Pischi Days

Hamina, Hamina

First I fell in love with the yarn and then I waited for the perfect pattern. The yarn, Neighborhood Fiber Company's Penthouse Silk, was featured on Mimknits, Miriam Felton's blog. I just took a sneak peek at what she's knitting with it. No  photos yet but it's called the Anthemion Wrap and the pattern will be published in December. I can't wait.   
Anyway, run, don't walk to a shop or a site that carries Penthouse Silk. You won't regret the splurge. My choice of pattern was Pink Lemon Twist's Hanami Shawl. I love the contemporary look and the story behind it. There is a tiny error as to how many beads to use that I made notes on my Ravelry project page. 

Originally I cast on using #5 circulars and quickly frogged the too loose lace. My new needle size, a #3 was so much more pleasing. I won't say that this shawl was a walk in the park. The yarn is very fine and the basket weave pattern demands a bit of attention. Once in the groove, it was smooth knitting all the way. I chose silver lined beads to resemble water droplets. Instead of using a crochet hook I threaded the correct number of beads for the edge. 

 

 

  

  

 

I really wanted to showcase my shawl with water as a background. Unfortunately the weather was so windy and when we walked out onto the pier over the Indian River, the sky opened up. I think the pictures in the backyard came out very well.

A small modification on the ruffle was that I added an additional knit 1 through the front and back loops to give the ruffle…well, more ruffle. I also made the ruffle wider, wider, wider.
This was a great project with well written instruction. The scarf is very versatile. Dress her up or down. I will be wearing this a lot next year!
On a side note, Kathleen (entrepreneur extraordinaire) is opening up a new yarn shop in Daytona Beach called She Sells Yarn. Its smack dab in the center of Beach Street and across from the headquarters of the Chicago Cubs affiliate, the Daytona Cubs. Daytona is the yearly host to Biketober Fest and Bike Week in March. Don't forget the Daytona Speedway. Now there is a fabulous new yarn and fiber shop as well. So, if you're in Daytona Beach, stop by and say hi to Kathleen. Check out her fabulous stock of sock yarns, spinning fibers, and more Maybe I can talk her into carrying some fabulous Penthouse Silk. 

Bring on Fall!

October is here and but the weather here in Florida is still sweltering. We had a few "cold snaps" in the high 60's, but that only lasted a few days and now we're back to running the air conditioner. The days are getting painfully short. At this point the sun rises and sets at 7.
I am back in school and taking 12 credit hours. So far so good, I seem to be keeping up with the work. I love having my trusty companion at my side.

I have plenty on the needles. The Hanami Shawl from Pink Lemon Twist is humming along. The yarn, it's really silk thread, is from the Neighborhood Fiber Company. I was turned onto this stuff by Miriam Felton of MimKnits. Although its thin, it behaves and turns out a great fabric.

I won't bore you with Wisteria. I'm still steamed at all the work on the Arwen wasted that talking about this sweater is still a sensitive subject. It is getting some attention.

My latest finish is Kansas Harvest Sock. I found this pattern on the Townsend Sock Yahoo Group. If you aren't aware of this group you should race to the site and join. The patterns are brilliant. Another great group is Stephanie van der Linden's Socken-Kreativ-Liste Yahoo Group.

   

   

Back to the sock. If you've read the blog for a while perhaps you'll remember this item. It was the Lacy Scarf, an otherwise fabulous project except that superwash wool has an incredible memory and this yarn was no exception. It curled despite hours of blocking. I finally came to grips, frogged the thing, reskeined, washed, and rewound. Presto, two weeks later I had knit a pair of bright yellow socks, ready to enter into the Ravelry SKA monthly contest. I am also working on these Lacy Ribs by Wendy Johnson from her new sock book with a second sock to cast on.
There is too much stash acquisition going on. I have discovered the Dizzy Sheep site. A deal a day and the prices are great with shipping only $1.00, no matter how much you order or where they ship to. I have also discovered a nifty way to search through the Ravelry stashes for treasures. I chronicled my techniques here, post 28. I hope that it doesn't get everyone into too much trouble.

Meanwhile, I would like to cast on something heavier than socks and a shawl! Bring on the fall!

