Knitting Holes (on purpose)

Summer of Amazing Lace Revisited

Back in 2006 I joined an internet hoard of knitters working on some sort of lace for the summer. 
The host bloggers of Amazing Lace seem to have vanished all these years later and when I clicked my old blog links a security warning declare the sites are evil? From one of my blog entries (linked above) I described the knit along as follows:

Knitters around the world will get up off their couches and take their knitting out for a little summer adventure. The main requirement seems to be to knitting in public and putting holes in it...on purpose!  It's called Lace when you put the holes in the right place?

As a beginner knitter I never advanced to the lacy shawls many proudly cranked out that summer.  I stuck with lacy cuffed socks.  This summer I'm making a shawl!
I joined a 7 part clue mystery knit-a-long of the Analucia Shawl by Fiddle Knits. 

The 7th clue was released August 9th. I had been keeping up with all of the weekly clues until the 6th one arrived. I gave myself permission to take a break! There are not many "purl back" rows ...who knew purling a billion stitches would look like a blessing?  I was getting burned out with all the do-overs.  Early into the pattern I researched LIFELINES and found that they are indeed our friend!  Unfortunately, I put the lifelines to use far too many times and was in need of a break.  I was sitting in one place for far too long at a time. My knuckles & back was feeling the effect.

My 1st shawl has been pushed to the back of the side table in a puddle of blue lace.




(blog entry in progress but I think I'll lose the links if I just hit save. Pictures today and update planned)

Whirl Into Winter (part 2)

It's not easy being yellow.







The WINNER IS:
Briarose said

Dear Birdies in the feeder
I am your fearless leader
Who forgot to put seeds out last night
OH you guys are a sight
Sorry dog gave you such a fright
But did you have to mess up the deck?
I should give you heck!

ok that was sooo lame, but those socks are soooo amazing and my feet are cold....I can imagine them on my feet sitting in front of a fire...

ps...I love your blog name...




In the Summer of 2006 I joined the group internet knit-a-long called Amazing Lace.
I had just learned to knit socks in December of 2005 - with help from my mom. The basic plain knit sock recipe she uses. She's left handed so I had to teach myself to knit from a booklet. I learned the basics when I was a teenager, but had no real interest for very long.

By the time I joined Amazing Lace I was ready to try something harder. A fancier pattern from the internet. This was the pattern I went crazy with! At the end of Summer I met the challenge to knit something a little lacy.
(A garden of socks for the photo contest.)

Trouble is I bought all that yarn on sale and nobody in the family has wanted the yellow socks for themselves or a friend in need of gift giving. So I am giving them away.

For a chance to win the yellow socks write a little letter of poetry. As described in my previous introduction to the Whirl Into Winter Giveaway:

"Face a window and write a poem in the form of a tiny letter addressed to anything you see outside."

For inspiration, read actual student entries from an Outdoor Lit class here.
My attempt:

Dear Mr. Maple,
Dignified and gracious
standing guard at driveway's edge.
Does it tickle your bark when those 2 bushy tailed gray squirrels
chase each other round and round?

No Poetry Police here... All actual attempts will qualify :)
International entries accepted for both contests on this blog.

Some of our favorite people are overseas right now!

Keeping the fingers nimble

Next round of Sock Madness begins March 22nd

The 2nd pattern for Sock Madness is due to arrive in mailboxes Thursday afternoon.

To keep my fingers nimble before another all out KNIT LIKE A MAD WOMAN weekend, I started a pair of lace socks using a striping/variegated yarn - yarn I detested before finding this pattern. Amazing what the curving lines of a simple lace pattern can do for these colors.

The bottom of the heel shows the sock, if knit in a basic stitch, would very much look like the Madcow pattern we just did. Without needing 2 strands. Not being a fan of stripes, I've started and ripped several patterns trying out this yarn. I think this one will work.

I didn't give this pattern a second look until I saw completed pair done by Stitches of Violet. Their picture is useless if you don't click the link behind.

I started off slipping stitches Purlwise and felt there was something funky happening to the left side of the lace pattern. A quick email to ask Marguerite which way to go and I should have been slipping Knitwise. She didn't think it should be making a difference.
So any funky stitches might just be me?

