Come and gone

Since my last post...
Christmas has come and gone.
New Year has come and gone.
Valentine's Day has come and gone.
February has just about come and gone.
And what do I have to show for all this time that has passed? I'm ashamed to admit it, but not a whole lot.

However, I do have some cool photos taken of ice formations along the south shore of Lake Superior. We visited my sister and her family in Marquette, Michigan over the holidays. The only reason I can think of why people would live so far north is simply poor life choices. The snow and ice was pretty...for a week.

Presque Isle Park, Upper Harbor

It was a fun visit full of eating, playing cards, taking silly photos, snowshoeing, sledding, drilling random holes in the ice on the lake, playing with the dogs, snowball fights, shoveling snow. Yes, shoveling. I add that only because Zack had never really shoveled snow before. He was pretty jazzed about being able to shovel 6 inches of fresh snow off the deck in totally random patterns that would make a seasoned northerner cringe. (Only those who shovel/have shoveled on a daily basis will understand.)

Zack and me

Super yummy yeast rolls

Christmas morning

Pepper (sister's dog)

Amy (niece) and part of Mike's (her fiance) head

(See that dark red stocking in the upper left? http://www.ravelry.com/projects/knittybits/scotts-christmas-stocking)

Zack (wearing shorts!?) and Grandma 

Zack and Pepper

Sears Tower drive-by

Remnants of Giordano's Pizza

Selfie of Ruby (sister's other dog) and me

 

The drive home

I'll update everyone on my fiber escapades soon! Teaser: finished projects and upcoming adventures....

What the Fugly? A Christmas gerbil

Because everyone needs a Christmas gerbil...or three. Really? Maybe these little guys don't qualify as "fugly" but the question still remains--why?

These are advertised on Etsy as follows:

I love making knitted gerbils. I try to make as close to real colors as possible. Every gerbil is hand knitted and unique. No two are exactly alike.

Is someone smoking a candy cane? I have never seen a gerbil in these real colors, but then I've also never dropped acid. Ok, ok...I'll back off. They are kind of cute in an I've-had-too-much-eggnog kind of way.

 

But...

I bought yarn.

BUT it doesn't count because it's going to be used for a Christmas gift and will be all used up before the end of the year. BUT it doesn't count because my [insert air quotes] FRIENDS (and they know who they are) goaded me on. BUT it doesn't count as stash until it goes into a ziploc bag in the room formerly known as the guest room. Right?  

Last night, I was talking to my son on the phone. Zack's away at college (give me a break, I know it's only 7 miles, but it's still "away") and hasn't seen the room formerly known as the guest room for a couple months. In all honesty, and I freely admit this, the room has gotten a bit worse. The other day I had to straddle a box in order to reach the ironing board so I could press a pair of slacks. In turning to leave the room, I tripped on the box and knocked the hot iron off the board into another box of yarn. Better than on my foot! Anyway, back to the phone call. How the topic of yarn entered the conversation is still unclear, but he asked, "how many giant ziploc bags of yarn do you have in that room?"

"As in actual "ziploc" brand bags?"

"No. As in any plastic bag that has yarn in it. Oh my God. The fact that you had to ask that proves that you have finally reached hoarder status."

"No, it doesn't."

"Hoarder."

I bought this yarn (that I said I wasn't going to buy) to make Zack a pair of socks for Christmas. I think I'll wrap them in a giant ziploc.

When all else fails...

...knit a tiny sock.

I had to knit something but I didn't want to think, swatch, or fuss with a pattern. So I knit a tiny sock to add to my collection of Tiny Christmas Stockings.

