Yarn Koan

If yarn is purchased in order to knit gifts, does it count as stash?



Malabrigo, Chunky



Whales Road



Stonechat

I don't think so. But it's a nice question to meditate.

A little something something for the weekend...

Cuff: four inches long now -- three to go, and then a short-row-heel, and then...

Also:


The heel, it is turned -- the arch decreasing goes apace.
(Also, I have the old "Pride and Prejudice" and "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" to watch this weekend... I'm on some kind of crazy Ethan Hawke kick after watching "Before Sunrise" -- sob -- and "Before Sunset" -- some indignant screaming at the end, but it made me very happy -- and remembering that I don't actually hate his guts) ... also, pictures of a finished (and blocked!) scarf are trapped in my camera at home. You'll see them soon!

I haven't been knitting nearly as much as I expected in New Mexico, perhaps because I really work (most of the time) while I'm at work... but also because I'm reading more (good books too!) and writing, and even drawing.
(Somehow, this has not kept me from procuring more yarn.)

Some pictures of that soon, too!

Also, kitten.



Her name is Lisa, and she is made of sun-beams and all else that is good.

Happy weekend!

Promisez. I trai to keepz them.

And here we go!!!

So, first of all, any questions about a shrug, or a cardigan, or a something or other, will receive furtive eye shifting, a lot of umming, and, uh, yeah.
I really couldn't bring myself to knit something white, or something long-sleeved, or, uh, heavy and cotton, here in sunny New Mexico. Also, I'm a flighty bastard.

So, transition into the current projects -- I guess I'll go by chronology.

Project #1: Little Lace Scarf Number 2, Manos Silk -- Juniper colorway. (Oddly region appropriate -- Juniper is a major feature of the flora of New Mexico.)



Lace pattern: Mist Drops from Barbara Walker's Second Pattern Anthology



I love it, even though the colors are not me-appropriate. This will be a gift.



And I have this much to go! We'll see when it's done.

Project #2: Hot Socks! (A.K.A. My introduction to Koigu.)



Koigu, some hot pink/light pink/orange/currant colorway -- also not me-appropriate.



These are destined for the mother-figure, for whom they are appropriate colors!!
You may not be able to detect the tiny cable detail -- blah blah blah, variegated yarn is not good for texture patterns -- but I love it. Knitting the tiny cables is so much fun, and I like the fact that I'll know they're there, even if they're not overtly apparent.
Also regionally appropriate colors -- the saturated warm, nay, hot colors play well with others in the American Southwest.

Project #3 -- Another pair of Koigu socks???



Err, yeah -- in my defense, I needed some airplane knitting, and was positive that I wasn't going to get them through security. So, this knitting is what I completed almost entirely on the plane trip from Baltimore Washington International to the Albuquerque airport.
But come on ... look at those colors!!



And Project #4 -- Koigu Baby Booties???
Nina, are you not telling us something? Are you a Koigu junkie or something?



Don't judge me! I can stop whenever I want!
What I mean is, I always used to scoff at those who seemed to venerate Koigu yarn. Yeah, that's you, PurlSoho!
And it would have been fine, but Kaleidoscope Yarns (best darn yarn shop in Vermont, where I had my knitting reawakening) had a sale on the last remaining bits of Koigu Painters Palette (the fingering weight stuff), and I figured, why not try it.
This yarn is like crack. I'm not going to tell you the price of a skein of new Koigu colors -- if you don't knit, you won't understand, and if you do knit, you will -- but seriously. The combination of the amazing colors, the smooshy goodness texture, and the froggability (this yarn holds its shape after at least a few unravellings) all add up to tasty yarn and tasty tasty socks.

As for the baby booties, no, I am not, to my knowledge, eating for two just yet -- a cousin of mine is expecting, so that yarn plus this book:



equal baby booties up the whazoo. One skein is supposed to make two pairs -- since I've already cocked up the one I'm working on, I'll be ripping it back shortly.

(The book is Knitting for Baby, by Kristin Nicholas and Melanie Falick, and it is AMAZING. I highly recommend it for the instructions at the beginning alone. And if you ever wanted to be hooked into the nefarious underworld of knitting baby sweaters, hats, blankets, whatever, this is your gateway drug ticket.)

What's the problem?
With all of these awesome projects, why am I feeling like a wanton whatever, and browsing the Schoolhouse Press site for scratchy, wholesome, vibrant and natural colored wool?

This:



Wish me luck. I'm going to go sit down for a session with a sock or a scarf, and remember exactly why I love them as much as I do.

A very very brief post

I am in Santa Fe, NM right now, and will be for exactly two more months!!
Knitting continues, though I don't have much to show for it right now. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. I must confess, my attempts at non-sock/non-scarf projects have had lackluster results. Regardless, they are pretty.
And if you find yourself in NM, let me know? We'll knit together. Or something along those lines.

An introduction to a friend...

