I took a picture of the KOARC’s foot the other night, as he was wearing a pair of socks I had made for him.

I noticed what remarkable good shape they are in. This is the sole of the foot:

If you click to enlarge the pic, you’ll see there’s absolutely no sign of wear.

I went back through my blog, and found the project page for this pair, here. The yarn is Regia sock yarn (wool/nylon blend). I made this pair of socks for him in July 2003 — six and a half years ago! Since that time they have been worn regularly, machine washed in hot water, and dried on high heat. That Regia yarn wears pretty darn well, doesn’t it? Can’t ask for much better than that!

The second sock tale . . .

Remember these socks?

I finished them back in November — the Heather and Thistle Socks. They are knit from MacKintosh Yarns lovely lovely Iona fingering weight yarn — it’s 80% superwash merino/10% cashmere/10% nylon. The pattern is now available for sale, at MacKintosh Yarns, here.

The third sock tale . . .

My new sock-in-progress.

This is a design from my upcoming book, Toe-Up Socks for Every Body. They are called “Manly Aran Socks” and I designed them specifically for guys. The socks pictured in the book are knit from Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the “denim” colorway, lighter than the colorway I’m using. I showed the pic to the KOARC and asked him if he’d like the sample socks knit for the book (he’s the same foot size as the model). He said he’d like them, but he can’t have them until after they go on tour with me this year. (Alternatively, the KOARC could come on tour with me and wear those socks at every event, but then who would take care of Lucy while I’m away from home?)

Anyhow, I figured I’d knit him a pair right now. I’m using Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, in the “Cookie’s Deep Dark Secret” colorway.

I’m actually a lot further along than the above picture shows.

This colorway is great to knit during daylight, but at night it turns into a dark navy, so I’m knitting blind most of the time.

Another thing . . .

The Argus Shawl pattern is up for sale in my Ravelry store, here (Ravelry link).

This shawlette can be knit from one 100-gram skein of sock yarn and when blocked measures approximately 54” across the top (wingspan) and 25” down the center back.

This pattern is perfect for a beginner knitter who wants to knit lace. The pattern is written in great detail and spells out everything you need to know. The lace is charted in 4 relatively simple charts that are easy to follow.

It is knit from fingering rather than laceweight yarn, which is much easier for a lace newbie to execute. The stitches used are knit and purl, and a few simple lace techniques – yarnover, knit 2 together, and ssk, and sl1 k2tog, psso (which are explained in the pattern).

Like the rest of my Ravelry patterns, I’m donating 50% of my profits through January 31, 2010 to Doctors Without Borders. Thanks to all of you who’ve bought patterns so far!

Lucy sez . . .

“When you go on the road, Daddy stays home with me. This is non-negotiable.”

Here it is in its unblocked state.

Cat included for scale. Unblocked, it measures a petite 40″ across the top and 20″ down the center back.

And here it after blocking.

It now measures a surprising 54″ across the top, and 25″ down the center back. And it took under 350 yards of fingering weight yarn. Madelinetosh Tosh Sock, in the Baltic colorway, to be exact. I used a U.S. size 5 (3.75mm) needle.

I’ve named this design the Argus Shawlette. Here it is being modeled by Gwendolyn:

And another:

I’m working on the pattern for this baby even as we speak. It’s very easy to knit and a nice speedy project.

Help for Haiti

Today I went into my Ravelry Pattern Store and have edited all the patterns there to reflect that from now through January 31, 2010 I am donating 50% of my profits from all Ravelry pattern sales to Doctors Without Borders.

Lucy sez:

“Zzzzzzzzzz . . . “

What happened to the True Love Stole?

This is what happened to it:

I finished it!

That’s a pic of it unblocked. Even as we speak it is relaxing in a nice bath of woolwash and blocking will commence momentarily.

But meanwhile, I am knitting on my new super-not-so-secret project:

This is the beginning of a shawl being knit from Tempted Luxe Grrl yarn. The colorway is un-named, as Stacy custom-dyed it for me when I requested a blue-green almost-solid. Isn’t it gorgeous?

The yarn is fabulous to knit — it is sport/dk weight and a blend of 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, and 10% Nylon. I’m knitting it on a larger than recommended needle (a US size 7) and getting 4.5 stitches to the inch. I wanted a nice drapey fabric because I’m knitting lace.

The shape is a more-than-triangle — extra increases on the front edges result in the nice shaping that will make the shawl stay put on your shoulders. Because it is a heavier weight yarn, I opted for a stronger non-fussy lace pattern.

Right now I’m calling it the Stacy Shawl and I’m liking the name. The shawl reminds me of Stacy: strong, beautiful, and straightforward!

Now don’t quote me on this, but there is a very strong possibility that this pattern will become available in a very fun way (she said mysteriously).

Lucy sez:

“Please thank Miz Stacy for dyeing pretty yarn for a blankie for me!

In other news, I need to change the name of my Bamboozled socks as a reader pointed out there is already a design by that name. And here I thought I was being so clever . . .

How do you store your needles? Do you keep them in the original Addi bags and sizes together? I’m just beginning to have enough needles that I need to determine a better way to keep them organized.

