Rent Socks

Some of you know that I have a very long commute to work - 84 km (~50 miles) each way. In addition to this, my role at work has been changing lately and now I'm doing training in a classroom setting. The result of this is that now I have a hard and fast start time in the mornings and when you have to cross a city of a million people to get to work, traffic is unpredictable at best. So on the days when I teach, I spend the night before at a friend's place much closer to work. We have experimented with how to compensate her for this. She's not really comfortable taking my money. I've brought a roast a few times, wine others but I think we've settled on something that will work: socks. She doesn't knit, but loves hand-knit socks.

So here is what is likely going to be the first of many:  Rent Socks.  The yarn is Trail Socks by Fleece Artist in "cedar" colourway. After she's tried it on and I know it's the right length, I'll graft the toe.

In other news, the calendar says it's spring now, but it seems mother nature didn't get the memo. It's still very cold outside (-10C) with lots of snow. But one of the oddities of Eastern Ontario is how fast the seasons change, especially from Winter to Spring.  When the change happens it will be very fast, a matter of days.  I've lived here long enough to know this so I've got some seeds started.

I know this is very early but I really only have a few things here.  I have some herbs (basil, cilantro, dill) which were decimated by some unknown critter last year, I have some pumpkins which I'll transplant when I can, some celery because home grown is really the only kind I like, and some tomatoes.  See, I've been looking at the tomato plants in May with the fruit already on them and think I'd really like to have one, but I won't pay the $20 the nursery is asking for them.  I figure I can grow it myself with a little bit of planning.

I'm also working on a new tank top for summer.  This is called Fifty-Fifty and you can find the pattern on Knitty.  I spent last night and a few hours this morning working on this and this is what I have so far.  As is normal for me, I'm not using the recommended yarn so I'm not getting the recommended gauge so I've had to recalculate all the numbers.  It turns out, that with my recalculated numbers I was 4 stitches off the numbers for a different size so I decided to try that. Here is the pattern. I think this will be really cute when it's all knit up.

I quite like the pattern, but one of my pet peeves with patterns like this is when the pattern doesn't quite fit around the number of stitches so you end up with a really awkward join on the sides.  In this case, there is a huge gap (ok, not so huge, only 4 stitches) on the sides where the pattern doesn't meet up.  Still, this makes me crazy.  

Not all the sizes have this problem, so I'm going to rip this all out and recalculate, maybe change the ease a little bit to see if I can use the numbers for a size that doesn't have this problem.

Things are Looking Up

I always think of March as being something of an endurance test - something to get through before April and Spring starts in earnest. But today, on the 9th, I feel like things are looking up.

First of all, the sky is blue and the snow is melting.

No really, trust me - it is. And the temperature's are up. Today is only a little bit below freezing. The birds which are still here, the Jays and Chickadees are flitting around the trees and chattering away and there is heat in the sun when it comes through the window. I've also noticed that rivers and streams are starting to open up, which means the ducks and geese will be back soon.

My husband is getting better. He's had an extremely heavy chest cold that was bordering on the plague. This was the kind of cold where he didn't get out of bed for four days - and I've been in the guest room for four days because I didn't want it. He actually got out of bed today, got dressed and ate. Which means I might get to sleep in my own bed tonight. Fingers crossed. On a related note, I've discovered that we need a new mattress for the guest room but that doesn't have to happen right away.

Ian progressed through two levels of snowboarding this year! I don't have a picture of this because I forgot my camera yesterday, but we spent the day at Mount Pakenham where he's been taking lessons. He'll be starting in Level 4 next year - pretty good considering he only started riding a year ago. And while I was there waiting for him.....

...I finished a pair of socks; almost.

I need to graft the toe and weave in the tail from my cast on then I'll have something new. These are knit in Malabrigo yarn in the Archangel colourway.

I also got back in the proverbial saddle and decided to try spinning more Alpaca. This time it is working wonderfully and a good thing too because this isn't actually for me. A couple years ago, a lady I worked for took a vacation to Vermont but before she went she asked me if she bought fibre, would I spin it? And being so keen as a new spinner I said "Sure!"

So I've had this - about a pound and a half of Alpaca fibre in my stash for about two years.

The white is pretty standard white, 4 oz but the brown is the most beautiful mahogany colour which really doesn't show in this picture. She's got 8 oz of that. I'm sure she's a bit annoyed at me by now - or has forgotten about it. Two years ago, I really didn't have the confidence or skill to do it.

Now I feel and do, at least enough to spin this well and give her something that she can use. In exchange for my time, she also gave me 8 oz of Alpaca from a lovely animal named Gus from Maple Farm Alpacas in Brandon, Vermont.

I might have the order of who gets what wrong but either way, it's such a pleasure to spin. I really like how this is prepared, the fibre is extremely clean and wrapped neatly into bumps. While I didn't buy this, I would order more from them (once our dollar goes up again).

One Red Sock

I didn't plan to be away for this long, but holiday weekends do tend to interfere with knitting time.  I had ten people over for Easter and while I love to entertain on this scale, and had a great time with family, there was very little knitting done.

I do however have a sock to show you.

