Tukats

I have finally managed to finish off my Camo Monkey socks.  I love how they came out, but I'm going to go down to US1s next time.  It seems all of my socks are a little on the loose side, and I'm trying to get a snugger fit.  One thing I don't do with socks or hats is swatch.  Once I get started, I just want to keep on going, figuring how far off can they be?  So far, it's been okay, but still a bit loose.

I've also started the Koolhaas hat designed by Jared Flood, which appears in the IK Holiday issue.  I'm cabling without a needle, because if I had to use a cable needle, this hat would never be made.  Just too much fiddling.  But...in order to do that, I had to type instructions, which are helpful when you're easily distracted and trying to listen to a podcast and knit a pattern at the same time.  No multitasker here.  I'm using Shokay  Shambala in the color Earth.  It's 100% yak down.  Found it at yet another new knitting store in Santa Barbara called Loop and Leaf on Brinkerhoff Ave. 

Still waiting to see the doctor about my thumb, and the hat is painful to knit, but in short spurts, it's okay.  The drill is take two Advil, knit three or four rows, put it down, get the ice pack on my thumb for 10 minutes, go back to knitting.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

So my blogging will probably be a bit sparse until that is remedied.  I'm reading and lurking on all of your blogs, but I'm just suffering a bit of ennui right now, so I rarely even comment.  Maybe a Chai Latte would help...

Sadly, our trip by motorcycle to Santa Fe was canceled.  Our friends we were meeting up with, driving in from Austin, TX, had some urgent business come up,  AND I had a fever of 101 for three days, and then Mr. Tukats caught it from me all in the same week.  Things do happen for a reason, I say, and come to find out that there have been two horrific accidents on the route we would have taken, one closing down the freeway for a few days, and a major no-visibility sand storm which caused a bad accident on the very day we would have been going through that area.  Needless to say, I'm okay with the cancellation.

And then, due to an osteoarthritic left thumb acting up, I've not been knitting this past two weeks.  Seems the harmless act of lightly holding a needle between thumb and index finger flares up the pain to worrisome levels.  So ice, Advil,and thumb rest this last week, and it is slightly better.  Back in April I had a cortisone injection in said thumb, which helped for about two months, and so I'm hoping another one of those might do the trick.  Doctor visit to come in a couple of weeks at the soonest.  It has allowed me to catch up on my reading, but that's no replacement for knitting.

That said, I have been dallying in some knitting reorganization.  I am truly at the point where I have no. more. storage. for any new-found yarn, which has led me to resurveying my stash and finding orphan projects that will never hit the needles, or that I have fallen out of love with, or that I bought when I was depressed or just on a whim, and offering them up to others on ebay and Ravelry, who will hopefully fall in love with them, too.  Staring at my impulsivity straight in the eye is like coming off a bender, waking up and discovering you've got a new tattoo on your butt.  Just might not want to keep it.  Trouble is, I really am in love with all my yarn, so it's hard to let go of even single skeins.

I also had the pure pleasure of teaching my mom's caretaker to knit.  We met up at Craft Essentials on Sunday, where she bought some needles and neon yellow Red Heart (I kid you not), because she loves bright colors (who am I to argue with someone else's passion?) and I set about with teaching the cast on, knit ,and purl stitches.  What a thrill it was for me to see her picking it up quickly and her enthusiasm over the bright rows she created.  She's already got a list of projects she wants to knit, and I'm there to help her out of any problems, if and when they arise.

Well, I'm off to see what else I can part with in my stash...

Steve McQueen

No better way to celebrate Columbus Day in 80 degree weather than with a head cold, eh?  And here I was, all cocky for not being sick the entire year.  Lord, strike me down!  I'm feeling so weak, I was going to catch you all up on what's been going on at Casa Tukats, but I just don't have the energy.  And Mr. Tukats and I are leaving on Thursday.   For Santa Fe.  On a motorcycle.  A nice motorcycle.  Yup.  Hardly enough packing room for a Monkey sock, I tell you.

I do have to let you know, I've been feeling a little "beatnik" lately.  That vibe is coming through loud and strong to where you might say I'm a bit obsessed with it.  When I was growing up, I thought that generation was so cool, so mysterious, so inner knowledge, so Steve McQueen.  The girls wore all black, minis with opaque tights, straight-cut bobs or long hair parted down the middle, heavy eye makeup, cigarettes(ew now!).  SKIF seems to capture that feeling of just being too cool to care, and call me a joiner, but I want one, and I want one bad.  Ms. Nora can thank herself for that!

