pepperknit

Just so I’m clear–which I definitely wasn’t in the last post–the picot edging I did was a simple, no-fuss, picot bindoff. Yeah, I italicize a single word and think I’ve made the entire situation clear. But I didn’t do some fancy picot edging, I bound off into picots.

Still saying “dude, you are using synonyms here”? Yeah, I am. I can do better.

I did the following to bind off:
Cast off 2 stitches like normal. *Transfer the stitch on the right needle to the left. Using the cable caston method, cast on 2 stitches. Bind off 4 stitches like normal. Repeat from * around.

This creates little picots. There was no fancy row of picot-making, then some straight knitting, then folding and sewing the flap down. Lolly’s tutorial seemed to only mention these fold-down kinds. Until I read her tutorial, I didn’t even know that this fold-down picot thing existed! I just assumed that all picot-ed socks had a picot bindoff. Maybe it’s clear to the rest of you–or maybe I didn’t read the tutorial closely enough–but I went with what I perceived to be the lazy knitter’s way out! My problem with the technique is that the cable caston sucks, and the whole process was tedious and time-consuming. I couldn’t locate my small crochet hook, or it would have been a TON better.

So anyway, play with your own picot bindoff or edging and see what works for you!

I’ve had one helluva productive weekend. All my clothing is put away! The apartment is starting to be livable! I have boxes of books stacked up where a bookcase will go, once I get one, and I believe–I believe–that I can get a cushy chair to complete my living room, the first time I’ve had a living room that could accomodate this.

But enough about the unpacking. Let’s dazzle you all with an FO.

Naturally, I finished them and there is zero daylight left–curses to the changing of the clocks–so these shots were taken in the apartment, and the color is absolutely wrong. These socks originally began as something totally different, and I took those with me down the shore, so you can see a shot here. Or in the skein, back from when I bought the yarn, here. Crazy different, huh? Even sitting with the socks on my lap here, they hardly look their vibrant selves.

Speedy Socks
Pattern: None; went toe-up. Used the Magic Caston, a short-row heel, and a picot bindoff.
Stitch Pattern: Technically this is the wrong side of Shadow Rib, from Barbara Walker
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, turquoise
Skeins: 1
Needles: KnitPicks circs in what must be 2.5 mm. I guess that’s US 2? My needle gauge doesn’t have a slot for this size–it’s between 1 and 2. I worked one sock past the heel, put the stitches on a holder, then knit the second sock to the same point. Then I magic looped them together, so I could ensure they would be identical.
Size: Who knows. I can’t find the little piece of paper where I jotted down the needed size, but I recall being told that the recipient’s feet are small but wide. So while I can put them on, they are very stretched out to do so, and, well, I’m just hoping they fit. I went with the standard 60 stitches around, but made them short in length.
Started: Thursday, October 26 (late)
Finished: Sunday, October 29 (early evening)
Notes: I started these on Thursday night just to have some simple knitting for the bus ride to and from work. The socks were just a bit too simple and fast, though, because I finished them so quickly! I now don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow morning on the ride in, but I guess I’ll find something else to start tonight.

These are another gift for one of the women in the boy’s family–one of his sisters. The stitch pattern was so straightforward and not particularly feminine that I tried to offset it with a picot bindoff. I’d never done a picot bindoff on socks before, and to be honest, I do not like it. I’ve never liked it from an aesthetic standpoint, but I really hated executing it. It was so tedious.

Still, I think the edging works for these socks, for this recipient, and I’m overall quite pleased. I wanted to eke out a single pair out of one skein of yarn, and I did. They’re kind of between ankle socks and normal socks, but that just adds to their cuteness.

The stitch pattern as I knit it, for anyone interested, is

Multiple of 3 sts
Row 1: knit
Row 2: *k2, purl 1 thru back loop, rep from *

Check out the other side, which is very cool looking, but didn’t seem right for socks.

I managed to complete two pairs of socks for Socktoberfest! That’s better than I manged in the entire Summer of Socks. And I used a new technique, and I crossed another gift off my list, and I used up some more of the stash–hurray for me!

Back when I was first starting my blog, I contacted a blogger I’d been reading for a while, to ask her a couple of questions. Rachel of Lickety Knit was the first blogger I ever made a comment for, and she was my first non-real-life-friend commenter! And this week I got to meet her in person!

She was in NYC for some meetings, and I was free for lunch, so we had some yummy Thai food with a generous side of great conversation. After the initial shock and novelty of meeting in person faded, we settled into simply catching up–and I felt as if I were with an old friend. My only surprise was her voice, which was lower than I’d expected, though I can’t say why I expected a certain tone at all.

