21 September 2010 · 2 Comments
The plan was to just get whatever I wanted. I really don’t buy much yarn, I use what I buy (and the accountant swears it’s a business expense), and yarn is a better souvenir than a postcard. I intended to indulge. Apparently giving yourself permission to buy it all ahead of time is some sort of counter-intuitive way to insure self restraint.
We only visited two yarn stores. The first was Have A Yarn in Mahone Bay. There I got the Hand Maiden Casbah (over there on the far left). I’ve been a fan of Casbah for a long time. It’s what I used in Slant and Graupel, and I’m using a close cousin of it in the book. Alas, this one didn’t have a color name. I also got the Tanis Fiber Arts yarn in Stormy (in the middle). I’ve not seen their yarn before, but it looks lovely and I’m looking forward to using it.
Next up was Baddeck Yarns in (not surprisingly) Baddeck. There I found another old favorite, Fleece Artist Trail Socks in Marble Mountain (at the back). It’s apparently a custom colorway available only in that area. It’s a bit more multi-colored than I usually go for, but I was smitten. The final one (at the front) was another new find. It’s Blue Heron Yarns Silk and Silver in Marsh Grass. I’ve never used sparkly yarn before and have always wanted to try it.
I might have dragged home a bit more, save that one yarn store was closed for the hurricane and two others were closed for the holiday. As soon as the various book projects are finished up (Heather’s WWMDfK sock is almost done) one of these will be the next on the needles. Now to decide which one…
20 September 2010 · 2 Comments
The spiffed up version of Slant is now up. It’s two pages shorter, and yet contains more actual useful information. I told you I was shamelessly chatty back then. Alas, I could not get new pictures for you. I still have the socks, but a year and a half of wear have rendered them more than a bit fuzzy. You’ll have to make do with the old ones. Dippers is undergoing a similar treatment and should be up later this week.
19 September 2010 · 2 Comments
Sunday morning it was time to head back to Halifax. We corralled our stuff (somehow it had rather spread out after four days at the cabin) and cleaned up the kitchen (making grill soup in the dark being a surprisingly messy endeavor). But before we could leave, we had a small situation to deal with. Or, more precisely, a large situation. The true size of the stick had finally sunk in. Plans to mail it had been abandoned. We would have needed to construct a serious box and have a long conversation with the post office staff. Things were closed Saturday for the storm, the post office is always closed on Sunday, and Monday was a post holiday. It just didn’t work out. Plan B involved a saw. Alas, everywhere that might possibly sell such a device was closed on Sunday morning. Undaunted (or only slightly daunted), we knocked on the door of the cabin’s owner and asked if we could borrow a saw. I’m clinging to the hope that people who rent accommodations are used to all sorts of odd requests. This one involved no illegal activities and no lapses in personal hygiene, so with luck it wasn’t the worst thing they’d been asked. A saw was obtained, the stick underwent a bit of impromptu surgery, and we were on our way.
The drive was…well…kind of long and boring. All the things we wanted to stop and see on the way were closed (either due to the holiday weekend or power outages caused by the storm), and we couldn’t find a decent place to get lunch. We eventually made it to Halifax, found some much needed dinner, and headed to the hotel. The hotel powers that be had smiled on us, and we had been upgraded to a super duper deluxe suite (it was bigger than our first apartment). Since we were in fairly early, I spent some time working my suitcase packing voodoo:
The next day we wandered around Halifax. Almost everything, including both yarn shops, was closed for labor day (or is that labour day in Canada). We did manage a sunset stomp around the Citadel complete with random guy playing bagpipes in the distance. While there, the current sock (he needs a name) proved that he is indeed a Hammersen sock.
How you ask?
Why he posed for a picture with a cannon of course. It’s a long family tradition. There may just possibly be a photo or two of me on a cannon in my wedding dress. It’s a force that cannot be explained or denied. It’s best to just give in gracefully. After that it was a long walk down the hill to dinner and then a long walk back up the (really dreadfully steep) hill to get some rest before venturing out to the airport at an ungodly hour the next morning.
17 September 2010 · 2 Comments
You know how you look back on those (dreadfully earnest and sickeningly leaden) papers you wrote your first year of college and just wince? Or maybe it’s entries in your high school journal or your first few blog entries that make you cringe. Well I did that the other day. Not with papers, but with my early patterns.
Popped was my first pattern, and I didn’t know what in the world I was doing back then. Luckily, that one got totally revamped somewhere along the way as part of it’s release through Knit Picks Independent Designer Program, so it’s fine now. Slant and Dippers were patterns two and three, and they’re still a bit rough around the edges. There’s nothing really wrong with them. Scads of people have used them with great success. They just feel a bit…less polished…than my newer stuff. They’re longer than they need to be (I was way too chatty back then), and they do things like tell you what needle size to use rather than tell you what gauge to get. What can I say. I was new at this. It was also two cameras ago and well, the pictures kind of suck.
