Finally Fallish

It still looks much like summer roundabout Exit 151, but fallish temperatures arrived over the weekend. Suddenly my Morning Walk gauge swatch for #FallSweaterChallenge begins to have just the right amount of anticipation.



With a bit of finger-blocking, the gauge of the swatch is spot on. But rather than block the swatch properly, I'm going to tink it and cast on. While #gaugematters, as per usual I'm that worried about not having Enough Yarn. (I'm also wondering about who thought up that particular hashtag. Jeepers.)

Meanwhile, a last bit of summer goodness arrived over the weekend: my bonus yarn for completing three months of Camp Loopy 2016 projects (to recap, that's 3 Color Cashmere Cowl in June, Simple Straight Skirt in July, and Sabine in August). Thanks to the moderators, elves, and my fellow pirate campers, it was one of the easiest and most congenial KALs I've ever participated in, and the yarny incentive surely doesn't hurt. There was a choice of three – I selected Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock dyed in an exclusive colorway, Color in the Clouds. I love, love, love its funfetti cake speckles!



There was an unexpected additional loyalty incentive in my parcel: a Loopy Groupie drawstring project bag, Loopy Legends yarn, and sweets.



I ordered something to keep my bonus yarn company – alas, that got mixed up, but is in the process of being set right. Still, color me a happy summer camper and (hopefully) soon to be well on my way into fall knitting.

Decisions

Amid the patriotic festivities yesterday I found myself distracted by a head-spinning existential Tour de Fleece quandry. What to spin?

Back in May I thought I'd try ply on the fly using an MDS&W 2015 fairing, a braid of Into the Whirled Falkland with the suggestive colorway name Rhinebeck. It's somewhat similar to ITW colorway Royal Platypus (purchased at Rhinebeck 2009, spun for TdF 2010, and knit up for Sock Madness 2011). I thought it would be interesting to compare the finished yarns. It's a worthy goal but somehow the enterprise no longer appeals.



Then I thought about various braids that for various good reasons are only part-finished. There's ::cough:: a fair number. Finishing them (or at least one) this summer would be a good thing. Yet what beckoned was these braids of Cloverleaf Farms Merino, colorway Chili Peppers.



These fiery beauties were a 2014 MDS&W fairing. I dimly recollect I was going to spin them for competition, then spun and won with Gale's Art undyed BFL instead. This time I plan to spin to weave, then to sew a minimally tailored SAORI-style vest... not without some trepidation. A lot of handspun, handwoven textiles look like they have the weight and drape of cowhide, and I'm hoping for something rather lighter and more supple. So, goal the first will be to finish the spinning during TdF; goal the next will be to evaluate the finished woven fabric. Allons-y!

Humbugs

Over the holiday weekend, which included Thanksgiving and the start of Advent, I saw Deathly Hallows and, like Ebenezer Scrooge, changed my mind. The hats I've been knitting are nice, but they're not what's in the movie. Guess I was humbugged.



Sigh. Ah well, they'll still look well on the Mitten Tree.

With all the Overt Christmas Knitting going on, when the Vestvember vest achieved the vast expanse o' stockinette stage, I stowed it to get it out from underfoot keep my precious handspun pristine. This time of year it's FO or stow!

In that spirit, I finally finished the cuff down I Heart Toe Up cycling socks started during Summer of Socks. I'm pleased with the socks, even though the designer made a newbie mistake in the knit-purl heart motif. As a rule knit stitches are wider than they are tall, so a motif that is well-proportioned on standard graph paper will be vertically compressed when knit up or when charted on knitter's graph paper, as these hearts are. To my eyes they look like sharrows, not a bad motif for cycling socks.



In between contemplating recipes for leftovers (edible) I selected leftovers (fibery) to use in Grumperina's recipe for Helical Stripe Socks. It'll be my December Sockdown project. Should the knitting police inquire, the yarns are true leftovers from Tropical Mer-tini, and green and red cycling anklets.



Lastly, I signed on to Stephanie van der Linden's Advent calendar KAL. I've seen humbuggery in some mystery KALs, but Steffi's looks very promising – the Advent calendar even chides those who try to peek ahead (guess how I know that)!

Parenthetical

My weekend in fiber had a certain narrative arc. I wasn't feeling the love for the S/KAL pullover with the inutterably stupid name, so away to the frog pond it went. Ave atque vale.



NEFF was enjoyably low-key. The exhibits were indoors in one of the many buildings on the Eastern States Exposition grounds, the most magnificent and the most handicapped accessible permanent fairgrounds I've ever seen. (The fine facilities made me interested in returning next September for The Big E, the annual all-New England interstate fair.) I picked up a few items small in size but high on my desiderata list: a few skeins of solid Opal sock yarn, some wee skeins of Opal Harry Potter sock yarn, and some small bundles of Pagewood Farm roving.



Out in the parking lot, I saw remarkably brilliant sundogs over West Springfield. It's hard to tell from the photo, but they were beautifully colored and gracefully curved. I'd read about sundogs (parhelia for book learned types), but had never seen any before. It's a pity my digicam could not capture more of the horizon – there were a pair, bracketing the setting sun like rainbow-colored parentheses.



While walking around Rhinebeck it occurred to me that I could use a vest or two, a thought that recurred while walking around NEFF. I reconditioned the handspun and started a Vestvember vest. I've had commercial-spun behave less well (yay handspun).



A bit later, JessaLu asked if I'm participating in NaKniSweMo. Previous year's efforts have tended to end ingloriously, but... ::cough::... I blame the NEFFy wool fumes. Ave Caesar, nodaturae te salutamos!

