one done ...

Even the toe look good:



That was a steep curve after my first toe. This time I knew I needed half of the total stitches on the needle for the top of the foot. All the decreases worked out this time, and kitchenering looked so much better. Yay!

I got about halfway on the cuff of the second sock but had to stop because 1408 was super creepy and I kept forgetting to knit. I'm glad I watched the horror movie about a hotel *after* my vacation, thanks.

It's Friday morning though and I am going to finish the second baby sock today and then tackle the toe of my mom's first sock!

I've been slacking on finishing my mom's first sock. I think I know what will cure me ...

knitting a pair of baby socks this afternoon! Yep, that is my goal. I have some Caron Simply Soft in an awesome shade of cornflower blue. I'm going to knit my co-worker a pair of baby socks for her baby boy that's due in January. I will conquer the kitchener. If I mess up, it's only a wee sock and I've got lots of leftover yarn. It's better to mess up on $2 yarn than it is to mess up on special Steelers socks for my mum!

Ready set go.

question to ponder

If you're on a yarn diet, and your friend asks to watch her dog for a week (splitting duties with someone else), is it wrong to say you will accept yarn as a bribe?

I don't think it's wrong, because the point of the diet is not to spend *my* money - if someone else chooses to grace me with fibery goodness, well, then, I'm just lucky.

Anyone? Anyone?

coming soon ...

As many (however 'many' read this, who knows!) of you know, I work at a newspaper. Because I'm not a reporter, my name rarely appears in the paper but my work appears nearly every day in the form of headlines, photo captions, story choice, page layouts, etc. But this coming week I am writing an article about ... knitting! For the technology section! I am so very excited. I will take a picture and post it here after Monday, when it's due to be published.

And on a completely different subject ... there is this beautiful bush around the corner from my apartment building that I have been trying to figure out for the longest time. Every time I walk Gracie past it, three times a day, I think "hmm what is that bush?" It had green waxy leaves and, in spring, tons of beautiful-smelling white blooms. I decided arbitrarily that it was a magnolia but nope, Google Images proved me wrong. It was killing me! Tonight, I log into Facebook. They sell $1 "gifts" - today's is a camellia. I hadn't tried this flower name on Google before ... I type it in and what do I find but this. Success! That is the bush around the corner. I'm so happy I solved my little mystery.

recent stash acquisitions

OK so I've done a bit of stash enhancing over the past few weeks as a final hurrah before Christmas. Without further ado...

I went to Aylin's Woolgatherer in Falls Church during my trip to see the Yarn Harlot. Very nice store - a bit hard to find (it's in a shopping center, but you have to walk around the side of a 7-Eleven, enter a side door and take the elevator/walk up to the third floor). I checked their Web site in advance so I knew what I was getting myself into, though. They were having a sale - 15 percent off all yarns except new arrivals - so I got a skein of Malabrigo:



I'd love to make Foliage from the new Knitty with it. It's so, so soft. I couldn't decide between all the gorgeous colors - I literally pulled out every skein and contemplated it. It took me a good 10 minutes to decide.

Aylin's had a nice selection - I wish I knew brands offhand but I'm bad with that kind of thing. They had a clearance room in the back and I found a random skein of Rowan Cotton Braid to match one I got in Scotland four years ago. It was more than half off! One quirky thing is that prices are not on the skeins, they're in a stack of papers hung every so often from shelves. I found the system was kind of nonsensical - it's listed alphabetically by yarn name rather than manufacturer (and then sub-alphabetized by yarn name), which I think would make more sense. So if you were deciding between Rowan Kidsilk Haze and Rowan Cocoon, they wouldn't be listed on the same page under "Rowan" - they'd be under "Kidsilk Haze" and "Cocoon," probably completely different pages. There was a sock yarn I picked up that didn't seem to have a yarn name, only the farm name, which confused me (and one of the workers came across kind of condescendingly when I asked for help because I was confused). Oh well. Maybe that's just the anal retentive copy editor in me, wanting to improve their organizational system.

