Stress Reaction

It's always good to have a back-up plan. My advisor in college told me that. Competition was tough to get into the program I had chosen, so I was told to have a back-up plan. Turns out the interview (and subsequent acceptance letter) to the back-up program came before I received the acceptance letter to my first choice, so I had to have another plan to fend the second choice while I waited. So maybe that's not the best example, since it involved plans on top of plans. But it all worked out in the end. Choice number one came through and all was right with the world.

Witness the sky when I got home from work Friday. Me with the hammock, and the weekend plans for breezes and knitting and listening to the iPod.

Enter the back-up plan.

The Singer and I struck a truce and the sock bags were born. Inspired by Katie, Trek, and Jennifer, I picked out some fabric and tried a different kind of stitching. I started with patterns, though I expect I will make some modifications to make these bags a bit more specific to their intended purpose.

Still and all, I am quite pleased with the results. Each bag easily holds two balls of sock yarn and two circs. I think only the second one will hold double points comfortably. Singer and I will remain on speaking terms for the immediate future. As it would happen, the local fabric store had a BIG sale on everything in the store this past Saturday. What's a fiber collector to do?

About three years ago, when I first picked up knitting needles again, I started where so many start, with the scarf. Those days are, of course, painful to remember, for the obvious reasons. So many of my friends are still sporting the acrylic eyelash scarf* in various variegated and solid colors, carefully chosen to match their wardrobe or personality. When asked why I no longer knit these scarves, I simply smile gently and change the direction of the conversation. I haven't the heart to tell them that I have moved on to the better things in life. Learned that there is a better way to live. That nothing stirs my heart like merino, alpaca, angora, or silk.

Except cotton**.

I have become completely infatuated with the color, texture, and near immediate gratification that knitting these dishcloths provides. The fact that I have four different pairs of socks on needles, that I have one lace project already started and need to pick another for the Amazing Lace KAL, none of this means anything in the face of balls and balls of inexpensive cotton. Apparently I am all about the cheap thrill!

*Now lest you think I am just the tackiest person alive, I would like to go on record as saying that I only picked up the needles, and more importantly, the eyelash, at the request of my then teenaged daughter. We were in the ubiquitous craft store, she saw the eyelash, and immediately asked me to knit a scarf for her. Little did I know that I was opening a door to a whole new obsession. Still, I have to thank her. Had she not been the little trendsetter that she is, I might never have picked up knitting needles again in my life, and would undoubtedly never have 'met' all my wonderful blogging***buddies.

**And speaking of cotton, for those of you kind enough to ask, I am going to try some semi mass production techniques on the cotton sock bags this weekend. We'll see how it goes. If you are interested in purchasing or trading for one of the sock bags, let me know either in the comments or by email!

***Word suggests bogging, logging, flogging, clogging, or slogging as possible alternatives to blogging when I ran my spell check. Totally random observation, but it brings some interesting visuals to mind!

As knitters, we are all about the patterns, aren't we? We love the lace patterns, and the sock patterns, and the patterned sweaters, some made with the patterned yarns. There is a constant ebb and flow to the patterns we love, from Charlottes Web (which was the only shawl to knit when I first started reading blogs), to Clapotis to Rogue. But there is another pattern I have observed, and which I have found to be pervasive from time to time with those of us who like to wield pointy sticks.

The knitting slump.

Several of my knit blogging friends and I are currently experiencing the knitting slump. Nothing is stirring our hearts, or making our palms itch to pick up the sticks and fondle the fiber. There is desultory knitting of a few socks. There are plans being made for a shawl, or a fall sweater. But there is no fire. No passion.

Luckily for me, I am blessed with some amazing fiber loving friends. Creative and generous friends who share with me those things that ignite in them the fire I so desperately need right now.

From Amanda, just because. Because she knew somehow that I was in near fatal need of a pat on the back and a hug, and she somehow knew that an unexpected armload of Merino and Tussah roving could make a decent stand-in. And the soap smells divine!!

Amanda, words cannot express how much I love this fibery goodness. Handpainted Merino and Tussah Roving in Rockstar from BMFA. So soft, so fluffy, and so inspiring. The silk just glitters on the surface, catching the light and revealing the jewel tones beneath. Breathtaking!

And from Teyani. In trade for one of my sock bags (though easily worth at least a hundred), thereby validating my fledgling efforts at playing with needles with eyes!

Lovely Corriedale Pencil Roving in the Tourmaline colorway. She dyes up this heavenly stuff herself, people, after she lovingly grows it on the backs of cute little four footed animals*. They, of course, love Teyani so much, that they obligingly unzip their fleeces and hand them over to her, which she then dyes into these fabulous colorways just for you and me. Go ask her, I'll wait. I'm betting she has some for you as well! Heaven on earth!

Sigh!

I am blessed indeed!

