See, I Do Knit!

Every single month, I finish my Sock a Month socks in the last four hours on the month, and the blog is so slow while I'm trying to post about them that I accidentally post my post three or four times. On the last day of August, I left Kevin to baby sit the computer while it finished posting, and he posted the same post multiple times too.


Pomatomuseses

The reason this is relevant is that, thanks to the archivists' meeting, I'm already done with my September socks, the Pomatomus socks from Knitty. I used some socks yarn I bought at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, some a shop called the Barefoot Spinner, which I've never found online. She also had lovely roving, which I waffled over so long that it sold out. In any case, socks!

Now, if I can just manage to post them on the SAM KAL blog before September 30...

And here's my Coachella, speedily knit 2 weekends ago, and already worn twice (good thing too, since I like to imagine it's about to get cold. I'm more impatient that usual for fall, because I'm apparently running a marathon a week from today, and I'd rather it wasn't hot for that.)


Coachella

Just to review, Coachella took EXACTLY one skein of Schaefer Yarns Laurel... there are 400 yards per skein, and I think this used 396 of them, maybe 397. It was close!

And speaking of apparently running a marathon in seven days: the last 2-3 weeks before a marathon, you're supposed to shorten your long runs (from 20 miles to 12-15, then to 6-8), and run a little easier overall, so you're rested for the race. During those weeks, I get incredibly paranoid about my feet and ankles--everything is a foot-related disaster waiting to happen. It's exhausting to worry so much, and by the time the race comes around it's a relief because it means I can stop worrying. Too bad running that far is exhausting too!

What's funny about this paranoia of mine is that earlier in the year--say, 8-10 weeks out from the race, when I'm doing the first of the 20 mile runs--what I want most in the world is to break an ankle, so I can skip that long run.

And the Winner is...

Casey, from Family Fun. Go say Hi, and look at the incredible sweater she knit for her husband (currently one post from the top).

2 Repeats

At long last, here's my progress so far on Hanami: 2 repeats of the basket weave end.


2 Repeats

I'm using Schaefer's Andrea, in the colorway Lillian Gilbreth (this is the one that looks like an antique cream when knit up in this pattern, even though it was clearly pale green, blue and yellow in the skein). I'm using a size 3 needle, since it's the same yarn I used for my Argosy earlier this year, and that seemed too loose on a size 4, after blocking. This is the same size I used my my Mystery Stole, and I'm using a 2 (2.75mm) for my socks, so the size 6 needles I started swatching with just now feel gigantic.

Speaking of socks, here's Pomatomus:


Red Sock, Blue Sock

Or rather, here Pomatomus was, as of last week. I've finished this one, and am currently turning the heel of the second. I love pictures on other people's blogs--you'd think I'd be better about taking them for mine!

Drawing on Friday!

Don't forget that you can still enter the drawing to win one of these skeins of Vivien, also used for my Mystery Stole.



I'm going to enter the people who've commented since the entry when I announced the contest, even if they didn't comment on that particular day... you're going to win yarn, dang it, whether you like it or not!

And in unrealted news, my site meter allows me to see the search terms people use to find my blog. Most of the searches make sense, and I don't seem to have accidentally included combinations of suggestive words (obviously, I need to try harder), so no one seems like they weren't looking for knitting, if you know what I mean.

BUT.... someone found this blog by searching for the words lisa souza mother of pearl. It's likely/possible that I've written mother and pearl, but as far as I can remember, I've never written about lisa souza.

Until now, obviously.

(Actual knitting content, possibly even with pictures of knitting progress, soon!)

Fried Green Beans

So, here are most of the photos of the food Kevin and I ate at the fair... although I'm pretty sure I also had a root beer float and frozen, chocolate-covered banana, and that he also ate a corn dog (and a second sausage sandwich.... I think Kevin may be choosing photo quality over documentary integrity!). Don't forget that this was actually two visits--from 7 to 10 one night and from 9:30 to 1 the next day... a timespan in which we could have legitimately eaten three meals.