This is made from Regia 4 ply yarn.  It feels quite coarse in the ball and is reputed to wear like iron but don't be fooled by it - it knits up into a nice sock and is much softer than I expected it to be.  As for the colour....that was an impulse purchase about a month ago.  While dressing that morning, I had a passing thought that red socks would go well with what I was wearing but I didn't own any.  Later that day, I happened on red sock yarn so without really thinking about it, I bought two balls.

A funny thing about colour is what we associate with it.  I said once that I had never in my life owned red socks but that isn't true.  I did once own red socks; even made them myself.  I don't know if I genuinely forgot about these, or suppressed the memory, but when we were moving from Beijing, China back to Canada I made a pair of red socks.  It was something for me to do with my hands while 10 men  (honestly - there were 10) roamed my house and packed all my things in preparation for the move.  It seems it was also a place for me to put all the stress of an international move.  I never actually wore the socks when we got to Canada - they were the normal number of stitches but were knit so tightly I couldn't get them on.  This sock fits much better.

I also finished a new skein of handspun.

This is made from Knit Picks Full Circle roving in colour "Wolf".  I was so pleased with the last three ply yarn I did that I tried it again and I even surprised myself with how well this turned out.

The result, after washing and a good "whack-and-thwack" in the tub is about 120 yards of remarkably even, worsted weight yarn.

Not bad for a spinning wheel with only one bobbin eh?

Maple Trees and New Socks

One of the curious things about Eastern Ontario is the speed with which seasons change. Last week the temperatures were well below freezing but today it is 10 C (50 F). I was outside in just a fleece jacket and I was comfortable.

And what was I doing while I was outside? I was tapping my maple trees!  Lanark County is considered the maple syrup capital of Ontario and the supplies for this are readily available in every hardware store around. The process is really quite simple:

1. Drill a hole in a Maple Tree.

2. Clean the hole.  The dark line below the hole is the sap running out.

3. Bang in a spigot and hang the bucket.  You can see the clear sap running into the bucket already.

On a 4.5 acre [1.8 ha] property, I only have three maples...something of an oddity in these parts.  So now we wait.  We'll have to collect the sap daily, filter out any debris that lands in the buckets and then start boiling it down so it will thicken.  I've never made my own syrup so I'm quite excited to see how it turns out.

I also saw daffodils poking their heads up on the south wall.

And the lilac tree has heavy buds

Spring is clearly well on it's way.  Good thing I finished Chucks socks while it's still cool enough to wear them.

New Yarn and One Sock

This past week was somewhat difficult.  There was a major professional deadline to be met and a major winter storm came through.  My boss is a big fan of me working from home when the weather is poor so I've been at home since Wednesday!  On Tuesday night as I drove home I figured I'd be able to get some spinning done, and move ahead with my knitting, tame the laundry monster and get the floors cleaned all while hitting that deadline with ease.

HA!  What a joke.....that professional deadline ended up being tighter than I thought but I had everything done by 5:00 on Friday.  The downside is the laundry monster is still rampaging upstairs and the floors still aren't clean.

I did however get some spinning done.  This is my very first attempt at a three ply yarn.

The colour is called "Tavern" and is part of the spinning colour Six Pack from SweetGeorgia Yarns.  I'm much happier with the finished look and feel of this compared with the two-ply yarns I've been making up until now but that could possibly be because maybe, perhaps, I'm getting better at this.  I've also learned that I'm not a good judge of how a dyed roving will look when it's been spun.  I thought the roving for this was straight up ugly.  No nice way to say it, but I'm quite taken with this finished yarn.

I also have a finished sock in the Fleece Artist yarn I showed you last week and have done about half the leg on the other sock.  I decided to give them to Chuck for no particular reason other than I thought he'd like them.  I was right - he's looking forward to having them.

I'm also considering the purchase of a new spinning wheel.  I have a lovely Jacob Plum wheel that works well and is in good repair but that has the distinct liability of only having one bobbin - makes making a decent three-ply yarn more of a production than it needs to be.  I knew when I bought the wheel that this was going to end up being a problem and since there isn't a local 'Jacob Plum' dealer it's not a simple thing to get parts.  I know I can send the entire flyer assembly to a guy who will make bobbins to order and that's all well and good, but what happens when something else breaks or wears out?  

The quest is on.

Loose Ends

It was -24C/-11F last night when I came home from the movies (I saw The Hobbit if you were wondering. Great show.) Today it has 'warmed up', if you can call it that, to -14C/7F. The water lines to the two sinks and toilet in my downstairs bath are frozen because the pipes are on the exterior wall. I'm not sure what Einstein thought that was a good idea when the bathroom was being built and truthfully I didn't make the connection when we were looking at the house, but now that Chuck isn't working, it's going to change.

In the meantime, the pellet stove is blazing away, and the dogs have lost all interest in going outside.