 

The Frog Princess Knits

The languid days of summer have quickly turned in to the action packed days approaching fall. Halcyon days spent at the beach, playing Boggle, and knitting while Seasons 1 and 2 of Mad Men have ended. The end of August heralds school, homework and for Erik, many appointments with doctors. Erik, who I had hoped would be a Navy enlistee, returned from his physical with a mysterious heart ailment. After a few tests and visits with a cardiologist it was determined that  the tachy heart was not the problem at all. Instead he has an overactive thyroid which supplies him with lavish quantities of tyrosine and triiodothronine. Treatment for this may involve killing the thyroid with radioactive iodine. Erik can take his secret identity, Glow Boy, into the night. Hopefully the cats will be able to keep their fur and the appliances won't begin to spark. Should the Navy take him, his added value could be in the reactor room of a sub.
My days at the beach were spent knitting and swimming or swimming in knitting. Lisa and I would leave early, coolers packed with cold drinks and fresh fruit, we would swing by the bagel shop, and have our butts in the deck chairs by 9 AM. Lisa caught up on her reading. I would listen to podcasts and knit. In between, we would catch a few waves or walk along the shore.

These were the fruits of my labor. Socks whose colors compliment the railroad vine that crawl along the dunes. The pattern, Wollmeise Poppies was knit using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lightweight in Lemon Grass and Rhododendrite. Fair Isle is not my forte. I was happy to practice on a pair of socks in preparation for knitting a Damask Kauni. My initial attempt resulted in a three repeat cuff which just didn't fit. Fair Isle has very little give, no matter how springy the yarn.  Luckily for me, my trusty friends in the Thursday morning knitting circle frogged back the foot, heel, and a pattern repeat before I could change my mind. It was the right thing to do. A handy tip from another knit groupie is to knit the project while its turned inside out and keep the threads in the back loose. This results in less pull on the front side. I entered these socks in Ravelry's SKA contest. Hopefully, my lucky number comes up as the prizes are terrific.
My original Fair Isle project was an expensive mistake. I fell in love with the cute Spud and Cloe marketing blitz and purchased four skeins of Fine in various colors. The sock pattern was a Mystery Sock and upon knitting a few clues, the love affair quickly ended. Not only were the colors all wrong, the yarn is too thin, splitty, and limp for colorwork. Frogged again!

Next months SKA theme is to knit using yellow yarn. I only had one skein of yellow in my arsenal, knit into a scarf that would not remain flat. I couldn't let this yarn languish in a drawer so it was frogged and reskeined ready to be knit into a pair of socks. The pattern currently settled on is the Kansas Harvest sock from the Townsend Knitalong group.
Hopefully my frog days of summer are quickly coming to an end. I am looking to fall, new socks and a couple of great sweater in my future.

Dear Kate Gilbert!

Dear Kate,

I have been lurking your blog since 2004 and while you were living in France. I journeyed with you through marriage, moves and children. You are the high priestess of the Clapotis, Sunrise Circle Jacket, Union Square Market, Peapod, Marina Piccola (I've knit this one), and my nemesis, Arwen. Clapotis has 5000+ hearts om Rav. Your patterns are known far and wide and come in such a wide variety; socks, tops, shawls, mittens, baby togs. The list goes on and on. Your patterns were some of the first that I fell in love with when I discovered knitting in the blogosphere.

All I ever wanted was to knit Arwen. I remember buying and downloading the pattern, searching for just the right color of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and investing in Addi Turbos, to allow the stitches to fly off the needles.


I swatched for the first time in my life! I colorcoded all the appropriate stitch numbers on the pattern with a yellow highlighter. My only concession was that I wanted to modify the hoodie and  change it to a middy collar. This fifty year old woman wasn't going to wear a hoodie, not in Florida anyway. I had scoured the library for books on how to miter a cabled corner and found just the perfect instructions in a book of Viking Knitting. I remember the day that I cast on my first stitch, a sultry July Saturday morning, after having chosen just the right size and I let the knitting begin. I have a love affair with cables and the sweater was progressing well. I was even memorizing the cable pattern. I knit both sides and plodded through the garter stitch square that was the back.

I seamed and all came to an abrupt halt when I realized the sides were uneven. I frogged both sides to beyond the sleeves and reknit. Again, failure. The jacket bits landed in a dark corner while I knit other things. Months later the bag was retrieved from its dusty corner. I revisited my Arwen but I just couldn't get thing to line up. After much trepidation, I took the plunge and ripped the whole thing out. Thats right, I enlisted the help of my son and ripped while he wound the many yards of Cashmerino into semi-fresh cakes. So, there I sat with hours and hours of knitting wasted. I read the Ravelry forums and notes in the completed Arwens, those successful and not. This sweater was just not to be.

