But, How Do You Know They're Not Imposters?*

Ta-da! The Anastasias come out of hiding, and here they are, presented to the public in all their glory!

A little blurry, and dark, I know. I was too excited when I finished them (at 10 pm) to wait for good lighting for a photo shoot. And, since the screen on Mike's camera is broken, we couldn't even turn on the flash! Specs follow.

Pattern: Anastasia Socks from Pepper Knit
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca, fingering weight. I don't have the label anymore, but it was a bright spring green.
Needles: Brittany 2mm dpns in white birch. (I have mixed feelings about these: I broke three in the process of making two socks. They were each replaced with two new needles by the company, but I don't know how I feel about needles that warp and break so frequently!)

Notes: I love these socks. The lightness of the yarn and the airy-ness of the pattern make for a wonderful spring sock! I think I could have made them a bit longer (the pattern suggests 6" legs, I made mine 4"), but I don't usually pull my socks up all the way anyway. I didn't modify the pattern any, other than that, except that I did my ssk's wrong. (There's a great LYS in the town next to us, Hand Yarns - I'll have to take a picture of their sign. It's a giant metal sculpture of a ball of yarn and a pair of needles. So great. But that's another story. Anyway, I stopped in the other day to clarify the ssk problem. They were most helpful and don't even mind that I've been in three times and have never bought anything. As soon as that second depsit gets sent to Law School... look out yarn store!) I ended up knitting two together from the back of the stitch, rather than slipping the stitches knit-wise and twisting them that way. It would probably have come out a lot smoother if I'd done it right, but c'est la vie. These were my first toe-up socks, and therefore my first short row toes and heels! Also, my first provisional cast-on. All went well. Except the finishing of the heels. I have two rather large holes on either side of each ankle... any suggestions for how to cure this problem? Other than more practice? For the cuffs, I used a 1x1 rib for the end, and only two rows. All in all, lovely socks!

I have no idea what my next project is. Another sock, perhaps, as I have two more skeins of delicious sock yarn, this time variegated in orange, yellow, and blue! And that would mean no spending money I don't have.

*As in, the Russian princess, Anastasia. Get it, get it? (Props to Claudia for the hilar joke.)

Working Girl

Unlike everyone else in the world, I am working this weekend. It's ok, though, because I haven't worked since April! Also, the job entials sitting at a desk, in the upstairs gallery of an art shop, waiting for the (very few) customers to come in. I don't know much about art, so it's good that the customers are few and far between.

This also means I get to work on my knitting! I worked the entire foot and turned the heel of the second Anastasia sock yesterday- a very productive day! Today, however, I brought my laptop in and discovered a wireless connection! There will surely be much less knitting accomplished today. (The artist-in-residence who has her studio next to the gallery keeps checking in on me to see what my progress has been. It's very flattering to have a sincerely talented artist be amazed at my li'l ol' socks...)

When I started the left sock, all the k2tog of the right sock became ssk, so that the spirals slant left instead of right. I started happily along (while watching North by Northwest with Mike's Mom!)... and got about an inch or so into the pattern when I noticed that the spirals looked awfully bad, compared to the right sock. I got out my computer and looked up how exactly one is supposed to ssk.

Turns out, there's a bit of a controversy. What I had been doing (slip one, knit the next and pass the slipped stitch over) is not in fact ssk! The ssk definitions I found were something to the effect of knit two together through the back of the stitch. Knitty says to slip 2 stitches as if to knit, then knit those 2 stitches together.

What does anyone else do for SSK? I like the way knitting 2 together through the back of the stitch looks, although it's a lot bumpier than the k2tog sock.

A Sock with a View

Finally, some knitting! And not only knitting, but a finished sock! And what a gorgeous place to knit, eh?


We've made it home and are recuperating & relaxing at Mike's mom's house, where we will live until we move to Law School City.

Check me out, spinning! The yarn I made is pretty crazy and lumpy, and not in that hip "novelty yarn" style, but more in that "I don't know what the heck I'm doing" style. It made about 1 yard of two-ply undyed merino wool. Maybe I'll knit up a swatch and hang it on the wall. Or perhaps a potholder.

Homeward Bound, wish I was...

**UPDATED to include the correct link to Renee Weaves!**

We're not home yet, but taking a few days' rest in the Pacific Northwest. It's been really lovely.

As I said at the beginning of this trip, I am not a car-knitter. I don't get carsick, but I get distracted by the view out the window and can't concentrate on what my fingers are doing. So, I didn't get much knitting done. Until... we got to Mike's aunt and uncle's house outside of Seattle. Not only were we pausing for the weekend (and thus not spending 10 hours in the car!), but his aunt spins and dyes her own yarns (and makes her own natural dyes!), AND has not one but two looms in the house. And she taught me how to spin. We had a lovely morning of listening to the rain outside, spinning and knitting together. She doesn't knit and was very kindly impressed with my Anastasias, while I was so truly impressed with all her gorgeous fabrics, bags, tapestries, and skeins of hand dyed and spun yarn.

She also has a blog! Renee Weaves! She's currently working on a project (with a grant!) on making her own natural dyes, and the blog is following that process.

And, since I don't have a picture of me spinning yet, I'll direct you to her site to check me out in action!

I did get progress made, and am now ready to cast off the first Anastasia. However, I did not prepare for an extended vacation and need a tapestry needle. So I'm stuck for the last two days of our trip without any knitting to do. But just you wait, soon I'll have a finished sock to show you! And maybe some pictures of our trip.

Happy Mother's Day!

One more post before I go...

An Unbiased Bag for my mom, filled with pictures of me, my brother, and Mike in Yosemite.

Take Me Home Country Roads

Not only am I currently listening to this song, but it is also apropos to what I need to tell you.

While we were on the East Coast, Mike bought a car. It was sort of spur of the moment and sort of well planned out, and now we are driving the car across the country. Except for Vermont, I don't know of any state that provides Wifi at its rest areas (ILOVERMONT), so I will most likely not be blogging for the next 10-15 days. I will, however, be in a car for up to 12 hours a day, with two sets of needles, one half-finished sock, and my stash. Mike also suggested we buy me some new needles and yarn so I can have projects for in the car! What a great guy.

Hopefully when we get home, 1) we will still be talking to each other and 2) I will have many many FOs to show you!

My Stash!

I am at my mother's house, for a few reasons, one of which is to finish going through all my things and bring the final loads of things out West with me.

One of the things I found was... my stash! It was largely inherited from a friend of my mom's who lived near my college. Most of the yarn is less than a skein, unlabelled. There are some yarns I have bought and some that are in half-finished sweaters (also inherited). As you can see, I had been keeping my stash, as it is, in some fairly unfriendly conditions. An old comforter bag, among others. It was not a pretty sight.

I packed it all into a box, to be shipped across the country when we finally have a house, and all that was left were a few strands of mismatched yarn, tangled up in a knot. I did not keep these.

And in just a few short weeks, I will have my complete stash with me- finally! Whew.

In better news, I'm getting ready to turn the heel on the Anastasia socks. I love them so far. And I might have finally mastered the art of knitting with very small yarn and very small needles.