And just like that, it's August. I'm knitting along for the Ravellenics 2020 2021 on Team BBMF and for Yarnia Sock Bingo, wrassling WIPs and frogging UFOs. As one does in August. To whit...
Mock Sadness by Helle Slente Design, worked in Schachenmeyer Regia Cotton Color, colorway 2426 Tutti Frutti II. The pair is pictured with chocolate stroopwafels because the pattern was the second warm-up for this year's Sock Madness. Technically the FO is a wrassled WIP because I started it in early July for Sock Bingo (with yarn purchased at Yarnia), before the Ravellenics had started. Whatever. It's done, and Ravellenics glory is mine.
The pattern is fun, with a bit o' everything – mirrored cables, faggoting, and a wide picot hem that I swapped out for 2x2 ribbing because the wide hem looks pretty, but in my view is too hot for summer socks. I also subbed a wedge toe for the star toe because my feet are not shaped like pencil points. The yarn reminded me why I usually prefer four-ply cotton fingering to cotton sock yarn for pretty much everything, including socks. At least the pattern repeat on the yarn is consistent.
A different Sock Madness warm-up pattern, How to Tame Your Dragon by Dots Dabbles, that has been languishing since February 2018, got frogged. It's not the pattern, it's not the yarn (Colinette Jitterbug, colorway Tapis) – yet somehow after more than three years I just wasn't feeling the love. I've reconditioned the yarn, of course.
In Ravellenics past, there was a medal for frogging; now there's "only" a laurel. Nonetheless, more Ravellenic glory is mine.
'Way back whenever, a mere six weeks or so ago, this post started as a Sock Madness post. I had CO the SM14 qualifier on a train somewhere between Chicago and New York and had every intention of competing. Things seemed auspicious: by the most synchronous of synchronicities, the qualifying pattern was Wohin? by the ever-creative Caoua Coffee, a delight of clever technique (gentle readers know how I love technique). Wohin?, a lied in the Schubert song cycle "Die schöne Müllerin" (Op. 25, D. 795), translates to something like Where to?
Little did I suspect that the first week of March was to be the last Before Coronavirus (at least that we currently know of in this region) and the Land of Where To so far has been a place of constantly feeling O.B.E..
One sign of the times is the Times itself – here's a week of headlines for March 16-21, 2020, when reality began to sink in. Ordinarily the New York Times doesn't do full, six-column headlines all that often, so a solid week of them is unsettling all by itself. Then there's the subject of those headlines: the public health crisis and the economic crisis touched off by the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, covid19, and the leadership crisis in response. So much of grave import has happened that it seems frivolous to note, even on a knitting blog, that there hasn't been much knitting going on at casa Jersey Knitter.
Instead there have been many adjustments big and small, some bewildering in their rapidity and increasing severity. BC, I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show and, AC, I was too occupied to blog about it. Branch Brook Park was closed during cherryblossom season, along with schools and nonessential businesses. (Including malls. In New Jersey.) Spring elections were rescheduled or shifted to vote by mail. Restaurants were limited to take-out or delivery only. Supermarkets were required to limit the number of customers in the store; some placed one-way arrows to direct traffic in the aisles and sneeze guards at the registers; customers were required to wear face masks and gloves – some say food stores should move to curbside pickup and home delivery only. Although online ordering is so swamped, shopping at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods is by invitation only. I learned about social distancing and flattening the curve and how to wash hands (for at least 20 seconds, with plenty of suds).
With all the adjustments come all the feels. So many feels. Gabrielle Treanor's "3 Stages of Pandemic Response" has it about right, except instead of making steady progress through the stages, I tend to pingpong back and forth between levels.
After all that, I cast on another sock, Waterlily Socks by Sivia Harding. It's got a bit o' everything: beads, small cables, lace. The yarn is Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock, colorway Sapphire. I've stopped worrying about Where To? It's one small consolation in a world turned up to eleven.
