I just got back from voting and I’m all a-tremble, even a little weepy.  This has been such an emotional election - I’m much more vested in the outcome than I’ve ever been before.  I’m going to be glued to the television all evening to hear the returns.

There was barely any wait at my polling place, and no glitches to be seen - all the machines were working fine.  I wish the same were true at every polling place throughout the nation.  Thank you to all of you who have to persevere through a more trying process but vote anyway!!!

 Socks, of course.  Especially an intarsia pair from Cat Bordhi’s “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles”, and the Mermaid Socks from Lucy Neatby’s “Cool Socks, Warm Feet.”   I hardly ever make socks from patterns, but here I am, making two pairs. 

 I love the Estonian Fishtail pattern from the Mermaid Socks (also featured in Nancy Bush’s Estoninan knitting book).  It twists around in spiral fashion, but one never needs to move the end-of-round marker or transfer stitches from needle to needle to accomplish the k2tog’s.  One of those utterly fascinating knitting mysteries.  The socks seem almost garish, but I think in a good way.  I like the Neatby book because it has many ideas to use patterned sock yarn.

 What I need to do now is go and hide a million intarsia tails - that pair will be so beautiful when finished. 

The birding has been fantastic - we saw a merlin right ouside our windows!  That is a new bird for me.  It looked much bigger than I would have imagined.  We’ve seen lots of ducks too - canvasbacks, common goldeneyes, common mergansers, mallards, I think a bufflehead or two.  Also mute swans.  All this from the comfort of our living room!

 Of course I’m knitting a lot too.  Working on a wonderful four-color stash sweater, though it looks like I’ll have to buy a skein or two to finish it.  Also a very delicate scarf in pink lace-weight yarn - the Trellis-Bordered Openwork Diamonds pattern. 

We went to Mary Maxim’s retail store in Port Huron and I got more of the beige Invicta for the strange-gauge socks.  For now, I’m having fun working on the sweater and scarf - the socks can wait a bit longer.

The kids are great - field trips with Hawkeye for train watching and sledding, learning to build fires in the fireplace, Dub providing play-by-play commentary for the Superbowl.  We’re all getting lots of quality time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Life is good. 

 Then I went to make the second sock.  I steamed along merrily until I finished the heel (starting at the toe).  Then I compared it to the first one.  Hmmmm…..looks smaller. 

Tried it on - egad! no way can I get my foot in that.  Look at the socks again, more closely this time.  Holy cow - how did I manage to tighten up my gauge so much?  It’s hard to believe the same person knit both socks.

I should have stuck to my “chain smoking” method of knitting the second sock right after the first.

Right now, my plan is to make two pairs.  It’s a good excuse to go to Mary Maxim’s when I’m back in Michigan at the end of the month.  Hope they’ve got more of that yarn.

Then, I remembered that I had just told a friend that my sock knitting method is similar to chain smoking - those needles are never empty. Finish one sock, start the next, finish the second sock, and bingo - the first sock of the next pair is cast on quicker that I can say Jack Robinson. I have my next four pairs all planned out and ready to go.

I really must take some time to work on some other projects. I have a stole (rectangular shawl) in the works, and a lacy cardigan all ready to be put underway. Not to mention my felting. I also have a fabulous blue pullover that is 95% completed - just needs the bottom ribbing re-done and a bit of finishing.

 Several months elapse………Well, I wrote this back in August, but never published due to my ineptitude in adding pictures.  My Very Smart Friend, Kim, said I should just write and never mind about the pictures.  So, here I am, just writing.

 I’ve done several more pairs of socks - but also finished the blue pullover (I’ve been living in that all winter) plus slippers and a hat.  I think I’m finally becoming more balanced in my knitting.  Hurrah!

Above is a basket of yarn to make the Elizabeth Zimmermann sampler-type ski sweater.

And below, my mom is modeling a green shawl in Koigu. (It’s “Susan” from Stahman’s Shawls and Scarves.) (I know, it still needs to be blocked.)

