July Wrap Up

July was alternately so miserably hot and so torrentially rainy and there was so much negative stuff going on off the blog that the month seemed interminably longer than usual. And then it was over without any blogging. Well, let me catch up with an interminably long wrap up post.

At first I balked at writing this and wanted to insert various qualifiers, but on reflection this year's Tour de Fleece was a success, unqualified. I accomplished my goal of finishing a half-braid of fiber using a new-to-me technique, sampled a luscious new-to-me fiber, and spun another sample using another new-to-me technique. All cause for happiness and satisfaction, but it's only in retrospect that this has sunk in.

The half-braid of Gale's Art Polwarth, colorway Sweetness and Light, turned into 297 yds (271 m) of fractal-spun 2-ply with 63 yd (57 m) of plied-against-itself 2-ply left over. I was surprised by the way the colors of the fractal-spun aligned – there were far more sections of solid color and far fewer sections of barberpole than generally occur in random spinning. I'm curious to see how the yarn will knit up.



The luxurious Victory Farm Paco-Vicuña also was a surprise. I had expected the downy-feeling fiber would be difficult to spin, so spun it July 9, one of the challenge days. It turned out the lovely fiber spun so easily and beautifully the only challenge was stopping with a 12-yd (11-m) sample skein. The results remind me of baby camel – I'm going to have to rummage through my stash to find that sample skein and compare the two.



While I'm glad I tried ply on the fly and I'm pleased with the end product, I did find the three steps forward, two steps back process more time-consuming than I like. There's 52 yds (47 m) of ply on the fly and 72 yds (65 m) of ordinary 2-ply spun from Zarzuela's Fibers SW Merino, colorway Santa's Coming! pictured below. Unsurprisingly, the ply on the fly has long segments of pure color while the ordinary 2-ply has delightful barberpole effects. I do rather like the barberpole effects. Somewhat surprisingly, the POTF felt like a crepe yarn while it was getting its finishing bath, a difference I don't notice when it's dry.



At some point in the spinning action, the hook on my (apparently camera-shy) birdseye maple Bosworth got bent, which of course made it spin eccentrically. I was afraid I might have to send it back to Journeywheel for repairs, but was able to straighten it out with (padded) heavy pliers. Whew! I love my Bossies – the longer I spin, the more I prefer them. Indeed, while mousing around the Journeywheel website, I noticed this beauty, a 30 g pau amarillo midi...



... and clicked. A new bright yellow spindle, reminiscent of the Maillot Jaune, seemed a fitting conclusion to my TdF.

Having watched the Republican National Convention, of course I watched the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Inspired by the most moving speech of the convention, I made myself a pocket U.S. Constitution. As my puny stapler can't possibly secure so many sheets of paper (mighty in thickness however small in size), I sewed the pages together.



I also blocked and seamed my July Camp Loopy project, Simple Straight Skirt by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, knit in Cascade 220 colorway 4002 Jet. I dislike finishing, but also hate to see anything less than the full effect. In this case, mattress stitch seams.



Blocking, seaming, and the addition of waistband elastic transformed the skirt from a vaguely skirt-shaped lumpy mass into an honest-to-goodness skirt that fits perfectly. What an excellent pattern – well-written and perfect results. I don't know why I've had such a mental block about knitting skirts, but now I want to Knit All the Skirts! It's too hot right now to comfortably model a wool skirt, I'll have to remember to do that when it cools down.



Last but not least, another singleton sock came down from the Clothesline of Shame, Clouds by Rebecca A., worked in Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fasset, colorway 4261 Landscape Caribbean. A fun pattern and a fun yarn, it's just everything that intervened that made it take so long to finish the pair. One sock uses wrap and turn short rows, the other uses Japanese short rows.



Now it's on to the Ravellenic Games 2016. I needed some jollying along – the antipathy I've harbored against the Sports Event That Shall Not Be Named has only increased in two years, and the multiple hazards of the host country and my own general state of blah were formidable obstacles. Sometime this week that turned around (hence the need to wrap up July). I've joined Team Loopy 2016 and Team BBMF 2016 (rated M), and am ready for the Mass Cast on tomorrow!

Yes, We Have and/or Are Bananas

Oh hai. This month has been so full of alarums and emergencies that blogging did not occur. I did travel a lot, cook a lot, eat a lot (perhaps too much), visit a lot, and knit a little. To keep things sane, I decided early on that I wouldn't stress about the knitting, not that I ever do really.

As things turned out, while visiting family in Honolulu I finished two pairs of socks: a pair of cranberry red Fake Cross Stitch Sox by Claudia Tietze, knit in String Theory Bluestocking, and the recuffinated pair of carbon footprint Canada socks by Nancy Bush, knit in Heritage Sock. I'm very pleased with both and would happily knit either again. When I finished them it was much too warm to model them, which made me reflect, not for the first time, that as useful as it is now my childhood love of knitting was at the time a bit odd.

