Toe-Up?

I found something new at my library. A toe up sock book.

This book has a few different cast ons, three different increases, two heels and a few bind offs. Now I have learned that I am a strict heel flap girl. My feet don't fit in short row heels more than a few sock washings. I am really curious how a reverse heel flap works.

I brought it home just to look through. In theory I would like to learn different ways to make socks but in my heart I know I am top down kind of girl. No not my top, the sock's cuff down to the toe. I have tried a cast on suitable for a toe up sock but as with all things new I found it awkward and it did not work so I gave up and knit several socks the way I know how, the way I like.

But this time I thought, pull out some yarn and give it a go, just practice that is all you need to do. Suddenly the pressure was off and I was able to cast on, just to practice you know? I knit about 20 rounds then realized I did not like the increase I was using because it caused holes on my right leaning increase. Off it went to the frogging pond to start over .

A couple of weeks later I decided I needed more practice. While the cast on is still not fun, I did not want to poke my eyes out with my needles, so that is a good thing. I kept going and now I have this little toe hat.

The colors are pretty, no?

Ahh, as with all the hats I make it is too big. What is it with me and hats? We just don't seem to get along. Don't worry I'm just going to rip it back a little bit, eliminate a couple of stitches, four or eight do you think? I am leaning towards eight but who knows. 

Since it is a big skein of yarn 500 or so yards I planned on trying toe up knee highs so I can use most of the skein. When knitting top down socks it is difficult to know how long to make the leg so you still have enough for the foot. Usually I err on the side of caution and knit my socks about six inches tall. Typical knee highs are double that around 12 to 13 inches tall and since I am short I believe my leg will be shorter than average too. That reminds me I still need to ask the Hubby to help me measure my leg. Ahh the things he will do for love, and more hand knit sweaters. 

Hey look what the squirrel left for me on my deck. You think he likes me?

New Stuff

D was gone for another trip. He was away at a Deaf camp for silent week to learn more American Sign Language (ASL). In keeping with recent tradition he found a local yarn store and bought me yarn again.

I'm not saying I want him gone but it sure is nice when he brings me yarn and wine. What I forgot to tell you about the wine? We enjoyed a bottle last weekend. Tasty!

This is the other side of the skein showing off a bit of the purple patch. This is ella rae lace merino. I was worried because I don't knit with lace weight yarn, this turned out to be sock weight not lace weight. I have no idea why lace is in the name. I just know that it is beautiful fall colors and I love it. Keep them coming honey. 

My Spring Forward socks are woking towards being Fall Back socks. I just need to keep going on them, slow and steady wins my patterned sock race. 

Here is Mom's new Foliage hat all finished and looking lovely. Hey maybe I am a hat knitter too, after all. Naw, I am a sock knitter that occasionally can be talked into knitting a hat for the woman that gave birth to her.

Surprise I did finish my plain Green Tea socks. Oddly enough I have not yet tried these out. If they don't migrate to the sock drawer they don't make it to the rotation. I'm looking forward to some cashmere goodness wrapped around my feet.

Well that about sums it up for this home front. We have flooding in the area again. I hope everyone is high and dry, unless you live in Texas. I'm trying to convince Mother Nature that Texas would be glad to see this side of her. Seems like she is unwilling to budge right now.

SAG (Support and Gear)

Hubby asked me if I wanted to go with him on his first 12 mile run. I am proud to say I managed stunned silence rather than hysterical laughter. He meant I could be his SAG. He started off and about an hour 20 minutes later I met him at our arranged area. After a water bottle refill and a sweaty wet kiss, not as romantic as it sounds in books, he was off again. 

He is the figure on the left of the road. His route took him down a road the had been flooded by Irene. It took me a minute to realize the brown is not dried out crispy branches but rather muddy leaves. You can tell right where the water crested.

And have you seen such muddy dirty water? I kept hearing the words 'Chocolate Milk' used in reference to our rivers. I prefer my chocolate milk to be actual chocolate and milk, not dirty water.

See my little purple flower I found in the muddy bushes? Do you think it opened after the water receded, that's why it is not brown too?

I think fall is sneaking up on us too. I noticed some trees well above the water line had a different tint too. You can really see how hazy it was that day. Hot and sticky.

I could tell even the road had been submerged at some time. Mud, mud everywhere.

Our area faired pretty well from hurricane Irene. Trees were downed and power was lost (not ours) but considering what could have been... 

Rhinebeck and surrounding areas were flooded, and may still be. Crews are woking to restore normal. I just hope people can get the help that they need.

