Friday, June 20, 2008

up to no good

I have been having a great deal of fun trying out new ideas for quick and gratifying projects! I guess when the doldrums of summer come, I need a fix that only knit or crochet can fill. I am trying to work from my stash (though I am seriously craving some yarn coloured like pale pink-white cherry blossoms), so I have a few brilliant choices.

This yarn is Panda Silk, in a light sky blue-grey. It has very little silk in it - 5% - and is mostly bamboo, but its soft and slinky and would make wonderful thigh-high stockings. I have two skeins of it, so we'll see how far I get. Kind of embarrassing - you can see in this photo how skinny my feet are (6.5 AA) that means I usually get good mileage from a skein of sock yarn. That whole solid toe part? Yes - those are where my toes begin and end - super long toes! I can play piano with my toes! (Anybody else know "Swans on the Lake", my favorite first-piano-book song of all time? I practiced playing this song with my toes all the time between the ages of 7 and 9) Enough about toes - back to the socks!

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This design is one I'm making up as I go along. I have my own way of doing sock toes and I've named it "Sophietoes". If this pair turns out well, I'll write up my method on Ravelry, in this pattern. As you can see, I'm experimenting with a traveling lace pattern. It got boring fast, being not as challenging as I thought it would be (I love a needlework challenge!) but I'm going to stick with it, as I think the finished pair of stockings with be very nice.

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At the same time, I'm crocheting the vest from the Spring Interweave Crochet:

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This is from an Alice-blue Corn Fiber yarn! It's as soft as a favorite T-shirt, but is very twisty to work with, so that the whole time I'm crocheting (usually 3 hours at a time through Top Chef reruns) I'm muttering under my breath "this is so not worth it - I'm going to rip this out!" But then I look at the resulting fabric and it's actually pretty nice and I keep going. I will definitely repeat what Amy Singer says in No Sheep For You: work from the outside of the ball, not the inside, even if you have a center pull ball! There is just not enough 'cling' in corn fiber yarn to keep the center pull ball together and it becomes a muddled mess...

I'll leave you with the final image of my lunch today - homemade bento! I have shrimp and celery salad on a little bit of sliced avocado, and teriyaki sesame rice crackers with yogurt-dill dip, and finally a few ripe cherries.

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What are you eating today, on the first day of summer?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Apricot cobbler, with apricots from my friend's tree. Yum!
- spencer from ravelry

Laura said...

hi
i'm drlaura "sock guru" for crystal palace yarns.
we'd love your permission to post your sock pics on our blog CPYsocksandmore
and of course link to you

drlauraAsiriusAgmail.com or proflaura@firststepinternet.com
www.siriusknitting.com

thanks!
ps happy solstice

Unraveling Sophia said...

Sounds so yummy Spencer! Perfect for the first day of summer...

Unraveling Sophia said...

Hi DrLaura - thanks for this comment! I've emailed you at the gmail address, although it seems to have an error in it. Please let me know if you received it....

Anonymous said...

Love the new projects on your needles- but you need to make room in your stash for some more yarns- I even got some in Munich! :) And yes, back safe and sound with all the students even!!!!! Wee!

Unraveling Sophia said...

Oh Wow Nad!! You are soooo good!!! Imagine! Can't wait to read about your trip! Glad you survived ;)

Anonymous said...

Love your blog, you are now in my stalker...errr...favorite blogs list. I also LOVE your bento box (or whatever it's called)...Can you tell me where you got it??

Unraveling Sophia said...

Hi "anonymous" - I just saw your comment. Thank you! I got my bento box in the little import store in the University district of Seattle. Its just down the street from the Russion Restaurant...