Don't mistake the title for anything lewd or bawdy. Unless you tend to get that kind of excited from knitting supplies. I know some people who come dangerously close to taking the craft down that road.

Anyhow, the nine inches I'm referring to are specifically of the Clover 9" size 2 circular needles from Twisted Knitter I wrote about several posts back. I finally cleared my WiP queue enough to cast something on to the tiny circ and try it out.

It's not quite a sock. I figured it would be wiser to try out this new needle on a pattern I already know, so I cast on for another pair of Jacoby fingerless mitts, this time using my Lane Cervinia sock yarn from my stash.

Casting on is far less tedious on these circs (obviously) than on DPNs, but I did feel a bit clumsier once I joined into the round and began knitting my first round or two than I felt using DPNs. This perplexed me just a little bit since using larger circs for larger projects, it's always very easy, comfortable and fairly mindless to do. I think it was the fact the needle is so small and the cable is relatively stiff so you feel almost scared you're going to break it as you knit.

As Janet said in her post about her experience with the 9" circular, there does seem to be a bit of play between the stitches and I do find myself moving and adjusting them along the needle to even them out, but it's nothing terribly serious. So far, I've only been doing ribbing, so once I get to the gusset on these mitts, my opinions may change.

As far as things have gone so far with them, I'm enjoying not having to move between DPNs several times per round and make sure there aren't ladders between each needle. I love DPNs, but I'm also loving this alternative to them.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

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Craft Corps

Take a moment to remember your first crafting moment.  Chances are, some of you were taught by someone else or you saw someone creating something and were intrigued by it.  If they hadn't shared their love of crafting with you, would you be doing that one thing you love?

Growing up, I was surrounded by so many amazingly talented and crafty women.  I can remember spending time with my Mommaw, and watching her quilt by hand and make some gorgeous quilts.  I can remember spending hours upon hours with my Mimmy, drawing together and hoping that some day I could be as talented an artist as she was.  And I can remember watching my mom learn a new craft, and asking her to teach me how to do it.  I was always wanting to learn to do whatever my mom was doing.

That hasn't changed with age.  Now I am still going to my mom and asking her to teach me about something sewing related.

I think my first crafting moment (at least one I can remember), was when I was around 4 or 5 years old.  My Mimmy was teaching me about cross stitch.  She took out a plain white piece of fabric, and we brainstormed what kind of picture I wanted to make.  She took out a pencil and drew X's all over the fabric to make the design we picked.  Then she threaded the needle with thread I picked out, and she showed me how to cross stitch.  She gave me the needle, and it was my turn.  I don't remember if it was that very day, or sometime later, when we started calling cross stitch a game of peek-a-boo with the needle.

I've got so many fond crafting memories, but don't worry about me telling them all right now...we don't have enough space.  Since I have all those fond memories, I try and make it a point to teach others around me about the crafting I do.  It's too much fun to keep to myself!

In case you all don't know, in May 2010 Vickie Howell will be coming out with a book called Craft Corps.  I love hearing about peoples craft stories, and soon I'll be able to read them which is super exciting for me.  Just a few days ago, the Craft Corps website was launched and the first newsletter was emailed out.  Please go to the Craft Corps site, sign up and share your story....I would really love to read it!

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It amazes me that so many things can affect the gauge of a project: material needles are made of, size of needles, cast on method, etc.  So many times I have changed needle sizes, when all that fixed my issue was the way I casted on or knitting it with wood needles instead of plastic.

Magic Loop Socks

So far, I'm absolutely loving how the sock is turning out.  I love the colors of this yarn, and I'm so excited that with all this hard work I've finally matched the gauge! 

Magic loop may be the very thing I needed to get me into sock knitting.  Now I just need to get used to wearing socks, and being in sock-feet...

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Sk8r Monkey

Knit....Knit...AGAIN!

I'm so glad I ripped back the hat to start the decreases earlier, because that hat looks so much better now.  I ended up ripping the hat back to where it measured 4.75 inches from the bottom of the casing, and it made a huge difference.

Just a few tips for anyone considering knitting up this hat:

• Do a provisional cast-on.  It really helps when you are picking up the stitches to form the casing around the brim. 
  
• I don't recommend using cardboard.  You need to be able to bend the brim some when joining the cast-on edge, and once you bend cardboard it isn't as sturdy as before.
• The pattern says to knit 5 inches after you join the casing, but that is entirely too long.  Measure from the bottom of the casing instead of the joining round.

Sock 2

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Sock Knitting (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer)

For my first pair of practice socks, I'm knitting the Top-down socks from the Teach Yourself Visually Sock Knitting book.  I figured I might as well start out with the most basic sock pattern for my first attempt, because I have a lot of work to do when it comes to the Kitchener stitch.  That's been my biggest problem with top-down socks, and I'm determined to figure it out and master the technique.  Once I get the hand of the Kitchener stitch, I'll most likely move on to some toe-up socks.

