You will note from the Sidebar Of Shame that the Sockapalooza Java Leaf socks are completely, 100% finished. I really love these socks, but I was ready to have them off my needles. Because so much other lovely sock yarn has been coming my way lately. And it’s been calling to me.

Calling loudest was the Koigu I picked up last Sunday at the PDX Knit Bloggers meet-up. Although it was safely stored away in it’s designated stash bin, I could hear it banging against the sides trying to get out, and I could hear a faint voice crying I know what I want to be so let me out and I’ll show you! I know how yarn can be. It… prevaricates, shall we say? OK. Sometimes it downright lies. But I, a trusting and naive soul, am ever ready to be led astray by a pretty face and an insistence that it knows what’s best.

I swatched the Koigu. It lied. But I’m swatching some more because it is lovely and I want to knit with it. It sucked me in, all right.

Pics of the Java Leaf socks tomorrow, when it should be cool enough to go outside and take some. And I’ll report on the Kiogu swatching progress also. But first… (drum roll please)… Boston.

Nahant beach

This beach lies just across the street from my cousins’ home. I’m not kidding. Directly across the street. This is the view that they get up to every morning and go to bed to every night. There are much worse things to look at, I’m thinking.

That is my muggle cousin Margaret, strolling along the beach and picking up a few of the shells that are literally strewn about everywhere. I walked on this beach every day. It was wonderful!

But yarn called.

Thanks to everyone who sent suggestions of places to visit. I only had one afternoon in the city, and since we rode the T (that’s what Bostonians call their subway), I tried to pick out the ones that were closest to T stops. So that was a little limiting. I would have loved to have made it out to Webs. Maybe next time.

Windsor Buttons

First up, Windsor Buttons.

I wish I could show you a picture of the inside of this shop, but all of the ones I took were totally craptastic and would in no way represent how fun this store actually is. They have an entire wall of button. Can you imagine? A whole wall.

And the other side of the store is all yarn. Lots of yarn. More yarn than it at first appears. I kept turning corners and finding yarn stuck away in a little nook or cranny that I didn’t expect.

I tried valiantly to limit my purchases to only yarn that I can’t get easily at home. At Windsor I mostly succeeded.

But I did point out the Seasilk to Margaret.

Me, stroking a hank of Seasilk or two: Look at this suff. Can you believe it’s made of silk and kelp?

Margaret, from a distance: No! Really? It’s pretty.

Me, holding out a skein: You really need to feel this, to see how lovely it is.

Margaret, touching the tip of one finger briefly to yarn: Yes. Very nice.

Woman Behind Windsor Counter: Don’t you love Seasilk! It smells so good! So… sea-like.

Me: Oh, yes!

Margaret: Eh?

It’s OK. She’s a muggle, but willing to venture into unknown territory.

Woolcot Yarn

The other shop I visited was Woolcott and Company.

I had a wonderful time browsing amongst all the yarn here. This picture is craptastic, also, but it’s unfortunately the best I took.

Do you see that pink lace shawl hanging over the counter in the back? That is one of the most gorgeous pieces of lacework I’ve ever seen. I really, really, really wanted that pattern. But Sean said that he is absolutely unable to keep it in stock, because everybody else wants it, too. It just walks out the door. And he had sold the last copy he had only that morning.

No, I don’t remember the name of the pattern. But I want it. Badly.

Remember… This was a pink object, and I was ga-ga over it. Yeah. It was that good.

I didn’t do as well at Woolcott in sticking to my resolve to buy only yarns not available locally. But… I was pretty good.

The picture is not so good because I realized as I was snapping it that it was getting late and Sean was trying to close, and, having made my purchaes, he probably would be OK with me actually leaving. 🙄 Although, to be fair, Sean was very nice and offered to take a picture of me in the shop. Not with my hair like this, I replied without even thinking. Sean giggled and thanked me for coming in.

Boston yarn pr0n

And here is the obligatory yarn pr0n.

On the left, both from Windsor Buttons: Claudia in Navy Olive; and Schaefer Anne in a colorway that’s olive, gold, rust and berry.

To the right, all from Woolcott: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Tamarack (yes, I know I can get this at home, but it was so pretty and it talked to me, and we’ve already established that I have no resistance); Schaefer Anne in muted greens; and Woolcott & Co. silk/cashmere cobweb-weight that I think will probably be like knitting with clouds. I have 1326m of the last (about 1450 yds) and I’m looking for just the right project.