*Teyani informs me that she does not raise the Corriedales that the pencil roving comes from. She does, however, raise Shetlands, and they, of course, love Teyani just as much as I said about the Corriedales. Truly!

I received a box this weekend. Quite a well traveled box. I didn't recognize the handwriting, or the return address.

Soon, however, the mystery was solved! It's the Yarn Aboard radio box!!

And Dorothee, you outdid yourself girlfriend!

I can't wait to try this colorful and unique yarn! I saw it for the first time on Amanda's blog, and I have been lusting for it every since! To quote Dorothee "the sock yarn comes from a lady in Southern Germany. She creates the yarn by mixing different threads together and she makes about 10 balls of every color, so that's pretty individual." Also included was a cute pair of ready made socks (no muss, no fuss), Haribo Goldbaren (German Golden Bears), Ferrero Rocher chocolates (Ooh-la-la), a German chocolate egg (Dorothee certainly knows the way to my heart), an adorable sheepy soap and a sweet smelling lavender soap to keep the moths away, and the cutest felted bag which is already full of all my knitting notions!

Dorothee, thank you so much! I love everything!

Amanda, thank you for hosting such a fun yarn swap!

The Yarn Aboard radio box is wrapped, addressed, and shipping out today for its next port of call, so you all be on the lookout!!

The funk, the slump, the mind numbing knitter's ennui continues. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel! In preparation for Amazing Lace, I dove into the stash and came up with the following possibilities. (And yes, you read that right! All of the candidates are straight from the stressreaction stash. Gold star for Leah! Woo-Hoo)!!

First up is the Pink Puzzle Wrap from the Simply Stunning collection across the pond at Heritage Knits! Same to die for Kidsilk Haze, but obviously not pink.

Next is the Trellis Scarf from the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. Lovely KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint.

Third up? Another bow to the idol alpaca! KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Horizon. Frost Flowers and Leaves by Eugen Beugler from A Gathering of Lace.

Finally, last, but certainly not least is The Shetland Tea Shawl by Dale Long, also from A Gathering of Lace. Hand painted lace pure wool from Handpainted.com in Dusty Rose.

Now the funs starts, and you all can see where I am going with this. We can, after all, probably only knit one of these lovelies between Memorial Day and Labor Day. So the question is which one? Leave me a comment and let me know which your favorite is. I can't promise that the majority will rule, but I can promise to be eternally grateful for the input!

...Jenny Dolls. Art glass dolls in the simplistic Amish style designed by Vi Hunter and made by Mosser Glass. Released in 48 unique colors, once a month between 1979 and 1982. So far, I have only managed to locate eighteen. I think they would inspire some rockin' sock yarn colors!

I finished up my first pair of socks knit with Socks That Rock, and I must say, they do rock! From start to finish this yarn was a pleasure to knit with. It's the thickest, squooshiest sock yarn I have ever used, and little lace holes not withstanding, I anticipate that they will be exceedingly warm next winter. As my husband noted when I showed him the finished product, “Those look like some keepers!” It's so nice to have a husband that accepts my sock knitting addiction.

When I turned them inside out to weave in the toe end, I noticed the pattern on the inside, which I find almost as enthralling as the outside. Shouldn't be too hard to replicate, but I think I'll pass. I have so many other sock patterns I want to knit. And sock yarn I want to knit with.

I have to decide on a pattern for the Trek Along With Me KAL. It will be the first time I have used Trekking XXL as well, and the bold striping and almost guaranteed fraternal nature of the finished pair have me in a quandary over choosing a pattern. I don't know why, but I haven't knit a straight stockinette stitch sock since my very first pair of socks. I'm drawn to the patterns, which I'm sure is why I have such a fascination with lace. But patterning with XXL will be a challenge.

Also planned for the long holiday weekend is swatching and making a final decision on my Amazing Lace teammate. The Puzzle Wrap has been pretty much ruled out due to soaring temperatures and humidity levels over the last week (mohair and sweat not being a particularly appealing mix), while the alpaca and wool are still neck and neck into the qualifying swatch round. You can, however, expect a final decision early next week.

Three day weekends apparently lend themselves well to pursuits of the fiber related. Several of the bloggers I follow spent at least one of the three days hovering over a dye pot. Myself included. No pictures of the actual process, but I'm happy with the end result.

Like Rip Van Winkle, I seem to have lost some time somewhere along the way. A month apparently. I'm still stuck in the PS month of April, with orange and yellow the dominant colors in my spectrum.

SOS to the more experienced spinners out there. Suggestions would be welcome on how to ease up on the spin. Yarn would be the goal here, not barbed wire.

I do have a plan to get all caught up on my Project Spectrum projects and knock out a KAL as well. I plan to Trek Along with Trekking XXL #71 in blue and teal. May and June covered, Trek Along with Me KAL knocked out of the park, and the blue hemp Ponchette is just a bonus, because it's fun to knit with size 7 needles after lots of sock knitting on those size 1 Addis.

Time well spent.