Well, back to the DPNs.  I've got lots of practice ahead of me....

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Spring is starting to peek out from the shadows of Winter here in Nashville. You couldn't ask for more gorgeous weather! The sun has been shining, a nice breeze has been blowing, and it's been so nice to open up all the doors and windows to air out the cabin and breathe in the fresh air. I couldn't help but notice all of the bright daffodils and the blooming magnolia trees. I think I even saw some forsythia blooming here and there.

And where have I been?
Sick in bed. All week. With a nasty stomach flu, no less. I hate feeling that yucky and I'll spare you all of the gory details. The important thing (at least to me) is that I'm slowly starting to feel like myself again and I finally crawled back to work today after being out for almost a week. I also need to get a birthday gift for my mother, who is also at home sick, and her birthday is tomorrow. What a bum time to be sick. Spring has not officially sprung here, though, as it is supposed to be back down to the 40-50 degree range as opposed to the 70-80 degree range that we've seen for the last couple of days, but it was nice to at least get a taste of what's coming.

I'm still sticking to my yarn diet, which has proved quite interesting. As I was speaking of bad yarn karma a couple of posts ago, sure enough, I ran into car trouble later that week and had to plunk down $60 to get it fixed, which is exactly what the "Glinda the Good Witch" kit from Woolgirl would have cost me if I had gone ahead and ordered it. All is not lost, however...I got into Woolgirl's "Wizard of OZ" sock club that will go on for the next year and a half, so I'm pretty excited about that. That brings my club count up to four now which isn't so bad, really. Three of those clubs are from Woolgirl, so I get to look forward to over a whole year of being spoiled by Jen. I'm still waiting on my first sock club shipment which should be here any day now (hopefully today), and then later on this month I get to see what her lace club has to offer. I'm also expecting my Malabrigo Club shipment either today or tomorrow, so I have lots to look forward to. I tell myself that it isn't cheating on my yarn diet if it comes from a club. :)

I have also picked up a new fibery obsession: spinning. Yes, I finally bit the bullet and got a decent little starter spindle, and thanks to Phat Fiber's awesome sampler box, I have a nice collection of various types of rovings and batts to get started on, along with a few more that I bought from vendors on Etsy that had contributed to the box. I can't wait for the March box to go on sale, and I hope I get one. The January box sold out in 20 minutes, and the February box sold out in 2 minutes, so word is definitely getting around about the awesomeness of Phat Fiber. It is certainly worth it to get one. I've been introduced to so many vendors that I may have never found before, and I love supporting the small indie businesses on Etsy, especially since I have a shop of my own.

Clapotis-1

And that's what's new in my neck of the woods. I've been pretty much ignoring Myspace and Facebook lately, so apologies to anyone who has been trying to reach me at either one. When I'm not busy being sick or working, I've been knitting away like mad on my Clapotis, and good luck trying to tear me away from it. After starting over for the 7th time, the pattern finally clicked with me and I've made more progress on it in the last 3 days than I have in the month since I originally started it. The Malabrigo lace is knitting up soooooo softly and the clapotis is going to be so perfect to wear on a light spring day. The colors are even more vivid than I thought they would be. I think it will be very stunning when I finish it, which will hopefully be very soon, and you know that I'll post pictures of it when it is done, of course. :)

Until next time,
Happy knitting, and may you not get sick like me!

~t.

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Sadly, no finished objects to share (yes, still working on that darn Chevron scarf--it will be beautiful when I finally finish) but I have received some great goodies in the mail.

My good friend sockdoc sent me a wonderful package which included pretty Lantern Moon and Della Q bags, and the new Mason-Dixon book Knitting Outside the Lines.  I was inspired by their first book and this one looks like it will not disappoint.

sockdoc gift

Sundara - Denim over Teal, Royal Flush, Sargasso Sea

And last, but not least, the December Wollmeise sock club shipment landed!  In this shipment I found Jultomte, gorgeous deep red, and Saami, a funky highly variegated skein of blue, red, and yellow which seems to be growing on me.  The Saami looks great knit up as a sock.  Can you believe there were knitters all ready done with the sock before I even received my package?  I can only dream about knitting that fast.

Wollmeise - Saami, Jultomte

I remember way back when I only bought more yarn after I finished a project.   Aah, the innocence of a novice knitter...

-T

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This is less of a pattern and more of a story. If you’re just here for the photos and pattern – scroll down; for those who want the story, read on:

I’ve pretty much figured out that I’m a product knitter. I like FO’s. I don’t like having WIP’s. I mean, I love casting on and getting a ton of projects going – but I want the project done so I can use it or gift it or have it do something instead of sit on my needles, because that means I can’t use those needles until the project is done. The vicious circle continues.