I listened to a couple of knitting podcasts this morning. I've only just figured out what to download in order to listen to them without MP3 or ipod, so podcasts are still a novelty.
I listened to It's a Purl, Man for the first time with Subway Knitter as his guest a week or two ago. Enjoy his style muchly. While searching about for new podcasts this morning I came across this MUG BOSS. A coffee cup tool bag. I bought a full size one for actual tools that fits over a 5 gallon bucket.

I whipped one up for my coffee cup this morning.
A quick, enjoyable morning of sewing... for a change.

Sock Madness Weekend

Round 1: MADCOW SOCKS complete!

I think I finished in the top 12.
Finished photos were to be posted on Flickr and I think about 11 pair were posted ahead of me.

Sock Madness patterns arrived in mailboxes around 8:00 Saturday morning. Had mine printed out and cast on by 8:15. Only did about 6 rows of the cuff before heading off to town for 3 hours to take mom to get groceries. Next week is sister-in-law's baby shower and mom declared we must get gifts...no time next week.

While my Sock Mad mind screamed NO! I have no time today! the reasonable functioning portion of my brain agreed she was right and we needed to get it done. Do you know how many red lights you are likely to sit through when you're in a hurry?

ALL OF THEM. And you will just miss most of them at the yellow and sit for the complete sequence of yellow, red, left arrow, straight...okay you may go green.

I was back home by noon and thanks to Internet connection standing by, went to site to see if "Repeat Pattern 4 Times" was a booby trap. 4 times or 5? Questions were raging in the comments section but moderator declared she read it as 5.

So 5 it was, although I think it would have said 4 more times? Not a problem so long as I didn't get myself disqualified doing too few. I am very determined not to be a whiner after the KNIT OFF tragic scarf episode. NO COMPLAINING ABOUT A SOCK PATTERN FROM ME!!

Turns out designer meant 4 and they promise to check future patterns to avoid confusion. I like patterns with lots of little "sonar checks". Notes written into the pattern along the way telling us number of rows now complete or number of stitches left on needle. You know. Patterns written like they think they might be speaking to an idiot. I'm good with that.

Of course a blinding, almost consuming panic began about 2 in the afternoon when on the third attempt at doing the SHORT ROW HEEL as written I concluded I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I've never done a short row heel. I've barely heard of them!

Came back to the Internet and YES we must do heel as written.

A blinding, almost consuming panic may not be the best state of mind to learn a new technique! My first short row heels are not perfect by any means. If Amazing Lace had me fascinated by "Holes on Purpose" you can imagine how frustrating "Holes by Accident" are.

I have not been won over by short row heels method. Yet. I may only ever attempt them again free will if a future Sock Madness pattern demands it of me. Because. No whining.

Had first sock down beyond the middle of the foot by 9 p.m. Took a nap until after midnight and then finished sock 1. Cast second sock on with my first cup of coffee Sunday. We lost an hour just as I was finishing the first toe.

Technically, it may have taken me and hour to knit the last 16 stitches!

Stop the MADNESS!

"These would make great knee-hi's!"

Yes. That is the madness that came out of Stephani's mouth upon trying on her new Pomatomus.

Sara's first impression of my working Pomatomus was "They might make a good conversation piece" - causing me to keep knitting past her size 5 feet (meaning I could have been done sooner if she had showed just a bit more enthusiasm!) to the bigger size 8's of the rest of us.
Steph pulled them on her first morning home, declared them a gorgeous color and a perfect fit.
That would be when the madness fell from her mouth.

The actual madness is probably that my mind wandered off for a moment several times this week to wonder where one might add stitches to the pattern, keeping the design and yet allowing for some widening up the leg? Hmmmm........

I've slapped myself upside the head, so the wondering has stopped.
For the moment.

My 3rd felted bag is finished! I made it up as I knit along, but I'm not sure that the strap is sturdy enough. If much weight is put in I fear it will stretch long enough to drag to the ground. I knit it extra long to make up for the shrinking factor and it had the nerve to not shrink much?

I believe Steph has claimed this one for herself, as well? Although the strap design followed her suggestion of perhaps being a bit longer than the last one. So technically it was meant for her all along.

I'm finishing up my works in progress, sure but steady. By my next entry Sara's special requested Old Shale one color socks should be done. I'm just now turning the heel of the second sock, so it will catch up with the first. First sock is an inch or so down into the nothing but straight and (nearly) mindless knitting! A relief I can tell you after the K1, P1 pattern for the entire length of the pair of Pomatomus'!

