No, I didn't get eaten by zombie snowmen

I never intended to leave those pictures for so long as the first thing blog visitors would see ... the more I looked at them, the more disturbing they got. But I've gotten very busy in the last week, and had no time to post anything new. Barely any time to knit.

To backtrack, last weekend my bother, sister-in-law, and nieces came to visit, which was awesome. My niece had been to London for New Year's Eve, and she brought me a very cool present - mead from the Globe Theater.


Now, I don't generally care much for mead, and have rarely tasted any I really liked. But I have to tell you what ... this was good mead. I really liked it! Thanks, Ashley - you rock! Internationally, even.

Meanwhile, other distractions. I'm going to be recording a CD this year. Yeah, I don't talk much about it, but I have been playing guitar and piano and singing for most of my life. I've been in a couple bands, which never lasted long because I hate - absolutely detest - performing live. Last year we discovered that technology has advanced to the point where, with minimal equipment, one can have a very functional recording studio in their own home. If you have a decent computer and other equipment (microphones, a good mixer helps) and you download the free Audacity - a totally awesome program I thoroughly recommend! - you can do a lot in your own home.

Initially that's what I was planning to do. But I'm not very technically proficient, and it took more tweaking and fiddling than I was happy with. Of course, I'm an excessive perfectionist, which doesn't help. I have a friend who has a recording studio - a real one, he does this for a living - and I've opted to pay him to do the mechanical tweaking for me. So I'm going to be recording the CD at his studio over the next - oh, probably year or so. I'm slow, and since it's pay by the hour and money's tight, it will take awhile. But that's okay ... it'll be worth it, and when it's done, it'll be phenomenal.

Anyway - now that my boyfriend's back to work and there is some cash flow again, it got to be time to start scheduling the recording sessions ... and with that came the panic of "I'm not ready!" I began to practice a lot, which is what has taken up much of the week.

But the home recording still serves a useful purpose. I found that recording practice versions of songs, even if they're not the final CD version, is a very helpful thing ... to be able to listen analytically to what I'm doing, how different things sounds, what works and what needs work, is a great thing. So I've spent much of the week in my erstwhile home recording studio.


Yeah, it's pretty trashed. Again. I had it all cleaned up once, but as soon as I start working up there, it just goes to hell. I guess that's the curse of creativity - mess. I can either play, or clean. Guess which I usually choose?

But there is some knitting news. Sock progress:


I don't think it's going to be done by the end of March, unless I get a lot of work done on it today and tomorrow. But that's okay - it's almost done.

Then I have this to start on!


Sorry for the blurry picture. I don't know what was wrong with me. This is that simple yet compelling shawl I got obsessed with, so I ordered the pattern and the exact yarn shown in the picture (because I love that shade of purple), and it's all here ready for me to start.

This will be interesting. I've never worked with lace-weight yarn, and I've never knit a lace pattern out of yarn this tiny. The only other shawl I made was with sport weight yarn. I'm looking forward to this.

Although all of this has completely halted work on both Celtic Icon and the pirate coat. And the pirate coat is due for its debut at the end of May. Hmmm. Balancing all this out is going to be interesting.

Last, but not least, I had to share this ... have you ever seen a more comfortable dog?

Zombie Snowmen ! ! ! ! !

Just trying to enjoy a nice spring Saturday snowfall ... and then ...

Yeah. I know. We're just not right.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It's been an interesting weekend. My friends' band, Tara's Fire, has been playing all weekend. Well, not non-stop ... a show Saturday afternoon, a private party Saturay night, a show Sunday afternoon, and two shows today. Okay, it maybe almost feels like non-stop.

Here are some pictures from their gig Saturday.

That party Saturday night pretty well kicked my butt. It took me all day Sunday to recover from it. I took a couple days off to have a long weekend for some R&R, but there hasn't been much of either, with all the partying and groupie-ing. Today's my last day off, and I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet ... I'm dying to go watch the guys play today, but I'd also really like my last 'vacation' day to just be simple and relaxing. So I'm really torn.