Finally, I can’t resist sharing the Nahant fireworks with you. The fireworks are held every year on the beach that’s directly across from my cousins’ home. So naturally they invite friends over and gather on their porch to watch.

The menu included guacamole (my contribution), lobster rolls (yum), a wonderful broccoli salad, Ceasar salad, fruit salad and canolis (to counteract all of the healthy stuff).

The film was shot with my little camera — the same one that takes all of the pictures I show here — and represents less than 1/4 of the actual fireworks show. I would have had more, but I was so captivated by the display that I didn’t think to turn the camera on most of the time. I think it does pretty well on film of the good-enough-for-youtube variety. You can hear the crowd down on the beach, and cheers and comments from my fellow porch-sitters. At one point you will hear yours truly, in one of my more brilliant utterances, exclaim, “oh! oh!” to apparently nothing.

I’m not one of those smart bloggers who can plan ahead and say, I’ll save that one for Friday because I already have something to talk about for Thursday. This has always just seemed to me sort of like a little coffee klatsch with yarn thrown in. So I talk about everything all at once. Because that’s what I do when I coffee klatsch. Sometimes I’m sitting at the table knitting by myself (yes, I realize that means I’m talking to myself too). And sometimes I’m joined by a few friends. Every now and then it’s more like a few thousand friends.

Using free blogging software and being my own webmaster: Worth every penny (ha ha).

Being linked to (in the nicest possible way) by both Wendy and Grumperina on the same day that I boast about the completion of Clapotis #2 on the Mason-Dixon Knitting Slogalong: Priceless. Welcome visitors! Pull up a chair and I’ll pour you a cuppa.

But the sudden 12-fold spike in bandwidth usage (sinking back now to its normal level of semi-obscurity) did point out the need for a few tweaks around here. I’ve been working long hours and what few blogging minutes I’ve had have been mostly spent in shoring up the framework. WordPress is really great software. But I sort of hack it around a bit. So PI is kinda held together with baling twine and bubble gum. I think the comments are working OK again, and hopefully the pages will load a little faster now. I added a bit more baling twine (knitted into I-cord) and propped it up with a couple of extra 2x4s.

I’ve been working long hours the last couple of weeks to get ready, because — drum roll please — I’m on vacation! Ahh…

My cousin Margaret lives near Boston. For years she’s been trying to get me to come over to the right-hand coast for July 4th. Last year around Thanksgiving I told her that this year I would come for sure and she could plan on it and we were both really excited and I made arrangement to take the time off no matter what. And I kept thinking that really I should call her and let her know that really I was coming… really. There’s a 3-hour time difference. And Margaret and I both keep rather odd hours. I usually remembered to call her around midnight here, and I thought she probably didn’t really want to hear from me at 3:00 AM, even if it was with (hopefully) good I’m coming to see you news. But I kept thinking I really needed to call her. And I kept remembering at midnight.

Then I realized that it was… June… and I still hadn’t called her. And wouldn’t she be surprised if I just showed up on her doorstep? Did she remember that I was coming? And would she even be there? So maybe I really, really needed to actually call her. So I tied a piece of yarn around my finger and remembered to call at a reasonable hour. ring… ring…

Margaret: hello.

Me: Hi. It’s me! How have you been?

Margaret: oh! How are you! It’s great to hear from you!

Me: I’m great. How has your summer been? (Then, because I’m not sure if she remembers I’m coming and I don’t want to look really pushy and such if she’s got other plans) What are you doing for the 4th?

Margaret: (in a sad, slow voice) Nothing. I’m sitting here all by myself. (a slight exaggeration, as her son lives with her)

Me: Would you like some company?

And that was how I ended up planning to travel to the Boston area for a few days around the 4th. But I took extra vacation days, because I need them.

Margaret was not sure she could find things to entertain me with. Although she knows, and I reiterated, that I don’t require much in the way of entertainment. Besides, as I told her, there’s probably a yarn shop or two in Boston. Margaret, who is a muggle (but a very much beloved muggle), said I think there’s one in Marblehead.

