FOs

I finished the handspun hat and mittens:

 I'm extremely pleased with how well the mittens match each other, and how they match the striping on the hat. Eagle-eyed readers might notice that the thumb of the first mitten was a little... shall we say... pale... in this earlier picture.

When I finished the pair and saw that the other thumb had far more visible red flecks, I remedied the situation in a way that will not surprise those who have taken my Little Tips and Tricks Workshop: I dug out my trusty red Sharpie, and I colored the thumb a bit. No, I'm not kidding.

You wouldn't have known that if I hadn't told you, right? Well, not only do I believe in Full Disclosure, I'm not in the least ashamed. Sharpies have saved many a project, and it's a tip that I pass along happily in my classes.

This yarn was spun thick 'n thin on purpose, and that texture shows up beautifully in these pieces.

As I was snapping away, I remembered that I'd spun a previous bump of the same self-striping roving as sock yarn. I tucked the finished socks away in the Big Tub 'O Knitted Things and forgot about them. Luckily, they hadn't found a home yet so I was able to get a shot of all the pieces together. The colors are much more subtle in the socks, but you can still see the progression.

 Amazing the difference that yarn size makes.

It was a little panic-ful here toward the end. The above is all the yarn I had left- maybe 4 yards (with no more of this roving to spin). Happily, I knitted really really fast, and I finished the last mitten before the yarn ran out. That trick, unfortunately, isn't part of my workshop, since it doesn't always work...

Driftin' Along...

The wind howled last weekend. And when the fall wind howls in South Dakota...

 ... the annual Migration of the Tumbleweeds begins.

 These are the husks of the koscia plant, which grows everywhere here.  In the fall, the big round plants dry up, and the first big wind breaks them free, and then they roll...

 ...into fencelines, and across fields, scattering their seeds (up to 10,000 per plant) everywhere. It's fascinating to watch, the weeds roll and bounce as though they were stately and silent alien invaders, which I suppose they are.

That of course led me here:


You can thank me for the ear worm later. Side note: I did not realize that Roy Rogers was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers until I started looking around YouTube for a clip.

 Fall also means that the tomatoes, which were few and small this year for everyone, are done.

 The Brussels Sprouts are still doing okay though. We started these from seed, and maybe, if we're lucky and the bugs die off, we might actually get a serving before snow flies.

Our leaves are gone, but the prairie is beautiful, even when it's brown.

Wordless Sunday- Biltmore Postcard from 1931

FOs! and Mitered Square Links

Woohoo, I finally finished a couple of things!

After 18 months of the Yarn Buying Moratorium, I'm finally almost out of self-striping sock yarn leftovers. I have lots of non-patterning leftovers but it looks like I'm going to have to dip into the stash of full skeins and balls in order to make more like the above. The stash of full skeins is still overflowing.

I didn't keep track, but I think I got 7 or 8 pairs of free socks from all of those little leftover balls of yarn. Not too shabby.

And I finished this hat, which I started last November (and I would say that this is the longest any UFO has been on my needles, except that I know better). The yarn is from Lisa Souza. I bought it at the '09 Sock Summit. The colorway is Lapland and believe it or not, it's still available (check under the Hand Dyed Sock Yarns). The short-repeat variegation worked perfectly for mitered squares. Each square is a little different from those surrounding it, so each square stands out. I love the effect. I have plenty of yarn left, so I'm also knitting a pair of matching fingerless mittens.

Friend and blog reader Jessica asked if I would make a listing of the mitered square instructions so they would be easier to find. Here you go, Jessica:

Illustrated Mitered Square Tutorial

Freebie Friday Mitered Square Fingering Weight 2-Needle Socks Pattern

Fingering Weight Mitered Square Hat Instructions

Worsted Weight Mitered Square Hat General Instructions (note: this is not an actual pattern, it's just hints on how to adapt the pattern to this size yarn)

General Instructions for Fingering Weight Mitered Square Socks worked in the Round (again, this is not an actual pattern, just hints on how to adapt the 2-needle pattern)

The pattern for mitered square socks knit with worsted weight yarn is part of my Mitered Square Cuff Workshop (along with a pattern for mittens), and therefore only available for workshop members, but all you have to do is work 3 rows of 5 mitered squares with size 5 needles for the cuff, sew the cuff into a tube (3 rows deep), then pick up 48 sts and work the rest of the sock in the normal way.

Also, my pattern for fingering weight gloves with Mitered Square Cuffs is in Storey's 101 Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders.

Thursday Tab- Whitman Tender Love 'n Kisses, 1978

Baby Tender Love 'n Kisses was also an actual doll. But I don't know which came first, the doll or the paper doll. The book was published by Whitman in 1978.

The yarn thing

Remember back when I used to knit all the time? And I always had new FOs to post here on the blog?

Good times.

But though I may not knit all the time now, and I don't even try to knit on planes (not enough elbow room for this prop-n-throw knitter), I did pick the needles up again this week.

