Knitting Iris

Mid-November Socks

The last of my naturally-dyed self-striping sock yarn, blogged about here and here, knitted up.  Knit toe up on #2 Addi turbos with the magic loop method over 56 stitches.  These were started awhile ago in October, left behind at a friends' house for awhile, and then finished off over the past week or so.

The other pictures are from various outings and walks from the past few weeks.  After most of the leaves are off the trees, we are lucky enough to get an extended second wave of fall color when the needles on the Larch trees turn from green to yellow and fall to the ground, blanketing the forest floor and in some cases, the roads, in a layer of yellow.  Glorious!  I never really did capture their colors at their peak this year.  I think this has been the mildest and longest fall we've had in the 10 years we've lived here.  We're still bundling up and getting out to play, go for walks, and ride bikes on some of the warmer days, regardless of rain or shine or clouds.  It'll certainly make the winter seem shorter.

I have a hard time deciding whether or not to gift the socks I've knit from naturally dyed yarn, not because of the extra time involved in preparing the dye baths and doing the actual dyeing, but because:

1)  So far they've all been knit with yarn that is not machine washable.  (I have dyed some machine washable sock yarn in solid colors with plants but haven't yet knit them up into socks.)

2) Probably the first 10 pair of socks that I ever knit were from yarns that would felt in the washing machine and all of them, whether they were mine or they were given away, eventually ended up shrunken beyond wearability, a sad but understandable and ultimately expected fate.

3)  I don't want anyone to feel guilty ever again about accidentally shrinking the socks I've made for them.

4)  As Kelly (no longer blogging as a conscious and conscientious choice) pointed out to me quite awhile back, that modern day detergents are really good at "getting the stains out" and what is a natural dye if not a stain, essentially not much different than the grass stains we hope to get out of our clothes?

5)  Even the machine washable yarns that I've dyed with plants probably shouldn't ever actually be washed in the machine either.  It would be a worthy experiment to knit a swatch and wash it with laundry detergent just to see how much of the color would be taken away or washed out, however, this is not something I'd like to subject a completed knitted object to.  I certainly wouldn't want the recipient of a pair of naturally dyed, hand knit socks to be the one to accidentally find out the results of such an experiment either.

I'd love to be able to give them away to friends/family/fundraisers/fellow knitters but, for now, all of my naturally dyed socks are made only for my own two feet.   Anything anyone might have to add about this, either from personal experience or in speculation, would be greatly appreciated!

Early November Socks

These socks are deceptive in their basic, striped, simplicity.  Due to the yarn used, Rowan 4 ply Soft, these are the most expensive pair of socks I've made to date, even with getting some of it on sale.  These were an experiment to see how this yarn would knit up and hold up over time and regular washings.  It's one of those squooshy, super soft, machine washable merino wool yarns and I loved knitting with it.  If it does live up to my hopes for it, I have dreams of making Alice from Rowan Book 35 some day, substituting this yarn for the 4 ply cotton, that is, whenever I could afford to do so.  Since I don't even have the pattern book, making a gauge swatch in the stitch pattern with my leftovers isn't even an option right now.  The 4 ply soft has 26 fewer yards per 50 gram ball than the 4 ply cotton.  I have a feeling it's  just another one of those projects to dream about that may not ever happen.

These socks really should have been for C or for my dad.  I certainly don't need another pair, myself.  I just wasn't sure there would have been enough yarn for that and, like I said, I'd like to see, personally, how this yarn will wear over time and what gets more wear than a pair of socks being walked on over and over again and needing frequent washings?

I started knitting these socks one evening a few weeks ago when we drove over the mountains west of us to the even more remote Yaak river valley where C took measurements for a kitchen he will be doing for a friends' dad's new house there.  While he worked, I threw rocks in the creek with the boys, explored the woods and old barn, and hauled firewood, knitting by a campfire while they repeatedly climbed up and launched themselves down one of the dirt and rock piles left from excavating the basement, both of them happy but ending up about as brown and grey from head to toe as the yarn I was knitting with.

We have camped at this location before amongst old, delapidating homestead buildings.  One trip there was even a combined camping trip/work party to tear one of the buildings down and salvage as much of the lumber as possible.  C will include some of the lumber salvaged from another building that sat where the new house is going up today in the cabinet doors that will go in the kitchen.

