Holy Cow! Where do the days go? They are flying by and I can't keep up. My last post was in May with news from September. How lame is that?
Lets have a quick roundup of news.

• I graduated with an AA, a huge accomplishment for me.
• Went back to school to earn a certification in Medical Billing and Coding. The big board exam is this Saturday. Hope I pass.
• Netflix and knitting have kept me sane!

Let's round up some projects, mostly old, mostly socks.Here we go...

Coralicious Socks, an easy, lacy pattern that's free on Ravelry, knit from a skein of my coveted Sundara Sock Cerulean Seas. These socks and the ones below were donated the a charity auction to raise money for school scholarships. I hope that they fetched a decent amount of money.

My first foray into socks using Zauberball Frische Fische. While watching the colors change was enjoyable, knitting with a single unplied yarn was not. My tension is tight and this yarn is not forgiving, not to mention splitty. Oh, the pattern is called Peacock, fitting, wah? Janel Laidman writes awesome sock patterns.

These were a quick knit. I love the colors and the fabric pictured with them is a vintage sari that I scored at the thrift for $4! The yarn was a gift, Gypsy Girl Creations and the colorway is called Floridian. The pattern, Dragonfly Socks, is free.

Knitting black fingering yarn can diminish your eyesight! Really. Black is so versatile and I would like more socks knit from black yarn, but my eyes...my eyes...

The pattern is free and called Clover. It's a great combination of cables and lace. Very classy. The yarn is JaWoll Solid Superwash. This is the yarn that comes with a spool of reinforcing thread for heels and toes. Too bad, I forgot to use it!

Pom Pom Peds are my current obsession. I could knit these day and night. Well, I do knit these in between projects. The yarn is something random out of the stash. It could be Lion Brand Magic Stripes, but who knows. The great thing about these socks is that you I use up all those remnants from larger sock projects. I wear mine to the gym and they are the socks that I get the most use out of. These are for my son, a Christmas gift. Since he never reads this blog, it's safe to say he will still be surprised.

I still have a plethora of projects and things to share. Stay tuned!

I am rushing, trying to catch up on housework, homework, and pack because on Thursday, three friends and I are taking the Silver Meteor out of Winter Park, Florida and riding the rails to Union Station in Washington, DC. From there its a short drive to Manassas and to top it all off, the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on Saturday. The train takes us home again Sunday night! I am beyond exited.

Our last trip was in September, 2010, when we were graciously hosted by a fellow knitter. She put us up in her flat in Toronto and showed us the sights. What a city. I am originally from Edmonton and had not been to Toronto in years. I can't gush enough. The city is varied, vibrant, with no sign of a flailing economy. The restaurants were great. Each meal eclipsed the last. Meals are very important!

 

A trip into Toronto is not complete without a visit to Romni Wools. This place is a massive wall to wall, two level maze of yarn. It was amazing. Don't miss on your next trip to Toronto. You've been warned. I posted a little video for your viewing pleasure.

We spent two great days at The Purple Purl on Queen Street. One of those evenings was host to a Yarn Tasting put on by Knitty's Amy Singer. (That's Amy in the pink sweater. Betcha ya didn't know she had her own web site). The concept is one that reminded me of musical chairs. Five table with three brand new yarns on each were available for sampling. You had five minutes to cast on and knit with each yarn, then off you went to another table. We graded and tasted and made notes. The evening ended with a raffle of goods that Amy brought along. I don't thinks that any of us went away empty handed. I won a luxe skein of Viola Fancy Sock yarn in a mushroom color. What a thrill. The skill level of the knitters in our midst blew me away. I noticed that most of them knit with Signature needles. I have a pair and love them to bits and pieces. To own more is but a dream right now.

The Barn

Our hostess, Jody bussing Rhichard (Koigu's master dyer)

Our Mascot, Flori-duh, rolling in the Koigu

Bonnie in "The Coat"

Me in another Coat. I looked stunned.

Koigu Wrap, we both bought this pattern.

