Look! New Pose!

Komet
Pattern by Stephanie van der Linden
Needles: US2, double-points
Yarn: Maizy, by Crystal Palace (color= kelp grey)
Source: Socken-Kreativ-Liste (yahoo groups)

New pose, same doorframe. My grand intention this morning was to go out and accomplish a garden photoshoot before work; the abundance of rain changed my mind. There is no way I was going to lay my Mirabella Cardigan out in the grass in that (pictures of that will come... later). Likewise, I wasn't about to step out in socks.

This gorgeous pattern is from the Socken-Kreativ-Liste on Yahoo Groups. Admittedly, I lost my copy of the pattern some time after turning the heel, and decided to wing it from there, which is a shame because my version leaves out a very nice detailing on the top of the foot about an inch from the toes. It knit up very, very quickly-- I finished the bulk of the foot of the sock at a housewarming party. It's a little snug through the heel but fits well once I get the cuff over that unavoidable protruding bone.

Well, I can wait awhile and knit another.

Two isn't a trend

Coupling
pattern by Deb Barnhill
needles: US1, double-points
yarn: Happy Feet
source: Knitty

From this, you might deduce that:

a)I am left-footed, and
b)I am too lazy to venture any further than the stairs of my building to take pictures in the sunlight

You'd be mostly right, only it's not so much laziness as that my feet hurt too much to put shoes on. It took two weeks to finish this sock, which I suppose is not terribly long given that I've spent the majority of that time marathon-working on two sweaters.

Anyway. Coupling is a cute pattern; I like the way it turned out but would probably do it with a solid yarn next time. Haha, I said do it. The cuff's on the short side but mostly so it will match up with another, similarly colored sock I have lying about. I'm trying a little match-making, see, because this coupling, like all my other socks, is a bachelorette.

/pathetic humor

The cuff also has a ruffle. I didn't have a tapestry needle on hand to work an elastic sewn bind-off, so I worked *k1, yo, p1, yo across one round and then bound off. It's a perfect fit in the foot, but I'm afraid the ankle's going to be a bit baggy.

Arson

Stats
Pattern: Firestarter
Designer: Yarnissima
Source: Ravelry
Yarn: Trekking XXL, color lost along with the ballband.

Just one sock here. I have an aversion to duplicates, and after knitting Hedera (yes, I did finish them) awhile back and realizing that I derived absolutely no joy from the entire second sock, it dawned on me that... well, I'm never going to knit a matching pair of socks again. Many things in life demand tedium, and socks shouldn't.

So singletons it is.

That aside, I'm delighted with this sock. Yarnissima's kits would be very tempting to me if not for my relatively low income+ the international shipping rate + the exchange rate.

Ce n'est pas une pipe

It's not knitting, either, but I like it. Pendant made from one sliced shell (species?), about three inches of wire, one misc. small watch part/gear, created pearl (black), and of course various clasps, rings, and cord for the necklace itself. I keep thinking I should make more jewelry; maybe this is a start (and then, I suppose, I will rename my blog something like "The Pinko Bitch Tinkers...")

Sweet Alyssum

Sweet Alyssum shawlette, pattern by Lisa Dykstra.

This is for the black dress that, given the rate at which my shopping efforts have gone, I am probably going to need to make myself. I have a lack of formal wear which is becoming inconvenient. Friends of mine, I am placing a mandatory moratorium on weddings, funerals (especially funerals), graduations, costume masquerades, or anything fancy you set your minds to.

That said, it is very, very nice to not only have my computer running in top shape again, but also to have all my photo-editing programs and drivers back in place. Huzzah.

Overdone is In Vogue

I've had a lot to do, and not that much time for blogging, nor much good weather for taking photos (which is as well, because I'm inching through several sweaters, and progress of an inch or two a day really isn't worth recording).

But we got the Spring issue of Vogue Knitting in at the shop earlier this week, and I feel the need to publicly announce, for the record, that I don't understand it.

Well, no. I understand that Vogue is all about a lifestyle; what I don't have is a frame of reference to understand (by which I mean appreciate) that lifestyle. Most of it is a class thing, and the rest of it is an East Coast thing. Not being of a certain class native to the original 13 colonies, I simply can't make myself enthusiastic about themes of summer houses, prep schools, and polo.

Therefore, I don't buy Vogue. I still glance at it every season, because I've become something of a fashion geek (an inattentive fashion geek), but I don't care for the themes, and there's not much in there that I'd knit for myself.

