remembering to knit

Ann and Kay over at Mason Dixon Knitting are hosting a sock KAL right now, lasting through the end of May. If you can use a little cheering on to finish a neglected sock WIP...or if you've been thinking of casting on for a new pair of socks...well, this is a great time to join in. There are quite a few people knitting their very first socks for this KAL!

Knitting had fallen by the wayside for me since the weather changed. I've been alternating between two states: first, shoulder to the wheel, tackling one necessary chore after another, and second, feeling so exhausted I don't want to move. It's not a good system, and it's not even effective in terms of getting things done, so this week I'm trying to be aware and to pace myself a bit more.

And knit.

I've missed he transition of knitting for a few minutes here and there during the day, or at bedtime; it's very mind-quieting and centering. So Monday night, I pulled out the WIP bag and finished these socks which had been languishing, toeless, for several weeks:

Simple Gems

And today, thinking of making a nice pair of summer socks for the KAL, I decided to kettle-dye a hank of 50/50 merino/tencel. I started the dye process on the stove but then let it go on for hours in a 180F oven while I got on with other things.

 When Piper and I returned from errands and an hour-long (huzzah!) walk in the woods, the yarn was ready for a soak in a sudsy basin to remove any unattached dye. That's where it is now. I'll rinse it after evening chores and if it dries overnight, maybe I'll cast on a sock tomorrow.

Here's a funny thing: I want to recreate a pair of socks I made in 2009, but didn't make any notes. I can see what to do for every part except the lace stitch on the leg:

SeaSocks

Maybe I pulled it from a Barbara Walker stitch dictionary; she published several thick volumes, and I've occasionally borrowed one from the library.

Does it look familiar to any of my knitting readers?

It looks like a repeating series of partial discs, at a diagonal.

If you click the caption, it should take you to the ravelry project page and the original image which is much sharper.

~~~

One more piece of fibery news from the MDK blog, which has been one of my favorites for many years. This week Ann and Kay are having a giveaway for a substantial amount of Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere yarn.

'Nuff said?

Good luck!

~~~~~

one is done

With all the unfinished tasks staring me in the face literally everywhere I look at the moment, it gives me a disproportionately huge feeling of satisfaction to finish something. Anything.

Even a tiny thing.

Like socks.

Done and dusted.

Tout finis!

The Bluefaced Leicester socks have been excellent October bedtime knitting. It's gotten me back in the rhythm of daily knitting, whether for five minutes or two hours at a go. For the next several weeks, I'll try to have something on the needles at all times; the process simultaneously distracts and calms. Bonus: something genuinely useful is created.

Maybe there will be a pair of heavy boot socks next. Or another of those ear-hugging hats to send to the next cold-eared person I hear about. (Is it you? Let me know!) Just something simple. Complex fiber endeavors can come later, when I no longer need to focus most of my attention on "Before Winter!" projects, because it will no longer be "before" Winter.

Gulp.

Where are my needles?

I rolled up the cuffs of my dungarees for this snap,

so Dani can see the flannel lining  :)

~~~~~

AKC: actual knitting content

The History of Socks: an ongoing scarf made with leftover bits of sock yarn.

I didn't realize until I started writing this post, how many acronyms have become part of my fiber language. Since I don't know how many readers are knitters, I'll translate. These are not my own inventions - they are widely used in writing, though not necessarily in conversation.

After a long knitting hiatus, I've dusted off a few needles this week, and searched out a UFO (unfinished object) buried in the neglected yarn basket. Actually, I was expecting one UFO; this pair of socks that seemed oddly doomed, even back in 2010:

But I soon discovered this lone sock,

which I didn't even recall casting on:

Checked my project notes: sock cast on in 2012.

And...there's more.

So it's a really good thing that I've joined a special kind of KAL (knit-a-long) organized by two inspiring bloggers and podcasters - yarnsfromtheplain (link goes to Nic's podcast website) and Louise of KnitBritish, who I met in a knitting-related conversation on twitter a while ago. Coincidentally, it turns out Louise is from Lerwick, home of the Up Helly Aa festival!
Small world, this fiber world.

Specifically, this is a KAL for finishing up WIPs (work in progress) before casting on something new. The timing is important, as the unmistakable hints of Winter Coming send those of us in the northern hemisphere down the rabbit hole of pattern searches on Ravelry...

Winter! Coming!

Must cast on Hats! Mittens! Sweaters! Socks!

So clever Louise came up with a 2-month KAL, and called it:

#WIPCrackAway: a KAL to help you finish those WIPs!

And I am IN.

I decided to start with that single orange sock,

and over the past three days, there's been some progress.

Today the sock came along on Piper's very long walk.

I stopped for a while, and sat against a tree, knitting,

while Piper ran and ran and ran.

This was my view:

It took a while,

but Piper eventually decided to rest.

Briefly.

And by then, I was ready to walk again.

Sitting is not a longterm option for me.

Not for me, either!

So the now-bigger sock

went back in the bag.

But not for long!

~~~

Do you join KALs or other a-longs?

(This is my first one.)

Is it fun?

Does it help you stay on track with a project?

Please share your tips!

~~~~~