The Angora Hairshirt

stitches have been cut.

I know I've been a tease about finally getting around to cutting the steeks on the cotton Dale baby sweater I've been working on for AGES.  But last night, stitches were finally cut.  Did you hear the screams?

Step One:  Pour a stiff drink, just in case things don't go well.

Step Two: sew, sew, sew

Step Three: Take a deep breath... and... CUT!

Step Four: Admire and pray.  Even if you don't believe in prayer.  Pray anyway.

Step Five: Bask in moment of triumph.  Go get drink from Step One, you'll need it.
Step Six: Realize moment of triumph will be followed by joyless hours of seaming, weaving in, and still more sewing and cutting, then picking up for neckband and button band, and just be content to get one sleeve done.

The Missing Link: Socks, Monkeys & Rockford's Industrial Past

I had no idea what a minefield I was about to step into this afternoon...

I've been thinking about all the little knits I could bust out from the stash and in a short time to get the holiday gift stash going, and came back to the sock monkey hat from knitty.  I love it -- it's hideous but hysterical, like all things sock monkeyish.

My sister and brother-in-law seemed to be perfect candidates for such a hat: they live in a cold climate, they're fun and a little bit goofy (my sister refuses to cook the Helly Kitty pasta I once sent her because it's "just for show"), and they live someplace where no one cares about maintaining a dignified, professional air (Rockford, IL).  I thought they would eat it up!

WOW was I wrong.  My sister's immediate response to my "will you wear this if I make it for you?" was, and I quote: "HEY-ALL NO!"  I replied, incredulous at her dismissiveness.  Who knew sock monkeys were such a sensitive subject?!

So she educated me.  Apparently sock monkeys and Rockford have a bit of a history... I'll just cut and paste straight from her e-mail to me, which pretty much says it all  -- ENJOY!:

http://www.midwayvillage.com/default.asp?page=upcomingevents&nav=upcomingevents&neventid=9

http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A4578

http://www.geocities.com/BubbasSockDrawer/SockMuseum.htm

'nuff said? If not, how about...

Cheap Trick star Rick Nielsen clowns with the new Cheap Trick sock monkey statue after he and the artist, Jane Petersson Hooker, unveiled it in Rockford.

A bad boy is coming to town. And he might smell bad. The city's newest sock monkey, inspired by hometown favorite Cheap Trick, will be unveiled today. Unlike other monkeys, this one has a cage, because he totes a 12-string electric guitar taken fresh from Cheap Trick

"And he might smell bad."  Hee!  Why no, I did not know that the sock monkey originated in Rockford, IL, nor that the red-heeled sock that is its signature was known as the "Rockford Sock," and was manufacturered by a sock company started by the inventor of a sock knitting machine.  I don't know why, but I feel like this revelation satisfies a week's worth of "you learn something new every day."

Too good to be made up: the title of this post was the name of an exhibit at the 2006 Sock Monkey Madness Festival.  Not to be missed -- the middle school's sock monkey display and the "Olympic Training Course for Kids & Monkeys" ?!?!

The socks WILL rock...

I am confident that I will get some rockin' socks out of this yarn, but it seems as though maybe the mill that sells yarn to Blue Moon Fiber Arts may not rock so much.

Foremost, let me say that I am muy impressed that the first business day after I sent my perhaps slightly cranky e-mail to Blue Moon's customer service e-mail address, I received a prompt and polite e-mail from Tina Newton of Blue Moon stating (in excerpt):

Sorry about  the inconvenience. We have had a problem with our mill. We try to catch these but  unfortunately some do get through. We have been told by the mill that this is just how it is,which is unacceptable to us. So we are working on rectifying this situation.

They offered to replace my yarn, which is generous and speaks of an enterprise that would like to maintain its excellent reputation, not to mention win new fans.  I have to say that if they are indeed successful in getting their mill issues in order, they will definitely have a new fan in me.

Really? Without tears?

Well, the moment has arrived.  After many delays (it's been a long, strange September), I have finally arrived at the time to cut my knitting:

Look, ma, no ends!  (please, pretend the pattern matches up in front... that's what I'm doing)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the realization that I had reached this point sent me scrambling for my copy of Knitting Without Tears.  Not that EZ's tome has any specifics to offer the knitter trying to cut steeks for the first time, but with all this Zimmermania talk, it got me thinking that it's time to finally read her book and make sure I know how to avoid the tears.

Not long after I had taken up knitting in late 2004, I learned that a good friend of mine was a closeted lifelong knitter.  For Christmas that year, she presented me my copy of KWT, inscribed "Dear Janet, Meet Elizabeth Zimmerman, goddess of the knit & purl.  Happy knitting!"

