The Golden Iris

New socks yay! These have been my 'boring purse knitting' for a while and they are finally done! I had to re-knit the first sock, which was a major bummer, but serves me right for knitting all the way to the tip of the toe before trying it on. The yarn is Regia in one of the Kaffe Fassett designed stripe patterns. These are just basic 3x1 rib socks, 72 sts around, on US#1s. The colors reminded me of liquorice allsorts (not that allsorts have THAT much blue in them, but you get the idea) hence the name. I love the mismatched stripes Now to find my next easy socks to carry around!

We've all been there. Maybe it’s wool fumes, maybe it’s a color (or three) that calls your name, but suddenly you end up with a big skein of variegated yarn and you have no idea what to do with it. Here’s something to try - a big cozy cowl that you can wear wrapped once or twice. The stitch pattern grabs on to short stretches of color and turns them into little starbursts all over the fabric. Laughing photos are the best photos The Denver Cowl is a new FREE pattern, born of a collaboration between Miss Babs and myself. It's designed to make the most of the always-changing, no-two-alike, fun and funky "Babettes" that Babs dyes. There's a secret to the process that I can't reveal, but it means that there are always super-saturated flashes of fantastic colors all over the skein. Denver Cowl, worn as a scarf The yarn is the fabulous Miss Babs Yowza . If you've never worked with this stuff, you're missing out. It's 8 oz. of superwash meri...

...and it's not turkey. What could it be? Stay tuned!

Last weekend I headed to the marketplace at Interweave Knitting Lab in San Mateo and came away with some new goodies. I got a box project bag and a wee tiny little triangle bag... Project bags And I couldn't resist a little yarn from Alpenglow and Knitted Wit. New yarn! I am busy whipping up a couple new things, which I hope to be able to share with you soon! And then of course there's the standard super-sekrit sample knitting and super-sekrit Christmas knitting going on, but I suppose all will be revealed in due time.

I'm back to the Sock Knitters Anonymous challenges this year. So far... so good - although it's only been one month (the annual challenges start in September). One of September's challenges was "All knit with the same color - red" and I just happened to have some red Knit Picks Stroll laying around. It's not what I would ordinarily choose for socks - it seems too flimsy - but it worked up OK. We'll see how they wear. The pattern is Pointelle by Cookie A. It looks complex but the pattern is just lace patterning on every other round - there's a lot of plain knitting in these. In between all my other knitting, these went very quickly! Pointelle socks Next month's challenge includes a 'holiday stocking' option - which is great, because I still haven't finished my Christmas stocking from last year . I've ripped it all the way out because I got the color dominance wrong, so it's fresh for a new challenge. Starting over ...

Miss Babs has been keeping me busy (as usual!) working on some samples. Erica Shawl This is the Erica Shawl , knit up in Miss Babs Tierno (the alpaca-silk blend also known as the 'kitten yarn') in Coventry - my favorite green. It's an easy bottom-up pattern that involves a giant cast-on, the lace pattern, and then short rows in stockinette stitch to complete the body. To ensure the greatest possible flexibility on the bottom, I went looking for a new cast-on. I discovered that Jeny - she of super-stretchy bind-off fame - had found a very stretchy cast-on . However, I found her method a bit awkward and used the method described in this video instead. It's definitely worth a try if you have a large number of stitches to cast on (no long tail) and need great elasticity. It requires a little more attention than the standard long-tail cast on, but is well worth the effort. Boyfriend Cardigan I knit up a quick  Boyfriend cardigan for Stitches Midwest in ...

It's finished - FINALLY! I am now one of the over 3,800 people who've finished one of these (at least according to Ravelry ). Color Affection I had no idea how long the last rows were until I bound off, washed it, and threw it on the floor to block. My highly technical blocking method: throw it on a sheet on the floor A very sweet little girl learning to knit at one of the knitting groups I go to asked, "do you even KNOW how many stitches are on your needle right now?" No, honey, I have no idea... and I don't even want to know. (She was practicing garter stitch on 12 stitches and very dutifully counting after every row.) But now it's over and it's snuggly and has twirly little ends and it used up a bunch of yarn and I'm happy. As you can see, I added another section with just the second 2 colors before knitting the final border. It's huuuuge! The brown is Fiber Optic Yarns Foot Notes; the grey is Louet Gems; and the pink is Ella ...

I have finished knitting the back of my Conic sweater. Conic back I love the way the silk in this yarn catches the light.  Right now Conic has to be on hold for a little while as I catch up on some sample knitting. But soon I'm looking forward to getting started on the sleeves and enjoying some easy knitting in the round. 

Over the weekend was the Art and Wine Festival. This means street closures, insane traffic, noise, and the questionable aroma of grilling sausage filling my house for 8 hours a day. Of course it also means booths full of all kinds of stuff. Usually I end up buying a piece of jewelry, but the piece I fell in love with turned out to be way, way out of my price range. So I brought home this little guy instead. Juniper bonsai He is a little juniper tree. (I picked juniper because I think they can take lots of abuse, and hopefully that will give him a better chance.) I think he looks very nice next to his rock.  Anybody out there ever tried to grow a bonsai tree? Any tips?