I may feel the sock calling, though ... .

A Sock Is Born

I know, I was supposed to post a picture almost a week ago of the 'new' sock progress, but I got so caught up in knitting it I never wanted to stop long enough to take, edit, and post a picture.

But now it's done.

I'm really glad I ripped back the first attempt, because this one turned out so much better. I really enjoyed this pattern. It is, by the way, the first full sock pattern in Cat Bordhi's new book "New Pathways for Sock Knitters." It was different. It was challenging just to the degree that it was really fun to work, but not so challenging that it was just an exercise in frustration. This was all new to me from the top down - literally. For starters, I never make socks top-down, but this one was made that way.

There was a new stitch pattern in the sock, the 'linen stitch,' which was quite interesting. I think it would have shown itself off better in a yarn with a different striping pattern or colorway, or even a plain yarn, but I didn't realize that when I decided to use this yarn, and that's okay - I still like it.



There was of course the interest of using Cat's new design, placing the increasing for the gusset on top of the foot instead of around the heel. There was then a new way to knit the heel itself, since the traditional flap heel wasn't getting made.



Then there was the star toe. I've heard of them, but never made one before. Wow - how easy! And I love the way it turned out. My concern about these toes used to be that they might not be very comfortable, but this one is perfectly comfortable. (I haven't pulled it taut and woven in the end inside yet, so there's still a little tiny hole there).


That opens up a whole new world. I never did learn to graft toes, which is why I started making all my socks toe-up with a short row toe - the toe is very comfortable, and I don't have to graft. But I gotta tell you, short row toes are way more complicated than this simple star toe. Quite a neat new trick to add to my sock-knitting repertoire. I'm not 'stuck' knitting socks from the toe up anymore just because I only know one way to make a toe.

I'll be learning more, too, there are instructions for several different toes in Cat's book, and as I work through the book, I'll be trying out all of them. Such a nice touch - you're not just learning a new way to handle the gusset-increase portion of socks, but new cuffs and toes as well.

There was only one odd thing about this sock, that at first I was a little concerned about, but which turned out fine. The length of the leg - my finished sock is much 'taller' than the sample picture in the book. There are obviously far more rows between the end of my cuff patterning and the beginning of the heel stitch in my sock than in the one in the book. And my sock, consequently, comes up clear to mid-calf.


I would have sworn I followed the pattern exactly - in fact, twice, because the first attempt, which I ripped out, had just as long a leg as this one. I kind of doubt I'd mis-read the instructions twice in the same way. So it makes me wonder if it's just that the sample picture was knit purposely shorter, just to show a variation.

I'll find out when I knit the second sock, because I'll be paying special attention to that section, to see if I misread something, or what.

Initially I was kind of concerned about that height, but now I'm not. They're quite comfortable, and since I wear high-top boots all the time, having a sock that's a little taller is actually a good thing. Both of the other pairs of socks I've knitted that I can wear with my boots are actually a little too short for the boots, and the tops slip down inside - not comfortable. With this pair being this long in the leg, that will never be a problem. So regardless of how it happened, it was a good thing to happen. These will be great boot socks, because of that height, and because of their cushiony comfort. (The heel is really nice and padded).

All in all, a great experience - and now I just have to make the second one! One other interesting thing about this sock - usually, anymore for me, simple socks seem to go so fast. This sock didn't seem to (although I did knit it easily in one week; but I spent a lot of time knitting this week, too). It seemed to be taking a very long time. I think part of that was everything being so new. And part of it was that length in the leg, making it a considerably bigger sock than I usually knit. But because it seemed to take so long, I admit I've got just a minor twinge of 'second sock' syndrome. It's like, 'Wow, that was fun, but I have to do it all again?' But it's not horrible, and I will do it - probably starting it today, in fact. No languishing sinle sock for me! Because I really do want this to be a finished pair, so I can get down to enjoying wearing them. And, I think a larger part of my reluctance to have to knit a second one of these is just that I'm so excited to move on to the next sock in the book!

