Oh Yeah. Knitting.

So how's that knitting going? Well, after finishing the house socks for Fred, I decided to use the rest of that wool (in an effort to not have those extras just hanging around) as well as the rest of the wool from the My So-called Scarf that I made and some other Manos del Uraguay wool and make myself a pair of house socks. I think I wrote about that.

My plan was to finish them on the plane. The Manos knits up pretty quickly. Well, I didn't do much other than knit and watch movies (Hairspray, The Simpsons Movie, Transformers) on the plane and I almost finished the socks. It's sort of amazing to me that it took so long, but it amazes me more that they were both done within minutes of each other. I did get a few comments on them and how nice the yarn is. Here's a picture of the finished product. They're very comfortable. I think I'm going to make several more pair for me and for Fred.


I actually "tinked back" a bit, which made me realize how "sticky" this wool is and how well the connections would stay without tying knots. I tried that method where you knit the wool with the new for a few stitches, which I find amazing. I had just been stopping and starting and then tying a knot. This seems better. I don't know how I "learned" the stop-start method. I guess my friend, Julie, showed me about ten years ago.

The other thing I've been working on is a scarf for myself with a Tibetan yarn made out of wool and recycled silk. It was beautiful in the skein at the Stitch and Bitch and it was sort of pricey. I wanted to see how it knitted up. I'm using a fairly boring knit one purl one pattern with the first stitch of each row slipped. (Looks good in Noro, eh?) It's a nice looking scarf, good shelvage and neat looking, but it looks scratchy and the material is a little bit stiffer feeling than the yarn in the ball. Patty felt it and said, "Are you going to put that on your neck?" And then she made a face. I wonder. Here's what I have so far. It's sort of a mindless pattern, but it looks nice and it's reversible.


Actually, when I was knitting with it initially I started thinking about a string bag that I bought years ago from an organic grocer, although I can't imagine how much I would hate making something like that with it. It's just got that "made for strength" feel to it, but I think it might be softer after it's washed and blocked. We'll see.

Patty's scarf went over well. Here's a picture of it. (It looks better from here. Don't click the picture. It's a little blurry.) The color isn't great in the photo. It's a nice pattern and it's free. It's called the Best Friend Scarf. She wore it a few times and she liked how soft it was and that it was made from a more expensive wool - although I think that scratchy Tibetan stuff was more expensive. I don't even want to think about how much that yarn cost in dollars at the current euro-dollar exchange.

At one point, Fred, Patty and I were all wearing scarves that I'd made over the years. Three very different scarves. They're sort of a bore, those scarves, but they get good usage and a good one is important. I would sort of be fine with just doing house socks for a while, but I've got a few things to finish. I have a long drive to Berlin coming up in a few weeks and I'll be in the back seat for about eight hours. I am bringing along a pair of socks. I'll probably bring extra yarn in case I finish, although I can't imagine I will.

So, yeah, I'm still knitting.