Ishbel, interrupted

I must be loose. A looser knitter than Emilee, anyway. She finished her gorgeous Ishbel with less than one skein of Malabrigo sock yarn. That seduced me into thinking I could do the same. As I neared the end, I realized that I wasn’t going to make it. I weighed the remaining yarn and found that it takes a little more than one gram per row. I had 10 grams of yarn left. And 10 rows to go. And a bind off row. Ouch. I really didn’t want to buy another $20 skein for about 3 grams of yarn.

interrupted

I kept knitting. Now I have three rows left to knit, plus a bind off row. This tiny ball of yarn isn’t going to make it.

Luckily, there is a Ravelry group called Malabrigo Junkies, and they have a forum thread titled “ISO/FT/FS.” In English, that’s “in search of/for trade/for sale.” Since I only needed a little, I posted there. Within a couple hours, I had a reply. KellyInTexas is my hero!

I love a happy ending, don’t you?

Single Skein Club is leading me down the path to Sock Summit

It’s June, and that means it’s time for the next installment of Twisted’s Single Skein Club. This club has updates every other month. I still haven’t knitted April’s project, a cool toe-up sock by Chrissy Gardiner. But I will conquer my toe-up aversion soon. Sock Summit is coming!

Enough chit-chat. If you don’t want to see what’s in June’s package, avert your eyes.

Still here? Let’s see!

june pkg

Look at this yarn! Malabrigo Lace yarn, one skein (of course). The color is “glazed carrot,” and that’s a great description. It’s not plain orange. There’s a depth to the color that looks like it has a brown sugar glaze.

carrot

The exclusive club pattern is the Seedling Sampler Scarf by Sarah Pope. It has three lace patterns in it, and best of all, it has beads! The beads are a bronzy color (I thought they were purple in the shop, go me) and look like seeds. The beads are strung onto the yarn before knitting. How? With this cool collapsible bead needle! I’m going to be using this needle for my other beading projects, too, so this is a great tool. And there’s a sweet SSC stitch marker to round out the package.

june goodies

I think the gals at Twisted are leading me down the garden path to Sock Summit. First there’s that toe-up thing. Yup, need to know that for a couple of my classes. Now there are the beads. I’m taking a bead class at Sock Summit, too, but I think we’re adding beads as we go, instead of pre-stringing. But still…

Speaking of Sock Summit, DH is bemused by how excited I am about the prospect of a knitting conference. I’ve gone to other conferences before (Stitches and TKGA) but the buzz around those is nothing like the Sock Summit buzz. I keep telling him that it’s the power of personality (Stephanie and Tina), and it’s almost like a cult. DH has also been fascinated by the whole Sock Summit registration ruckus. He’s in marketing, and you can see his take on it here.

And because it’s the beginning of June, I have to show you where that pile of bark mulch ended up:

stones

front flowers

Two thirds of it is in the front and side yards. The last third has made it to the back yard, but it’s in a pile! Soon and very soon…

Looking ahead

Ishbel’s knitting should be finished in the next few days, so I’m looking ahead to a new project (besides all the socks that will be happening for Sock Summit).

At our recent knit nite, Leigh Radford was wearing her Ruffle Tank (Rav link). This was featured in Interweave Knits Spring 2003, and also in The Best of Interweave Knits. I was smitten with the simplicity and elegance of her design.

Although the yarn specified is all linen (Louet Euroflax sport weight), I opted for Louet MerLin Sport, a blend of 60% wet-spun linen, and 40% merino wool. It was mostly a color decision; I liked this blue better than the Euroflax colors at Twisted. But I’m also hoping that the wool will make the linen a little easier to work with, too.

pattern yarn

The MerLin has 20 yards less per skein than the Euroflax; I’ll see how close I am at the end and decide if I need all four ruffles, or only three. I have the advantage of being short, so I’ll use less yarn in the length, too, and that may save me right there.

I seem to have done a lot of dreaming about this tank already, but I’m not letting myself cast on, or even swatch, until I’m done knitting Ishbel. I know how diverting a new project can be, and I don’t want Ishbel to languish!

School supplies

Remember how thrilling it was to get your school supplies each fall? The smell of new pencils and crayons…

Now imagine buying supplies for Sock Summit classes. Even better, right? Especially with a friend! Anna is taking two classes with me, so we went bead and yarn shopping this morning.

