Um

I just ordered three pairs of needles (bamboo, though the only reason I didn't order the Harmony Wood from Knitpicks is because they're out of stock at the moment) and three skeins of sock yarn. For no real reason other than that I might need the needles to make mittens. And the yarn to make socks. Although technically I don't know how to knit socks yet, and I can't read the charts in "Folk Mittens" yet. The sock yarn is a really nice tweed from Knitpicks though...and did you see the sock yarn collections at Knitpicks?! Look, under "Kits and Samplers":

Woowoo.

Ta Da! and Rhinebeck

Here are two new finished objects:

The Silk Garden Beanie, as previously linked.

And the first "Fetching" fingerless glove, from knitty: http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTfetching.html

I love the Fetchings. And the way that the thumb is done with this one, I found out from "Folk Mittens," is a "peasant thumb" - which is better and leaves less holes, I think, than the thumb of the poor the red mitten. I think the Silk Garden beanie is really pretty, too, because of the yarn. So the knitting has been going better. Now I just have to make the other Fetching...but I'm actually looking forward to that. I learned how to cable from this pattern, and how to do this new kind of thumb, and how to do a cable cast-on and picot bind-off; and now that I know all of this, the next one will be a little easier. I also know that I need to keep an eye on the last stitch on the needle while I'm doing the cables, because that thing can fall off and drop all the way down the freakin' glove, causing me to have to rip out five hours of work and start all over again. But it's ok...I still like the the glove, so much that I'm wearing it now as I type. Oh yeah, the yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca, organic cotton, number 625. I thought it was a really super-soft wool when I bought it at the spree at Webs, but I like it as cotton just fine too. The color and the softness are really nice.

Now, about Rhinebeck!! It's hard to fully describe, but it was really great. It was so great that I want to live there - what if there was a Sheep and Wool residential graduate school?! I digress. There was a lot to take in - the grounds are really huge, and there are many, many tents full of fiber, yarn, and things related to yarn, like books, needles, sock-in-progress holders made out of pretty wood (so cool!), and herbs and flowers that you can fill up paper bags with that will keep moths away from your wool. There were also sheep, and goats, and some of those sheep and goats had won prizes. Good job, sheeps and goats. Some were also very friendly, and some were for sale. And, there were also indoor setups full of yarn vendors, and in another indoor setup, gourmet food and baskets and things, and spinners, and weavers. Outside there is a whole lot of food, from lamb sandwiches (yikes!!!) to vegetarian stuff to apple pies. I brought home an apple pie. And in the background, there are the mountains with fall foliage. It was very pretty, and very crowded, and everyone was very friendly. Unfortunately, my camera died in the very beginning, so I only got to get a picture of you know who:

The Yarn Harlot!

Sorry about the blurriness. Her talk was amazing - at least the part that I stayed for. I had to stand up in the back because there were so many people there, and I got a little claustrophobic and overheated and stuff. It would have been embarassing to pass out in front of her, so I left a little early. But I DID come back later, and she signed two of her books for me...and I showed her poor the mitten. She laughed and laughed, and took a picture of it. She was really nice, and I was really nervous. But I think I just came off as crabby...it's because I'm from NJ and that's how we do.

So here's the stuff I got at Rhinebeck:

Three skeins of Moorlod (?) Tweed (I can't read the label very well) and two skeins of Grey Alpaca Brush from Autumn House Farm; and two skeins of Fox Sox yarn and a pattern for "Corduroy Socks" from Foxfire Fiber and Designs.

Here are the links for the companies (stores? spinneries?) that sell them:

http://www.autumnhousefarm.com/

http://www.foxfirefiber.com/index.html

The sock yarn from Foxfire is really pretty - it comes with the pattern as a Sock Kit, so look under "Kits" on the site.

Not too bad, right? I didn't buy too much...I think.

You see that nice tweed? You know what that's going to turn into once I'm done with the Fetchings...mittens!!! I seem to have a handwear fetish. I'm going to try the patten for a basic mitten from "Folk Mittens" for those.