These pics are from a salvaged-lumber yard nearby on the site of an old lumber mill.  C is like a kid in a candy store in this place and I can see why:  heaps of recyled lumber that has more character and finer qualities than any wood being logged from the woods today.  The boys had just as much fun roaming in this maze of woodpiles with their younger cousin.  There is also a commercial composting facility in one of the old warehouse buildings.  Good stuff happening here!

These are just the smallest of glimpses, hardly representative really, of how C is using reclaimed lumber, on interior walls on the left, and mixed with steel as part of a rustic picnic table on the right.  I hope to share more and better pictures of some of his work someday soon.  He's been designing and building on both a large and smaller scale in the past year or so, mixing new and recycled lumber with glass and metal elements, also both new and recycled, combining the rustic with the sleek and modern for some incredible results.

Pumpkin Socks

Appropriately, these socks were finished on the way to the pumpkin patch last weekend where the pickings were already getting a little slim.  The pumpkins were in a few leftover piles in the field but we managed to find some good ones and spend a couple of hours seeing the sheep, chicken, goats, rabbits, riding the pedal cars and more, despite wind and hail followed by plenty of sunshine. 

The yarn is KnitPicks Dye Your Own in fingering weight that I dyed self-striping with Coreopsis tinctoria and Yarrow over a year ago now, posted about here and here.  They were knit toe up with the magic loop on #1 Addi Turbos over 56 stitches and they hit about mid calf so they're bunching around the ankles a little in real life.  I just loved knitting these and they had the perfect amount of modern-day witchy-ness when worn today peeking out from under green velveteen jeans and my "new" $4 thrifted-in-Seattle Jack Purcells with the smiles on the toes!  So, I guess these triple as a pair for Socktoberfest 2006, the Sock-A-Month knitalong, and I suppose even for the Witch Sock Design Contest.  I'm not sure if they can top my last year's knee-high witch socks, though.  You can expect to see a lot more of this type of candy-corn striping around here in the next little while.  I guess it's in my bones right now.

We've been doing some pretty messy crafting and concocting around here lately, including potato printing, papier-mache and the "oobleck", above, that we made earlier this month while reading Dr. Seuss' Bartholomew and the Oobleck.  We pulled it back out the other day and added googly eyes to make crazy monsters, aliens, critters, and ghosts.  There seems to be a few different "recipes" out there for this stuff.  We got ours from The Ultimate Book Of Kid Concoctions, by John E. Thomas and Danita Pagel, where they call it Gooey Gunk.  Here they call this Glurch and another mix with cornstarch Oobleck.  Whatever you call it, it's all gooey and fun... and not nearly as messy as I would have thought.

October 10th Socks

Finishing these socks is one of the things I did this past weekend.  They are a belated birthday present for a good friend whom I've not seen enough of this past summer.  We'll be having dinner with them this evening and it'll be so good to have time to catch up.  These were the socks that I had originally intended to be for her only I made them too long in the foot. 

The yarn is Lorna's Laces in the Fun Knits colorway, knit toe up size 1 dpns over 56 stitches.  The toes and heels are reinforced with a solid brown sock yarn.  This colorway reminds me slightly of the Opal "Tiger" colorway.  These were a pleasure to knit up.  Both this pair, and the one in the October 4th post, were started in September, by the way.

The big cottonwood tree log that I photographed (is it O.K. to use that word when you're using a digital camera?) these on is where a squirrel has been perching to dismantle the cones that it spent days last month tearing off and tossing down from a nearby fir tree.  I presume it's taking the seeds out and hiding them away somewhere?

Sunday, while I everyone was away, I stopped over at the antique/junk store around the corner to go pick up this funky old work table.  I thought it would make an interesting, but effective sewing table.  The other day I measured the space where it would go and then measured the table and realized that it would fit PERFECTLY where I wanted to put it.  Then, I noticed the red SOLD/HOLD tag.  Somebody had bought it last weekend.  The irony is that I've looked at this table a handful of times over the summer, each time passing it by, thinking that the table top was too rough.  There are things that I've seen sitting around, never bought, at that place for the last 10 years.   I had actually intended to go the weekend prior to get it but never did.  Oops.  It's the one that got away.   I still like the idea of that table, so I asked to take a picture of it.  There is a shelf along the back side of the table, underneath, where a sewing machine could be stored when not in use.  The "cabinet" on the right hand side is an old wooden, ammunition box with a shelf installed inside.  The drawer is a random one from another piece of furniture.  It's really quite clever, I think, anyways.  Oh well, I guess it's back to sewing on the dining room table for the time being.