Here’s what I have:

supplies

Both yarns are Louet Gems sport weight. Yes, sport is as thin as I’ve knitted for socks. And I figure I’ll get further, faster with a fatter yarn!

The lilac yarn is for Star Athena’s Sock Design Workshop. The supply list said sock yarn, not too busy and not too dark. Perfect. Even more perfect is that this is the same color I’m using for Kai-Mei, and if I run out before I’m finished with the toe, I’ll just borrow a little of this. It may not be the same dye-lot (I haven’t checked), but it’s better than nothing! And it was very fun shopping for supplies at Twisted, because Star was there and now she’s met Anna, too.

The white yarn is for Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding. And the beads are for…yeah, you guessed it. I think that some plain white yarn is fine, because I want to see what’s going on with the beads! You may find it boring, but remember, it’s just practice! Perhaps a cute sock cuff, or fingerless mitts. By the way, Dava Bead in Portland is a place of great temptation. I buy a lot of my beading supplies there.

And for Cat Bordhi’s Dancing with Socks class? I’ll probably just play with some natural colored worsted that I use for teaching. Or go shopping again. I was much more restrained than Anna, so I may have to catch up…

Sock Summit: I’m in!

That was a wild romp with the Sock Summit server this morning! It kept timing out, but the clock was still ticking, and I'd go back in and see that whatever it was that I tried to add didn't make it, so I had to try again. I finished registration with 48 seconds to spare (they gave a 15 minute hold).

I’m sorry that it didn’t go as smoothly as planned, after all the hard work into the wee hours by Stephanie and Tina. (Stephanie’s updates on twitter were quite informative.) If you didn’t get in, try again; classes that were being held during those 15 minute hold periods go back to the queue if the registration doesn’t go through, and apparently there was also a server glitch that made things look full when they weren’t.

Here’s what I’m taking:

Dancing with Socks with Cat Bordhi
Sock Design Workshop: Know the Rules, Then Break Them with Star Athena
Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding (one hour wonder)

I’m looking forward to these classes, and to just checking out the market and hanging out with knitters!

And because I can’t run a post without a picture, here are the stitch markers I made to use in Cat Bordhi’s class. The picture is a re-run, but it’s a picture!

markers

Tourists at home

The fun thing about having guests from out of town is that you can play tourist at home. My in-laws are here for the holiday weekend, and CollegeGuy is home for their visit. Fun!

neighbors

Friday we had a late afternoon sail on the Columbia River. I bought this trip at the youth fundraiser auction in March, and what better time to use it than a gorgeous holiday weekend? The weather was perfect.

phil

dryver

guys

The Teen and CollegeGuy each had turns at the, uh, helm? What do I know from boats? It’s a 30 foot Catalina, and it was sweet. We had a leisurely trip east up the river past the Glenn Jackson Bridge, and then a more rambunctious trip back down the river, tacking with the wind. (Note the angle of the boat versus the horizon.)

horizon

hang on

It was an exhilarating afternoon. Thank you, Kirk, for a great time!

tilt a wind

Saturday we headed up to Timberline Lodge. It’s a WPA project, completed in 1937. So grand!

timberline

At 6000 feet above sea level, there is skiing and snowboarding action, even in the summer. The kids (!) felt compelled to get into the snow, too. Check out The Teen’s rolling flip.

kings

flip

There’s a great view of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters to the south. This is from the Raven’s Nest on the third floor.

ravens nest

I love the way the snow is higher than the windows…on the second floor.

snow window

Did you know that “The Shining” was filmed here? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

redrum

Not much knitting going on this weekend, but I’m through the first 8 rows of lace on Ishbel. I can see the pattern, and I like it.

Ishbel exorcism

Mmmmmm. Malabrigo! I bought this purple Malabrigo Sock yarn, color is Violeta Africana. I really wanted blue, but Twisted didn’t have any, and I needed to cast something on in a hurry. My knitting mojo was at stake.

iris

Looks like this will work just fine. It’s the color of grape soda. The camera can’t quite catch the fizzy goodness; it’s not as blue as you’d think from the picture. But I’m knitting, and I’m happy. One of the problems of not having many projects on the needles is that when one project stops, there aren’t many alternatives. I’m still looking for a good mindless knit project. Right now, Ishbel can be it, until it gets to the lace.

I’m hoping that my next project doesn’t require a yarn change, because I’ve just had two in a row. Ouch.

