Knitasha von Stashenskeins

Forecast Calling For Psychotic 6th Graders

Want to see some murderously angry children?  On a morning when they are expecting a 2-hour school delay due to weather, wake them up at the regular time and tell them that they have no delay, but every other school district in the surrounding area is either delayed or closed.  Mad as wet cats, I tell you.  I don't know that they will ever get over it.  Now the forecast is saying big snow on Friday, but I am keeping my mouth shut!

My socks for my niece turned into slog knitting, the kind of knitting you complete out of sheer inertia, but derive very little joy from.  The best thing I can say about them is that they are DONE!



I need to put them away in a safe place, but not too safe.  The cotton anklets I knit in November are still missing.  I am really hoping that they turn up before my daughter's birthday in May.

My newest project is blissfully slog-free so far.  I needed a quick project for my exchange student's birthday, but she has plenty of hats and scarves.  Mittens?  Fingerless gloves?  Naaaah!  More socks!!



Remember this yarn?  I used it for my first pair of Monkey socks.   There was a ton left over, so I have been wanting to use it for more socks. 

I went on a pattern hunt through all of my books for something pretty but easy, and these socks caught my eye.



These are Nancy Bush's beautiful design from her book Folk Socks.  Simple pattern knit on size 3's - perfect!

I dug out some Regia Silk sock yarn in navy blue to be the contrast yarn and made some minor pattern tweaks.  Cuff #1 - almost done!!



I love it!  This sock is flying along.  I had forgotten just how quick a stockinette sock can go. 

Unlike the original design, I am going to use a solid navy "afterthought" heel and I'm going to use the same stripe design on the foot as the cuff.  My deadline is next Tuesday, but I should be okay.  The Super Bowl alone is 4 hours of knitting time, right?

It is 9 degrees with subzero wind chills, so I better go and layer up for work.  Do you think the patients would mind if I kept my mittens on?  I'm thinking they would prefer that to my ice-cold hands.  Those poor naked babies just hate me!

Another One?

                                Four Things About Me Meme

Four Jobs I Have Had

* Pediatrician
* Payroll Clerk
* Receptionist
* Waitress

Four Movies Watched Over and Over

* The Princess Bride
* Moonstruck
* While You Were Sleeping
* Sense and Sensibility

Four Books Read Over and Over

* The Once and Future King
* Winter Solstice
* The Number of the Beast
* Knitter's Almanac

Four Places I Have Lived

* Whitehouse, OH
* Des Moines, IA
* Flagstaff, AZ
* Yuma, AZ

Four Shows I Watch

* Project Runway
* Gilmore Girls (in reruns, over and over)
* Sportscenter
* Paula's Home Cooking

Four Places I Have Visited

* New York City
* St. Thomas
* Rehobeth Beach
* Cayman Islands

Four People Who Email Me

* Kate
* Karen
* The Other Karen
* My sister Jenny

Four Favorite Things To Eat

* Pizza
* Pasta
* Ice Cream
* Channa Masala

Four Places I Would Rather Be

* A yarn store
* A bookstore
* A beach
*A cruise ship

Four Things I Look Forward to This Year

* The Insanknitty knitting retreat
* My parents visiting for my daughter's graduation
* Finally finding out where my daughter will be going to college
* Meeting my friend Rebecca's new baby

I am supposed to tag four of you, but I have never been fond of that whole chain letter coercion deal, so you are all invited but none required.  K?

Unexpected Posting

I suddenly find myself with a) time to post and b) computer access that does not require displacing a cranky teenager.  I do not have c) exciting new knitting content to share, but let's not let that hold us back, ok?

I have been knitting on the socks for my niece, but you really don't need another in-progress picture.  I promise to show you when they are done.

Instead, let me show you some other stuff that is overdue.

#1: Just for Kate, here is a picture of my favorite tea mug.



I like this mug because of it's shape and size. I love this mug because it is wintry without screaming Christmas so that I don't feel dumb using it after December.  And I love red!

Beside the mug is my favorite tea - Lady Grey.  Have you had Earl Grey tea?  Lady Grey is Earl Grey + lemon and orange notes.  I can't always find it decaffeinated, so I tend to overbuy a bit when I do.   A splash of soy milk and a packet of Splenda and I'm a happy camper.