I have a friend from college named Naomi who is amazing for loads of reasons.

She is funny. (Improv comedienne, actress, blogger.)

She is tough. (Born and raised in the city. You know which one.)

She is gorgeous.

She has the same initials I do. (North-East)

Her birthday is two days before mine.

"But Nina," you ask, "what does this have to do with knitting? Surely Naomi doesn't knit, as you haven't listed it in reasons why she is fabulous."

Because, dear reader, I am flouting her advice here:

(NB -- Some language and subject matter may be inappropriate for children!)
and here:


with this:



From another angle:



"A shrug??" (My own subconscious asks, indignantly.)
Not just any shrug. This one!
"I thought you would hold out against such temptation... such indulgence to cast on, such trendiness never to wear."

Yeah, well, look -- it's spring in New England. It was effing cold this morning, and for most of today. And I have Things-To-Dress-Up-For (the Boyfriend's younger brother's Phi Beta Kappa induction, the Younger Brother's graduation) all in scenic, Northern, New England -- we're talking Vermont and Maine. Not wearing a sweater is NOT an option. But my sweaters are almost categorically shlubby by now, and I don't have the time to block out a lace shawl.

Plus, it's simple knitting -- great for finals week.

And mmm. Bamboo plus silk equals everything I'd hoped and dreamed. I could be convinced to roll around naked in this yarn. (For the curious, Ella Rae Bamboo Silk. Dreamy stuff.)

It is still in progress:



and it is unlikely to be done by Saturday, when Johann's younger brother will have his Phi Beta Kappa ceremony. Because isn't that just how it works?

"Ooh. I need a [something that could be knitted] in less than a week. Time to cast on!"

But, with any luck, it might be done by Chaz's graduation.

At which point it might be too cold to wear just a shrug!

(Also, dude. Read Naomi's blog would you? It's hilarious.)

First May FO...

Cast on sometime in mid-January, and intended as a replacement Christmas present, finally done after a weekend of putting on the burn, here is ...



Mabel's Scarf, heretofore renamed Elke's Scarf!!

After I had woven the ends in:




And a closeup of the detail...



Woo finishing items in progress since JANUARY.
(Shout out to Adina...)

Pattern from the lovely Larissa Brown -- you can see her original HERE. She has an amazing looking book out that I would love to lay my hands on...

Yarn: Mirasol Cotanani (merino/cotton blend) in a blueberry yogurt color.
Needles: Size 9 plastic ick-sters (I was desperate and needed a pair to start knitting RIGHT THEN).
LYS: Woolcott & Co -- to which I am slowly warming up!!

Merry Christmas Happy Birthday Happy ... err... Spring is really here??

April Showers...

are both occurring today, and not done. Cryptic?
Witness.
This:



made from this: (Trekking XXL, super-mc-awesome colors)



is now one sock plus this:



I have thought of them as my "April Showers" socks, since the colors capture all the best parts of April -- sunshine, rain, green, white clouds, and none of the thick gray crappy fog that is rolling past the window right now.
Ravellry-d HERE but I kind of lied (well, changed my mind), and decided that instead of doing dividing the yarn in two balls of roughly equal size and knitting from the toe as far they go (er, went), that that would get boring quickly (endless stockinette for the leg... where's the appeal? Now I understand lace/cable sock patterns), so I made a garter cuff for the first one, not pictured here, and cast off. They'll be ped-size. Cute.

But not done by the end of April. (Oh well...)

You may not be able to see the expansion detail on the sole of the sock, but that's a Riverbed expansion, from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Crack Sock Knitters. I may have arsed up the first sock's expansion, or else I've messed this one's up, since I've reversed the increase directional stitches for the second one, but since the expansion is on the bottom, i.e. out of sight, it doesn't make a lick of difference!!! (To me. If anyone sees the bottoms of the socks, I guess they have to potential to be aesthetically offended. Symmetry is overrated. I am not the first person to point this out.)

Since it's raining today and tomorrow, I can't take pictures (though I want to), but there are surprises. Like, Sweater-prises. (Not done yet.)

And, if you were wondering about the hand warmer dealies, they are the Greenaway Fingerless Gloves pattern from the most awesome Purl Bee website ... and this is the second time that I've knit them out of the same yarn -- Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in colorway Maize. I'm not hugely into yellow, but I like the muted quality of this shade. It matches my imagination of Corn Silk, though I have no idea how it measures up in reality... the color quality of the photo, as mentioned, was abysmal. Next sunny day, they will be photographed. Also, I still haven't woven the ends in. This has not stopped me from wearing them in public.

Speaking of the Purl Bee, have you seen the new Whit's Knits pattern for a bamboo shrug? I've never thought of myself as an evening shrug or bolero type... nor, for that matter, of a lady-like fingerless glove type, and yet I keep coming back to them. And that's forgetting about the pom-pom socklettes!
Should I be worried?