Color preferences are interesting things. I have a dear friend who absolutely detests green. She loves plants and leaves and summertime, but still can’t stand to have anything else green. Then I know some others who are so conservative in their color choices - their clothes all come from a very limited palette of neutrals. Then again, there are people who choose to paint their houses in some pretty ghastly colors.

I used to wear a purple shirt almost every day. Talk about being in a color rut! My flirtation with green was very exciting - I felt almost daring choosing green yarn. The world even looked a bit different, and I felt more free, more creative.

I’ve noticed that my attraction to green has started to wane. I’ve come through to the other side of my green period - but I’ve changed. For one thing, I now have a lot of really cool green items to wear, and I’m ready to experiment with other colors - perhaps orange will be next.

I feel terrifically accomplished, even though I see that I had vowed to felt three things by now. The green bag turned out so beautifully - so what if I’m behind schedule?

Kim is right - it really is like knitting for Hagrid. Or Bigfoot. Then comes the alchemical process of the washing machine and the grand transformation. I see why so many knitters are in love with felting - it’s like transfiguration for Muggles.

And the secret to good results is so simple - stop the washing machine every five minutes to check on progress. I know this is a bug “duh” for some of you, but maybe it will help other reluctant felters. Now I’ll be ransacking my stash to put new felting projects together.

The bag is lovely to wear - it caresses the shoulder and hangs just right. The contents are very secure even without a zipper or flap or other closure at the top. This is a great design by Cat Bordhi.

 My second completed felted project was slipper-socks for my dad.  I hovered over the washing machine, checking every few minutes.  Fortunately my dad was nearby and he could try them on repeatedly until they had shrunk the perfect amount.  Success at last!

That was last summer, and I have since then knitted another Moebius bag (see here), a hat from a Fiber Trends pattern (thanks to friend Judy for lending me the pattern), and a gigantic shoulder sling bag from a Two Old Bags pattern.  BUT……I haven’t felted any of them yet. 

 At first, I didn’t really understand the appeal of felting.  I don’t much care for knitting miles of plain stockinette stitch, so I thought I would be bored by the knitting part.  But after seeing friends’ felted bags, and reading about felted slippers, bowls, baskets, hats, and even cat beds, for gosh sakes, I was intrigued and soon determined to join the happy felting throngs. 

 I plan to felt all three unfelted objects in the next two weeks.  I’ll post the results.

 Ladder Lace Rib appears to be more or less lacy, depending on whether you’re looking at it straight or at an angle.  I wore them to a prairie restoration work day and got a couple of snags, so I’ve learned to wear them only for tame situations.

 I’ve been a knitter for several decades, and in most of that time only made a few pairs of socks.  My recent burst of sock knitting has been due to the fortuitous coming together of a group of factors:  first, I absolutely fell in love with Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’s  book Simple Socks.  Once I read it I just had to try out the technique.  Then, I came across a lovely display of that new-fangled self-striping sock yarn and decided to use that for my first pair of Simple Socks.  I used a set of OO dpns, hoping to get a good sock yarn gauge, but was totally frustrated when the needles fell out every time I picked up my knitting.  Arrrgh.  Then, I remembered the idea of knitting a small tube on two circular needles.  Fortunately I already owned two 16 inch size O needles, so I switched over to those. 

 Success!  My gauge was fine, and I loved the way the first pair of socks turned out.  I realized that sock knitting would be a perfect avenue for indulging my love of the Barbara Walker knitting pattern treasuries, and  I have had such fun exploring the stitches. There is no end in sight, as I have lots of ideas.

I’m in love with this sock.  It really is queenly and elegant.  They are knit in Wildfoote Pine Tree with size 0 needles.

I’ve made more than a dozen pairs of socks in the last year and a half - all using Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’s book “Simple Socks.”  I just love the heel and toe structure.  My little touch is to make the heels and toes using Heel Stitch instead of stockinette.  I work with two circular needles rather than a set of dpns, and usually start at the toe.  I have finally reached the exalted state of wearing no socks other than my own hand-knits. 

Thanks for visiting my blog!  I hope you’ll stop by often.   A huge thank you goes to good friends and knowledgeable bloggers Kim and Ken for helping me get started.