#2:  In honor of Karen and her heartfelt endorsement of National Pie Day, this is in my oven as we speak.



I usually bake something on Wednesday nights to take in to the nurses at work, but the last few weeks have been really crazy and I couldn't.  I made a special effort tonight to make it up to them.  The recipe is from my beloved Paula.  This will eventually be apple caramel cheesecake once I add the special topping. I know that cheesecake is technically not a pie, but it is in a graham cracker pie crust, so I decided it is close enough.  The dessert addicts in my office will certainly not quibble!

#3:  I am probably the last human on earth to find this site, but I am linking to it just in case I'm not.  It cracks me up on a daily basis and I am constantly sending email links to my poor daughter.  If one or more of you could share in my obsession, it would take some of the pressure of her, which I know she would appreciate.

#4: A meme!!  I wanted to do this one when I first saw it floating around the blogosphere in December, but I never got around to it.  January isn't quite over, so I decided it is not too late.

For this meme, you list the first sentence of the first post of the month for each month of the prior year.

January: "Lose weight/get in shape" has been my New Year's resolution for as long as I can remember and it's getting pretty old.   (OMG - Deja vu all over again!  Sigh.)

February:  First of all, here is my dad's sweater vest, finally blocked.  (Last year's birthday sweater, right on schedule)

March:  I wound my Kool-Aid sock yarn into a cute little ball with my magic swift and ball-winder.  (My first dyeing experiment!)

April: Whew!  Made it home in one piece with all luggage accounted for.  (Home from Spring Break Cruise)

May: I'm still slogging along on my top-down tee and my miter top, but I have not made much progress since my last post - certainly not enough to take pictures of.  (Hmmm...whatever happened to that miter top?)

June: Got to sleep in a little this morning, but it has been non-stop since then.  (Nothing really changes.)

July: Now that the adrenaline has worn off and I'm no longer nauseous, I think I can tell you about last night without too many flashbacks.  (Fourth of July fireworks on the roof - aack!)

August: I am back from vacation in one piece, I have lots of knitting to show you, and I have been unable to access my blog from my home computer! (Okay, so some things do change)

September: This post almost turned into a crazed rant about the terrible day I had yesterday, but I decided to spare you.  (I think I'm referring to the day I got a flat tire and then the cops towed my car away.  Fun times.)

October: No photos of my infinitesimal progress on my Denim and Leaves pullover tonight - it is on a little break. (Ummm...define "little")

November: Ever have one of those weekends that is so busy and full of chores that you are almost happy when Monday rolls around? (And we're back to nothing changes)

December: One of the coolest things about my new spinning obsession is that spinning supplies are not mass produced.  (Note to self: get back to spinning wheel soon)

Feel free to play along if you want to, but I won't bother to tag anybody with this meme since it's an old one.

And now, I leave you with an instructional message:

Quick Update

It is hard to believe that I used to post three times a week.  These days posting once a week is all I can possibly handle!

Exchange student update:  she is home from the hospital.  Surgery is on-hold for now, but is still a lurking possibility if she doesn't do well.  Her mother is also here, but flies back to Italy tomorrow night.  I was very stressed about entertaining her, but she is impossibly sweet and has been so thankful and gracious. 

I finished the sweater for my dad.  It still needs to be blocked, but I thought you'd like to see a picture anyway.



He will be happy with it - it is very similar to the old one.



Here is a weird art shot a la Jared so you can see the yoke a little better.

Now I have started a quick pair of sicks because I needed something portable.  For reasons passing understanding, I ignored the many beautiful patterns on my socks-to-knit list and just improvised a toe-up sock with a wacky wandering rib that I "unvented".  (I'm sure it exists in a stitch pattern book somewhere, I just haven't seen it)



The sock is turning out long and thin, so it should be perfect for my niece Abigail, who has similar dimensions.  Her birthday is in May, so I will be way ahead of the game.



This is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Party yarn, 80% wool and 20% polyamide.  I am using size 2 needles.

