Cruising Along

That's how I feel about Orangina... just cruisin'. Every spare moment, I want to pick up and knit on her. I finished the back (or is it the front?):

And have finished about a fourth of the front (or is it the back?):

I really don't know exactly what's causing this frenzy -- I can't quite put my finger on it. It's not the yarn (Online Linie 11 Alpha) -- the yarn is a little twiney for my liking and quite splitty. So maybe it's the pattern? I do love the way that the repeats unfold one on top of another.

(Yes, I realize that's what lace does. I'm still pretty new to the lace concept.) I think there's also the little matter of, I'd like to wear her in September, so I need to chug on through.

In fact, she's become so addicting that I've totally neglected this:

This is most of a mitten. [Pattern: Fanning the Flame Mittens, linked over there in the left bar.] My sister asked for these mittens and picked out the yarn [Koigu -- she's got good taste]. She did this nearly two years ago. She arrives on Friday for a visit. Now, I thought that if I started these mittens almost six weeks before she arrives, I surely would be able to finish at least one.

I'm not gonna make it. My attentions have been diverted elsewhere. Orangina, you hussy.

Century Mark

Last night I hit row 100 on Orangina. I hadn't planned to reach this milestone quite so fast, but it's turning into good mindless knitting as I watch tv in the evenings. This is, I think, the first time that I've been able to knit lace without looking at it -- my fingers just know what to do.

She measures 12", which means that my row gauge is WAY OFF. I'm currently getting 33 rows to 4" ... the pattern calls for 24 rows to 4". Oops. I'm not going to worry about it too much because I can tell the cotton will stretch, plus, I want it to be a little longer than the original. But this does mean that the front is about ready to go on a stitch holder to start the back.

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This is the best typo I've seen in a while.

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Thanks to everyone who said nice things about the basement. No, we didn't lay the tile ourselves -- it was so complicated and messy, I think that might have ended our marriage. But yes, I am thrilled with the end result.

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This last weekend in August [ACK! How did THAT happen?] will find me mostly puttering around the house, save a jaunt to Eastern Market. But I'll also definitely be stopping by the happy place for the great sale! (Because there's always room for more yarn.)

Ba.Se.Ment.

Bad: The hideous Cookie-Monster blue carpeting in the basement when we moved in. To be fair, it was in fine condition, but ack! the color! It doth offend mine eyes.

(Previous owner's stuff.)

Sewage and water and general muck invades as part of the once-every-200-years storm:

(Yes, we saved the beer.)

Magical (and expensive) people with big machines come clean up and dry out the basement. Carpet is pulled up to reveal some sort of bizarro bowling-alley like linoleum underneath:

Mental anguish ensues. And now, more than a month later (almost two months, but who's counting?) we have this:

A clean, dry, aesthetically pleasing basement, all ready to reclaim its furniture and be functional living space again. Yay! I am completely in love with the colors we chose: C2 Linger (a pale almond color) and C2 Rodeo (the clay accent). They delight me. [And a good thing, because we have an extra gallon... I think the living room is going to become Linger, too!]

Orange You Glad It's Monday?

My weekend was completely filled with house-related stuff. [Pictures coming in the next day or two.]

Luckily, I did have a few spare moments, mostly due to a long Metro ride yesterday, to work on Orangina:

This knits up so quickly, and is mindless enough that I can carry it with me to work on. The yarn is a really vivid persimmon color -- and will likely be impossible to photograph correctly.

That's all for now -- happy Monday!

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P.S. I was right about the Jaywalkers. They were all messed up, and have been ripped out. The yarn is in a timeout until it promises to behave.

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Also: I blew right past my second blogiversary! Can't believe it's been 2 years already...

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Finally: Any of you readers have wide feet? If so -- how many stitches do you need around the foot of a sock? Thanks!

Happy Nature

So, camping was a blast. Nothing like staying away from the computer for a while to make you really appreciate nature! Our friends are more regular campers than we are, so they came prepared with good food and coffee to keep everyone nourished.