 

Perhaps the most frequent topic of table conversation in Hawai'i was why some people on the Mainland still seem to believe in birther nonsense, which nearly all people in the 50th state find perplexing and deeply offensive. All I could say was while I don't really know, I would tend to guess its cause and persistence have something to do with one's perceptions of authority. Or perhaps there's a failure to distinguish between having bananas and being bananas. There's no lack of bananas in Hawai'i – this quite ordinary supermarket had four varieties in one display, plus a couple others not pictured.



The weather transitioned from autumny to wintry while I was there. It's a false myth that Hawai'i lacks seasons, the changes are just different than around Exit 151. One sign of the season: work crews were out trimming street trees to smarten them up for the New Year and the coming winter storms. That is, they were removing old fronds and developing nuts from coconut palms, which become a nuisance and hazard when they ripen and fall. Coconuts on the tree are several times bigger and heavier than coconuts in the supermarket because of their large outer husk. I once saw a bunch of coconuts fall like a cascade of bowling balls onto an imprudently parked car, which pretty well destroyed the body and glass.



Another sign of winter: a festive tower o' poinsettias in front of the Starbucks at the mall. (There are indeed malls and Starbucks and giftmas in Hawai'i.)



Poinsettias, native to Mexico, do very nicely when planted outside in Hawai'i (and other places), becoming quite large and slightly scary-looking, with multitudes of colorful bracts (the true flowers are tiny) at the very tips of long, bare, spindly branches. The familiar potted plant is merely the tip of the iceberg, which (ahem) could serve as a metaphor for this post.

Moving right along, next up, the year end wrap up.

Lament

By some unhappy coincidence, DH and I made our annual outing to the U.S. Open on the day distinguished by the highest temperatures (93° F or 33.8° C) and lowest air quality of the tournament. Gentle readers, it's your choice: read on or skip the ordeal and scroll down to the sock.

The brutal conditions – it's usually 10° F (5° C) hotter on the courts than in the stands – had the unexpected effect of making some matches last longer because it was harder for players to summon the extra energy needed to break service and win. The weather was unkind to spectators too. We dragged our butts from court to court, heeding the admonitions to stay hydrated and making way for emergency personnel tending to those who didn't. Even my pix seemed to suffer heat exhaustion – in this one the ball looks like it's merely rolling on the court, when in fact it was in furious motion.



Several of the courts have fine views of the Manhattan skyline. Or at least they usually do. The new One World Trade Center is finally tall enough to be visible (it wasn't last year), even though the rest of the skyline was obscured by haze. It's the stub sticking above the middle flag pole. (The Empire State Building and Midtown would be to the right.)



Needless to add, although I took a sock, it was 'way too unpleasant to knit. Also, as a wholly random aside, DH wants me to note here (lest he forget again) that the frequency for the low-power radio commentary is FM 88.1.



As for this sock, the color for September Sockdown is red. Back in June I started a pair of red Lantern socks for June Sockdown, because the symbolism of the lanterne rouge (the last qualifying finisher in the Tour de France) is ::cough:: appropriate. So much so, I haven’t yet finished them. Rather than frog and restart them for September, I (naturally) started a new pair of red socks, Fake Cross Stitch Sox by Claudia Tietze.

Laments have the effect of teaching one to be cautious, but so far, so good.

Habitat

While mowing the lawn over the weekend, DH noticed a beautiful Eastern box turtle burrowed among our potted herbs. It never fails to amaze me how brilliantly colored box turtles are – DH thought it was a child's toy at first. We decided not to disturb her further – cleaning up the weeds habitat can wait – although (of course) I did take a picture of her with my current SIP, Snowdrop Sock by Janine Le Cras.



This is the second box turtle we've spotted in the backyard. It's much smaller than the first one. Although not a federally listed endangered species, box turtles are becoming rare in New Jersey and are a Species of Special Concern – they may not be collected from the wild, bought or sold, or kept as pets. Hm. Apparently we have a turtle habitat in our backyard.

Something Wicked

By the pricking of my thumbs
The weather took a wild turn this week and a winter storm with snow! in October! is forecast for tomorrow. We could have a white Halloween roundabout Exit 151 – all part of living in the Anthropocene. I like to be prepared for French toast emergencies, so began knitting Turn A Square hats, because in my world the journey from Shakespeare to Halloween to severe weather to food to knitting is a short one. Here's the first one done.



It's not for him, but DH could not forbear to grumble, "It's girly." I beg to differ. This is girly.



It's an old Six Sox Knit-along pattern, Amble, worked in Forbidden Woolery Footloose, colorway Cherry Blossom Festival.



I wanted a gansey sock for October Sockdown, something light-colored to show off the stitch work. Having used Footloose before, I knew it would have good stitch definition – I'm very pleased so far.

Sock of Shame #1

By happy chance, the first Sock of Shame to come down off the clothesline in 2010 is the oldest of the bunch, black Pink Beads by Christina Coghill. It was the December 2004-January 2005 Six Sox Knitalong sock. The first sock predates Ravelry and even this blog. The second sock was finished Saturday evening.



