Accomplishments

This weekend was exactly what a three-day weekend should be. Lots of time with friends, time outside, time relaxing, time spent on my priorities instead of someone else's. I enjoyed the hard yardwork, with breaks from chatty neighbors. And JT and I went on a long bike ride--11 miles, our longest yet. We're trying to work up to make it to Mount Vernon and back (about 25 miles) by the end of the summer.

I also played some more with the new ice cream maker - pineapple sorbet. Delicious. I forgot to take photos and now it's gone. I want more, but I have some other ideas first. (Pear sorbet? Chocolate raspberry ice cream? What can I do with papayas?)

And the real luxury was long stretches of time to spend with knitting. I finally had the space and the time to lay out Serrano:

Yeah, so you'll notice that one of the front-tops is about 2" longer than the other. Clearly I got carried away, or my row counter got lost in the space-time continuum. I'm not a hunchback, so I'll be tinking back 12 rows or so to make them even.

I love the lace pattern. I also love how the yarn (Elann Baby Silk) relaxed enough to really let the lace show. I was worried that there might not be much room to relax. It was a big relief to actually hit the measurements. Now I can start the sleeves -- I'd been putting them off until I was sure that the yarn was going to block out sufficiently.

But, I didn't start the sleeves, not yet. Instead, I focused on finishing up the socks in progress:

Charade Socks
Pattern: Charade by Sandra Park
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, colorway Confetti (discontinued)
Needles: US1 Addi Turbos, done on 2 circs
Notes: The cuff is done on 64 stitches. I increased up to 84 over the ankle, and the foot was 68 stitches around (32 instep plus 36 for the sole). These are really comfortable, and the yarn feels much lighter than I remembered. I give the pattern two thumbs up - it's an easy-to-remember two-row repeat.

The stitch pattern is less stretchy than you might expect, but it's very comfortable. I really like the way the slipped stitches help break up the yarn pattern. The pooling was about what I'd expect from Lorna's -- it definitely pools, but not in an unpleasant way. And the socks aren't as fraternal as some I've knit from LL.

Of course, with those done, it was time to start something new. Entering my stash into Ravelry, I was reminded of some real gems I've hidden away. When I rediscovered my Claudia's Handpainted in Pistachio, I was compelled to cast on with it right away. Luckily, we had an hour's drive to a friend's house, and JT drove so I could knit:

That's the top of Giotto. It's my first picot sock top ever, and lemme tell you: I am seriously in love.

Oh, Hello

Yep, I'm still here. Haven't forgotten about ye olde bloggg, but haven't had much time to catch a breath since getting back from a wonderful vacation in Florida.

I've spent lots of time playing with my new toy, a Cuisinart ice-cream maker. Notable for two reasons. First, I had to actively rearrange/eat up/dispose of things in my cabinets to make it happen. When we moved into this house a year and a half ago, I very carefully made a list of kitchen things I needed and managed to make them all fit in the storage space we have. (There isn't a lot.) I'm not really an appliance gal, save the coffee maker, the crock-pot and the kitchenaid mixer. It's often easier to do something by hand than to pull out an appliance and do it.

But I started wanting an ice cream maker last spring. More than a year ago, when my pal Kim started writing about homemade ice creams. Which means it's also notable because I managed to really delay gratification (coughcough, something I can never do with yarn) and make sure I wanted it. Ohhh, I wanted it.

The tipping point was the new book, The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz. So far I've made three batches of frozen desserts -- strawberry sorbet from the Cuisinart pamphlet and two of Lebovitz's recipes,

Roasted Banana Ice Cream:

and Chocolate Ice Cream (really, chocolate frozen custard):

After I made the Roasted Banana Ice Cream, I told Erin it was the best thing I've ever made. I was wrong. The best thing I've ever made was the Chocolate Ice Cream the next night. And together? Heaven. Total blissful heaven. Totally worth some extra sessions at the gym.

So that's taken up a lot of free time, but I have been knitting. The body of Serrano is complete, and is waiting for some time this weekend to get pinned out. One Charade sock is done:

And I have turned the heel and am closing in on finishing the second Charade sock. It's at that awkward just-turned-heel stage and is refusing to pose for the camera.

Also in free time: playing with Ravelry. (My username is fidgetknits.) It definitely is a Project to get my stash organized, but it's a good endeavor. Also, it's proving to be a good way to get to know my new camera, figuring out what it likes as far as focal lengths, colors, lighting, etc.

[Confidential to Typepad bloggers - I'm having trouble commenting on your site. It doesn't seem to accept my blog URL because it doesn't start with a www. Any hints?]

Back next week... Have a great long weekend!

One Year Ago

13 Up, 13 Down

That pretty much sums up my MDSW07 experience. I had 13 hours of nonstop fun, followed by the world's best 13-hour nap.

The day began for me before sunrise, as I was up and ready for a fun carpool/caravan with Maeve, Elspeth, Katie, Erin and Erin's husband. We had to hit Starbucks to get a bit of morning fuel, and then settled in for the haul up to Howard County. The wave of excitement built as we joined the (very long!) line of cars to get into the fairgrounds. And as soon as we parked the car, Maeve and Elspeth took off!

First stop: Cormo booth.

One backpackful of Cormo later, Maeve was a happy camper.

Some others of us were seduced by the cormo too. Here's Katie:

...and I admit that I heeded its siren song as well.

