Street View

Ordinarily the Wall Street Journal is not known for its advice for knitters, but on memorable occasions one strikes gold. This season they're pushing snoods. Gentle readers may know (as I did not) that the new-fangled snood is not the fancy hairnet of days of yore, but rather a pricey cowl long enough to wrap two or three times around the neck and tall enough to wear as a hood. Ohhh.... Of course I had to knit one.



So I perused Ravelry, particularly liked Michele Wang's Eternity Scarf, and quickly knit up a downmarket prototype of my own out of Wool-Ease. I like Wool-Ease – it squeaks, yet its drape mimics alpaca, not to mention my outlay was all of $5. The result is fun to wear, although this season's de rigueur color is not my fave for accessories.



But the big discovery for me (as astonishing as my discovery of washcloths): cowls are fun to knit. Here's another, Wave Cowl worked in Kochoran and Lamb's Pride, knit for my Plurk Cowl Swap downstream pal, Lisa (waving hi).

Modest Success

The day's drenching rains spoiled my plan to take Seedy button shopping, so instead I finished [cough] another languishing cardi to the ABB stage, Sitcom Chic, pictured with a seasonal brooch as a fastener. The brooch works sufficiently well it's tempting to just call Sitcom finished and not add a button and button loop.



It was a bit of a surprise to see how comparatively few Sitcoms there are on Ravelry (as of this writing, 293 projects, which places it 42nd among cardigans). The pattern is free, well-written, easy, and fun to knit; the specified yarn is a good value and widely available; and the results are retro-chic yet eminently wearable. Regardless of how others overlook or even spurn it, I could see making another, perhaps in wool with full length rather than ¾ sleeves.

Emboldened by modest success, I'm knitting onward and even joined the NaKniSweMo KAL. For mutual encouragement and support, Nancy and I are doing a mini-KAL within a KAL for Seneca by Jared Flood. The designer's comments are helpful – I'm going to do a full sample swatch, wash, and block on the sideways cable section. Besides, diligence is its own reward – having missed the September Brooklyn Tweed event at Stix-n-Stitches, I hope to wear Seneca to the reception at Knitknack in December.

ABB

Seedy Cardi is almost finished. She's quite wearable as-is, even went to Rhinebeck on Sunday, where she performed admirably in the cold and wet (but my poor digicam misbehaved – sorry, no pix). I love her rustic Noro-esque beauty.



She's just ABB, all but buttons. Once upon a time wearing a cardi sans buttons would have bothered me. No longer. Indeed, I'm brazenly flaunting Seedy's buttonlessness. Behold! – a buttonhole with no corresponding button.



Otherwise, the loose ends are woven in, the leftovers neatly wound, and the trusty tools stowed. I suppose if I hadn't been quite so obsessive about color-matching, there would be a nice full skein left instead of a motley collection of short pieces. Oh well.



Objectively, Seedy isn't heavy for a handknit cardigan – she's well under 500 g (17.6 oz). But she feels substantial, so I stabilized her back neck with a row of slip stitch crochet, using a leftover bit of a smooth yarn, Cascade 220. On the inside of the garment, it looks like a chain.



On the outside, it looks like a decorative running stitch between the collar and the body of the sweater.



The crochet chain works to limit stretching along the back neck, which can be pulled out of shape by the weight of the sleeves, resulting in drooping shoulders. While the effect may have appeal in a luscious angora sweater, I want Seedy to have a firm shoulder line. There's a slight difference in the drape of the sweater, which seems a reasonable trade off for the improved fit.

Ordinarily, I don't much like to wear sweaters with collars, they fidget me. But the turn line on Seedy's seed stitch collar forms crenellations that frame the face, a rather nice special effect. I'm no good at self-portraits, so modeled pix will have to wait 'til DH is available. In the meantime, Seedy's going shopping.

Spinner's End

While I never managed to scrape together much enthusiasm for my project for the Tour de Fleece last month,* last week I started spinning like a crazy thing and this week have finished yarn to flash. The difference? I had a very clearly defined end purpose for the yarn in mind. What happens next? Er, hrumph.



I spun up most of a 4 oz braid of Zarzuela's Fibers Merino, colorway Maine Blueberry, into 105 yds (96 m) lumpy bumpy chunky weight for Quincy, an intriguing Moebius hat by Jared Flood. Alas, there's not quite enough yarn. Hrumph.



And I spun 2.1 oz of Yarn Hollow 80/20 Merino Tussah, colorway Antique Map, into 191 yds (174 m) lofty fingering for a Storm Cloud Shawlette by Hanna Breetz. The hank looks so good draped over my blazer and I'm feeling so dang lazy, I may not bother with knitting. Hrumph.


* That means my New Year's vow #4 is about to come due, details next month.

A Grand Time

For five glorious hours on Saturday, NYC closed most of Park Avenue (yes, the Park Avenue) and a couple other streets to auto traffic as part of its Summer Streets program. One of my all-time favorite views is of Grand Central Terminal from South Park Avenue and the weather was as rare as the opportunity, so DH and I simply had to investigate.



