Now what?

The second mercury twist sock is about here ( a little past here, actually, blogging having been delayed slightly by real life).



An hour or so of tennis this evening should see these done. I'll save the finished object photos till they've had a soak and block.

Next up I need to figure out what I'm going to do with this:


The skein of STR medium weight in the Beryl colourway that Adam picked out. It's only 380 yards, which isn't a lot for a pair of men's socks. I'm thinking of something with a bit of texture that won't get lost in the colour shift. It'll have to be a fairly speedy knit as well, this skein needs to be completed socks, ready to go, in a little over three weeks.

Suggestions? I'm off to troll Ravelry for inspiration.

Thirty-two

Today we take a break from your regularly scheduled grey knitting to wish a happy birthday to my brilliant, funny, handsome and hand knit appreciative better half.


Happy Birthday Adam! Here's to another amazing year.

Read, knit, repeat

I'm making progress on the Fabric of the Cosmos bag and the book as well. It's slow going so far. I haven't given up much in knitting speed, but the reading is slow. I'm still needing to look away from the book several times a round and every time I look back, it takes a moment to find my spot. This can't take more than a few seconds, but it adds up. I think I'm getting faster though, so I hope perseverance pays off.

The pattern is based on the Booja Bag, but a little bigger all round. I knit the base in the solid charcoal and then picked up all around and began the body of the bag in the self striping slate colourway. And look: colour


I'm putting in two-round stripes of the purple here and there. Randomly. This is another challenge for me; I'm not good with random. So not good at random, in fact, that at one point I considered using a d20 (*ahem* nerd) to determine the stripe placement. And yes, those are bamboo circs. My usual Addis were too slick for the yarn and limited attention. These are the SR Kertzer bamboo which I'm liking much more than Clover. They seem smoother and slightly pointier.

The yarn is so soft and lustrous that it's almost going to be a shame to felt it. That's still some distance off though, I'm estimating that I'm about a third done. It remains to be seen whether the yarn, the book, or my patience will run out first.



Usually I'm a process knitter but since I want the bag for a specific use, I'm motivated to get it done. The Fall knitting mags have been making their way to my house over the fast few weeks and are combining with the cooling weather to give me a touch of startitis. I'm craving something tweedy and cuddly. I guess it's that time of year.

Shades of Grey

The attentive reader will have noticed that there has been a lot of grey knitting going on around here lately. This trend is unlikely to shift anytime soon. Grey is unquestionably my favorite colour (or perhaps tone) and I knit with it a lot.

So imagine my surprise when watching some decorating program on television this evening to hear a stylist say "The colours you choose say a lot about your personality, I mean how many interesting people do you know who really like grey?". I nearly dropped a stitch in the grey sock.

Grey isn't boring. It has many moods and shades. It is subtle, quiet perhaps, but not boring. It's the colour of old brushed pewter and weathered granite and the North Sea. How did it get such a bad name?

Just in case anyone is still doubting the potential loveliness of the grey, check out Veronik's design for the VK anniversary issue - free pattern here (pdf).

I'll continue to knit grey (and to spell it in the spell check defying Canadian way as well). If that makes me uninteresting, well, so be it. I'm sure a bit of colour will sneak in from time to time.


First mercury twist sock complete, second cast on. The shorter leg worked out just right at 74 rows. I'm looking forward to having these done and tucked into my suitcase when I head to the Alps this Autumn.

Skill Set

So I've been busy. Nothing new there - everyone's busy all the time and summer is flying by. Not much knitting progress to show this week, though the first mercury twist sock is past the heel and headed for the toe decreases.Still grey, still not much to look at. Alas. I've been swatching and planning and spending way too much time on Ravelry, all of which are knitting activities and therefor count as knitting time. So while there has been lots of knitting time, there hasn't been all that much knitting. The hazards of the modern times I suppose.

This evidence of limited progress combined with my moaning to Adam about how long it's been since I've had time to read a book just for pleasure got me to thinking a bit about time and how it's spent. Knitting, together with the previously mentioned knitting related activities take up large chunks of my free time and I'm fine with that. It seems ridiculous to complain about not having time to read, when the real issue is clearly one of priority.

Or perhaps multi-tasking? I admit that I have always been envious of people who can knit and read at the same time. I tried once or twice back in University days to combine these favorite activities but never got the hang of it. I think it's time for another attempt.

Choice of project is clearly important here. I'm fairly sure that the reading is going to require the greater part of my attention so the knitting must be something that can take place on auto-pilot. Stockinette in the round seems like a good place to start and something without shaping to keep track of. A bag! A felted bag, since felting will conceal many errors and variances in gauge I had some highly feltable SWS in the stash and a trip to the LYS to pick up another skein revealed that this yummy yarn now comes in solids as well.


Nothing says summer like soy wool and theoretical physics. Let the experiment begin.

Down time

I'd been feeling down a pint all week and by Saturday evening I had to face facts: I'm sick. Sore throat, stuffy head, exhausted, went 24 hours without knitting a stitch, sick. What a way to spend a summer weekend.

The will to knit has returned, though the mercury twist sock is about as much as I can manage. The pattern (Cable and Rib Socks from Favorite Socks) suggests working nine repeats of the cable pattern before beginning the heel flap, but I decided on seven. This pair is for me and I don't want them too high.

The Patons Kroy is a little thicker than most sock yarns and is working up firmly on 2.25mm needles. Experience suggests that they'll relax and soften quite a bit after the first wash. The slightly fuzzy nature of the yarn means that the cables aren't quite as defined as they might be but this seems right for cozy cold weather socks.



I've been using some of the knitting down time to scheme. I've got a trip coming up in September and have a few things I'd like to get done before I go. Then there's projects to be planned for the trip itself. I'm still behind on baby knitting and Christmas will be looming before I know it. Oh and then there's the seething den of temptation that is Ravelry. So many patterns, so many projects.

In summary: Bad time to be sick. Good time to be a knitter. Grey socks make for boring blog photos. Further updates as events warrant.

Une Pomme Pour Lucien

Ah babies. So small and gratifying to knit for. I hope fruit hats are en vogue in France this Autumn.