So just like Color Affection (I'm almost done, I swear!) I'm going along with the crowd on this one. A bunch of us from the Thursday evening knitting group are all knitting along together on Cookie A 's new cardigan/bolero design, Conic . Of course if you can't make it to my knitting group, there's also a knitalong thread happening on Ravelry for any of the new Shapes + Form patterns. (Are you going to join us?) Conic back progress The yarn is a wool and silk blend fingering weight from Mistralee Farm Studio - they're from PA, but I can't find a website for them. I'm so happy to be knitting a sweater in a commercially dyed yarn! No alternating skeins! And I love the chocolate brown and I think the silk will give it a nice drape. Even though it's on #3 needles, it's knitting up fast. I'm so excited for new sweaters for fall. Of course now I have approximately a zillion projects on my needles (including SOOPER SEKRIT stuff as always) ...

Back in May, the very kind folks over at Cephalopod Yarns started up a collection of wooly things to benefit Afghans for Afghans . They promised a $32 store credit to anyone who sent in something for a4A's current campaign (a hat, mittens, socks). I had been hoping to send in some items to a4A anyway (because my gosh there's a lot of worsted weight wool just laying around) so I took the opportunity. I knit up two hats - one with a geometric color pattern, one with stripes - and promptly forgot to photograph them. Good job, me! You'll just have to use your imagination instead of looking at a picture. In return, my store credit turned into this lovely skein of Bugga ! Bugga! in Ivory Cone Snail Even for two hats, I feel like I got far more than I deserved here. I love the color (yellow and cream and pinky-tan and brown spots! - a very unusual choice for me) and of course MCN is just lovely stuff. So - a big thank you to Sarah and the crew at Cephalopod for drawing ...

I have been affected. Afflicted. Infected. Whatever you want to call it, I've now officially joined the 5,000+ people who've knit Color Affection . I think half my knitting group has made one, for starters. Into the three-color section! I thought, "ugh, all that garter stitch." I thought, "ugh, all those long rows." I thought, "haven't I been doing enough boring knitting already?" And then I spent Sunday at Stitches Midwest wearing one and it was snuggly and pretty and had curly little tails and - well, ok, let's be honest, I had already set aside three skeins of yarn just in case . So without a major deadline currently over my head, I am cranking away at endless garter stitch. [Details on yarn are on my Ravelry page here .] The brown and linen-grey aren't that exciting, but I love the pink added in at the end. And instead of transitioning directly from the three-stripe section to the final color, I am considering working ...

I spent the past week in Chicago to join forces with Miss Babs and work Stitches Midwest (and, also very importantly, to see my mom). Stitches is always a ton of hard work - and an equal amount of fun. Babs has put together a great team of people to work with. We hustle like crazy and haul giant heavy boxes around like they're nothing. And of course it's great to be surrounded by all the beautiful colors and happy yarn people all week! Part of the booth at Stitches Color Affection has been an incredibly popular pattern and why not? it's easy to knit, snuggly, and eats up three skeins of sock yarn! Miss Babs and the crew put together sets of three colors... picking two colors that go together is pretty easy, but adding that third color to bring it all together can be pretty tough. No one person loves all these sets... but as the weekend went on I became convinced that there was one for everyone.  Color Affection sets At first I thought "oh my gosh all...

Brighton is a long infinity cowl that’s perfect for that skein of variegated sock yarn you just couldn’t live without. Brighton cowl It seems to happen to everyone. I fall in love with variegated sock yarn at the drop of a hat. It’s even worse when I learn the color will never be dyed again. And some of it is just too pretty to put on my feet! A cowl is the perfect way to show it off. Brighton features an open, easy-to-work star stitch that breaks up color pooling, and the cowl gains structure from blocks of garter stitch and a faux i-cord edging. Don’t like the cowl thing? Work an extra section of garter stitch at the end and make it into a long scarf. Wrapped once And the stats: Finished measurements:  8” wide and 58” long after blocking. Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply , (400 yds per 4 oz; 100% Superwash Merino wool, shown in Malachite), 1 skein. Needles:  Size 6 US (4mm) straight or circular. Notions: Tapestry needle. Gauge: 21 sts and 28 rows = 4” in Sta...

I don't know why I feel compelled to knit summer sweaters, but I just finished a couple. Maybe I'll even wear them. Here's some photos from a silly photo shoot we had. Buttercup Back when I was at the yarn shop, I saw a lot of nice Buttercups come and go. So I picked up some Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy (seriously, this is the best warm-weather yarn out there, and a bargain at the same time) and got started. It's actually not as flattering as I would have hoped, but whatever. It's green! And airy! And super-duper fast. I probably should have bought another ball of yarn and made it longer, but... it's all done now. Big thanks go out to Abigail for putting some of the last rows on it at knitting one night when she ran out of knitting and I (as usual) had three projects in my bag. Homa This is Homa (yeah, there may have been a lot of laughing going on when the photos were taken) which is surprisingly way more flattering than Buttercup. It's a top-...