I actually wound off the second skein of yarn for Sara's socks into 2 half balls so I could work on both socks at the same time. And then rewound the first ball so the color design was heading in the same direction. I may have the Knitting Sickness, but good? I'm almost ashamed to admit the number of sets of size 1 DPN's I now own. But if you have 3 pair of socks on the needles all at the same time and you continue to insist both socks of each set be started, so they might inch along together. Well you need a lot of needles. So it's a perfectly justified equipment stash enhancement?

I came across Eye Candy Friday photos recently here. Was so inspired by her Star Crust pie I went in search of star shape cookie cutters I could use for my own pie crust. Mine didn't come out quite as pretty as hers - but it was apple & it tasted good!

AND I WON AMAZING LACE CHALLENGE 5!!
Thanks to everyone who voted for me. :)

For the hell of it I may upload a recent rainbow photo - a couple of weeks old now!

Um. Ta-dah?*

Summer of Amazing Lace Socks!
Pomatomus:
FINISHED!
(Plus Saturday Skies on the coast of Maine.)

There's a month of my life I'm never getting back.
So why am I having Pomatomus withdrawal?

OMG! I should have 3 pair of these socks done for as many times as they were ripped out, started again; ripped back. Where do I begin again?

(Helpful note: when ripping out all 3 needles to tear back stitches, it would be HELPFUL if one takes NOTE of how many rows are being ripped out. Because one who can barely count rows, let alone recognize where they belong in the pattern - really needs to keep just as careful track of her UNKNITTING.)

Pattern is clearly marked

A little something for the seasoned knitter.
Daring but not exhausting.

Clearly, there were other words of warning, written right at the start of the pattern:

"somewhat vicious ... Stay alert..."

What pattern does NOT say:

Haven't knit in 15 years? THAT'S OKAY. A beginner could do this pattern!
Never read a chart before? No problem! Learn right here and now.
Had to google YARNOVER in May because you suspected you were doing it wrong? Well, you do it right now...most of the time. Right?

(Updated with less hideous picture of Pomatomus...along with my summer collection of "lace" socks. Plus ran spell checker just for the heck of it!)

Note * in subject title: Um. Ta-dah? was a subject title (still cracks me up!) of a blog I found recently - Dog Lovin' Knitter. Um. Ta-dah? deserves to be the new "Finished" standard for completed projects. Especially if outcome was uncertain right up until the end, previous skill level is admittedly lacking and you "like nothing more than a challenge (which may render me a bit unstable) to keep me off the streets." To quote a crazy chick with a goddamn hammer!!

Amazing Lace Challenge 6 entry posted here; didn't link it right on their sign-in page and now it has scrolled down several entries.

Amazing Lace Challenge #6

Challenge #6: Unlikely Model

The last Amazing Lace Challenge of the summer has been posted:

"You’ve laced all summer. Many of you have finished. Many are on the home stretch. It is time for your lace to be seen in all its glory; to be shown off to its best effect, to be unleashed upon the world, to be modeled by…well, by the least likely model you can think of.

Your challenge — your final challenge — is to post a photo of your lace being proudly worn or displayed by the strangest, funniest, or most unlikely model you can find. Maybe your model is alive; maybe it is an inanimate object. Maybe it is human; maybe it isn’t. It just needs to be clever and unexpected."

I give to you my first ever pair of blue lace socks, humble offerings laid at the feet of Lumberjack Paul Bunyan from Bangor, Maine.

This Cinderfella could not quite get my first pair of lace socks to fit. And the base Paul stands on is out of my reach so I asked a visiting (tall) tourist type gentleman if he would place my socks at the lumberjack's feet. He did it with a grin and then got them down afterwards!
(Blue socks are at the tip of that giant looking pencil/log roller thing.)

AND I'M A CONTENDER!
Go vote for my Garden of Gladiolia's & Lace Socks from Challenge 5...won't you?
Oh, seriously! Grinning ear-to-ear just to be a finalist. But I need some votes, too!

Amazing Lace Challenge # 5

Where's Waldo?

The next Challenge for the Amazing Lace is posted:

"In honor of that slightly crazed I see lace everywhere mental state that'’s a symptom of obsessive lace knitting, your challenge is to post one photo on your blog in which your lace is a hidden or unexpected part of the picture."

