Happy Birthday, and congratulations on the release of #1 Son v1.9.

I’m so proud of you and of the man you are becoming that I’m just about to burst.

From adorable (yes, you were, too!) baby to busy child to teenager that made Mom understand why some animals eat their young to friend, confident, great guy to have around the house. The journey has been full of laughter and tears, shared joys and shared sorrows, life and love and hugs.

I can’t wait to see what the coming years have in store! Next year is a whole new release: #1 Son v2.0. How exciting that will be!

#1 Son… you rock!

a rainbow of yarn

Thanks to everyone who posted great places (i.e. yarn shops) to visit in the Boston area. I will try to hit at least a couple.

I have just a tiny bit more yarn pr0n to show you before I go.

I didn’t actually possess this yarn the last time we spoke, but it had been calling to me for months. Every time I went to Tangle I visited it, and petted it, and it talked to me and said take me home, Judy. But I had no project in mind for it, so I was strong and resolute and I put in my earplugs and didn’t listen.

It was hanging on a wall rack with the other lovely, wonderful Blue Heron yarns. Always it hung towards the back of the rack, like a slightly naughty child. But I could always pick it out from across the room. And I would eventually wander over and give it a little pat and say not yet… (You talk to your yarn, don’t you?)

Yesterday, as I plopped down in my favorite Tangle chair and started knitting, I glanced over to the Blue Heron rack.

It wasn’t there!

I felt a momentary twinge of panic. Did someone buy it? Alice had said that many people looked at it and commented about it, but then left it. Maybe it talked loudly enough and went home with someone else! Ack!

Then I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized it was still there. But it was an omen, I decided. So it came home with me.

I don’t know yet what it wants to be. But eventually I will see just the right pattern for it, and then it will be there ready to go. It’s a cotton/rayon/metallic in a colorway called Shadow. I have 425 yard of it, which is enough to do something nice with it. Or it may become a striking edging. We shall see.

Moo Cow the fiber junky
(gratuitous cat picture)

Someone else at my house was interested in it too.

Today the kitties headed over to the Cat Bed & Breakfast for a little fun whilst I trek across the country. I’m not sure how pleased they were. I take that back. I do know. They were not pleased.

Usually I either leave them with tons of food and water, if I’m not going to be gone very long, or I have #1 Son come over and take care of the kitties while the neighbors water the lawn if it needs it and pick up the mail. But #1 Son is on tour and if he is delayed getting home the kitties would be in dire straights. And the Cat B & B is a nice place, as such places go. The only really tough part is rounding them up to get them over there.

It was a hectic day. I first had to pick my friend M up at the airport. She was flying in from a visit with her out-of-town family. Being the geek that I am, I had gone online and set up an email alert to my cell phone for her flight arrival. When it came, it said her flight was early. The airport was a zoo. I fought my way around to the pick-up point through a crowd of insane drivers (is it the full moon?). M wasn’t there. I went around again. No M. I went around a third time. Still no M. (Early flight?)

I drank a big cup of coffee on the way to the airport. By the third time around, I was really hoping to see M. Nature was calling louder than that yarn had. When M wasn’t there, I gritted my teeth and went around again. She was there! Yea! She stuck her head in the window and said her bag still hadn’t shown up and so I should go around again (it’s pick-up only, no parking). I said OK. And as I started off again, I said a few other things under my breath, but gently because my teeth were starting to float if you know what I mean. So instead of going around one more time, I drove away from the airport and far enough down the road that I found a fast-food restaurant where I ran from my car double-quick and ran inside to take advantage of their facilities. With my mind, and other parts of my anatomy, eased, I drove back around the airport, where M was waiting with bag in hand. But I felt a whole lot more relaxed about the whole pick-up thing, and didn’t mind at all driving over to SE Portland to this great little vegetarian Oriental restaurant that #1 Son had turned me on to.

On the way to M’s house after lunch, I mentioned that the kitties were going to the Cat B & B, and how hard they are to catch sometimes when they don’t want to be caught. Be careful not to think about your vacation, M said. Cats pick up on those things and you’ll never find them because they’ll go hide.