Dissappointed, rather than going back home right away, I stopped by another antiques store and then went for a drive, checking out the fall colors and listening to Stuart Maclean with the Vinyl Cafe on the radio.  I can't imagine a better way to spend the day.

The yarn at the bottom was from Shannon's mom, so now, I've been gifted sock yarn from both mother and daughter, alike.  Gotta love sock-knitting friends!  Thank you!!!

Oh.  For those who were wondering, the felted fellow's name is Ralphie.  Not very exciting, I know.  He whispered it in my ear.

October 4th socks

Addendum below!

Regia Crazy Color #5437.  Knit toe up, magic loop, on #1 Addi Turbos.  Heels and toes knit with matching solid sock yarn, 2 strands held together.  3x1 ribbing.  Last 2 rows knit with #6 needles.  Cast off EXTREMELY LOOSELY with the suspended bind off.

Amur maple leaves and Highbush cranberry bushes at the nursery where I used to work.  The Mountain ash that we planted in our yard for R after he was born.  This is the first year it has produced berries.

Added:  the pattern that I use almost exclusively for sock knitting is Wendy's Toe Up Sock Pattern, altering only the total number of stitches around.  Typically, for a pair of women's socks knit from most 4-ply yarn such as Regia or Meilenweit I'll wrap and turn until 8 stitches on each side are wrapped.  For a finer sock yarn like Opal or Lorna's Laces knit on #1 dpns, or for a men's pair of socks, with more total stitches I might wrap 9 on each side.  With sport weight yarn, usually only 7 stitches.  Oh, and 50% of the stitches are used for the heel, give or take a stitch or two if there's patterning to work around.  Thanks for asking.  Anything else?

... and I messed with the pictures in this post, changing them around a little.  It was bugging me.

Big Brother's Blue/Grey Birthday Socks

Socks for my oldest brother's 43rd birthday.  Opal Magic #1040.  (I've used this exact yarn for a taller pair for C's sister a couple of years ago.  It was the first locally available sock yarn then.)  #1 dpn needles over 64 sts(?).  One of his feet is a little smaller than the other.  When the first socks turned out the tiniest bit too big, rather than rip, I knit the foot of the second sock 5 rows shorter.  An "L" is duplicate embroidered with some leftover orange sock yarn on the toe of the sock for his bigger, left foot.  The socks are fraternal and, speaking of which, I have yet to knit the two matching sweaters for C's brother's fraternal twin baby boys.  I'm planning on knitting them in two shades of grey, one lighter, one darker.

Seattle, of course, has it's fair share of blues and greys.  We even had blue skies with a decent view of Mt. Rainier the last couple of days.  I think the only picture needing an explanation is the rack of slate from old school chalkboards at the RE Store in Ballard (It's one place we all love going to: C, me, my dad, my brother.  The boys got to pet the cat and feed the fish and look at all the stuff.).  C would someday like one to use for the panels in a set of cabinets.  e's already done something similar with the local flagstone/slate here.

Ottawa Socks. You want 'em?

This really wasn't the colorway that I had in mind to knit up next but how could I not when, once again, all the colors were reflected in what I was seeing around me, this time blooming along the roadsides in the mountains?  When we go for a drive on the backroads in the summertime I try to remember to bring a big jar of water and clippers to bring back a bouquet of whichever wildflowers are blooming at the time.  These are goldenrod, asters, paintbrush, fireweed, daisies, pearly everlasting, ferns, and grasses.

In case you were one of the people wondering, this yarn is Regia Canadian Fashion Collection, Ottawa #4733.  I was quite skeptical of this one, both while still in the ball and after knitting the first toe and even a ways up the foot.  Fortunately, the brown and bright yellow saves it from being too Easter-eggish.  The whole collection of yarn is available from Fun Knits.

