Finish and Begin

January and February have been quite cold, which for me has meant a lot of staying inside, burrowing in blankets, and sometimes, knitting. (When your head is the only body part warm enough to be outside the blankets, it's hard to knit, hence knitting being only a sometimes activity.)

This is what it looks like outside.

Last weekend, I finally got around to weaving in the ends on several projects that had been waiting for this process for months. I always manage to convince myself that I hate the tediousness of finishing. Projects pile up for months, and I try to tackle them in one big heap. A few projects in, I find myself kind of enjoying the process. I swear to myself that I'll remember this the next time I bind off something new, but I know I'll forget, and we'll do this whole dance all over again sometime in August.

So I'm just going to show you the pictures, and let's not talk about how I had worn four of these items outside of the house with loose ends blowing in the wind, okay?

First, we have the cowl/hat/mitten set that I knit for myself so I could have warm things to subject to smoky bars. I used Kamteks Argentinian Wool for the set, I think three skeins of the grey and one of the red.

Purl Ridge Scarf, by Stephen West

Botanic Hat, by Stephen West

Red and Black Celtic Gloves, by Tuulia Salmela

Next up, three shawls which were finished in April, July, and November, respectively.

Lilac Leaf Scarf, by Nancy Bush (from Knitted Lace of Estonia)

in Zitron Filigran

Diamond Triangular Shawl, by Galina Khmeleva

in Misti Alpaca Lace Solids

Vernal Equinox Shawl, by Lankakomero

in Moscow Yarn Company Искра (Iskra)

Last, we have a set of mitts that I designed, using the general idea of Stephen West's Clockwork (and later realized, is quite similar to his Botanic Hat above).

Off the Clock Mitts, by fecknom

in Troitsk Yarn Люкс (Deluxe)

This weekend, I've managed to finish the Firmaments Lace Shawl by Bonnie Sennott, which is purple and needs blocking before it will look impressive enough to be properly photographed. The only other project still on my needles is a lace scarf (from the beloved Knitted Lace of Estonia) that was put on hold after I somehow didn't knit the to-be-attached edging the same width as the scarf. A few West Wing episodes should take care of that, and I'm hoping to kick off the week with something new, which will be very exciting.

After much consideration, I've decided that the alpaca sweater will be no more. I've been wanting to knit this for three years now, and for me, there is so much emotion and value wrapped up in that yarn. The hopes for the end result were incredibly high, and there is no way that a sweater made out of 100% alpaca will be flattering enough and wearable enough to satisfy those expectations. In the end, I realized that it's much more important for that yarn to become something I can be proud of, than for it to become a sweater I'm proud of. (Furthermore, my colorwork skills still aren't quite where they need to be for a sweater.)

So this week I'll be frogging what's been knit so far, and casting on for Stephen West'sChadwick. Girasole (by Jared Flood) will follow.

Even more importantly than the end result, the yarn has been slowly turning into emotional baggage. I have trundled along with this yarn in tow from Ohio to Minnesota to Chicago to Minnesota to Russia, and I can't bear to leave Russia with this still in the same, unknit, unsuccessful form it was in when it arrived. Progress must be made, and it's finally happening.

Winter and Warmth

I haven't been posting much recently because there's been a lot on my mind, most of which I don't feel like sharing yet. I do, however, have a lot of photos to share. Mostly of knitting, but I'm sure you guessed that.

As usual, it's been mostly lace that's been occupying my time, with a few smaller objects in between. Some of these projects are brand new, and some of them are merely received some long-overdue individual attention.

But first, a photo of the local park.

Socks for Dad:
Pattern: Gentleman's Socks in Railway Pattern, by Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Jawoll Aktion, purchased at Loopy Yarns, in Chicago, IL.

Orenburg Lace Shawl, by Galina Khmeleva.
Yarn: OnLine Supersocke 100, purchased at Smith's, in Oberlin, OH.

Pattern: Cobweb Lace Stole, by Michele Rose Orne.
Yarn: Pagewood Farm Willow Creek; Colorway: Bird of Paradisa.
Purchased at the Yarnery in St. Paul, MN.

An original vest design.
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 wool, purchased at the I'd Rather Be Knitting Yarn Studio in Long Grove, IL.