This post was written in June but posted in July – and not even on the first of July – because June was the sort of month when the wheels came off. That was true literally, as with my hapless seven-year-old lawn mower, and in other ways as well for me, and perhaps for others too. Under such circumstances I try to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and to "knit on with confidence and hope through all crises" per Elizabeth Zimmermann. It doesn't always work, but it beats most of the alternatives.
So, in June, there was too much travel, of course. Which of course meant my Loopy Space Camp project for June, Tendril by Mary-Ann Mace, didn't progress very far – certainly not to completion. Perhaps it's in keeping with the space camp theme that instead of reaching Neptune (ie, a finished project of 800-999 yds (731-913 m)), it's become a UFO.
There was no June jamming for the FIJ Challenge either. Ah well. The July theme is stonefruit, and I really hope to get to can some. Meanwhile, Marisa was hospitalized with pre-eclampsia, which puts my woes in perspective. Here's hoping she and her twins pull through with flying colors.
On the bright side, the prize haul in June was quite handsome. I received a Sock Madness 13 prize, a beautiful personalized Party Palette from Belchickie, for improvising a crochet hook and knitting on with confidence and hope etc on my Demogorgon's Lair socks. My thanks to the Sock Madness mod team and to Belchickie!
And UFO or no, my Neptune swap partner, Cascott, sent a rich and lovely package: a sweet note; astronaut ice cream that I'm going to save for the big anniversary, July 20, 2019; a crochet hook/cable needle Handi Tool; Black Elephant Superwash Merino Singles, colorway Lights Out; stitch markers; and a space-themed project bag, lined and finely finished with a measuring tape scissors leash, sparkly pull tabs, and a rocket zipper pull (check out that planetary pattern-matching). My thanks to Neptune moderator UnravelingSophia and to Cascott!
While I was traveling Ravelry adopted a new policy banning expressions of support for the Trump administration as equivalent to hate speech, which rapidly became national news and inevitably national parody. The strong stand also provoked a backlash that involved threats against Rav staff, trolls and (possibly Russian) bots who mostly posted threatening and pornographic messages and images on the website, and DoS attacks. A few politically conservative groups closed and a few members quit. Some designers and yarn shops received threats and, curiously, some conservative knitters also received unpleasant messages. I have to wonder about the source(s). It's troubling to know Big Brother is watching, and cares enough to actively seek to create contention. Hm.
Also while I was traveling, one of my overwintered leeks started growing a bulb. I didn't think leeks did that, but there it is. I'm going to go with that bit of serendipity, and start a July project for Loopy Space Camp and spin a bit for Tour de Fleece, which starts July 6. More on both, and FIJ, later.
So. I joined the Camp Loopy knit-along. This year's theme is outer space, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969, and blast-off was June 1. Which may not be the wisest move – joining, that is, not the choice of theme or the start date (or believing the Moon landing was real) – as my last blog post was ::cough:: eight weeks ago... and I haven't yet cast on. It's the usual, too much travel.
So. While I remedy both regrettable states of affairs, howabout a photo of the Moon, taken last night because I couldn't get an image of Jupiter and its moons, which were in opposition on Monday. It's handheld because the tripod had one leg ripped clean off during a chaotic night shoot in February. The damage is beyond duct tape, sigh. Anyway, I love how the lunar terminator, the divide between bright and dark, highlights the craters in light and shadow.
Sock Madness Round 7, the round of champions, starts tomorrow. I dropped out after Round 2 for the usual reasons, although I made scanty progress on the Round 3 sock, inky madness by Susan Gehringer. And I want to knit the Round 4 sock, Canon by Caoua Coffee and the Round 6 pattern, Swirlagon Socks by Kirsten Hall. So many patterns, so little time!