 I'm nearly done with a pair of leftover yarn socks (the first socks I've had on the needles in awhile). I love how the different yarns all look so cool together- none of them match, and yet they work perfectly. These are slated for The Big Tub 'O Knitted Things, and Christmas.

 And though my Yarn Buying Moratorium is still in effect, I've never pretended to have a Yarn Winning Moratorium. I won this beautiful yarn from The Copper Corgi when I was at SAFF. I didn't even consider turning it down. I suspect it'll be the next to hit the swift and winder. I love love love the mottled peach/copper colors. I think this yarn deserves lace, or some other amazing texture. I haven't worked cables for ages- maybe it's time.

 I finished spinning this hank of Romney before I left for NC. I spun the whole thing with the long draw, and I'm very happy with how the yarn came out. Though it's still pretty heavy (183 yds and 5.7 ozs), it's much lighter, loftier, and squooshier than my usual handspun yarn.

 My guess is that the long draw works best with well prepared fiber, but I have a lot of that on hand, including another 3ozs or so of this particular colorway. By the time I get done spinning it, I'll have plenty of yarn for a pair of cushy winter socks.

 I mentioned Mercury Swings yesterday. It's a free short story that fits somewhere in the whacked out universe that Robert Kroese created. I read it last night, and it's a hoot. I don't know if it'll make much sense to anyone who is not familiar with the characters and premise, but I enjoyed it greatly.

Oh, and though I've seen some beautiful scenes in my travels, and I hope to see many, many more, there is no scene more beautiful than what I can see from my front porch.

South Dakota wins Sunsets.

Books

16 Hours in airports (both ways) leaves me with a lot of reading time.

 I finished Robert Kroese's Mercury Rises, which is a sequel to Mercury Falls, and while not quite as laugh-out-loud funny as the first, I still enjoyed it. and the main characters (an angel, a writer, and The Antichrist, as well as a whole bunch of other Heavenly, and The Other Place, whackdoodles). It looks like  Mercury Swings, a free short story (or maybe a novella), is a prequel to the other books. I didn't know it existed until just now, but it's safely on my Kindle already, so I'll let you know.

 Our favorite sociopathic serial killer is unaccountably dense in Double Dexter. Even for a guy who isn't quite up on actual human emotions and reactions, he seems awfully slow to catch on to a few really large hints. That said, I enjoyed this journey into his twisted mind.

 I did not love all of the short stories in West Coast Crime Wave, but I liked enough of them to make the read enjoyable. I especially liked Steve Brewer's contribution to the collection. There was a bit of formatting weirdness in the book, one story was completely underlined, but I imagine they'll work those kinks out soon.

 Just in case I got stuck in strange cities, I loaded up the Kindle before I flew out. I bought several of Christopher Moore's novels, starting with Practical Demonkeeping. I only just started the book, but I'm pretty sure that his twisted sense of humor is right up my alley.

 J.D. Rhoades' two short stories in The Caretaker were both quick and satisfying reads. I didn't love the Courier Font, but I adjusted pretty quickly.

 J.A. Konrath's The List is described as a technothriller (one word). I started reading it last night but it's not striking my fancy at the moment. I think I'll put it aside for awhile, and try again later.

 My good friend Ann recommended Mary Stanton's series, so I started with the first, Defending Angels. It's probably the polar opposite of The List. I'm enjoying it but it's maybe just a tad too cozy for me. We'll see.

 I've been listening to Tarzan books as I treadmill, for the past couple of months (letting the Kindle read them out loud to me).  In Tarzan the Untamed, Tarzan is a very very busy Lord of the Jungle: he becomes a widower, he reverts to his savage roots, he takes on the German Army single-handed, he rescues a downed English pilot, he is wary of a pretty German Spy (who, of course, falls in love with him)(and of course, he doesn't even notice), he tames a wild black lion, he crosses deserts, he discovers a hidden city of maniacs, he rescues his friends, and finally he learns something that we probably knew already. Whew...


This is the seventh Tarzan book that I have listened to in a row, and they're all a hoot. At least once in every book, I laugh out loud (and an out-loud laugh while you're dripping on the treadmill is a very good thing). This time around, after having been previously warned that shooting a lion with a pistol would only piss the lion off : (Lieutenant Harold Percy) "Smith-Oldwick drew the pistol from his shirt. 'If he has made up his mind to kill me,' he thought. 'I can't see that it will make any difference in the long run whether I infuriate him or not. The beggar can't kill me any deader in one mood than another.'"

Next up is Tarzan the Terrible, which is the last book in the Tarzan Omnibus. Though I try not to learn too much about the books before I listen to them, I am pretty sure that there are dinosaurs in this one, y'all.

There are many more Tarzan books (I think there were 24 total), but after I finish listening to Tarzan the Terrible, I'm going to switch to Burrough's John Carter of Mars series. From what I can tell, John Carter is another gorgeous hunk of invincible man-meat. I suspect I'm going to enjoy these books every bit as much. In fact, I just bought a 5-book collection. Just this minute.

The Kindle is a wonderful and dangerous thing.