So all the way from M’s house to mine, I tried to not think about my vacation.

Do you have vacation coming up? Or maybe dinner? Or a good night’s sleep? Or that project you really need to get to? Try not thinking about it. Go ahead. I’ll wait right here while you give it a go.

What luck did you have not thinking about it?

Yeah.

I pulled into the garage trying to think of other things and mostly not succeeding.

Cat rounding up must be done carefully. Phoebe and Kidd both have a place they can hide where it’s not easy for me to get to them. Once I’ve grabbed one, the jig is up and the other heads for cover. Kidd, once he sees that you’re heading for the garage and so he is destined for a journey, lets go in the same way that I almost did circling the airport to pick up M. So it’s important to keep him… aimed the other direction, if you catch my drift. And all three are big cats. I only have two carriers — a big one that can hold two cats and a smaller one. It can be interesting to stuff a second cat into the big carrier while keeping the first cat still in residence.

So I pulled into the garage trying to think happy catnip, mouse-chasing, kibble-munching thoughts. And not thoughts of vacation and Cat B & B and such.

All three of the kitties were there when I walked in the door. Hmm… I carefully didn’t think… just maybe I could get at least one of them.

I bent down and scratched Phoebe’s head and told her hello, and then just picked her up. She was surprised because she doesn’t like to be held, but she didn’t argue much. It was almost too easy.

Kidd was yawning and stretching on the sofa, only half awake. I carefully didn’t think that I could maybe grab him as well and have the two hard cases wrapped up. I nonchalantly wandered towards the sofa, Phoebe in my arms. Before Kidd knew what had happened, I’d scooped him up, too. I headed towards the garage, only a few feet away.

Now they both knew I was up to something nefarious. Picture this intrepid reporter, arms full of 25 lbs of angry cats, trying to hang on to Phoebe and keep Kidd pointed the other direction while still having one hand free to open the door. If I were an octopus, it might have been easier. Only having two hands made the journey, as short as it was, interesting. I made it to the garage and tipped the big carrier up on end. I put Kidd in and Phoebe right behind him. Whew. Two down.

I cleaned up Kidd’s mess. Missed me, fortunately. And then left Phoebe and Kidd to complain bitterly (and at the top of their lungs) in the garage while I went in search of Moo Cow, The Queen Of The House. She was no longer hanging around the living room. I found her back in my bedroom with a puzzled look on her face. She wasn’t running or hiding because that would not befit her royal station. But she did seem a little miffed that I was doing something not OK with two of her minions. I gave her a reassuring pat while I walked with her to the garage and told her that everything would be just fine, appearances notwithstanding. I’m glad that the small carrier can be opened from the top as well as the side, because Moo can make herself really, really big and plant all of her paws firmly on the sides of the carrier so it’s as difficult as possible to get her inside, and once in she arches her back so you can’t close the top. Tricky is Moo.

I delivered the kitties to the Cat B & B, and gave the staff all my kitty-mom advice: Don’t give Moo anything string-like because she’ll eat it but balls are OK. Don’t give Kidd anything but his regular food because it will make him sick. Phoebe likes her head scratched and sheds when stressed. I almost added wear a sweater if you’re cold, but decided they probably didn’t need that advice.

Margaret just called. Can’t wait to see her. I promised not to drag her around to every yarn store in Massachusetts. She replied You know me. I’ll shop for anything. heh heh She might not know what she’s saying…

[ed. 11:56 pm] P.S. Speaking of lovely things, you must check out Fibergal’s herringbone lace socks. That stitch pattern will need to see my needles soon, I think..

Hi to all you Knitty.com readers that have been hopping over here the last couple of days from the Magic Cast-On article. Please be sure to check out the knotless version, which also has one error in the article corrected (the wrong picture illustrating DPN step 10).

In your life, gentle reader, has there ever been a moment in time when you would give almost anything for a do-over? When you think to yourself, self, what were you thinking? You must have been having a really horrible hair day or something. Ever have that kind of day?

I would give a lot to be able to take back that little knot.

Actually, I offered my first born male child, but there were no takers.

(Just kidding, #1 Son!!! Really. You know I love you, sweety. Put on a sweater if you are cold.)