Somehow I got out of sync with the FIJ Challenge monthly challenges, too. June is jam month, so in the time remaining I'll try to put up some old favorites and try a new recipe if I can manage it. The big discovery from last year was tomato jam and I want to put up mass quantities for the lean times – last year's hoard was barely sufficient! But of course it's not tomato time yet and (of course) I have yet more travel scheduled. Well, the journey of a thousand miles starts with consulting a lot of maps.
Having finished the Sock Madness Round Two sock on time, I advance! I'm quite pleased, both with the socks and because I really wanted to get beyond Round One. I have a feeling I may not get beyond Round Two, but that's OK, I just wanted to progress beyond Round One.
The socks are Echoes by Liz Harris, worked in red Fortissima and white Sock-Ease. While I do admire stranded colorwork, I'm not a big fan of socks with stranded colorwork all over because it's always a struggle to pull them over my heels. But there are the happy exceptions. On these socks, I particularly like the tumbling hourglass motif, the way the stitch pattern remains coherent at the end-of-round jog, and the nice framing stitch that keeps the gusset decreases tidy. Clearly a thoughtful, technically excellent design. The yarns are recycled from two other projects, dating from 2008 and 2012, and I'm pleased they could finally be reclaimed and put to use. They work well together, I think.
The striking stitch pattern seemed vaguely heraldic to me, and I decided I wanted the MC (red) yarn dominant over the CC (white) yarn. It's more usual to have the CC dominant, but I like the results (and of course have to show them off). Here's the leg stranding.
Because I was speed-knitting, sometimes often late at night, and this week riveted by the news from Paris, sometimes I accidentally reversed the yarn dominance, which is easy to see on the wrong side of the pinstripe sole. (See the red lines among the white?) On some projects I'd feel a compulsion to tink back and fix that, but in this case I uncharacterically shrugged and knit on! For gentle readers unfamiliar with the concept of yarn dominance (some prefer the term color dominance), here's two helpfulexplainers.
Meanwhile, my computer migration is mostly done, but instead of the unalloyed joy of having a fast new computer I have the odd feeling that for a user like me peak utility has come and gone and, like AutoCorrect, future innovations are frequently going to be annoyances. (Although it might be nice to have a car that parallel parks itself.) As if to underscore that, when I was posting photos of Echoes to my Ravelry project page, a requirement for advancing in Sock Madness, the link from Flickr to Ravelry malfunctioned. The workaround I used was acceptable, obvs, but argh.
For observant Christians, today is the pause before the deep dive that is the culmination of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter. For others, maybe there's the hope of landing an invitation to an Easter feast, which this food writer dubs "Spring Thanksgiving." While that's a novel notion to me, this year I'm going to go with it.
The signs are everywhere – spring is springing roundabout Exit 151! In celebration, I took my singleton Echoes by Liz Harris, the Sock Madness second round sock, to Branch Brook Park. I never tire of the annual show of cherry blossoms. The sock is pretty nice, too. (That's my sock, but not my hand.)
Last weekend the indubitable sign of spring was NJ Wool Walk. Pressed for time as I've been, I contented myself with a quick outing to Yarnia, where I filled a small basket with some yarn and other necessities (not shown) and some swag that came with the purchase (below). I got a notions bundle. I do love me some knitting swag. When unwound, the pink mini ball of yarn contained a coupon for 15% off a future purchase.
This weekend, given the prevalence of puffy buds on the trees and if the mild spring weather continues, I'd say it will be peak bloom in Branch Brook Park.
For those unacquainted with the technical terms for cherry blossom bloom stages, here's an illustrated primer (yes, such things exist!). Or in the "Beauty is truth" spirit, maybe it's enough to know that puffy buds = promise of beauty imminent. If you can't make it in person, there's always Branch Brook Park cam. And not to worry, there's plenty of late-blooming cherry trees, mainly with very showy double-ruffled magenta flowers, to come.
Astonishing to relate, I finished Round One of Sock Madness so far in advance of the April 4 deadline that I've been luxuriating in a week-long patch of free time. It's an unaccustomed freedom at casa Jersey Knitter, where for so many frenetic months my time has been at the capricious disposal of others. It's meant no labored sock knitting during Earth Hour (as in 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012). Instead, I've been attending to some long-delayed housekeeping.
