twenty-seven

Mississippi.

Oxford, Mississippi.

Population 18,916

This past weekend I was in Mississippi. My little sister graduated from Ole Miss, so we drove (yes, seriously) from Pittsburgh in a big van to see her. We didn't really need a van for the three of us; it's more for all the goodies that have accumulated in my sister's apartment for the last three years. My sister isn't moving home just yet, but a good deal of her crap stuff is. Mississippi was wonderful, and it was the first time I've ever been there. Of course, I had a sweet tea with every meal. Also, with every meal, there was slaw, beans, some kind of sauce. The weekend was wonderful, and the graduation ceremony was lovely. I'm so proud of my littlest sister.

Before I left for Ole Miss, I had just finished test knitting a hat pattern for my friend Megan (aka JustRunKnit on Ravelry) of the Stockinette Zombies, but the pattern hadn't been released. The hat pattern, Weather the Weather, is available now on Ravelry, and it's free! Isn't that fun?! All you need is one hank of worsted and you're good to go. I knit my hat with Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool, since I had a hank in the stash. I love the hat, but the next time I knit this pattern, I'll be using a variegated yarn, as there's a bunch of garter (which you know I love) in the pattern. There's a few more details on my project page, if you'd like.

While I was in the car (for a while) I was working on my Happy Street shawl, and I managed to get a few stripes done. Since we've been home, I've almost finished the shawl. Well, I knit the last few rows yesterday, and now I have a 546-stitch bind off staring me in the face. Wow. 546 stitches. Eek. Last night, I opted for margaritas instead of the bind off, and I think tonight might be just the same. This feels like a Sunday morning task to me... Perhaps with a movie. Steel Magnolias?? Of course! I should have guessed. Pink is my signature color.

This picture is the best I could do for now, since it's all scrunched up on the needle. Hopefully this will be blocking sometime early next week, but we'll have to wait and see. Oh yeah, after the bind off, there's just about a bazillion ends to weave in. That's okay, though, because I'm really excited about the FO.

In other exciting knitting news, I've cast on a sock! Not just any sock, my first sock with sock yarn and itty-bitty needles! I've made a few socks before, but they were made with big chunky yarn on US 10 needles, and just to learn basic sock construction. This time it's for real! Now, I don't know how successful I'll be, as I've only just finished the ribbing of sock one, but I'm staying optimistic. I feel like the time for socks has finally arrived. I'm not expecting progress to be especially quick on this, and if you're curious about it, you can check my project page. Wish me luck!

Until next time!

twenty-six

I do love garter stitch.

It's reversible. It's easy. It blocks beautifully.

Knitting back and forth in garter stitch is, for me, just like meditation... If I'd ever taken the time to try meditation. Knit, knit, knit... Turn, knit some more. When I'm knitting garter stitch, my mind wanders, and I think that's what I like the most about it. I love those moments when my head is clear, and my thoughts are quiet. It seems that as I get older, my mind has less and less time to wander. I suppose that with age comes wisdom, but I never feel that wise. Just old. It's not that I have a ton of worries, I just have a ton of thoughts. There's work, house, dog, and all the little lists in between. Then there's lists within the lists. There is a chance that I'm being a stitch dramatic, but my brain is the only frame of reference I have on the subject.

So, back to the knitting. I went to Natural Stitches last weekend without a single project on the needles, but I knew I was going to start something while I was there. And not just trouble! I brought some stash yarns and pattern ideas, my notions bag and a couple needles, so I was ready for anything. I decided on a shawl (shocking, I'm sure) in sock yarn, and I only needed to buy one more hank.

I started working on a new pattern by Veera Välimäki called Happy Street. As is usually the case with her shawls, there's lots of garter stitch and some short row shaping. I'm using two colorways (curry & gun metal) of Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock that I picked up at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival this year. The third is Dream in Color Smooshy in the navy zeal colorway, which I picked up at NS last weekend. The pattern is totally intuitive and working on it is a dream. Sadly, I haven't had much time to work on it this week. I do have plans for lots of knitting this weekend, though. There's some progress pictures and all the fun details on my ravelry project page.

Speaking of lots of knitting, James and I are going on a road trip to Mississippi next weekend. My baby sister is graduating, so we're driving down to Oxford for the occasion. My dad rented a house for the weekend and we're going to be there celebrating my sister from dawn 'til dusk. This trip is going to be amazing! Also, the weekend will be sandwiched in between two extra-super-long car trips, on which I plan to knit until I can't see. To make packing easier and more efficient, I need to make some decisions about what I may want to knit. I'm open to suggestion, as I'm having a hard time narrowing it down. As long as I have the yarn in my stash, I'm good to go. As far as packing constraints go, I'm forcing myself to only take what I can fit in my new favorite knitting bag, that you can see below.

Have I mentioned how much I love this place?

Hopefully, by the next time I post, I'll have knit all the things on my trip, and then I'll be able to show them off!

twenty-five

I'm home... again.

I'm back from my second work trip since the beginning of this month, but I'm not complaining at all. I love visiting our other offices and having the opportunity to work face-to-face with colleagues that are usually just on the phone.

I was in North Carolina for work this week, and I got home on Friday afternoon. As it turns out, I didn't really get much knitting time, since the flight is less than an hour. It was a wonderful trip, though. For your benefit, I won't get into any boring details, but let me just say, it was a great week to be at work. Great job, great people, great time. Okay, that's enough shop talk.

Now for the knitting...

I'm working on an infinity scarf for my youngest sister, Jennifer. I was wearing this one over the holidays, and she really loved it. Well, you know me... any excuse to get some madelinetosh and I'm on board. I started the Summer Wind Scarf just before I went to North Carolina, and I've almost reached the halfway point. I chose this pattern because my sister lives in Mississippi, and it's HOT down there. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, and is a little bit lacy. She'll be wearing it more for color than warmth. I totally LOVE the color, and it's something I'd never use for myself. This colorway is a mix of coral and pink called "espadrilles," and it's fabulous. The details are on my ravelry project page, and here's a picture showing my progress so far.

Is anyone else planning on going to the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival? It's the weekend of May 18-19, and it seems like a good time. Waynesburg is a little over an hour away, but I've taken much longer trips for yarn. I've never been to this festival before, but I think I might go, and even bring James! I was planning on going last year, but it just didn't happen. There is one major difference between the last two festivals and this one that will really help me sell this to my husband... beer. Also, there's going to be livestock! It's looking like we'll go, but I haven't confirmed it for sure.