I got over my sorrow and was determined to move on! I had the Ravelry search engine smoking with every variation of cardigan and sweater in Cashmerino Aran, searching, searching for the dream sweater that I knew this yarn could become.
After what seemed like hours and hundreds of sweater patterns later, despondency set in. Was there no sweater suited to my yarn, figure, climate and knitting talents? One more search. I can't remember what combination of words or tags I used or if I searched by yarn type...but there it was the sweater of my dreams staring at me on the body of a model leaning against a barren tree, sleeves that were much to long for her arms. Wisteria! Just the name was magic and those cables, wild and unpredictable. Sure, the sleeves could be shortened. This was it, the sweater that would be my knitting destiny. Then I glanced the designers name, it was you, Kate. I hesitated, just for a moment. I broke down, giving a sweater design of yours a second chance and bought the pattern that will consume me for the next few months. I cast on and have (hopefully) successfully completed the yoke. Did I mentioned that I love the cables? Please, wish me luck. While I will never knit a Clapotis, your other sweaters are in my queue-. Should I fail, I going over to Nora Gaughan!
All is fair in love and knitting.

Dances With Dorrit

I know, I know, radio silence for eons at a time and then suddenly three posts in less than a month. I have been knitting because I know that when school is back in session, needles and yarn will have to take a holiday.


These are my Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous entry for the month of June. We had a choice to design our own or use any Nancy Bush creation. I chose a sock from her Vintage Socks book. It has some crazy long name, Silk Socks for a Five or Six-year Old Child. I liked the lace pattern. It shines using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Medium Weight Spirits yarn. All yarn in this collection are lightly tinted, this one being blue. The more I look at it, the more green it seems to be. The results are pleasing, to me anyway.

I took too many pictures and Dorrit became weary and wanted a play mate. He decided to chew on my ankles mid shoot. He is a hellion and snatches yarn out of my stash basket every chance he gets. These sock have a few joins thanks to Dorrit chewing the unguarded sock in progress.

Summer Socks and Summer Squash

It is indeed a mystery, that after so many years of knitting , why I don't take more care and count my rows. The knitting trinket box certainly holds every type of row counter imaginable. I have stacks of notes and paper and there is always the option of looking at the first sock that I knit to make sure that they match.
Here is Kiila, Ravelry's SKA group Mystery Sock for May. I was only days short of completing the pair to qualify for fabulous prizes. After I had cast off and donned them for their photo shoot, I noticed one sock was shorter than the other.  Well, I couldn't leave them looking like the odd couple, so off to the frog pond they went. Luckily they were knit toe up and the tear out was not so painful. Out came the leg and after a careful pattern count, presto, they're a matching pair. 
Down to stats. Kiila was knit toe up using the Magic Loop method using 32" long, #2 circular needles. The sock yarn came from a long ago purchase on a trip to St. Petersburg a couple of years ago. It's ShiBui Sock yarn in a semi solid color way called Midnight.

I have moved onto the June Sockdown for Sock Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry. This month's theme was a Nancy Bush sock or Design Your Own. Since I feel that there are far too many great designers out there  and that my efforts would be superfluous, I have chosen a pattern from the Nancy Bush Vintage Socks book. Here is the first sock with one to go. Hopefully I will qualify for some of those wonderful prizes this time around. I'll post stats next installment.  

Since we are in the midst of the summer season, dinners are usually cold meals consisting of salads or soups. Anything hot will usually be cooked outside on the grill.
Due to a bumper crop of yellow summer squash and mint leaves, I found an easy soup recipe that I will share. The only substitution is olive oil for butter to keep it heart healthy. This soup tastes great cold as well. For any of these puree type soups I find that my Braun stick blender is the best appliance. It blends hot liquids right in the pot. I can't imagine life in the kitchen without one. So, without further ado, run don't walk to the store and try out...