Can you find all of Waldo's Lace Socks?
(5 pair finished since Memorial Day!)

For the longest time I could not stand to look at a Gladiolia. My only sister was killed by a drunk driver in July of 1983 and Glad's must have been the funeral florist's flower of choice; it seemed as if they were everywhere.

I hated them.

Several years ago I put a rock garden out beyond my kitchen window. An angel was placed on a stone bench next to a sun dial type arrangement of rocks.

And then I made peace with the humble Gladiolia.

When I dug up the ground for my new vegetable garden there were a lot of rocks! Big, heavy rocks just crying out to be important enough for their own garden space. The idea was this was to be an asparagus patch and the flowers would pretty it up. The asparagus were a miserable failure . . . but look at my pretty flowers!

The blue ones are quite exceptional this year, don't you think?

Amazing Lace Challenge 4

Are there points for being first? ;)
Double duty photo op!!

I knit this cuff up Sunday afternoon so I could enter it in the MSN Group Violet Voice virtual African Violet Show.

My actual entry shows the cuff holding a plant pot with a single leaf of the AV variety Rob's Argyle Socks rooting. (Some day mine might look like that, but for now it's one leaf trying very hard to reproduce!)

Since the sock is in it's early stage, as is the rooting leaf, I titled my entry: Propagating Socks!

And now the next Amazing Lace challenge has been posted:

Challenge #4:
Is your camera feeling abandoned, neglected, and ignored after the poetry challenge? Do you find bad pictures of yourself showing up all over the internet and wonder how they got there? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, Challenge #4 has just the answer. Get ready to take some photos!

Your question: If you bound off your lace RIGHT NOW - what could it be used for?

Your challenge: One photo of your lace in a reasonable approximation of its potential use at this very moment posted to your blog (or photohosting account) by midnight EDT (UTC -4:00), July 16. Post a comment on this entry with the link to officially enter.

Behold the Plant Pot Cozy!

I'm willing to buy another set of DPN's and sacrifice these as an artistic statement. Plant pictured is officially named a Persian Prince.
(The plant pot is making a lovely lace blocking tool!)

I'm NOT willing so much to rip them out/bind off the tiny little stitches.
Besides, Sara has already called dibs on this, my 5th pair of Amazing Lace Socks!
(Started before the 4th are quite finished, but there were photographic challenges to be met!!)

Amazing Lace Challenge #3: Poetry

Poetic License...YIKES!
Steph: know that you've inherited NOTHING poetically speaking from your mom!

Ran into a bit of a Roadblock with gauge so have added a few more lines.
Soon we'll be seeing double. 2 pair in progress now meant another pair of DPN's needed.

(working title has changed :)

Ode to Lace Socks
What evil is afoot?

Searching the web, keyword: Knitting
At Stitches of Violet, a sock pattern most befitting.
A novice knitter wonders if it's wise to enter the race
Last minute email sent: "Please may I join your Amazing Lace?"

The local yarn shop was having quite a sale
Fifty percent off had us back without fail.
Yes, for Old Shale 2-Yarn Socks I have newfound affections
Third Pair now underway without use of directions!

Lace cuffs knit in Hot Tamale the labels proclaim
To give as a gift, whom should I name?
"What were they thinking?" might be wondered in vain
Do all of those colors belong together in one skein?

ROADBLOCK:

Every pattern warns on the very first page
Please, take time to CHECK YOUR GAUGE!
Second Sock Syndrome will NOT be allowed
That I cast-on both right away left me feeling so proud.

My sock never saw the need to give gauge much of a thought
Until it was discovered it's mate was from a skein in the wrong Dye Lot.
How best to fix this I had to figure
Why is first sock almost half an inch bigger?

Make another pair just like the first
Hope no one was listening to hear what I cursed!
Perhaps it was Sabotage, I consider for a moment?
No, turns out gauge is our most worthy opponent.

COURSE CORRECTED!

Lace shawls & stoles of the experienced Knitter
Win most of the Amazing Lace Judges' attention - no need to be bitter! :)
Lace socks we cry, deserve some respect: almost works of art?
Next, perhaps Pomatomus ... as soon as I learn to read the chart!