We had a grand time. The south approach to Grand Central is normally restricted to cars only – it was beautiful to see people making their way up the incline on foot, on bikes, and even in wheelchairs, all grinning. Life in a great city is often tinged with the sublime; that is, the built environment can be as awesome, exhilarating, and terrifying as a Bierstadt landscape. Some flee it, but for others the chance to experience it car-free is not to be missed. Summer Streets continues on August 15 and 22, and we hope to be back for more.

Then again, this week it's turned hot, hazy, and humid all at once, like the very worst of summer crammed into a few days. It could be a good time to check out more on the esthetic of the sublime at an excellent exhibit at The Newark Museum.

Cycling back to bicycling, I've been knitting prezzies for some of my bike buddies. Here's a Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark, knit of Grand Rapids-dyed Yarn Hollow Elemental yarn for Kelly.



The yarn is hard to photograph – most of the time it looks cedar green, but sometimes it has a purple cast, rather like an artichoke. Silver strands add a glimmer too subtle for my poor digicam to capture.

   

And here's a pair of Bike Helmet Ear Warmers by Amy O'Neill Houck, knit of Araucania Ranco Solid for Michael, who abandoned forgot left his bike lock in our car. Let's hope the earwarmers, which fit over the straps of a bike helmet, prompt him to set a good example and wear his helmet. (Gentle readers will understand that when it comes to bike helmets, nagging = caring.)



Finally, for stbyra, who left a question on the previous post but no contact info for a response, my clear clogs are a special version of Sloggers clogs. I bought 'em at Loopy Yarns in Chicago and have seen them on occasion at fiber festivals and online.

Yipes Stripes

The signs of economic stimulus have reached Exit 151, literally. A number of county roads are being milled and re-surfaced this week, which means no parking...



... and rough pavement...



... and closed roads, except for access to Applegate Farm. Thank goodness one can still get to Applegate's!



A little bird told me that when the re-surfaced roads are painted, they will get two new features, striped shoulders and enhanced crosswalks. I hope that's so. Shoulder striping is a proven traffic-calming measure, yet some homeowners oppose it because they feel it mars the "suburban character" of a street. I can appreciate the sentiment, but it seems to me the hazards and nuisances posed by auto traffic moving at 50 mph (80 kph) on a residential street reduce property values more. I like striping.



Obviously. This is my second pair of striped cycling socks in ONline Supersocke 100, this time in Holiday Color 998.

Bike the Greenway

There's been much busyness off-blog lately, but I finally finished the striped cycling anklets and, inspired by the sign, took them on a 25-mile guided bicycle tour of a New York portion of the East Coast Greenway. Or perhaps they took me. In any case, I brought my own bike (rentals are available from the Bike and Roll stands along the Greenway).

The East Coast Greenway is the cycling analog of the Appalachian Trail, except instead of linking mountaintops via ridgeline hiking trails, its growing network of bicycle routes will connect cities and towns on the East Coast from the Florida Keys to Canada. Like the AT, local ECG segments have their own names and are under local authority and care. Much of the extant route is car-free, but at present there are gaps, so the tour was a progress report of sorts.

The start of the ride was at Slave to the Grind near the Metro-North train station in Bronxville, which obligingly gave out free coffee to riders. It's hard to take coherent pix of a bunch of grumpy pre-caffeinated bicyclists, but I tried.



The ride south through the Bronx was a tale of two cities, indeed, two worlds. One of the most telling gaps in the greenway is at the Bronx-Westchester border, which is barred like a fortress along an otherwise placid stretch of the Bronx River. From there, about half of the time the greenway makes easy meanders on unpaved bike trails through sylvan parks; the rest of the time it's on paved, very urban streets and includes inclines steep enough to make my bike throw its chain (which was easily fixed).

Once in northern Manhattan, we had to stop for a photo op, because there really is a Little Red Lighthouse under the Great Gray George Washington Bridge. By this time the cyclists were looking a bit more perky.



I have never yet managed the arduous climb from the foot of the bridge to street level without dismounting. Coming the other way, the precipitous descent and narrow hairpin turn are even more terrifying! I bow low to all those who swept 'round and down without flinching – I flinched.



From the GWB south, the Hudson River Greenway is flat, graced with rose gardens, shade gardens, and many other amenities of a great city, and heavily used. There are long stretches that are completely car-free and other places that are car-free but crossed by auto traffic. Those intersections are equipped with the best traffic signals I have ever seen.

It's tempting to ride ass-out on the long straightaways, but that was where I saw the only accident of the day, when an adult cyclist not in our group crashed rather than run over a child who darted into the right-of-way. The kid was unhurt, there were no broken bones or bikes, but for a while the cyclist bled surprisingly copiously from a shallowly gashed calf. People who stopped generously proffered a wide assortment of hankies, tissues, wipes, sanitizers, antibiotics, band-aids, and potent analgesics in quantities sufficient to stun several charging rhinoceri. (Hey, this is NYC.) The injured cyclist was soon patched up and in the saddle again.