New Yarn

As you can tell by my title Labor Day Weekend has kicked-in in the US and I am feeling oh so clever. Hey at least it is truth in advertising if not clever. I while back, I hit one of my Local Yarn Stores (LYS), Common Thread in Saratoga Springs. I had not been there in a while and thought I was over due for a visit. Support the yarn economy and whatnot. 

I was thrilled to find two new (to me) sock yarns for my basket and eventually my feet. First up we have Araucania Ranco Multy. I don't think I've ever seen a sock yarn in this color of turquoise before, or else this color has never called to me before. Congratulations on being the first turquoise yarn to the basket. Maybe it is the touch of grey, grey has my number and uses it frequently.

Second we have MadelineTosh Merino Light in the Malachite colorway. This yarn was on its way to becoming mythical to me. I read about it, I see pictures on the internet, I've never seen it in real life till now.

The one thing I am worried about is its single ply. I promised myself I would not buy single ply sock yarn ever again. In my defense, do you see that color? That color is my favorite in the whole wide world. Deep emerald, forest, malachite what ever name you want to use it says Yarnkettle to me! Now does it want to be socks or fingerless mitts or socks or......

I also cast on a hat for my Mom too. We had picked this yarn on last trip home a year or so ago. Hubby and I were delayed due to a thunderstorm/tornado so I got to spend a extra day at home rather than making it to a hub and spending the night in a hotel and arriving home about the same time.

So what do you do when you're stranded? You go to the yarn store too? I thought as much.

Mom has very good taste since she picked out a yarn I had been looking for, in this gorgeous purple colorway. It is Jaggerspun Zephyr 50/50 Merino/Silk blend KD weight. Such a joy to work with, felt like butter running through my fingers.

Now I have a confession to make, which I have already made to Mom. I had already knit this hat in this yarn once this summer. And I gave the other one away. Gasp, I know! I have not made many hats so I bought more yarn than I thought I would need. Three skeins, each hat took one skein. The first one was done in a weekend which was great because I had struggled with it once before this year, I kept messing up the pattern, somehow. 

The next day was my coworker's birthday and while I don't usually give my knitting away, that hat really wanted to go with her on an Alaskan cruise. She was leaving later that week and had not yet pulled out her winter gear to evaluate. I knew Mom did not need a wool/silk hat in July, especially during that heat wave the US was having. So Mom's hat turned into Laura's hat and got to see a glacier. 

Now Mom's hat is done too waiting for pictures to show it off on the blog. And the last skein of Jaggerspun? I think Mom could use a pair of matching fingerless gloves too. I just hope they don't want to see Alaska, because that ship has sailed.

Feeling Sheepish

I've been thinking about my knitting. What I have done, what I would still like to learn. One of D's coworkers put a bug in my ear this summer. She was asking me about my knitting and if I ever planned to spin. My answer was a quick no, I don't plan to be a spinner. I like making things (clothes) too much to use part of that time making yarn to make into things. (No offense to any spinners out there, I just know what I enjoy about my knitting.)

I did tell her the thing that I could see myself doing eventually is buying a fleece and having it processed in a mill. I would get all the fun of selecting a fleece without stealing my knitting time. I said this in a way that lead her (and me) to believe that it would happen in the distant future. "Oh, in a few years I could see myself buying a fleece eventually."

Well, ever since then the idea has been throwing itself onto any part of my brain that will listen. Buy a fleece! Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival is sponsored by a mill go talk to them. Their name is Battenkill Fibers go look at their website. You should see how much it costs, then you would know. See how easy it could be? We could buy a fleece and be a real knitter. And on and on.

It does not help that I am prepping papers to be scanned at work. It requires very little of my active mind, which is more than happy to think about owning a fleece.

So finally I gave into myself this week and started doing research. I have some questions that must be answered before I make this decision.

1. How do I identify a good fleece?
2. What should I avoid in a fleece?
3. How much raw fleece would I need to make a sweater?
4. Do I have to buy a whole fleece for one sweater?
5. How are fleeces sold? Whole, half, by the pound?
6. If a fleece is enough to make two sweaters, would matching sweaters look silly on D and me?
7. Does the cost outweigh the idea?
8. How much am I willing to spend?

For question one and two I am looking online and in a couple of spinning books from the library. The advice seems to be similar for all the sources I've looked at so far. I found an article on Knitty and a couple of other places. I'm reading through and starting to take notes so I can really understand what I'm looking for and what to avoid.