Always remember - there's not so much to fear
Not nearly as frightening as it first may appear.
At times a little like juggling three balls at the circus
Lace is really just knitting these holes on purpose.



Forgive me Dr. Seuss... And most especially: Marguerite!
I don't even know when to leave "well enough alone", do I?

X-tremely Satisfied

Two pair of Amazing Lace socks in 24 days!

One of Second Socks stayed up way past our bedtime attending the annual Town Meeting so we could vote NO on a new 2-million dollar town office complex. X-tremely annoying small town politics have caused us to send a Letter to the Editor. It remains to be seen if we'll be published but X-tremely Satisfying hitting SEND just the same.

X-tremely Dangerous mixing knitting & politics?
Perhaps!

Second Pair were completed on a Father's Day trout fishing adventure on Pleasant River. X-tremely Bumpy roads of rural Maine make for interesting knitting experience.

Honey, pull over so I can pick up 3 lost stitches!


One of Second Pair suffered an X-tremely Unfortunate loss of needle as it was pulled from a pocket of a totebag at the beginning of the 6 hour board meeting it was forced to endure. As a new Lifetime Member of Pine Tree Quilters Guild we felt duty bound to drive 3 hours round trip in order to get there.

X-treme Stash Busting happening here. Amazing Socks deserve more respect!

Amazing Lace: Project 1 complete.

Old Shale 2-Yarn socks are complete!

Amazing Lace Novice finishes first project in under 2 weeks.
(Is the crowd roaring? There should be roaring!)

The task was not without it's roadblocks.

This novice Knitter decided to use a sock pattern designed for 2 circular needles.
The team chose to ask designer for a few directions and it was willingly given!!
Any misinterpretation that may have occurred is through no fault of the designer.

Some panic ensued when it was discovered a stitch had been dropped and ran away for 6 or 7 rows.
The CROCHET HOOK has been named Most Valuable Player.

Two socks were knit at nearly the same time, causing some whining among our sock team mates: Which sock their Knitter loved best?

Right sock whispered, "She's a freakin' liberal...she loves you left socks more."
QUIET! Knitting is allowing us to ignore politics for a while.
Inner Peace!

Both socks complained of a possible violation of the rules.
This is supposed to be a Summer Adventure! We're supposed to be taken places. FUN. Exciting. We never got past the patio table and that only lasted 10 minutes because bug season has arrived with a vengeance. When reminded of a certain solo trip to Home Depot for 8 eight foot 2X4's Knitter had to admit no stitches from that adventure made it back alive.
(See previous post with a photo of a pile of string under one of her Letter People...Q is NOT for quitter!) Plus knitting bucket stayed in the jeep and no camera was taken - so it's like it never even happened...isn't it?

Recent Ziggy cartoon reads: YOU ARE HERE * That's ALL you need to know for now! Our new Team motto?

My birthday plant lives! And the X-Men are finished. There are still 26 letters in the alphabet.

X-treme Update here.

WHY?

Why has all forward momentum of my Amazing Lace socks been halted by the letter Y. And X.

This is why!

Just when I wonder why I'm doing this for the 2nd year in a row: Thank-You notes arrive from one of the Kindergarten classes, practicing sentences and sounding out words on their own. One of my favorites reads: "Dear Mrs. Walton, I love the letter F because it is so Soft and Pereshis. Love Maddie"

Precious! :)

Why, after successfully finishing the LACE section of my Amazing Lace socks, is the Eye of Partridge heel kicking my butt?

Seen here, stitches are off the needle (first of 5 times between the 2 socks!) because the Eye of Partridge didn't look any different to me than just plain knitting.

Even though pattern was faithfully followed and when held to the light, little waffle holes could be seen.

15 rows ripped (again & again) of 32 stitches: Slip 1* Slip, Knit* across; Slip 1, purl back (all Purl rows) ; Slip 1, Knit 1 across. Repeat these 4 fours. WHY is that so difficult?

WHY can't I count and Knit, Slip at the same time? Why did I discover I had purled 2 together occassionally on the way back, for no good reason? Answer: Knit 1, slip 1 pairs slide together really close and with size 1 needles & thin yarn they look like one stitch.

Especially if you knit in the dark.

Beginner's Amazing Lace Socks

It's the first weekend of the Amazing Lace!