 

 

There really isn't a pattern, I just knit them. I cast on 24, divide onto 4 needles. Sometimes I do 1x1 rib, sometimes not. I knit for a while then use 12 stitches for the heel flap. I knit 6 rows for the flap then turn the heel, which is probably the most complicated part. I think I knit (or purl depending on where I am with the heel flap) seven stitches, then K2tog or P2tog (again, depending) then turn, go back until there are 5 sts then P2tog (or K2tog) and do this until the stitches are used up. I typically have 4 stitches remaining. I pick up 4 or 5 along the gusset (if it's 5, I decrease 1 on each side so I'm back to 24 stitches), then I knit for a bit until it's time for the toe. Simple toe decrease until there are 8 stitches left, run the yarn through the stitches and pull the end of the yarn inside and tie it off. As far as needle size, it just depends on the weight of the yarn you're using. This was Koigu PPPM sock weight with a size 3 needle (I think). The cuff, heel and toe are in solid purple. The leg and instep are in verigated.

 

If you knit socks, this should make sense. If you don't knit socks, you should!

 

About Christmas Stockings

Each year I vow to never take on another commission for hand-knit Christmas stockings, but I'm a sucker. I can't resist.

It starts in mid-November. Actually, the knitting has already been started. November is simply when reality strikes and I realize the knitting-left-to-be-done and time-left-to-do-it ratio is not in my favor.

Reasons to never do this again:

• Slave labor
• Out of print patterns
• Discontinued yarn
• Intarsia sucks
• Sequins
• Seed beads

This year I knit eight and used a stocking from the 1940s as a template. I had to match the yarn, replicate the pattern and pray for gauge. Swatching was grueling, but I finally found the right needle size. I knit like hell. I didn't do house work. I knit during my lunch hour at work. I knit every spare moment I had. I even considered taking the bus to and from work so I could knit during rush hour. By the time I sewed on the last sequin and snipped the last tail of yarn off the last sock, my house was a disaster and I had lost 6 weeks of my life. My carpet was covered in red, white and green yarn...and sequins. I spilled an entire pack of red sequins during my finishing frenzy. It would have really ticked me off but I'm a sparkle whore. As messy as it was, it was sparkly. I knew I was going to need extra vacuum cleaner bags.

So, why do I do this? Because of this:

The stockings are incredible! I love them and everything about them -- the look,the designs, the yarn - its heft and color, the details, the sequins, the bells -- they just announce Christmas in their sight and sound!

 

They took me back to my own childhood as I opened your bag.

 

They have such a timeless and old-fashioned feel about them. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

That's just part of the e-mail I got after delivering the finished socks. I know exactly how she felt when she opened that bag. Every year, I hang the Christmas stockings that my mom knit for me and my son. (Mine is considerably older than Zack's and it has been repaired a couple times.) They are the most valuable Christmas heirlooms that I own. There is no describing how good it made me feel to read her e-mail and know that I helped bring those memories back to her. That's not something you get to do every day.

Is it any wonder I'm a sucker? 

The pattern (such as it is) and charts are at the end of this post.

Basic pattern…if you can knit a sock, these directions will make sense. No copyright on this pattern as I duplicated an old stocking knit in the 1940-50s that was given to me as a template. Plymouth Encore works well, could also be knit in Galway or similar weight. I used a size 6 needle to get a tighter fabric than you would want for a garment.

• cast on 62 (use a stretchy cast on!) on straight needles with intarsia the leg of the sock needs to be knit flat
• 2x2 rib for an inch
• stockinette stitch for body
• decrease two times on both edges, first one about half way down, second one about 2 inches after that
• transfer to DPNs and join, knit in round for about 4 rounds
• knit heel flap on 28 stitches. S1 K1 for knit row, and S1 P to end on purl row. do this for 24 rows, or so you have 12 slip stitch rows
• turn heel starting with a purl row as follows:
• purl 15 sts, p2tog, p1, turn
• s1, k3, k2tog, k1, turn
• s1, purl to gap (between the two stitches purled together and the slip stitch) purl these two together, p1, turn
• continue as such until all stitches are used up, should end after a knit row
• pick up 13 stitches along heel flap, knit across instep, pick up 13 more stitches along other side of heel fap, continue knitting in the round AT THE SAME TIME, decrease on either side of gusset every other row until 28 stitches remain
• knit in round for desired length
• decrease for toe

The sock is a bit narrow for my taste, but I was matching existing socks. I would probably cast on a dozen more stitches or so, and maybe make the toe just a bit shorter.