These socks are a gift to a friend of mine, Seed. I had originally planned to make her a shrug, but that was completely frogged to save my sanity. She was okay with that and looked forward to her new socks, which were going to be simple stockinette. At the time, I only did stockinette socks because I just wasn’t ready for lace patterns.

My friend selected pretty sock yarn and I took her measurements, but I had a queue so she had to wait a bit. There was another pair that I was in the middle of that I had promised before Seed’s socks, so I had to make good on that promise. However, that turned into my first non-stockinette pattern – the Wyvern. It turned out really well, but I had some logistics to work out and that took some extra time.

Then my brother-in-law came visiting and I was determined to gift him a pair of socks before he left – also in a pattern, but blissfully easier (and in 11 days; I am not a fast knitter so this was a speed marathon). Seed was gracious and patient through all this furious sock-making.

Of course, now finished with those, I couldn’t possibly return to Seed’s project and give her plain stockinette! Somehow, that just wasn’t enough for me any more – but I didn’t want anything too crazy because (1) I wasn’t about to lose my mind for what was supposed to be a relaxing hobby and (2) I didn’t want to detract from the fun variegation in the yarn. Not that I didn’t try to, at first.

There was a simple ribbed lace pattern I thought would be fun and brain-engaging and something new to learn, but all those yarn-overs changed the colours of the sock. It became darker and I lost some of the variegation; it was looking plain and the lace just looked like I slipped one too many stitches on accident. I went on two repeats of that 8-row pattern and wasn’t happy at all, starting to tink it.

After the second night of undoing what I did, I realised that it was taking me longer than necessary. This was painful. It stressed me out that this was becoming more of a chore than a joy. This isn’t why I knit. I am a product knitter – but I love the process of turning string into a 3-dimensional, wearable, functional object. So, I sucked it up and frogged the entire sock. I needed to start fresh.

I tried again, wanting to incorporate the seed stitch (it was thanks to Seed I actually learned of the seed stitch) – but still keeping it simple. I decided that I was going to have seed stitch stripes on stockinette for the tops of her socks. I also wanted to give her a bit of a treat for her feet, so I decided on Princess Soles (purls on the outside of the sock while the wearer has the knitting against their skin). It meant a heck of a lot of purling and I discovered that I purl very tightly so I think either side is ridiculously smooth, anyway, but never mind.

I saw the rows of seed stitch as little speed bumps on an otherwise very smooth sock. I was instantly reminded of dinabugg's Speedbump Scarf - and then it really hit me. I had been knitting this all wrong. Again, it had turned into "knitting as a chore/work" instead of knitting as fun and interesting and magical.

I realised that I wasn't just giving Seed a tangible reminder to slow down and enjoy life (because I'm always telling Seed this "take care of yourself well" stuff) - but myself as well. These socks took me longer than I anticipated (about a month), but I actually really loved the physical act of knitting them up and watching the veriegated yarn make patterns in the socks. I had a great time making these and the meaning behind them is something I need to remind myself of because if you're not taking care of yourself - well, then, what the heck are you doing?

Thanks to dinabugg for the name idea - I know I wouldn't have come up with this by myself

• measure the ball of the foot (for foot circumference)
  
• multiply foot circumference by 0.9 to get the sock circumference
• get my gauge (just do the swatch - you don't want to suffer later!!!)
• multiply sock circumference by gauge and then you know how my stitches you need to increase to

I use Judy's magic cast on and, depending on the shape feet, will cast on anywhere between 16 and 20 stitches to either have a pointed or rounded toe. It's a bit tricky at first, but you can use dpns or 2 circulars (or 1, in my case). If you're doing socks one at a time, you don't have to worry about the second half of those directions, either.

                                                                 repeat rows 1 & 2 once more to make 2 rows of seed stitch
                                             row 3 thru 10  k1 across (stockinette stitch)
For the soles:
                                            Princess Sole aka reverse stockinette stitch (purl all sole stitches)

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yikes! it's been a long time since an entry here!   I seriously didnt think it's been a whole month TWO months!!

Not alot has been going on tho...so it's not like you are missing much.  :)  i'm trying to wrap my brain around the fact that it's *actually* winter now.  how many times do i go outside in a tshirt before my brain remembers that it's 40* or less???  Alot, apparently. :)  We had some very light snow flurries last night. :)   I love me some snow.

Friday night I came home from work wanting german food so Derek and I trekked over to Illinois to our most favorite of german places.  While waiting for our food, the Very German Owner comes to shoot the shit with us... It was funny.  Upon learning that we werent married and had been together for 8 years, he promptly offered to marry us right then and there in the restaurant.  It was hilarious... he started naming prices... this much for a cake, 4$ per witness, etc.  LOL  If I had my camera with me, I would have probably insisted that we marry that moment.   But no way am I getting married without atleast one picture of it... gotta have proof or no one would believe us. ;)    And the food was Yummy, of course.  I will miss this place but I am sure we can find good german food in DC too.

