Lighted Window

Hat Season

(Be vewwy, vewwy quiet... these are presents for my brother-in-law and sister)

I apologize in advance for the craptastic lighting. It's been raining. Just pretend the red band is a little more red, will ya?

(Original attempt) On this go round, I modified the pattern several ways. First of all, there are ten pattern repeats (120 stitches in my gauge). I only cast on 100, and increased 1 st per repeat in each of the first solid-color bands (after the ribbing). That's why it looks a little dinked along the edges of those bands -- hadn't yet learned to do the increasing in the middle round of the color band.

The other major mod was to start the decreases (always 2 per repeat, always pairing SSK with k2tog) in the second set of solid color bands (after chart 1 but before chart 2), and to radically revise chart 2 down to something like half its original row count, worked over repeat of 10 stitches, because of the earlier decreases.

I also switched from metal DPNs (Susan Bates 4.0 mm) to plastic circs (Denise 4.2 mm) about halfway through chart 1, and the world did not end. Given all the swatch headaches I have had in the last few months, this is a blessed reprieve. Hallelujah. Wool is great.

Here's what I came up with for blocking hats:

That's a medium size stainless steel mixing bowl (I would use a small for baby hats and "normal people" hats), inverted over a big can of tomato juice. Point a tabletop fan at the hat overnight and it will be dry by morning. Here's an action shot for you:

Woohoo! Now, to finish a Clapotis, and at least one more hat, before things get totally insane around here...

Accidental Tourism

(with apologies to Anne Tyler)

I took the day off work yesterday and struck out for the wilds of North Jersey. Amtrak, specifically the Acela, made it possible to enjoy the trip -- I knit from sunup (Dedham, MA) to middday (Pennsylvania Station, NYC) and then again to sundown (somewhere in Connecticut or RI). The reason for all of this rolling along on the rails was a luncheon honoring my father for 25 years of service to his employer, and unfortunately, cameras were not permitted. So I made careful mental note of a few images, instead:

• A businessman who, at first glance, appeared to be knitting. His gaze was focused downward, at the little fiddly motions his hands were making. He was just untangling his earbud wires, though (how conventional).
• The big, round harvest moon setting in the west as we pulled out of the station just before dawn.
• The big, round harvest moon rising redly over the coast -- just the same and yet utterly different.

It's been years (nine? ten?) since I went to New York City to go to rather than through, and although yesterday was another just-passing-through, I went up to the surface in between trains. The beautiful Manhattan Post Office is right across the street from Madison Square Garden; the one that says "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". It is marvelous to behold. So I enjoyed it, and then went back downstairs to wait for my train.

Oh yeah, knitting. I took the yarn and pattern and began a modified version of the Traveling Hat -- will post the tweaks. So far so good.

Traveling Hat

Pattern: Fake Isle Hat, smaller size
MC: Nashua Handknits Woolly Stripes, Fiesta (nearly exactly one ball)
CC: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, Black (maybe 1/4 skein? need to weigh it)

Fastest. Knit. Ever. Though I think 5 uninterrupted hours of knitting in the car had something to do with it.

The Woolly Stripes yarn is gorgeous; it's not marked as worsted weight but it's a perfect match for the Lamb's Pride. This was my first attempt at Fair Isle and it was a little bit addictive. Just one more pattern row... one more after that... holy crap, there's a hat in my lap.

I'm especially thrilled with how the color changes aligned with the diamond pattern. Definitely couldn't do that again if I tried.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do it again. This swatchless wonder came out to 17", nowhere near the 19" suggested, and has almost no stretch. (It also has a weird nipple on the top that won't block out.) It was supposed to be a Christmas present for someone in my fat-headed family, but I can't get it on my fat head. Fortunately, I bought two skeins of Fiesta, so I'm not ripping it out. Some kid is going to receive a very snazzy hat from the Lowell Wish Project in a few weeks.

In other news, we're gearing up for the big bike ride next weekend. I hit 40 miles on a hot Sunday three or four weeks ago, and I'm going to try to do it again this Sunday. Could you spare $40 for 40?

Sais Tu, Acadie

(I uploaded some larger pics here; just click on the thumbnails.)