Ride's end was Battery Park, which was thronged with people enjoying the lovely day, not least those waiting to board the Liberty Island ferry. The observation deck in the Statue of Liberty's crown has been closed since 9/11, but on July 4 will re-open to the public. Yet another reason to love the current administration.



(If I had to be critical of the ECG, it would be that it's very focused on bicycle recreation and tourism. I certainly enjoy both, but my own advocacy interests tend toward commuter cycling for commuters of all ages, such as Safe Routes to School. The difference between mindsets, bicycle = recreation and bicycle = transportation, can be small, but it's often profound.)

After a well-deserved lunch at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue and a long drive home in heavy auto traffic, my new cycling socks were still fresh and comfortable.



I think I must make many more pairs.

Solar Flair

It's an overcast and chilly Flash Your Stash Day! My day is a bit too hectic for rummaging through stash – howabout I flash my newly finished Sunrise Kaibashira instead? They're easily the brightest, girly-est socks I've ever worn, which seems appropriate – after all, although some cultures personify solar power as a male hero, in others the sun deity is a radiant and terrible woman. So behold my radiant and terrible legs!



I'm inordinately pleased with this pairing of pattern and yarn, Zarzuela's Fibers Shiny Sheep in DC Sunrise. I love the shell ruffle, wavy purl welts, cheery colors, and sheen on the yarn. Plus they're my first successful Sockdown! project of the year.



Speaking of flashing, I've had occasion before now to observe that for all its seeming gentility, gardening is really all about sex. Here's graphic evidence from the Philadelphia Flower Show, a totem cactus, Pachycereus schotti monstrosus. Just about everyone who noticed the cactus had similar, albeit gendered reactions that I differentiate as men's wtf (furrowed brow) and women's wtf (pop eyes). See what I mean?



Meanwhile, I recently heard a lecture by Sir Peter Crane, a former director of Kew Gardens. He noted that most of our food is grown using chemical fertilizer derived from oil or coal, which means most of the nitrogen in our bodies comes from dinosaurs. Except for legumes, of course, which fix nitrogen from the air.

Round One

Alert the media – my Tropical Mer-tini socks are finished! Not only do Rutgers women advance to the Sweet Sixteen, I advance to the next round of Sock Madness. Go Rutgers, yay me!



When first off the needles, the socks were very compressed both vertically and horizontally. I frogged the toes and added an extra half-inch of stockinette st and also lightly blocked the socks, which helped them relax a little. But alas, the fit is still unpleasantly tight on my Frankenfeet – it's not so much the foot length as the heel arch. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the unusual afterthought flap heel has less ease than either a standard afterthought heel or a short-row heel (and much less ease than a standard flap heel). For me it's an ill-fitting novelty, but it could be useful to someone with a shallow and narrow heel.



A cocktail recipe came with the pattern, but I lack the necessary to mix it. According to "Your Signature Cocktail," that's telling; not to mention apparently Jimmy Fallon needs to drink a more manly drink. Yeesh, oh-so-serious! It's only round one – don't judge me by my drink choices, not least if I choose not to indulge.

Edited to add another photo for Craftivore (see her comment below). One reason the Tropical Mer-tini socks knit up so quickly is they're anklets, which may not be apparent when they're seen without a visual reference, but becomes obvious when compared with a calf-length sock like Kaibashira.



Another reason is I've made a conscious decision to fight Wollmeise Syndrome. Rawr!!

Tortoise

This former Sock of Shame has been an FO for a while, but I only just got around to snapping a pic: Stashbuster Spirals by Janine Hempy, worked in three late-winter-early-spring-hued oddments, shown with low sun on blinding leg (sorry about that).



I've already rhapsodized about the pattern elsewhere.



The stats on this pair ought to hearten other participants in Sock Madness 3: started March 2005, finished March 2009. Tenacious but slow, that's me.

Oh Happy Day

Yesterday, Inauguration Day in the U.S., was like the Fourth of July in January roundabout Exit 151. Amid the snow and ice and remnants of winter holiday decorations, many houses were resplendent with flags and bunting. I put up a flag, but cheerfully concede this one takes the cake. (Notice the number of stars – I wonder how many joys and sorrows this flag has marked.)



Reclaiming flag-waving from yahoos and scoundrels was only one of the many marvels of the day. The biggest marvel undoubtedly was the huge, excited, well-mannered crowd in Washington – DC police reported no incidents and no arrests among the eager witnesses to history. The best? I'm not sure – I loved the music, the sung and spoken word, the wise and witty benediction, but perhaps it was the inaugural address, with its triumph of reason and reasonableness, embrace of our patchwork heritage, lack of posturing and doublespeak, and explicit care for commonweal and commonwealth.



All in all, it makes me happy to wear my Grassroots Hat, knit from worsted oddments. There's a clever allegory lurking in the grassroots somewhere, but I stand content with this exclamation: three cheers for President Barack Hussein Obama!