone.

Lily Chin came to town

On Thursday, I went to my first local knitting guild meeting and Lily Chin was the speaker. She talked about inspiration (hers and how we can get it) and brought some of her work along. As you can see above, she asked me to model! [I wasn't the only one modeling for the crowd but I cropped others out because I know some people don't like to be online.]

Before the meeting started she asked me to try on a beautiful sweater because it looked like it would fit me--it did but because it was a bit tight along the bottom, she asked me to keep it on until it was time for her to talk about it. That means I ended up wearing this designer sweater for over an hour! I wanted to sneak out with it but was honest and returned it.

After the program was over, I bought two balls of Lily Chin Chelsea from the LYS owner that was there (from Seaport Yarn in NYC). This souvenir yarn is more of a dusty rose color in person and I love it. :) Fyi, I say "souvenir" because I resisted the urge to buy one of the sweater kits.

More about the meeting itself now. I wasn't quite sure where the meeting location was (and wanted to get a seat) so I showed up early. Everyone was SO nice! Not that people weren't nice at the SnBs I've been to in the past, but I really liked this group of women. One of them told me about a local SnB on Monday nights and urged me to come. I think I'll take her up on her offer, at least until my Fall class starts. It should be fun. :)

Little Lambs came along to the guild meeting and I got to knit a decent amount of it. I've since knit up a bit more and will show a progress pic soon. I'm using one of the sets of stitch markers I ordered from Etsy and they are beautiful! I'm so glad I bought them. The merchandise from the second seller is on its way from Canada but hasn't arrived yet...pics when I've got everything.

heel headaches

I should be done by now but had to rip back the heel, not once but twice. I do not remember how I knit the heel of sock #1 and I suspect I did an incorrect version of the "eye of the partridge" heel from the Yarn Harlot's book.

First I thought I did sl1, k1 all the way across the RS rows and sl1, p1 all across the WS rows but I was knitting up a very very tight couple inches of heel. This was obviously wrong (or I was knitting at a ridiculous tension) so I ripped back to the leg.

Then I started doing the Harlot's "eye of a partridge heel" mentioned above but that looked wrong after a row or two so I switched to her "sturdy heel" that involves purling all but one stitch on the WS rows. This seemed to be the method I used the first time around so I tinked back. As you can see from the picture, this method is not right either. I'm trying to decide if I should rip it back a third time or just let it go since nothing seems to be working and of course I didn't write down that part of my method.

In other (more upbeat) news, David from Sticks and String mentioned in podcast #26 that Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore is hard to get a hold of (and very expensive--currently between $220 and $325 on Amazon), which came as a surprise to me because I have it sitting on my knitting shelf! Back when I worked in a public library, everyone knew I knitted and they would give me discards (books we were throwing away) that they thought I'd be interested in. It's in excellent condition but must not have gotten checked out much. I had no idea I was so lucky! :)

one down, one to go

On Sunday, I "just relaxed" for the first time in who-knows-how-long. I was home alone and spent the day listening to an audiobook and knitting. I took breaks to hang out with my dog (who was scared of the thunderstorms we had all afternoon), eat, and do a bit of laundry. It was just what I needed...

Since Dennis wasn't around, I thought it fitting to knit his socks. By the end of the weekend, I was about halfway done with the foot of sock #1 and had strayed far from the pattern I'd started out with. I basically just used Cat Bordi's basic sock pattern to know how many sts to cast on and what weight yarn to use. After I decided to stop attempting the two socks on two circs method, I kind of did my own thing.

I Kitchener stitched the toe last night and took this scary-looking picture with my camera phone. (Dennis has the digital camera in Ohio.)

I consulted Knitting Rules! to see Stephanie's directions for how to knit socks without a pattern. I've always concentrated so hard on following directions that I never really thought about why the designer told me how many sts to pick up or how many rounds of decreases to do. Those few pages of Stephanie's book shed some light on the subject and gave me the confidence to wing it. I'd like to finish the second sock by the time Dennis gets home but that might be pushing it a bit.

This post is taking away from my lunchtime knitting so I'm goint to get going. Btw, I'm really liking sock knitting and think my stash might need some more sock yarn. After Dennis's Socks are complete, I'm going to cast on for what I'm calling my "Chaussettes de Montréal" (that's "Socks from Montréal" for those who know as much French as me. ;)