A trip to Maine has been in the cards for a while now, and we've been listening to Richard Shindell's excellent cover of Acadian Driftwood nearly daily since we picked up South of Delia earlier this summer. Acadia National Park is not exactly the Boundary Waters of the Northeast, sad to say, but it was well worth a visit. We packed up for the five hour drive and hit the road on Thursday (the tent stakes were all there, though I wasn't sure until we pitched the tent).

That's how much Fake Isle Hat I can knit in five hours (or more, since I cast on en route to hockey on Wednesday night). Worsted weight feels pretty bulky compared to the stuff I've been knitting with this year.

I forgot to take pictures of the campsite (within Blackwoods), which usually helps with future trip planning -- just picture a level, gravelled spot, three feet off a paved road, thinly surrounded by pines and thickly surrounded by identical campsites. This was the offseason and it still felt extremely crowded by state park standards (and cost twice as much). Just in case you were thinking of going. That said, the rangers do their best to space people out; the RVs are kept to one section of the park; the bathrooms are clean and the water tastes good. Best of all, there are free buses with bike racks to help you get around the park. This is especially helpful because the Park Loop Road is one-way for a while. There are also carriage roads all over the park, which make for very nice riding.

We were up in time to see the sun rise on Friday, and then spent the day biking around. For some insane reason we tried to climb the west face of Cadillac Mountain in bike shoes (it was there, so were we). A little steep for that. Had to stop and enjoy the view and knit for a while.

The sheer stupidity of our attempt is demonstrated by Tim's stocking feet:

Still can't get over how fast that colorwork went.

I mostly scooted down the mountain on my butt, like a crab, and I'm not ashamed to say so.

Saturday it turned grey and rather wet. We took advantage of the bus into town and tried to stay dry (and failed). By suppertime the storm blew out to sea, and we had a yummy dinner in Bar Harbor before taking the bus back to Blackwoods... where the number of stars up above knocked everything else out of my mind. Amazing, amazing sky. So many stars it was hard to pick out constellations, and a few shooting stars, too.

Sunday was sunny, windy, heavy with rose hips, just like a beach should be in the fall.

 

Go to Maine. They have SKY up there.

Back In a Few

The heat broke, it's fall for sure, and we are leaving for a few days' camping in Acadia. Just running around trying to find the tent stakes and other sundries before we hit the road.

The change of seasons has shown up another minor change. I love the local food thing, but right now it feels like a chore to blog about it. So that will probably fade into the background for a while, and other projects will take the stage. I'll probably keep participating in the Eat Local Challenge, but with a very low profile. Ravelry is sneaking up on my time, hard. Not to mention, some actual knitting!

So -- see you in a little while -- enjoy the weekend!

(More photos from the field work... spinners are a nice reward for being up before dawn.)

WIP, Or Maybe Not

I've knitted up a Clapotis swatch (ha ha ha), but so far, I'm not really thrilled with the puddling.

Actually, I think it's kind of interesting -- check out the symmetry -- but it's not the effect I was hoping to achieve. I keep buying yarn that looks fantastic as a skein, but then it gets all stripey on me, instead of being subtly multihued.

The big blocky stripes are fighting too much with the texture-stripes created by the dropped stitches... is there some way I could have foreseen this, from looking at the yarn itself? Must have something to do with the length of the color repeats; is there a rule of thumb for determining whether yarn stripes?

This will probably get ripped back, which is a pity as it was going to be a Christmas present for my sister (and it's 20% done already!) In the meantime I'll just make a baby hat (T-4 days) for a coworker.

Sock-cha

Begun in April. Completed August 2, while waiting for the Yarn Harlot to appear. Photographed earlier this week while the sun was still out.

I'm wearing them right now, as it's perhaps 60 degrees F. Mmmmmm. I love my cosy Smartwool knockoffs, too, but it's nice to catch a glimpse of my feet and think "I made this!"

Knit in Cherry Tree Hill Socks That Rock on 2.25 mm Clover Takumi bamboo needles. Not sure what the final gauge is yet (after washing). Will update.

Update: washed and machine-dried gauge is 36 st and 59 r to 4" stockinette in the round. Unwashed, gauge was 40 st and 52 r to 4" in stockinette, and 48 st / 52 r in a 3x1 rib. Weird -- the stitches got wider and shorter in the wash. So these will definitely be staying on my feet.