This Amazing Lacey Sock interrupted by the Letter Q.
Is Q for QUITTER? Absolutely NOT.

I've only picked knitting needles back up since December 2005. To learn socks from my mom. Was ready for more than the basic utility - it's okay if you run out to the Jeep for something in stocking feet - socks.

Along came the Amazing Lace.

Pattern: Old Shale 2 - Yarn Socks
Needles: 2 sets of DPN's - size 1
(both socks underway at nearly the same time)
Yarn: Lace cuff (toes & heel)/Patons Kroy Socks - Winter Eclipse; Foot/ Bernat Sox - Blue Hot
Lace Knitting Experience: NONE
Previous skill level: I knew how to KNIT & PURL. Just. There's no wrapping yarn around the fingers; it gets pinched and carried. With purpose. Like I taught myself when I was 8 most likely.

My first attempt at knitting holes on purpose got off to a bit of a shaky start. Stitches were pulled off the needles twice and carefully picked back up. Some of them faced the right direction. One complete do-over ensued. Still have a lot of knitting to do before they become socks . . . but they qualify as lacey at this point!!

2 cuffs are complete!

So this is how a new addiction starts, I'm sure? My thoughts were of lacy knitting attempts even as I finished getting the garden in. Even as I diligently worked on the Letter Q, with Y & X still waiting on the sidelines to be finished, before a sock gets done most likely. School is nearly over and we can't have our 14th Street kindergarteners heading off to 1st grade thinking there are only 23 letters in the alphabet because one of their volunteers decided knitting was more enjoyable. Can we? NO, definitely not.

Amazing Lace is about to begin.

Stick around and watch me try to pull something lacey out of my Knitting Bucket!

I have just now requested to be signed up for the Amazing Lace. Knitters around the world will get up off their couches and take their knitting out for a little summer adventure. The main requirement seems to be to knitting in public and putting holes in it...on purpose!

It's called Lace when you put the holes in the right place?


Having never actually knit anything that was supposed to have holes in it, I plan to start off small.

First up will be Old Shale 2-Yarn Socks. If it goes well, I see several pairs of these socks tucked away as Christmas presents. That does mean I'll have to resist the urge to pull them on and walk around in them as soon as they come off the needles.
I suppose.

After that I intend to knit some Over-The-Knee Socks from Holiday Knits.
I have this book through the inter-library loan program and the pattern is all printed out. Perhaps I should buy it. CONCERNED? Well yes, I am. By Round 2 I'll be consulting the abbreviations & Special Techniques section to see how the hell I'm supposed to *P1, RT; Repeat from * around. RT? Mother of god. (Haven't actually specified which year someone might get these as a gift ;)

This Knitting Bucket is a gift from Sam. A Kindergarten thank you gift from last year's Letter People adventure and one of my most prized possessions! It says: This is your Knitting Bucket. ABCDE...XYZ.

An excellent use of the . . . !

UPDATE: Anxious to get started with my first Amazing Lacey Sock, I cast 64 stitches onto size 2 needles. Did I mention I knit a little tight? Pattern says to use size 1. These stitches would be a bit snug if I use 1's!! Not to mention needles would be bent into paper clips after a few Knit 2 Togethers!

By the 3rd YO I wondered randomly if I was YOing in the right direction. The 2nd SSK went dreadfully wrong - slipping off the needle, causing me to rip the first 16 stitches out and start over. Followed by frantic grabbing for a crochet hook to pick up the stitch I had just dropped.

Onward I went through the 4 rows of the first repeat and started the next. Quick check here and it turns out I was NOT yarn over'ing in the right direction and my lacy holes were not so, I don't know... LACEY? I tore out 6 rows and managed to pick 64 teeny little stitches BACK UP - most of them facing the right direction!

I was ready for a lie down while I reflected on my ability to knit holes on purpose.

I finished the 3rd repeat this morning - I hope I'm not last at the check-in.
Will this be an elimination pit stop?

2nd Update: Went to ACMoore's with 40% coupon in hand to buy 2nd set of needles so that both Amazing Lacey Socks might be completed at the same time. The 2's were the wrong color? Bought another set of 1's because they seemed to be the correct color. Disregard the paper clip comment. Apparently my knitting has loosened up a bit.

I was knitting with the 1's all along. I'm an idiot? No, that's harsh.
I'm clueless.