105

Yesterday, the high temperature was 105 degrees. I think that this is the warmest that the weather has been since we moved to Texas two years ago. So, of course, I was running around town on my bicycle. I went to Hill Country Weavers to pick out some mitten yarn (because nothing makes you think “I need mittens” like 100+ degree weather!) and had a nice lunch at Whole Foods. Then I took the bus home.

Mittens are actually excellent hot weather knitting because there are no layers of fabric to sit in your lap and make you feel hot. Socks are also good for hot weather. I finished a sock a few days ago. This is out of the Holiday 07 issue of Interweave Knits (the one that is totally sold out and now out of print).  I’m using Lorna’s Laces sock yarn, on size 0 DPNs. I’ve worked with this yarn before, and really enjoy it. The solid colors have a nice depth to them, and the sock is quite comfy. I have found that wool socks are excellent for hiking, especially in hot weather, because they absorb sweat so well and do not give me blisters. Dry, pain-free feet!

Word from my mother is that she is now allowed to wear lace-up shoes on both feet! Therefore I have cast on her other sock, so she can have a matching pair.

 

 

 

My current shawl has assumed that amorphous blob-shape that all large shawls seem to assume at some point. I am making this shawl with a bamboo laceweight yarn from Habu. I love the drape and texture of this yarn. The blocked swatches feel like water in my hand - light, smooth and cool. Actually knitting with the yarn has been a bit of a pain. This is my third attempt at wringing a shawl out of it. The first shawl was not a good fit to the yarn - the stitches required a manipulation that the yarn did not want to deliver. The second shawl was going swimmingly, until I realized that I only had about half of the yardage required. The yarn is a bit expensive, so I declined to buy more of it and frogged the shawl. Shawl #3 is the Hidcote Garden Shawl, designed by Miriam Felton. I have made some of her other shawls before, and her patterns are very good.

Being such an avid shawl-knitter, and therefore also a shawl-wearer, I’ve been looking for a nice shawl pin for some time. Those who know me well know that I’m a bit picky about my jewelry and have a very definite style that I like to go for. Poking around on a knitting message board one day, I saw a reference to this site which has many lovely pins for a very reasonable price. After several  days of checking the mail for a package and finding only disappointment, today my pin arrived! It looks even nicer in person than it did on the website. Now I’m going to have to find somewhere air-conditioned to go hang out, so I can wear a shawl and use my new pin! Maybe a trip to another yarn store is in order…

Doilies in a foreign tongue

On my way to go camping back in June, I stopped in at Rosewood Yarns in Boerne. I had been there once before, with some friends, but we were on a timeline, so I didn’t really get to see much of the shop.

This time, I had all day and could stay as long as I wished. I surveyed the yarn, fondled some fiber, gazed longingly at a Russian supported spindle, and glanced skeptically at a lace flyer that would fit my spinning wheel… maybe not. For $160, I can treadle faster. Where I got sucked in at was the books. Not the largest book selection I’ve seen, not by any means, but I was impressed by the variety - the shop has many books which I had not seen before. There were fewer beginning knitting books, and many more volumes about advanced lace and colorwork. There were books on tatting! And thread crochet! I hadn’t learned to tat yet (an omission which I have since remedied) but a Japanese book full of thread crochet doily patterns soon found itself going camping with me.

Now, I don’t read the first word of Japanese. However, I’ve always heard wonderful things about the virtues of Japanese charts. Crochet has a standardized international chart system. Believe it or not, this book, which is entirely in Japanese (I’m not even sure what the title is) is easier to work out of than most patterns which are written out longhand in English.

I finished up my first doily from the new book this week. The pattern I chose was really a centerpiece, but I got a little bored with it, so I picked a good stopping point, added a simple picot border, and called it a doily. It is about 14″ or 15″ across. Hunching up over the ironing board to pin out every single little picot wasn’t so fun (as my back likes to remind me, I’m not 18 anymore!) but it came out looking quite good. After it was all dry, I gave it a very light coat of starch, wrapped it gently in tissue paper, encased it in some strong cardboard, taped it up, and took it to the post office on the back of my bicycle. Now it’s on its way to Wisconsin, to live with someone who’s always been very nice to me!

A sock for Mom

I’m sure that everyone who knows my mother is aware that she broke her foot a while back. When I talked to her the other day, she seemed a little down and discouraged about it. She is tired of wearing one shoe everywhere and unhappy about missing prime golf weather. She also mentioned that on chilly days she has been wearing a cut-off sock toe on her broken foot, because she can’t put a whole sock on.

So, to cheer her up, I knit her one sock, plus a toe cover.

(Don’t you just love my “I bicycle everywhere in Birkenstocks” tan lines?)