So, gentle reader, if you know where the best Boston area local yarn shops are, please comment so I can go armed with a list. 😉 Don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to any, but here’s hoping.

java leaf toes in the making

And here are the starts of the Java leaf socks for my Sockapalooza pal. I’m finding this yarn hard to photograph. Of course, it can’t be my skills as a photographer that’s to blame. It’s the yarn. (Right) So I plopped them right on my window sill where I’d get the best possible light.

I wanted to start the leaf pattern right at the end of the toes. But I didn’t want lace all the way at the end, because I didn’t think that would be very comfortable. So I started with stems twining up into the leaves. There are two brioche stitches on either side of the leaf panel. I had planned on a knit/purl sort of diamond pattern on the sides, but as I knit up an inch or so I didn’t like the way it looked. It just wasn’t defined enough on the dark yarn. (It’s darker than it looks in this over-exposed picture.) So I laddered the sides back down and made them stockinette. I’m now planning to twine stems up the sides to the ankle, and have four leaf-panels around the legs, separated by the brioche stitches. And maybe brioche instead of ribbing at the top.

It’s still a work in progress.

The leaf pattern is a fun knit, though. Not so complex that I can’t do other things like watch TV, but still lace and complicated enough to keep my interest.

yarn pr0n

And I think I mentioned that there might have been a little purchase from The Loopy Ewe to assuage my Blacksheep-Gathering-less self.

Just a little.

Left to right —

Stonebarn Fibers Gypsy Girl Creations in Crocus Valley (I love the twist on this yarn and it’s going with me to Boston!)

Seacoast Handpainted Superwash Sock in Meadow (The label says 100% merino, but it feels wonderfully soft and silky.)

Dream In Color Smooshy Sock Yarn in November Muse. (Smooshy is a perfect description for this yarn!)

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Peacock (Needed more to see if the first was an aberration or I’m going to fall in love with this yarn as others have before me.)

Scarlet Fleece It’s Tubular X 2 in Lapis Woodland (thick and warm and I think it will wear well)

I notice a preponderance of minty green, orange/brown, and purple. Hmmm… I don’t have much in the way of these combination in my stash. Well… just a little, maybe. I wonder if my color sensibility is shifting. Or maybe it’s the season.

Now… what projects to take to Boston with me…

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. 😉

Look! A finished object! Yea!

I finished the Spanish Lavender Basket Wave socks Saturday night. Yesterday they got a little bath and a block so they’d be in their finest form for pictures.

The Spanish lavender is past its first bloom right now and the day was gray and semi-icky. My honeysuckle is standing in for the lavender, just this once.

And, yes, the socks really are exactly the same size. There’s a little bit of optical illusion going on with how the socks draped across the branches. But the nice thing, you know, about knitting them both at once is that they both come out exactly the same. That and when you’re done, you’re done.

The yarn was wonderful to knit with and it’s very, very soft and… well… silky. It feels wonderful on my feet. I washed in my front-loader using the wool cycle and dried flat on a rack in my dryer. The results are marvelous. The ball band, however, says hand wash, do not machine dry. So do as it says and not as I do because your mileage may vary.

The fit is perfect. Almost. The only thing I might quibble with a bit is the toe. I really love the way that a star toe looks with the basket weave stitch. But very round, short toes don’t fit my feet very well. My toes are rather short, but my big toe is the longest, and wedge-shaped sock toes just nestle right down and make themselves at home. On this toe, I tried to make the shaping longer and more wedgie-like. It’s not long and wedgie enough. Close… but not quite. I might try again on another pair of socks, because I do like the look.

Here is a close-up of the basket weave pattern.

This was really a happy meeting of stitch pattern and colorway. I love how the pattern plays with the colors while the colors enhance the pattern. Ah… sometimes (very occasionally) I get it right.

There virtually no pooling except a sploosh of green/tan over the instep of one sock and a sploosh of raspberry/brown over the other. There’s an interesting sort of semi-striping going on — both the horizontal striping in the light/dark colors, and a vague, almost illusory browns vs. blues diagonal thing that I think is quite attractive.

I posted the stitch pattern in a comment awhile back, but just in case someone else wants it:

• multiples of 10 stitches
• Rows 1 – 4: *p6, k4, repeat from *
• Row 5: k all stitches
• Rows 6 – 9: *p1, k4, p5, repeat from *
• Row 10: k all stitches

The heels are knit in heel-stitch with garter borders to play up the whole basket weave theme. The heels look really cool in this stitch. I liked the heels so well that I considered using heel stitch on the cuff, too.