Bad bloggers that we are, neither of us had our camera with us. Neither of us had knitting with us, either! Luckily, I just got a new phone, complete with built-in camera, so I was able to capture the moment. We took some time to be completely silly:

And in more silliness, it took me until today to figure out how the heck to get the photo out of my phone and into my computer. I wanted to do it for free, and I finally did it! It’s not crazy brain science, it’s Verizon’s little “PIX Place” feature. Anyway, it ultimately was easy once I understood how it would operate.

It’s been a long week, or I would try to say more or be more witty. Instead, I will shamefacedly settle for sincerity. Thanks for a great lunch, Rachel–we’ll have to do it again!

What are the odds? I move apartments over Rhinebeck weekend; the boy moves over Stitches weekend. And I certainly can’t abandon him for his move after he shouldered most of the burden with mine, to go buy some fiber. Perhaps this calls for a free pass to me to do some online yarn shopping . . .

I’m still too shy to pull out the camera. Can you believe it!? Me, the woman who brazenly takes pictures of the back of people while walking down the street can’t bring herself to pull the knitting out in her cube and snap a shot. Or to go outside onto the street and do the same. I’ll get over it soon enough, I promise, but in the meantime, some random things you don’t need to know about me:

1. FIRST NAME?
   Erin
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
   I was given this name because of The Waltons. That is, my parents hadn’t known the name before the show became popular. I’ve asked the parents of other Erins my age (there are a lot of us), and they’ve admitted a Waltons influence, as well.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY?
   Um, a little bit at dinner with a friend tonight. I’m going through an emotional time, what can I say? And also? I hate to say it, but I’m a crier. People who know me pretty well are often surprised to learn this–I have a cynical, gruff exterior, I guess.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
   Yes, I have very nice handwriting.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT?
   Turkey. But it has to be like “real” turkey–kind of dry, definitely not slimy, as some turkey lunchmeat can be.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
   Yes, I am a very good friend.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL?
   You’re reading it.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
   Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
   In a heartbeat.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
    Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
    No. I do untie them before I put them on, most times.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
    Yes. For my size, I’m decently strong physically, and despite the crying (see above), I think I’m pretty strong emotionally as well as personality-wise.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
    Vanilla.
14. SHOE SIZE?
    7 or 7.5
15. RED OR PINK?
    Definitely red.
16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
    I can be way too competitive, and it alienates people.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
    Right now? The boy.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
    Post your own answers on your blog and make a comment here!
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
    Sort of a stone-brown pair of slacks, a grassy green shirt, and dark brown leather boots.
20. LAST THING YOU ATE?
    A (sadly tasteless) flan.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
    NYC traffic, the hum of the fridge, and the sounds of people in my friend’s apartment building.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
    I have no idea how to answer this. I was always a fan of Midnight Blue as a child, but that was more for the name than anything.
23. FAVORITE SMELL?
    Chicken roasting with rosemary, thyme, onions, garlic, etc.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
    My boyfriend.
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO?
    Their whole body–build, face, etc.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM?
    Yes.
27. FAVORITE DRINK?
    I really really really like Coke. I don’t drink it very often but I will sometimes have one as a reward after a hard day. Really, my favorite is Cherry Coke.
28. FAVORITE SPORT?
    I enjoy pro football, to watch on TV. I know a lot about distance running (but I do not run). I am, randomly, a good bowler.
29. EYE COLOR?
    Brown.
30. HAT SIZE?
    No clue. Normal-sized for my height.
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
    No, glasses.
32. FAVORITE FOOD?
    French fries.
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
    I really don’t like scary movies.
34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
    Winter, no question.
35. HUGS OR KISSES?
    Hugs.
36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
    Flan (when flavorful). Minty things (when not flan).
37. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?
    George Saunders’s Pastoralia. Various books for work.
38. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
    N/A
39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV?
    Didn’t watch TV last night. Would have watched America’s Next Top Model if I’d been in at the time.
40. FAVORITE SOUNDS?
    I’ve never thought about this before. I do like the gurgly noises of a coffee maker. I like when a violin bow is drawn forcefully, almost harshly, against the strings. I like when songs have little plinky digital sounds in the background–beeps and bops and such.
41. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES?
    Beatles.
42. THE FARTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME?
    When I lived in Taiwan, the farthest we went was back to the States. A year and a half ago, I went back to Taiwan for the first time since living there, so that was the farthest from home. Basically, halfway across the world is the farthest I’ve ever been (heck, it’s the farthest you can ever go!)
43. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT?
    What ISN’T my special talent?
44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
    Maryland
45. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
    I got it from Maryse.