In other news, my poor cat Pilot had another PU on Friday to open up scar tissue (his urethra had sealed up again from the scarring), and he is recovering, albeit slowly and with incontinence. Only a year old and at least six surgeries for this problem! I hope that this time the operation "takes" and he won't have to get another one. It is pretty traumatic and painful. So, back to work, and cat care, and laundry care.

Poor "The Mitten"

I must stress that the length and width of the mitten are not a trick of the camera. This mitten did indeed suffer from serious gauge problems. I understand I should have swatched, but I was so excited about mitten-making that I overlooked that step. Now I know. See, when I put on the mitten, it actually hurts my hand and cuts off the circulation in my palm a little bit. It is about one-third the width it should be, and my long fingers have ensured that it is not in proportion at all, and nobody will ever be able to wear it. Honestly though, I think that's ok...it is my first mitten and at least I know the basic tenets of mitten-making. Please disregard the dropped stitch at the base of the thumb; I decided to ignore that. Please also disregard the grizzled "securing" of the yarn end at the tip of the thumb. I am still learning.

I plan on making a pair of matching mittens using size 9 dpns, not size 7 as I did with this first one. That makes me feel a bit better. Also, after reading the Yarn Harlot's archives (I have to get caught up!), I happened on her recommendations of various mitten books, including this one: http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1202-1203-1266/0/0/2969/, Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski. I currently covet that book. I'm not sure if the recent trip to Webs will prevent me from getting it, especially since the YH told a blogger, in response to her comment, that some patterns are certainly easier than others and could be undertaken by the beginning mitten-knitter.

But this project makes me much happier than the above pictured poor the mitten:

It is the beginning of the "Silk Garden Beanie," the pattern for which can be found here: http://acunningplan.typepad.com/andsheknitstoo/patterns/silk_garden_beanie.html I think the yarn is very pretty, and the ability to do something that is progressing moderately normally again is very gratifiying. I am using Noro Silk Garden #268.

In other news...I went to Webs over the weekend! It was so cool. I kept stopping to touch wool, and almost picked up much more on my list. Thankfully, spending nausea kicked in. I did bring home enough to warrant using a plastic set of drawers (supposedly for "office organization") for all the yarns, as well as satisfying every single thing on my list, plus a few more (including a beautiful Lantern Moon needle organizer, which is the coolest thing ever). I felt bad that my friends at Swinging Squares (http://swingingsquares.blogspot.com/) were not with me though. My mom, at least, now understands that my yarn fetish is not exclusive to myself only, especially when she saw many others toting around those shopping baskets full of yarn, and many many more people sitting in the chairs around the store knitting, weaving, and ball winding. I think she finally understands the movement. I had gone up to Northampton and Amherst, MA for Hampshire College's annual weekend for "friends," family, and alumni (I am an alum), which was pretty cool...but one of the biggest perks was going to Webs, of course. Also Ken Burns, who is a Hampshire alum as well, came to talk, and I got to see him up close and personal. I was too nervous to ask a question at the Q and A, though.

And in other other news...my friends at Swinging Squares and I are going to see the Yarn Harlot this Friday!!! I am so excited. I can't believe she's coming to New Jersey.

Now I must go do my graduate student work and try to disrupt this almost exclusive and happiness-inducing focus on knitting (my poor little mitten included). Sigh.

Ha, ha

(How old am I, and I still think this is funny.) It certainly doesn't look like a mitten yet, I can tell you that.

The horror

I have started the mittens, then frogged them. Then started them again, then frogged them, times four, at least. Something is evading me when I start the next dpn with a purl stitch instead of a knit stitch (for ribbing) - I'm sure it's a really dumb mistake, but I end up with two stitches instead of one.

What is this raging piece of poop? And why?

I meant to make progress on the mittens, but this just keeps happening. It's not the yarn back/front; I checked that. I'm also doing the purl stitch right (at least, it works fine for the rest of the purl stitches further down the needles). Something about a twisted stitch...?

