Eye Candy, presented to you in Technicolor

This here, folks, is somethin' special. I now give you...(drumroll please)...

...Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn!

Now, this ain't available yet. For good reason. The prototype that we got at Annie's is 100% wool. It's basically li'l Kureyon. It sticks to itself like buttah on bread. Just trying to reskein the durn thing so that two people could each knit up one sock was an ordeal. But apparently they're reworking it and they're planning on adding some nylon to it before they start selling it en masse. In the meantime, I get to knit a sample sock out of half a skein. The label said the skein has about 430 yds. I decided to conquer short rows -- both heels and toes. Take that, you pesky turn-and-wrap holes!

I'm still trying to figure out what garment I shall make next, but all this Kureyon talk got me weak in the knees and I had to go and do this:

Lady Eleanor, baby. But I keep wanting to write it "Elinor," like Miss Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. The entrelac is highly addictive. Every time I want to put it down, it goes, "No! Another rectangle will give you yet another color change!" What can I say? I'm a cheap date.

I started with two balls of different colors and I can't decide if I should continue alternating those two colors or just keep picking up whatever color catches my eye next. Do I want two-color elegance or do I want multi-color ragamuffin-y goodness?

Also, my pick-ups don't look bad, but the side that's ssk or p2tog looks raggedy. Is this normal or am I incompetent?

FO: Like sands in the hourglass...

I've never watched a full episode of Days of Our Lives in my life, but I always liked that narrator with his booming, authoritative tone telling me that these are, indeed, the days of our lives.

With that melodramatic start, I now present an unfussy, plain ol' stockinette FO.

Mossy Hourglass Sweater
Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Karabella Aurora Melange, 12 balls
Needles: US 7 bamboo circs
Mods: Seed stitch at wrists and hems; contrast color at inside neck lining; row gauge recalculation; extra decrease/increase on body

Verdict: Love. It. To. Death. At first, the yarn seemed clingy and didn't drape very well. But after a good wet-block, it really blossomed into a beautifully bloom-y, softly draping fabric that feels luscious and falls flatteringly. And I have used up my adverb quota for the day.

I admit, the photo is a bit lazy. I realized I wanted to blog about this sweater before moving onward to exciting things, but by the time I remembered and found someone lying around the apartment to take the picture, the sun was already setting and I knew I'd lost out on prime sunlight. Whatevs. It fits, it's soft, it's purdy.

The length worked out to perfection and I really can't ask for more considering it'll be a casual sweater for me to slip on over t-shirts and tank tops as the weather grows chillier (which it's choosing to do at a maddeningly slow pace). I lengthened the top half (the increase half) of the body in order to accommodate my, um, assets and I'm starting to see the really wonderful aspect of knitting something specifically for one's body type. The yarn...I cannot say enough about the yarn. I know 12 balls of Karabella Aurora ain't cheap, but it's highly worth it and I got a great deal on it. It feels wonderful to knit and looks wonderful to wear.

FO: Purple Overload Socks

Purple is supposed to symbolize mystery and royalty. It's also apparently connected to the spiritual seventh chakra in feng shui applications. I think I'm needing something spiritual lately, because I'm obsessed with purple.

Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks
Pattern: Favorite Socks
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Virtual Purple
Needles: US 1 circs

I definitely f'ed up the toe on the second sock so that they're not even. Whatevs. I was working on them at my parents' place last weekend and my mom wanted them for herself. I may actually cave this time. She grabbed the finished one out of my bag and tried it on while I worked a few rows on the second. Then she dropped hints like, "You know I like purple a lot" and "My feet are very cold." Sometimes I think she's the silly kid and I'm the serious mom. And then I remember I'm really not very serious so maybe we're both just silly.

I definitely will be making these socks again at some point. They're really easy and the yarn goes so well with them. I have another skein of the Smooshy but I think I'd like to try making this pattern again with a slightly more variegated yarn.

When the sock is left alone and unstretched, I really appreciate the spirals that appear. Btw, this yarn lasts forever. I did ten pattern repeats on the leg and nine on the foot and I still have enough yarn left over to make another short sock.

Now, here's some more purple. Basically, the purple loveliness of the Kid Classic is annoying me right now because I continue to try and get gauge and it will not happen. I am just going to have rewrite the pattern for my gauge and I am mad. So, lovely and fluffy Kid Classic is sitting on my bookshelf while I painstakingly go over the pattern. In the meantime, I started the Woven Trellis Scarf for my best friend. She wants a scarf. I thought I was through with scarves, but at least this one is not a lot of work for a very impressive result. Although I might kill someone when I reach the end of the fifth cord and still have to knit another one.

I also decided Mr. Smoke Shawl is going to have to deal with a partner. Part of the reason I'm finding him so fiddly is that I do not like the feel of cobweb-weight yarn while knitting. I like the end product, but it's not something I like working with. I'm terrified of snapping it, it feels more like thread as it runs through my fingers, etc. This is sad for a part of me, but the other part of me likes the fact that I know this about myself now and won't make the same mistake again. I'm going to buy another lace or fingering weight yarn in a navy or midnight blue and pair Mr. Smoke with it.