And I want a new sweater and am increasing interested in some fingerless mitts. Thing is, I have way too many projects on the go as it is. Granted, except for one, they're all small but don't think I can justify starting a sweater until I've finished a few of the current works in progress.  So, in no particular order, there is:

a. A pair of mittens.  These were started in the summer with the intention of being a gift.  Without going into too much detail, the intended recipient is no longer around so I stopped work on them.  But they're still great mittens made of Alpaca.  They fit me.  And it's -14 outside.  I should really finish them.

b. Socks.  I started these just for something to do with my hands one night in early December and someone commented on them.  I thought I might give them as a gift to the commenter, but I ended up with something far better for that person.  And truthfully, I really liked the yarn so wasn't keen on giving it away (Tardis/Indigodragonfly).  In the end, I've decided to keep them.

c. Socks.  While the socks in point b were being knit, I realized that I didn't know how big the potential recipients feet were so I stopped after I knit the first sock and didn't graft the toe.  I was considering wrapping just one and having her try it on to see if they fit.  As mentioned, I decided to keep them but while waiting for Christmas, I started another pair for me.  I have the first one completed.  These are 20,000 Lawyers Under the Sea by Indigodragonfly.

d. Stole.  This was going well  until sometime in October, or possibly early November, when my lovely dog expressed his approval of the yarn by 'playing' with it.  The ball exploded everywhere and I've only just recently re-wound it.  It's ready to be worked on again.  At the rate I'm going, this will be ready in the spring which honestly is about the time I'd like to have it.  The pattern is Autumn Arbor Stole by Anne Hanson knit in Amethyst Marrakesh by HandMaiden

e. Shawl.  I demonstrated an inability to count to four consistently so the first half of this is longer than the second half.  No big deal, except I don't have enough yarn for the second half.  I really like the pattern and yarn combination so I'll do it again.  But I'll be a little more conscientious about counting to four.  This is also 20,000 Lawyers Under the Sea by Indigodragonfly in a Merino Silk blend.  Before anyone asks, it's different enough from the sock yarn that I can't make up the difference using that.

A Sudden Moment of Quiet

It's been wild around here lately.  For many people the summer is when things get really busy with everyone moving in different directions, but for us that happens in the Fall.  I haven't done much knitting - I haven't even been able to make it out to my regular Saturday afternoon knit group, but I've certainly been busy.  I've got most of the garden put to bed and lots of food in the cold room.  We've had people come for a visit, a new wood stove was installed, Chuck and I attended the 30th birthday for the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch Association in Ottawa (he's the VP, I had to go), closed the cottage and celebrated Thanksgiving #1.  #2 is going to happen tomorrow.

Thanksgiving #1 was a riot of a celebration this year.  Friends who live in Perth Australia were in the US visiting friends in Washington so we invited them up to spend some time with us if they could work it into their itinerary.  As it happens, they were here for Thanksgiving!  So we spent the entire weekend playing the "Do you remember when...." game.  A weekend wasn't nearly long enough with them so I think we need to start planning a return trip in earnest.

I mentioned a while ago that I had made Chuck some socks for hunting.  So today while he's off golfing in a kilt at the inaugural Kilted Classic in Pembroke, I'm able to get a picture.  The socks were a huge success; he really likes them, says they're really warm and wears them all the time.  I think I'll need to make more.

My big knitting project now is Autumn Arbor Stole by Anne Hansen.  Mine doesn't look exactly like the one on her website because I'm making the smaller version.  I'm  now 10 rows away from having the first half complete.  Lace was described to me once as having the look of a "dirty tissue" until it's been washed and blocked.  I have to agree.  This looks like a total mess here, but I think it's going to be stunning when it's finally done.

Chuck is getting ready for a few weeks of hunting.  He's been out for ducks and geese already.  So far there's only one duck in the freezer but I'm sure there will be more.  He's going moose hunting this week and deer hunting in early November.  A deer or a moose will mean we need to get a new freezer but it will also mean I won't need to buy much red meat this winter.  

Speaking of deer, I hit one coming home from work the other day.  It was dark and raining and all of a sudden I had a very different hood ornament.  Lucky for both of us, I didn't hit it very hard so didn't kill it, and there's only minor damage to my car.

Even the headlights still work.  Still, I was lucky.  It was a small deer and I wasn't going really fast - it could have been much worse.

End of the Drought?

It's Saturday again and the most exciting thing is that it has rained.  I don't mean just a little tease of a sprinkle, I mean measurable rainfall.  In some ways it's very good - a huge relief that might be in time for some crops.  But truthfully, there has been rain for the past week and my yard  is now a different colour - it's green again.  We need to cut the grass and I think all the little slips of trees that I planted in the spring might even survive.

There has been some knitting happening too.  I've finished a sock and most of a mitten.  Before anybody asks, no - there's no second-sock syndrome or second-mitten syndrome happening.  I simply don't know how I want to finish the mitten so there it sits on the needles waiting for me to make a decision.  I'm leaning towards a very simple cuff - but part of me wants to make something big and extravagant.

As for the sock, I finished it and grafted the toe late last night while watching TV.  I even started casting on for the second sock but when I couldn't correctly count to 64 (to make sure I had the right number of stitches) I gave up and went to bed.

Which is when I decided that maybe this much rain isn't a good thing.

There is about 2 cups of water in the bowl.