One of our many field trips was to Koigu, out in Chatsworth, Ontario. When we arrived, we were greeted by two zealous pups, the owner Maia, her daughter Taiu, and Rhichard, the boy wonder-dyer. We were spoiled with attention and were granted access everywhere. We watched the skeining process and listened to Maia discuss her designs. Not only were we privy to all kinds of yarns and techniques, but to Maia's wonderful knit samples. They were there to wear and try on, so we did! Each of us came home with bags and bags of Koigu. Between the stuff we purchased at the Purl and all the Koigu, luggage was bursting.
My trip knitting was Citron using Schoppelwolle Zauberball in cranberry. One of the knit nights at the Purl had me sitting next to a lovely lady who wasn't such a fan of the yarn and gifted me with three more balls. I still haven't returned the favor and this trip will have me shopping for a very special skein of yarn, as a surprise.

When I came home and in my Koigu haze, I cast on a pair of socks using the KPPPM that was already in my stash. I had never knit with Koigu before. I enjoyed the spring and the sproing that the yarn provided. Cookie A's BFF Sock was perfect for the colorway that I had on hand.
So, Wednesday are my finals and I am looking forward to Thursday. I will be meeting up with Rhichard again. We will be celebrating my birthday, pending graduation, and Mother's Day. Amy Singer will also be there, ukulele in hand. I've been tweeting her!

This trip, my pocket book is light until I finish my internship and find a job. Shopping will be kept to a minimum. My stash overfloweth anyway.
So, all aboard the yarn express to Maryland! Woooo,  wooooooo!

Catching up is such a process. This is the shawl post in which I will attempt to chronicle three months of shawl and miscellaneous knitting that took place in the latter quarter of 2010. Without further ado…
I will start with Saroyan x 2! The last two years I was smitten by Sundara's yarns, mostly because they were so unobtainable. This made made want to own skeins and skeins of the stuff. I would join the clubs just to make sure that I received a good assortment. While beautiful, it is now out of my budgetary wheelhouse but I enjoy folding and knitting it up…very slowly, you know, to make it last. Saroyan is a great pattern to use for small batches of luxury yarn. I has three skeins of the Silk Aran in Orange Blossom. The first shawl I knit used up just one skein. I made some adjustment to repeats and the result is still a generously sized shawl. This one made its way to the UK with my friend Annie. Hi, Annie, hope you like it !

I loved this pattern so much, I had to try it using beads. This one is slightly longer and is part of an upcoming charity auction for the SPCA. Someone on Ravelry has figured out how to add little dangly leaves to the ends. I tried this and didn't have the patience to follow through. I must preserve because I love the look so much.

When I visited Stitches South in Atlanta last April, Citron was on every ones shoulders. You could see every colorway and yarn imaginable. I made mine using a Cranberry Zauberball. My only regret, not having made it larger. This one was knit on the September trip to Toronto. Since that trip was so jam packed, it will need a post to itself. Stay tuned.

 
Next up, Classic Washcloths. These are the classic numbers from the Mason Dixon book. I used the same yarn called for, Crystal Palace Chenille culled from a Ravelry stash. This stuff does not worm! You've got to love that. The trio were part of a wedding basket filled with cleaning necessities. I hate gift registries and prefer to do my own thing. Who can't use Method and Mrs. Meyer's cleaning supplies? So pretty and smells good, too!

Florida has been in the grips of some pretty cold weather….again. I am not an afghan fan, especially those ziggy zaggy ones that seem to be a prolific sight on the backs of sofas here in the South. Really, any throw draped on furniture, other than a bedroom chaise is a turn off for me.

Despite turning up my nose at knitted blankets, I was smitten with this one. It's the Hemlock Ring Blanket, a modern take on a doily pattern. This was Jared Flood's brainchild, which some charting assistance from the Rainy Sisters. Again, I used the called for yarn, Cascade Eco Wool In tarnish purchased from a Ravelers stash. I loved this knit as it flew right along. I was actually sad when it was finished. Blocking was a bear and I definitely recommend blocking the center as it will bubble. The feather and fan portion will still bubble a bit, despite heavy blocking. That OK, though. Another regret, the color. This grey is so boring. Go check out some of the ones in the Ravelry database. The orange one is just spectacular. Eco Wool comes in colors…..

    Buying gifts for Father's Day becomes an ever increasing challenge them ore the years go by. Thanks to Woot, I've discovered new and inventive gift giving ideas. I check the site daily and, much to my delight found this gem just in time for June 20th. Don't worry, I was also intrigued and couldn't figure it out first glance. It looks like the Death Star with a twist. This is an ECOmposter and it promises to turn our stack of newspapers, piles of kitchen scraps, and bags of grass clippings into compost. It came in a very small box and took hours to assemble. 

