Poison & Thunder

After a very long wait, I've finally started Jemima. Yay! This is what I've been waiting for, and what I made a reward for finishing some household chores and assorted knitting tasks.

This is done in Rowan Cashsoft DK--so soft and buttery. It's DK-weight yarn knit at an aran gauge, so it's super, super soft and drapey. The main color is a deep ruby -- "Poison"-- with a charcoal grey edging -- that's "Thunder." Seriously, have the Rowan color-naming folks been drinking from the same cup as the J.Crew folks?

The downside: It's stockinette. The upside: It's on US8s, so it goes quickly. Another upside: It's great mindless knitting to work on while watching football games.

Starting Jemima means that I've knit enough on the the crazy-stripe sock that I'm ready to turn the heel. Heel-turning should commence tonight.

And that I finished the generic red ribbed scarf. Good news: Mission Falls superwash DOES block, and how. Pre-block, it was about 6" wide. I blocked it to 10", and then it shrank up to about 9". It's blocked much more loosely than I'd like in a sweater, but it's drapey and long and cozy in a scarf.

The scarf is all folded and ready to be wrapped and sent to its recipient up north.

*****

AND NOW, we start a semi-irregular feature on this blog: Shoutouts of people who are doing things I wish I'd thought of. Today's:

Kudos to Little Purl, for using striping sock yarn to make a chevron scarf. Looks fantastic! So fantastic I'm even considering it, ignoring the fact that it's a SCARF on size 1 needles.

A Walk in the Swamp

Awww, thanks for all the birthday wishes! The Internets are home to the nicest people.

As far as my actual day went, it was pretty low-key. I took the day off work and slept in, and went on a long walk in my neighborhood. JT had to work that day, but I picked him up at the end of his workday and we ventured over to Theodore Roosevelt Island. I'd never been before! It was a perfect little urban-nature adventure. The island is a little spit of land in the middle of the Potomac. It's long and skinny, and there are a couple of different trails on it.

I love the entrance to the island. It's accessible only by footbridge, (off the GW Parkway) and the trees cover the walkway so it looks like a little hobbit-hole.

The island is mostly marshy, but with some taller trees. Lots of standing water (thankfully we'd remembered the bug spray!). It made for nice reflections.

It being Monday at 6, we encountered only a handful of other people, many with their dogs. But for a good bit of it, we had the island to ourselves. (After a hard freeze kills all the bugs, this would be a great knitting spot!)

It's so nice to contemplate nature while rush hour passes you by, literally overhead.

And we watched the sun sink behind the trees. The days are getting noticeably shorter now.

After doing the loop around the island, we'd worked up an appetite, so we changed and went to our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Evening Star Cafe.

So, not too fancy, but another friend did throw a sort-of "group" party for all of us turning 30 recently, so I feel like I've had my share of celebrating and birthday cake.

I did mark the day by pulling out the needles and swatching for Jemima. I'm on gauge! So stay tuned.

And I've also started a sock -- this one in Vesper Yarns "Strange Little Mama." I am loving how this is knitting up, but the colors aren't me. -- so it will be a gift for a friend. A friend who, I learned, has size 11W feet. I learned this after earmarking the yarn for her -- it totally fits her. But damn, those are some big feets!

New Decade

Today I say goodbye to a great year and a great decade, and welcome in something new. Hello, 30!

Twenty-nine may just have been my best year yet:
* I became a homeowner
*My beloved asked me to marry him under the stars
* We had our first winter and Christmas in the house
* We got married under sunny Belizean skies and escaped to an island for our honeymoon
* I changed departments at work -- the new one is better hours and less stress and challenging in a better way
* I stopped being friends with people who caused me heartache and developed better friendships with awesome people

And, overall, the twenties were pretty swell. Really, 29 takes the "best year of the decade" prize, but 21 would have been pretty close if only I weren't so hungover for most of 21. But 21 is when I first moved to DC (I hoped, but didn't expect, that I'd still be here 9 years later). I was full of exploration and optimism and just drank in every bit of the city every chance I got. Still credit all that exploration with knowing my way around every neighborhood inside the beltway (though take me outside and I'm completely lost). Yes, the 20s were a great decade, and I'm sad to say that they're behind me. Though I did get carded at the bar last night, so that's something.

So, I have great expectations for what 30 and the 30s might bring. It seems like I've got some good momentum behind me.

*****

Knitting-wise:

Look, a finished mitten!

I'm in denial about all the ends inside it. There are dozens. Haven't cast on for the second one yet, but will soon.

I've also finished Cindy's chuppah square:

and am 4/5 of the way done with the simple ribbed scarf. I fully expected to cast on and start swatching for Jemima this weekend, but have mislaid my copy of the pattern. So I'll be hunting around for it and starting as soon as it turns up.

Meet Orangina

The frenzy came to an end this weekend. The ribbing led to the cast off. The seams got sewn. The ends got woven in without complaint (this is huge for me).

All in all, I really love this little shell. She's very versatile, and really unique. I completely adore the scallops at the neckline:

and the way that the seam just stops under the arm to create the arm opening. This is perhaps the best discovery I made... I've never just... NOT SEAMED to create a hole. Until now, all armholes have involved shaping to some extent.

Pattern: Orangina by Stefanie Japel, size 36
Yarn: Online Linie II Alpha, 100% mercerized cotton, 7 balls, a persimmony color
Needle: US3 Addi Turbos (US5 for cast off)
Modifications: I made this about an inch longer than the pattern called for. (I wanted something to hit at "high hip" rather than "low waist.")
Comments: This is a great little pattern that I found addictive. The lace is somewhat tricksy, but really just a two-row repeat that's offset by a different number of stitches on the two right sides. My ego got to me and I didn't use a lifeline... Thankfully, I didn't need it. This could have been a real pain if a stitch was dropped.

I only have one semi-negative comment about the pattern: The yarn requirements seem way off. Even though I didn't use the recommended yarn, I have 3 balls left over. The pattern I have lists the same yarn requirement for every size. I'm told that this may have been updated in later versions. I will also note that when you join the front and the back, the stitch count does not easily convert to doing 3x3 ribbing for the bottom; your choices are to decrease 2 stitches or increase 4. I chose to increase 4 to make sure that it was loose enough in the hippage area.

Fashion note: I've seen a lot of Oranginas running around blogland with white tank tops underneath. The white tanks have looked great on their models... but NOT with this one. The high contrast between the bright orange and the white looked a bit clown-like. So I toned it down with a charcoal grey tank, which didn't compete with Orangina for attention.

And, in some notes about what's next...

* I swatched for Cindy's chuppah square. Have a few ideas marinating, will start to play around with them this week.

* I started a simple ribbed scarf for a friend in (stash!) Mission Falls Superwash Wool. It's a bit too narrow, and I think if I rip and knit wider, I won't have enough yarn to make it long enough. Does anyone know if you can block the dickens out of it? If it blocks, I'm golden.

* Still working the courage to get back on that mitten.

All Joined Up

Over the weekend, Orangina received both a finished front AND a back, and then the two were joined in a happy union presided over by US3 Addi Turbos.

We're now in the home stretch, ribbing to within an inch of my sanity. Four more inches to go and a couple quick seams -- I'll be wearing her by this weekend (I hope!).

So, I'm starting to ruminate on what comes next. I need to finish at least one mitten for my sister, and get started on Cindy's chuppah square.

But meanwhile, the siren song of Jemima is getting louder....

As is the siren song of nice weather after all the rain! I love DC in the fall. Today it's sunny and cool -- the best combination ever.