Under the wire

It was time to cowboy up and do something about the lone sock that was slowly sinking to the bottom of my knitting basket. I can't stand to see a handknit go to waste (unless it's really, really ugly). One of the nice things about the Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn is that the skeins come in amounts suited for one sock. I searched for "possum merino sock yarn" in the "Martha's Vineyard" colorway (the colors do represent MV now that I think about it. Blue like the ocean, green and purple like the grapes, and brown like my sister-in-law's upchuck that time she drank too much on vacation).

Checking through some sites like Yarn Market and Yarndex Knitting, it became clear that the Martha's Vineyard colorway had been discontinued--in 2005. Little late for that one, eh? More troubling was it seemed that the possum-merino sock yarn had been discontinued. I started to internally panic...the sock might linger forever without a mate, going through life desperately lonely.

But BargainYARNS came through for me:

A pretty decent match, if I do say so myself. My anal-retentive half wants to take apart the first sock and mix the two yarns together, but that would be the third time that I've knit this damn sock. MUST RESIST THE PSYCHOSIS.

Necessity being the mother of invention, and all that.

Last weekend I found myself on a three-hour flight to SC armed with a knitting project utilizing cables, cables, and some more cables ('twists' really, but same concept) but no extra needle for cabling. 'Why,' you might be saying, 'don't you just cable without a needle?' I've been down that road. I've been referred to the tutorials and expected some big revelation about craftily switching stitches around--then learned that the big secret is 'just try to hold on to the loose stitches'. Apparently this works for some people, but they must be pretty loose knitters (you hussies). I didn't find this technique any faster seeing as how half the time I was picking up dropped stitches and inventing new combinations of obscenities. Pretty much any time live stitches are parted from the needle, my heart rate doubles.

So it was time for a little improvisation. Pen? Too thick. SkyMall magazine? Entertaining, but no (do people actually buy that stuff?). The only thing I had that was remotely stiff and pointy was a key ring. Since it seemed like such a terrible idea, naturally I tried it out. And it was actually pretty sweet--faster than a conventional cable needle and much more convenient for travel. I wanted to share in case there were other tight knitters out there looking for cable needle alternatives.

Therefore, I present to you:


Something in between cabling with a needle and cabling without a needle (working title)

Key ring inexplicably attached to my Wisconsin Public Radio water bottle. Carrying that bottle automatically ups my hipster cred approximately 5000 points.

Easily bent to allow access to one of the ends.

Slip the stitches to be cabled onto the ring.

Let the ring dangle in front or in back of the work, depending on what type of cable you're doing.

Slip the stitches back onto the needle (I tried not to knit too tightly, but if you do, at this step you can give the ring a gentle pull to get some more slack in the stitches).

The ring rests conveniently on your thumb as you go your merry way. This was the part that majorly sped everything up.

I think I'm going to call the ring my 'cable key'. I won't be traveling without it.

Breaking the rules

Alexandra over at Wool & Cotton had a post a few days ago putting words to a problem that I didn't even consciously realize I had: a set of self-imposed rules. "Don't buy more yarn, you already have plenty you haven't used." "You can't make that, it's the middle of winter and that's a bikini." "No, not that yarn for that pattern. You won't use all of it, so it's not practical."

Well screw you, brain--I'm paying you to think, not to be a total buzzkill. I saw that Leah from Good Enough published her first pattern recently--it was a pretty cowl and looked soft, and I wanted to make it. I don't care that a) it's not winter any more, b) I'm using the last of my yarn from my NZ honeymoon, or c) it probably won't use the whole ball of yarn.

This is what rebellion looks like:




Soft and wavy, apparently. Viva la resistance!

Ace Fingerless Mitts

The Ace Fingerless Mitts pattern is up and running on Ravelry! Thanks again for the photo selection advice. Here's the spiel:

The Ace Fingerless Mitts will help you stay warm and cozy while keeping your fingers free to grip your morning coffee or pet a friendly pup. The unique construction of these mitts allows the cables wrap all the way around from the back of your hand to the palm, while buttons add additional flair.

Our furry friends give us a lot (including much of our yarn!) and sometimes we need to give back – all proceeds from this pattern will be donated to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (http://www.aspca.org/).

Required skills include - knitting and purling through the back of the loop, picking up stitches, and crossing and cabling stitches.






The pattern is $2.00 US, and is available as a PDF download. Knit on!

Back in the saddle

Can I show you something I'm proud of?


This has to be the fastest I've ever knit a pair of socks. Granted, it's probably the simplest sock type one can do, top-down stockinette, but I really like them. In fact, I'm wearing them as we speak.


These were knit on the fly: no real pattern to speak of except a little heel advice from my Folk Socks book. After 'the incident' I thought it was going to be a long while before I started another pair of socks, but I have so much sock yarn in my stash and sock projects travel so well, I couldn't resist the siren call.


The stripes meant lots of ends to weave in, which is no one's fave thing to do (undoubtedly there's someone out there who's like, 'I love sewing in the ends!'. Well hush, you're a crazy person). I enjoyed just about every other aspect of making these though, so I'm back in the sock saddle again (I don't know if that would be a saddle made out of socks, or a saddle for a sock. Either way).

Letting Go or: Why are there so many tiny balls of yarn rolling around the house?

If cable TV was a proportionally accurate representation of society, you'd think America has a hoarding epidemic--everyone a perilous moment away from becoming trapped under a fallen stack of newspapers from the 1980's or dying of mold related illness from that months old sandwich we were saving 'just in case'. While this might be a bit of an exaggeration, I think it's just human nature to treasure and want to hold on to certain things. I know plenty of knitters have massive stashes of yarn, such that they might as well open up their own yarn shop. My stash is pretty small. But I do have a little (heh heh get it?) confession.

My name is AC, and I'm a tiny yarn ball hoarder.


Mmmmm. Wool/alpaca blend. Hand-painted. From Truckee, CA, I love Truckee. But it's not like I don't have two, count 'em, two items made from this yarn if I want to reminisce. I know that there's little chance that I'm going to make anything with this. And yet, I can't seem to get rid of it. I have a whole bucket of these:



And I don't see the supply getting any smaller. Maybe eventually I'll have enough for one of those ball play pits....that would be pretty sweet.

Thundersnow

That would be an awesome superhero name. Alas, I knew that there was a possibility the SOSHSBP may have been premature (and nobody likes that). It's snowing.


And intermittently hailing.


And thundering while it does these things.


I like to think I'm a good sport about cold weather, but come on. I was describing the situation via the interwebs to a friend in Denver, who replied that it sounded like a real shitstorm. Now that I think about it, the only way it could get worse would be actual feces descending from the sky.

Thanks for all of the great comments so far on the mitt pictures. People have raised some really good points, and I've decided I need to get some additional pictures that show the palms. I'd go outside and take some, but you know. Nature be hatin'.