First, I upgraded my computer from Windows XP to Windows 10. This required a new computer. I have somewhat mixed feelings about this, as the old one is a mere 12 years old and still works decently well for many applications. Although not for certain online functions, particularly secure financial transactions. It's the first time I've replaced a home computer that was otherwise working adequately because my bank insisted on it. (I have a sinking feeling it won't be the last time.) Then again, the blog reminds me the old computer caused a lotof trouble in its day.
Side-by-side, the old tower has rather a busy vibe; the new is spare and (strangely) argyle-y. That said, I do like the new computer. It's fast. That's all I've noticed so far, but that one attribute is so valorized that perhaps it's sufficient by itself. By contrast, the new software has a rather busy vibe. My computing wants are simple and few, at least at the moment, and I've been patiently turning off the many bells and whistles that I'd rather not have. (Cortana was first to go.) Maybe that will change. Watch this space.
The phoenix-like converse to shuffling off my old computer is assessing projects that are not happening, frogging them, and reconditioning the yarn. For example, there's my ill-fated Geology Socks, cast on during airport hell. The yarn really is too dark to show the fancy stitches to best advantage. I really should know better. Bonus: I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a solid or tonal yarn for the next Sock Madness sock.
SM Round One concludes on Thursday. I'm guessing the next pattern will drop on Friday or Saturday. In the meantime, it would seem more housekeeping is in order.
It's typical of Sock Madness that while I hitherto did not know what a demogorgon is, I speed-knit a pair of socks called Demogorgon's Lair by Dots Dabbles, trusting that when the madness passes, I (among thousands of other hapless sock knitters) will not have reason to wail, "What have I done???"
The pattern dropped while I was traveling, of course. Fortunately, I had stuffed the equivalent of the contents of a small yarn shop in my luggage... except for a crochet hook. So while I had ample choices of yarn, of course the pattern calls for a crochet hook to work the Magic Circle Cast On (aka Emily Ocker's CO). Undeterred and working with what else was on hand – a bent paperclip, a ballpoint pen, and some masking tape – I was soon knitting along using one of my favorite sock yarns, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, colorway 907 Envy in the old put-up.
Charmingly (or perhaps appropriately, I know not), Demogorgon the sock has different left and right legs. To comply with Sock Madness regs, I dutifully posted photos of the fronts of the socks. Thanks to the different leg patterns, to reach the same length the left leg has five pattern repeats, the right leg seven.
I'd used the left leg lace pattern before for three pairs of shortie socks that also are knit in Shepherd Sock. They're shortie socks to make the most one skein of the old put-up. The oldest pair pre-date Ravelry; all're on the blog here, here, and here.
As Kathy noted, to some eyes the toes and heels of the Demogorgon resemble bewbs and nips. My Frankenfeet can be hard to fit and, sure enough, while the bewbs fit OK, the nips will need reknitting. When I have more time (har!).
It's said the demogorgon lives in a parallel dimension public library (?), which I suppose means my Frankenfeet live in a library. That doesn't sound too bad. The sock Demogorgon's Lair is an inventive and entertaining knit – even more meaningful to members of the fandom, no doubt. For my part, I'm happy to advance to Round 2. It looks like I'll again be traveling when the pattern drops, so I'm stocking my mobile yarn shop accordingly.
Perhaps foolishly, I stayed up late Saturday night to finish the qualifying sock for Sock Madness 13. I'm not quite sure why. I had decided to stay put for the worst of the winter weather, something I'm heartily glad I did, but in consequence foresee extra spring travel and busyness. Nonetheless I finished the pair Sunday morning, and sent off the notification, and in due course was informed I'd be placed on a suitable SM13 team. FOMO, I suppose.
