U hrair

Didja notice the new graphic on my sidebar, under 'Bandwagons'? Yes! YES! I'm one of The Thousand!

Last Saturday for World Wide Knit in Public Day I headed down to Lettuce Knit (unfortunately abandoning my own LYS for most of the day, although I did pop in on my way back home), where Stephanie was celebrating her 40th birthday by flying Mr. Franklin Habit His Very Own Self in from Chicago for a photo shoot for the "1,000 Knitters" project. I showed up around 10:30; knitted while waiting for my turn; sat for Franklin; and then hung around with everybody until about 2pm.

And what a glorious time I had. First of all, I'm not sure how we managed to luck out like this, but the weather was PERFECT. Seriously, could not have been better. It was deliciously warm, not too hot, not cold at all, and no rain (which was quite a feat, given the weather lately). I got to hang out with many wonderful knitters, and give out various presents. For Megan, the owner of the shop - who is going to have a baby very soon - I gave this little hat. As a birthday present, I gave Stephanie a copy of my KWB/TSF Hat pattern. And for Franklin...well. I knew nothing could top the stunning gift of customized M&Ms, but I did figure he would like some home-made Arabic food. I imposed upon my mom for some of her hummus and taboolee (which I can make myself, but I never have the ingredients for it at home) and brought it along.

As luck would have it, it was my turn to sit for him just as he got peckish. He seemed quite thrilled when I told him about the food I'd brought, and then we had a lovely four minutes or so gabbing about my ethnic background (Mom's an Arab, Dad's a Jew - yes, they CAN get along!) and the futility of trying to find good Arabic food in Chicago. I think I did a very good job at keeping my inner screaming teenfan ("OMG! It's FRANKLIN!!!!!") ruthlessly supressed, and for anyone who's wondering, the man is lovely. Just lovely. I know it probably sounds like I'm damning with faint praise when I describe the entire experience as 'pleasant', but it is actually a seriously good compliment. Never underestimate the loveliness and serenity of pure pleasantness. I only wish I could have stayed all day and hung out with people into the evening. I did get to meet Patrick, with whom I'd corresponded a bit on Ravelry some months ago, so that was very nice.

(And I hope very much that the food was to Franklin's liking.)

(Oh, also, I won a mug!)

Another wonderful thing that happened there was that Amy confirmed the acceptibility of my latest pattern submission for Knitty!!! (At least, it sure seemed like she did.) Naturally, this is pretty damn thrilling, but of course there will be quite a long wait until it comes out...so I still can't show any pictures or give any details.

Also, I've tightened up my essay for Cast On and have sent it off to Brenda for her review and (hopefully!) approval. Carrie K asked if I'd let you guys know when it's going to air - of course! You won't be able to get me to shut up about it! :)

On the knitting projects front, there is tons to tell, although very little in the way of photography again, sorry.

Wild socks for DD1

I originally started these socks for DD1 as a toe-up pattern, and then stalled out for a while. Since coming up with my new sock pattern, I've been thinking about re-starting this project with the new pattern, so that I could test-drive the instructions for a child's size. So this week, I did. I haven't tried them on DD1's feet yet...I'm a little worried that they're a touch small girthwise and too long in the foot, so I really must remember to get her to try them on tonight.

Double-faced bib

Stunningly, I actually started work on something on The Schedule! This is a pattern of my own design that I've done before, but I needed to finalise the instructions and have a sample to photograph (I gave away the previous one as a gift). So I got it started. I'm working with a cotton/acrylic blend, which is great for bibs (absorbent and machine washable), and the pattern is coming out really nicely so far.

Christmas socks for Dad

It hit me last weekend that I had nothing to give my dad for Father's Day. (Brilliant.) So I washed these socks, wrapped 'em up and gave them to him when we went to their place for dinner. They fit perfectly and he really likes them. Yay!

Of course, this leaves me with no socks ready to give him for Christmas! So I'll have to whip up another pair sometime between now and December. Hm. This could be a good excuse to go buy more sock yarn...

Comfy angel's nest

Buttons were mooched, and then sewn on. It's finished!


left open


tied closed

Eleanor of Toledo stockings

All the talk about this project (thanks very much, Keja - hi! - for your helpful comments and errata warnings) got me interested in knitting it again. I went back and found it - I still have the unfinished sock out of the original cotton yarn (unfortunately the picture I took of it came out really badly, I'll have to try again), plus there was the barely-started latest attempt in the silk. Wanting to start with a clean slate, I frogged the silk version and re-started. Haven't gotten very far yet, and it's pretty tricky and fiddly, but it's coming along.

Fistula-covering armband

So I ripped it back and cast on again. This time with only 36 stitches. I can't believe it'll go on his arm, but hey, desperate times, right? I increased two stitches every four rows until I hit 46 stitches, and then kept going without shaping until the thing was long enough. Version #3 is now complete. I haven't handed it off to my brother yet, though, so I don't know if it's the right size. Probably when my mom delivers the cupcakes for DD1's upcoming birthday party, I'll give it to her to hand off to him, and then I'll wait on tenterhooks (again) for the verdict.

Cotton wool socks for Mom

Sock #1 is complete; sock #2 is started. I think I'm on the foot...can't remember though, it's been a few days since I picked it up.

Father's Day socks for DH

These were completed in plenty of time and received with great delight. Unfortunately, they are too long in the feet and too loose at the cast-on. Grrr. I'll have to do some fixing.

Skirt for DD1

DD1's been asking for me to knit her a skirt, and she wanted it out of the Marble yarn in the "Denim" colourway. Unfortunately I didn't have enough left over from my various KWB/TSF hats for a skirt, so I bought another ball last Saturday when I dropped into Knitters Attic on my way home.

As the basis for the project, I'm using the Caiden's skirt pattern, but have re-jigged the math to fit DD1, and modified it so that I'm knitting in the round instead of knitting the front and back flat and separately.

I was doing very well on this for about a day...until the cable needle snapped. CURSES! And I can't find another 4mm circular in the house. I know I have at least one...just can't find any of them, except one that's stuck in another project (and I know that if I replace that with something else to free up the 4mm circular, I will never remember that I should be using a 4mm when I return to the project).