Abbie knits things. (And designs, and sews, and crochets, and felts, and spins…)
Father’s Day is over.
(Norah Gaughin’s Stag Bag, reimagined as a pillow, and Selbuvotter #10, both for my dad, who is pretty cool as dads go. Perhaps I will write these up later once he’s tried on the gloves for the camera…)
But that is not important. What is important is the following:
TOMORROW IS JUNE 25. SIX MONTHS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!
I cast on my first Christmas project tonight. Knit early, beat the rush.
GRADUATION SOCKS
Pattern: Falling Leaves Sock by Nancy Whitman
Yarn: Koigu PPPM in 2260, a lilac-ey sort of mix
Needles: US 1/2.25mm
Notes: These socks are named for a reason. I cast them on while driving (or rather, being driven) to my sister’s MA Ed graduation ceremony. Continued working on them during my other sister’s BSN commencement. (Not during the actual ceremony, mine. But there is always lots of waiting at graduations.) And then I carried them around my graduation, which was too rainy to do anything before, during or after but huddle beneath umbrellas, but the thought was there. And now they are done, after three graduations in one month. (My parents were exceedingly proud.)
However, I learned on these socks that I now get carsick if I stare too closely at kbls — and the socks are nothing but kbls! (The Merritt Parkway might not have helped. The Merritt and I have some disagreements.) So a lot of the car knitting I’d hoped to get done never materialized, and I found myself having eye-crossing moments more than once even when not in a moving vehicle. Of all the things to affect me like that, it turns out to be the humble kbl — who would have guessed? Unfortunately, it meant I had to take these socks in small bits, but they’re no less lovely for it.
The pattern is terrific: well written and clever, and I recommend it highly. Whenever I needed a break I’d catch myself smoothing out the legs and admiring the leaves and the little cable twist growing out of the ribbing. It’s making me imagine all manner of garments with leaves now, in lovely autumn colors. If I pick autumn colors, you see, they stand a chance of being finished at a seasonally appropriate time.
There’s plenty else going on besides these socks — I have a tank that is in the last bits of finishing, and more socks (now with more traveling), and my one-hundredth Ravelry project, a Ribbon Lace Scarf in a luscious purple-green. But since I don’t have any pictures of them at the moment, I will instead show you Delicious Delicious Birthday Cake, as my family does it: chocolate with homemade marshmallow frosting. This particular piece was from my sister’s birthday cake:
This is mean of me, and I apologize, because I got to eat some and you didn’t.
I am back from a very long day trip down to Washington, DC, with the student group from my alma mater (and I am not at all used to calling school that yet!). We toured the Library of Congress, getting a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on and meeting several of the librarians and catalogers. It was great fun and very inspiring.
Since the bus ride was over four hours each way, I brought a sock to cast on, and then I took what I’d knit on my tour with me. The Sock found the tour boring and was happy to hide in my bag, but the Great Hall woke it right up:
The Sock was also intrigued by the display of Jefferson’s original library, which Congress purchased to renew the collection after someone (naming no names, but they wore red coats and drank tea) burned the first one to the ground during the war of 1812. We were not supposed to take any pictures there, so I can’t show you how it looked, but I promise you it was very interesting. Sock was also very taken by the Gutenberg Bible on display, and asked to see the Main Reading Room. Unfortunately, by then it was close to closing so we only had a chance to peek inside quickly. We agreed to put it on the list of things to do when we go back.
The Library of Congress is right across the street from the Capital building, which makes researching for Representatives and Senators (its primary purpose) nice and efficient, but it has the side benefit of a Very Nice View:
The Sock liked that view very much. (I did too). You can even see the Washington Monument, just past the Capital building.
Before we left, the Sock checked out the Poseidon Fountain in front of the Library of Congress’s main building:
and then we got to ride the DC Metro back to catch our bus home, which was another loooooooooong drive. The Sock and I were both very tired so we rested and tried not to think mean thoughts about the traffic jam on the MD/DE border, but we might not have been successful.
Sock wants to go back once it’s done being knit up and let me wear it around DC, which I think is a most excellent idea.
Are we really done with May already? Yikes. At this rate it’ll be Rhinebeck season before I’m ready!
May was a busy month. I had two sisters graduate from college, one with a bachelor’s in nursing, one with a master’s in education. And then? I graduated! Behold, one Master of Library Science:
As you can see, it was pouring. Absolutely soaked, and I spent most of the day doing my best impression of a cat fallen in a well. It put a bit of a damper on my plans to take some traveling sock pictures — it was just too wet. But I walked, and I got to wear my fancy robes, so I am sure you will all bear up under the disappointment.
LETTUCE SOCKS
Pattern: Thuja Socks
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in Lettuce Knits
Needles: US 1/2.25mm
Notes: Sadly, I finished these too late to wear for Easter, because the colors are perfect for that, don’t you think? This particular skein of STR came from Lettuce Knits in Toronto, which I visited when I flew up to see my best friend J last summer. The color is named for the shop, so it seemed like a very good souvenir to me. I knit it up in my standby Thuja broken-rib stitch that I gravitate to for and promptly packed it away with the other socks for the summer. I did take this lovely picture of the eye-of-partridge heel first:
MOM’S SHETLAND SHAWL
Pattern: Shetland Triangle
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Cactus Flower
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm
Notes: Written up here.
VINTAGE VELVET KNOCK OFF
Pattern: Vintage Velvet
Yarn: Muench Touch Me in Burnt Orange, 3 skeins
Needles: US 8/5.0 mm
Notes: Written up here. So excited to finally have this done for myself!
There’s a few other mostly-finished May projects: namely a tank top in a linen/cotton/rayon blend I picked up at Maryland last year, and a beautiful pair of Selbuvotter gloves for my dad. But the tank top isn’t quite satisfying me yet, and the Selbuvotter are a Father’s Day gift, so you’ll see both of those later.
I’m taking a tour tomorrow of the Library of Congress, so I will try to get a few traveling socks to make up for the rainy fail of my graduation day. We will make no mention of the fact that tomorrow’s forecast for DC is… rainy.