The sock is Smock Madness by Elisabeth White, worked in Socks That Rock Lightweight, colorway Cobblestone County. Shown with counting threads and stroopwafel, of course. Mindful as I am of my mighty heel-arch, I had a bit of trouble getting the smocked stitches not-too-tight, not-too-loose to accommodate fit and esthetics. It's a hazard of the pattern, and while I'm glad I knit this pair and qualified for SM13, I doubt I'll make another. As it is, the socks fit my feet more closely than I prefer.
So I'm on a Sock Madness team, Happy Hokkaido, and am waiting for the Round 1 competition pattern to drop, while traveling. Madness, but also an undoubted solace in an unhappy world.
Happy New Year, gentle readers, a couple weeks late! If the way January has started continues during the rest of the year, there will be much last-minute alarums and just-in-time scrambling in 2019. I sincerely hope not, I was hoping for a tranquil, prepared year. Well, onward.
Tonight there's a total lunar eclipse visible from the continental US, breathlessly dubbed a Super Blood Wolf Moon. It's the only total lunar eclipse of this year, so I'm going to stay up late, bundle up against the cold, and try to get a photo. I'll post the (possibly only blob-like) results above. (ETA: Only a little blurry, not too bad considering it was freaking cold outside and someone may have tripped over the tripod. Anyway, a beautiful copper eclipse moon.)
My first foot of the year is Invitation to the Dance by Caoua Coffee, which was the warmup pattern for Sock Madness 11 (2017). Although I enjoy her patterns for their beauty and erudition, and this one is proving similarto others, I didn't have time to knit it pre-SM and was only a cheerleader for the duration. Maybe this year will be lucky thirteen? Hm.
Although my phone may be an impediment, and perhaps that's one more thing to remedy in 2019. Hm.
Amazing to relate, last year's last foot, Holly Jolly Cranberry Biscotti, won one of the prizes in the Sock Knitters Anonymous random prize draws for Nov/Dec 2018, a pattern from This Handmade Life. I'm thrilled. I've participated irregularly in SKA for 12 years, and this is the first time I've won a prize. Maybe it's an auspicious beginning to another lucky thirteen (even though the SKA calendar runs September-August)? Anyway, whee.
There's been yet more traveling and knitting (alas, without mini-Beyoncé). This time the travel was to an inurnment in Honolulu, which meant a long plane ride was involved. To pass the time I cast on the Sock Madness Round 5 sock, Pearls-on-a-String Socks by Anita Grahn, using Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in colorway Shell Pink. Between bad airplane lighting and an apparent inability to count to two, I didn't make much progress on my pink pearls. At least the airline snacks were pretty good.
So... a still photo of travel that is ongoing is a still traveling still, yes? Maybe one needs to be jetlagged for that to make any sense, maybe it doesn't make any sense. Ah well.
Whoa, somehow almost the entire months of March and April have zipped by, full of whoa and woe, and I got nothing, except maybe excuses for not blogging. They're reasonably good excuses.
First, two of my trees split during the endless series of nor'easters in March. Here's one, the other wasn't as photogenic. So many other trees roundabout Exit 151 were damaged in the storms, it took a long time to get on the queue for tree service. Woe.
There was a modicum of sock knitting. I finished one Fée Dragée on time, so qualified for Sock Madness patterns, but not for competition. Which given all the other cray-cray going on at casa Jersey Knitter is just as well. I thought about unpicking the toe, then figured whoa, it's not broke, so don't fix it.
There was a LOT of traveling and a little knitting on planes and trains. Most of the time I was so frazzled, I forgot to bring my mini-Beyoncé, and when I remembered to pack her, I forgot to get her out to take pix. Then I forgot where I put this Soul Mate Hearts Sock, and it remains unfinished. Woe.
I was so busy, I almost missed the cherry blossoms. Gentle readers know that is most unlike me. Whoa! Woe!
So so long to March and April, full of whoa and woe. They were enough to make one collapse in a quivering heap of protoplasm. They were enough to make one decide to skip MDS&W. They were enough to make one sigh, "Il faut cultiver notre jardin."
