The October Fiber Baristas shipment. This one comes DT Craft & Design from the UK! She sent it along with some candies and a recipe for Rhubarb crumble.

The color is inspired by rhubarb and the included recipe. It’s “Crumble Rumble,” a mix of reds, purples and dark pinks.

It’s amazing how inspiring this poisonous little plant can be! Look at the sampling of pix from Flickr. Many are inspired by its color, taste and texture. The leaves contain oxalates and are poisonous, the stalks not so much. Other plants that we eat that contain varying amounts of oxalates in their leaves are spinach, peas and potatoes.

But it continues to inspire dyers, and apparently me too. Here is Fiesta Boomerang in Rhubarb from my stash.

And Numma Numma ToastyBoo.



And that third one from the left is Rhubarber in Wollmeise.


I find rhubarb inspiring for it means spring and warmth and green growth. And for the next 6 months we will have none of that! Are you inspired by rhubarb?

I spent the last week knitting a 45″ long tube. This is the Felted Yoga Mat bag from “Great Knitted Gifts.” I used Malabrigo (blue) and Plymouth Boku (stripes). The sample I knit seemed to felt nicely so I took the 45″ plunge. And threw it in the washer once I was finally done. And again. And again. And again.

Turns out the Boku really doesn’t felt too well! I now have a very big bag, or maybe a very small mat. :-/

The Malabrigo on the left, very dense, very felted. The Boku on the right, not so much. Bummer. Now what do I do with this thing! Ah well. I guess that’s the gamble you take with felting.

Moving on, I started the July sock for the Socks From the Toe Up KAL on Ravelry, WendyKnits’ On Hold sock. The yarn is Claudia Handpainted, the color is Denim. This is the first time I have used Claudia’s and it is awesome. I love how it knits up. The pattern is ok, I have not memorized it yet after 2 repeats but I am hoping it comes soon. I can’t wait until I start the leg when there is a double lace insert up the sides.
One thing I have improved with all these toe-up socks is my Judy’s Magic cast-on. I still refer to Cat Bordhi’s video once in a while, but now I do the very first loops with a slightly larger needle, switching to required size on the first round. Also I like the way M1′s look over Knit TBL increases.

I have just one problem. The new Loopy Ewe Sock club kit arrived. BuggaBugga and yet another WendyKnits pattern which looks like a lot of fun. The package also contained a cute sheep stitchmarker as well as a Namaste buddy case. I am not sure about the case. Although I have always been tempted by them when they are in stock, in person they are not what I thought they would be. There is not a lot of room inside. Does anyone use these? What do you use them for?

It takes on average 21 days for a chicken egg to be laid and a chick to emerge.

It takes a turkey 28 days to make the same trip.

A duck takes 28 days too. So in 3-4 weeks, all of this life is created and ready to go! Less than a month!

So what’s my problem? I have been working on this pair of socks for 24 days now, and I have 6 days to go to finish this sock in time to be entered in the Wendy Knits “Socks From the Toe Up” KAL on Ravelry. (If you are not a member of Ravelry, take note that memberships are now immediately approved! No more waiting!)

So, chicken 21 days. Turkey and ducks, 28 days. Feathers and feet and eyes and all that. Me, not so efficient.

I can console myself that it takes a cow a touch over 9 months to create a calf. A 200 pound calf.

I have 6 days to turn the heel and create the leg, and bind off. At least I’ve got thyme. (groan).

The Nanner socks have been OTN forever and I finally finished #2 this morning. Sometimes the ribbing can take a very long time, as it did here.
Nanner Socks by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silkie “Pond Scum”

The second sock I finished should have been a quicker knit, I am not sure what my problem was. This took me 4 days. A nice, short, lacy summer sock.

The yarn was the second shipment of the Fiber Baristas sock club and is from Zen Garden. Although I don’t have close-ups, the heel on this sock is really spectacular. Instead of typical SL1 K1, the lace descends and gradually tapers off.
Tripolini Socks by LImedragon
Yarn: Zen Yarn Garden serendipity sport in “Falls”

So you remember the Monkey sock I did, and because I am inept at crochet, the provisional cast-on required for the picot cuff was less than stellar! I tried threading some waste yarn through live stitches instead, and although it was a little slow going getting the stitches off the needle and knit together, I am happy to report I have found a method that works for me. When I am feeling more masochistic, I will attempt the provisional cast-on again.

So I had this other idea – create another pair of Monkeys in a yarn I thought was the opposite of the first one I chose. For this pair, I also did the picot cuff, but used the ‘no purl’ approach.

I think I like the ‘no purl’ pattern better. And unlike most of the world, I am not addicted to this pattern. I have to make the mates to this sock and I am done.
Pattern: Monkey Socks (4 repeats, both purl and no purl)
Yarn: (dark) Chewy Spaghetti Spaghetti “Festive”
Yarn: (light) Zen String Serendipity Fingering “Reflection”

This is my pattern notebook. In it I keep print outs of old MagKnits and Knitty.com patterns as well as those I have bought. There are a lot there and it was time to reorganize.