I am also sooooo close to finishing the Hourglass:

Yes, this looks like a lump of moss. It's really a finished sweater that needs a wet block and a sewing-in-ends marathon. Badness of superwash wool is that you can't spit-splice the ends, durnit.

I did the neckline hemming in a contrast color. It looks wonky but it lies flat when I put it on. The first time I knitted the sleeves to the yoke, I got two inches in before I realized I had sewn in one sleeve facing the wrong way. Dammit, I can't live with a mistake like that. A slightly wonky neckline only when folded or flat? I can live with that. Those ends are just the tip of the iceberg, man. You should see the inside of the sweater. Yikes.

A Bad Case of the Blahs

I am running around frantic half the time trying to get things in order for MFA sundries such as letters of rec, requesting BA grade reports, narrowing down the list of schools to apply to, streamlining my creative submission, writing a personal statement, etc. That last one is pretty amusing since half of my work involves editing other people's personal statements and I can be a pretty harsh critic.

On top of all this, I started working two/three days a week at an LYS, Annie & Co. Needlepoint and Knitting. The needlepoint store has been there for ages, but the knitting part is new and has only been open for about six weeks. I took the job because I work from home and hardly ever see anyone unless I'm going "out." Also, I am no longer in denial and admit that I am absolutely obsessed with knitting. While I love working there, I'm going to have to be more productive non-knitting-wise during the other days of the week.

Also, I've swatched a bazillion times with the Kid Classic and I cannot get gauge to save my life. Boo. Gauge is suggested on US 6 needles. I've tried 4s, 5s and 6s. I sort of fall in between the 5s and 6s, so I'm trying it this time around on US 6 Addi lace needles as opposed to regular Addis.

And for whatever reason, I am just sad this week. You know, when nothing's "wrong" but you just aren't really at peace with the world? It usually passes within two weeks, so I'll just have to bide my time until it lifts.

These make me a teeny bit happier, though:

The pattern is the Diagonal Cross-Rib socks from Favorite Socks. Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Visual Purple. The yarn is, indeed, smooshy. And every time I say it, I think of that part in Finding Nemo when Dory finds a baby jellyfish and says, "I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy." I can only say that I loooooove this yarn. I want to eat it. And make a mattress out of it. It's also a tremendous value. It was $22 for 450 yds. Yowza. I finished one sock and have one repeat done on the second.

Complete non sequitur: Doesn't this look like Bart Simpson wearing a big purple turtleneck???

Maybe it's because I caught an Inside the Actors Studio last night while finishing the first sock. Instead of one guest, they featured the entire regular voice cast of The Simpsons. It was highly amusing. Watching Nancy Cartwright while the voice of Bart Simpson comes out of her mouth is really interesting. Same with Dan Castellaneta and the voice of Homer.

I did make some progress on Hourglass:

What you see here is one finished sleeve and one just-started sleeve which is now actually a one-third finished sleeve. So I just have to finish two-thirds of that sleeve and join everything up for the yoke.

Big Girls Don't Cry...

...but they are muy triste when their nice gentlemanly Smoke Shawl decides to be VERY BAD over one weekend visit to parents and require unraveling to the very beginning. I had about six or seven repeats of the main chart done and I can only say that Mr. Smoke Shawl was just VERY VERY BAD. I can't even provide details because it's too traumatic. My brother kept telling me it wasn't such a big deal until I threatened to both stab him in the arm with my US 4 Inox needles and throw some turpentine on a painting he'd been working on for several weeks just to show him how it feels. That made him shut up good and quick. I'm only going to work on Smoke maybe one or two rows at a time for a while now. That's how mad I am. He needs to be punished.

But when I came back to my apt. today, the yarn goddesses took pity on me and delivered my supply of Kid Classic for Rannoch:

Clearly, I'm not going with the original color scheme. I'm make the body a deep purple (it came out looking raspberry-ish in the photo, but it's a true royal purple with a heathered quality). The fair-isle on the sleeves will include the same purple, a medium brown, a beige, a deep midnight blue and a lighter icy blue.

And last week, I also got some Rowanspun 4 ply from Cucumberpatch on eBay. It was so cheap and I was up really late one night. Bad combination. This is for a future Bressay Hap Shawl in the same Rowan as Rannoch.

Also, I saw Across the Universe this weekend.

If you haven't seen it, go. Now. Seriously.

I agree with all the critics. The movie is clearly imperfect, a little too long, has major plot flaws, etc. However, in the end, I just didn't care. It's directed by Julie Taymor, who also directed Titus and Frida and the Broadway version of The Lion King. If you go see this movie, I guarantee you will see the following things: Cute boys with earnest faces who sing! Amazing visuals! Psychedelic drug trips! Eddie Izzard weirdly rapping out "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite"! Joe Cocker dressed up like both a homeless man and a pimp while singing "Come Together"! Bono pretending he can act before singing "I am the Walrus"! Anti-war protests! And last, but certainly not least, Beatles' songs!

I was prepared to dislike the singing (the actors all recorded the songs live on set), but there's this raw, un-polished, unpretentious quality to it. Franz Kafka once wrote, "A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us." I think Beatles' songs will do the same.