I have this:

The Tower o’ Needles!

It has a total of ten drawers.

I put each size in a separate drawer (though the larger sizes are doubled and tripled up) and for the most part I do keep them in their original packaging.

The size zero drawer is jammed full.

I’ve had the Tower o’ Needles for several years. I bought it somewhere like Staples or Office Depot. While it not exactly fine furniture, it serves its purpose very well!

In Knitting News

I have turned the heel on my commuter sock.

And I did not knit at all on the True Love Stole last night. I spent the majority of my knitting time working on non-knitting things.

Shocking, isn’t it?

Since this is an “at home” weekend, I’m hoping to get in some quality time with my True Love.

Speaking of true love . . .

I Heart Wollmeise

I loved the comment that Natalie made about the pic of my Wollmeise I posted yesterday:

Claudia is amazing – the picture just jumped out at me & yelled Wollmeise. Mmmm. Perfect colours.

So true. Wollmeise is an original. Ain’t nuthin’ that compares to it as far as I’m concerned. Period. The end.

Several of you asked what I was going to do with my Wollmeise bounty. As I said, I bought it sight-unseen in a grab bag. I figured I’d make socks with it. But don’t those colorways look fabulous together? Here: I’ll post the pic again:

Five skeins of Wollmeise Twin (80/20 wool/nylon) which is a total of 2550 yards of fingering weight yarn. What would you do?

Lucy thinks I should give her a treat. But really, that is her answer to a lot of things.

This took approximately 600 yards of dk/light sportweight weight yarn — Lorna’s Laces Pearl, in the “Mineshaft” colorway. I used 3 100-gram skeins (220 yards each) and had 30 grams leftover from the last skein. US 7 (4.5mm) needle.

The wingspan is about 72″, and it’s about 26″ down the center back.

The pattern will be available in a couple of days.

We Have a Winner

Congratulations to Emmy Jay who has won my copy of Men’s Knits: 20 New Classics by Erika Knight. Thanks to everyone who left a comment!

Am I Still Knitting Socks?

Yes.

Am I Still Knitting Lace?

Yes.

Lucy Sez

“This is a nice kitty blanket, Momma!”

How easy is it? I finished it in under a week. Gotta love knitting with DK-weight yarn right after knitting with laceweight!

But I’ve not blocked it yet, so the official FO post will have to wait til Sunday. The color in that photo is way off because I was shooting into the sun.

In the meantime . . .

Book Review!

I have in my hot little hands (and have had for a week or so) a copy of this book:

Men’s Knits: 20 New Classics by Erika Knight. The publication date is September 1 — next Tuesday.

As the title suggests, this is a collection of classic designs for men. I love how the table of contents has photos of each design:

And there are some accessories as well as sweaters:

For each design, there is a photo of the sweater being worn by a “real” looking guy, as well as a photo of the sweater lying flat, with arrows superimposed on it to show you exactly where the size measurements were taken.

Of course, most of the models were young and cute:

But there are a couple of older guys in here too. Here’s one of them:

For the most part, the sweaters are indeed classic and non-fussy — perfect guy sweaters. This is the only one that gave me pause:

But I think it is just a matter of a too-big sweater on the model. Your mileage may vary, but most guys I know would not wear an oversized sweater like that.

Well, the back cover photo made me stop and think as well:

The cardigan looks rather ill-fitting but then, the pants do too.

There’s a range of sizes — from small to xxl. But a word of warning: the small is generally a 36″ chest, and the xxl is 44″. When I think of xxl for a man’s size, I think of 50″ or so. If you are knitting for a big guy, these sizes might not work for you.

There’s a wide variety of yarns represented from chunky to fingering, all of which could be swapped out and subbed with little problem, I think.

Okay, who would like my review copy?

If you’d like to be entered in a drawing to receive this book, leave a comment to this post by noon Eastern time on Sunday, August 30, 2009. I’ll draw a name at random then.

Lucy sez:

“I can’t wait!”

I finished the Order to Chaos Shawl last night at approximately 7:30 pm.

I used approximately 1500 yards of fingering weight yarn and a US 5 (3.75mm) needle. Specifically, I used Dream in Color Smooshy, in the “Shiny Moss” colorway.

As is my wont, I blocked this baby by steaming the living daylights out of it with my steam iron. Apologies to those of you who requested a YouTube video of said steaming process. I was by myself when I did this so was unable to film it.

Well, Lucy was with me, but her lack of opposable thumbs makes her a lousy camera operator. That and the fact that she is easily distracted.

Anyhow, unblocked, this was about 48″ in diameter. Lightly blocked it measures 60″ in diameter.

I worked up an edging that was more orderly than chaotic, and I’m liking the results.

The pattern will be available for sale in the near future.

From time to time y’all comment on how brave I am to allow Lucy to lounge around on my knits. No bravery involved — Lucy is very much disinclined to do damage to knits.

For starters, she has no front claws. (She was declawed before she came to live with me). And she is a very dainty girl. She has many knitted toys, most of them filled with catnip, and she does not hurt those, either. Rather, she plays with them rather carefully and carries them around as if they were her dolls.

I did start a new lace project, using the yummy pink yarn I pictured in yesterday’s post. That’s the alpaca/shetland blend laceweight that Carol of Black Bunny Fibers gave me when I was in Philadelphia.

But I’ll talk about that tomorrow.

Lucy sez:

“I want to know which among you were implying that I would harm Momma’s knitting.”

The Exonumist’s Shawl is now available for sale via download from my new Ravelry pattern shop. It costs $5.00, payable via Paypal and is delivered to you as a pdf download. If you are not on Ravelry, you can purchase it here:

I’ve put the link to the “Buy Now” button over in the left sidebar for now. If I add more patterns to the Ravelry shop, I’ll need to add a “patterns for sale” page, methinks.

To recap, this shawl is knit from a light fingering weight yarn (Ella Rae Lace Merino) on a US 4 (3.5mm) needle, at an unblocked gauge of 5 st/inch. I used just under 3 skeins at 460 yards per skein. I’m estimating 1380 – 1400 yards for the pattern.

Unblocked it is 45″ in diameter. You can block it out to at least 60″. To make it a bit larger, you can knit more rounds of the last body pattern (adjusting of course your yarn amounts.)

It is knit in the round, starting from a longtail cast-on in the center of the shawl.

On to the Shawl at Hand

Last night I transferred the Order to Chaos shawl from my 32″ needle to a 40″ needle, and took this photo mid-transfer.

Ah, roomier!

I am hauling this bad boy to work with me every day to work on during the commute and during my lunch break. Bow down and worship the mighty air-conditioning, for without it my knitting progress would be almost non-existent.

So.

Last night I was ensconced on the couch, knitting along, and happened to glance down. This is what I saw:

It just cracks me up when she lies like that.

Lucy sez:

“Hey! What’s so funny?”

And may I just say that prednisone rocks? I’ve been taking pretty high doses of it this week (for the Viral Respiratory Crud That Would Not Die, Not Even With Masses of Antibiotics) and while I haven’t slept more than 2 hours/night for the past three nights, I did power-knit through what I consider the most arduous part of knitting a circular shawl . . . the edging.

(It’s interesting to me that while these meds make me very loopy and unable to walk in a straight line, they only enhance my knitting ability. Go figure.)

I will write up the pattern for this baby and offer it for sale. I may do so through the Ravelry Pattern Store, just to try it out. Stay tuned.

I knit the shawl on a US 4 (3.5mm needle) using 3 skeins of Ella Rae Lace Merino (more of a light fingering than a laceweight). My unblocked gauge was 5 st/inch. I used just under 1380 yards, but am conservatively estimating 1400 yards to knit the pattern.

The unblocked size is 45″ is diameter. Very lightly blocked (just using a steam iron) it is now 56″ in diameter.

So now I get to knit “full-time” on the Order to Chaos Shawl.

I’m using Dream in Color Smooshy for this, a fingering weight yarn, on US 5 (3.75mm) needles. If I am pleased with the results, I may sell this pattern as well.

Weekend Fun!

Tomorrow I am heading up to Philadelphia for a quick overnight trip. I’ll be at the lovely lovely yarn shop Loop for their Stitch Party tomorrow (July 24) from 5 – 8pm, then teach a couple of sock classes on Saturday. I visited Loop a few years ago when my first book came out and had a great time there, so I’m delighted to be going back.

Reminder — all scheduled events are listed on my Travel and Teaching page. Just this week, by the way, we added a trip to Knitty City in NYC in September. Knitty City is another great shop  I’ve visited in the past, so I’m delighted to have the opportunity to return.

I think there’s one tentative event in late November that hasn’t been finalized yet, but other than that, I think my schedule is full for the rest of the year.

Lucy Sez

“I must plan my catnip party since Momma’s gonna be away. This will be my party rug!”

I believe that is less than one-fourth of the total edging, possibly as little as one-fifth or one-sixth. I don’t want to look too closely and depress myself with how little I’ve done. What I really need to complete it is a weekend dedicated to nothing but edging knitting. Since today is Monday, and I’ll be away this upcoming weekend, that’s not going to happen. So I’ll just do a bit each evening.

The good news is that I winkled up a very simple edging so I quickly memorized it, thus speeding up the knitting.

I’m not taking it on my commute because it has gone beyond the point where I deem a project portable. So I cast on something for commuter knitting.

It’s another shawl, also my own design. While it is a circular shawl, the construction differs from that of my other shawl.

The blue one is constructed like a pi shawl — based on the mathematical principal of “pi.” The circle doubles its circumference on one round and doubles the distance between the increase rounds: 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 round, etc.

This new shawl is constructed in a spiral. It is divided into sections and you increase one stitch in each section on every other round. By doing the increases on one side of each section only, it forms a spiral. Cool, huh?

I am using Dream in Color Smooshy, which is a fingering weight yarn, in the “Shiny Moss” colorway. I’m using a US size 5 needle to make a lacy but not too lacy fabric.

This is a design I have dreamed up in my own little fevered brain, so I’m sort of working out the kinks as I go along. So far, so good!

Here, just for fun, is a video of Lucy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggr92lCI4p0

Lucy Sez

“How embarrassing!”