Pink Toes

Lab Baby A made her appearance a little over a week ago and since the proud Daddy will be back in lab next week I thought I'd better get a move on with the baby gift.


Pattern: Baby to toddler socks (pdf) with a couple of modifications. First I did a slip stitch heel, not because I'm expecting these to get a lot of wear but because my knitting back and forth was sloppy and horrible. Then I continued the rib down the foot for added stretchiness.

Yarn & Needles: I think this is Lorna's Laces, Penelope gave me about 50g as part of Tawana's baby shower and I think I used maybe 2/3rds of that. If I ever have a suitable contrasting colour I'm sure I'll be able to eke out another pair with the left overs. Knit Picks DPNs size US1.

I knit the second of these socks at a Sit n' Knit New York event at The Point. I kept getting funny looks from one fellow Sit n' Knitter all the way through and finally when I asked what was up she said that I was knitting really fast. Oh yes, smarty-pants speed-knitter strikes again! I can't help it if I just have to look at yarn in certain way and sweater appears.... Heh.

On to the next unphotographable green thing

I'd barely finished seaming up my lace tank when another green tank jumped on my needles.


No, I'm not colorblind but my camera is. This is the Emerald Seas pattern from Knitty Summer '07 in "Leapfrog" Knit Picks shine sport. That means it's green not gray. Trust me. So far it's flying along and I'm pretty much up to the arm decreases on the front after just two days. Granted that was two days of sitting on my butt and knitting, but still two days. I'm loving the Shine too. It's the first time I've used it and I'm surprised at how soft and shiny it is, so much so that I keep stopping knitting to pet it which does elicit some funny looks. I'm foreseeing a trip to M&J Trimmings for ribbon in the not so distant future...

Mystery revealed!

I finished the mysterious black and white lace and managed to persuade my camera that it was in fact a spring green colour not a dirty sludge grey, just in time for it to rain again. I think finishing a knit is like some kind of rain dance since every time I finish something the skies open. So New Yorkers, you can blame me for today's showers, m'kay?


Pattern: Essential Tank from Lace Style (Ravelry)
Yarn & Needles: Knit Picks Shadow in Spring Green Heather, two and half balls held double, Options size US4 (3.5mm)

I have confession to make. The posts around here have been a bit lack luster because I picked up a new project that's sucking up all my creative mojo - 365 on Flickr. I spending so much time thinking about how to take a picture of myself where I don't look goddamn awful that the blog is suffering a bit. Appologies, mostly to myself because I'm not conceited enough to think that anyone else cares, so Me... I'll try harder from now on. And today's photo, well, see for yourself...

At least I make myself laugh ;)

A Tofutsie Too Far

The garter rib tofutsie socks are done, and not a moment too soon. I'm feeling very blah about them.


Also the fake tan has arrived! I'm not feeling so blah about that, shiny not white legs!


The bad news is that there's still 48 grams left out of the skein. Yes, 48 out of 100 grams. Anyone want it? It'd make a pair of ankle socks at least....

WWKIP- the uninspired post

I finished my hat under dappled sunlight in Central Park in WWKIPD.


The hat joined it's friends in a big red bag off to see the world by sea.


All in all, a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning!

Baby code - Can you follow it?

Baby K, Baby M, Baby W, Baby D, Baby C, Baby A, Baby G, Baby B and now Baby K(2).

I've been in my lab for a little over a year and just look at the number of babies! Admittedly Baby B and BabyK(2) are still very much cooking, but but Baby A and Baby G are just about done and ready to be turned out onto the cooling rack. I can't say that I knit for all the babies (some were born just after I joined the lab and other's to people I don't know since my lab is gigantic and obviously big enough to repopulate the Earth should the need arise), but Baby A and Baby G will belong to people that I work with fairly closely.

I can't say that I didn't see this coming, but have I prepared? If you stuck a pin in these people they'd pop and have I knit anything? Nope. I'm knitting lace-that-will-not-be-photographed instead. And a hat. It's a gazillion degrees outside but I'm knitting a hat.


Sit n Knit New York is have a charity drive at it's WWKIP day event (this Saturday!!), and I chose to knit a hat for Christmas At Sea. My Daddy was in the Merchant Navy way before I was even twinkle in his eye. I used to love the bed-time stories he'd tell my sister and me of "Sinbad the Sailor and his two Princesses." There's the infamous story of the shark fishing, of the world's largest attack cockroach, and of beer and 9 pence a bottle rum. But there were no stories about the loneliness or the isolation that I'm sure he must have felt. So in a way knitting a hat for the next generation of sailors is knitting a hat for my Dad all those decades ago.

Still Life with Lace

I wish I could say I was being artsy....


... but the truth is, I don't know how to make my camera see green.

FO: River

Let me tell you, modelling a finished lace stole is way more difficult than it might appear. Where do you put it to get the best light, how do you drape it to maximum effect, how do I avoid taking pictures of my muffin-tops? Sweaters are way easier, throw it on, lean moodily against a wall and bam! FO-money-shot. Lace, not so much.

So I'm going to have to split this up into pattern and colour because on my own with my trusty self-timer I was only able to capture one or the other and usually in the presence of back-fat. Please excuse the rolls.

First texture:


Then colour:

Pattern: Lacy Wrap/River, available here for free :)
Needles & Yarn: 4mm Options. The sock/lace yarn was from My Special Tea on Ebay but it doesn't look like this colourway, Luminous Moth, nor this length (600yds) is available anymore (and on second look I think the store may have disappeared too....) The yarn has 20% nylon which means it was crunchy as hell to knit up and it bled dye onto my fingers, but a wash and a stretch has made is much softer. I think I ended up doing 27 or 28 repeats of the pattern with a small amount of yarn left over, which was probably a good thing because one more repeat and I wouldn't have been able to fit this sucker on my blocking board.

And just for fun, want to see the precarious positions I put myself in to get some of these pictures? Look away if you're scared of heights...

Oh yeah, that's the FDR 26 floors below with just a pane of glass between me and oblivion. EEP!

I think I might have been bitten by the lace bug, expect much more to come.

Done and ohsoclose to Done

But which is which? Did I reach the thesis proposal deadline or did I reach the end of the 600 yards of laceweight? Which one didn't quite make it by midnight Sunday?


Come on, you knew it had to be the knitting, right?! Even with my extensive procrastination breaks I couldn't quite knit my way to the end of the skein yesterday, partially due the the tinky-tinking I kept having to do while distracted by doggies and babies and bugs in Central Park, and partially because I lost about a year of my life trying to walk around the damn parade on 5th Avenue yesterday to even make it to the park. Grrr. People... in my way....

But anyway. Thesis Proposal- DONE! (For now...) Sunny afternoon in the park- DONE! Now to check River off the list :)