Andes Mints socks

Look, gentle reader! A finished object! Or objects, really, since there is a pair.

These are my Andes Mints socks, made from wonderful, squooshy StitchJones Supersocks.

The traveling-lace pattern is my own, made up on the fly. I’m sure it lives in numerous stitch dictionaries. I had knit a similar pattern in my Victoria Socks, but the lace only twists one way. With the Andes Mints socks, I wanted the lace to twist in opposite directions on each.

I have to say I love knitting with this yarn. The colors are gorgeous and Sharon really nailed the repeat length, at least at this gauge. Although the stripes did change a little over the gussets, the colors never pooled or flashed! Love ’em, love ’em, love ’em. I can’t wait for cold weather so I can wear them.

Well… that last isn’t entirely true. I will love wearing the socks, but will miss the warm weather. Falls here are so lovely, usually.

By the way, if for some reason you have not yet heard of Sock Summit 2009, go over and get signed up for info. People in the know are calling this Woodsock. From the info I have – some of which I am not, unfortunately, at liberty to divulge – I can only say that this may very well be a once-in-a-lifetime, not-to-be-missed opportunity.

And people wonder why I love living in Portland. We have more LYS per capita than any other city this size in North America (I think). And also more microbreweries. And tons of local indie dyers and spinners. And a bunch of vineyards. And an awesome fiber festival (OFFF). And locally made, hand-crafted chocolate. And then Sock Summit comes along. What more could one ask for?

The Particulars:

• Yarn: StitchJones Supersocks (100% Merino, 100 gm/460yds per skein); one skein of Andes Mints. I had yarn left over. There would be plenty in one skein to do a man-size pair of socks.
• Needles: A pair of Addi Turbos 24″ circs, 2.0mm
• My own pattern (may be available soon)

OFFF-goers enjoying the day

Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival is the highlight of my fiber year. Fiber fanatics, fibery animals (really cute ones!), enough vendors to warm a fiberista’s heart, fleece judging, spinning contests, lamb BBQ (yes, I will pet my lamb and eat it, too). What more could you ask for?

The weather was perfect: sunny and upper 70’s (F). There was a hint of crispness in the breeze – just enough to remind us all that this is fall, after all, but not so much to make us forget why Oregonians live for September. (shhhh… it’s our state secret)

You can see that there were many people who agreed with me! On Saturday, there was a big crowd – larger than I ever remember. On Sunday it was a bit quieter, but there were still many people come to enjoy the day and the animals and all of the fibery goodness.

those crazy PDX Knit Bloggers

The PDX Knit Bloggers represented in style! We set up our tent under a handy tree on the main lawn. Several of us brought spinning wheels – not I, as I am not a spinner. We were prepared to demo and/or help with almost any fiber art that you can imagine. A lot of people stopped by to ask questions, look at the wheels, and find out what we were all about. A couple of us had a few things for sale, and Bobbie’s DH Tool Man brought some of the gorgeous shawl pins he’s been making. (confidential to Tool Man: open an Etsy shop!)

Not being a spinner, I wasn’t asked to demo many things. But I did teach Cindy how to use a nostepinne, and Monica (that’s the famous MonicaPDX) how to do Judy’s Magic Cast-On.

Notorious Sock Knitters represented

The Notorious Sock Knitters from the Blue Moon Rockin’ Sock Club were there in force to bring sock knitting to everyone. I sat over in the PDXKB tent and knit the socks currently on my needles, which I will be telling you about in a future blog post (I promise). The NSK look like they were having tons of fun, too.

aLittleRedHen modeling her Condom Amulet Hat

aLittleRedHen introduced herself to us. I don’t know if you are familiar with the Condom Amulet pattern an project? It’s been quite popular on Ravelry? (Find it here on Ravelry and on its own site otherwise.) (And if you are not on Ravelry, why aren’t you?)

The goal of the Condom Amulet Project is to encourage knitters to use leftover yarn to knit condom amulets and spread the word that HIV/AIDS and STDs do not have an age boundary and women over 50 are as vulnerable as any other group.

Tina with Kevin Henri the barn boy

Here is Tina with her new bunny Kevin Henri the barn boy. (When I met him, he was a Kevin, but I understand he is now a Henri. Stay tuned for further developments).

Tina was not the only one to go home with a new friend. Deb brought home four bunnies!

I think I’d like a couple of fuzzy bunnies to use for bed warmers during those cold winter nights. But Moo Cow and Captain Kidd might object.

shearing

I got to watch sheep shearing. I always find it fascinating how the sheep don’t move and the clippers just whiz everywhere and all of a sudden there’s a naked sheep and a pile of fleece.

fiber on the hoof

Look at all that lovely fiber! I always want to give these guys a big hug, and then run my toes through their fleece.