I also got some Colinette Jitterbug. It was pretty picked over but I nabbed this gorgeous wine-colored yarn:



Then ... I went to a yarn store in D.C. and didn't buy anything! Shocking I know. Jamie and I went to Stitch DC in Georgetown on a mission to get her her started on knitting socks. This branch of Stitch DC (there are two others) was a tiny store in this pretty rowhouse on Wisconsin Avenue NW. As the employee led us to the sock yarn stash, she apologized for its spotty collection. She wasn't kidding. There was some OnLine (some kind of German yarn, I think that was its name), about four balls of Panda Cotton and not much else. It was a tiny store but they had a nice (pricey-looking) collection.

Then, in Charleston, I visited Knit. It's right off the main shopping street (King Street) and across the street from a really yummy pizza shop. Yum, pizza and yarn, my two vices. It's closed Sunday and Monday so I had to wait till our third day there to go. I was afraid they'd be picked over because they had a massive sale the week before. I couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, they had garbage bags and Ziploc bags all over the place, especially in the front room, which was the sock yarn room (yes they had a sock yarn room, people). I was knee deep in bags of yarn, it was pretty fun. They had a massive selection of Koigu (at least 30 colorways, six-10 skeins per colorway, at the minimum) so I had to get some:



They had a nice selection - some Austermann Step, Trekking, OnLine, lots of Tofutsies, and some Jitterbug. I got some Wildefoote:



It's so soft and silky. And Rio de la Plata that is just really bright and happy and fun:



As for non-sock yarn, they had at least one other room. Every Rowan you could imagine, Noro, some Noro-like variegated yarns, and a ton others. I kept trying to remember them all but it was kind of sensory overload. The people who worked there couldn't have been cooler - they apologized for the bags of yarn everywhere but they took it in stride, apparently they were in the middle of a big move after the sale. Josh came along for his first trip to a LYS. The store had three miniature schnauzers so he hung out with them, petting them, while I shopped. The dogs were really friendly and adorable (though the friendliness might have had something to do with the leftover pizza he had). Josh also gets mad brownie points for buying me all this gorgeous yarn in Charleston. He is the best.

Oh yes... before all my traveling there might have been a moment of sheer weakness and coincidence that I checked out Yarn Pirate's Etsy shop right after she uploaded a ton of overdyed skeins. I bought a skein of a Yarn Pirate overdyed BFL in Sally. It arrived yesterday and it is the yummiest fluffiest yarn I have ever seen. And the color is a deep variegated blue-ish purple with hints of burgundy. I can't wait to knit it up.

All that being said ... it's an understatement to say I've been on a stash enhancement binge. I did it all knowing it was my last hurrah. That's right I'm on a yarn diet again. I'm hoping it lasts until 2008. The only shopping I'll be doing is in my stash.

In actual knitting news ... this picture doesn't show it, but I'm almost to the toe decreases on my mom's first sock:



I'm starting to get nervous about the toe - I'm afraid my next attempt at kitchener will go wrong. Maybe I should research the three-needle bindoff. One positive, though ... I haven't mentioned this but at the Yarn Harlot reading in northern Virginia, I consulted fellow knitters and they helpfully pointed out where I went wrong on the toe of my first sock. I had the stitches divided 20/20/20, when it should have been 30/15/15, with the 30 going for the top of the foot. D'oh. I don't know that I care to rip it out and fix, though. I'm lazy like that.

I'm back!

Charleston was so, so fabulous. We stayed at a great hotel. It was a couple buildings from the water - not the Battery, which is at the south point of Charleston (where all the massive fancy homes are) but along the eastern part of town. We were in the French Quarter, staying on Vendue Range. I found it funny that one hotel on the street was the Inn at Vendue and another was the Vendue Inn. Confusion much?



It couldn't have been a more perfect spot because we had restaurants within a half-block of us, and the main shopping street wasn't too far, either. Best of all, at the end of our street was Waterfront Park, which had about a bunch of swings and beautiful views.



We hung out there two nights after dinner just enjoying the sea breezes on the swings.



We took a few hours each day to check out the gorgeous old houses along the Battery.