 Not easily discourage, Erik and I tackled the job and soon added our dreck to the ball. So far, so good. I have my neighbor involved. She will be adding the carbon elements since we no longer subscribe to a newspaper. Our compost will be enriched with high class New York times and Wall Street Journal brown matter.

I couldn't resist including  a plug!

Father's Day breakfast featured our favorite pancakes. these are a little labor intensive, but so worth making. The blueberry syrup is well worth the effort, so much better than the bottled stuff! Enjoy!

Sour Cream Pancakes

1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C skim milk
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 unbleached flour
1 t baking powder
1 T sugar
salt
1/2 C butter, melted

Mix sour cream and milk, pour over egg yolks in a medium size bowl, whisk together.
Sift flour together with baking soda,  sugar, and salt and whisk into egg mixture by tablespoonfuls. Add butter and stir until smooth.
Whisk egg whites until stiff, not dry and fold into batter.
Over medium heat, heat griddle or frying pan. Brush lightly with oil and drop batter by the tablespoonful. Brown and turn.     


4 C blueberries
3 C water
2 strips lemon peel
3 C sugar

Put the blueberries in a saucepan, crush with a potato masher. Add 1 cup water, lemon peel, and simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes
Strain into a cheesecloth lined stainer and squeeze to extract all the juice. Discard pulled.
Combine remaining 2 cups water and sugar. Boil and stir until mixture is clear. Boil until mixture reaches 260 degrees
Add blueberry juice, boil for 1 minute. Cool syrup and add a few drops lemon if desired. Pour into 1 pint jars and refrigerate.

My stash seems to grow much faster than I can process it. I have 154 items logged into Ravelry. That does not count the few miscellaneous balls of yarn that I can't seem to identify, nor the balls of remnants that I have housed in an old sweets container. A rough calculation, although ambitious, supposes that I knit a project per month. That has me knitting non stop for the next 13 years. By conservative calculation, stash now exceeds  life expectancy. I have to cull the heard, and put yarn acquisition on hiatus.
Cataloging my stash on Ravelry has allowed me to play around with the various methods of sorting my yarn. For example, I love sorting by color, so pretty. When I am looking to knit from the stash and have a specific pattern in mind, I will sort by weight and hope that I have the required yarn to meet the needs of the project. Since knit a lot of socks, this has not bee much of a problem. I have also managed to find patterns and place them into my Queue and then attach a stashed yarn to the project. This make me feel superior and organized. Unfortunately, I easily stray from that plan by casting on something that is not scheduled, or queued.
My latest method of working through the stash is to organize it by date added. This places all yarn in chronological order with the newest item at the top and the chestnuts at the bottom.
My plan is to knit up...from the bottom of the stash. I have some lovely chestnuts that are begging to become something, anything.
Having said that, I was able to turn some two year old yarn into a beautiful shawlette. I found Keiran Foleys shawls in the Ravelry database. My first purchase was Emily Dickinson. The light gossamer fabric and the beads really appealed to me. I also purchased Teardrop for its repeatable pattern, its simplicity and elegance. My choice of yarn was Knit Picks Shadow in Basalt that languished in the bottom of my lace bin. After many false starts, I was able to get the first few rows down pat. The beaded row tripped me up. I didn't have the correct crochet hook size to place the beads so I prestrung and knit away. That was a disaster because the knit fabric is so airy, the beads tended to wander, spoiling the symmetry. I tried using a dental floss threader to thread the beads and that, while successful in bead placement, was a huge chore. I finally had an excuse to make the 20 mile trip to our local LYS for a 1 mm crochet hook and what a difference that made. 
 
 
 
  Here is the finished product. I used every yard of yarn, knitting 14 repeats.  Blocking was a breeze and th shawl was dry within 15 minutes of laying in the morning sun. I love this shawl and took it out to dinner and a walk along the Indian River. It's neutral, light, and sized just right for pocket or purse.
Next up, a couple of sock skeins that date back several years. Socks That Rock Silkie and Yartini, shake of the dust, 'cause I'm going for a stash dive and you're up.