It was a good party.

A spinning bud of mine had a micro booth at the Sock Summit, and I was a helper there and, for a shift, at SS registration. Both gave me an excuse to hang out at the biggest sock party in recent memory. It was a good party.


The biggest event for me was helping set the record for most knitters knitting simultaneously. I heard there were 935 or so of us knitting away; I worked on a dishcloth as circular and sock needles were banned. It was great fun, and I met some people from all over.

After all the shopping (see below), volunteering, and most of the booth responsibilities, the Luminary Panel was calming (a couple of hours knitting!) and enjoyable. Hearing peoples memories of Elizabeth Zimmermann (my knitting hero for many years), the backgrounds and anecdotes of nine Super Knitters, and Stephanie and Tina in their several roles (thanks givers, emcees, panel moderators) was worth the ticket.


While managing not to spend my whole August budget on yarn, I did buy some yarn and two knitting tools: a Susan Bates Handi Tool, (combines a crochet hook, US 3 knitting needle, cable needle in one) and a 9-inch US1/2.25mm HiyaHiya bamboo circular needle (you can shop around and find it for less; I paid $6).

The yarn I got, well let's just say that several vendors had bargain bins! I got three balls of Meilenweit for an average of $6.65: Mega Boot Stretch color 710, Fun & Stripes 633, and Multiringel 5050.

Then there was the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. I found a Socks that Rock Heavyweight Mill End skein of Treehugger.

But my favorite skeins were two from Lollipop Cabin. They're a Merino-free blend of four sturdy wools spun as singles by a local mill and hand-dyed by the proprietress who is Ialiuxh on Ravelry. The first skein (already on the needles!) is shades of black and blue with a few flashes of almost-white), and the second is similar to the STR Treehugger; funny that I didn't notice it until now! This yarn reminds me of the Kumo'Socki I bought in Klamath Falls in 2006; both pair are going strong.

Later, gators!

New yarn for old film

Last week I was reading blogs, and Yarn Zombie put out an offer to trade fiber from her shop for old Polaroid film. Yes! My 4 packs of 10-year-old film flew off to Ohio, and this beautiful yarn flew here:


Mmm skeins, indeed. The whole process started Thursday and we both got our packages on Monday. Yay USPS priority mail. Trading is good; unwanted items stay out of the landfill, and it's thrifty besides.

Recently I bought a compact digital camera and made my first video:


We'll just pretend I used a tripod and that you can't see my reflection. LOL

Sock Needle Storage

As part of a recent effort to gather most/all my knitting and crocheting tools in one piece of furniture that I could park next to one of my knitting spots for easy, fast access, I collected my sock needles and sorted them by size in plastic tubes provided by a Scrabble friend.


My P-touch made nice labels with both US and metric sizes. To the right of the tubes you can see my traditional needle gauge and the digital caliper (less than $15 at Harbor Freight) that I use to get more accurate measurements. I've never claimed not to be obsessive about some things. Plus, I like tools.

My larger-sized DPNs are still in the roll-up I made some time ago.

Holiday Knitting: Done at Last!

Louise's Christmas present, this pair of (size 11!) socks, is complete, presented, and modeled for the blog. Knit from Lion Brand Sock-Ease in the Taffy colorway on size 0 US/2mm DPNs, the pattern is the Yarn Harlot's basic recipe with two additions: an extra long heel flap to accommodate Louise's high arches and 2x2 ribbing everywhere except the sole for good fit. The heel flaps are about 3/4 inches taller than my usual square flap, making the gussets extra deep.

Here they are in her clogs. Her pants aren't high-water; she's holding the legs up so you can see the socks. LOL

Mattie was very interested in the new socks; she loves wool, especially if there's a squeaker inside. I admit to making her some wool squeaker toys out of failed felting projects and from heavy wool fabric. They're guaranteed to please!

Speaking of Mattie, she and I have a game we play in which she earns treats by begging, "talking", barking, and rolling over. Yesterday I got her to roll over a total of 13 times, 4 per treat and one extra. Once she figured out there wasn't a treat in my hand, she wouldn't do any more. She's not stupid!

Yarny and White Christmas

See the blue recycle and tan yard debris cans? They're about 3.75 feet high. Here in Portland, we had a record amount of snow lately; as reported here:

The National Weather Service says the winter wallop that dealt the Portland area nearly 19 inches of snow in the last two weeks has by one measurement made December the snowiest month since January 1950 in a city more noted for winter rain. Based on the snowfall at Portland International Airport, meteorologist Charles Dalton said, the winter weather also gave the city its snowiest Christmas at least since 1940, when the agency began recording precipitation levels there.