Rasta fiber

Every year I find someone who looks like they’re wearing dreads. Here’s the 2008 rasta-fiber shot.

babies

And here is the obligatory babies that are so cute you could just die from it shot. Awwwww… they were seriously cute.

my favorite baby with his mom

This was my favorite baby, though. Look how his ears and nose are all speckled and he has that big white spot on his forehead. Isn’t that just too cute? Jennifer from Tucson (who I believe may be, sadly, blogless) and I were ooo-ing and awww-ing over him, so his mom was nice enough to bring him out and let us pet him. What a sweetie!

alpaca

Fuzzy alpacas. I always make #1 Son’s gloves from alpaca — it’s so warm and soft.

llamas

Isn’t this the most gorgeous llama you’ve ever seen? I can’t believe how white it was. There were some other pretty darn good looking llama there, too. The llamas all shared the second barn, so it took me awhile to find them.

hello there

Some animals wanted to get up close and personal with visitors. This one was very friendly and curious about me and my camera and just what the heck was I doing, anyway?

I love making new friends.

swag from OFFF

When shopping, I looked mostly for items that I can’t get any other way. I was particularly on the lookout for unusual or pretty locally-made nostepinnes, because I’ve decided a girl just can’t have too many. I didn’t want to buy very much yarn, and I mostly restrained myself, except for a few carefully chosen exceptions. The only impulse buys were a sock monkey kit from Blue Moon (yes, I finally caved), and a magnetic tapestry needle holder made from Carob from Crown Mountain Farms, because I can’t pass Klaus’ booth without buying something. I didn’t get a picture of the latter.

My swag:
On the right is the Blue Moon Sock Monkey kit.
Top to bottom on the left: Blue Moon Silkie Socks That Rock in Knitters Without Borders. (Not available on their web site.)
A Blue Moon STR Light Rare Gems. It’s in PI green-and-blue, and threw itself off the rack at me, demanding to be brought home. What was I to do? (Like all Rare Gems, this is available only at shows.)
Tactile Fiber Arts Superwash Merino/Tencel in Golden Olive. I love Brooke & Maia and all their natural dyed, fibery goodness. I could order from their web site, but in person I get to chat and squoosh fiber.
Three nostepinnes: the top one is cherry and purpleheart and was made by Carl Herndon. It’s shorter and narrower than my others and is suitable for laceweight or lighter fingering weight yarns. The other two were made by B J Verts. The middle one is myrtlewood and the bottom one is walnut. Note the carved ring around the base of the walnut handle. What’s this for? I asked, thinking I might learn some new nostepinne secret. The answer: It rattles so everyone knows you’re working. Of course I had to have it, don’t you agree? Because I bought two nostepinnes from B J Vert, I received his cookbook — Buttered-Side Down, A Cookbook For The Emancipated Male as a gift. I don’t really qualify as an emancipated male, but I do like cookbooks. I haven’t made any of the recipes yet, but they look tasty.
Below the nosties are four stone buttons from Jason Jakubos of Rock And Wool. They don’t have an online or Etsy shop yet, but from the number of people I heard ask them to set one up as soon as possible, I’m guessing it won’t be long!

If there’s any chance you can join us next year, please do! Bring your wheel or your sticks and just sit a spell and chat. Or watch the animals. Or shop ’til you drop. It’s all good.

Duffy and Audrey at the Fair

Hi, everyone. I know I’ve kind of disappeared for awhile. I think there have been rumors making the rounds. Yeah. It wasn’t anything that fun. Really. I’ve just been really busy with one thing and another and sort of vaguely decided to take a little hiatus to get caught up a little. I’m not caught up, but I’ve missed you. So there.

I haven’t done a lot of knitting. For one thing, we’ve had some hot weather and knitting wool socks in 100+ (F) weather is just not something I’m that fond of doing. I have no air conditioning in my house, and that means that by about the 3rd day it’s the same temperature inside as outside. Not even cotton could cut it for knitting. I didn’t want any more fabric near me than was absolutely necessary.

And I’ve been knitting a few things that, well, I just can’t show you.

And so knitting is stalled. But I will soon show you progress on the poor Andes Mint socks that I started way long ago. And I will soon show you some yarn I acquired (just a bit). But there hasn’t been much knitting to talk about. And #1 Son hasn’t even done anything blog-worthy. It’s the summer doldrums, I guess.

And what better way to fight the summer doldrums than with a State Fair? Or with a little knitting in public? Or…hey… let’s combine those! That’s the ticket, I think.