Now, back to the daily grind, but the Beatles will pull me through and get me to post progress photos of my Hourglass sometime soon.

FO: Uptown Boot Socks

"Uptown girl...You know I can't afford to buy her pearls, but maybe someday when my ship comes in, she'll understand what kind of guy I've been..."

Uptown Boot Socks
(aka I-have-no-brain-cells-right-now-to-give-them-a-cooler-name)
Pattern: Uptown Boot Socks from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM P105D, 2 skeins
Needles: Addi Lace circs, US 1.5

Ooh, I spy some brand new red sock blockers from The Loopy Ewe. They make it much, much easier for a gal to take photos of socks without resorting to childhood contortion experiments. Yeah, 27-yr-olds ain't flexible spring chickens.

Speaking of not being a spring chicken, I've been a little harebrained over the past week because I decided finally that I am going to be applying to MFA programs. It's just too stressful for me to worry about where my next job will come from and I can't help but feel responsible for making my parents worry about it, too. I was resistant to school because I don't know that it will help my actual writing, but I finally let Practical Sway out of her cage (I don't let her out often) and she said, "Grow up and understand that it's a great safety net to have the degree and be able to teach so that you can write and have health insurance, food and yarn all at the same time." She's so smart. I kind of feel bad that I keep her cooped up in the attic.

OK, now that random venting is over, back to the socks: Aren't gussets boo-tee-full?

I'm going to try short-row heels eventually, but I will really miss the pretty gussets. Even the word "gusset" is pretty. Kind of like when people used to "gussy up" before leaving for a night on the town.

Now, "P105D" is not a very descriptive name for this colorway.

It makes me think of ancient gods and goddesses in a forest making wine and getting drunk and merry. Kind of like this:


The clip is from Fantasia, which my uncle took my brother and me to see when it was re-released in theaters. He was confused and thought it was a new movie. He fell asleep in the middle, but my brother and I loved it. It's still one of my favorite movies. Fantasia 2000 was not nearly as good, but I still loved the Firebird sequence.

Just some more photos of the colors. They come out so wonderfully in stockinette.

And this last one really does remind me of a field of flowers.

That design I'm working on is still going on...I can say it's a pair of something and that I need to work out some issues regarding construction. I originally wanted to submit it to Knitty, but that's not going to happen at this point. So, I'll finish when I can and then probably post the pattern here for free.

Peh-Shun Nee-Tuh

Last week, my mom came into the city to take me to lunch in K-town. We were meeting my cousin at the restaurant and got there a bit early, so she asked to check out the Korean import bookstore next door. I realized this was a good chance to see if they carried knitting books and I lucked out:

The title is in the green circle. It says "Fashion Knit" only it's phonetically Korean, so it reads more like, "Peh-Shun Nee-Tuh." Isn't the cardi on the cover yummy?

The knits are actually really nice. There was a book in the store that was basically a translated version of one of Zoe Mellor's baby knits books and another one featured kind of hideous clothes.

But I fell in love with this purple swingy thing, aka "Poncho-Style Pullover":

I have never knit with Noro before, but I think it might be perfect for this. There's also a pattern for a matching beret.

I also don't really go for novelty yarns, but I might be persuaded by this:

It calls itself a "Vest with Rabbit Tails." Hmm. I think I'm going to have to forgo the rabbit tails. I have no desire to remind people of snack cakes.

Here's the ultra-posh "Chanel-style Jacket and Muffler":

Yes, Korean people refer to scarves as "mufflers." My mother says all the Asian people picked up lots of words from the British when they were trying to colonize, but I'm not quite sure the "muffler" is a British term. Anyone?

More than anything else in this book, the reason I bought it is this li'l number:

It's very creatively named "Double-Buttoned Long Coat." I'm not sure what would be an appropriate yarn. I think Noro might be too multi-colored for this. But it's so pretty. And will take me seven years to knit. That's a conservative estimate. Whatever, one can dream.

This one looks like an advertisement, but it's not:

I love the patch pockets and the little tracks up the front. It's called "Hawk Tie Brown Coat."

The last one that I love is the "Belt-Tied One Piece":

The name is a lie, though. I'm pretty sure the belt is not knit and the vest is not knit in one piece. It's an interesting construction. You knit one long piece that becomes the front and back yoke. You then pick up stitches on the back yoke and knit down to the back hem.

There are a bunch of other knits in the book, but these are my faves. Take a look at the actual pattern page:

On the positive side, I must say the schematics are pretty fantastic. There are a gazillion measurements for each piece. Rowan and Debbie Bliss should take lessons from Asian pattern books.

There are a couple negatives, though. Yarn requirements are given in weight, not yards. She also does not provide yarn brands or labels, so you're pretty much making slightly educated guesses with how much yarn you actually need.

Also, the patterns are only available in one size. And yes, aside from that voluminous one-piece vest, 96 cm is the biggest bust measurement for women, which makes it just shy of 38". This is for a coat, which needs more ease. Grar. I thought I'd left all my math days behind me when I quit pre-med, but it looks like knitting is making me face my old enemy.