Next up (maybe): Toronto #4732.  The colors remind me of fall mums, which I'm hoping to find while I'm running errands on the way to get my brother at the airport.  People seem to have strong feelings, either way, or both, about this collection of sock yarn.  I quote from YarnHog's post here: "If you have not seen this colorway, you may want to protect your virginal eyes if you ever run across it, for it is an ugly beast.  But ugly in a way that is so nasty that you just can't look away, until finally your brain decides that it must either love these colors, or severe its optic nerves. So I love the yarn. And I can't wait to knit some fugly footies with it."  Jessica at Show Me Your Knits writes here, "boldy striped, in colors no one in their right mind would put together," but then also, of the Quebec colorway here:  "The colors really are beautiful and serene."  Here's an absolutely perfecty matched pair of Toronto socks knit by Alison (Sockapalooza Host Extraordinaire) of the blue blog.

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So, here's the deal:  Do you love them?  Do you hate them?  Do you want them?  They'll fit a Women's US Size 8.5, give or take a half size or so (a European 39, I believe).  Leave a comment here, letting me know what you think of them, before...let's say, a week from today, and I'll draw a name the following day, Saturday, September 9th, O.K?

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Wonderland Socks

These socks were knit from yarn that I dyed last summer with Tansy and Bee Balm (Thank goodness for the blog.  I can't find a written record of what I used.)  They have a rather Alice in Wonderland feel to them, like something that might be worn by the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, even the caterpillar, or Alice herself.

Are those short rows in the corner of the hay field?

While my garden is looking a bit ragged aside from threadleaf coreopsis and a few others, friends of mine who live just on the other side of town's gardens are flourishing.  They have a considerably longer frost-free growing season, more fertile and less rocky soil, warmer nights than we do, and far fewer deer.  Oh...and unlike me, they actually water their gardens.  Who knew?  Plants NEED water to grow!   

I once cut a quote out of an old issue of Garden Design magazine that goes, "I love the Alice in Wonderland feeling of looking up at tall, exciting plants."  I agree, but too bad they aren't growing that way in my garden this year.  So, while our plants are looking very, very small, my friends' plants grow VERY, VERY BIG.  While my zinnias and coreopsis are repeatedly being munched down to the ground by the deer and their new fawns, theirs are either swaying beautifully in the wind or needing to be tied up to keep from toppling over.  AND THEY COMPLAIN!?  "The seed packet said these were only supposed to be 12" tall so I planted them in front of the border and now look at them, hiding the other flowers behind them."

Luckily, I can step down the rabbit hole any time I choose when I want to immerse myself in their wonderland gardens...and bring the spoils home with me:  pictures, inspiration, veggies, flowers.  The basil, crookneck squash, and corn are just a small part of what we were sent home with today from a good friend's garden.  While I was getting the garden tour, the boys played with toys and snacked on cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse and carrots they dug from the garden.  For dinner tonight we had freshly picked corn on the cob and pasta with pesto made with cashews (no cheese, for C's sake.  We sprinkled it on top afterwards, and he sprinkled on nutritional yeast.)  Our centerpiece was wild sunflowers picked along the roadside on our way home, quite literally shoved into a canning jar. 

Breadtime Stories and Dreamsicle Socks

These socks, which my mom asked me to knit for a friend of hers, reminded me of Dreamsicle ice cream bars, my favorite when I was growing up.    She asked for socks similar to the ones I made for her a couple of years ago, but in orange yarn.  They're knit from Opal Prism sock yarn over 56 stitches on #1 dpns.

Every now and again I get an unexpected day off.  C comes over from the shop and asks the boys if they'd like to run errands with him or go with him to take measurements at a job site.  Suddenly, I find myself with free time alone.  What to do?  There's usually too many things to choose from.  Friday it was: tune into Pandora, can up some more jars of salsa, and bake a peach/huckleberry pie. 

In the middle of it all, a friend called and asked if I wanted to go huckleberry picking with her?  YES!  We picked for 6 hours straight in drizzly, wet bushes.  Even with rain pants on it was a damp and chilly on the mountain side so our fingers weren't so nimble.  I only came home with a gallon and a half, despite the loaded bushes.

Arriving back home at the same time as C and the boys at 8:00 pm, we got the boys off to bed and then I sunk myself into a steaming bubble bath with a spicy, hot bowl of chicken noodle soup (I'm trying to kick the summer cold that's been hanging on viciously for almost 3 weeks now).  So, the pie didn't get baked until after everyone was in bed. I borrowed a playdough cutter from the boys' toys to make give a go at a lattice crust.  A little fiddly, but nice enough results. 

