Oh, how I love Malabrigo merino worsted -- a sentiment that is shared by my furry pal, Harlee. I now understand what all the hubbub is about. It is a dream to knit; it's colors are beautiful; and the soft warmth of the finished product makes a Malabrigo project infinitely satisfying. The Mara shawl, a Madeline Tosh design, was my first shawl. It was easy to knit and is fun to wear. Perfect for chilly fall days when the body must adjust to the change of seasons.

The neck cowl is dreamy. How I wished I would have finished it two weekends sooner to have had it while out in the boat on a beautiful but cool Minnesota fall afternoon and evening. Kudos to Julianne Smith for her brilliance in designing the Burberry-inspired pattern and many thanks for sharing it so generously on Ravelry.

Forgive me, Cyberspace; it has been far too long since my last post. Hemi has grown and gone off to college.  Seriously, Hemi is doing well. The little guy is nicknamed "Brinks" because of the $$$ investment we've put into him, but he's more than worth it. What a treasure. And guess what, world? His sister is going to join our family which means, of course, that there is yet another Kitty Pi in my future!

Until then, I just finished up this pair of socks knit from Zitron Unisono wool yarn with aloe and jojoba.  Not sure where the aloe and jojoba come in but I can tell you that the yarn is a silky pleaure to knit and the finished result is nice. One pet peeve, however.... This self-striping yarn skein had a knot in it joining two completely different colors.  Man, I hate that. For $25 for a 100g. skein, I would have hoped for no knots at all. Add to that frustration over the fact that the flecks of color are inconsistent (note the flecks of darker color in the light blue stripe of the right sock versus lighter flecks in the left sock.) But such are the imperfections of life. My work as a Contracts Administrator does not allow many imperfections, so accepting them where they fall is a good thing.

My little love, Hemi, has arrived at long last to fill the Kitty Pi I made for him months ago. May God smile upon this sweet creature, who has problems to overcome. And may God lead me to do only what's best for Hemi.

I'm delighted to have finished my first (1 of 2) toe-up sock, Lacey Ribs by Wendy Johnson. This was a wonderful exercise in firsts with few frustrations. Thanks to Wendy's instructions,  Knitty.com, and the exquisite teachings of Cat Bordhi via YouTube, I was able to learn and execute the Figure-8 Cast On and Jenny's Super Stretchy Bind Off without a hitch, not to mention doing it all on two circulars. In fact, the only "hitch" was unbinding off after figuring last night that I could do a regular loose bind off and be happy with it. Nope.  Note to self: Don't make decisions like this late at night. It almost always ends in a clearer head prevailing the next day and having to undo what you've done to take the more challenging but satisfying route.

I base this success on the accessibility of information both from Wendy's book and from the Internet. Granted, I would far have preferred the joy of being able to sit down with a learned friend or neighbor to reap the benefits of their experiences, but in today's world I sadly find those opportunities few and far between. So, Wendy, Cat and all the rest of you experienced knitters in cyberville... I'm glad to be your neighbor.

Last night I started my first toe-up sock on two circular needles using the Figure 8 Cast-On.  Very neat how it works out. This method was easy to master, so next time I will try Judy Becker's Magic Cast-On.  I'm using the Lacy Ribs pattern from Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up book.  This is a perfect pattern for nearly mindless knitting sessions while watching TV or for picking up when presented with a bit of knitting time whereever you happen to be in the world.

I am using Shibui sock yarn from ShibuiKnits in the jewel colorway. The company's "mulberry", "wisteria", "emerald" and "wasabi" color descriptions sound as luscious as this yarn looks.  I am quite taken with this 100% ultrawash merino wool fiber, enjoy working with it, and love the silky feel and look to it on my needles.  I am quite sure my feet will agree.

NOTE TO SELF:  No matter how easy the pattern, put the knitting needles down upon accepting a second glass of wine. I will have one row of back-tracking to do tonight as a result of last night's second serving.