No pictures yet–still a little too shy–but I knit on public transit in New York for the very first time. I took the bus from work to my new apartment, though I’m not moved in yet. I got the keys on Tuesday, so I met a friend there and we looked at it to make sure everything was in order. I’m happy to say that my memory of it was pretty much dead-on (I’d feared that my mental image, small though it was, would be bigger than the reality). Anyway, my first lesson in knitting on public transit?

Do not try to cable without a cable needle on a moving bus.

I managed it, but it wasn’t pleasant, and it involved some scrunching of the face and a tongue sticking out of my mouth (anyone else do this when concentrating very hard?). Plus it was a little nervewracking–would I lose all the stitches? Happily, I didn’t lose any stitches, and I knit 4 rows of the world’s slowest-moving socks. (so this was cabling w/o a cable needle on size 1 dpns!) I will try to take a shot of what little I have done soon so that people can see what I’ve been slaving away on!

In case you’re interested, I’m on day 3 of the new job, and it’s going well. I’m completely overwhelmed and more than a bit clueless, but things are starting to fall into place, a little, and everyone is so nice and understanding.

I’m not trying to post really frequently, but I seriously had a knitting dream last night!

There were a lot of details in this dream–friends driving friends to get to dinner, deciding to turn back for no apparent reason, warnings of a cold that you could catch in windy conditions–but the knitting part:

I was at some kind of party. There were a lot of people milling about, and I was there with my boyfriend. An announcement was made, that I only vaguely heard, but I realized what it was saying: It was telling me who in the room I was supposed to knit a sweater for. I found her in the crowd: She had shoulder-length dark brown hair and was wearing a knitted red cardigan (I think it was my Pam, only in a vibrant deep red). I turned to the boy and whispered, “I’m going to have to knit a sweater for her. I should have already started it! And I don’t even have any yarn!” And he suggested I use my lateness as an opportunity to study her and decide what her personal style was so that I could make the perfect sweater for her. (Smart boy.)

So the last thing I remember from the dream was thinking hard about the “perfect” sweater for this woman who, in all honesty, resembled me! Guess it’s time to find a pattern for a really good sweater–not some simple stockinette thing, that’s for sure.

I finally watched this week’s episode (part 1 of the finale). The following is not a spoiler, just some Laura love:

I adore that when Tim asked for their receipts, Laura apparently had a spreadsheet. (You don’t see it in the episode at all; Tim mentions it in his podcast.) That’s the kind of thing I would have done!

There are some of you with spreadsheets cataloging all your stash–I haven’t gone that route yet. I should have made one when I did the massive stash purge, but I can do it upon move-in, I suppose! I have so little, I’m not sure it’s all that necessary, but I actually think it would be fun to do, if I had some time to devote to it.

Yesterday I sat with the stash. Well, the stash that doesn’t sit next to the couch. And you know what? I purged it like nobody’s business. There were tangled skeins not worth keeping, bulky yarns I will never want to use, and more acrylic than I’d like to admit.

I thought about making stuff available to you guys, but there was so little, really, and pretty much none of it had a label or was a full skein. It wasn’t worth anything to anybody. And now it’s gone!

I got this bin at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and now nearly all the yarn, plus a big bag of fiberfill (which of course, takes up a ton of the space–at the bottom) fits in the bin. OK, it’s spilling out over the top a bit, but it can be smooshed down. (There’s still the yarn in the container next to the couch, but it doesn’t get sorted: It simply gets put in a box. And a small KnitPicks box with a few skeins of Crayon in it. I can shove them in with everything else, no prob.)

Today, I went through my clothing. I’m happy to say that I filled a giant black trash bag with clothing to donate to some kind of charity (can’t figure out which is easiest to get to from here). I feel very satisfied with the things I’m keeping, and I’m proud of how honest I was with myself. I acknowledged the wonderful skirt that I’ve been holding onto for years but doesn’t fit. It will never fit–I’m very close to the weight I was when I could wear the skirt, but my body physically changed its shape when I hit my mid-20s, and now my hips will not let me wear that skirt. I sadly put it in the donation pile. The last 5 or so times I’ve done a purge, I’ve kept that skirt even though I KNEW I would never wear it again.

That was my task for the day–sort the clothing–so I feel at liberty to slack off a bit this afternoon! I’ve been working on a new pair of socks that have been an experiment in cables, and they have required much frogging. I’m psyched about them, though, if I can work out all the math!

Next task: Go through the linen closet, with all those random toiletries that I need once in a blue moon. It’s time to acknowledge that if I ever need a cotton ball down the road, I can buy some.