From there, I entered the scrum at Tess. It was a total madhouse. I mean seriously! Wayyy crowded. (But there was an upside! I finally met Jody in person!) I have a theory about the frenzy at certain booths: it happens at places with a poor web presence. If I could see all of the colors offered at places like Tess or The Fold, I wouldn't feel the need to put on my battle armor and dive into the fray. Oof. Not long after that, I needed to regain my strength. Luckily, the aroma of meats meant that food was very near. I opted for a lamb sausage. It was the perfect choice.

Erin mugging with the sausages. I seriously wanted to ask about taking home one of the 30-foot rounds with me. It was THAT good.

We took in a few of the barns, taking note of vendors. It was much more crowded than I remember -- the last time I went was two years ago, so maybe my memories have just faded.

Shortly before the meetup, I spotted some famous socks in the crowd. It was Stacey! She's just as sweet in person and was totally rocking her socks.

Me, Elspeth, Stacey

It was about that time that we ran into a bunch of other KH knitters, including Holly, Dani, Michelle, Nurse Laura, Carolina, Kel and Nikki.

Then we all headed for the meetup, where there was a rare Shanti sighting! Woot! (not pictured: Shanti's mom!) Also spotted: Frecklegirl Jess, Lara and Chelsea! Craziness.

(Side note: I kept seeing familiar faces. Did I know those people or did I recognize them from their blogs? It was hard to tell. I definitely perceived I knew a lot more people than I could actually identify by name -- one of the downsides of such a wide-ranging, vibrant knitblogging community!)

I started to feel my energy lagging, so there was a much-needed funnel cake to increase my blood sugar. Always a good tactic.

The afternoon was spent at a much more leisurely pace -- the crowds had thinned somewhat, so it was easier to browse the vendors and see the goods. Afternoon brought a run-in with the always-delightful Lolly, who was keeping company with the incomparable Eunny.

At some point, we called it a day. I went home, fed myself some not-fried food, and fell fast asleep.

I guess I should share the goods??

I was actually fairly restrained this year. I think it helps that I made a typed list with rules on it like "no multicolored sock yarn!" to help me focus.

At Tess, I was in a very green mood. I got three skeins of merino lace singles to make a gradient stole:

and two hanks of a deep spruce superwash merino, enough to make a sweater for me.

The other big purchase was at Shelridge Farms, where I couldn't pass up this gray wool. It felt heavenly.

I think it's going to grow up to become this cabled sweater from Phildar (anyone out there know how to translate French patterns?).

And then, for reasons unbeknownst to me, I was in a super lace mood.

I'm not sure what all of this is going to be... there's forest green heathered laceweight merino, 3000 yards (I'm thinking I may double or even triple it), 800 yards of lavender alpaca laceweight, 825 yards of the infamous cormo, in laceweight, and some shimmery gray/black tencel/merino sock yarn from Ellen's.

You can't tell over the Internets, but it all smells amazing because I also picked up a bunch of little herbal soaps. I may have to store them with the yarn so it always smells great!

Finally, because he's just so darn cute, look at this little goat:

Soon: Sheeps!

[First things first: Yesterday I wore out the track-wheel-thingy on my mouse. Do you know how much scrolling it takes to wear out one of those? I impressed the tech folks. Finally, all the Web-surfing has paid off.]

So, I'm finally starting to get really, really excited about MDSW this year. For a long time it's felt like it was so far away, I've put off my planning and strategery for the festival. But now... just two days away!

The great news is that it's supposed to be 70 and sunny-- a non-rainy AND warm weekend!

I actually have a pretty small shopping list this year. It includes:

* Brooks Farm, of course

* Tess if I like any of the sock colors. Under no circumstances am I to buy any of the angora. I have three hanks that have been sitting in stash for at least 3 years. Clearly there's no need for more. Oh, but I totally want to try some of the petite silk this year.

* Ellen's Half-Pint Farm for sock yarn.

* New slippers! (I get a new pair every year. LOVE them.)

* Sock blockers

* A swift, maybe

* Soaps!

...and anything else I can't resist, of course, which will likely include some Cormo, and hopefully some sea silk or bamboo fibers to try. I need to do some maths tonight to figure out how much I need of some things.

If you're going, stop me and say hello! I'll be at the meetup as well. You'll know me by my Orange Rebecca Wrap Cardi. Woot!

Interlude

So, Serrano is a bit stalled out at the moment. I need to plan out the sleeve and neck shaping, which requires a bit of time for me to focus. Preferably when I'm not exhausted. And, so far, that spate of time has proven elusive -- I've been good about going to the gym before work, but that means that I'm totally wiped out when I get home. Last night I nearly fell asleep in my dinner. I know it will take a few weeks for my body to get used to the routine, but in the meantime, I'm spending an awful lot of time being tired.

Which is not terrible, but I'm smart enough to know I shouldn't undertake complex knitting or knitty maths in this state. Enter a humble sock.

This will be a Charade sock. I found the pattern through the fantastic list of sock patterns over at Knitting Philistine. This is one pattern row alternating with one knit row -- something even I can pay attention to in my frazzled state.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces in Confetti, which appears to now be discontinued. It's been in my stash for a few years -- it's the yarn that I always want to knit into socks but has been waiting for the right pattern -- something just interesting enough to break up the yarn's pooling tendencies but without being too fussy. I daresay its time has come!