Like Taz, I began to feel the need to corral some of my most cherished items this weekend. Combining my love of fishing with my goal of organizing my knitting sundries, I convinced my husband to make a stop at Cabela’s on Saturday (not difficult to do), where he helped me choose the perfect little double-sided tackle box in which to keep the smallest of knitting notions. Let us review the fruits of this organizational effort:

• Cute little box full of stitch markers, stitch holders, needles, pins, repair hook, needle holders, etc.: CHECK
• Retractable tape measure: CHECK
• Two sizes of waste yarn: CHECK
• Mini scissors: CHECK
• Needle size gauge: CHECK
• Hair pin to maintain my place on written instructions: CHECK
• Mini magnifyer in case, even with eyeglasses, I need help with the finest of print: CHECK
• Cable hooks: CHECK
• Norweigan knitting thimble to aid in two-color Fair Isle knitting: CHECK (Do these things work?)
• Last, but not least: a wine bottle key – because one never knows when one will need to pop a cork: CHECK!

So there you have it: All of my favorite knitting-related things corralled into a freebie cosmetics tote being put to far better use than its original purpose. Other than my night vision head lamp that goes in my knitting bag and the Knit Counter, iKnit Needle Sizer, and Knit Gauge programs on my iPhone, I’m ready to roll!

I wanted another diversion.  Let's face it. That's what I do.  I start knitting one project and then get sparked by another. I'm not going to fight this any longer. C'est moi.

All finished with a little interim project that I'll call my unofficial 2010 Knititng Olympics entry. Granted, I didn't register my intention anywhere, but I knitted this while the Olympics were going on so there you have it! I'm giving myself gold for this one... because I'm all about receiving awards for mere participation.  (Heh heh..)

It seems appropriate that my 2010 Olympic Games knitting foray involved a pattern written by a Canadian knitter.  Merci beaucoup, Stephanie Voyer, for a wonderful pattern!  It piqued my curiousity and led me to knitting it with yarn I had on hand, not knowing if I'd like this style on my head as much as I do in the photos I've seen on Ravelry. I know now that this one's a keeper and wish I had left all of my worsted weight Lion Brand Fishmerman's Wool dedicated to swatch making. At least now I can anticipate a future StarCap project knitted with a marvelous Malabrigo or something similar and be fully prepared to love the berries out of the result.

All 3 needle sizes recommended in the pattern were the sizes I used. Here are a few modifications I made, which have less to do with the pattern design and more to do with my individual knitting ability (cough - ineptitude.) 

HAT:

• Following the 3rd decrease row of the hat pattern, I knitted all three non-decrease rows (i.e. Knit row 1, row 2, row 1 of hat body pattern.) The pattern says to knit row 1 only for the M/L size, but I wasn't "with it" enough to know whether that meant to omit the last row 1 or both row 1s. So in spite of intending to knit per the S/M size instructions throughout, I colored outside of the lines here. Sigh.
• I focused on doing the final two decrease rows for the S/M size, but the stitch numbers didn't come out right. Who knows what I did. To arrive at only 10 remaining stitches, my two final decrease rows were as follows:
• Decrease Row:  SSK, K3TOG, K3TOG, S1; repeat to end of row.
• Decrease Row:  SSK, K2; repeat to end of row.

BRIM:

• Silly me.  I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to encompass the hand band seam in the area from which 30 stitches are picked up for the brim. So, I rotated the hat so that the band seam was in the back and centered the pick-up stitches in the front.  DOH!  Not until I finished knitting the brim did I realize that if the band seam had been situated as indicated in the pattern, it would have ultimately been hidden by the knitted faux tab.  Oops.
• I cut the outer portion of the brim template (the side facing out when "installed") about 1/4 " wider than the pattern guide and also widened the two ends by the same amount. This resulted in a snugger fit inside the knitted brim.