This was my favorite:



It was just massive. Its roof reminded me of variegated yarn (of course):




There was lots of pretty wrought iron. There is one ironworker responsible for about 500 pieces around Charleston - I kept wondering if we were passing by his work.





Josh loved the laptop backpack I got him, I was so glad. He got me "The Office: Season 3," flowers (yet to be delivered!) and bought me yarn at a store in Charleston (yarn pics to come). Such awesome gifts!

Of course the food was amazing. We had great meals everywhere we went. We ate at the Southend Brewery and Smokehouse our first night because it was really close to our hotel. They had a great blonde ale called the Southend Blonde, and we ate smoked chicken wings. They were very different from typical wings but really tasty. It was in this cool building, too:



On our final night there, we went out to a really nice dinner. But first we had drinks at a rooftop bar across the street from our hotel (I wore my ridiculous high heels, I wasn't planning on walking very far, but that would soon change, haha.) The moon was full and we had gorgeous views of the harbor and all the rooftops around Charleston. I wish I had taken some pictures, but it was pretty dark out. Then we walked down Queen Street, this alley-type street with lots of art galleries. We had spotted a place with a great menu on Queen Street the night before but didn't take note of its location. Of course I walked about five blocks in my ridiculous shoes and kept saying "just one more block! Just one more!" We finally found it and we weren't disappointed.



They had lots of little nooks and crannies for dining spots, inside and out. We sat in the courtyard with little lights. And the food was sooooo good. I had (this is a direct quote from the menu) "Sautéed Rock Shrimp,Sea Scallops & Jumbo Lump Crab Meat with Shiitake Mushrooms, Baby Spinach and Sunburst Squash tossed in a Mozzarella Cream with Cilantro-Lime Pappardelle Pasta." It was delicious. Josh had a lemon herb chicken breast with basil pasta and feta cheese. We split a great bottle of wine, a Jekel Riesling. The service was a little slow - it was a Tuesday night and there weren't many tables, but that's no excuse. Anyhow, the food made up for it. I would definitely recommend the place if you want a really nice meal out. One downside of eating outside, my legs are all bit-up and itchy now but it was worth it.

OK that's all I've got on Charleston ... a post on the good stuff - recent stash enhancement - will come later but for now I've got to bake brownies for tonight!

I met the Yarn Harlot!

I got to the book store four. Hours. Early. (I vastly underestimated my shopping time. However, I was not the first one there - there were six or so women knitting in the Borders Cafe. We all exchanged pleasantries, and I got to working on my sock. After about an hour, I noticed people were starting to hover around the front door, so I knew people were lining up to get tickets for the book signing, so I skedaddled over there. I ended up being 10th in line. We all sat down in line (hoping no one needed any science fiction books) and knitted.



My friend Jamie, who lives in Md. but teaches in D.C., showed up after work! Girl drove through D.C. at rush hour to get there. What a champ. We got decent seats, about six rows back on an aisle. She went to Safeway to get sandwiches for dinner, I kept knitting and looking around in awe at all of the beautiful knitwear - and in amazement at the sight of 100+ knitters knitting at once.



Stephanie came out at 7:30 and spoke for at least an hour - it was probably more like 90 minutes. But first, she had to fix the mic stand.



She was so, so great. Her speech was hilarious - she talked about CHOKE - Cultural Humiliation of Knitters Everywhere (I believe that was the acronym), it's a scourge to knitters everywhere. God forbid you knit and are single - there is clearly no hope for you, your fate is sealed. That sort of thing.



At the end of the Q&A, I thought it was really great that she did "preboarding" (her words) for people with small children, or people who just had a really long trip ahead of them, no questions asked. I was No. 10 for the signing so I hustled upstairs quickly.

I was so nervous ... I really wanted to say at the minimum, your sock recipe was so great! It totally worked for me. Or, hey, I love "Knitting Rules" and I swear it opens itself to Page 136 all the time (because I'd hunch over it when trying to figure out the gusset).

Jamie was a peach and took lots of pictures:



The picture she took of me ended up on her blog - and I am tickled. I am also identified as Laverne, which I think is even more awesome.