So I’m fixing them. I’ve taken down the old files while I revamp them. I’ve streamlined the text and updated the charts to use the same symbols I use now. I will take new pictures if I can find the socks (they may have worn out by now). They’ll be back some time next week. (If you’re looking for the for the SKA October knit along, don’t worry, they’ll be back well before the start of the month.)
16 September 2010 · No Comments
We had plenty of warning. We knew Earl was coming and so had decided to stay in on Saturday. In the days before, we had visited two yarn stores, a book store, a game store, a grocery store, and two distilleries. We were well provisioned.
We spent the morning in the water, then dried off and made breakfast (french toast of course). By noon, it was getting blustery. Some time around two, I stepped outside to try and get a picture. Even standing on the porch under a substantial roof, I was thwarted by blowing rain. You can just make out the light house on the far shore and the waves crashing over the dock. By three, the power was out. By four, the spray from the waves was hitting our windows. We played Pandemic and watched the storm.
We also made soup. There’s nothing better than soup when it’s stormy, and it’s easy to make in an unfamiliar kitchen with limited supplies.
Now you may have noticed I mentioned the power went out. Did I mention that the stove was electric? That did somewhat complicate the soup preparations. Luckily, there was a grill. Yes, we made grill soup. Well, first we made grill stock, and then we made grill soup. It worked much better than I expected. It was a bit slow, but we weren’t going anywhere. It also meant we got to go out on the porch every 20 minutes to stir things and thus got to truly ‘experience’ the storm in a personal way. By the time the soup was ready, it was quite dark. We scrounged around the cabin and found a few candles. We set these up on a mirror and propped another mirror up behind them. How’s that for an elegant candle-lit anniversary dinner?
(And sorry for the cruddy pictures. Timing waves while dodging raindrops is harder than anticipated. So is getting enough light for a decent pic from four candles. We’ll call them ‘atmospheric’ and hope they more or less convey the mood despite their flaws.)
14 September 2010 · 6 Comments
I spent the weekend blocking the socks for the book. Well, not the whole weekend, it doesn’t exactly involve a lot of active work, mostly five minutes of soaking and stretching followed by a few hours of waiting for things to dry. Sheri at The Loopy Ewe was kind enough to send me a pair of her lovely sock blockers in medium, as the ones I had were an extra large and so not quite right for this project. Almost all of the socks are here, and blocking takes a while when you’ve got this many socks, so it seemed a good thing to get started on. ‘Block socks’ was one of those things that had been on my mental to-do list for the last few weeks. I figured it would be just another mindless chore. I had no idea it would be fun!
Each time a sock has arrived from one of the (wickedly smart, marvelously talented, and ridiculously generous) sample knitters, I’ve done a little happy dance, decided that this one is my very favorite sock ever, and tucked it away safe and sound in its folder to keep it out of harm’s (read kitten’s) way. I’ve not really looked at them again after that.
To block them, I got them all out at once. Seeing them all in one spot (especially as the pile of neatly blocked ones grew) was amazing. I know it’s not cool to be too pleased with yourself, but I really do love these. I can’t wait to show them to you! I’ve gotten the ok to share the sneakiest of sneak peeks. I figure this isn’t giving anything much away, as you all likely knew the socks had heels and soles and were made of yarn (beautiful, rich, glowing yarn).
Speaking of which, I’ve got a bit of a progress report. All the patterns are done, and all the text is done. All that’s left is tech editing, layout, and photography, all of which are being done by others. With even the tiniest bit of luck, the book should be out before Christmas. Fingers crossed!
13 September 2010 · 5 Comments
And the winner is Christine! Check out her lovely socks, I know she’ll put the yarn to good use. I’ve sent off an email to ask for a mailing address. And to answer her question, the Sock Plus 8 is a bit more tightly twisted than SG Bugga, and the Bugga is a bit softer and fuzzier. They’re about the same thickness, and both come in drop dead gorgeous colors. I’d be happy to use either (and both are going to be in the book), and think they’d likely work for a lot of the same patterns.
And to everyone who entered, thank you so much for all your nice comments! People seem to really like this pattern, and I’m thrilled by the reception. I can’t wait to start seeing it knit up.
The whole time I was making them, I kept thinking they would look stunning as black knee highs. I’ve got long legs, and I’m very very lazy, so I couldn’t quite bring myself to make my own. The lace pattern is unusually stretchy though, so I think it would likely work well. If you’re interested, I’d suggest making the cuff and the portion of the sock that is over your calf muscle with a slightly larger needle and then going down to the regular needle for the lower part of your leg and foot. If anybody does end up doing it (in any color of course), send me pictures. I’ll totally send a wee present to whoever first sends me pics of a completed pair!