Ethan's Knucks.
Pattern: Knucks, by Pamela Grossman.
Knit in leftover wool yarn from stash, probably Nature Spun.

Pattern: Lehe Square Shawl, by Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Cestari Traditional Wool, purchased at Knits and Purls in Roseville, MN.
Modifications: since I knit this in a worsted yarn, the edges are pretty solid, so I figured I'd axe the lace border.

Andersonville Re-knit Mitts.
Improvised pattern. I made this yarn into an ugly hat, which I frogged. This looks better.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Andersonville, purchased at Loopy Yarns in Chicago, IL.
The stitch pattern is from the Herringbone Rib Socks, by Kristi Schueler.

Recently, I started attending a UCC church near Amoeba's place. They're really nice, and just had an art show, so I displayed three shawls. The red is my first lace shawl, Laminaria, by Elizabeth Freeman, and the Crown Prince Square and Lehe Square shawls, both by Nancy Bush. The yarns are Skacel Merino Lace, Jaggerspun Zephyr, and Cestari Traditional Wool, respectively.

My current work in progress: the Maikell shawl, by Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Pagewood Farm Willow Creek in Really Red, purchased at Borealis Yarns in St. Paul, MN.

Oh, and I bought this at Borealis, too. I forget what it is, but it shall become something grand.

January in a Five-Item List: Ten Day Recap: the 20-Item Edition

I've skipped 10! count them! 10 days.

So, instead, a list of 20 interesting things that happened:

1. Blocked the Crown Prince Shawl. I probably bought the yarn for this almost exactly a year ago.





2. Got very angry about pastors making excuses for male God language.

3. Started knitting a dead fish hat.

4. Watched some West Wing.

5. Could have died. (I was on a major highway, in the leftmost of three lanes, hit some ice when traffic in front of me slowed, and spun out across two lanes of AM rush hour traffic and ended up half embedded in a snowbank on the (thankfully very wide) right shoulder, facing oncoming traffic. How no one hit me, I don't know.)

6. Got some hot chocolate, and was joined by Amoeba. Calmed down after the quasi-accident.

7. Learned how to defend myself against children hitting, kicking, choking or biting me, or pulling my hair at Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training. One of my coworkers decided to quiz me on these new defense skills whenever he feels like it.

8. Went to knitting circle! For the first time in, like, a month. Dead fish hat, go!

9. Hung out with Amoeba, before her departure for Costa Rica for two weeks. (She is posting updates every day on her blog!)

10. Acquired cold.

11. Slept.

12. Drank orange juice.

13. Saw my high school choir director on TV. He was singing in the Univ. of Arizona choir that sang at the memorial.

14. Watched more West Wing, including a very sad episode.

15. Slept.

16. Went to Drunken Knit Night and continued efforts to accustom my taste buds to coffee by drinking Guinness.

17. Cleaned out my inbox. So much more satisfying that cleaning real things.

18. Had lunch with Anna! Food = meh. Company = the best.


19. Made a mental note to self: Someday, make a (maybe punk?) concept album based on the Federalist Papers.

20. Talked to Cory! Walk = cold. Company = the best. And Hooray! for not getting lost while walking around my neighborhood on the phone. Small victories.

Shows, and Show and Tell

The last few weeks have been pretty splendid, full of good music, a bit of travel, pretty great people, and, of course, knitting, too.

I believe I already mentioned July's earlier excursions to see Rosanne Cash, and Fountains of Wayne. Last night saw another awesome band added to that list. It was my first time seeing the Old 97s live, and also my first show at First Avenue. (It was 18+, so I didn't get to use term 'diaper show', but that's okay.) The lead singer and bass player (Rhett Miller, and Murray Hammond, respectively) each have their own solo careers as well, and they each played a set. So they opened for themselves. My favorite parts of the evening were the parts that involved Rhett. So about 80% of the show. I'm not sure why he isn't an obnoxiously hugely famous rock star.



Also, I saw parts of the old Batman movie before the show and between sets. This was a completely new experience for me. If you haven't seen it, you should. It is IMMENSELY amusing. ("The Drinking Water Dispenser is clearly labeled!")

