Pischi Days

Animus Pomatomus

The danger of starting a sock in December and then putting off the second sock until months later the confusion that accompanies folly.
I have long admired the clever design that is Pomatomus. Thousand have knit this pattern since it first appeared in Knitty Winter 2005. That was also the issue that contained the famous Mrs. Beetons, Thuja, Tempting II, and Danica.
But I digress, this is about my adventures in Pomatomatry. With knitting up my stash at the forefront, I pulled out some of my older sock yarn, two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill. The blue skein was made up of such vibrant blues, green, and purples that they were destined to become a pair of socks named after a Blue Fish. Sock one went swimmingly and I was surprised that I finished in a little over a week. The holidays got in the way and I started some other projects, fully intending to cast on the mate. When I did, disaster came in may forms. I bungled the heel turn several times. When I finally got it right I put the socks side by side and realized the  unfinished one was smaller. I revisited page 2 of the pattern only to realize that, in my haste, I grabbed the wrong size needles. The socks were to be knit on a size 2, not a size 1!  I unravelled, yet again. At least I can speak up for the fortitude that the sock yarn had shown up to this point. I cast on with my old dusty, trusty DPN's and knit like a fiend.
Here are the results. I think they are the finest pair of socks that I have made to date. I love the clever pattern and the colours in the photos don't do the socks justice. 

So what do i have on my needles now?
I'm working on Nutkin, the second of the Cherry Tree Hill skein bought so many years ago from Seattle's Little Knits. This is also a sock fraught with disaster, this time involving the trails and tribulations of the short row heel. The heel had so many holes in the gusset that I had to correct to problem. Again, many hours of knitting and reknitting until I decided to let go of the intended heel and just knit a simple heel flap. I am knitting the gusset and plan on an early April finish.
I have more knitting to share, in the form of two delicious knits, one of which arrived in the mail last week. The other one is still at large. This will have to wait for another post.
To cap off the week, Yarn Miracle is hosting the Wee Tiny Sock Swap. I couldn't resist. I am knitting up my little sock as we speak and sending it, Monday, to my swap partner on the Pacific Coast. Never mind, done.
Here is my completed Wee Tiny Sock...

Easter Greetings...Frohe Ostern

"March is the month of expectation,
The things we do not know,
The Persons of Prognostication
Are coming now.
We try to sham becoming firmness,
But pompous joy
Betrays us, as his first betrothal
Betrays a boy."
-   Emily Dickinson, XLVIII

Spring Fever

While the snow and sleet has been nonstop in the northern climes, spring has arrived in our back yard. My little Anthropologie knitter is peeking out the window to admire the azaleas that are just beginning to open. Our bushes are now at their peak and will soon start to shed their spent blooms.

The citrus is slowly starting to bloom. I can catch the scent of orange and grapefruit blossoms in the air at night. We still have an abundance of grapefruit hanging from the tree.
I spent most of my afternoon on the back patio watching the urban wildlife (squirrels and assorted birds) frolic in the bushes. The weather has been grand. In the midst of all this spring fever I had to cast on something new.

The Tulip Sock and the accompanying balls of Knit Picks Palette have been in my stash for two years. I bought the yarn because I thought the socks were so pretty. I have almost destashed the yarn and pattern a couple of times because I thought that a fair isle sock was too much work. It's not really. I cast on and frogged a portion (damned error in the pattern) and reknit. Here's what I managed to accomplish. All this in between baskets of ironing and sorting through my tax paperwork. Not bad at all. I love to change colors and watch the pattern emerge and I have not knit anything fair isle since the Red Light Special.
I didn't need to start another thing. I still have Pomotamus and Nutkin on the needles, not to mention a couple of sweaters that I'm too ashamed to even bring up in this post. But thats what spring weather will do. Bury the old and bring on the new!

The Easter Grass IS Greener...

Aside from all the knitting blogs, I dearly love to indulge in the many design blogs out there. My favorites include How About Orange, swissmiss, Cool Hunting, core-77, and pan-dan, just to name a few.
Clicking on any of these leads to worlds of wonder and creativity that makes my head spin and gives me a daily dose of inspiration.

Recently, I noticed a simple white ceramic ring planted with prairie grass. The planter sold for $150.00. Wow, I remembered that I had a set of Crate and Barrel ceramic pieces that I have never used to serve anything. Perfect for my planter. I always wanted to have an Easter basket planted with real grass. This is just the ticket to satisfy that childish urge.
I secured two pounds of rye grass seed, courtesy of my neighbor, a bag of vermiculite, a plant mister, and some empty egg shells to start with.

First, I tried planting egg shells to great success. Here are they are in an old German Easter egg holder.
I've started the seed in the white ceramic and they've already germinated. I hope to have several small tabletop lawns by next week. Please, try this at home for some instant gratification.
Added bonus, the cats love it! Now to go and trim the grass...

Icarus, Ἴκαρος, Íkaros

I started the Icarus Shawl to show solidarity for my friend Bonnie, who has taken up the needles with full force.
For those who have followed my adventures, she and I traveled north to SAFF last October. In the midst of all the yarn surrounding us, she was smitten with an Icarus shawl knit in a fingering weight merino in the Knitting Notions booth.  The yarn and the pattern were quickly purchased. She convinced four of our Thursday morning knitting group to kit along. I groaned and complained. There was no lace weight in my stash and I didn’t want to buy any yarn since taking a vow of yarn abstinence. Not wanting to be left out, I traded two skeins of Spunky Eclectic sock yarn for eight skeins of Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud and Shimmer in various colors.
I chose the Alpaca Cloud Tidal Pool and cast on. After a few false starts and recoveries, I was off and knitting. Those cute  dangling stitch markers were quickly replaced with boring plastic rings. The lace weight tangles too frequently. 
I first heard about the Icarus and MimKnits on Knitty D and the City podcast. I never thought that I would knit lace, especially a shawl. The pattern can be found in the Interweave book ,Our Favorite Designs From First Ten Years. As books go, I could knit my way through every pattern.

Here is the result. It is truly a wonder how lace transforms from a spongy clump until washed and pulled into shape. I blocked this morning using the puzzle piece mats that lay in front of my washer. This is a perfect blocking board. Thanks, Julie, for giving me the idea. Koko is very helpful. Here she is pulling out the pins after the shawl has dried.

So, here is the final finish. I am pleased with my efforts. The shawl will be a donation to a silent auction for a local educational foundation that pays for private school scholarships. I can only hope that it fetches a high price and gives a young person the wings to fly high, but hopefully not too close to the sun.