I should have read it at the time.  But by then I was already a rebellious knitting adolescent -- damn the rules!  I had immediately cast aside scarves and seamless raglan sweaters, and was jumping straight to colorwork and complicated cables and DPNs and whatever else looked really cool and I knew I could figure out if I had to.  One flip through the book, and I was dismissive -- too simple, too basic -- I was already beyond such elementary skills.  How my friend had underestimated my progress!  Ha!

Only now, nearly two years later, when my knitting skills are still basic but are decidedly improved, am I ready to accept the wisdom of simplicity and mastering (and being opinionated about) the basics.  Back then, I was brazen.  I did not understand why anyone would worry about knitting with tears.  Now I know better.  And since just trying to cook dinner for a few friends on my birthday last week reduced me to a weeping heap, I think maybe I should give some serious thought to knitting without tears before I take scissors to this hard-won knitting accomplishment. 

I've got a lot of potentially tear-inducing knitting challenges ahead of me this fall: finishing this baby sweater, working through the first garment of my own design, finally getting the *%(*&@! Rogue sweater done for my sister in time for Christmas, and oh so many other KIPs and projects in waiting that I'm ashamed to admit it.  With all this ahead of me, sadly I cannot participate in Zimmermania.  Instead, I will have my own little Zimmermanita -- I will put down the knitting "work" I've made for myself once in a while to nurture my inner Elizabeth Zimmerman.  I will read her book.  I will get back to basics.  After all, most of the things that seem to be able to reduce me to tears are the basics -- with the complicated things I'm paying close attention, and rarely make a mistake -- it's those basic things that I take for granted that lead to screw-ups and the frustrations that make me want to drop a project and never pick it up again.  And then I will take a deep breath, take time to swatch, and dive back in.

For your entertainment until I have some more interesting knitting to show, watch Lola, feared huntress of the ribbon jungle stalk and capture her prey.  Birthday season is the training ground for the great predators of the ribbon jungle.  Then she will rest until Christmas, the main event.  As we speak, she is asleep on the polka-dot bag.

socks that suck?

It's pretty, isn't it?  Appearances are deceiving.  I actually had some pretty little twisted rib pattern (not unlike what Eunny's been up to) in mind.  And for yet another break in my never-ending Norwegian knitting with cotton hell, I picked up this skein of Socks That Rock this morning to cast on for a pair of socks for me (no, obviously I am not being medicated for my ADD).

Here's my beef: there are THREE knots in this skein.  THREE.  You can see one of them front and center there in the photo.  There is also one major flaw that will require me to cut it out.  And that's just what I noticed while winding the hank into balls.

Am I being unreasonable?  This pretty much ruins the skein for me.  It strikes me as being more problematic than with yarns destined for garments or other projects where I will be weaving in ends anyway, where there are good places to hide extra ends, and where the gauge is more forgiving of imperfections.  I've found an overabundance of knots in other yarns, but with sock yarn it really bugs.  Am I being too picky?  If not, what would you do, complain to the store?  Complain to the manufacturer/distributor?  Just suck it up and weave in ends on socks :-( ?

Rapid-Fire Update:  I went ahead and e-mailed Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  They should know, and they should fix whatever their QC issue is.  I was convinced to do this after a quick Google revealed that I am far from the only person who has had knotty problems with STR -- maybe I should be happy that I'm not this poor woman, who found SEVEN knots in a single skein!  http://earthwhisper.wordpress.com/2006/07/25/sotr-knots/

I'll keep y'all updated if I get any response from Blue Moon.

The International Language

(excuse me while my mind wanders through the movie "Better Off Dead" -- you know, the international language)

Anyway, today it seemed that knitting was an international language.  I skipped out of work a bit early today and dropped by a most fantabulous beauty supply store (where Rita Hayworth's haircolor and Bette Davis' makeup came from, no less!), where the lovely saleswoman was kind enough to refer me to the shop across the street for a quick (and desperately needed) mani/pedi.  Okay, the part about the store is a propos of nothing, but I love a good beauty supply store, almost as much as an art supply store.

The only thing I had on hand to keep me amused while my nails were being attended to was the new Rebecca mag, which I had because I had just picked it up this morning.  So while they scrubbed and buffed, I giggled at the always-amusing awkwardly translated Rebecca captions (there are some real doozys this time: "Walking through freshly fallen snow can feel so romantic -- and also quite wet!"  Ew.)  The manicurist kept looking quizzically at the magazine in my lap until I finally freed a hand long enough to turn to one of the pattern pages and she exclaimed:  "...