I plan to work my way right through every sock in this book, partly because these new structures are so fun to learn and knit. And partly because I'm fed up with knowing how to knit socks, but having only a couple pairs of my own. Hand-knit socks are the most comfortable thing I know, and I've decided I deserve lots more of them!

Oh, one last thing - I admit that I did not knit the learning socks. There are two child-size 'learning socks' at the beginning of the book which Cat recommends you make, to familiarize yourself with the new concepts and ideas. I started to, then thought, you know ... I can just familiarize myself in the first actual sock, and then I'll be that much further ahead.

Since I'm trying to improve my skills in knitting, I usually do try to take the time to do things "right" - gauge swatches and things like that. But this time I really thought I could get away with this step, and I did succeed. (The problems with the sock I ripped out weren't because I didn't do the practice sock, they were me not paying attention and not following the pattern as given). I think the practice socks would have been almost a necessity for anyone who was not very familiar with sock-knitting in the first place, because they go into much more detail about what each instruction actually means. But for someone with sock-knitting experience, I think it's safe to skip them, and dive right into your first 'real' sock to wear.

I know I've said this before, and will probably say it again, but I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is, hands down, the best knitting book I own. Not only is it an instruction book, with techniques to learn, but of course a pattern book as well.

I think one of the best things about this book is the number and variation of patterns. Each sock architecture has it's own pre-written pattern to follow, to learn exactly how it all goes together. (I'm not talking about 'practice socks' - I'm talking about full-on, completely written out patterns to make a pair of socks for yourself, that you can wear). Those patterns have instructions for multiple sizes, based on the width of your foot at the widest point - so I was able to make this sock almost as custom-fit as if I were doing the math myself. I like this far better than when patterns are just given as "women's medium" - those never fit me, they are too big. And I'm not patient enough to deconstruct the pattern and figure out how to downsize it to fit. And these patterns are gorgeous - not just generic, no frills, bare basics patterns. These patterns have stitch designs in them, and different cuffs and toes - these alone would have made the book well worth owning.

But as if that wasn't grand enough, there is also a 'master pattern' section where, once you've learned the basic architecture from the fully-written pattern, you can plug in your own foot measurements, add any design details or special pattern stitches you'd like, and truly custom-make any sock architecture in the book. Which means that from this one book you could have a lifetime of endless variations of socks, with two pairs never being the same. It's like the Lifetime Sock Knitting Treasury! I can honestly say I would never need another sock knitting book.

Oh, but wait - I lie. Because delightfully unbelievable as this is, this is only the first book in a 3-book series Cat has planned, and I can guarantee you that I will be grabbing the next two as they're published. I don't even have to know what's in them to know that with Cat's genius for the new and magical, and her wonderful way of explaining everything, if she has a new sock book, I want it, sight unseen.

I know, I know - such giddiness over sock books. Well, hello - did you read the title of the blog? And if you still don't get it, then you've never worn hand-knit socks.

A Week of Extremes; March Socks

Wow, gotta love spring. The (former) Valley of No Weather is making up for it this year.

This Monday past the weather was so warm that when I got home from work, my awesome, wonderful boyfriend built us a fire, and we sat on the back porch playing music.


Okay, it wasn't a raging bonfire ... not for lack of skill or trying. There was no kindling, and what wood there was was soaked. Just that previous weekend we'd had bunches of snow (you can still see the remnants of it in the yard behind the fire bowl). But it was a fire, all the same, and I loved it.

Today the fire bowl looks like this.


We're up to about 8" or 10" and counting. This is the kind of snow a Poo could get lost in. Run, Poo, run! It was too deep for him to walk through - the only way he could navigate around was to leap through it like a bounding deer.



Since staying in and staying warm was the only thing to do these past two days, I've been working on the March sock project. I started a sock from the Cat Bordhi book, "New Pathways For Sock Knitters." (Wonderful, wonderful book! Can't recommend it enough!).

The sock was originally going along like this.