I was at Tangle on Saturday with a bunch of the usual suspects. A political discussion was in swing. Not that we’re an opinionated bunch or anything. I stopped the discussion, because I had a much more important question: Heel stitch or simple rib?

Because the lovely knitters hanging around on Saturday are knitters, the aforementioned political discussion was dropped like a DPN in a bus on an unimproved street and due consideration was given my query. The answer was unequivocally heel stitch. The DPN was located The previous discussion resumed without missing a beat.

Now, it can’t really be heel stitch on the cuff, I can hear you protest gentle reader. Heel stitch is basically stockinette, and stockinette curls like my hair in Houston (only much more predictably).

Ah, you are so perceptive!

It’s a dropped-stitch rib, which, being a rib, does not curl. It’s worked thusly (since I’m giving out stitch patterns today):

• any even number of stitches
• rnd 1: * sl 1, p1, repeat from * around
• rnd 2: *k1, p1, repeat from * around
• continue until long enough or you’re sick of doing it

Next up: One of the projects from the Side-Bar Of Shame. Clapotis #2 perhaps? It would be nice to finish that puppy. I really need to get cracking on the socks for my Sockapalooza pal, too. It looks like the yarn I wanted isn’t going to make it, so I think I’ll need to figure something else out. Soon. Really, really, soon.

P.S. Go over and check out my improvements to the Portland LYS page. I’m such a geek! 🙄

The particulars for the Spanish Lavender Basket Wave socks:

• Yarn: Blue Silkie Moon Socks That Rock (81% Superwash Merino, 19% Silk/ 360yds/3.5 oz per skein) in colorway Walking On The Wild Tide. I had some left over. This was the second Rockin’ Sock Club skein of the year. I did not knit the pattern provided. Sometimes I don’t follow directions well.
• Needles: Addi Lace 24″ circulars, US#1 (2.5mm)
• Pattern: my own standard sock pattern with a simple basket weave stitch pattern.
• Techniques used:
  • Knit toe-up, two at a time, on double circulars.
  • I used the Magic Cast On.
  • The heel flap is worked in heel stitch with garter borders.
  • I liked the way that the heel looked, so the cuff was worked in a slipped-stitch rib to resemble the heel.
  • Kitchener bind-off.

First of all, thank you all for your commiseration with me over my extreme dorkiness. 😳 I may eventually live it down. Or not.

I can’t believe how many people raised their hand when Stephanie asked how many people blogged! I had no idea there were so many of us! It would be cool to do a little Portland Portland/tri-county/Vancouver/larger-metro-area/whatever Knitting Bloggers thingy. I’m touching bases with a few other bloggers whose emails and/or blog addresses I have to see if there’s any interest in getting something going.
[ed. 06/11/07 12:01 PM – to be inclusive of a larger territory than only Portland proper. When I say Portland, it’s my shorthand for all this stuff around here within striking distance. I certainly don’t want anyone to feel excluded!]

Did any of you knit in public on Saturday? I did. It was at my normal haunt — Tangle — but it was in public, even though it’s a yarn shop. And a couple of non-knitters did come in. I think.

On Sunday I had lunch with my muggle friend M. She said, did you know today is National Knitting Day, or something like that? I gave her lots of credit for trying, because she was obviously paying attention! And told her that the day before had been Worldwide Knit In Public Day, and I did knit in public, which I do all the time anyway.

On the more changes in PI subject, gentle reader, I’m pleased to announce the return of spell check on comments. Oh frabjous day! I think that’s the last thing lost during the WP 2.0 upgrade that had not been replaced or rewired or recoded or updated. Whew. It’s a really cool spell checker, too. Better than the old one. I think you’ll like it.

Yes, that’s a blatant hint that you should try it out! 😆

Here are the little blue baby socks. The knitting was finished at the Harlot’s book signing, and I did the bind-off when I got home. I think they came out really cute. I’m so pleased that I had some Cascade Fixation in a color that worked so well with the little sweater. I also have some Fixation in a lime green, but I think it may be too green. There really are two socks in this picture.

