First in line...

So I've knit my first pair of socks. Hurrah! And I'm kind of feeling like this is the first of many. After finishing this pair, I have now acquired about 5 more skeins of sock yarn and I can't wait to make them into little post-modern wonders. It's a funny feeling, knitting socks. It was so necessary once and now it's a luxury.

The pattern is Froot Loops from Knitty and it was really fun and simple to knit. Usually I don't really knit in public as I am generally knitting something like a lace shawl or a complicated pattern that requires more concentration or a pattern to lug around with me, but these socks with just a four row repeat, made their way into parties, movies, and meetings. It was a lovely thing to knit that way, as I got more accomplished and it started conversations about knitting and my interest in it.

The yarn is really beautiful and squishy and in a colorway I wouldn't normally choose. It is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck in Earth and I really recommend it.

***

This week at work has been trying and also great. Since Saturday we've had about 40 adoptions, which is amazing and really necessary. It's funny how certain factors really effect the adoption of animals, like children getting out of school for the summer, and conversely, the slow and downtrodden economy forcing people to give up their animals.

There were a few quality adoptions, but my favorite of the week was Goodwin. Well, Goodwin's name was initially Taco and his owner was the sweetest little old man. At the shelter, just like anywhere else I've ever worked, we have our fair share of regulars. Mr. Goodwin would come in and tell the story of his old Chihuahua that he loved so well, and how she passed away in his arms. He would always come sit behind the front desk and write a check for a small donation. He would brighten my day, as I'm sure we did his. This past summer, Mr. Goodwin adopted a dog. A fiesty little Min-Pin named Taco and it was a great fit. He gave Mr. Goodwin something to take care of and Mr. Goodwin gave Taco a loving home. About a month ago, Mr. Goodwin fell ill and we had to go pick up Taco and bring him to the shelter. He was in the hospital for about 4 days and when he got out, he came up and reclaimed Taco and took him home. Then about a week ago, he called again, saying that he felt it was necessary to move into a nursing home and he couldn't take Taco with him. We assured him we would do everything in our power to help Taco find a good home. In Mr. Goodwin's honor, we put Taco up for adoption under his new name Goodwin. Goodwin was at the shelter all this past week and I took it upon myself to make sure he was cozy and happy. No adopter expressed interest in Goodwin throughout the week and I was making plans to take him home over the weekend so he wouldn't be lonely, but late Friday, a sweet lady, her husband, and their quiet little MinPin, Andre, came up to meet Goodwin and it was a match made in heaven. What a nice way to end my week!

Congratulations Goodwin!!

Scrappy Tam

Scrap Happy Train Tam by Cosette Cornelius-Bates

This hat arose from the scraps of a few projects with leftovers. The brown is from the leftover Beaverslide Organic wool I used to make the Drops Jacket, and the yellow and blue are Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed from some impromptu Irish Hiking Mitts. I was initially planning to make the mitts simply in yellow, but ran out of yarn halfway through the second mitt, so I ripped that out and made one yellow mitt and one blue. The scraps seemed to fit perfectly into this pattern with the Beaverslide. They're all really rustic and hearty wools and it coordinated with the pattern really well. I was, not only inspired by Cosy's pattern, but by her creative use of leftovers and great color combinations.

While I was making this hat, I was keeping in mind a group I joined in Ravelry called Color Coordinated which has got me thinking about my own use of color and questioning the colors I'm often drawn towards. It's so easy to pick out grays, blacks, browns, and I keep trying to break out and squish around the yellows, purples, and greens that I might overlook normally. A recent trip to the Cultured Purl (LYS here in Erie PA - see map behind my head, above!) and I came home with this little nugget:

This is some breakthrough yarn for me. First of all, it's purple. And I was drawn to it. Which has never really happened before. Second of all, it's sock yarn, and I've never knitted a sock before. And so, through my Ravelry addiction, I looked at a few patterns and found that this exact yarn and colorway was used to make the Froot Loop Socks from Knitty, and I immediately cast on. So I feel I've come a long way. And I'm actually having a blast knitting the pattern. It's quite easy to remember and the yarn is so awesome. It's Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck and it's like butter. I think I'm a convert to sock knitting. We'll see where this leads...

The Ubiquitous...

Drops A-Line Cardigan in Beaverslide Organic Wool

I haven't really been a big sweater knitter in the past. Usually when I start them, it either takes me a while to finish them or I never wear them

This one obviously doesn't belong to the first category, and I'm hoping it won't belong to the second.

The joy of making this cardigan was the yarn. It's Organic Wool in Natural Black from Beaverslide Dry Goods. It's so rustic, it felt like I was knitting right off the sheep. So slippery and oily, it smelled sweet and natural with farmy goodness. When I soaked it for blocking, it gave up so much of it's natural oils, the water looked like a dirty pond and the wool fluffed up pretty and soft. The color is Natural Black and really it's an earthy brownish gray which makes it perfect for this quarter of Project Spectrum.


I had to block the front and backs like crazy because the length just wasn't there. I had a run-out-of-yarn fear, so I didn't knit it any longer, I just relied on blocking and it pretty much worked. The back part can creep up a bit, but nothing an errant tug here and there can't fix. The yarn tightened up and fell right into line with a nice block.

I'll most likely wear the collar turned down. It's still a bit itchy, although I have a feeling that with wear it will soften up even more. I can't recommend this yarn enough.

The buttons are from an old version of Ubernatural that I never wore, so I just snipped them off and now they have a new home!


I have a few more photos up on Flickr, if you're interested.

...

I feel like I"m still getting my feet wet with this blog thing, and I need to get into a groove. I seem to think that I need to come up with some writable topic, knitting related or otherwise, when really I just envisioned this as being someplace I can write about my thoughts and experiences. Hopefully I can relax and be less restricted. I mean, I don't really feel like I have an audience, but part of me writes in a way that others will be reading, so I censor myself and edit what I would normally say. Like just now I just deleted a paragraph I wrote about kitten season at the Humane Society and how most people think of kittens as cute and exciting, but I see them as overabundant (too many of them for the limited amount of adopters), easy to make sick (runny kitten eyes, sneezy kitten noses), as having bad timing (everyone wants kittens in the wintertime, when there are none) and I erased it because it seemed too negative or depressing. So I'm glad I retyped it. It's loosening my blog boundaries... And really anyway, no one's reading.

If you are though, thanks.