Notice Anything Different?

Why, yes, I am wearing new threads. Orange accents liven up the old gray tones, don'tcha think? It's only temporary, though. Those are my safety lines. You see, as my rows have become longer (I'm a triangular shawl, you know), my knitter has become more and more paranoid about mistakes. She puts in a safety line every ten rows. And when we get to the next section (the one with the n--ps), I bet she'll be doing it every other row. Novice lace knitters are such nervous types.

She has finally finished those Staggered Lace Socks, so now she can devote all her attention to me. The socks are okay; they were pleasant companions in the work basket. But, really -- can mere socks ever compare in beauty and elegance to a SHAWL?

I think the knitter is planning to buy me some new needles too. She's been mumbling about moving up to #8's for the edging. And I think I heard "full set" and "circs" and "Harmony" -- something like that.

A Small Diversion

Not a whole lot of knitting progress has happened here in the past week or so. Some, but not a lot. I finally made it to the LAST REPEAT on the Artic Diamonds Stole (why, yes, I am rather excited about that), got a little further along on the Swallowtail Shawl, turned the heel on the second Staggered Lace Sock. Not much.

So what have I been doing instead of knitting? Spinning, perhaps? Nope.

It all began when this catalog arrived the mail. These folks sell DVD's and CD's of university-level courses which they claim are taught by "the best of the best" professors. I was intrigued. And I found a course on a cool topic that was taught by a professor from my undergraduate college, of which I have always had a high opinion. Of course, I had to order it.

Einstein's Relativity. Wow! My last physics course was in high school, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. But I had no trouble understanding this stuff. I get the whole thing. We even dabbled in quantum physics and quarks. Howsomever, it was not possible to knit during the lectures. Took all my mental faculties to comprehend the material. No brainspace left for yarnovers and such.

Now, having focused on science, it was then only fair to give some time to . . .

Uh-huh. Religion. This course caught my fancy, because I couldn't believe one could have an entire course of 24 lectures on one single book of the Bible. An important book, granted – creation of the world and all that – but still, one book. Genesis is turning out to be fascinating. There are issues of translation it seems, since Hebrew is quite different from English. And there is historical/cultural context. And supporting evidence from archeological digs. Amazing. Still no knitting, though, since I am usually reading related texts as the lectures proceed.

And once I've finished Genesis (I'm about halfway through) next comes – writing skills. Perhaps this will improve the blog. We can hope. And perhaps I will be able to knit during this one. Something simple. Maybe the traveling sock would like to learn about sentence structure.

Naughty and Nice

The Arctic Diamonds Shawl has been behaving badly. I had to send it to the naughty shawl corner for a time out. Twice. No problems with the pattern (snore . . . ). It's when I'm doing the easy parts – a purl-back row or a short stretch of plain knitting – that it gets ideas. Bad ideas. First a yarnover popped off the needle, persuaded a K2tog to join it, and went rampaging downward. I caught the miscreants after five rows, but was unable to fix the section without a five-row tink and reknit. Then a knit stitch, alerted perhaps by the fate of the others, slipped sneakily off the needle. It wasn't until I reached the end of that 25-stitch segment and realized I had only 24 that I began to look for the missing stitch. And while I was carefully reviewing SSK's and YO's, that wayward stitch was creeping stealthily downward. Hah! Gotcha! I caught it four rows down. No trouble this time. A little zip, zip, zip with a crochet hook, and we were back in business. And back to the naughty shawl corner for another time out.

So, of course, I had to start another shawl. This is the bare beginning of the Swallowtail Shawl, my very first triangle. The cast-on directions seemed peculiar, but I followed them carefully, trusting that the designer (Evelyn Clark) knew her stuff, and it worked out fine. You do a provisional crochet cast-on of two stitches, garter them for six rows, then turn the piece sideways and pick up three stitches in the garter ridges, then unzip the crochet chain and pick up those two stitches (7 stitches total). It looks great and only takes five minutes. Perhaps all triangles are done this way. I'll find out after I've knit a few more.

In hopes of creating a shawl somewhat larger than the one in the pattern, I'm using Frog Tree Alpaca on U.S. #7 needles. The yarn label says "sportweight," but with 130 yards to 50 grams, I'd say it's something of a cross between sport and DK. It's quite hairy and fuzzy, not so bad as mohair, but it would definitely not be fun to tink.

So far the Swallowtail has been behaving nicely (unlike some other shawls I might mention). The Budding Lace pattern, which is the bulk of the shawl, is super easy and can even be (oh joy!) memorized. Progress was swift at first, but as the rows became longer, well . . . you know. I still give Arctic Diamonds some knitting time every day; it's coming along. Now that it has some competition, however, perhaps we will see an improvement in attitude.

No More Traveling

However many pairs of socks I have on the needles, one is always designated as "the traveling sock." This is the one that goes on the boat with me when I head overtown (to the mainland). It also gets some knitting time while I wait at the laundromat for the washer and dryer to do their thing. Generally the traveling sock is a super simple pattern on small needles. It's supposed to take a long time to finish. And it does.