And so yesterday I went down to Salem to the Oregon State Fair with Duffy to knit in the Northwest Regional Spinners Association booth in the Artisan’s Village. Check out the gorgeous antique wheel that they are raffling off!

moose

Now, it’s true that I don’t spin. But, it turns out, they were happy to have someone along to show what could be done with fiber after it was turned into string. I worked on my socks. And I wound a skein into a ball on a nostepinne, because that might be construed by some to be interesting. And I even got to add a little info by explaining to one visitor that winding the ball in that way helps keep the yarn from being overstretched.

So I guess I sort of earned my keep. Even though mostly I just sat and knit.

Oh… and ate a corn dog. I can’t go to a State Fair and not eat a corn dog. I mean really. One must have priorities, you know.

The NWRSA association booth is right across from the area claimed by a couple of guys who use chain saws to carve logs into really cool stuff. Check out the moose! I have a soft spot in my heart for moose, so I was quite taken with him. There’s no way he can go home with me, though. Even if I had room for him, he’s quite beyond my budget. But I did take a little break to go breath sawdust and look around at all of the cool things.

If you make it down to the State Fair, be sure to go back to the Artisan’s Village and look around – and be sure to stop by the NWRSA booth and say howdy to Audrey and whoever else it there. Duffy and I will be back next Saturday for awhile.

P.S. Check out the Techniques page, where I’ve just added Judy’s Magic Cast-On in German, translated by Arlene of Arlene’s World of Lace.

EEK! ears

The other day, Amy asked a question that comes up all of the time, so I thought I would post an answer because I know that others have this same question.

In the first picture, you can see a sock toe. This toe was knit with some unknown stash yarn on Knit Picks size US#1 needles. I cast on 10 stitches on each needle using Judy’s Magic Cast-On. Then I increased every other row. The increases were worked 1-stitch in from each side.

You can see that the increases have pulled the toe up on the sides and made little mouse ears stick up on the corners. (I’m very tempted to use the magic of photoshop to add little eyes and a little nose to that sock toe…) The toe looks very straight and boxy.

Many knitters, when faced with little mouse ears on their sock toes, try to alleviate the problem by pulling the cast on and the next few rounds tighter. And that only makes it worse. Although it doesn’t seem intuitive, what really solves the problem is loosening up.

No ears

Let’s look at this second picture: same yarn, same needles, same techniques used. The only difference is that I cast on loosely. You can see that the little ears, rather than sticking up on top, lie nicely close to the toe and make a smooth, slightly rounded end.

Why does this make such a difference? Let’s talk about what’s happening here.

The increases pull the stitches on the sides of the toe out of alignment with the other stitches and make them march in a new direction. The point where the first increases are made is sort of like a one of those wonky intersections where streets converge at all angles. The stitches are all trying to go off in different directions, and they pull on each other a bit as they jostle for position.

In the first picture, the cast-on stitches are so tight that they have no give. They can only lie straight in one direction. As the edge stitches try to change direction and march sideways at an angle, the rigid end stitches pull on them. The only direction the poor corner stitches can go is up. So they become little ears.

In the second picture, the cast-on stitches are looser, so they can move around a bit. They help out the edge stitches by leaning very slightly towards the sides and curving upwards into a slight arc. This allows the corner stitches to relax and lie next to their neighbors instead of being pushed out of position.

It can be tough to loosen up when using a new technique. And JMCO seems particularly suited to being worked very tightly, in contrast to some of the other toe-up cast-ons which are loose and have to be tightened up later. Here are a few suggestions to help keep the mousies away:

• Use a size larger needles to do the cast-on, then knit the first round using the smaller size. If it still looks tight, also knit the first round with the larger size and switch to the smaller size on the first increase round.
• Try increasing two stitches in from the edge instead of one stitch. Having a larger section marching a new direction can help to mask any tension problems. But sometimes you might end up with elephant ears.
• Try a different increase. Look for an increase that doesn’t distort the stitches around it, or distorts them less. One to consider is a YO that’s knit twisted on the next round by knitting into its back loop. Twisting the YO closes the hole that it would normally make, and this increase can be made every round.
• Increase every round for the first 4 or 5 rounds, and then every other round for the rest of the toe. Having more stitches marching together can help everyone to line up nicely.
• Decide that mouse ears are cute and nobody is going to see your sock toes in your shoes anyway. (yes, this is a legitimate approach)

Hope this helps!

P.S. Thanks for all of the suggestions on what the German Mystery Yarn might be. I’m so thrilled that #1 Son brought yarn back that I’m happy as a clam with it, whatever it is.

mystery yarn from Germany

Look! I have actual yarn content!