Earlier in the week, I also took a short trip to Chicago to visit my LVC placement. I met Sarah, who's in that placement now, and went with her and a bunch of youth from the community to the Field Museum. I have lots of pictures of dinosaur skeletons, and I'm feeling more confident and less anxious about next year.

Spindles in the Ancient Americas exhibit.

And so, the knitting. One new project, one new finished object, and a photo of the lace I mentioned last time.

First, the Estonian lace:

I also mentioned the shrug I cast on for as an impulse. Well, I found some motivation on Monday and managed to finish it. I had to use some of the cast-on tail to finish the last two inches of the bind-off. All in all, I had 17.5" of yarn leftover, all of which were cut off from the woven-in ends. Perhaps my most efficient stash-buster yet. And I used a cute button from my tiny, tiny button stash. It fits: perfectly.

Modeled on a friend.

And the socks. I started a pair in Mountain Colors last week, on Bastille Day, when my family and I attended a production of (more or less titled) 'all of Shakespeare's plays in 97 minutes by three guys in tights'. It was hilariously funny, but the sock was pooling in vertical stripes. So when I hopped on the Greyhound to Chicago, I took my Misti Alpaca and started the Herringbone Ribs Socks from Knitting Socks in Hand-Painted Yarn. By Friday, I had about five inches, and it was beautiful. I tried it on, and it didn't fit over my heel. So this weekend, I frogged it, cast on more stitches, and started again.


Things are going pretty well. I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (only once so far), and made some stuffed eggplant and black bread last week. And we've even gotten a little bit of rain. What more can you ask for?

Crafty Developments

Alas! This is not the post in which I tell you about Laminaria. Tomorrow, maybe.

But behold! The many knittings that have transgressed since we last communed in yarny goodness:

Five FOs! Count 'em.

1. Those teal socks! The Knotty or Knice ones, from Interweave. Cute and done.


2. Commencement Socks: Done. Such a simple, pleasing pattern.



3. Experimental Halter: quite the adventure. Released on Knitty, knit, reseamed to make it fit (it overlaps quite a bit in the back), all in the space of about a week. Not the best thing I've ever made, but surprising in that it kind of worked. Me! In a halter! What a notion!


4. The Gentleman's Half Hose/Lumberjack Socks: Done. Also, simple, yet gratifying. Haven't worn them yet, as it's July. But come October, I shall walk to work and have toasty feet.

5. Knucks: my third set, started on an impulse. I ended up somehow sacrificing a US 4 dpn to the Fearless Knitting ExCo last semester, so I had to get a new set of needles. Then I proceeded to knit them in bulky yarn. On 4s. So they're a little stiff, and I made them in the smaller size, since they were kind of big. There were a few modifications near the wrists. But I'm still head over heels in love with this pattern. I want to make more.

Then I had to decide what to embroider across the knuckles. So I turned to the Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Group on Ravelry, and they voted on ПЕРЧАТКИ. Which in Russian means... gloves. Hah!

So, then, Bethany, what are you working on currently? Well, two (stil unphotographed) things.

First of all, as soon as I finished Laminaria, I was itching to cast on more lace. So I did. I'm making this cute Estonian scarf in this delicious bright green alpaca yarn that Kathryn brought me from Chile. I've been amazing the local knitters by working on lace charts in public. It's close to half done, but I'm a little skeptical about how long it's (not) going to be. So I might add some more repeats somewhere.

Then, a couple of days ago, another impulse struck. I had this skein of TLC Lustre that I purchased several years ago at the Ben Franklin in Oberlin. (They have a knack for stocking yarns that get discontinued.) I really wanted to make a little off-white shruggy, thing. I wasn't sure how far one skein could get me, so I stuck to short sleeves, but I poked around online, and my knitting books, and finally found this shrug (Ravlink). I'm working it in a smaller gauge, and I kind of winged the proportions. So it's kind of experimental, too. So we'll see how it turns out.


So, if you've processed all of this correctly, you will notice I have no socks going at the moment. This will soon be remedied. I might cast on a pair to take with me to Chicago early next week.


A note on recent laundry experiences:

The dryer at my parents' new house only has one setting: hot. The halter knit of cheap cotton yarn may have shrunk a bit, which would not be terrible. Unfortunately, the pink/yellow/orange cotton-blend socks that I knit this spring are feeling a little shorter than I'd like them to be.