Month: July 2011

Summer has finally arrived in the Northland, and its arrived with a vengeance.  This week has been hot and muggy although today is a different story.  With summer has come lessons for the girls and lessons for the dog.  This keeps us busy 3 days a week.  Our weekends are filled with travel and hosting friends.  It’s a rare weekend that leaves us at home and an even rarer weekend that doesn’t have anything planned.  We like it this way – mostly.  The only glitch in our crazy lifestyle is that everyone still expects to be fed and they mostly insist on clean clothes. 

All of this doesn’t leave a lot of knitting time for me.  I know some knitters don’t knit as much during the summer since wool and high temps don’t really go together well, but I’ve never had a problem with this.  Currently, I have 2 shawls, a scarf, and a pair of socks on the needles.  I’m dreaming of casting on for a little sweater for myself, but this needs to wait until I get something off the needles.  I keep thinking that if I carry my knitting with me to enough places it will finish itself.

I’m also getting very excited for Sock Summit.  While organizing my stash (a side effect of the stain that spilled in my basement), I’ve realized that I really don’t need any sock yarn.  I especially do not need any red, blue or green sock yarn.  If you see me at Sock Summit and I have any of these colors (in fingering weight) in my hands, please take it away from me.  Refuse to sell to the crazy lady who has more red, blue and green sock yarn than she could possibly use.  Stage an intervention if you need to.  At the very least, make me walk outside and get a breath of fresh, non-wool scented air.  That being said, there are a couple of things I am looking for.  I kicked myself last time for not getting any Socks That Rock.  Specifically I wanted a Sheep to Shoe kit, but I think that I should skip that this year and just look for their Heavyweight yarn.  I’m just not spinning enough lately to justify the purchase of more fiber.  I also would really like to check out the Sanguine Gryphon’s selections.  I’m open to some new vendors as well a few old favorites (here and here specifically).  I’ve seen some previews of Hazel Knits and I’m excited to see them in person.  I could use more worsted weight as I have several babies that need knitting for. 

I was able to scare up yarn from my stash for each of the classes I’m taking.  It was a close call though; it took a lot of self control not to run to the yarn store for new pretty yarn.  Norwegian stockings – 3 colors of worsted weight in 3 different brands.  Kilt by Association – I just happen to have 2 skeins of Three Irish Girls totalling 860 yds.  Knitting Kids Socks will be leftovers from my Payuma Shawl that I’m working on.  That gives me the incentive I need to finish up the shawl before class.  I know I’ll have enough pink yarn left from the edging to make kid socks. 

I am looking forward to being more adventurous this year and roaming a bit further from the convention center.  I have all day Saturday free with half days off the rest of the time.  I know Portland has a wonderful Farmers Market with street vendors and there’s rumors of a killer Craft Beer tasting every night.  Several locals are offering walking tours of the different neighborhoods in Portland.  I’m quite sure that a good time will be had by all.  I’ll be staying with my friend Knittymuggins and her friend Troy for most of the time. 

Now I’d better go do my Sock Summit class homework or I’ll be in trouble with my teachers!

I love listening to my kids play together.  Right now they are writing some sort of letter together.  Addie is telling her little sister, Lily, how to spell the words.  It goes something like this.

“Lily, write too, t-o-o.” 

“Addie, how do I write it again?”

“Lily, it’s I miss you too.  T-o-o.” 

There are a ton of things that I should be doing right now, but the one thing I want to do is sit here and knit and listen to them be together.  The errands will get done eventually.  Nothing needs to be done so badly that it can’t wait for whatever it is that they are writing to be finished.   

I’ve been in a bit of a finishing up mood lately.  Fabric Works in Superior has started a PhD program.  You work on all your Projects half Done and put your name in for a drawing after each one is complete.  This was exactly the incentive I needed to get some old lingering projects off the needles and clear up some mental bandwidth for newer more exciting projects.

Do you remember the socks I was working on last summer?  These (linked) are the giant socks that I was making for my husband.Right at the toe of the second sock I ran out of yarn.  Roughly 2 inches to go and I was out of yarn.  Sometimes life really isn’t fair. 

This led to a fruitless search for more Madelinetosh sock yarn in Olivia.  I could have bought more online, but wanted to be sure that the lot numbers would be close enough that it wouldn’t be horribly noticeable.  I searched at Stitches and found several complimentary colors that might work.  I brought them all home and had my husband pick the color that he liked the best. 

I proceeded to rip back the first (finished) sock back to the beginning of the toe.  I used that yarn to finish up the half inch or so that was needed on the second sock to get them almost even.  I added in the complimentary color yarn and did one row.  That’s where the socks sat all winter long.  I’m not sure why these needed a break, but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish them. 

My husband is an incredibly patient man.  Not once did he nag me about getting these socks done.  I think he understood how frustrated I was with them not working out the way I wanted.  He sure was happy when they were done though!  In fact, I haven’t gotten a chance to block them yet because they were swept away almost as soon as I’d finished them. 

For those of you with a Boy Scout in your life, you’ll recognize the color scheme.  What can I say?  He’s a man who has worn a uniform of some sort most of his life and he’s drawn to those colors.  As for the pattern, it’s the No Purl version of Cookie A.’s Monkey pattern.