Squash Soup with Mint Pistou
courtesy of Bon Appetit

For squash soup
    •    3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
    •    1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
    •    1/2 teaspoon salt
    •    2 lb yellow summer squash, halved and thinly sliced
    •    2 carrots, thinly sliced
    •    1 yellow-fleshed potato (1/2 lb), peeled, halved,
    •    4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth

for pistou
    •    3/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
    •    1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
    •    1 large scallion, chopped (1/2 cup)
    •    1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    •    2 tablespoons water
    •    1/4 teaspoon salt
Melt butter in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.
Puree soup in a blender until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Return puree to cleaned pot and thin with water if desired; simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.
Make pistou while vegetables simmer. 
Pulse mint, parsley, and scallion in a food processor until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil in a stream, then add water and salt, blending until incorporated.
Swirl 1 tablespoon pistou into each bowl of soup.

Dream of a Cardi

Just when I thought that I couldn't produce a proper sweater, I find that its best to get back to basics. With one of my oldest friends coming to visit, I had to clean out the craft closet and the guest room. Among my 4 boxes of yarn were several skeins of Marks and Kattens Dream in a light shade of blue. With Arwen in tatters and my sweater mojo along with it, high time to shake off the bad karma and cast on a "no fail" project. I chose Bonni Marie Burns Sitcom Chic.

I shlepped this sweater everywhere and, yes, I had my set backs. After attaching the sleeves and merrily knitting along, I stopped to count front, sleeve, and back stitches.  I missed several decreases somewhere and was forced to rip out a days worth of knitting. Here I actually captured a stitch way down in the center some where.
Not to be deterred I used my new found math skills and paid closer attention to my count in round two. Success. I added an invisible hook and eye closure to the front. It’s a  little sweater in a nice basic color. It looks as though this sweater is available on the ChicKnits site as a top down version called Eyelet Cardi.

The skirt is a quickie from deep in the fabric stash. The pattern is from Favorite Things Cute Skirts and will also be a nice wardrobe staple.

I want to share my newly discovered summer drink. Framboise Lambic from Belguim. Easy to drink, just pop the top and uncork.  Pour into a frosted Pilsner glass and enjoy. It is like drinking a basket of the sweetest raspberries. Sip slowly, though. It's pricey and, oh, so easy to drink. Savor with a good bar of the darkest chocolate.… I have been buying mine at our newly opened ALDI. The Moser-Roth brand tastes wonderful and the $1.89 price tag offsets the lambic.
Now, back to my regularly scheduled sock knitfest!

The End of May

It's been a graduation turmoil at the Claybaugh household. Our one and only child experiment finally completed high school and will hopefully be out of the nest and into the wild blue yonder courtesy of the USAF. Good bye and good luck. Be well, do good work and keep in touch. 
There have also been parties upon parties, graduation and otherwise. This is the aftermath of one of my oldest friends half centennial. I can't believe I'm saying this, but WHERE has the time gone. I first started asking this when Erik turned 18 earlier this year. Among the assembled were friends that numbered 25+ years and their children. I suppose that we need to brace ourselves for what comes next? No, no...segue and onto knitting.
Here is the birthday girl wearing Cat Bordhi's Cashmere Moebius, albiet not cashmere by Fiesta La Boheme. This was caston on impulse in front of a YouTube video explaining the crazy on in rapid repetition. Had it been film, it would have worn out. Once on the 40" long circular needles, I completed it in a day.
As Memorial Day weekend and the last couple of weeks were filled with rain and thunderstorms, I finally sat down at the sewing machine and made fitted sheets out of flat sheets. While in the sewing mood I was able to whip out some small project bags from the stash. They are modeled after the Japanese Knot Bag from this site and are reversible. I added buttons so that I can tell them apart.

 

Since time has been on my side the Hedera sock that I started in January are also complete.The yarn is Fleece Artist's Sea Wool and the pattern is from Cookie A. via Knitty. I am in love with semisolid yarn. No more variegated yarn for me. I still have some in my stash and hope to find just the right patterns for them.

 

Today, sans child, we hit the beach. Me, with my current sock in cute new project bag, iPod, and book. Tom with coffee, newspaper and his Siruis radio. We spent a quite 3 hours until the march of the families with kiddies arrived en mass loaded to the hilt with all the kiddie beach accessories. Now that we are just two again, we travel lightly and early to avoid the humans and catch the bird parade. 