This is the O’Socks pattern from The Sock Journal, which is published by HeartStrings Fiber Arts. Mom had pointed out that pattern and mentioned that she really liked it some time ago. Once I learned to cable without a cable needle, the pattern was a piece o’ cake. I subbed in a twisted rib cuff and eye of partridge heel, lengthened the heel flap slightly, adjusted the gusset pickups accordingly, and used my standard toe instead of the spiral toe suggested in the pattern.

I used some Louet Gems 100% merino sport weight sock yarn and size 2 needles for a 52-stitch sock that knit up a lightning speed - I cast on and had both the sock and toe cover finished in less than 24 hours.

This sock yarn is awesome. Mom was surprised to hear that the sock is made out of wool - it is that soft and comfy. The yarn is lofty and has fabulous stitch definition - the gusset decreases cut a truly sharp diagonal line, and the cables really “pop” out from the backround. 

I used just slightly over half of one skein of yarn for the sock. I bought two skeins - I’ll make up the other sock in the next few days and mail it to Mom when she gets done with her “boot” and can wear two regular socks and shoes again. I’m thinking that if I buy a third skein, I could make a whole ‘nother pair of socks. I’d like to extend the cable pattern all the way down the top of the foot. I’ll have to adjust some stitch counts and maybe do some more tinkering, but it should be fun.

Useless

Knitting is a fairly useful craft. Sweaters, socks, even lace shawls - they are all fairly functional. Crochet, not so much. I have a crocheted snood that I wear on a regular basis, and some crocheted socks that are quite comfy, but most crochet is relegated to decorative function only.

Tatting - now I haven’t quite figured out what is is useful for. At least it is easy! It is also quite cheap. High-quality mercerized cotton thread for tatting and crochet generally doesn’t run more than a few dollars a ball (this is what initially attracted me to thread crochet as well) and basic tools are fairly inexpensive as well, although antique and vintage tatting shuttles can go for quite a bit. Yep, you guessed it: I spent my weekend learning to tat.

Speaking of thread crochet - a few weeks ago I picked up a Japanese book full of thread crochet patterns, mostly doilies. The book have so little English that I’m not even sure what the title is, although I can tell that the designer’s name is Ondori. I can tell you that the international crochet chart symbols are everything they’re cracked up to be. The patterns are beautiful and the charts wonderfully easy to read! It is the kind of book that makes one want to sit around and make doilies all day.

I’m also on something of a spinning kick. I’ve spun quite a bit here and there, mostly sampling the different types of fibers available, but not generally enough of anything to do a project with. A few nights ago, however, I finished and skeined about 200 yards of heavy two-ply laceweight in a 50/50 merino-tussah silk blend that I bought from Lynn’s Texas Fibers while at Kid ‘N Ewe last fall. The fiber is lovely and silky, and as you can see from the photo I’ve spun and plied it quite loosely in order to preserve that lofty silkiness.

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Lest anyone think I’ve been slacking off in the knitting department, I also have to show Attempt #3 at making a shawl out of my Habu bamboo laceweight. My first and second pattern selections refused to play nicely with the yarn, so now I am seeing how it goes with the Hidcote Garden Shawl. So far, so good… which is what I said regarding the first two projects… I really do like the yarn. Knit up, it has a drape and flow that is like nothing so much as water, and should make a nice shawl for hot summer days.

I’m also on another pair of socks, of course, even though we are well out of sock-wearing season. This pattern is out of the Holiday 07 Interweave Knits. This is my second project out of that issue, which was quite good and sold out very fast. I guard my copy very carefully, and intend to make a few more things from it still.

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Seen from my bike:

A hang gliding class! You can’t tell from the photo, but they are at the top of a nice hill. I’ve seen this class a few times now, either standing at the top of the hill, or hauling the glider back up from the bottom. One of these days maybe I’ll actually see someone in flight!

Wing-’o-the-Moth Shawl II

I’ve done this shawl before, in gray Jaggerspun Zephyr, on size 5 US needles. This time it’s in peacock, on US 4s. This one is about 8 inches smaller from tip to tip.

 

Supposedly, a shawl that “fits” is the same length tip-to-tip as the length between your outstretched fingers, or your “wingspan.” This shawl hits my wingspan almost exactly, but for some reason feels a bit small on me. I’ve liked much better the shawls which I’ve made that are larger - for example, the Peacock Feathers shawl, which was 88″ across, or those that were quite a bit smaller and fit more like a triangular scarf.

After I finished my last shawl, I decided that I would no longer promise to make anyone any more shawls. It is a big commitment, and quite easy to get in over my head; if I promise 3 friends that I will make them all shawls, I’ve just tied up my lace knitting for the  next 5 or 6 months! I haven’t kept a single piece of lace that I’ve made in over a year. Therefore, even though I’m not totally happy with the “fit” of this shawl, and I can think of at least 3 women whom I would love to give this shawl to, I’m going to keep it… at least until I finish the next one! It’s time to enjoy some of my own lace.

 

In other news, one of my caladiums has bloomed. I had no idea that caladiums could bloom! It must be happy.