I'm at a loss, so I'm just going to keep banging my head against the wall and making the same mistake until I have an epiphany. Unless I have an epiphany.

P.S. - I've sidestepped the horror. I put even numbers of stitches onto the dpn's instead of odd ones, so that I start each dpn off with a knit stitch instead of a purl stitch. I still don't know what was causing that terrible stitch though. In any case, my mittens are finally progressing!

The ribbing ("cuff") looks quite small, doesn't it? But that's another story...

No Time Management

So the plan for last night didn't work out. I stayed up working on a project for class, doing finishing touches and tweaking my argument. And yet, although I worked long and hard on this project, and went into the classroom feeling like I was very well-prepared and my analysis was on point...some crucial part of the project fell through the cracks (my fault, I don't want to get into it). Thankfully, most of the people in this class are my friends and they didn't laugh at me. Until after class. Woowoo. Funny. Sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees. Sue me...my uncle once told my mother, "You're one of those 'doctahs' who loses their ability to be rational the smarter they get!" He's my mom's older brother. My mother has her Ph.D. in History. When my family went to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins again a few years later, and I had told them I was entering into a program for Ph.D. in English Literature, my uncle said, "You're going to be one of those 'doctahs' like your mother!" The teasing continued when he and my aunt were trying to draw out directions for a running loop for me in their neighborhood, and I couldn't visualize it. At all. I think he's right. Sigh. All of which is to say that I did not get started on the mittens last night. I will tonight, and will post a picture of the work-in-progress later. Here's a picture of a scarf in progress, started over the weekend, to make me feel better: The yarn is Manos del Uruguay, and the colorway is 36. Poor neglected scarf. I'll pay attention to you in just a little bit.

Time-management?

If I can get the majority of my work done tonight by 11 pm, then, and only then, will I allow myself to knit. I am itching to start the knitpicks "Lucy" mittens (see link from previous post) to match the red hat. It seems a little unfair, in the grand scheme of things, that for the past week and a half I've been felled by the worst cold/bronchitis/sinus infection thing I've had since college, and then papers to grade and schoolwork suddenly tripled on me. All I wanted was to knit on the couch...The cats slept on me last night though - one on my leg, the other by the crook of my arm - so I think they feel my physical and metaphysical pain. Three, two, one...go!

The yarn, the hats, the scarf, the cats...

I've started this blog to narrate my knitting impulses and forays, and to document my works-in-progress. Although I'm not an expert knitter, I am learning; and I enjoy it to the point of distraction (e.g., planning my new purse around whether it will be large enough to carry a knitting project with me at all times).

............................................................................................

Having found an LYS, and having ensured that my digital camera is still functioning after my cat (Pilot, the one on the right on the coffee table) - trying to get attention by sitting on my desk while I was working - knocked it on the floor, I decided to plunge into the world of knitting blogs.

And one of my favorite things to do while resting from graduate school intensity is to read other knitting blogs, so I thought I'd contribute my own to sort of even out my level of consumption.

Speaking of consumption: I have an affinity for yarn. One would hope that any knitter does, but I'm just putting it out there. My closet is getting very full of very pretty yarn which I hope I can do justice to; and as my list of planned knitting projects grows, so does the amount of yardage in my closet. However...disproportionately, this yardage increases even with the absence of a planned knitting project. Thus, the name of this blog.

Now, let's get down to recently finished objects: four hats, one of which I gave away to my mom the minute she saw it ("ooh, that's a great color; it's just my kind of color, dark and tweedy; what a nice hat!"), and three scarves, two of which I've also given away.

The red hat is from knitpicks' free pattern: http://www.knitpicks.com/Lucy+Hat_PD50392220.html, in Cadena, colorway Cranberry.

The blue ones are based on that pattern, and are in Schaefer Elaine, colorway Everywoman. The scarf is a basic garter stitch scarf, using Berroco Foliage; I can't remember which colorway it is.

Back to work.