The mythic desirable white Christmas was ours. Many Portlanders postponed gatherings to the weekend when major streets were clearer and safer. My brother's 4WD with studded snow tires got us to our family's gathering on the day itself. Here's what Powell Blvd looked like after repeated plowing and sanding. Sidewalks were often buried and pedestrians walked in the streets.


Here's a picture of my grandnephews and grandniece wearing the slipper-socks I knit for them from superwash wool. They were more interested in their new toys, but I'm hoping the slippers will be used and appreciated.


I don't get to see the kids often, so grandniece and I took the opportunity to do some finger knitting. That's grandpa, who was wearing the socks I made for him, napping on the sofa next to us.


My sister, who wore her felted clogs, gifted me with some Patons Kroy Sock Yarn and a gift certificate; I'd mentioned buying some sock yarn at Jo-Ann last week and she'd sounded unenthused at the time, but I understand why now. LOL The color she picked for me was the color I'd have picked if I'd bought one more pair of skeins, so it worked out perfectly.

In which I become a game

I ran across this at knitnut.net and had to see if I was Scrabble, too. Yes, with reservations (added below in blue).

You Are Scrabble

You are incredibly clever and witty. You can talk your way out of (and into) situations easily. NOT You are an excellent decision maker. NOT You are good at weighing the options in front of you. You're the type of person who can make something out of nothing. You are very resourceful. You know a lot of things. Most importantly, you know when people are wrong - even when they won't admit it. NOT

What Board Game Are You?

On the knitting and holiday fronts, I'm moving at glacial speeds. I have 2/3 of the kids' 3 pair of slipper socks to knit and about 5/6 of a pair of big adult socks (toe-up Jaywalkers of Sockease) to go. I'd show you, but my brother has my camera for a few days. He's selling Dad's excess cable chains on Craigslist; they're hot sellers just now due to the snow and predicted freezing rain in our area. We might even have a White Christmas which sounds romantic and traditional but just makes the travel between homes problematic!

Socks, socks, socks, and slippers

These are my 9th pair of socks, knit with Stahl sche Wolle Socka Color yarn purchased about 20 years ago for gloves never knitted. I used Wendy's toe-up, short-row heel pattern. They're excellent with blue or black jeans and my Birkenstocks. These next two pair are now in the possession of my sister and BIL. Knit from the purple & gray Opal Batik previously blogged, they came out well and please their new owners. They look a little sick against the gold-ish carpet. This is a better representation. Lurking behind socks numbered 10 and 11 are these felted clogs knitted for my sister. She and the green fuzzy feet never got along well but she wouldn't give them back so I could wear them! The solution was a trade: new slip-ons with non-slip soles for the fuzzy feet. We're both happy. They already have a crumb on them! The suede sole didn't require any "special" tools. I used a hammer, nail, ruler, and block of wood to punch holes at half-inch intervals around both soles "pinned" together with binder clips. Both just barely fit on one rectangle of Tandy Suede Trim Piece #4040 purchased at Joann because we have small feet (5.5 US). The difficult part was getting them sewn onto the clogs; the threaded metal tapestry needle got stuck in the felted fabric; I ended up using pliers with taped jaws to pull the needle through. Here you can see the stitching. The pattern is Fiber Trends Felt Clogs (AC-33), an oldie-but-goodie I hadn't tried before. It's a keeper!

OFF Goodies, Socks, & Mystic Earth Scarf

Oh, my! That's a lot to blog about. Louise and I went to the Oregon Flock & Fiber festival Saturday; the weather was prime with the breeze augmented by thousands of spinning wheels in use. Well, maybe not thousands, but a lot. LOL I've been dithering about buying hand cards and finally bought these Ashford Wool Cards:


And Superior Fibers was selling Alpaca blend "craft batts" for only $1.50 an ounce, so I got this 7.5 ounce pastel colors wonder. It's very soft!


This blue Colonial Wool from Fantasy Fibers came home with me, too.


Altogether very satisfying S.E.X. (Stash Enhancement eXercise)!