But I'm feeling horribly, wretchedly, delightfully catty about this season's themes. No pictures, I'm afraid (that would probably involve numerous copyrights, and I'm lazy), but you can get a gander here.

Where should I start expressing my distaste? I found the entire issue overly sentimental and tacky, except for a couple pieces I found WASPishly bland. But the "African safari" theme in the Ecologique session took the cake. Vogue's tendency of cramming its black and asian models into "exotic" themes lacks imagination, is often trite, and has a veneer of 19th century World Fair.* But you have to look at the eyes of the model in the faux-African textile tank. I love her expression-- as she stares, her eyes might as well flash semaphore for "You're doing this without any hint of irony, aren't you?" at the editorial staff.

note: I will admit that I gravitate toward Vladimir Teriokhin and Norah Gaughan as usual, but it took a couple times flipping through the zine before the safari theme dimmed enough from my mind for me to appreciate them.

*They don't always do this, but if there's a bit of Orientalism in the magazine, you can bet there's an Asian woman wearing it. Likewise if they're pulling out the big-game hunting guns.

Aune, Completed

Maybe, at some point, I'll get pictures of me wearing this-- but that will have to wait until I have an ally-in-photography. I'm sure I've blogged about this before, but it took me awhile to get the gumption to not only knit but crochet together all the hexagons, so I'll go on at length about it; it's the Aune Skirt from Norah Gaughan's first collection. As usual for her knits, I worked it about two sizes smaller than my actual size, and on smaller needles.



I also shortened it by one tier of hexagons, because the original length would have fallen to mid-calf on me. All well and good, really, and that would suit the style of the skirt generally... but skirts that length have the downside of making me look about half my height. So I avoided that cruel fate.

It's good to have a major project ready to wear now; I'm working on three at the moment, and it feels like none of them are getting done.

-0-

Now, due to some foolishness precipitated by a half-off fire sale at Hilltop in the Queen Anne district, I can now add Matilda Jane (by Ysolda Teague) to my queue.

I am never going to a 50% sale again. Ever. Crowd around and let me tell you why.

My reason for going was innocent: walking around Queen Anne sounded like a lovely thing to do on a Saturday morning before the shopping crowds woke up. Nice yarn at a sweater-worthy prices sounded like a perk, too. So I showed up on foot at 10:20, expecting to get a cup of coffee and promenade around the area a few times.

Except there was a line stretching down the front stairs. Strange. Well, I got into line, pulled out a sock, and remarked to the woman nearest me, "I hadn't expected this."

"Neither did I," she said. Apparently no one in the entire line had expected it, even when it stretched around the block. Seeing trendy 20-somethings queue up with matrons (dowdy and not) and the rare man caused traffic some confusion. We were asked if Barrack Obama was showing up in town-- in jest, but we were still asked. A fire engine slowed down, rolled down its window, and a guy called out, "Is this a fire sale?"

So the shop opened at 11. I was near the front of the line, so I got in quickly, and realized only a little while afterward that, well... there was no line control. EVERYONE was coming in.

By the time I realized this, there wasn't an escape route. So I stuck with the crowd. I couldn't get into parts of the store because they were blocked off by bodies, and I couldn't get out because, well, people were getting in. I did find things on my shopping list (the afore-mentioned yarn for Matilda Jane), but that was entirely by accident (the finding, not the list-- I always have a list of what projects I want to make, the yarns they call for and the gauge and composition in case I find a replacement at a good price), and then I found my way into the check out line, which took a good half hour to move through.

In short, it was completely, ravingly mad in there. The joy of it, I suppose, is how nice people were. There was no use of elbows (there was pushing, but that's because we were packed in like pickles), and everyone was astoundingly polite: "I'm so sorry I bumped you," "I'm not really feeling you up," "Oh, that wasn't your foot, was it?" "You dropped this!" "Oh, here, if you're looking for another skein in this color..." were just a few of the intentions directed at me. At one point, as I was maneuvering through a door, a woman turned around, smiled at me, and showed off the Shibui she'd found. I'm glad there was so much good will in there.

I think I was probably the only asshole there, and that's only by virtue of me being direct. I'd see someone in the crowd and say, "Hey! I want to be where you are. Should we switch places?" and so on and so forth, and briefly there was a chant following me from one end of the main room to the other: "There she goes! There she goes!"

And there it is. Madness.