I might have fallen a little behind on the knitblogging. Like, a year and a half behind. I’m not even going to try to catch up. I have declared knitblogging amnesty, because life is insanely busy and there’s no way I could even try. But I have just moved into a wonderful new apartment (in Queens, a nice easy subway commute to my job that gives me a good chunk of knitting time during my morning ride) – with a new roommate, who is unimpressed with me and my handknits.

This is Hattie, and she has exactly zero interest in being a knitwear model. Anything that distracts me from scratching behind her ears is a Problem. (Hattie belongs to one of my roommates. Or as Hattie might put it, my roommate belongs to her.)

But look! I have finished socks!

These are entirely made up as I went along, which is why one sock is about 5 stitches bigger than the other and therefore the pooling is…well, I have no idea how to explain this pooling. I did a 2×2 rib on the cuffs and then knit the feet in stockinette. It worked out well enough, I think, for not quite remembering how many decreases I did in the gussets.

The yarn is Frolicking Feet sock yarn from Done Roving Fibers in “Copper Pennies,” and there’s just enough left to make a pair of baby booties. There will be lots of baby booties in my future as I’m going to become an aunt in the fall (!!!!!) so I need to get cracking.

I promise you will get to see all the adorable things. Really.

Some of you may remember from last summer when I got my supplies:

Let me back up a little. My sister Becky is getting married this year. (I’m still kind of in shock that we’re old enough to be getting married, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.) So in between the dress shopping and planning and excitement I realized, I have to knit something! Well, not that I have to, but more like, if there is ever a time to create a beautiful handknit that could turn into a heirloom, weddings and births are really those times. So. I picked out a pattern (the Mitered Cross Blanket [Rav link] by Kay Gardiner) and started, slowly. The great thing about this pattern is that it’s done in blocks, so it’s portable and you can do it in bits and pieces. I was able to do a square or two and then stop to make myself a new scarf, do a square, knit a friend mittens for Christmas, do a square….

Until I had a pile of squares waiting to be seamed together.

This really is a delightfully clever pattern, and it was so much fun to watch it come together, like this:

The pattern originally calls for Noro Silk Garden, but as Becky and her fiance will be sharing this blanket with the Lucypuppy I figured something washable was a better bet. So I picked out a neutral color for the background (to match Lucy’s coat) in Lion Brand Wool Ease in Natural Heather, and then found five colorways of Lion Brand Amazing (Arcadia, Constellation, Mesa, Rainforest, and Roses) to use for the mitered crosses. Everything was knit on US7s, and the only notions I needed were some stitch markers and a darning needle for weaving in ends. Once everything was seamed up I went ahead and gave it a wash, hung it to dry for a day and then gave it a quick spin in the dryer on low just to get the last of the moisture out and puff everything up a bit, just in time for Becky’s bridal shower. I am very, very happy at how it came out, and I think Becky is too:

I love this picture a lot, and not just for the blanket.

(Oh hey, now it’s time to get a move on the other secret project for the other sister. Oh boy…)

I didn’t take a lot of pictures; I was too busy yakking with people and wandering around and buying ALL THE YARN. So were a lot of other people. This was the line at the Sanguine Gryphon booth:

We poked fun at signs:

and went to the Ravelry meetup on Saturday:

We knit and spun in a brewpub in Kingston:

and for the first time ever I had a knitted garment (not just an accessory) to wear this year.

The fact that I seamed it at 1 am Saturday and had to get help weaving in ends on Sunday morning while I hopped in the shower is inconsequential. Achievement Rhinebeck Sweater: Unlocked.

We rented a house this year and packed it full of awesome ladies:

and they were a huge part of why this weekend was so, so excellent. I am already looking forward to next year, but I supposed I should start knitting now, because. Well.

I had a great time. So did my stash.

We did have some pretty large trees go down in the storm:

like this big old one by the public library. The whole thing just came up out of the ground, roots and all. My yard got off pretty lightly in comparison:

We cleaned up everything today, so I decided to celebrate by having a winding party.

It was very strange to sit outside winding yarn in such fresh-smelling air, looking at the perfectly sunny, blue sky, when it was so stormy just a day before. I’m very glad my family & neighborhood got through OK, and my heart’s going out to Vermont and the shore communities in NC and NJ that have been so decimated.

I did some knitting this week, but it’s secret, so all I can show you is this:

3 down, 7 to go. Soon.

I also got some swag. My friend Rebecca went to Sock Summit, and she brought me back goodies!

There’s some Indigo Dragonfly yarn in there, and Glenna C’s Captain Mal sock pattern (eee!), a skein of Little Red Bicycle laceweight, and some Hazel Knits miniskeins and a delightful little fingerless mitt pattern for them. I hardly know where to begin. Look at this beautiful yarn. Just look at it.

Also, I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of my family, my puppyniece Lucy!

Lucy is a schnauzer-poodle mix, 11 weeks old, and the most wiggly bundle of energy I have ever seen. This picture is a few weeks old now, and she is almost as big as her toys at this point. She will squirm her way right into your heart before you’ve known it. She and Eeyore are already fast friends:

Lucy is very happy to meet you all.