I started the GreenApple Socks in February. Six months – not so bad. Here is their formal portrait.

Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern. It's a simple four-row, four-stitch twist that pops up in every stitch dictionary I've ever seen. First you do two two-stitch twists, then a plain round, then twist just the two middle stitches, a final plain round – and that's it. The yarn is Austermann Step. I've knit with it once before but those socks were gifted. This will be my first opportunity to wear socks knit with Step. If it's as soft on the feet as it is on the hands while knitting, it should be a delight.

Since the pattern used 60 stitches, I did my favorite six-gore toe. It's the same idea as a round toe. Handy if you don't have the right number of stitches to divide into eight sections -- you just divide into six. And the same KBH (acronym for a portion of the feline anatomy) ending; no Kitchener stitch. Not that I mind Kitchener, but sometimes I get bored with it. It's nice to zip the yarn through those final few stitches and be done.

Now, of course, there is a new traveling sock, and with an even simpler pattern. "Slipped Stitch Rib" has only two rows. K3, P3 alternates with K1,SL1,K1,P1,SL1,P1. I've used this pattern before to blur the edges of some red Fake Isle yarn. As a beginning sock knitter I loved Fake Isle. No longer. But I love the browns in this skein and it is the very last Fake Isle in my stash. It will have a lot of trips in the laundry cart and on the boat, and some 6-12 months from now, I'll have a nice pair of brown-tone socks.

More Food Books

Many thanks to BeverlyAnne for suggesting I read Ruth Ozeki's "My Year of Meats." It's one of the best fiction books I've read in a while. While the plot does deal to some extent with the horrors of meat processing, the book is actually about life, the world, and everything – cultural differences, mothers and daughters, men and women, ethics, desires, hope. It was great!

And while Sharon thought that I had probably read Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," in fact I hadn't. So I procured a copy from our wonderful library and devoured . . .um, I mean read . . . it immediately. Not only was the story of one family's efforts to eat locally ("locavores" is the hot new label for folks like these) from their own farm and other nearby farms fascinating, but Kingsolver's writing style was so enchanting that I requested one of her fiction books from the library -- "The Poisonwood Bible." I haven't read it yet, but everyone says it's excellent.


And what can I say about Laura Shapiro's "Perfection Salad"? The writing is somewhat academic and threfore a bit of a slog, but well worth the effort. The book covers the era from about 1880 to 1930, exactly the period during which "industrial food" began its ascendance. Ever heard of Fannie Farmer? The Chicago School of Cooking? Votes for Women? It's all here and it's all connected. Some of the menus of the time are hysterically funny too. White sauce on absolutely everything. Even bananas. And apparently Jello was considered a vegetable. Whew!

The Olympics Made Me Do It

I have never finished a second sock so fast.

Yep. We have two Panda Feet. And it's all thanks to the swimmers, rowers, divers, fencers, equestrians, runners, bicyclists, and gymnasts that kept me entertained all weekend. Wow! And apparently some new sports have been added since I last viewed the Olympics. We now have a trampoline event. Extremely cool. And Beach Volleyball. I used to think that was just people playing volleyball in the sand. Nope. It's an official Sport – 2 person teams, national and world championship events, darn exciting to watch.

As a former competitive figure skater (not terribly successful), I've always been a Winter Olympics kind of gal. These are the sports I grew up with. Plenty of snow and ice in those long New England winters. I even had the opportunity to go down the bobsled run at Lake Placid one time (four-man sled with professionals fore and aft and we two trembling amateurs in the middle). Woohoo!!!

But there are a lot more warm-weather sports than cold. And a lot more of the inhabited world that never sees snow. So, I am learning to love the Summer Olympics (except for Water Polo; I can never see who is doing what).

As The Wool Turns

You know those soap operas you can return to after weeks of absence and the same characters are still struggling with the same situations? Well, that's how my fiber life is going.

The second Panda Foot sock is underway, rather more than halfway to the heel. Just chugging along. No excitement here.

And the second Staggered Lace sock is also underway, although not so far along.

And remember this shawl? Uh-huh, still knitting. I've finished another 64-row repeat. Four down, two to go. Completion in September, I'm guessing.

In the spinning department, I have finished another ounce of "Say a Little Prayer" merino. That's two down and SIX to go. At the current rate of progress, I will have four lovely 50-gram, 200-yard skeins sometime next year.

So what do I do for fiber thrills? Heh. Planning and plotting, of course. I definitely have enough Frog Tree Alpaca sportweight for a Swallowtail Shawl, although some changing of colors will be necessary – dark grey, light grey, cream – all good together. Probably on #7 needles. And the Bee Fields Shawl is next on the agenda, but I don't have the yarn yet. Hmmmm, perhaps I can snag some Wollmeise from the Loopy Ewe.