As far as actually using some of the stash goes, I've been knitting "fraternal" socks for my sister and brother-in-law. Her's were easy as our feet are pretty close in size; his not so much. I got his shoe size and looked up size to inches charts. I also decided to do 2x2 ribbing to ensure a good fit around. Here are the 1.75 pair:

The yarn is Opal Batik previously mentioned here. Last night I started a Mystic Earth Lace Scarf (a subset of the Stole); it's a KAL with 4 clues in 4 weeks. Here's the bottom border with the body stitches picked up. Those vintage plastic needles are very light and contrast well with the yarn.

I'm using Knit Pics Bare 70% Merino, 30% Silk fingering weight. I'm hoping 440 yards will be enough! The scarf is 1/3 the width of the stole, and the stole takes under 1100 yards, so I have 73 yards' leeway. It will be difficult knitting with my fingers crossed!

Magnetic Cat and Lots of Fluff

A little while ago, Jumper jumped onto the desk with this


stuck to the magnet (which unlocks the cat flap) on his collar. Kind of like a bow tie. He's getting better at not freaking out and coming to me so I can detach whatever he's picked up (spoons, tuna cans, etc.). At least he's not bringing in mice!

In the Fluff department, here's an angora bunny offered for sale at the Spring Fiber Sale (see sidebar for link) on Saturday. Only $30, and a very sweet, extremely soft bunny getting close to molting/plucking time. No, I didn't bring him home. The vendor told me how two bunnies escaped their cages for a brief while and, because they were opposite genders, increased his angora inventory.


A list of my fiber stash and a wish list on an index card (yeah, small stash still) help keep my acquisitions in check. I was looking for a sock-appropriate fiber blend and found this beautiful fluff.


Ten little bumps of wool and 25% mohair in reds, pinks, and oranges. Only $12 for 8 ounces. The vendor was wearing mis-matched socks showing two blends (one was Sunset, the colorway I got) and a vest from a third. She has batts for sale online. There should be enough for 2 pair of socks, so I'll spin one with stripes and one blended. I'm looking forward to it.

Dick Duncan was there with one of the electric carders he manufactures and a bunch of fiber on which to demonstrate. A nice guy, he understands about beginning spinners on budgets wanting to hold off on purchasing a drum carder. The batts he makes while demonstrating are offered for sale for $5. This 2.2 ounces of almost black mohair with a few bonus wool streaks came home with me.


I plan to blend it with more of the dog/wool/alpaca roving. It should come out better color-wise than the Six Breed blend using yellow mohair. Dick doesn't have a web site, but his contact information is Duncan Fiber Enterprises, 21740 S.E. Edward Dr. Clackamas, Oregon 97015, (503)658-4066.

The third thing I got was a couple packets of Cushings Perfection Dye (navy blue and bronze green), thinking ahead to those two brown shetland fleeces I have. I got a chance to talk to several people about the fleeces and ways to prepare the fiber. I had been considering combing, but it turns out that carding will work better as most shetland fleece has both hair and undercoat. Combing would separate the two; carding will keep them blended.

Here's the last fluff picture for today:

If the coloration looks familiar, don't worry. I was unhappy with the mega bulky yarn I respun from my attempt at spindle spinning. Couldn't make myself start knitting it! So I ylped it and nupsed it (if knitters can tink, spinners can nups and ylp, right?) and spun it and third time and plied it a second time, doubling its length to 68 yards and halving its diameter to bulky weight. The new calculations come out to 777 ypp. I've got it on 10.5 US needles now, and I'm happy!

As for the ylping process, it was awkward. Thankfully the ball measured only 34 yards. I plied the ball backwards onto a spool so the two strands weren't twisted around each other (much) and then put one strand on the ball winder and wound the other strand manually as I unwound the spool. I don't know that I'd do this again, but, darn it, I wanted to knit something useful from my first handspun yarn, even if it took three passes to get it knit-able!

Five (Maybe Six) Species Cooperate to Make Yarn

I've been doing some more spinning! The yarn cake is the dried and wound yarn I showed you the other week. Its 34 yards totals 1.4 ounces, which works out to a bulky yarn using the calculator and these charts.


The skein of yarn at the top, however, is my second attempt. One of my goals is to spin sock yarn, and this spinner/knitter recommends 10-15% mohair by weight to add durability to wool socks. The fiber is a combination of yellow mohair and sheep/alpaca/dog fiber (the last two pictures here). The other two species counted in the title? Cat and human! It's 99.9% probable that there's cat hair and at least one of mine in that skein! LOL

Using the giant dog brushes, I "carded" the fibers together and spun them using a very impromtu inchworm draw. The singles were still bumpy in places, but overall much finer than before. The thin spots tended to be the mohair because it's tough and longer than the other fibers in my "blend." I spun until the bobbin was nearly full, wound it into a ball, and plied from both ends. Measuring the skeined yarn, there's 89 yards that weigh 1.5 ounces. Using the same tables, calculator, and brain, I figure the yarn is sport weight. Despite everything, the skeined yarn hung straight, possibly indicating that it is, on average, balanced.