Of course, it’s a mystery as to what it really is, because this is the yarn that #1 Son brought back from Germany in his guitar case sans ball bands. And let me just repeat, gentle reader, how proud I am of him for going into a yarn shop – not his native habitat at all – and making himself understood and finding sock yarn. A very nice present for his mom, eh? I think he did really good.

The consensus from those who have seen it up close and personal is that it’s probably Trekking. Unless, of course, it isn’t. As I look at this picture now, I can see that the ball in the upper right corner is slightly larger than the other balls. I don’t know if that means it’s a different brand or just a different type? The yarn itself appears to be almost identical. It’s all wool, with maybe some nylon woven in. I wouldn’t call it exactly soft and squishy – not like, say, Dream In Color or Koigu. But it’s not unpleasant and I think it will be nice after washing.

I really like most of the colors – they’re growing on me, I will admit. #1 Son wants the upper right corner ball for a scarf. But the more I look at it… He may get the one in the middle instead. We shall see.

So, what do y’all think this might be? Any guesses? (beyond the obvious sock yarn that is)

new toy

Yes, I have a new toy. I’m not going to talk about it much – just show you a picture. I only have one of them, but thanks to the magic of Photoshop, I am able to show you both sides at the same time. Love it. What I really love is going to meetings with a bunch of geek types. For quite awhile, now, I’ve been forced to watch them casually set their iPhones down on the conference table, carefully arranged to be in sight of everyone there. I kept my poor little PEBL in my pocket, so it wouldn’t feel inferior. The last week I’ve been casually setting my lovely, obviously gen 2 because it’s white, iPhone down on the table, carefully in sight of those with their gen 1 iPhones. It was noticed. I’m a geek grrl. I admit it.

And why did I make this little purchase? #1 Son’s birthday was a week ago last Friday, coincidentally the same day as the world wide launch of the iPhone 3G. I decided that I deserved a present for his birthday, what with all of his travels and the gray hairs I’ve gained (nicely covered up by Carla The Wonderstylist) and such. Don’t you agree?

At any rate, speaking of #1 Son, when last we spoke he had missed his plane from Germany on Wednesday, but we were hoping that he would be able to get on the plane the next day.

There was no 3:30 AM, I missed my flight, wake-up call on Thursday. So that gave me hope that at least he was actually on the plane. I had asked him to call me from Philadelphia, but no call came. When I checked online, however, I noted that there was probably just about enough time between his flights for him to get through customs/immigration and make it to the connection. Assuming that I would hear only if something went wrong, I hied myself to the airport at the appointed time. I had looked online to see what gate the airplane would be coming in at, and parked on that side of the airport. I remember his return from Brazil and the crazy heavy stuff he had to carry.

And then I went to the waiting area by the security for that concourse and I waited. And waited. And waited. I could see via my new toy that his plane had arrived. A stream of people came up the concourse, met their loved ones and headed off. And no #1 Son. I was beginning to feel a bit of panic, when I finally spotted him. I breathed a sigh of relief and gave him a big hug. Can’t begin to tell you how glad I was to have him in Portland!

We walked to the baggage area, hauling his carry-on bags. He had a small duffel, a tote bag full of records (remember how heavy those are?), and his guitar case. We marched to the side of the airport where his plane had arrived – the side of the airport where I had parked. An announcement came that baggage from his flight would be coming on a belt on the exact opposite side of the airport.

OK, I thought, it’s going to be that kind of evening.

We hauled his carry-on bags across the airport to the designated baggage carousel. And waited, and waited, and waited. And his bags did not come. What are we looking for? I asked.

#1 Son: A black, sort of Euro-style backpack and a cymbal case that I brought back for Drummer Boy. All of my clothes are in the backpack. And, uh, my wallet is sort of in the backpack, too, with all my ID and my driver’s license and money and stuff.

Mom: You should always carry your ID on you, not check it!

#1 Son: I’m traveling on a passport. I don’t really need my driver’s license.

Mom: You will need it to drive home from my house.

#1 Son: … that’s true.

We waited. Passengers picked up their luggage. The number of unclaimed bags became smaller and smaller. No new bags came out of the bowels of the airport. Eventually the belt stopped.

Well, I said. The good news is that, since we had to come over to this side of the airport, we’re right next to the lost baggage claim area! You go talk to them and I’ll sit here with your stuff.

Off he went, and I waited. After a bit, a goodly bit, he returned. The airlines didn’t have a clue where his bag was. But there was a second flight coming in at midnight, and his bags might be on that.