I was just glad that the new tent had no problems:

And far from roughing it like last year, this year we slept on an air mattress under a down comforter as it got downright cold at night. I guess I'm getting more spoiled as I get over. We went tubing on the river and generally just hung out around the fire. It was exactly what the doctor ordered.

And I decided to find out what all the Socks That Rock fuss was all about:

My first jaywalker, in the new STR colorway Peaceblossom. I confess, I'm still a bit hesitant about this pattern. The way it biases makes it hard for me to appreciate while it's still on the needles. I know my stitch counts are correct -- I've been a bit neurotic about them --but some places look like they have mistakes. I may have to put it down for a little bit and let someone else who's been around this block tell me if I'm on the right track.

Look!

The new RYClassic books are out, at least for a small preview:

[Be patient. Laughing Hens was slow for me, but it has the best previews I've found.]
* Classic Landscape
* Classic Spirit
* Classic Style
* Classic Alpaca

I see several things that could very possibly make their way onto my ever-growing to-do list:

Hush, from Classic Style

Comfy Cable, from Classic Landscape

Peace, from Classic Style

Cambridge, from Classic Alpaca

Hello, I am in one big cabling mood.

I know a lot of people have written recently about how the new Rowan 40 doesn't suck, and I agree. But I still think that the photography and styling in Rowan is too cluttered for me to really tell whether I like a garment. What can I say? RYClassic has stolen my heart, and I'm not too ashamed to admit it.

Of course, there are a few RYClassic misfires. Love isn't blind, you know. For instance, no man should ever, EVER wear bobbles.

Duffel, from Classic Landscape

Have a great weekend. I plan to spend mine knitting near a campfire and sleeping under the stars.

A Sea Breeze

Boy, I could go for a Sea Breeze right now. Couldn't you? A great refreshment on a hot summer day. But, given that it's a little early in the day for libations, how about a Sea Breeze of a different variety?

Sea Breeze
Pattern Source: RYC Classic Beach, third size
Yarn: RY Classic Natural Silk Aran, in Palm Leaf, 16 balls (more than called for!)
Needles: US5 and US6 Addi Turbos
Modifications: None to the pattern; I blocked the body an inch longer than called for.
Comments: As I've said before, this yarn takes on a totally different quality when blocked--it improves for the better by about 1000 percent, transforming from twine-like and stiff to soft and drapey. The pattern shows off both the lace and the cable stitches really nicely. The picot edging, while kind of fiddly to knit, also helps lend some polish to this sweater. This version is going to live in the happy place for a little while, but I can see myself wearing it both with a tank top or with a button-down shirt.

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While in Kansas, it was SO HOT [and humid!] outside that sometimes, I just had to stay inside and knit. Look what all that knitting time produced:

Butter Pecan Socks
Pattern: Child's French Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Claudia's Handpainted Yarn in Butter Pecan from MDSW
Needles: US1 Addi Turbos, done on 2 circs
Modifications: None.
Comments: What a quick little pattern! I loved watching them knit up. Just enough of a stitch pattern in the 6-row repeat to keep me from lapsing into a coma. It's a standard flap heel, with the elongated seed-stitch pattern along the border:

This picture is probably the closest to the actual color. Yum.

And, a quiz. Can you spot the difference between these two?

I know, it's not that hard--they're pretty different. But why? The center stitches are reversed. I did the first sock by doing a k2tog, skp -- but then when I looked at the chart for a refresher on the second sock, I realized the first sock was backwards! So the one on the left is correct -- it's skp, k2tog. So if you've ever wondered what happens if you reverse your decreases, now you know.

Good thing these socks are for me -- I just care that they're sunshiney yellow and COMFY -- that Claudia sure paints a good yarn.

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And, in some non-knitting news, I have the best husband ever. I came home to find this:

Which means that this

I, Podomus

(a Christmas gift) finally comes out of the box and is getting put to good use. Hooray! Also, blogging should get a whole lot easier and faster, so hooray for that too.