here’s something to hide under those navy/charcoal gray/black suit trousers. or knit them up in team colors and flaunt them with shorts and crocs at the ballpark. this one is sized for everyone but the smallest sox fan, and can be knit in a variety of yarn weights.

shown here in socks that rock medium weight, colorway haida (use instructions for one size down with heavier yarn). or use the lightweight if you have it.

to purchase pattern or view complete pattern information, please click here to view the product page in the knitspot pattern shop.

many thanks to tina, the incredible dyer at BMFA for creating this elegant colorway and passing some my way.
and to debbieKnitter, who test knit the pattern and instantly let me know it was cruelly addictive (poor steve; his weekend was a little less, um, playful because of her sock. oh well).
and to rachel, of course. who WILL be a test knitter, too (that’s a promise rachel). she swears it will improve her proofreading so i gotta give in, right?

and to david, who is patient about all things, especially me, yet manages to make socks sexy.

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the LOVe just goes on and on. i saw the first lily of the valley blooms on 4/27, and since then a veritable sea of them has bloomed just outside the back door. they are so thick and pretty this year . . . and the scent over in that part of the yard is a hovering cloud of pleasantness. they are just about past their prime now and the flowers will soon die back, but what a spectaculor impression they leave me with.

i dunno if you can tell from the photos, but it’s been a little gloomy and chilly this week. which has made me slip into a time warp or something . . . whole days have dissolved here unnoticed and whoa—this morning i realized that more days than i intended have passed since i posted (sorry).
i wish i could say it was because i was getting my garden in the ground, but no; i’m behind on that, too (although i am enjoying the progress of the perennials quite a bit).

someone asked me about the lady’s mantle that appeared in the background behind something else i photographed last week. here it is in all it’s pre-blooming glory; i love how the leaves emerge so sharply-pleated, then open and soften into larger, more rounded shapes. with that stiff new leaf sticking up straight behind the bud of a face, which sits above the swirling skirt of the more mature foliage, it really does look like flamenco regalia.

and look at these volunteer lettuces that sprang up in one of the beds (must be from seeds that didn’t germinate last year?)

we have about six clumps of them, but sadly, they will probably not survive the shuffling of the beds we are doing out there. fortunately, the asparagus patch is finally showing signs of life so we have some other new exciting growth to distract us. i don’t know if all the asparagus will come back yet, but just in the last few days we have sprouts in about six of the seemingly dead plants. they will probably all offer up new growth just about the time i finally buy some replacements.

part of my doldrums is that i have been a very distracted knitter, so i feel that i have nothing to talk about. i’ve been doing a lot of swatching for new items that are a bit out of season, and that’s weird; i’m having trouble accessing the spirit of fall/winter knits.

this yarn is truly scaring me now—i have swatched it countless different ways and nothing is looking good. i abandoned my original idea of a lace pattern based on shooting stars and have now gone all cable-y . . . i’m sure it’s just a speed bump and that soon i will hit the right note with it (i don’t wanna scare anne, who concocted the luscious stuff). it’s gorgeous and i begged to knit something with it, so i am determined to make it work.

speaking of scary, last night i was knitting on this and hoping to finish it off, because
i am. so. close.

but i had to stop. we were watching a movie that made me so anxious my hands were sweating uncontrollably, and i was afraid i was going to felt the delicate lace yarn. and then i couldn’t sleep afterwards . . . why did i do that?
normally i am SO in touch with my sensitivity limits about this kind of thing.
i’ll tell you why—catherine keener and ellen page. go read about it. or see it.
be warned though—it’s horrible.

i don’t have a big project going right now and—obviously—i need one, stat.
(i think that problem is solved now, though; i just need to get it on the needles).

i need something to immerse myself in that calms me with its continuity. how did i get so dependent on having a big whack of knitting attached to my hip for weeks at a time? i find i’m seriously pining for a big heavy weight hanging from my wrists.

however, i did start a new mitt that i do like a lot. this one really tests the limits of yarn variegation vs stitch pattern (not that it’s a contest or anything, but i’ve been playing with limits lately).

the stitch pattern here is pretty strong and very defined; i adore the overlapping leaf pattern. it will, of course, look awesome in a solid, or nearly-solid yarn. but it really has the spirit of a flower garden in this yarn i think, too. and with a matching hat? i intended to knit a full mitten, but when i put it on last night i dunno if i’d like that. it fits more like a fingerless mitt.

the yarn is another one of catherine’s new colors, sicily, this time featured in her worsted weight merino classic. it is de-lect-able to knit with . . . smooth, soft, and beautifully dyed (well, you can see that). the hand of the fabric is pure buttah.