But there was something wrong (and it was operator error, nothing wrong with the pattern). I had buggered up the cuff, somehow managing to knit half of it with one side out, and then reversed it and began knitting it with the other side public. Initially, when I thought I'd followed the pattern correctly, I thought it was done that way on purpose specifically so you could fold it down and make the cuff. (One of the pictures in the book for this pattern has the top turned down, the other doesn't - so obviously it's optional). But I still just had a funny feeling I'd done something wrong.

Secondly, I didn't like the cuff. If I was going to fold down a cuff, I'd want it to be bigger than that.

Thirdly, I hadn't done a gauge swatch - I know, I know! But it wasn't laziness, it was just a case of mistaken identity. I thought this was the same exact yarn I'd used for the Christmas socks, with which I got 8 spi with a size 1 needle. This pattern called for 8 spi, so I figured I was safe not doing another gauge swatch.

A considerable way down the leg I thought I'd double check, and I was getting 9 spi. I went back and checked my notes, and this wasn't the same yarn I'd used for the Christmas socks. I immediately switched to a size 2, thinking I could still finish the sock (the part of the leg done so far had fit anyway, even with the wrong size needle). But this, too, kept bugging me.

And last, but certainly not least, I was pretty sure I was buggering up the design pattern. It's a deceptively simple knit / slip / knit / slip pattern. "Deceptively" being the key word, because I'd been watching a lot of TV and movies while knitting this, and although I never caught myself in the act, I had a nagging feeling that I'd messed up the pattern quite a few times. My suspicions were corroborated by the fact that the pattern just wasn't looking right, somehow, although I couldn't put my finger on it.

I considered ripping back many times over the last 24 hours, but I kept telling myself, "Don't be such a ninny. It's a sock, for goodness sake. One sock, of a potential pair. No one's ever even going to see the cuff or the pattern on the foot anyway.

But I couldn't take it. It was bugging me. So this morning I reduced my half done sock back to this.



(just not quite as blurry)

Yep. I ripped the whole thing out, and started over. And boy am I glad I did. The second version is turning out so much better than the first! This is one time (at least) that ripping out all that work and starting over was definitely worth it.

By tomorrow I should have a picture of the new sock, take two. (There wasn't really enough done yet to bother tonight; okay, I lie, I've already got my pictures edited and ready to upload, and was too lazy to go take another one).

Well, that's all for today ... back to knitting!

February Project - Done!

I've been busily knitting lately, and haven't had much to say here at the blog. But now I do ... I finished the February project, my self-designed scarf and handwarmer thingamabobs. Here they are, once again modeled by the Dread Reverend (and a pillow).





I'm pretty happy with these. I like the pattern, I like how they match, and the handwarmer thingamabobs are really comfortable. Well, the one thumb opening is a little too large, but that's easily fixed with a little sewing up.

The scarf might have turned out better if it was a little wider, or somehow a little heavier, so it would hang better. I could add beads to the bottom. But chances are I'll just tie it anyway, and it'll still be cool.

These would have been done sooner, except genius that I am I forgot to reverse the pattern when I made the second handwarmer thingy, and ended up with two right-handed ones. Fortunately they don't take long to make, and I whipped up a properly left-handed one in just two evenings this week.

I'm pleased with my "finish one thing a month" progress, too. Well, okay, it's only really been this one month. But I still finished, and I'm still pleased.

For March I'm finally going to dive into that new Cat Bordhi sock book I bought back in November or December. I knew when I got it that I couldn't get into it until I finished my Christmas socks, but then when I had done that, for just a wee tiny period of time I lost interest in socks.

Now it's back, and I think that would be a great March project. I stocked up on some sock yarn awhile back, so I've got options.

I already know what April's project is going to be - and it's going to be a challenge. I broke down and ordered this pattern, which I saw in the Patternworks catalog and somehow became unreasonably obsessed with, and this yarn to make it with. I'm not really much of a 'shawl person,' but sans logic I just really, really wanted to make this. Although, due to it's complexity and the approach of the first event of the year (for which I need the pirate coat embroidery done), I may not get the shawl done in April, even if I start it then ... it may end up as the finished project for another month. But that's okay - my deal was to finish one thing a month - it doesn't have to be finished in the same month I started it. So if I run into a month where I'm not going to be able to finish any of my ongoing projects, I can always throw together a couple of dishcloths (I really like my handknitted dishcloths, but only have 2 so far) or sew some garb - I need that too, and the 'finish one thing a month' challenge isn't just about knitting. It can be any of my fiber obsessions.