Okay, I have no idea what she exclaimed.  It was in Korean.  But she said something.  Several times.  And somewhere in it, I heard "knit."  So I said "yes, yes, I knit!"  And a smile grew across her face and she started talking again.  I assume she was speaking English now, as she was looking straight at me, and it was obvious that I do not speak Korean (but oh how useful it would be here in L.A...).  Still, no clue what she was saying.

Anyway, the details really aren't interesting, but the remainder of my mani-pedi time was spent turning back and forth, as though at a tennis match, between the manicurist and the bilingual proprietor, talking about knitting, explaining that, no I am not a professional knitwear designer (I wish!), I am a lawyer (for some reason, this made all three women in the shop giggle), learning that she had owned a knitting shop in Korea, and giving her tips and directions to find supplies in L.A. -- turns out she didn't really know where to go!  So not only did I get to meet a fellow knitter -- which I always love -- but I got to yarn enable in a foreign language!  All that, and a lovely pedicure, too!

I'm calling it "day glo tomato."  And that's one of the last home-grown tomatoes of the season, too.  Sigh.

A lovely break in what has been a crazy day.  Before I dive into my night job:

LOOK AT ALL THOSE ENDS, WILL YOU?!?!

Must finish sleeves, then CUT STEEKS!, then pick up and knit button bands and neckband, and I wanted to have this done before he was born and now he's 5 days old -- why am I always running late?  Well, at least I'll have mastered at least one Dale pattern then before I take on Lillelam.  Hopefully I'll at least get started on that before Nancy finishes hers.

I've been meaning to put some more yarn up here to give away as part of the stash purge -- there's some good stuff coming up, trust me.  But as you can see, I've got some serious baby sweater work ahead of me, not to mention some little surprise projects, and a little bit of life drama, so it will probably be tomorrow before I get it done.  Which means you should expect to see it Friday-ish.

what might have been my pillow can be your ...... ? -- TAKEN!

Krista will be making some cozy fair isle headwear with this lucky yarn -- can't wait to see it!

random stash purge -- lot 4

Felting is so cool.  But felted items are not so practical for me, living in the heat of southern California and with cats to whom felted wool is irresistible.  And then I got a front-loading washer and it was pretty much all over.  A felted project is going to have to be pretty compelling to get me to the laundromat.  This was going to become some pillows for my sofa.  But my cats' loss can be your gain:

Seven skeins of Elann Peruvian Collection Highland Wool (I know, you'd swear there were only six.  But there's one more.  It's just camera shy).

100% wool
19 sts over 10cm on US6-7 (4-4.5mm) needles
100m/109yds per 50g skein
2 each of colors 1150 (caramel) and 3729 (reddish brown), 1 each of 2768 (butter yellow), 3103 ("allspice"), and 7725 (golden yellow)

I made some really great coasters from this pattern as a housewarming gift from a couple other balls of this yarn.  Maybe you need some housewarming gifts?  Or maybe you have a completely different idea...

As in Versace. But so not Versace.

random stash purge -- lot 3

That's a whole bunch of Gedifra Donatella.  There might be another ball or two around here somewhere (I think I might have some chocolate brown, and maybe another ivory), in which case I'll toss it in with the rest.  One ball of blue is wound into a ball, the others are untouched, if a bit messy from being tossed around during stash dives.

The plan was to make a whole bunch of cute little bootie slippers from this pattern to give to all my girlfriends for Christmas... Ha!  That was when I had only been knitting a couple months and still had eyes much bigger than my needles (has that changed?...)

Gedifra Donatella
10 sts and 13 rows to 10 cm on 9mm needle
65m per 50g ball
80% wool, 20% polyamide

What do you think?  What could you make from this?

Sock yarns seeking their destiny...

random stash purge -- lot 2

Okay, for these 4 balls, it's pretty obvious what you will probably make with them.  But when you do, please share!  These poor little balls have sat neglected in my house for some time.  They just want to be socks, already!

2 balls "Sock it to Me! Collection -- Puzzle" from Elann
210m/230yds each (50g)
75% superwash wool, 25% polyamide
30 sts and 42 rows per 10 cm on 2.5-3mm needles
colors: white, grey, hot pink, light orange, and green

2 balls Patons Kroy - 54108 "Chelsea Tweed"
175m/192yds each (50g)
75% washable wool, 25% nylon
28 sts 10 cm on 3.25mm needles
plied strands: 3 shades of blue and 1 dark green.  Good for men's socks.
Here's a closeup knitted:

I've swatched from one ball of each -- without breaking the yarn, so all balls are complete.

Who out there really wants some kooky-color socks?  Compulsive sock knitters who just need a fix?

Hey

y'all saw this, right?  Too cute.