The sock is a basic design with beads that form graceful argyle diamonds. (DH insists they're really alien spawn. I suppose I can see that, although they look more like DNA strands to me.) The beads are placed while knitting and therefore sit vertically on the fabric, rather than being strung before knitting to sit horizontally. I have no strong preference for either technique – for me, it depends on how I want the beads to be arranged.



I rather like the bit of ankle bling. Here's a somewhat blurry indoor photo of the socks modeled over another pair. Alas, the good light is outside and it's sufficiently cold today that even with a second pair of socks, my legs rapidly became uncomfortable, so this shot will have to do.

And a brief public service announcement for those in the U.S.: The FCC is currently taking comments on Internet neutrality through this Thursday, January 14. You can bet your last skein that the giant telcoms have weighed in on the subject! Here's more information on the matter and an online petition for those who support 'Net neutrality.

Chain Chain Change

The stores roundabout Exit 151 may transition from Halloween to Christmas in the twinkling of an eye, but I've been knitting myself a more gradual segue, Deby Lake's Chain Link Socks. The knitting has been going on for a while; today, finally, there was enough sunshine to take a decent photo of it.



Somehow I never got around to knitting this fun, absorbing Six Sox Knit-along pattern. The clever slip stitch motif makes me think of the ghost of Jacob Marley (= Halloween --> Christmas), also of bicycles and whoopie pies and tough economic times.

(Non-knitting rant: Speaking of which, I don't revolve a balance on my credit card, but if I did, the interest rate would have just increased retroactively to an APR over 35%. The skinflints at my bailed out bank play it both ways – they borrow money at very low interest rates and lend it at very high interest rates, all while crying poor. I wonder if credit card bankers laugh all the way to the bank. However that may be, Congress is watching and perhaps other powers too, which brings the karmic circle back to the unquiet ghost of the usurious Jacob Marley. /rant)

Still here? Here's a sweetener, some vintage stash yarn, Emu Superwash. The Seneca mini-KAL for NaKniSweMo fell through, so Plan B is to frog an ancient UFO in favor of Stillwell by Jared Flood.



Think I can finish before month's end? Or is it a fool's errand even to try??

Prime Time

While in Acadia National Park two weeks ago, I picked up some souvenirs. They sorta look like postcards, but the first I'm told is an artcard if you please, the second is an iron-on fabric quilt block, and the third a free bookmark advertising the Ken Burns miniseries The National Parks.



Except it's not just a bookmark.



What say you? Keep or plant? Alas, one can't have one's souvenir bookmark and plant it too.

Naturally, I've been watching the miniseries, trying to identify the all the parks. Having hiked many of George Dorr's trails, I'm looking forward to the segment on Acadia (although DH thinks pathmaker Waldron Bates, as usual, has been forgotten). And I've been knitting...


Peace Socks by Wendy Johnson.

... and knitting...


Horcrux Socks by Susan Lawrence, for Molly.

... and knitting! It's prime time for knitting.


Fox Faces by Nancy Bush.

It already looks a lot like Socktoberfest roundabout Exit 151, but I signed up anyway. Incredible to reflect that Socktoberfest started five years ago on Lolly's blog. Nowadays it's on Ravelry, like 'most everything knitterly or crochety.

If that weren't enough excitement for October, I'm looking forward to the long-delayed Grand Opening of the laboratory complex of the Thomas Edison National Historic Site in West Orange. If I can figure out a safe route, I may even be persuaded to lead a bicycle tour.

Cool Wave

This August – and the Summer of Socks 2009 – closes with a summer cool wave. Y'know, the opposite of a heat wave. And after tropical quantities of heat and rain, I'm loving the temperate weather and this excellent pattern, Clouds Socks by Rebecca A. The felicitous combination of colors and shapes make me think of water, the late Sen. Kennedy and his love of sailing, and the decades-long drought in the U.S. West.



Clouds is perfect for self-striping yarn, in this case Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett, colorway 4261 Landscape Caribbean. The clouds are formed by w&t short rows. There's only one sock at the moment (which would benefit from blocking), but I'm not stressing about that.



Ordinarily I avoid short row heels and toes because of fit issues, but they seemed fitting technique-wise, so that's what I knit (gasp!). I substituted the yo short row heel and toe from Priscilla's Dream Socks by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts for the w&t short rows. I also used zigzag bind off to emphasize the undulating stripes. Some find the technique fussy and the resulting ridge bothersome; I like the decorative effect – we'll see how it wears.

Meanwhile, Molly's happy Horcrux Sock is coming along: the lace section and calf shaping are finished, on to the heel.



Despite my distraction and meager output this year, I'm glad to have participated in SOS – and I'm glad it was low stress. As always, many thanks go to Jessica and her helpful elves for an excellent knit-along!

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.