I found a book at the library, Spinning and Weaving with Wool by Paula Simmons that seems to be a good match to my learning style. It also has plans for building a drum carder, in case I decide to do that. In the mean time, there's an electric drum carder at a LYS that I can use for $10 an hour if I want to do some more effective and efficient blending.

What will I knit from my handspun? Probably an ear-warming headband from the green merino, and maybe some wrist warmers from my multi-breed sport, but a little googling may reveal a pattern to match the yardage/weight.

Do you have any suggestions? Please comment!

SAM3, Antibiotics, and Blackberries

Assorted odd (or normal, depending on perspective) things are happening around here!

1) I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time, noting 8 instances of "sock," 5 instances of "sweater," and 2 instances of "underpants." Still no instances of knitting, though. Why underpants? They're just funny.

2) My brother's elderly cat, variously named Kitty, Barebutt, and "the skinny one," joined my household and it was not uneventful. He likes to pat your face if you aren't paying the right kind of attention to him. After he patted my gums because I was talking to him at the time, I started keeping my mouth closed. A couple days later, I had an infected gum and got antibiotics. Neither my dentist nor the nurse practitioner at my HMO had ever seen anything like it and had to do some research to choose the antibiotic. I'm OK now, but Kitty got his. He tangled with a neighbor cat and got an abscess of his own! So he's got a shaved spot and his own round of antibiotics to finish. Payback's a female dog!

3) I had a garage sale last weekend; it was very last minute and not the biggest sale, but some stuff I didn't need any more found new homes and I got some yarn money. Not a bad trade.

4) I finished my SAM3 July socks, shown here with Kitty who is a good knitting buddy because he doesn't mess with the yarn or needles.



The yarn is Regia Mini Ringel knit on US Zeros. They're a little bright but come winter they'll be great with my Birkenstocks. They're the eighth pair of socks I've knit since my first pair last August. I liked knitting the Regia, and the color repeats were very accurate.

5) Yesterday I spent some time with a new friend teaching her to purl and reviewing cast on and knitting while starting a simple roll-brim hat. We sipped our drinks, knitted, and talked on the shaded sidewalk outside our local coffee shop. We even managed to pick up another new friend in the process! We're already thinking about having regular meets.

6) I gave up this year's battle with the blackberries a few weeks ago, and now they're ripening! As I pick, I'll be cutting canes out, too. Mmmm, cobbler!

DH: It's a Knitting Free Zone

It's time for a quick update! I got my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Friday night about 12:30 and started reading at 1:07 AM. I didn't read straight through, though, napping for about 4 hours and pausing for necessary reasons and a phone call. 5:30 PM Saturday was when I was done. Being first in my little "crowd" to finish, I couldn't talk to anyone about it! So today I've been browsing in the Harry Potter Lexicon forums. It's satisfying to discover other people with similar observations, reactions, and questions, and it's interesting to find new ones to think about.

The only detail I'm going to reveal is that there is no knitting in the last Harry Potter book. While sweaters and socks are mentioned (just once each, I think), the book is a KFZ. Edit: Socks (though not the knitting of) are mentioned more than once; I've noted six or seven references so far as I've begun re-reading DH. BTW, socks are not critical to the story and easy to miss, though I love the way such ordinary objects crop up throughout the series.

My house, on the other hand, has knitting. I've started clue 4 of Mystery Stole 3. This section, twice as long as previous ones, is very repetitive, and it's going to be hard to find my place when Jumper (as he definitely will) knocks my chart off the piano bench. I think I'll have to use sticky notes or markers or something. Maybe I'll check off the bead rows. That will work; they're frequent enough but not too frequent. End example of Michal thinking "out loud."

I did knit on my sock while standing in line Thursday to get a wristband (which we were not required to wear!) for Friday night's Harry Potter book sale. The knitting muggles nearby were amazed at my ability to knit without looking and to change colors so seamlessly! So we talked about self-striping yarn and knitting for charity between HP topics, of course!