Katie in Autumn

On the first day of autumn, I finally finished sewing together Katie, after lingering in it's knitting bag through the summer.  It's just in time to enjoy for fall and winter.  Once completed, I like this sweater more than I thought I would.  It seemed a little, well, boring while knitting, but it fits perfectly.  I did lengthen the sleeves about 3 inches, and I think I lengthened the body about an inch, just cuz I'm tall.  The fabric takes on a felted look and the tweedy bits really stand out.  Just a good all-around cardi for me.

Here's a shot of the back.

Then I also finished the Noro Striped Scarf.  I just loved knitting this scarf and found with the color changes, it was very addictive to knit.  At first, I wasn't so thrilled with Noro Silk Garden because it seemed a wee bit scratchy, but it's really beautiful, almost like homespun, and my friend Nora assures me it will soften if I use a clothes softener with it.  And I do think I'm a bit sensitive when it comes to how my knits feel, anyway.

I've started my first pair of Monkey socks, which there's really not much to show at this point.  I'm using Lorna's Laces in the Camoflouge colorway.  I've also been swatching for the Tangled Yoke cardi, but the Rowan Rowanspun DK I planned on using only got gauge on US 3 needles.  I can't see myself doing that, so I may have to order some Rowan Felted Tweed.  There's a beautiful color called Rage, which is a soft red, and I've really been wanting a red sweater, but I'll see if I'm brave enough to do it, or just go with a safe neutral.

Curiously Similar

Has anyone noticed the similarity between these two patterns in Fall IK and Fall Vogue?  I know the fashion world usually puts their collective heads together and decides on "the look" for the upcoming season, but it strikes me as remarkable that two designers would have this same idea. Sorry for such a bad second photo of the blue sweater, but the VK website has been out of order for just about a week now, so I had to take a photo with my ever-aging camera, but you get the idea.

I'm still pluggina away, finishing up Kate (almost there), working on the Noro striped scarf (1/2 done), and still need to finish the neckline of the boring chic white cotton pullover.

Just got back from a marvelous motorcycle ride up past Ojai on Highway 33.  Weather and road conditions couldn't be better.

The Manos Vintage Velvet scarf is done for my Red Scarf Project 2007 donation.  I'm thinking I can probably find some more stash yarn and crank out a couple more scarves by the first of the year.  The two skeins of Manos were as different as night and day.  The first skein was spun to perfection, had a nice sheen and luster and was beautiful.  This being my first experience with Manos, I absolutely loved it.  The second skein was totally different, barely spun, rough, much more rustic.  Not so in love with that one.  I see why, if you're making a sweater, you need to switch skeins every two rows.  I think as a scarf, it is very passable, but you are now forewarned!

I also blocked Kate and will begin assembly hopefully this week.  The white cotton top-down pullover is so near completion, I just have to get to it.

I did start the Noro striped scarf.  I'm using Noro Silk Garden in two colors, #270 and #84.  Although Silk Garden isn't the softest yarn I've ever knit with, I very much like its texture, color change, and earthiness of it.  The beauty and interest  in the scarf is in seeing how the colors change as you knit along.  It's a very simple 1 x 1 rib with change of colors every other row.   A sweater would be beautiful in this color change system.  No pooling I don't think.  I'm blaming this scarf for not completing the white cotton  pullover.

I'm really eager to begin some fall knitting.  Planned are Monkey Socks, Tangled Yoke Cardi, and maybe a trendy long cardi.  Problem is, I'm just so fickle.  My queue in Ravelry is constantly changing as I see something that I have to put near the top, pushing other favorites back.  A perfect example is I just received Phildar Tendances #460, which is full, I mean full, people, of patterns I love.  Sheesh, what's a girl to do?

My Mind Said "Go," But My Body...Not So Fast There

Ah, just when I'm feeling on top of the world, my body has different ideas.  Having suffered occasionally, but yearly, chronic lumbar back strains and sprains and muscle spasms for the last 10 years, once again this week I was down for the count.  And it all happened by simply getting up out of a chair.  "Boing!"  "Uh-oh."  Good news is that my M.D. has me scheduled for an MRI and an appointment with a specialist to take a look-see.  Hopefully they can help me to not have this problem anymore.  Nuff of that.

On the knitting front, Charlotte's Web is fini, and I think it's beautiful.  I went down to the courthouse and took all these lovely photos before it heats up too much today.  Yesterday was a sweltering 95F.  It's hard to get motivated to have a big pile of even cotton on your lap when it's like that.

Anyway, I really enjoyed knitting it.  The knitting took on a rhythm of its own, with me mumbling the pattern like a mantra for each line over and over.