Several people have asked about my pies and crusts.  I use a crust recipe out of one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks, Breadtime Stories, A Cookbook for Bakers and Browsers, by Susan Jane Cheney, published by Ten Speed Press, the same as the Moosewood cookbooks.  The title is deceiving as there is so much more than bread recipes in here, including soups, salads, desserts, spreads, and sauces.  Many recipes have alternatives and substitutions to make them vegan.  The bread recipes for breads include yeasted and quick breads, pancakes, muffins,  flat breads, etc.  My copy is torn to shreds at some of the recipes I use over and over:  Whole Wheat Pastry Crust, Light Lemony Pancakes, Sesame-Maple Icing, Whole Wheat Tortillas, Corn Bread, Peanut-Banana Bread, Spiced Squash Bread,  and Cranberry-Nut Bread. I've really only barely delved into this cookbook.  It just occured to me recetnly that I could find a used copy of it online to replace my ratty copy.  It's on its way for only 73 cents + shipping. This time, I'll laminate the cover and scan copies of my favorites. 

Unfortunately this book is out of print, except I suppose that makes it all right to share the pie crust recipe (my abridged version) here:

For a single crust pie: 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, well chilled.  Pinch of salt.  5 Tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter, well chilled.  3-4 Tablespoons cold water, unsweetened apple juice, or vegetable stock.

For a double crust pie:  1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour.  Pinch of sea salt.  8 Tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter.  6-8 Tablespoons cold water, unsweetened apple juice, or vegetable stock.

Mix flour and salt.  Cut margarine or butter in.  Drizzle liquid a tablespoon at a time and stir until the dough forms a ball.  Wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour (if you have time).  Roll out and make pie!

I like apple juice as the liquid when I have it on hand unless it's a savory pie.  I either use w.w. pastry flour or unbleached white flour.  Since C is lactose intolerant I use margarine or shortening, but rendered bear fat makes the best pie crust EVER, as well as the best deep-fried sweet potato fries and french fries.

As for the fillings, I've discovered Minute Tapioca recently as a thickener.  There are recipes for different types of pies on the back of the box and online.  Depending on my mood, I sweeten with sugar (reducing the amount by a quarter to a half) or else just drizzling a spiral of honey over the top before putting the top crust on.   Mmmmm!    

August Trekking Socks

My August Trek-Along socks were started in Alaska and brought back home.  Then, they trekked to Seattle and up into the San Juans, where they were finished except for the bind off on the second sock which didn't happen until about a week after we returned back home, due to C's dad and his wife's visit.

The pattern is rpm from the Summer 2006 Knitty.  I modified them by knitting them from the toe up.  Actually, I'm not sure if I changed it any other way as I didn't look the pattern over much after the first few rows of the spiralling pattern.  It's essentially the same as a ribbing pattern that goes straight up the sock, only this ribbing spirals around as you go.  They look a little bunched and droopy here, but they fit nicely.  I knew I'd love these socks, both the colorway and the pattern.   Although I made a handful of mistakes along the way, I didn't go back and fix them, figuring no one will ever notice them, except maybe the judge at the county fair where these socks are going to trek to next, entered under the Knitted Articles, Socks division.  After that, these can go on my feet for a real, hiking trek.

As I mentioned before, all this traveling/trekking has wreaked havoc on my plants.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to choose between having a garden or travelling in the summer as the two don't go together well.  The flower pictures are all from before we left for Seattle.

Since we eat mostly apples and bananas during the rest of the year, I tend to become a fruit-stand addict this time of the year.  I bought a 20 lb box of peaches last weekend and we're trying to eat as many of them fresh as we can possibly stand and canning the rest.  The cherries grown along the Flathead Lake just south of us are in season and are plentiful and are far cheaper and better than any others we've had this summer.  We've been eating grapes daily for the past couple of weeks and the boys talked me into buying apricots, plums and tiny champagne grapes.  They're begging for fruit.  I wouldn't dare say no.  The kitchen counter and fridge are loaded and they're free to help themselves.  So, what do we do this evening?  Go and pick more fruit: HUCKLEBERRIES!  Dessert, straight from the bush.  C even suggested we do this every evening.  Twist my arm.  ;)