This post has been a long time coming. Last year I knit a reversible baby blanket for my friend Amanda's little baby Hazel. The first blanket was screaming hot pink (perfect for Amanda) but I had a terrible time photographing it. So Miss Babs and I teamed up to make another sample, this time in a beautiful spring green. The yarn is   Yowza , a lovely superwash merino in big 8 oz. skeins, and the color is called Spring Lettuce. It seems like everything I make is in this shade of green, but ... I can't help it, I love it so much. Marquise baby blanket The blanket is called Marquise because of diamond pattern reminds me of a marquise-cut diamond. It's just knits and purls, is completely reversible, and works up quickly into a thick and cushy blanket on big needles. (The pattern is given both as written directions and as a chart). You can get your copy here on Ravelry for $6... All snuggled up! Next week I'll be heading to the Chicago area for Stitche...

Hummingbird at the feeder Ok, so I am still a bit obsessed with the local Anna's Hummingbirds . I found a stick-on feeder  [probably the best $20 I've spent on entertainment in a long time] for the window by my desk so I can see them up close, all the time. They are super skittish when they see me but they just keep coming back.  These little guys are incredibly aggressive when defending their territory or food, so there is a lot of high-speed fighter-plane stuff going on all the time. They also have to inspect me when I sit in the chair you can see in that photo, hovering three feet from my face as if to say 'who are you?! what are you doing here?!'  Maybe I am easily amused but they do provide me with nearly endless amusement. The other day I watched as, mid-hover, one of them reached up with a foot to scratch its head. Yes, while flying! As you might suspect, I've been busy with stuff... much of it knitting related (which is good!). I'll have so...

Blooming orchid I have adopted a couple of very ordinary orchids to add to the houseplant collection. I don't know a lot about orchids, but I seem to be having good luck with them! Growing new buds I bought this Phalaenopsis back in November. It held the blooms until March, and now is growing more stems out of its stems. These look like they'll have flowers too, which is very exciting. Apparently Phalaenopsis is the only orchid genus which can re-bloom from an existing stem . More flower buds! And there's also this orchid... I got them at Trader Joe's, so I have no cultivar names or anything, but I loved the big purple, yellow, and green spidery flowers. This is its second bloom for me, which is so cool! Normally he lives on my desk I am looking forward to getting some more attractive orchid pots and repotting them (when they're done flowering, of course).

All my sample knitting has meant it's taken me a while to finish even a simple pair of socks for myself. Everyday Socks I finally did finish my Everyday Socks at the beginning of March, just in time for me to wear them on the flight to Chicago. There's not too much to say about these, but they were simple and satisfying to knit, and I LOVE the color (called Rocky Top, courtesy of Dragonfly Fibers )! I've since started two other pair: some plain stockinette socks in a new Miss Babs yarn called Shiruku , which is a merino-silk blend... Shiruku socks ...and some herringbone rib socks in a very boldly variegated color (I think it has every color in the world in it, except purple) from Creatively Dyed yarn. Creatively Dyed socks As you might imagine, there's more super secret knitting happening over here, so that's keeping my needles and fingers busy. Any socks on the needles lately?

Earlier in March, I returned to the Chicago area to visit my mom. Between hanging out and knitting and generally doing fun mom stuff, she'd planned a special fiber field trip out to Waterman, Illinois to visit Clear View Farm with her regular knitting group. Clear View Farm is run by Sandra Schrader [who also happened to be my bus driver when I was a lot younger! It was fun to see her again]. She raises prizewinning Cormo sheep on her farm, as well as the usual farm assortment of chickens, barn cats, and a dog. Cormo sheep are a cross between Corriedale and Merino; they were bred for high-quality, low-micron (fine) fleece, good mothering instincts, high fertility, and easy manageability. They are medium sized animals with lots of wool. Sandy keeps her sheep covered year-round to keep the fleeces clean and free of too much vegetable matter, which makes spinners very happy. Soon-to-be-mamas We were excited to visit the sheep, who were in their barn out of the weather. Ma...

I love citrus: all things lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit - you name it, I am all about it. Living in California has only increased the adoration for all the bright and tangy flavors of citrus fruit - and it has introduced me to lots of new types to try! As my palate has matured (gosh, hello, that sounds pretentious, but whatever) I've gained a greater appreciation for bitter things like Campari (which we now go through by the liter) and marmalade. Marmalade has wonderful bitter and sour notes that balance the sweetness of ordinary jam. Mmmm, marmalade I knew, of course, that real marmalade is made with something called a Seville or sour or bitter orange, but I'd never seen such a thing. Lucky for me these things exist in California, if only seasonally, and finally I got my hands on some last week at the Milk Pail Market , our wonderful produce and cheese market. [They also have incredibly delicious bake-your-own croissants .] Having had good luck with his recipes i...