That plan wasn't, by the way, some sort of 'competition' or 'look how much stuff I can make' thing. The whole point was, I was getting frustrated with knitting projects that drag on for years, and never seeming to have anything to show for it all. I was starting to feel like a hamster on its wheel. I was also getting frustrated because in my desire to get said long-term project done, I was hesitant to start anything else. But working on one thing for so very, very long and thinking "I don't want to start anything else till I finish this" means months or years where I can't make anything else. It also made it hard when I'd see any new project I wanted to make, because I'd be afraid to commit to it, thinking that if I did, for maybe a year or more that would be the 'only thing' I could work on.

So I decided to scrap that 'focus on one thing at a time' mentality, and add some small(er) projects into my year, to have the satisfaction of accomplishment, of actually having finished things throughout the year, in addition to my big, long-term projects. And it's helped already - as I said, I'm inordinately pleased to have completed the scarf and handwarmer thingamabobs this month. I know, most knitters do this instinctively ... knit multiple things at once. I guess I'm just a slow learner.

But I decided to include any project, not just knitting, because in the past I had tended to focus only on my knitting projects, and discount anything else I'd done throughout the year - which was kind of unfair to myself, since I make other cool stuff too, and sometimes they are quite an investment in time and skill (like the pirate coat). So now I count things like garb and embroidery projects, too.

Despite all these other distractions, Celtic Icon is coming along, too. It turns out that knitting begets knitting - just because I've added a new project to the mix didn't mean I stopped working on Celtic Icon, and in fact I've gotten more done on it this past month than in the last year. Who knew? (okay, apparently everyone but me).

I finished the first front piece recently, and started on the second front piece. After that all that's left is two sleeves, and the two side panels (one of which is half-way done). Then will come the challenge of trying to fit it all together since my pieces aren't measuring the same length as the schematic. I checked my row gauge several times on this first front piece, and it seemed dead-on to me, but for some reason the overall length of the piece was, again, several inches too long. Hopefully it'll be the same several inches too long that the back is, and hopefully the sleeves will do something similar, and it will just magically all fit together.

Famous last words of knitters everywhere who have impaled themselves on their knitting needles for projects that turn out not even remotely close to the proper size. (I know I'm not the only one who has one of those monstronsities thrown on the floor in the back of the closet, because I wanted it out of my sight so badly I didn't even have the energy to rip it out to reuse the yarn yet; someday I will, though, that was a pretty nice cotton yarn; a whole over-sized sweater's worth).

Work progresses on the pirate coat, as well. Two weekends ago I finalized the first motif with my practice piece, and I'm ready to re-embroider it onto the 'real' cuff. That is the compass rose which is going on the center of each cuff. I still need to find and/or create another motif to go around the entire cuff, to sort of frame and set off the compass, but I'm hoping to do that this weekend. I'd better ... if I don't move along on this pretty soon, I'm going to have serious issues getting it done by mid-May.

Well, NASA's not looking for me

I'd never make a NASA photographer. But in a rare (very rare) moment of not-cloudiness in northeast Ohio in the wintertime, I have had a spectacular view of the lunar eclipse tonight.

I discovered that the optical zoom on my little digital camera was good enough to get a pretty decent picture ... IF I could have held the camera still. Even with the tripod (after I scrambled for 15 minutes finding it), I just couldn't get it stable enough. (It being about 15 degrees out there and me having to kneel in the snow to see the camera's view screen had nothing to do with that, I'm sure).

Anyway, here's what I did manage. The first one - Moon Twins - is of course from the camera slipping after I'd pushed the button. Still, interesting.







Oh well, that was fun. I got cold. I'll go check it out again in little bit, before it's completely over with.