Observer Effect

It's Epiphany and the revelation of the day is apparently there has been a discontinuity in the spacetime of my blogoverse, undetected by me but observable by others (thanks, Kelli). Not only would that seem to confirm empirically the existence of the Black Hole of Crafting, but also to imply I've already tumbled in.

Astrophysics tells us that by the time we observe something, the event is already in the past, possibly by billions of years. Quantum mechanics tells us that the very act of observation changes things. Both philosophy and accounting wrestle with issues of recency and priority. Me, I just blame the manvest.



Here it is on New Year's Day looking innocent, posing with dodecahedrons because of that which is stated chronologically later yet is logically prior: it is NaKniSweMoDo Project 1. The pattern is Peter Easy and the yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, colorway 6287 Denim Mix.

Less than a week later, it has achieved the Vast Expanse o' Stockinette stage. Can anything stop the manvest? And, do I want to, even for (let us say) Distaff Day, tomorrow?

Event Horizon

The manvest is approaching the Vast Expanse o' Stockinette stage. (It's not nearly so purple-y in person.) There oughta be voice over by Leonard Nimoy proclaiming, "We are now entering the Black Hole of Crafting" or some such.



Not least because although DH seems to like his vest in progress, he's also made some new requests. Yaaaaaaaah!

Fear of Felting 2

Pilopoiiaphobia.* It's a manageable condition, not a problem, sez I, and here's proof: my felted backpack for Rhinebeck. At least from the outside, with Blogger Bingo, Jersey Represent!, and CROP Walk buttons.



The finishing touches involved a bit of machine sewing and a lot of hand sewing, including the interminable I-cord, which forms the decorative bottom piping, top drawstring, and straps of the backpack. I added a lining, basically a rectangle of fabric that was folded in half and seamed, folded to form a bottom, and hemmed at the top like an inside-out tote bag. Simple enough, except post factum I decided slip pockets and a top drawstring would be nice, and took it out. Many contortions followed [cough], with the result that the inside is still not ready for its close up, Mr. DeMille.

Alas, the Tagliatelli sweater will not be making an appearance at Rhinebeck or indeed any time soon. The Not Enough Yarn Banshee got the better of me – she's been chortling and reminding me about other UFOs, the biotch. Better judgment would suggest calling it quits. But I can be mulish at times. (DH would heartily agree, if he dared.)



I wonder what the clinical term for "unreasoning determination to have a new sweater for Rhinebeck" is. (Something-mania, I suppose.) At least this is intentionally a vest, Tikru's GreenDay Vest (so apropos given the last post). I'm loving the big and little cables and the weskit-y notch, and am looking forward to the Suomi finish.

Speaking of the last post, trek commented that fluorescent lighting gives her headaches. Some people may find it helpful to use "daylight" compact fluorescents (those with a color temperature of 6500 K, which mimics sunlight) or a combination of fluorescent and incandescent lighting. Or perhaps one could replace a porch light with a CF, which come in regular and yellow "bug" colors. It's not an all-or-none proposition. Environmental problems tend to accumulate by tiny increments; conversely, even small positive efforts can and do multiply into substantive improvements.

A case in point (and thinking about Rhinebeck again): another easy thing one can do to help save the planet is to make proper use of public recycling bins (home recycling is different matter). Public Works coordinators report that many people don't separate their trash when separate, clearly labeled containers are provided, which defeats their purpose. I like to think it's a matter of education and mindfulness and the formation of good habits. We'll see if Rhinebeck offers separate bins; if not, why not; and if so, whether fiber folk use them properly.


*Pilopoiiaphobia is the unreasoning fear of f-f-felting. With thanks to Fyberduck for the crafty etymology.

We're Off to See the Harlot

Miss Dorre, she's got powers. Dabbling in the dark art of crochet is the merest tip of the iceberg. Proof positive: Wednesday it was 75° F (23° C) and balmy roundabout Exit 151. Then Dorre did her snow dance. Now there's snow falling on Jersey. More proof: Yesterday I wasn't planning to see the Yarn Harlot at FIT next Thursday (press release and grand plans). Today I am – even got out my Tricoteuses sans frontières button.

Kim is going – anyone else? I'll be the one wearing... er, something, hopefully Teva Durham's Yarn Over Steek Vest from Loop-D-Loop, worked in Malabrigo Aquarella in colorway Soriano. I figure the FIT auditorium will be chock full of Clapotis, so I may as well drop some stitches, too. The element of uncertainty enters because the vest currently is approximately equivalent in size to a hat and it's a busy time and I do plan to bring a real hat to donate and a traveling sock or somesuch to show off. Alas, the colors in the photo are entirely off.



Meanwhile, Minnie and Dyann have asked how the Adventure Bag is coming, in particular, if using crochet cotton helped the top edge to felt evenly. It did – I'm quite pleased with the results.



It took three passes in my front-loading washing machine to felt the bag to my liking. The strap flaps shrank immediately, but the rest of the bag felted rather unevenly, with the most change occurring in the second pass. After the second pass, I unzipped the crochet cotton – it zipped right out, which was relieving and gratifying. The vertical channels in the felt mostly went away after the third pass.

Since then, finishing the Adventure Bag has been on hold while I've searched (not terribly energetically) for a zipper and rings for the strap. But never to fear, it's in no danger of sprouting wings and joining the vast cloud of UFOs buzzing roundabout Exit 151. Gah – no!!! There's not one, not two, but three township snowplows outside, methodically piling an ice berm at the apron of my driveway... and the fire hydrant! Must rush outside like a maniac to tell them off.