I did learn that if and when I knit another CW, I will bind off ever so loosely.  I thought I was, but it needed a bit more slack in the blocking stage to stretch to the guideline measurements, but it's acceptable.

I also started my scarf for the Red Scarf Project.  Now, I know what you're thinking, it's not red, but it doesn't have to be according to the Red Scarf Project website.  I'm using Manos del Uruguay in the Stellar colorway, and I'm using the Vintage Velvet pattern out of Scarf Style.  I love how the cables show on each side.

I started on the sleeves of the top-down cotton pullover, and if I put my mind to it, I could have it done this weekend.  Not much to do, really, so I'll try and finish it up between ice water breaks and cold showers.  Stay cool until next time...

Temporary Distraction

I'm still finishing up my Charlotte's Web and my yawn cotton pullover, so instead of boring you with progress shots, I found this in the Sak's catalogue.  Simple, elegant, versitile, charcoal on light grey, not to mention cashmere.  Me want.  Me want bad.

Shhhsh! She's Knitting Lace...

That's the way I felt when I first cast on for Charlotte's Web.  I took myself to a quiet room and concentrated on getting into the pattern, which is absolutely addictive.  I don't think there's too many knitters out there who haven't already knit CW, but this is my first. 

Knitting lace has always been a little intimidating to me, probably because I haven't done a lot of it, but I do love it.  When I first looked at CW's pattern, I thought, sheesh, what have I gotten into?  So I read through it, searched the web and found Between The Stitches, which has a short tutorial that was totally helpful and simplified the pattern.  I HIGHLY recommend printing that out before you begin, if you're a lace newbie like me.

I love watching the colors change through my fingers as the Koigu goes racing by, and it wasn't until about Row 48 that I noticed that on every right-side row, I'd be holding my breath until I got to the end and then let out a big "Whew!"  Now that I'm on Row 97 of 154, I'd most likely pass out if I kept that up, but I'm much more relaxed now.   This is the third time I've knit with Koigu, and I'm always amazed by the beauty of it, its softness and quality.  I mean, I made a whole sweater on US3 needles with it and never tired of it, it's that good.

Since I began CW, I've practically deserted my Top-Down Pullover, but I'll pick that up a little today.  It's just all that white, cotton stockinette is not exactly inspiring, and with VK and IK coming out with their fall issues, it's got me thinking ahead to those crisp chilly autumn days ahead.  What did catch my eye was an advertisement from Blue Moon Fiber Arts promoting their Raven Series.  My God, those colors.  Obsess?  Who?  Me?

Now on to updating my Ravelry notebook.

Have you ever been knitting along on something that you've designed with the nagging thought, "I'm not sure about this," row after row after row?  Well, for me, that's my inner eye telling me, "Whoa, stop now.  B.I.G. mistake." Such was the case with my Crystal Palace Waikiki Shrug Not To Be.  I just wasn't feeling the love there.  The final nail in that project's coffin was when I asked myself, "Will you really wear this," and the answer was a resounding "NO!" 

After all, it was supposed to be a tank that would have been too sheer, and the colors and texture were just not working for me, so it was zipped of those needles as fast as can be, with nary a twinge of guilt showing its ugly head anywhere.  Mr. Tukats actually helped with the unraveling process.  There's your sign!  Some lucky, creative person will hopefully be the recipient of it when I post it on Good Yarn Karma.

I did make up a top-down pattern on my Sweater Wizard, though, and have begun that for the Sandnes Mandarin Soft that was in my stash.  I'm still thinking on a color-block sweater, white, red, then black, or just a border with the red and black.  I'll have to decide soon, because I've come to the divide of arms and body.  The yarn is very splitty.  I actually don't think they make it any more.  Same gauge as All Seasons Cotton.  Nuf said.

I got the new Vogue Knitting last night and I'm in love with Veronik Avery's cover jacket.  That's going on my "I think I have to make this, but let's consider it for a while" list.  And it's for the same ol' reason, living in Southern California, it will have limited wear, even as a coat, but I really do love the design.  As for the rest of the magazine I do have to tell you, a lot of the sweaters I saw, I'm not happy with where I think fashion is going, all big and bulky.  I don't think that style looks too good on anybody.  Anyway, didn't we just do that in the 80s?

Oh, what's this, you say?  Why, it's Charlotte's Web, of course.  I bought the yarn and pattern a while back from lovely and talented Julia, and it fits the bill of what I'm trying to do right now:  Stash busting and lace.  Yeah, I know, everyone's done it and it's mosied on down the popularity chart at this point, but some patterns stand the test of time, and I think this is one of them.  My toughest decision is in which order to knit the colors.  Any advice or recommendations would be highly appreciated.