March has come in roaring like a lion roundabout Exit 151! There was a big storm in the Northeast on Friday, and with the turn of the calendar, the qualifying pattern for Sock Madness dropped. I spent the Friday storm snug in casa Jersey Knitter swatching, swatching, swatching the pattern, Fée Dragée [Sugar Plum Fairy] by Caoua Coffee, and finally decided to go with this blue and white combination.
The color play is not what I expected. The blue yarn by itself looks rather steely, so I expected when paired with white it would be wintry. Instead, it's nautical-bright. I like the way the white slip stitch dots pop – I was hoping for something reminiscent of the horizontal snow falling outside when I cast on, and that at least is true. So it's a keeper. Also, I must knit much faster if I hope to qualify for competition.
Speaking of which, as expected for me this Ravellenics was not exactly covered in fibery glory. Instead, I earned two richly deserved Agony of Defeat consolation medals for two DNF socks. Oh well. But I did frog an ancient UFO from Area 151 – astonishing to relate, one that predates Ravelry but was documented by blog. Here's the required before photo of the UFO. One observer fancifully observed the welts resemble bacon. Er, maybe it's spring fever?
Here's the required after photo of the reclaimed yarn. The yarn is a multi-stranded bouclé, which added a degree of difficulty to frogging. The effort was good enough for an Aerial Unwind medal.
I'd forgotten how much I like this discontinued yarn, Noro Blossom. And I was reminded how annoyed I was to find it had two put ups, 40 g and 50 g, and (of course) I had the 40-g put up and thus Not Enough Yarn for the project I had in mind. Old loves, old quarrels. Ah, Noro. Sigh.
Happy (?) Valentine's Ash Wednesday! Every once and again Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday coincide, and while neither ordinarily are important observances for me, their convergence leads to a burst of daft churchy humor that I find irresistible for its skewering of the more extreme sentiments of both holidays. YMMV, of course.
Seriously, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a seven-week churchy season of self-improvement through fasting, prayer, penitence, and charitable giving. The season ends on Easter, which this year falls on April Fool's Day, another convergence. Ahem. At Church of the Improv one Lenten goal is to fast from using plastic. First steps include avoiding single-use plastic shopping bags and refusing plastic drinking straws at home and in restaurants. Easy-peasy – I already have an ever-expanding collection of reusable shopping bags and, on the rare occasions when I use straws, have some re-usable stainless steel ones. (I note the experience of bumping a metal straw against mouth or teeth, even very gently, greatly reduces any desire to use straws!) Anyway, MY big challenge is I'm still struggling with the vast amounts of plastic I use for stash storage. In the nine years since I started worrying in public about the matter, I have yet to find a good alternative. Hm.
Meanwhile, after much hemming and hawing, I discarded my previous plan and cast on my first Ravellenics project, a re-visit of Supporter's Socks by Linda Pankhurst. The first time around I used my own handspun; this time I'm using Fortissima Alpaka (and not liking the way it sheds). As I'm knitting along with Team BBMF, I'm fortified with my very own mini-Beyoncé and themed Sbux card. (To exactingly correct readers: Yes, I'm aware the Year of the Rooster gives way to the Year of the Dog in two days.)
The sock is also my first foot of the new year, yet another convergence. While it's not-normal to have waited six weeks to start my first foot, it's excitingly normal to be knitting along. The last few months years have been so difficult and have passed in such a rapid blur, it's quite the treat to sit and knit, and it's in that spirit of gratitude with which I'll start my Lenten journey today.
Edited to add the hideous news of a school shooting today, this one in Florida. I like to believe a better world is possible, that such sickening acts of violence are not-normal, but they have become so frequent and active shooter training for schoolchildren has become so common that it's clear the failure is not of imagination, but of political will. And that's a cause for repentence this sad evening.
As one does in August. To whit...