Fried Green Beans

Kevin's gone to this fair every year for 37 years (including before he was born, since his birthday is in October), his mom's gone every year of her life (she grew up in Canfield), and his dad has gone every year since his parents met... so one of the key areas of interest is new food. Fried green beans were new this year, and it turn out that they're very tasty. (Unlike the tragic disappointment of the fried Oreos, from which I have still not recovered... how can fried Oreos possibly be mediocre, rather than life-alteringly delicious?!? I fully expected to set myself up to crave them 363 days a year, and eat them non-stop for the remaining two, for the rest of my life.)

What's really fascinating about this fair it the attendance. Over 6 days, about 350,000 people attended... in a town of just over 7,000 people.

Knitting Plans for September

I'm back home (which is kind of strange, after being gone for a week), but still picture-less. However, Kevin and I took pictures of everything we ate at the fair (not including beverages, although we decided floats count as food because of the ice cream), so there's that to look forward to! Looking at them should be enough to convince me to eat more healthily for the next little while! (As much as I joke about eating only dessert, I don't really think my food choices are that bad, most of the time, but the 8 hours or so we spent as the fair are definitely a huge exception. Deep friend veggies and a sno-cone stand out as comparatively healthy selections!)

Knitting-wise, have I mentioned that I joined the Hanami knit-along? It started last week, although it's a less official knit-along, so some people had actually started before the start date. I'm using Schaefer Andrea (100% silk) in the Lillian Gilbreth colorway. I've knit about a repeat and a half of the lattice pattern that makes up about half of the shawl (I think we're meant to knit seven repeats before starting the next pattern). Lillian Gilbreth looks green, blue, yellow and cream (that sounds awful, but they're all very pale, so it's lovely) online, but in real live my shawl appears to be an antique cream. I think it's because the colors are very close and the lace pattern is very dramatic, so the lace overwhelms the color and makes it look like a blend of all of them--because in the skein you can still see the different colors! This sounds negative, but I really like how it's turning out--I usually have the opposite problem, and am unhappy because the lace pattern disappears into the color. (Alternatively, it's just that I haven't looked at the lace in natural light!)

I actually have two other Schaefer yarns in this colorway right now: Laurel (worsted-weight cotton) and Susan (sport-weight cotton). I used one skein of Laurel quite suddenly, when I knit Coachella in an (unblogged) flurry Sunday, Monday and Tuesday last week. I'd been thinking about knitting it all summer, then realized summer was just about over and sprung into action. I'll take pictures soon, but in the meantime you'll just have to believe me that in stockinette stitch you can definitely see the blue, green and yellow of the colorway! I made the second smallest size but lengthened it by a couple of inches and made a hem in the lower edge, rather than just letting the fabric roll.

I've gotten completely off track here--what I set out to write was that I'm planning to work on Hanami, finish up the Pomatomus socks I started at the conference, and work on a couple of designs for Schaefer during September. The sport-weight cotton is for one design, and I also have more yarn for stuffed animals and some for socks. I was thinking about trying to knit a sweater for one of my sisters for her birthday (in mid-September), but I regained my senses and will make it for Christmas instead. Just because it's sometimes fun to knit a sleeveless tank from worsted weight cotton for oneself in three days does not meant it's also fun to knit two long-sleeved sport-weight sweaters (one of which you're also designing) for other people in a hurry!

Knitting Together

This will be another speedy update--Kevin and I are in Ohio for his family reunion and the Canfield Fair, and we only have a few minutes before it's time to go eat again. (Truly--you cannot believe how much food we eat at the fair... we just about finish chewing one snack before we spot something else that looks interesting. And by interesting, I mean fried).

Anyway, lots of knitting at the archivists' conference. In addition to knitting in the sessions themselves, I ran into Lolly first thing on the first morning, and then I met up with her, Amy, and Nova to knit Friday night. In true knitting fashion, we meant to just knit for a little while, then ended up spending a couple of fun hours together--and we were spotted by other knitting archivists (including one who I think also talked to my supervisor about knitting, since my supervisor was also there, knitting during the sessions). Clearly, we need to arrange yarn field trip at the conference in San Francisco next year!

I finished my solstice slip socks (did I say that already?), knit one Pomatomus and one Pomatomus cuff, and started (in the evenings) Hanami.

And now, time to eat!