And speaking of DC, no, we havent heard anything.  Last we heard was that they "ordered his file" and that we should hear "something" by the end of this month.   We wonder about this "file" , what file? where is it?  Is this "file" his elusive permanent record they speak so highly of in elementary school?? LOL  But yeah, some file from somewhere!  And we arent getting our hopes up that the "something" that we hear will be the move date... it might be, but chances are it might not be either.   So yeah... we are still just hanging out and patiently (yeah right) waiting for info.

Yesterday was spent in a tizzy.  I set an alarm for 7:20 so I could be the first person thru the door at the tire place.  I needed 4 new tires and an alignment... oh it feels like i am driving on a big puffy cloud now. :)  I was getting antsy because it took them 3 HOURS, all the while my lazy boyfriend was home sleeping. grr.  But the man was nice enough to trade my 10$ off alignment coupon for a 1/2 off alignment coupon... good man.  I'm going to go ahead and tell you how much I paid for 4 tires + an alignment.  237.00$.    I feel that I have to brag a little... that's cheapshit and you are probably paying that much almost per tire, huh?  Just another good reason to drive a little puddle jumper.  :)   But 13 inch tires arent very popular with all the SUVs and stuff on the road so I usually have to have them ordered. 

After the tires, Derek and I drove to beyond freaking N. STL (aka way far from our house) and met up with my friend, Jackie, at a spinning shop.  I am getting the spinning itch.  Jackie ended up buying a wheel (her itch is worse than mine) and it was alot of fun.  We were there for 2 hours and even Derek enjoyed himself.  He said it was very interesting to see how it all works.   However, spinning wheels are expensive (quite a bit more than my 4 new tires + alignment) so I think I will trying to look around to see if I can find something used and maybe can find a deal for my budget.

After that it was a flury of cabela's, sam's club, dinner and grocery shopping.  Speaking of cabela's, I will show you what we got... if you have a candle lover on your christmas list, this is an awesome thing:

There is no flame... the heat from the lamp causes the wax to melt and it gets all pretty and glowy.  Derek's mom is all into some candles so we thought she'd like this.  :)   Funny story:  We saw this at some point in the last month... thought it was a good idea for Derek's mom but then promptly forgot where we saw it at.  We went thru 3 malls before we wandered thru Cabela's and saw it again. LOL   The one at cabela's comes with a candle...some of the others online dont.

Ok I guess I dont have much else to say, so I will post my current knitting endeavors and class will be dismissed. :)

This is a scarf I have been working on.  It's about half done and it's made from alpaca yarn so it's so so so soft.

Here is another scarf I am working on (crocheted) but it may be ripped out.  There is alot of mohair in there and I think it might just be too itchy for me.  I'm still thinking on it tho.

I am making one last pair of socks for Jackie (the one that is knitting me a sweater) and I am actually at the toe decreases on this one....so it's almost done.   I greatly dislike the colors in this yarn but feel free to tell me that you love it... everyone does. :)  (well except aya doesnt...she's the only one with some taste ;))

And I made a cowl.  It's really pretty...definitely some mistakes.  But I dunno about it.  It's pretty and soft, but am I a cowl person?  I am not so sure.  It feels funny.  I have been trying to wear it at home so that I can get used to it.  LOL  So I dont know how often i will wear it... which is sad because I was gung ho and wanted to knit more cowls.  I love the idea.  Maybe I'll get used to it?

Here is what it looks like.  I still need a take a picture of it on.  Hopefully soon.  (Ignore the shadow, it was 6:30 in the morning when I took this)

And a detail shot:

And finally, amy asked me for a picture of this finished sock... still need to knit the 2nd one.

Ok, my poops... that's all i have for now! :)   I designate *you* to remind me in one week to write in here. :) kthxbai!

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First Cashmere Baby Moc-A-Socks

Little baby feet need little booties! I knit these with the Moc-A-Soc pattern found at Bekah Knits here. It's a great pattern. I'll make more in the future, no doubt!

HERE they are in my Ravelry folder.

Oooo...and she just came out with an adult size pattern for it as well!

I did leave off the inside sock, as I got sick and ran out of time for knitting. I used some recycled cashmere sweater yarn, held together to make a sport weight. I hope the baby is comfy in them. He should be...they're soft and warm!

I felt so badly that day, and had a wedding to go to later in the evening, that I only stayed for a short time at the baby shower. I felt terrible about leaving just after she opened the gift. Oh well, she's a friend. She understood, I'm sure!

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I got through Summer of Socks 08 without completely embarrassing myself.  I somehow managed to complete two pairs.  I thought that SOS08 would motivate me, but instead, I think I felt pressured, and thus, it slowed me down.  I know, excuses, excuses.

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