Settled

I'd mentioned getting summoned for jury duty; it started and ended today. Late last night the parties settled, so the 120 or so potential jurors (including me) who showed up this morning get a 2-year exemption from serving! It almost took longer to get through security than to find out the trial was off! Look what "needles" got through security:


That's 62 stitches of mystery yarn (that I wouldn't grieve over if it got confiscated) in an off-the cuff YO, K2tog lace pattern possibly to become a net bag. Now that jury duty is done, I'll move it to regular needles. The pencils are 6.6 mm in diameter, so a 10.5 US will be fine. I painted 4 coats of clear nail polish on the tips.

This is what I'd wished I could take to the courthouse:


My 8th pair of socks being knit on glorified toothpicks! Last week I was inspired by the combination of high temperatures...


... (76 inside and 107 in the shade outside my front door) and doing errands to make a woolly sock for my water bottle. I like the wide-mouth bottles because I can put normal ice cubes in them. I grabbed an orphan ball of fingering yarn and knitted away until it was the right size. Like a sock but without a heel:


Then I knit I-cord (on my Magicord Machine!) until I ran out of yarn and grafted the ends together. Fortunately, it was long enough to make a sling-able strap. Here are the parts. I'm not sewing them together since I'm using it around the house as well as out and about. I put a bit of ribbing in for snug fit. It was really technical: at the start of each of the 4 needles, I P2, K2, P2, K to the end of the needle. The "toe" increases were done similarly: KFB the first stitch, K to end of needle.


My Mystery Stole 3 is stuck half way through clue 2. That bit of blue yarn is to remind me to add a missing bead.

In other fiberly news, I made a dozen covered hangers for an upcoming birthday. I used puffy Homespun-style yarn and crocheted with a big hook. They just need the ends woven in. They're popular with their recipient because clothes don't slide off the hangers. And of course the sun
has gone down while I'm blogging, so you get a flash picture!


And don't give me any grief for crochet and acrylic! Every technique and every fiber has its proper niche.

Ta ta for now!

It's Been Hot

Hot for Portland, anyway. I've been knitting on my Mystery Stole 3 and finished clue #1. Here it is quickly pinned out:


You can see my three pearl cotton lifelines, but the beads barely show. That might have something to do with them being clear! I got my lace knitting workstation settled to my satisfaction on the piano bench (made by my grandmother's uncle around 1898, no less) situated in front of the couch.


I was going to make a cone spinner like this one, but couldn't find a paper towel holder at the thrift store. They did have a lazy susan that, turned upside down, works well and required no remodeling. Someday I might paint the underside, but for now it's OK.

Just in the nick of time, I finished my June Sock a Month socks, my 7th pair. They started out as Horcrux socks, but the yarn was too busy for a pattern. They're Koolaid dyed KnitPicks Bare fingering knit on US 1 DPNs.


I need to start my July socks soon, or I'll be in the same last-minute rush I was in on June 29! They'll be plain with fun yarn again to provide easy knitting in contrast to the stole.

In related sock news, my first pair of socks felted a little in the washer (now I handwash ALL my handknit socks), and it makes a great insulating sock for my water bottle. The heel looks a little odd, but if it keeps the water cool longer, I'm not bothered. Cool water water is simply wonderful in the summer! VBG

Yesterday I went over to Ruthie's Weaving Studio. She's been posting ads about spinning classes on craigslist. She's got a big space (complete with stars hanging from the ceiling courtesy of the square dance club that used to be there) for her and members' looms, plus equipment for getting warps and other weaverly things ready for weaving (I don't know the lingo, obviously). The first Saturday of the month she offers spinning classes. She had some good suggestions for me regarding some overspun yarn that I want to tweak into usable form.

Now off for some errands (including a nearby yard sale with "knitting things"). Later, 'gators.

MS3 Swatch #6 aka Too Much Time on My Hands

Is that a pun?

I knit another MS3 swatch last night, this time on size 4 US vintage plastic Boye needles with scooped tips. Although technically not a pair as one is blue and the other white, they were nice: light, smooth, and sticky enough they didn't fall out every other stitch. Here's the swatch complete with imperfections caused by PBS viewing:


The lower section is knit with two strands and the upper with one. Both are pretty fluid. I was worried about breaking the single strand as I knit, but that didn't happen. Damn. I suspect I'm going to have to knit the stole on one strand of the gray mystery wool. I never would have thunk it. I can blame Jan, a knitter/weaver/seamstress I met yesterday who was knitting a shawl of what looked a lot like my gray mystery wool (only a very pretty autumn-colored variegated yarn/thread). Shoot. If she can do that, so can I. LOL What do YOU think?