The Particulars:

• Yarn: Cascade Fixation — 98.3% cotton / 1.7% elastic, 100g / 50 yds per ball — in an unknown colorway (might be 2706) — a tiny amount left over from a different project.
• Needles: Knit Picks Classics, US#2 (3mm).
• Pattern: my own standard toe-up sock pattern, just knit really, really small. Magic cast-on. Flap-and-gusset heel. Tubular bind-off.

Next up: finishing the Spanish Lavender Basket Wave socks, another stab at Clapotis #2, Sockapalooza socks – hopefully the yarn will arrive!

For far too long I have not been able to post. Not because I’ve been too busy, although that has contributed. No… the latest WordPress upgrade rendered me incapable of actually saving anything I wrote.

If you visited over the last week or so, you may have noticed that sometimes things looked different. Sometimes there were features missing. Sometimes there were whole chunks of PI missing. Sometimes nothing worked at all. There was nobody I could call because… I’m my own webmaster. I will spare you the long, sad tale of sleepless nights spent slaving over the keyboard, frantically searching for an answer; the countless plugins deactivated / upgraded / reactivated only to be trashed; the numerous discussion groups combed for answers; the multiple configurations tried on my local desktop that worked fine, only to be hosed (technical term) when uploaded to where everyone else could see it. Late Friday night I found the answer: Move from PHP4 to PHP5 on my host’s web server. All things magically began to work again. Posts could be saved without the dreaded blank, white screen appearing (think Window’s Blue Screen Of Death, only worse). Ahhhhhhhhh … sleep

In the midst of the panicked frenzy upgrading a few new or modified features were added. Nicer Archives, the plugin that served me faithfully (with a few tweaks) since WP 1.2 days, finally gave up the ghost (RIP). There’s a new expandomatic archives listing in the History tab. Click on the years and months and it drops down. Cool, eh? Translate is once again available (click on the flags at the top of the left sidebar). Thought Of The Day and Current Weather are driven by new, and hopefully more stable, engines. How People Get Here is a new word cloud that shows what searches are leading readers here. To avoid banging my head against the wall in despair I took the opportunity to finally update the PI favicon (that’s the little icon that shows up next to the PI name in the browser address). It now actually fits into this theme rather than a very old, long discarded, quite garishly colored scheme. (I really wanted to use a ball of yarn and knitting needles to form the P and the I in the icon. It looked great at 72×72 pixels, but when reduced to 16×16 pixels it became a featureless blob that didn’t look at all like yarn and needles, much less like a P and an I.)

There are some other changes under the covers that you probably won’t notice.

I love WordPress, and certainly the price is right. But free can also be read as virtually unsupported. And sometimes the features that the authors think are really, really cool cause some issues in the general WordPress-using public who are not expecting such sudden changes. WP 2.2 was not supposed to be a major upgrade. sigh I supposed I should be happy that it forced me into a few probably much-needed updates here and there.

Thank you so much, gentle reader, for continuing to visit and comment in my supposed absence. I was listening and watching. And now I’m back.

The pictures are proof that I did get a little knitting time in.

The Spanish Lavender Basket Wave socks are up past the heels and heading up the legs. They are posing amidst my Climbing Iceberg rose. It’s nearly time for the annual Rose Festival and everything is in bloom. I really wanted to photo the socks with my Eyepaint rose. But, alas, the bright red of the rose did not add anything to the lovely Walking On The Wild Tide colors. White, fortunately, goes with everything.

Anyway, I worked the heel flap in heel stitch with a garter border. You can sort of see it on the right-hand sock in the picture. I think it fit into the basket theme quite well and looks like it’s lined up nicely with the pattern on the leg. The lower picture is a close-up of the basket weave stitch pattern across the instep. I know it seems sort of un-sockclub-ish to some to use a different pattern. But I’m really happy with the way this stitch works with this yarn. I would not be nearly as happy with the Sock Club pattern, although it is a fine pattern and one I plan to knit with a different yarn.

I am still waiting for the perfect yarn, due in at Tangle any day now, to start the socks for my Sockapalooza 4 sock pal. I have no idea what these socks are going to look like. But I know the yarn will tell me what it wants to be.

[ed 11:12 am PDT] P.S. I almost forgot to mention that there are now a couple of wonderful Magic Cast On videos available on the web. I’ve linked to them in the right-hand sidebar. One, from the kind people at Renaissance Yarns has a voice-over in English, and the other, courtesy of Calcetines Tejidos is in Spanish. Enjoy!