In my own knitting, I don’t like knots and never use them and eliminate them ruthlessly should I encounter them willy-nilly in a skein of yarn (which I loath. Don’t you think that for the price we pay for yarn, we could get a single strand of it?) But I honestly thought it would be easier for other knitters just starting with the Magic Cast-On to keep the first loop on the needle if it were a little slip-knot.

And thus was born a great deal of interweb discussion — to knot, or not to knot, that was the question.

So I will stand up, now: Hi, I’m Judy, and I’m a knotless knitter. I just twist the yarn around the needle to make the first loop, and hold it there with my right-hand index finger.

If you don’t like the knot, you can do that, too. If you don’t mind the knot and want to continue using it, that’s OK also. My motto is: whatever gets loops of string around your pointy sticks is a wonderful technique and you should keep doing it if it feels good. If it doesn’t feel good, then you should try a different technique until you find one that does feel good, and just keep making loops.

I love to sit with a group of knitters and watch the knitting techniques each uses. Everyone hold the yarn a little differently, makes stitches a little differently, knits fast, knits slow… but they are all knitting and producing beautiful fabric. How cool is that?

The Never-Ending Clapotis

It’s the Clapotis that never ends,
and it goes on and on my friends.
Some knitter started knitting it
not knowing what it was,
and she’ll continue knitting it
forever just because
it’s the Clapotis that never ends…

Well. You get the idea.

I really love the first Clapotis I knit. I still get tons of complements on it when I wear it. And I thought that a large Clapotis would be such a great wrap to use in the office, on those days when the air conditioner turns the place into an arctic deep freeze and I want to call Building Services to inquire if they have heard about global warming, and that maybe, just maybe, in some cases a little of it would be OK.

So I started Clapotis #2. It was a long time ago. It’s been listed on the sidebar of shame since the dawn of time, and I found a post in which I bragged (oh, if I could take back the words) of making good progress on it. Two. Years. Ago. Yeah. Real good progress, there, Judy.

Clapotis #2 is being knit in Elspeth Lavold Silky Tweed. I purchased a number of skeins. Don’t remember how many now, but enough to make a good-sized wrap. With Clapotis #1 I’d had barely enough yarn to finish — there was less than 6″ left, and I’d had to do some creative decreasing to make it. Not wanting to repeat that experience with Clapotis #2, I increased through one skein of yarn. The plan was then to knit the straight part until I had one skein of yarn left. Then work the decreases. I’m glad, now, that I planned it that way because I never would have remembered any other non-standard plan for this long. As we’ve all established, gentle reader, I’m a short-attention-span knitter.

I’m pleased to report that, after some decent knitting time yesterday, I’m down to 1-1/2 balls of yarn. I’m a mere 1/2 of a ball away from starting the decreases. There is actually an end in sight.

Dare I hope I may actually finish this puppy?

The new sock club delivery came yesterday. I have no pictures. I didn’t expect to like every single thing all year. The jury is still out on this one. While this time I do like the pattern, I’m not sure yet about the yarn. We’ll see.

I have many things on my knitting mind right now, anyway. I need to start my Sockapalooza pal’s socks really soon. Really soon. and now that it’s summer again, I’d like to knit the cotton bag that’s been in my head for about a year. I am going to attempt to knit some of those UFOs over there and get them off my list. So I can add new ones. You know how it goes.

It’s quiet around here. #1 Son is off on the road again for three weeks. I had coffee with him yesterday, served along with the usual mom-reminders: drive carefully, be cautious, wear a sweater if you’re cold, eat right, etc. He said, Mom, you’ve told me all that before. You don’t have to keep telling me. I replied that just because your kids grow up doesn’t mean that you stop being a mom, and I was going to keep telling him all that stuff until he was old himself because one of these days, who knows, he might listen.

Last night was the last class in my current sock class series. Three pairs of socks were born last night. I find that extraordinarily delightful!

And, even better yet, they all fit! (whew)

They should all fit, given the techniques that I use in the classes. But I have to admit that I sort of breath a sigh of relief when the socks actually do fit.