The sunlight streaming through my kitchen window as I immortalized the new swatch was hitting my window sill garden. Look, African violet bloom!


And my 2007 primrose, currently on its 4th and 5th (see the bud in the center?) round of blooms.

Every spring I splurge 79 cents on a primrose for my kitchen window. Some years they even survive to bloom again 12 months later. Such a deal!

Simultaneous Knitting and Scrolling

Late last night I was playing with a friend's camera and took this picture of my frogged Horcrux sock sitting in a heap of recent fibery goodness.


I got it past the heel twice but didn't like it (not the pattern's fault!), so ribit ribit. At least now it will be started during the Summer of Socks. The other night I swatched for Mystery Stole 3 on size 5 US needles in both the green and the blue. I'm teetering between size 4 and 5 and the green yarn. We'll see what happens with clue 1 comes out Friday.

This camera is 12 or so years newer than mine and actually took pictures of the Black Hole Under My Desk without the flash. A Very Good Thing because the dust bunnies don't show up! Here's its frequent resident, Mr. Kitty, looking sweet and keeping my toes company on a big pillow.


Over to the right is this:


A serial trackball with BIG buttons that I got at Goodwill for $1.99 recently. The ball is on the shelf since I discovered that it's hard to control it with sock-covered toes. HOWEVER, it is extremely useful for scrolling down while reading blogs! I park the cursor over the down-arrow in the scroll bar, pick up my knitting, and read and scroll away! My system seems not to mind at all having two pointing devices operating at the same time. Definitely a simple, thrifty, reuse idea that increases knitting time. The only downside is now there's another cable snaking around. Just wait till I give up my socks and get practiced surfing with my toes!

My Ravelry Invite Came!

Just in time for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL, since there's a discussion group (one of several around) on Ravelry. Here's the beginning of my library:



If you haven't registered to be a beta tester, go do it! It looks like a great knitting resource.

Mystery Stole Swatch Results

Yes! There's a hole in the gray swatch! And if you look closely, there's a missing YO in the green one. Now that's over with, let's celebrate 3 swatches done yesterday. LOL

The details in order of knitting:

Gray Swatch: mystery wool on cone (10.5 ounces), 28 WPI, two strands held together on size 2 US, blocked to approximately 5.5 inches wide, 4 inches tall. If I choose this, I'll go with three strands plied together somehow (not having a wheel...) because unplied, I'm going to be sticking my needles between strands a lot. Finished width approx 18 inches. The math: 5.5 inches/35 times 99 stitches times 120%. Melanie has revealed the stole is 99 stitches wide.

Green Swatch: mystery wool on cone (21 ounces), 24 WPI, one strand on size 4 US (bottom) and size 3 US needles, blocked to approximately 6 inches wide. I like the size 4 results better. I'm leaning toward using this yarn. Approx 20 inches wide finished.

Blue Swatch: Shetland wool on cone (12 ounces), 18 WPI, one strand on size 4 US, blocked to approximately 6.25 inches wide. I like this color best, but overdying either of the other two is an option. Approx 21 inches wide finished.

Any opinions? Is my math OK? Please comment!

BTW, I unvented a WPI tool from my wood scraps box: a piece of tinker toy. Perfect! Love that Reuse part of the three Rs. LOL This is such a simple concept. One could make one from a piece of doweling very easily if there are no kids around from whom you can beg a stick.

As to the wrapping, I let the yarn decide where to fall by angling it slightly toward the already wrapped strand as I twisted the tool, pulling the yarn just enough to snug up to the tool without being overly tight. Is that the right way to do it??

Mystery Stole 3

Melanie over at Pink Lemon Twist is hosting her third Mystery Stole knit along. Each year she's created a new stole pattern and offered it in mysterious little clues over several weeks to knitters who join her group by July 5. As of a few minutes ago, 1133 people across the world had joined. The email volume is pretty high, so I've created a special folder in my mail reader and filters to highlight Melanie's and her helpers' messages.

I have minimal lace knitting experience, but I have some appropriate yarn and needles, so I'll give it a try. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a holiday gift done really, really early!

Regarding my other knitting efforts, I've knit a few more squares for Greensburg and got to the foot on my first Horcrux sock. I didn't like the transition to ribbing from the lightning bolts, so I ripped back to the end of the bolts and I'll knit it all in bolts. Pictures forthcoming...here they are: