Untried LYS's

As if there wasn't enough yarn in my life and place to get it from, I've been thinking about checking out some other local yarn stores. I took Farmhouse Knit Shop off my list because I'm virtually unable to make their store hours and they don't sell much sock yarn. Here are some other places on my list of "exploration":

Dublin Bay Knitting Company
-They don't seem to sell online like my other favorite shops, but they're only in The Pearl, which isn't far.

Northwest Wools
-I've heard loads of good things about these folks, and Multnomah Village is close and has a notoriously good toy store. N.w.W. also sells roving and fleece for needle felting and spinning. Score.

Lint
-Somebody I work with has taken classes and lives near this one. She swears by the place. Worth a look.

There are a couple stores that wouldn't be far, but one can only spend so much time acquiring fuzz. Sometimes the dishes really should be done.

Doctors Make Me Nervous

...but that doesn't mean I don't take my kid to one.

Today was our first appointment with our new pediatrician. My anticipation level hovered near anxiety for reasons both numerous and boring. If there was a list of 100 things about me on this blog, it would contain something about my tendancy to worry over the uncontrollable details. That said, I think my son could not care less about the whole business. Smart little peanut.

We're on a very altered vaccination schedule, and though our previous pediatrician in North Carolina was good at adjusting to that, she was never really supportive. I was confident in my choices and educated about my reasons which helped to ease her concerns. However, this was not the kind of ongoing relationship that I thought would be best for my son and my own mental health. In all other ways our previous doc set the bar unreachably high.

Back to those vacs. I picked a new doc here in Oregon because he was familiar with the source of my altered schedule and he is supportive of such changes. He's also pretty clear about medicating with antibiotics only when necessary, another kudo for us. We talked about one of the shots we'd chosen to go without and he asked me to reconsider my objections based on new data. Good argument. He's aware of the thimerisol issue, we talked about Chicken Pox and Measles/Mumps/Rubella timing, and he never said a peep about my passing on Hep B. After today, I feel very confident about his knowledge and I'm pretty sure we'll be able to work together well in my son's best interests.

(The pediatrician who checked out my newborn son two years ago wasa total bastard very vocal about our choosing not to give our son his first shot, for a sexually transmitted disease no less, at the age of 12 hours. Not a keeper.)

Sunday Salad

Rowling Meets Master Shakespeare

If you're a fan of both, then Saturday's airing of the second episode third season Dr. Who is a blockbuster. I know, how can so much greatness exist in one place? Hopefully you'll watch and find out, although if you're on the North American continent you might have to drool and wait.

The 1st Sunday After The 1st Full Moon After The Vernal Equinox

Also known as Easter. Which in my childhood meant dyeing, hiding and hunting eggs without any religious connotation. We also received a huge box of candy from my paternal grandmother in what amounted to a semiannual sugar installment.



I'm planning to carry forward that dyeing, hiding and hunting, although without the competitiveness and some of the emotional mishaps that accompanied my own experience. One year, I spilled the cup of blue dye on the carpet, and didn't hear the end of it the whole weekend. That's always loads of fun for a twelve year old. This year was the second Easter egg hunt for the little guy, and the first that he was involved in the dyeing process. Like a charm. We even found a good place to hide eggs in our apartment complex neighborhood.



Fuzz

I've sewn up the ends on another preemie hat, which means now I can drop off the whole inventory. I've also come to the neck shaping on the experimental sweater and progressed a few rows on the kilt hose. I don't look forward to starting sock #2. Mother's Day and BF's birthday are both quickly approaching and my plan is to knit up 12 or so ball band washrags. Good thing they're quick.

FO: a pair of Blue Green Monsters

Finished socks in their natural habitat. There is a bit of bag in the ankle and they're a bit short in the toe (I better learn to darn), but they're soft and my sweetie thinks they're great.

Project Details
Needles: Size 1.5 Crystal Palace 6" DPN (Lurv, lurv lurv these!)
Fiber: Brown Sheep's Wildfoote
Pattern: My own, in which I totally forget that my gauge in the round is different than flat. Cast on eighty some odd stitches, reduced in the ankle to make up for sloppy gauge. Cuff, heel, toe in contrast color. Used Yarn Harlot's "peasant toe" recommendation.
Next Time: I'll remember that most sock patterns in sock-weight yarn call for 64 stitches cast on. I figured out why most socks are ribbed: extra room if they're too small and suck-it-up action if they're too big. Duh.

Good For A Giggle

Savage Chickens found care of Rose-Kim Knits. Take a look, have a laugh.

What Am I?

This is the yarn I've been making hats out of for a the Cast Off Tour date at Powell's in June, and for the Dulaan Project. It's gorgeous and soft, but curry yellow is just not my color. As with all the hand-me-downs I get from BF's Grammie, ball bands are loooooonnnngggg gone. That's why I need you out there.


Here are the two FO's I've made so far, with at least one more planned. Cast on an odd number, knit 6 rows in the round on size 9's, knit 5 rows seed stitch, continue on to desired length in stockinette, then reduce. I bound off the smaller of the two by threading the tail through the final loops, but the larger I bound off with Kitchener stitch. I like the way it makes the star pattern of the redux come together and appear to flow into one another.

This is where you come in, gentle reader: do you recognize this fiber? From feel, it is softer than most wool, but not as lofty as alpaca. Beyond that, I'm pretty much in the dark, unless I shut off the light and hold this stuff up. I never thought yarn could be made use of as a lantern.

There Should Be A Law

...against casting on a new project (or projects, if your batshit crazy like me) when you already have a full plate. I couldn't help it, I swear!

Please note: there won't be any pictures on this blog until I buy more batteries, whihc could be this week or a month from now, it's hard to tell. It's pretty hard to write a compelling knitting blog with all the normal tools, and so I'm sure the lack of pictures will make this blog even more not-interesting. However, things are as they must be.

I've set to work on a couple more charity projects (hats, of course). One preemie hat in periwinkle, because I had the cotton and I got bored with the sock WIP. And I needed to finish a hat for that charity that didn't break my heart just thinking there might be somebody out there to wear it. I've also progressed through one hat and started another with some worsted (and very soft) single-ply sans ball band that is, I swear this is not a joke, curry yellow. With bits of red and black. It's an awful color, but the yarn is wonderful. If only I knew what it was so I could look and see if there were some colors that didn't remind me of vomit.

I've been plugging away at the pink sweater, and having ripped the back out twice, I think I have a better feel for the idea of arm holes and proper ratios. I'm working on the front now, trying to figure out where to start the v-neck and how to integrate redux for the extra boob space I needed.

The b/g monsters are getting there, bit by bit. Finished the gussets, working the instep.

Nothing to report on the kilt hose. Deadline quickly approaching. Blast.

I have a new project in the planning/buying stages: a wedding present for a friend whose wedding I'm a bridesmaid for in July. I'm going really simple, and I've had to check in about colors since she and I are very different that way. My palette tends towards bright blues, greens, and purples. As I would've guessed, she'd prefer more muted tones and warmer hues. Here's the specs so far: Log Cabin or Moderne blanket, approx 48"x48", using Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes in chocolate, chestnut, hollyberry, and cloud. If I go Log Cabin, I'm probably going to pick a fifth color for the center, a couple random sections and the edging. Winter night and grass are big on the list, and so was Carrot though now I see it only exists on my color card, but I can seem to make up my mind. I can't start ordering for a couple weeks yet (spent my budget early, it seems), so that gives me plenty of time to make a decision.