The notebook on the left now contains only sock patterns. I have arranged them by designer (i.e. Wendyknits, Cookie A, Knitspot) as well as the general patterns downloaded from knitty.com and the like. Although many of these patterns are readily available online, and I have copies of them on my hard drives, sometimes it is easier to refer to the print-outs. My one pet peeve is that I love to see what yarns were used in sample socks and those are not always included.


How do you organize your patterns?

The main yarn is a stripey-stripe of reds and browns, and the contrasting yarn is a mostly solid brick color. The pattern is from a new book, Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn by Carol Sulcoski. This is a great book, BTW, with many interesting takes on sock patterns. I highly recommend it!

I modified the pattern in 2 ways, one intentionally I made the sock longer as the original pattern was for a anklet. These socks are 7″ high, longer if you unfold the lacy cuff! I missed the part in the pattern that called for ribbing underneath that lacy cuff, so they are a bit snug. I am hoping the blocker helps in that respect.

So I am about to begin sock #2. I have to finish soon as the new shipment from Rockin’ Sock Club is in the mail, and I have seen sneak previews of the yarn and the pattern, and I need to cast that one on as soon as I get it – it’s that good.

Yarn: Bare Sheep Yarn Co. “Holy Crab”
Pattern: Zig Zag Cuffs by Pam Grushkin published in Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn by Carol Sulcoski

Believe it or not I finished my 2008 Christmas knitting — this week. yup, a little behind. But the pattern was great, and the yarn amazing! I didn’t realize until I was finished and looking for the yarn wrapper that I was knitting with some cashmere. No wonder I loved the yarn so much. So off they go to their recipient. I think I have more of this yarn in my stash so I may do these over for me.
 
Yarn: Pagewood Farm Alyeska
Color: Santa Fe
Pattern: Hidden Path Socks

 
So as soon as I wove the last end in, I cast on for yet another pair of socks. This yarn I found on sale at Michael’s – I mean someone else found on sale at Michael’s and I found empty bins. Morose, I wandered the aisles of their knitting section and came across a woman with about 20 balls of the sale yarn in her basket. “So that’s where all the sale yarn went to,” I joked. She laughed too and admitted she would never knit all that yarn, and did I want some?
 
Turns out she was the wife of a co-worker of mine, only I didn’t realize it at the time (she knew me however. I hate that when it happens!) She allowed me to pick some yarn from her basket. I think it’s only fitting that she receive socks from the yarn she gave me (she doesn’t knit socks as it turns out). So these will be hers.
Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock Stripe
Color: Bronzed Berry Stripe
Pattern: Basic Cuff down

 
The same visit to Michael’s is when I bought the yarn for the scarves in this post. They finally were mailed off last week or so and surprisingly enough were received by First Class Mail the VERY NEXT DAY. Impressive. More impressive is this card. I’ll be pinning this on my bulletin board: it’s just that beautiful.
 
Don’t you think so? And so …. SPRING LIKE!

I knit the Wrapper’s Delight from iKnitiative with some CTH Baby Loop (boucle). Never ending lump of goo. I hate boucle. Pattern was ok.

Then I made Abruzo from local Laura Nelkin on knitty.com with some thick yarn I bought at Hemlock. Easy pattern, love the yarn but when it was done I just wasn’t happy with its fit. Bulky yarn makes me look … bulky.

You will note there are no pictures of my own so far

Then I made a hat for my step-daughter.

Pattern: Fusilli Beanie

Yarn: Cascade Pastaza

and the Noro Scarf made famous by Brooklyn Tweed. This was a really fun knit. I did it on a plane flight.

Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden 244 & 268

On another plane flight I designed some socks. Simply because I had yarn, no pattern and needed a manly sock. I wanted the ribbed cuff to grow out into larger ribs, which I ended up making like a beaded rib. Nothing special really.

Pattern: My own, K4,P1 (allter rows knit all)

Yarn: Three Irish Girls “Campbell”

And another sock in progress which I can’t show you right now *wink. Christmas is coming you know.

I swung by a LYS yesterday to pick up some Jamiesons yarn for yet another Brooklyn Tweed pattern, Druid mittens (cover of last issue of Vogue, I am sure you know which ones) as well as enough for a baby surprise jacket. Also got some Plymouth Boku to try that with the striped scarf and also some white Brown Sheep to do a fake fair isle hat with even more Noro.

Like I said, Christmas is coming

I finished the 2 at a time magic loop socks done on circs too small By the time I got to the gusset, I decided to go back to my good ol. DPNs.

Now I am working on March’s Rocking Sock Club sock, “Leafling.” It has been a while since I have knit with BMFA yarn, I forgot how addiciting it is. I love watching this pattern progress. I am on the heel, the actual heel turning is done with short rows on thh bottom of the foot. And yup, with my trusty DPNs.