No Longer a Mystery Socks and SS11 Socks

Hot off the needles, here are my Mystery Socks designed by Jen at Knitting Like Crazy! If you look closely, you'll see that the freshly vacuumed floor was no match for Mingus and the billowy clouds of fur that he emits at a shocking rate.

It was satisfying to knit up a pair of socks with my newly acquired Sock Summit 2011 stash. Now, my hoarder brain is wishing I had bought more Socks that Rock, but I have one more skein in another red colorway to savor, as well as other skeins of sock yarn from my most excellent trip.

I never got around to sharing the socks I wore during Sock Summit: Cookie A's Twisted Flower. It was an exhausting pattern because there were no "rest rows" of just knitting - every row needed a chart. There was loads of tinking back, but I finished them in time for their debut.

 

Although I love these socks, they are more loosely knit than I prefer (I knit to gauge) and I worry about their durability. They're knit up using Malabrigo sock.

Already, the heels are pilled. Still, they were a (sometimes frustrating) challenge to knit, and I'm glad that they are done.

I'm daydreaming about knitting up more socks. I have some on the needles right now, but it's a traveling vine pattern done up in variegated yarn, so it's a bit too much effort for a pattern that doesn't show up well. Time to rip them out. If anyone has any sock pattern ideas for variegated yarns that are not Jaywalkers or Monkeys, please pass them on!

Mystery Socks and Baby Cardi

 As you can tell by the uninspired title, I'm not feeling the creative juice today. But, since I'm hiding inside today after snorting gallons of pollen and spores while gardening, I thought I'd share some projects.

Warning: if you don't want to see any WIPs of the Mystery Sock, don't look!

My ghostly feet blend into the floor

Clue #3 is complete for both socks, and I'm pleased with the results! I also realized that I'm using 11" circular needles, not 9" ones. That's why I mistakenly thought using 9" circs were easier the 2nd time around! I found my 9" needles and knit a couple of inches, and my hands ended up cramping, so back to the 11". Only having one circular needle to deal with does speed up the knitting process, but I do wish the Hiyahiyas came with pointer tips (it's supposed to happen by the end of 2011).

Socks aren't the only things I've been knitting. There has been a plethora of baby cardigan activity due to fertile friends. Oy, 2 more friends even told me that they're "not not trying", which means this wave of baby activity won't see an end in 2012. My first baby cardigan is off the needles and in the recipients' hands.

The pattern is Hannah Fettig's Yoked Cardigan (Rav link to my project). I have two more pink cardigans almost complete, and a blue and pale green one that need to be started. Since I'll have loads of yarn leftover, I'm excited to make some stripey baby hats!

I don't have any pictures as evidence, but I've been making boatloads of cashew milk. My last batch had a few dates thrown in for sweetener, and my first batch had maple syrup (dangerously good). My morning coffee has been greatly enhanced with the addition of cashew milk and sucanat. I just have to be careful to not swig down gallons of the stuff since it would be easy to do - I'm not a calorie counter, but drinking 1/2 a gallon of cashew milk in one sitting doesn't sound prudent. Cashew milk ice cream with vanilla and maple syrup is a project in my queue, after I make hand pulled noodles.

I survived Sock Summit 2011

 

Last April, Leann and I decided that we were headed to Sock Summit, a magical gathering of sock knitters that included an even more magical marketplace full of sock yarn. Our transportation of choice was the Coast Starlight, a train that a quick glance at the route map shows is only coastal before and after our time on it. But, taking the train to Portland seemed so old timey and stress-free, something we both longed to be, so we endured the 17.5 hour ride from the Bay Area to Portland. And we discovered that a Nalgene can fit a bottle of wine discreetly and that Dixie cups still exist. And we knit legwarmers!

Check out my legwarmers and my clashing Jaywalkers!

Upon pulling up into the Portland train station, we decided that a walk to our hotel was in order since sitting for 17.5 hours made us feel blobby.  After checking in, we chowed down on Thai food, then made our way via public transportation to the Awesome 80's Sock Hop!

Leann and I have been friends since our angsty high school years, and we wondered what our teenaged selves would have thought of our current selves looking so ridiculous that cars stopped and laughed at us. Leann still remembered how to do wings and poofy bangs! My bangs went flat as soon as I stepped out of the hotel room despite asphyxiating myself with hairspray.

Any awkwardness we felt upon arriving at the Sock Hop was dissolved by 1 Manhattan, 1 greyhound, and the Village People's "YMCA".  Now, how many of you can say that you danced the YMCA with the Yarn Harlot? She's in this shot, I swear! It felt too intrusive to kinnear her any closer. Paparazzi, I am not. The last song played was a practice run for the flash mob. So cool to see it all in person!