FUTURE MODS:

• Based on my own knitting style, I will likely increase the size of the brim template in any future effort as well.
• In addition, I may consider knitting the brim piece separately using a toe-up sock cast on to create a knitted "pouch" in which to insert the brim material and then join the piece to the hat after the fact. This method is described by a Ravelry knitter. The stair-step result of the pattern had rather bumpy results on the underside of the brim. No one else would know it, but I do. Again, this has more to do with my knitting ability than anything else.
• I do think another Raveler may have a point about reversing the K2TOGs and the SSKs in the decrease rows of the hat. This will result in all decreases slanting toward the vertical line of slipped stitches rather than away from it.

Pure Olympic Gold, this one is!  A fun experience! Thanks again, Stephanie.

I spent hours this past weekend listening to past years' epidoses of Brenda Dayne's Cast On podcast. Brenda's efforts have opened my eyes to the world of knitting as I take more than a few interesting and thought provoking tidbits from each listening session. Somewhere within her 2007 series of podcasts, I learned about the Knitting Ladies of Interim House, program at a halfway house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for women recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. I am inspired by the program director's blog posts as the content really speaks to the importance of creativity and the sense of accomplishment that can be gained from the simple act of knitting. When one focuses on one stitch at a time, one can quickly see how each successful stitch works together with others towards a masterpiece of accomplishment. Having learned about the success of this program, I began considering my own stash and the potential rewards of corraling yarns that can be put to better use to benefit a group such as this rather than remaining in storage bins indefinitely. Interweave Knits publishes a lengthy list of charities that benefit from donations of knitting supplies and/or knitted items. It is clear that the potential for every knitter to make a difference is signficant.

Intervening yarn fix alert!!! Got sidetracked by a lovely lace shawl pattern (proper pattern reference and credit forthcoming.) Work is getting in the way of progress but I'm so looking forward to binding off and blocking the thing. Oh to be young and carefree...prancing through a summer mountain forest wearing my Woodland Nymphette Shawl.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of my diminishing memory, I recall peaceful moments as a small child sitting beside my mother as she was knitting... perhaps some socks for my dad or mittens for me. The mere recall of the pleasantly muted, soft clicks of her knitting needles brings comfort even now. My mother creating; my mother providing; my mother’s presence beside me – all captured in the auditory memory of needle striking needle as she knitted round upon round.
Mom turned 90 the other day. Unfortunately, the will and desire to feed her creativity and productivity seems to have left her in spite of a body and mind that remain quite capable. As I sat on her couch working on my own “Saucy Socks”, I could see in Mom's eyes that her spark for knitting is still there, although I learned that her desire to concentrate on pattern variations is gone. We soon found ourselves buying new knitting needles and plenty of cotton yarn to get her started anew and what followed was a virtual production line of hand-knit dishcloths. And there was joy – the pure joy that knitting brings. Mother and daughter sitting together, sharing feelings of triumph over a FO (finished object) and the ability to speak our minds without the intrusion of television. I wish moments like this for all women, of all ages.

I'm SO glad to have these wonderful socks completed. I'm turning over a new leaf and will no longer knit one sock (or mitten) and fail to knit it's mate until months later. Why deny myself the pleasure of a finished project simply in the interest of going on to something new? Such a lovely, easy-to-execute pattern. Thank you, Jacquelynn Vance-Kuss!

What a wonderful past weekend it was at the Izaac Walton Inn. Under the patient tutelage of Janet Szabo, I and about 25 others forayed through the world of cables, lovely brioche and reversible patterns stitches, and even learned how not to choose the wrong sweater patterns and how to customize the fit of the patterns we do choose. Ah, so much knitting to do, but so little time. Thank you, Camas Creek Yarn, for hosting a wonderful event.

For now, I am merely contemplating the grandness of knitting possibilities as I digest what I learned. I'll be content with finishing my current mate-less socks and mittens before delving into a "project" -- and I do mean "project". Something challenging is in the works for this one who has never knitted a sweater in her life. The journey will be memorialized here!