summer re-emergence

I suspect this blog is little more than an announcement that I am still alive, with an occasional “I finished something!” post. So, yeah, I’m still alive, and I finished something else. It’s been over a month since I bound off, but it was not until this week that I blocked it. I had to scroll back to find what exactly I’ve been knitting.

So, “Doretta” from “Danish Lace Treasures”. Thread is 44/2 linen from WEBS which I bought eons ago; needles are my beloved 1.5mm Addis. They are bent to perfectly conform to my hand and have much of the coating worn off from use. I don’t even know anymore how long it took to finish this, but for as long as I am in college, pretending to be a speedy knitter would fool nobody.

I did not even attempt to pin out every point on the edging, because with any luck, this doily will be in use on a table somewhere before the weekend is over.

The peculiar phenomena wherein the knitter sees every flaw in the work while most outsiders see only a beautiful piece of knitting has always puzzled me. Only a few utterly obsessed knitophiles are capable of looking at another’s knitting and seeing the same flaws. I have reached the point of shirking of knitting that I now see my knitting as somebody else does. I don’t see most of my flaws anymore. Sometimes I look at my lace and think “wow, I made that?”, not remembering when I used to think that it was simple. This is perhaps one of the benefits of doing a billion other things besides knitting - my old FOs still amuse me.

As for other knitting, I have too many UFOs to list. I started another doily because they fit so nicely in my backpack. I am attempting doily with spiral again, hoping not to turn it into another doilybag. The doilybag is currently in use holding the Alpine Lace Shawl as I slowly work on that. I have reached the point of “oh crap, I actually have to decide what size to make it”… stay tuned to see if I ever answer that question.

sockses

So, I’ve officially forgotten how to keep this blog in working condition. But I did learn how to finish socks!

I didn’t learn how to follow a pattern, how. Somewhere along the way I stopped caring how I was supposed to finish the lace pattern (I think when I realized my feet were not the same size as the pattern) so I just kinda wandered off and did my own thing. Not that you can tell among all the stripeys! It shows how (not) devoted of a knitter I am anymore.

But even without being the die-hard knitter I once was… Maryland Sheep and Wool… was… AMAZING.

Artsygal was so gracious to let me stay with her in Philadelphia for a few days before we both took a bus down to the festival. I’ve been sufficiently out of the loop of knitty things that I kinda forgot about the size of MD Sheep and Wool. I knew it was a big deal - why else would I fly across the country for it - but I had no idea. When I saw how many people were gathered outside of Rosie’s Yarn Cellar at 7am for a bus, I began to suspect… but… when we reached the fairgrounds, my jaw dropped.

There were a lot of people and a lot of sheepies!


I bought pretty much anything but yarn, but somehow came with a drop spindle (which I drop a lot) and soap and a bajillion other things now scattered across my apartment.

Once in Maryland, I went home Roxy, who is somehow nicer in person than on the internet. It seems impossible to believe but somehow it’s true.

For the first time, I travelled via Amtrak to get home. It’s definitely the best way to travel if the purpose is the journey, not the destination. One morning I woke up to see this outside my window-

And the best part of the trip was the lounge car, where people go just to hang out and meet new people. People there were more sociable and open to meeting new people than any day in the student union… definitely my kind of travel!

another semester ends, time for another yarn adventure

So, next weekend I’m going to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Other stops on the trip include Philadelphia and Chicago, with random adventures throughout. I wonder if I remember how to travel with only my backpack, or if my list of “necessities” has grown too large again.

In a very jerky transition between topics, my socks are getting large too.

Cell phone included not for scale but out of pure absentmindedness.

The entertaining thing about knitting around non-yarn-freaks is the inevitable question… so, will those socks fit? In response, I pull on the socks, which is a peculiar sight when they are still on the needles. And more than a little awkward, since my feet are stuck together. It’s fun to try to hop around on them though.

Since the socks are so close to the toe, I can’t bring them for absent-minded knitting… unless I’d like some too-long socks. So the shawl keeps growing.

Hopefully, this shawl will get a lot of attention over the next week… it is my knitting of choice for the trip.

Randomly, the doily which I cast on while waiting for my flight to Providence last December? Still not finished. All I have left is the crochet edging, but what fun is that?