I promised Kate that I would post a photo of my favorite coffee (well, tea) cup, but it is not happening today.  If I don't go get dinner started, there will be angry, hungry hordes.  Next time, I mean it!!

Two Sleeves and A Skein

Last week was psycho, even by Knitasha standards, and the crazy is spilling right over into this week.  Our little exchange student is in the hospital!  (I know!)

She has a chronic abdominal condition that was in remission when she came to America, but the stress of the last month caused it to flare up.  She was in terrible pain and not eating, so I took her to a G.I. specialist and he put her right into the hospital.  She has been in for 5 days already and there is no end in sight.  She has lost 9 pounds, and now the doctors are talking about the possibility of surgery.

Needless to say, this has FREAKED her poor family out.  Her mother is flying in tonight (God willing, with the snow storms in the Northeast) and will go right to the hospital.  Can you imagine flying to Toledo, OH from Rome and then sleeping in a plastic recliner in your daughter's hospital room?  Of course we have offered her shelter here, but the hospital is a good 45 minutes away, so she can't really pop over for a quick shower.

I have spent as much time at the hospital as I could, while laundry and resentments piled up at home.   Today I just had to buckle down and get some housework done.  My house was in no shape for an overseas visitor.  She'll be jet lagged to start with, but she would have noted the absence of any visible floor in my laundry room eventually.

My time visiting the hospital did include some knitting.  Daddy's sweater now has two sleeves, which have been united with the body.



I have switched over to gray for the main color of the yoke, and I have plenty of the blue left for the neckband.  The rows are miles long at the moment, but 8 stitches decreased every 2 rounds means I'll be much happier soon.  Now that the sweater is all in one piece, I had to move it into a bigger knitting bag.

I somehow managed to finish spinning the Midnight roving as well and I'm very happy with it. 



Natural light made it look a little lighter than it really is, but at least you can see the different colors. 

I managed to spin this 16 wpi (my finest gauge yet!) and I estimate that I have about 130 yards.  It will have to marinate in my stash for awhile until I figure out what it wants to be.

As soon as my Dad's sweater is done, I have big sock knitting plans.  There is a set of #2 dpn's sitting on my dresser and they have been calling my name.  I haven't knit anything out of this book yet, so I'm thinking it is time.  There is no shortage of sock yarn to choose from!

But for now, back to the laundry....

The Roving is in Time-out

I had high hopes that I would have beautiful red-purple hand spun to show you today, but it was not to be.  The Beaverslide roving that I Kool-Aid dyed did not want to become beautiful yarn.  It wanted to become a lumpy scratchy disaster that kept breaking.  I knew I would never ever want to knit the stuff, so it was abandoned mid-bobbin.  I had pre-drafted the whole mess, so I stuffed it all into a plastic bag and put it out of my sight.

If my evil plan to buy myself a drum carder this Spring actually comes to fruition, maybe I can combine this roving with something softer and salvage it.  In my mind's eye, a soft gray or black wool with hints of red and purple shot through could be very pretty.  If it turns out to be unspinnable, I don't know what in the heck I will do with the giant ball of cream roving I have left, as well as the untouched ball of fuscia.  Maybe sell them on ebay?  Just because I am unable to spin it doesn't mean a real spinner couldn't.

I was so disgusted by the red and purple wool that I needed to cleanse my palate.  I started to spin some merino top I bought from Paradise Fibers.  This colorway is called "Midnight".



This fiber is super-silky, so I am spinning from the fold for better control.  I only got a little done before life got in the way, but I think this will be very pretty yarn when I get back to it.

I expected to spin more this weekend, but I unexpectedly picked up momentum on my Dad's sweater and I didn't want to put it down.  The 16" body to the armholes is done and I am well into sleeve #1.



I told you it would start to look more like a sweater!



Closer shot of the ridge detail.

Looks like the yarn I ordered will be plenty to finish this - there may even be an unoriginal hat or 2 left over.  I hope to be working on sleeve #2 by the time I go to Insanknitty at Yarn Haven tomorrow night.  Between the holidays and my crazy schedule, I haven't been there for three weeks!  We have a very important field trip to discuss.   Franklin is going to be at Threadbear  on January 26th!  I smell a road trip.