(oh gosh, i just realized that for someone who thought she didn’t have anything to say, i am running on and on and on. and i didn’t even show you the sock progress yet. oh well, so sue me.)

i really like this pattern in this yarn . . . and it saved my night—i was able to keep knitting while watching the rest of the movie; i don’t think i could have if i wasn’t.
so, i know meg’s yarn is really scarce, and she doesn’t have any for sale on her site right now, but can i extoll its virtues just a little anyway?

omg—it’s sex in a skein. and i mean good sex. i won’t go into detail; it’s bound to get pornographic.

just look at the way the stripes work out—see there at the heel and gusset, where most self-striping yarns give you nothing but sass? this one stripes in a way that makes the stripes look even with the ones on the cuff AND in a way that makes it look like the stripe goes around the back of the heel and over the top of the foot. genius, i tell you.
(ok, possibly that’s a fluke . . . we’ll see on the second sock. but i’m still impressed.)

all right. i think i really better stop now before your boss catches you still reading this.
one last photo.

on mother’s day evening, i discovered a bird nesting up in a nook on our porch. i had to take that photo through the bathroom window in order not to scare her away. i’m trying to find out what’s in the nest (birdies or eggs), but so far, have not been successful.

i’ll keep you posted.

Filed under: food and garden, lace/shawls, projects
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wide-open flowers on the may apple when i woke up yesterday; a little fruit will form at the center, which is edible (though i’ve never indulged—btw, the rest of the plant is toxic so if you come across it, don’t nibble).

and then we had a surprising visitor—this guy hangs around at night and i often meet him in the dark when dismounting from my bike after an evening of classes. but i’ve never seen him out in broad daylight

he was gettin’ busy in that lawn—rooting around in an absolute frenzy.
“for what“, i asked david, “what do you think he’s looking for out there?”

“grubs”, said david.
ah, yes. oh joy. glad to accommodate. just stay that far from the house, please.

i’ve been knitting while david works on reorganizing our garden space outside

we’re getting rid of the raised bed boxes and expanding the planting space out there. that way, we can include vegetables we always have to skip because of lack of space. later this week we’ll put in all the plants. it got warm early this year and we probably could have done it sooner, but we almost always have a late frost in may and i really didn’t want tempt mother nature.

this may seem grossly unfair, but while david works outside, i’ve been working on new designs inside (i KNOW).

one thing, before i go any farther—jocelyn found a small error in the start shawl pattern on the setup for the top hem edging (this is why we love jocelyn). it’s a small correction which can be found on the errata page (scroll down). sorry for the inconvenience—it’s small i promise . . .

several of them are secret or in a stage that is too early to show, but i do have a new sock that is well on its way.

it’s a very subtle pattern but i love the way it works with this strongly self-striping yarn. it would work equally well with another self-striping yarn or one that pools or spirals (i happen to like certain kinds of pooling, but that’s just me).

the twisted stitches in the shifting rib pattern give a crisp effect that stands up to and has a nice interplay with the color bands, but doesn’t seem to make the fabric tight or stiff—which is what i expected. but it hasn’t come to pass; i think that’s because the placement of the twisted stitches moves from side to side and doesn’t form long, rigid ribs.

the other nice thing about the pattern is that it is a 3-stitch repeat which makes the whole thing easily resizeable, yay.

last night after posting the new shawl pattern, i felt a little tapped out, so i just relaxed with my new little nothing scarf and added a whole bunch of repeats to it

and that was just what i needed—i’m just about halfway through now, woo-hoo. this photo does not do justice to this subtle, delicate colorway dyed by kim—the photos from the other day are better, where the rainy light and surrounding greenery reallyenhance the shifting greens in it.

well, that’s all for today i think—i’m off to work on swatches and new things for a while, now that i’ve re-energized myself (lo-o-o-ong nap today—obscenely long, really. but much needed).

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a soft, dressy, easy-to-work triangle composed of a single allover lace stitch with pretty edging points along the sides and top. a great on-the-go summer project, in three sizes (one is a scarf), this project is well-suited for a first foray into triangle shawl knitting.

shown here, petite size in lanas puras melosa laceweight, from one planet yarn and fiber. kit available here.

to purchase pattern or view complete pattern information, please click here to see the product page in the knitspot pattern shop.

jocelyn is hot on my heels with her fabulous test knit in a spritely green shade of the same yarn. thank you jocelyn!
and rachel of course, brought the pattern to it’s birth in good form . . . thank you rachel.

Filed under: patterns, lace/shawls
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