Well, why not? Especially when Vhary has such good taste:

This is Malabrigo Sock in Indecita, which is really lovely. I understand now why it’s so popular. I took the yarn home with me and wound it, and picked out a pattern (Charlize by Vanessa Smith [rav link]) that seemed to meet Vhary’s requests: lots of lace, and long, almost more scarf than shawl.

I cast on on the train home from work a few days later:

and knit during commutes and on lunch break and at home:

(that’s the tail end of a lunch break, with my tea and chocolate, mmm) and then Vhary emailed and said she was going to be in town for a few days last week and would I like to meet for dinner? So I quickly blocked the finished object, and wrapped it up carefully and brought it with me and gave it to her after we had a lovely tea at Alice’s.

Vhary did this:

and then she did this:

and that is why I love her. Reactions like that mean I’ll knit for you any time, Vhary darling, just say the word.

So that was one of my mystery projects. I have two more that I am working on now, along with a Featherweight and socks that are kind of being ignored more often than not, and today I got more yarn for more mystery projects:

Let’s just say there are a lot of squares in my future. And thank goodness for Lion Brand’s wonderful discounts, because I walked out of there with a bag of 30 skeins(!). There is not enough time to knit all of my yarn, people. This knitting stuff is serious business.

It was a beautiful day for a game. Especially when the home team won 6-0. Sorry, Camden.

The Long Island Ducks are my favorite baseball team, because they are a semi-pro team that play in a reasonably-sized stadium where you can see what’s happening on the field no matter where your seat, because you will not go bankrupt buying crackerjacks, because the first base coach (Buddy Harrelson, for you Mets fans out there) will sit at a table during the fourth inning and sign autographs for kids, because half of the starting lineup is from the Island and I like supporting my community, and because the mascot is a gigantic duck.

Since it was Father’s Day, Quackerjack’s dad Papa jack flew up from Florida to join him (get it?) Their antics never fail to amuse.

I didn’t get much knitting done, since I was coated in sunscreen and still somehow managed to get burned in a few spots. But it was a great afternoon. I love a good ballgame.

I took some pictures, as one does.

I love grand cathedrals and churches, and I had a wonderful time wandering in all the chapels and corners with Vhary. Afterwards, she agreed to hold the Traveling Sock for me while we were walking around the grounds:

(This was supposed to be March’s socks. I’m a little behind.)

Once the heat got to be too much, we repaired to a coffee shop and had lunch and lingered over coffee and tea, and then we went to Knitty City, to look at the yarn and the colors. Now, Vhary can knit, but she doesn’t do it often. Her hobby is blues dancing, which is a horse of a slightly different color. But she fell in love with this yarn:

so she bought it, and I am going to make her a shawlette. We discussed patterns briefly. I had one of my Simple Things with me, which she liked but declared not lacy enough. She was fond of the sample Shetland Triangle[rav link] hanging up, but I’m thinking this is not a good yarn for that pattern. Anyone have suggestions, before I hit the Rav pattern database?

Yes, I bought myself yarn too. It’s Madtosh.

You are not surprised.

So I started another project. Startitis? Me? You must be mistaking me for some other knitter.

Say hi to my new train knitting, an Ishbel that I am making in Madtosh Merino Light celebration yarn that I bought the day my new job called to tell me I was hired. I felt like partying, and picking up a skein of yarn and discovering it was named “cameo” (which jewelry I am quite fond of) seemed like a sign. So I bought it, and am knitting it now and I just adore how it’s working up.

I’ve actually done a bit more since I took this shot on my trip home last week; I finished the stockinette portion and am into the charts now. It’s chugging along nicely and I feel refreshed and ready to retackle my gift knitting, which is exactly what I needed.

IN the meantime, my crafty mom surprised me today with these:

City pillowcases! When we went into the city a few months ago to check out those awesome quilt shows, we found these great city-themed fabrics in the City Quilter, my favorite quilt/fabric store in Manhattan. So we got them, and Mom made me a set of pillowcases. Yes, that second one has the subway map on it, and I love it to bits.

This deal we have of trading knitting and sewing with each other is pretty awesome. She keeps threatening to teach me to use a sewing machine, and I keep threatening to teach her to knit, but I think we’re both pretty happy with this arrangement as it stands. At least, I am! Now to see what I can offer her in trade to get her to turn my old tee-shirts into a quilt…

I started a new job, which means a new commuting route:

So there is more train knitting.

I bought some yarn too:

Isn’t that luscious? I’m still trying to decide what I want to do with it.

And I made my sister a shawl for her birthday:

This is the Pinkerton Shawl that was on the cover of the Spring Interweave Knits. I knit it in Dream in Color Smooshy in Chinatown Apple, stretched with a little bit of DiC Baby in the same colorway. (This shawl eats yarn for breakfast. Plan accordingly.) And then I took pictures of it at my parents’ cabin in upstate New York, where my whole clan had gathered for Easter.

The cabin is tiny and up on top of a hill. It has electricity and really good 3G service, but no television. There’s a wonderful porch that catches the breeze and I have visions of summer weekends knitting and looking out over the hills.

We’ve dubbed the cabin “Balmoral,” in honor of the royal vacation estate. I think it’s entirely fitting.