Mutti's Days

I am spending my Mother's Day in pajamas reflecting what my mother meant to me. I was adopted and as my mother loved to say, "Selected, not expected."  I suppose that this was said to elevate my self-esteem. My mother had high expectations and while she did her best, nature often defied nurture. She struggled with who I evolved into, just as I  struggle with my son's personality. I left the family nest at the unripe age of 16 and left the country at age 19. Our relationship improved across continents. We spoke on the phone almost every week and we visited one another about every other year. 
I lost my mother in 2001 and no day goes by without a flicker of a memory. Although we said many things to one another, many things were left unspoken.  Now that I am the mother of a teen, her frustrations are more salient. I wish I could tell her that I finally understand. Here she is in pre-Pischi days with our schnauzer, Purtzel.
Summer is quickly approaching and my spring term has finally ended. I earned high marks in all my classes and that included a well deserved "C" in algebra, a grade that I am most proud of. I was thankful for Susan and David always there to tutor my way through chapter after chapter of math problems. While spending last few weeks  with my nose in the books and a pencil in hand, I was also able to work the phlebotomy clinicals in the lab at our local hospital. Of course knitting has taken a back seat but I have managed to turn out a couple of projects and I look forward to casting on several items while enjoying my freedom until the fall semester begins.
I knit the Shetland Triangle using a skein of Brooks Farm Primero scored through Ravelry. This is the second project that I have made using one of Evelyn Clark's patterns. This shawl is already on its way to Germany and will grace my aunt's shoulders during the chilly evenings. Carloyn was bribed with wine in exchange for modeling duty. See, it fits!
Also complete are the No Purl Monkey socks using Impulse of Delights merino/silk sock yarn. The colorway is called Lost Lake and evoked memories of Lake Louis in Alberta. The socks are on my feet as I write and then on their way into the wash and my sock drawer. As you can see, Dorritt is quite at home now. He rules the roost and is the first cat I owned where yarn vigilance is mandatory.

 
A wonderful surprise that the three items that I entered into out county fair took all the blue ribbons including Best of Show and Best of Division. The prize included a check that will help pay for a new iPod and there should be some leftover to splurge on yarn. I miss listing to podcasts since my old faithful black Nano died.
I am now ready to trade my jammies in for something motherly to attend Erik's baccalaureate. Happy Mother's Day!

A Couple of Cookies, a Cat, and a Shawl

The little visitor that walked into our life a few weeks ago has taken up permanent residence. Little Dorrit, as I've named him, had  taking refuge in our courtyard under the porch glider. He smelled and was fairly thin, but his playful personality was not affected. After a 13th hour trip to the SPCA for shots, deworming, and neutering, he is now part of the family. Our other two cats still haven't warmed to the idea. His life here has been full of challenges. A further vet visit uncovered an upper respiratory infection and one of our girls took a nip out of his left flank. In spite of these deterrents, he is holding his own and will soon assert himself. He loves to lounge in the sun and play with errant shoelaces.

Since flinging Arwen into a corner I had to reaffirm my ability to knit a satisfactory project. Digging deep into the yarn basket out came an oatmeal skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool. A second plunge yielded a rich skein of silk and merino in shades of turquoise and celery from indie dyer Impulse of Delight. I was on my way to knitting a pair of Cookies. The Sea Wool is one sock away to a lacy pair of Hedera. The yarn is subtly shaded strands of grey and the lace pattern is easy to remember. I will wear these often. Kathleen from Threads of Time, Ormond Beach challenged the Knead to Knit group to a Monkey KAL. I am the absentee knitter of an undetermined amount of participants. I have only seen Kathleen's in the forum. My Monkey's are no purl and I now understand the popularity of this method. It makes the pattern easy to memorize. No shlepping papers around.

In the spirit of knitting affirmations, another project quickly sprang to life. I had seen a scarf at the local Cocoa LYS. It turns out to be a free pattern on Ravelry. Its a faux braid and the look really appealed too me. It called for a type of mohair, yarn that I did not have. After a brief search on Ravelry, I came across a great deal on Primero from Brooks Farm. Funny, I had visited SAFF twice and always passed up the Brooks Farm booth in favor of other vendors. The skein was a bargain and I had it on my doorstep the same week. I cast on and started cabling long runs of 20 stitches and quickly became impatient with the lack of shape. Out came the needles and the yarn was quickly a large ball of mohair again. Not to be deterred, I poured over possible patterns and settled on Evelyn Clark's Shetland Triangle. This is another easy project that flies off the needles. The body pattern is easy to memorize and the project is small enough to transport. I love the topography that appeared of the back side.

Will I get back to Arwen and sweater knitting? I don't know. It doesn't seem to be something that I have a proclivity for. For now, finishing a couple of Cookies are on my menu.