After some discussion, we decided to stay and wait, in the hope that the bags actually would be on the second flight, and thus he would have a few rather necessary things like clothing, a tooth brush, and his wallet. But there was no reason to schlep his heavy stuff all over the airport. Instead, we schlepped it to the parking structure across the airport, where I had thoughtfully parked, as you will remember gentle reader, to be close to his arrival. At the car, we had this conversation:

Mom: Did you managed to make it to a yarn shop?

#1 Son: I did! I had to go to two of them, because the first one was closed. But the second one had tons of yarn. The lady in there was really nice, but she was the only person I met in all of Germany who spoke absolutely no English. I had a hard time communicating what I wanted, but finally I pulled up my pant leg and pointed at my socks and said “socks” a couple of times. She pointed at some shelves in the back and I picked up a bunch of yarn and bought it for you. I’m pretty sure it’s sock yarn.

Mom: I suppose it’s in your backpack.

#1 Son: No! It’s in my guitar case! Made great padding.

He popped open his guitar case, and, sure enough, there were 5 balls of yarn. I picked up a ball. There was no ball band, but it looked sort of like maybe Trekking or Opal — that kind of ball and some sort of self-striping colorway.

Mom: This looks… OK. Where’s the ball band?

#1 Son: The what?

Mom: The ball band. You know. The label that goes around the ball of yarn to tell you the fiber content and the manufacturer and the color and all that stuff.

#1 Son: I don’t know. I don’t think there were any. Is it OK? I didn’t get any that was pink.

Mom: Yes, sweetie. I’m sure it’s fine. Thank you for avoiding the pink.

#1 Son: You’re going to blog this, aren’t you.

Mom: Yes, I am. I’m going to brag about how wonderful my son is, who brings me sock yarn all the way from Germany. And who managed to be understood in a yarn store outside his native country. And how wonderful is that?

#1 Son: Is the yarn OK?

Mom: Sweetie, it’s not quite what I expected. But it’s yarn, and it looks pretty, and it will be made into socks. I am so happy that you did this. Thank you very much! Now, let’s move the car over to the side of the airport where your bags will come (if they come) and get you something to eat.

#1 Son: I’m not really hungry, but OK.

He kept protesting that he wasn’t very hungry as he devoured a huge veggie sandwich, a carton of yogurt and a pint of orange juice. We had a nice chat as we waited for midnight and flight #2 to arrive.

#1 Son: Can you look on your phone thingy and see if they’ve found my bags yet? Here’s the claim number. Look how they described the cymbal case as a hatbox. I kept telling her that it wasn’t a hatbox, or even really the shape of a hatbox, and it would be better to use the other category and describe it. But she insisted on using hatbox. And not a clue where the bags were at all.

Mom: Hopefully they’re not looking for a hatbox, because according to the claim lookup online, they are still attempting to locate your bags and that will make them harder to find.

#1 Son: I can’t figure out why they don’t know where they are. Shouldn’t they scan them when they load them on a flight, or something?

Mom: I don’t know. If I’d designed the system they would. And most times when my bags didn’t arrive on the same flight as I did, they’ve been able to tell me what flight they were on. So I don’t know what’s going on with this airline. I’ve never flown it before.

#1 Son: I’m never flying them again.

Mom: OK

At the appointed time, we stood next to the baggage carousel of doom. And waited. And waited. And passengers picked up their bags and left with smiling faces. And we waited. We were both sure that we were waiting in vain. All of a sudden, I spotted something…

Mom: Is that your backpack?

#1 Son: OMG! It is! [grabbing it off the belt]

Mom: Look! Look! There’s the hatbox… er, cymbal case.

#1 Son: Very funny. [grabbing it off the belt]

Mom: Is there anything else?

#1 Son: That’s all!

Mom: Yea!

He dug around in his backpack for his wallet, and pulled out another skein of yarn.

Back we went to the car – now closer than last time. Mom, I’m really tired. I can’t begin to tell you how tired I am. Please just drop me off at your house, and I’ll come over tomorrow and pick up my car. OK?

So that’s what we did. And when he walked in his door, all of his friends and roommates – who had been waiting for his return – sent up a shout of joy that was probably heard all the way to Salem, and scared him half to death. And, what with all of the excitement, I left the yarn in his guitar case. And that’s why I have no pictures of it to show you. But he has promised to get it to me on Monday, and then, gentle reader, you can maybe help me figure out what it is.

P.S. On Friday he came over with his roommate E to pick up his car. When he opened its door, he said, Ah. You knit me a steering wheel cover. How cool is that!

Mom: Notice anything else different?

E: It’s clean! It’s really, really clean!

Mom: Yes, it is. It’s also full of gas and has brand new registration tags.

#1 Son: It does? Mom, you’re the best mother ever!

We’ll see how long that lasts, eh?