Oh, and there was this much left over from a 420 yard skein ('scuse the scary lighting):

Yarn Harlot In Town

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was at Borders last night, doing the book thing. Before she took the microphone, there were cameramen documenting the excitement:

They also documented the underpants:

I haven't mentioned the underpants to my husband yet.

I did finish the socks in time -- sewed up the cuff about 20 minutes before Steph's talk. And then I forgot to pull them out of my bag when she signed our books. The nice lady doing crowd control let me back in to show Steph socks. How embarrassing. I hope I didn't make a fool of myself in any other fashion.

All in all, it was fun. I met CCR, who is every bit as nice in person as she is on the web. I got to talk technique with some friendly strangers. And... that's just it. It was not as much of a make-new-friends type of event as I'd hoped. Get a whack of knitters together, celebrate an author's new book, do a good turn (hat drive, book drive)... maybe it's my own fault for not being more forward, but I'd hoped to at least find out about local knitting groups, and connect up with some other knitters.

Finished: Baby Booties

These are for the September baby of friends in Colorado. I hope it's a girl -- I found out most of the way through the first bootie that nobody knows yet. Someone who shall remain nameless (not Tim) had only hypothesized that it was a girl, and that's what I was told initially.

First time I've knitted something from start to finish in about a week. There were two days without knitting, due to tendonitis. Addi Turbos are pretty slippery, and I was pinching too hard.

If it is a girl, I'll make a hat to go with them. If it's a boy... I'll be knitting something entirely different. Fast.

Addendum: These were made with Lion Brand Baby Soft (sportweight, 100% acrylic, 100% stash) on a size 3 Addi Turbo circular. Didn't use enough yarn to count against new purchases... but that didn't really stop me from buying something delicious at the Classic Elite Mill Store on my birthday, and swatching for Isabella immediately. I can totally live with the shame.

Miscellany

Somehow I thought there would be more knitting-related posts when I began this blog. The knitting hasn't ceased -- I'm just trying to finish those darn socks. One down and about half an ankle left on the other!

Tim finally accompanied me to Verrill Farm yesterday. He didn't experience rapture in the vegetable section, but he didn't complain about coming home with Swiss chard, either. I'm going to try braising that this week. See if I can't get a whole local meal instead of piecemeal.

I forgot to mention some of the other local things we enjoyed last week:

• A huge dinner salad with local red leaf lettuce, spinach, hoophouse tomatoes, and green onions, and nonlocal carrots (purchased prior to OLS) and dressing
• More delicious breads from Nashoba Brook Bakery
• Strawberries and blueberries for breakfasts, with Shaw Farm milk
• Kimball Farm's ice cream!

And here are a few things I'll be trying in the next few days:

• Homemade mozzarella and/or ricotta, homemade pesto --> white and green pizza
• Scallion pancakes (maybe for lunch on Saturday, not sure how to round that one out)
• New potatoes, red onions, bell peppers, exotic spices, homemade yogurt --> aloo dam
• Chocolate chip zucchini cookies (from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle)
• Perhaps a frittata or omelette with the Swiss chard -- our eggs are now from Chip-In Farm, Bedford, MA (That's about 2 miles away!)

This should use up most of the flour in the house. Does anyone know whether King Arthur Flour is grown in New England as well as produced here?

One thing I've noticed, while planning meals around the fresh veg, is that we've been eating much less meat than usual. This week I made a kind of sofrito salad with whatever I could find in the fridge and pantry: local lettuce and tomato, onions, garlic, canned corn and beans, probably-New-England pepper jack. I'm not trying to pass that off as a local meal -- just a little astonished at what could be pulled together when the larder was nearly bare of fresh produce. It was hardly our usual "exhaustion supper." We must be getting used to this kind of eating.

I'm really looking forward to replacing our mystery meats, i.e. the chicken-without-a-past, with locally raised meats. The sofrito salad was tasty but it could have used a little meat (or corn chips) to round it out. We were both hungry again by bedtime.

Quickie garden update: nothing's ripe yet. Some tomatoes had blossom end rot and were chucked into the woods. I'll get a photo of the jungle that is our back porch, after work, if it isn't raining.