FO: Spiraling Coriolis

Finished on the bus this morning, and immediately put on (without weaving in the ends) because the bus driver plays a butcher in another life, and was driving around in a diesel-powered meat locker. It was approximately 6 degrees in there. I definitely needed socks.

From the outside, these babies are pretty non-descript - slightly stripey, but not terribly interesting to look at.

But if you look at what's under the pants...

Spirals!

More spiraling!

Even more spiraling!

Pattern: Master Spiraling Coriolis (Rav link) by Cat Bordhi, from New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book 1
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, color #9816, 98% cotton/2% elastic, 2 balls (100 yds/50 g)
Needles: Susan Bates US 1/2.25 mm
Gauge: 7 sts/13 rows per inch
Comments: This pattern was my first from this absolutely fantastic book. If you are a sock knitter, and haven't looked at this book yet, run - do not walk! - to your nearest library or bookstore and check it out. It has 8 different ways of creating a sock; actually, it's more like 8 different ways to create tubes with a bulge in the middle for your heel/arch - the heels and toes are pretty standard. But Cat has discovered that you can put the gusset increases in a whole bunch of different places, allowing for infinite variety in sock design. It's phenomenal!

This pattern struck me, in part because it was touted as a good use for handpainted yarn (of which I have some in my stash that has been through three or four different sock starts, and failed miserably at all of them), and because spirals are pretty cool. Plus it's named after a physics concept. A concept that accounts for this:

Again with the spirals.

I picked up the yarn when I bought the book, since I'd never tried it but had heard a lot about it. Plus cotton is just that much more pleasant to work with in the Houston summer, not to mention more wearable! Having now used it for a whole pair of socks, I have to say that I liked it. It took a little while to figure out the correct tension to use, since the stuff can stretch like crazy, but it knits up into a nice fabric. It seems slightly heavier to me then other sock yarns I've used, but the "200 yds" in the two balls made a pair of women's size 10 socks with 5.5 inch cuffs, which for me is pretty long, so the "yardage" is good.

Given the green/brown and grey/cream color scheme, I'm also counting these against Project Spectrum Earth and Air. August 1 is the start of Water, which I think is going to be a big element for me - I love blues and purples and greys, so I've got a bunch of projects lined up for the next round.

And I guess this makes 8 pairs of socks this year, hunh? Maybe I can make it to 15+...But I've got my July pair done for the knitalong. And yarn in my bag to cast on another project from this book on the way home.

No, I don't have a problem. Why do you ask?

Socks, socks and more socks

One of my goals for the year was to knit more socks. To assist in that endeavor, I joined the Sock A Month knitalong. To date (6.5 months in to 2008), I have knit 8 pairs. Half of those pairs have been for me, two pairs are for Devil and one pair is a pattern I'm hoping to make available soon, and will go to a good friend. One last pair would have been for me, but they ended up too small.

It would be nice to have some more socks for gifts by the end of the year, but over my vacation I found myself casting on for yet another pair of socks for me. My trip to Windsor Button resulted in the purchase of a new sock book,

and some new-to-me yarn to try out a pair. Actually, I got yarn for two pairs of socks, but I've only got one photographed so far. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the cute little Fixation balls before I started. All I have to offer is this

blurry photo of the sock in progress. I'm onto the leg of the second sock now, and hope to have it finished by the end of the week. And with these colors, they'll count for Project Spectrum Earth and Air (even though they're late for Earth). A two-fer!

Here's hoping that tonight I can take some more yarn pictures and maybe even finish off the Brambler that was stalled for lack of handspun. What do you say girls? Gonna give Mama a chance to get something done? Sounds like a plan...

From your mouth to Legolas' ears kiddo, and I am an asshole

Ironman left yesterday to go to the UK for a few days, so I'm playing the single mom thing. Last night, Devil insisted that she didn't want to take bath. But she did come and sit on the bathroom floor while Boo flung water all over the place. And that's when I found out that Devil has Hollywood connections.

D: Mama, I saw that man at the race this morning (pointing to the Pirates of the Caribbean Kleenex box that I bought without realizing I was exposing my children to Marketing).
P: Did you sweetie? (grabbing bar of soap out of Boo's mouth)
D: Yeah. He was walking down the street.

I look up and realize that Devil is pointing directly to Orlando Bloom's head shot.

D: He was very old and kind.
P: Was he? (Old? Crap, what does that make me?)
D: Yeah (with a knowing nod). He's having a party.
P: He is? (having ideas about exactly what kind of party Orlando Bloom would throw)
D: I'm going.
P: Really?
D: Yeah. You can come too.
P: Yippee!

So I'm going to hang with the Elf Guy. Cool. Now if only I can figure out how to stay up later then oh say 10:30 pm, it should be a good time!

*******************************************
Now for the second part of tonight's title:

Before I had children, I'd hear all sorts of anecdotal evidence that babies make you dumb. And I have to admit that I had a few Absent Minded Professor tendencies before Devil and Boo made their appearance. But tonight takes the cake. In the midst of arriving home (unloading car, getting two grumpy kids into the house, extracting soggy Cheerios from car seats), my phone rings. It's someone I've been meaning to/trying to talk to for several weeks now. We had a brief chat since I was in the midst of swirling chaos, but we agreed to talk later this evening. All well and good. Except...

I can't find my phone. It's gone. Kaput. Vanished. Like it never existed. I put it down somewhere and it has decided that it would be a fun game to go invisible. So S, if you're reading this, apparantly I'm a complete idiot, and I still really suck. I will try to get a hold of you tomorrow sometime, and a million apologies. I owe you!

June progress report

Just a quick drive-by, so things don't lag too much around here...


Finished in June:
North Roe shawl
Basalt tank
Fluke
Devil's picot anklets
Blueberries (Rav link, because somehow I never managed to blog the finished yarn - oops!)
Maldives

Phew. June was a pretty good month. Although I feel sort of like I cheated since those first two items barely missed being on May's list. So be it. So far as these things go, July is looking somewhat sparse already, so it will all come out even in the end.

The triumphant return

Which means that I have returned from my travels to the Great White North and have accomplished the following fiber-related goals:

1) Finishing Brambler ran out of yarn, must spin more
2) Working on the Gathered Pullover - I think I got 4 rows done
3) Starting Koi hunh?
4) Spinning some lovely superwash merino/alpaca on my new drop spindle double hunh?

What I did manage to do however, is buy a new sock book, cast on for a pair of socks from said sock book in a new-to-me yarn, spend umpteen bucks at Windsor Button, get a tour of the Green Mountain Spinnery while they were actually running the spinning equipment, eat loads of fresh picked Vermont strawberries, run a Fourth of July 5k race with my sister-in-law, lie on a hammock, and relax. It was a lovely vacation.

But now, back to the salt mines - I've got more grants to write and lots of work to get going. But I'm aiming to get new yarns photographed and posted sometime this week, so there will be a yarn-filled post soonish.