In other knit news, Sock Summit registration opens on Tuesday at 10 a.m. I still haven’t decided what I want to take, but now the pressure is on!

And in non-knitting news, the Adult Beginner Forum’s quarterly recital went live on the 15th. I haven’t been playing much, but I had this worked up in March before I fell off the piano wagon, and it came back pretty quickly. It’s another waltz from Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados. This is vals no. 6, also called Vals Sentimental. I love how melancholy and sentimental this is. I envision a woman looking at faded photographs of her long ago love. She goes into quite a reverie in the second half of this piece. But it’s so over, baby…just like I’m over that silk Ishbel.

Where’s Ishbel?

Where’s Ishbel? Oh, um, she’s sleeping.

With the fishes.

ishbel off needle

True confession time: I don’t like working with this beautiful yarn. It’s too skinny for me, and not as slick as I wanted it to be. You know how a silk garment is either really smooth, or has a “dry” texture? This one’s dry.

I ran across a mistake last night, and tried to figure out how to fix it (lost a stitch somehow). Was getting nowhere, so I tinked two rows. Slowly. Not well. So I decided to frog down to the beginning of the lace (8 rows). Only to find that THIS YARN DOESN’T FROG WELL. Not slick. But slick enough that it doesn’t want to go back on the needles without dropping stitches. Getting it back on the needles is not gonna happen.

And as I said a few posts ago, life is too short to knit with yarn I don’t love.

I think I’d love this pattern with a different yarn, though. Fingering weight. Yeah, that’s the ticket. And look at Emilee’s gorgeous Ishbel, made with one skein of Malabrigo Sock! Great stitch definition, size 6 needle (I peeked at her Ravelry project page). I was using a 6 with the laceweight, and it’s just like playing with cobwebs. I think I need to go shopping…

Baby Bolero, fini

Once I had a yarn I liked, this project just danced off the needles!

bo fini

bo fini back

All washed, blocked, and ready to pop into the mail.

Baby Bolero from One Skein by Leigh Radford
2 Balls Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton
Size 8 needles, plus a Size 9 circular for the ribbing

Mods: I changed the eyelets on the left side of the motif from k2tog to ssk to emphasize the holes, and I picked up the sleeves at the armholes and knit circularly down to the cuffs to avoid seams. Also, I couldn’t pick up the specified number of stitches for the ribbing trim; I picked up what felt like a reasonable number (a lot, but less than specified). It just needs to be a multiple of 4. I would happily make this sweater again; it’s quick and cute. When I knit it again, I may decrease the sleeves down more so that they’re narrower at the cuff; these are cute, but wide.

A few more FO’s: These are thank you gifts for some of the Day Old Pastries, my singing/guitar/mandolin buds, who helped with music at our women’s retreat a couple weekends ago. Feels like a long time ago, but it’s been busy around here!

gullwing

IMG_3418

miter

diagonal

Here’s a close-up of the edge. I like it because it’s narrower and lacier than the two stitch edge you usually see.

edge

I’m pairing these with some nice soaps, and away they go.

Piled higher and deeper…

I woke up this morning, and realized that I hadn’t done my homework. Sounds like a bad high school nightmare, doesn’t it? But high school was long ago, and my homework was very manageable at breakfast.

swatch cake

Three swatches for Knitting Tips and Tricks with Lily Chin at the TKGA Show. I’ve always wanted to take a class with Lily, and the last time I tried, the class was sold out before I could register. This time it worked out, and I’m glad it did. She’s an excellent teacher, and I now have a bunch of new techniques, including a new cast on, a new bind off, and a better buttonhole. And the answer to “what happens when you run out of yarn in your long tail cast on?”

lily

Thanks, Lily!

Friday I had a load of fine hemlock bark mulch delivered. I’ve never done this before, so I wasn’t sure how much to get. The expensive part is the delivery, so I ordered 3 cubic yards instead of 2 since it didn’t cost that much more. Looks manageable, right?

mulch pile 2

Maybe it depends on how you look at it. (I’ve already taken off about a foot from the outside, because it was getting run over by cars.)

mulch pile

I weeded the front and side beds yesterday, and we spread some of it this evening. There’s still about half the pile out there; I may have over-bought. But we haven’t done the left side of the flowerbed yet. I’ll put it all…somewhere. Just deeper!