You can see the Spanish Lavender Basket Wave socks on the low table in the foreground, where I had flung them when I decided that I really, really, really needed a picture of the class right this very minute because they were all such wonderful, bright students (as all my students are) and the was the last class and I might not teach another series for a couple of months and my hands hurt and I couldn’t knit very well. But mostly I wanted the picture.

Be sure to click on the pic to see the sock knitters in a bigger version.

The other picture is Bob The Sock

Bobby is a little sample sock that I knit from various worsted-weight left-overs that were hanging about in my stash. The different colors are meant to show the different parts of a sock and how they all fit together. Then we talk about how now we’re going to knit that green part, and the heel turn isn’t all that scary when you see that it’s just this tiny little white triangle.

Bob and I are old friends. When not in service in a class, he lives in the plastic bag you can see on the floor in the first pic, along with various samples and demos that I show my classes. And it all lives, along with calculators and pencils and whatnot, stuffed inside a Pendleton bag that I picked up for about $10 at an outlet mall.

LeAnne asks: But fill me in on the new yarn!

I don’t remember the name of the new yarn. But it’s hand dyed in smallish batches by a smallish company and it has lovely colorways. The sock yarn has an interesting tight twist that I’m eager to try. I’m thinking that the socks will be sturdy and not much subject to either felting or shrinking, and the stitch definition should be lovely.

(Really LeAnne — Your child’s lacrosse game over knitting? Well… OK… I guess I can understand that. )

#1 Son will be home today, back from gallivanting around the North America for the last month.

I will be very, very glad to see #1 Son again. I have missed him very much.

But we will be having a little discussion about What Responsible Automobile Ownership Really Means And Why It Does Not Involve Your Mother Bailing Out Your Car After It Has Been Towed Or Paying Your Tickets.

Kristie suggested calling these the Basket Of Spanish Lavendar socks. And Kathy voted for Basket Wave socks. I like both of those suggestions and can’t choose between them, so I am combining and calling these socks the Spanish Lavender Basket Wave socks.

Ah… I feel so much better when the socks on my needles gain a name. Silly, I know, but that’s when I know I’m going to actually finish them, and it just feels like all is right with the world.

I thought you might be interested in seeing how the sole side is vaguely striping in a sort of diagonal-ish way. STR, it seems, is never truly random. But I like the way the colors are combining. So — basketweave on left, stockinette on right.

I’m about 1/2 of a pattern repeat away from starting the gusset increases. It will be interesting to see how this yarn reacts over the gussets. I haven’t decided if I should knit the heel turns and flaps from the opposite end of the yarn to not disturb the non-pattern. Or what stitch I should use on the heel. Eye Of Partridge, maybe.

Decisions, decisions.

I’m really having a lot of fun knitting these. Which reminds me that I really had a lot of fun knitting the other pair of basketweave socks. The change I made to the toes on this pair makes for a better fit. And with such a short pattern repeat, it really feels like I’m getting somewhere. So maybe I should knit this stitch pattern more often, eh? But then I’d probably get tired of it.

And speaking of sock progress . . .

The other day I was minding my own business, knitting away at Tangle, when I heard Alice call from the back room: Judy, do you want to see our new sock yarn?

That’s kind of a silly question, isn’t it?

I will reveal nothing until the yarn actually gets here. But I will say that it’s scrumptious, out of the ordinary, and there’s a colorway that I think will be just perfect for my Sockapalooooza pal. And there may also be a really awesome lime green that might find a home in my collection. Just maybe.

When the yarn is in hand, then I’ll decide what to do with it. We shall see.

I notice that there are a lot of Sockapaloooozers who have already started their socks. Mine will probably be the next pair on my needles. But I have until August 2 to mail them. Tons of time. (famous last words) So the sidebar is now counting down to 08/02/07 instead of Christmas. We’ll see if that keeps me honest.

A survey apparently finds Portland the city with the friendliest drivers. Are they driving on the same roads I do?

P.S. I hope all of you moms out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I had breakfast with my former MIL and it was fun. #1 Son is in Canada, but he remembered to call, and that was wonderful, too. Can’t wait to have him home again.