This is my favorite picture of the evening. I got to hold the traveling sock! And the sock for my mom is now imbued with some Harlot knitting mojo.



I spent the day after the signing bopping around D.C. looking at the World War II Memorial and knitting on the National Mall. I also spent a few more hours in a Borders, knitting, because I clearly didn't do it enough the previous day.

I got all the way to the gusset by my trip's end:



Now I'm off on another adventure, to Charleston. Maybe I'll finish the sock by the end of the trip!

almost there ...

Gracie is already asleep on the bed behind me so I'll keep this brief. Besides, I have to be awake really early tomorrow.

I've been busy running around with pre-trip errands - getting my car cleaned, doing laundry not-at-home because our dryer crapped out and, coincidentally, the washer got stuck in the closed position at the same time. I didn't realize how much I loved having a washer/dryer till I had to make a 25-mile roundtrip to wash a single load at my aunt's.

Believe it or not, I've been knitting too. No pictures for now, but my mom's first sock is about three inches long. I even took it to the car wash today while my car was washed and vacuumed and made shiny and spotless inside for all of $12 (not counting tip). I love this place, it plays R&B music from the late 80s-early 90s (lots of George Benson) and all the guys argue about football and they sell orange and grape soda (well, today that's all they had so I passed on a drink).

Even more of a surprise (to myself) I've been walking/running steadily lately. I was afraid I'd neglect it in light of all my errands but no, I've been really excited to go. On Sunday, Josh and I took a long walk around Ghent before going to lunch at No Frills. I had to be at work for an early (2:00ish) shift so the fact that we did that was pretty impressive. Yesterday I got up super early and ran/walked by 9 a.m. Amazing! Tomorrow will be another day like that because I have an 11:00 appointment to make.

Lest you think I've made an impressive life change, I've also been subsisting mostly on fruit snacks and edamame because I don't want to grocery shop before my trip but hey ... at least the edamame is healthy.

This will probably be my last post before my voyage to D.C. to see the Yarn Harlot and my trip to Charleston. Bye for a little. =)

no pirate booty for me

I've decided against joining the Yarn Pirate Booty Club. One, I just paid my student-loan and credit-card bills this morning. Two, I realized that if I'd sign up, I'd feel guilty about it all the while in northern Virginia and Charleston. Three, I tried to sign up at 1:00 this afternoon (Eastern time, mind you), thinking that that was the same as 4 p.m. PDT. D'oh.

I cast on for a Steelers sock for my mom! I am loving the Claudia's. Super squishy and really really soft.



(About 10 minutes after I took this photo, I dropped four stitches - 2k, 2p - off the needles and couldn't pick them back up, so I angrily frogged it.)

help!

Everything was going so well ...



I was a little worried about the ending. I mean, the decreases meant my top-of-the-foot needle had a lot fewer stitches than the two bottom-of-the-feet needles, so I figured the toe would not look perfect. I figured it was time to end the sock when I literally couldn't proceed with the top needle anymore - I had four stitches on it, so I couldn't K1, K2tog, ssk, K1 on it. I guess I could have transferred stitches to that needle to help, but I wasn't sure if that was the right way to proceed.

So I reviewed the grafting segment of the Harlot's episode of "Knitty Gritty" and watched the knittinghelp.com video before proceeding ... felt like I knew what I was doing ... and then I did it and got this:



It's an ugly, ugly toe. I just don't know what I did wrong. Did I try to kitchener too many stitches? Did I not tighten as I went? Honestly it kind of deflated me after the past two weeks of rocking this sock ... I really felt good about the whole thing. I guess that's how knitting is. You get all cocky, and boom, the gods laugh at you and give you a wonky toe. (My roommate said "it's just custom for your big toe!" She's the best.)

In new project news ... I cast on (but frogged after two rounds because I created yarnovers) for my mom's sock in this beauteous colorway. I've been feeling a little lonely lately so maybe working on some Pittsburgh themed socks will put me in the right state of mind. =) Back to cast on again.