The next day, we hit the Sock Summit and shopped! I increased my sock yarn stash from 1 skein to 6 skeins, and I swear I'll post the sock yarn pr0n later. It's good stuff: Miss Babs, Sanguine Gryphon (best booth ever), and Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I also scored a set of Signature Needle Arts DPNs. Although 2 circular needles is my preferred sock knitting method, there are some patterns that are best knit with DPNs. Plus, I love knitting with my other pair of Signature straights, and I was dying for another pair. They do cell circular needles now, but not in the smaller sizes yet.

 

A highlight of these yarny gatherings is meeting other knit bloggers. I finally got to meet Michelle while she was working the Knitted Wit booth! She's just as lovely in person as she is online.

Portland is a good place for grub, both high end and cheap. On our last day, Leann and I heard about some food trucks that were near Powell's Books. These Bosnian pita's were delicious! I ordered a combo: 1/2 spinach pita, and 1/2 spicy beef. The spicy beef was by far my favorite one. Although they are called pitas, they reminded me more of Chinese scallion pancakes because they consisted of a filled, laminated dough that is then spiraled before being baked. I made my first attempt last night for dinner, but it was so-so. I need to find a better dough recipe (if anyone has made these, please do share a link to the recipe). Perhaps a yeasted dough would be better.

Above is a picture of the my new favorite schnitzel: duck.  These are from Gruner, a German restaurant with a twist. There are other foods and drinks we ate and loved, like the avocado daiquiri from Mint, and the vanilla latte and country bread from Ken's Artisan Bakery. 

Before we knew it, we were headed back on another 17.5 hour train ride. I started and finished the last 2 Hunger Game books, learned way too much about strangers (does that still make them strangers?), and knit on a sock. I think I am finally recovered.

Reluctant Sock Model

I actually think Greaseball prefers modeling hats over socks. He's mostly pissed off that I used the flash, thus waking him up from another nap. Oh well, he's got to earn his kibble somehow.

The sock yarn is from A Verb for Keeping Warm in the colorway Wonderboy. The pattern is (yet another) Jaywalker (Rav link). I'm not one for WIPs, but this was started in May! Tonight, in an effort to procrastinate finishing the boy's sweater (I only have to knit the collar), I finished up this sock. Funny how it works out that way.

On Socks (and Food)

Sock drying day makes me smug and happy. Smug because, hey, I've made all those socks! They represent many knit nights and hours at The Pub. Happy because I know that these socks are worn and loved. It's chilly for us thin skinned Northern Californians, so these wool socks are in heavy rotation.

Before the end of 2009, I eeked out another pair of socks, this time using Malabrigo sock, the brand of sock yarn often whispered about in reverent tones with a groupie following similar to The Beatles. I've been knitting for over 3 years, and I had never worked with the stuff.

It was a joy to work with, although I'm a little worried about their durability since I've come to equate super soft and squishy yarn with holes that I need to patch up. Why would I think this? Example 1: Pigeon Roof Studio socks.

I didn't wear these socks anymore than my other ones, and in fact they are relatively new, but look at the size of that hole in the heel! The matching sock is also precariously close to another heel blow out. So sad. These socks have some nylon in them, too, so I thought they'd last a little longer, but 'tis not the case. If anyone has any ideas on how to mend these socks, please pipe in. For now, they are tucked away because I cannot bear to look at them.

So far, my most durable socks are the first pair I ever made, the ones that almost made me cry because I had been knitting for a couple of months and the figure eight cast on was close to defeating me. They are made from Trekking XXL. I will be buying more Trekking soon even if the colors don't make me swoon and they are not the softest things ever. After the heel blow out, I'd rather have marginally soft socks that are hard wearing.

Follow up report on the pork vindaloo: it was good! It also looked not so good after the pork butt had been slow cooked for 8 hours, so I decided to not post pictures. There wasn't any photo doctoring I could do that would make it look appetizing. I still need to tweak the recipe more because there were things I wasn't happy about, like the potatoes being thrown into the slow cooker at the beginning. I used russets, a dry potato, and they basically crumbled apart. Next time, I want to use waxy potatoes and I'll throw them into the stew much later. For those interested, I made my pork vindaloo based on this recipe.

In the slow cooker now is yet another round of chicken makhani (butter chicken). Good stuff, and even better if you substitute out the butter for ghee, clarified butter that is cooked until nutty brown and strained. I did not sew together 15 cardamon pods as suggested in the recipe because the whole point of slow cooking, to me, is easy. I did double the amount of garam masala, and I did make a huge batch of garam masala that I am almost done with since this is the third time I've made this recipe. The boy is sadly butter chickened out.