Three, four and five are not answered in any of my research yet. Other than the basic non-answer, it depends. I'm not sure six can be answered by research.

I think seven and eight will get answered closer to the festival. I am willing to spend a bit more for this yarn than something I can find in a store. I really like the idea of having my very own unique yarn but I'm not willing to go without food to get it.

So if any of you have advice or suggestions to give, I am more than willing to listen. Even if you tell me I am crazy. I do as always reserve the right to ignore any and all advice, and to therefore be very wrong so you can tell me 'I told you so.' That would of course remove you from my knitworthy list. Hey we can not live in a world where 'I told you so' is cast about with no repercussions. My blog my rules.

Come on Irene!

Yep I have Dexys Midnight Runners "Come on Eileen" running through my head with slightly different words. (Thank you Husband for putting that song in there.) The rain and wind from Irene have started here in upstate NY. Not bad yet but there are a lot of leaves and dead branches scattered in the road. Every time I hear a wind swell I brace up a bit and hope it passes with nothing more than knocking off more leaves.

So now I should tell you my Hurricane Floyd story. We were living in Charleston SC. Floyd was set to come straight over Charleston on the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Hugo. Now Hugo was a humdinger. When you live with hurricanes you get used to them, well really when you live with any type of weather condition you get used to it and think 'oh I can handle this.' Hugo was a deal breaker for many people who had rode out many storms.

Now I am going to tell you this without any actual fact checking since I absorbed the rumors and innuendo that day you will get mine. So as Floyd was bearing down on us my office mates took great delight in sharing with me what it was like after Hugo hit. 'All you could hear for months was the sound of generators and chain saws.' 'Fed my family of three and my neighbor's because she did not stock up her freezer like she should have.' 'I'll show you the pictures of the boat sitting out on Rutledge Avenue. Yes a yacht sitting there on the land.' 'The town north of here had swells so big they pulled out the ceiling tiles and put the kids in the rafters. Not to keep them dry but to keep them alive.'

I could go on but I won't. We packed up the office up off the floor. And headed home to pack up our own stuff. Let me tell you it is a revealing moment when you pack up a car with essentials. Things you would still like to have if your home was not there when you get back. When I tell the story now I start off with; we had 2 cars, 3 drivers and 2 cats. My car was packed with; our computer but not monitor, my grandmother's quilts, our picture albums, financial records, clothes, cat food and litter, and toilet paper. Yep a whole bag of toilet paper. Hey if you run out that stuff is like gold to me, but easier on your bum. So what does my packing say about me? I am nostalgic yet terribly practical.

Now you know I think of myself as a midwesterner. I was called yankee a bit when we lived in the South. I always thought of yankee as being a New Englander. Well to people in the South, it is anyone that was not raised in the South. I have never felt more like a yankee than when we drove out of Charleston. D had relatives living in Florida so we planned on staying with them. We were two of three autos heading south that day. Everyone and I mean everyone was heading north. Our trip took 14 hours more than twice the time it should have. The station playing on my radio was just people calling in to tell everyone which gas stations still had gas.

It was a scary trip. But on the flip side once we took naps after driving all night, we went to Busch Gardens and there were no lines because everyone had been there the day before when Disney World had closed down.

We made it back to Charleston safe and sound with no damage to our apartment. There were tree branches all over the place, and they took a couple of weeks to clean up. But all in all not as bad as the forecast. I hope Irene plays the same song today.

Monday edit: Thankfully Irene just blew down branches and leaves where we are. Surrounding communities are dealing with flooding. All in all she could have been much meaner to us.

Oh and for those people complaining about the storm was overhyped, Shut Up! It is far better to be overhyped and alive than someone dying trying to help you.

Running for the Roses

I decided if I can not run some races yet I can walk some. D decided to walk this one with me. He was our photographer for this event barring a couple I took myself.

Kisknit took this one. She was participating in the race portion of the event along with her fast Hubby.

And we're walking. There was some beautiful scenery!

I think the table was being consumed by moss. Ah the dreaded Moss Monster!

We just made it back in time for the start of the race.

Kisknit had such a look of concentration and focus on her face, then when I take a photo the Drama Llama pops up complete with Jazz hands! I know that is not the proper usage of Drama Llama but it is my blog and I will use it for comedic purposes when I like!!

Here is the fast man coming in for a landing!

And here is the not quite as fast woman coming in for her landing too.

That is an excellent time for a 5K in my opinion! She shaved off minutes from last year's time too. Did I mention it was a hilly course too?

D took pictures of the back of my very sweaty head but I don't think the world needs to that.