My next slow cooker experiment is going to be some sort of spinach dish. I have a bunch of spinach, some ghee, some ginger, garam masala, onions, and garlic. I also have some heavy cream should I decide to do a creamed spinach instead. Hm, have I ingested enough fat lately? (says the woman who is happily reading Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes right now.)

Blurry Sock Volcano

Wheeee! With my snazzy new Irish Cottage Knitting skillz, it is much easier for me to use my 12-inch Addi Turbo needles. Since I'm starting these socks top down, not toe up as per my usual program, I pulled out these needles again to give them a whirl. It's like butter. Not having to switch between needles like in the 2 circ or DPN route makes these go so fast! LOVE!

Crafty Updates

Free time seems to have a way of disappearing around here. Our ongoing effort to preserve summer's bounty so we can eat locally is still going strong. To the left, you'll find the most expensive ketchup in the world. My recipe was supposed to yield 5-pints of ketchup, but instead, I ended up with 2 1/2. Eh, that's not exactly a year's supply of ketchup, so I'll have to make another trip to the store for more tomatoes.

The ketchup recipe is from the Joy of Cooking. I had to check out the Joy of Cooking: All about Canning and Preserving from our library for this recipe. Why? Because my 1997 JOC edition is lame, that's why! People buy this book not for its ethnic recipes, but for "how tos" on American staples! I thought for sure I would find instructions on jams and jellies in my JOC, and I was confounded when none were present. So, consider this a PSA: do not buy the 1997 edition of JOC because it lacks the soul of the earlier editions. There is tons of info on the Internet about the family drama behind this JOC edition, so I'll spare you, but just know that it is out there if you are curious.

I fondly refer to our canned apple butter as "Look, Ma! No hands!" because I didn't have to lift a finger. The boy made and canned the butter on his own. It is soooooo good! We ended up with many jars, but I don't think we'll be sharing it much because it rocks. Those apples, Fujis, came from my inlaw's backyard - they had a lot of tiny apples that were too small for eating.

There has been a bit of knitting going on in these parts, too. These Lisa Sousa (colorway Olive) socks were my first attempt at knitting 2 socks at one time on 2 circular needles. I love this method! Since I do so many on the fly adjustments to patterns, it's nice knowing that both socks will be the same instead of one being a bit longer/tighter/shorter than the other.


The pattern is my own, but it's nothing really creative. I wanted something mindless to knit, so I made spiraling seed stitches on the top of the foot and through the leg. I can type it out if you're interested, but I'm sure that there are other sock patterns out there with this same motif.

I'm currently working on anklets from sock yarn scraps. This is Schaefer Anne yarn, one of my favorite yarns. The mohair content makes it a little itchy, but boy is this durable!



It's a simple 3x1 ribbed pattern paired with a slip stitch, Widdershin-style heel.

I think I have my perfect sock formula down now! They are knit 2 at a time and toe up using the Turkish cast on. I knit them at 9.5 stitches per inch (usually size 1s) and I increase to 72 inches. The heel is the Widdershin heel with slip 1/knit 1 heel stitch, and the bind off is doulble crochet. Yeah, this is going to be my formula until something better comes along.

Of shoes and cats

April was a month for starting and finishing small projects. I participated in round 2 of a washcloth swap, and I received a lovely new blanket for Greaseball! It is even more special because this is topdoggie's first ever dishcloth! Isn't it beautiful?


I sent off a NunuYaya dishcloth designed by Amoral Fiber. It was a quick, easy knit that leaves you wanting to make more! I knit my washcloth on US size 8 needles with Sugar 'n Cream's Ombres & Prints in the colorway Swimming Pool.


My swapee, Myla, had her lovely cat Oscar model his new cape. He looks stunning, as always. His "I'm. So. Pissed. Off" look is a textbook example. Wee kittens everywhere should study his icy glare. He should be proud.

In April, I also finished up these Jaywalkers for moi. The yarn Depth Charge from Pigeonroof Studios, purchased at the Article Pract booth at Stitches West. Since Jaywalkers are notorious for being a tad too tight around the ankle, I modified the stitch pattern a bit to make Lace Jaywalkers. They slip on and off like buttuh!


Of course, new socks means new shoes. I found these clear Sketchers on sale! Plastic shoes usually means sweaty feet, but these shoes have plenty of vents. I do feel I need to put my hair in piggytails and do loop de loops on the playground bars, but I do love showing of my socks. No longer will my shoes cover up all my hard work! LOOK AT MY SOCKS! LOOK AT THEM! (Everyone feels that way after finishing a pair, right?)


Hm, I never noticed before that the pattern on top of Fifty-Fifty's head is very similar to our hardwood floors.


I also bought myself a throne, but that is for another post. Have a good week, y'all!

The Secret Love Child Returns

What do you get when you cross this dog with this dog?

Why, Secret Love Child Scarlett, of course!

SLCS spent her afternoon and evening trying to convince Papa Mingus to frolic with her. She turned on her puppy charm and told Mingus how much fun they could have if he would only return her play bow.


When her siren song fell on deaf ears, she had to resort to a more direct approach to convince him that he wanted nothing more than to chase her around the yard.

Still, Mingus did not take the bait. An even more direct approach was needed. His tail must be pulled. Now, that he noticed! Success!

The "pull my tail" trick got Mingus riled up, and many laps around the backyard followed. They even took some time to dance.

Mama Vespa patiently watched the whole thing take place, as evidenced by the bits of her in every picture.

Once Mingus grew tired of the chase game (it must be noted that Scarlett never tires of the chase game), all three dogs spent some quality time together watching squirrels. Mama Vespa usually doesn't condone squirrel watching because she thinks it will rot a puppy's brain, so this was a special moment indeed.

Meanwhile, in the house, Fifty-Fifty was feeling a bit... French.


Thankfully, she had an emergency beret handy for such an occasion.

Prolonged exposure to the beret does cause grumpiness and a craving for a stiff drink, so I had to pry it off of her head before it was too late.

I was too late.


In between designing new ways to furmiliate my cats, I have managed to knit a pair of socks. I call these my Chocolate Cherry Jaywalkers.

Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina
Needle: US size 1
Yarn: Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino, Colorway P621
Size: Small. 68 stitches for the foot and 76 stitches for the cuff.
Modifications: Plenty! Besides knitting these toe up, the biggest modification I made was to add an extra stitch to the zig zag after I turned the heel. This resulted in 8 more stitches on the cuff in comparison to the foot of the sock. The reason I had to do this was because the first time I knit this sock I couldn't get it over my ankle. I put more details on my Ravelry project page.

Chau or Sawasdee!

(Hello in Vietnamese or Thai, respectively.)

I'm back. Well, technically, I was back since last Monday night, but I was only home for a day before leaving again for family Thanksgiving festivities. But now, I'm really back. Is this a good thing? Well, right now, I say that it is. However, if you ask me on Monday after my first day back at work, I might have a different answer.

Vietnam and Thailand are culinary meccas. I'll be plastering y'all with scrumptious food photos and descriptions in due time, however, today I feel the need to shame Thai Airways. Why is it that a country with some of the most outstanding cuisine lets their airlines serve this? What is it? Even after I took a fair bite of the stuff (I hate judging before I eat something), I could not identify this "dessert" and the contents within. Yuck. Was that fruit a kiwi or a grape? Or none of the above? For a country famous for its sweets, this sucked.


Shame on you, Santos Zopper. Shame. On. You.


The rest of our trip was [insert fabulous words here]! Vietnam is a country with one of the most varied cuisines and I didn't even have a chance to sample 1% of its famous dishes. However, in a country that boasts over 1700 regional dishes (more than 1400 of those dishes originating in Hue, where one of the emperors demanded new dishes every day for every meal), I feel that 1% is still a valiant effort. My waistline thinks so, too. The weather was rather wet during our 10 day stay in Vietnam, we were trying to outrun a typhoon, but even with the wet weather, I loved this country. I will go back someday and stay longer.

By the time we reached Thailand, we had found a dry spot to do some of the activities we hoped to do. Like kayaking in the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea against a backdrop of limestone cliffs. Yeah, it was good.

This was the view from our bungalow in Koh Phi Phi (also Thailand).

It was a gorgeous view, but you did pay to have it. I lost count after 500 steps.


Oh, and since this is a knitting blog, I did finish two (different) socks on my trip. This one uses the Scroll Sock pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks, and the second one is a Gentlemen's Fancy Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. I'll post full details when I finish their mates.



The bottom sock is for the boy, and his size 13 feet resulted in the unintentional anklet. I used all 50 grams of yarn! For contrast, on the above sock, my sock, I still had almost one third of my yarn left when I completed the sock.

I'll have more trip pictures and stories as soon as I can! This was just a little sneak preview so those of you asking where the heck I am know that I'm still alive and, expect for a few mosquito bites, no worse for wear.