Giddy Girl

I feel like a silly giddy girl. I had a glorious 3 days and 2 nights away from the fam on a business/fun trip, and made tremendous knitting progress and new discoveries!

MawMaw's scarf
Lavender Debbie Bliss cashmirino using a norwegian fir lace st
I'm halfway finished with the scarf after contemplating ripping and restarting. There's something about the scarf that doesn't match my expectations. I don't know what it is, but here are some clues: the lavender looks more smokey gray against certain colors. The scarf itself is a little more narrow than I wanted. The stitch is now boring, with only 3 rows that have much interest to them (and not that much interest, after all). No matter, I promised this scarf to MawMaw, am halfway finished, and want to get going on it. Finish line, here I come.

DD's Strawberry Intarsia Sweater
Purple, pink, and green Superwash 220
Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots
"Strawberries and Cream" sweater
I like this sweater a lot, but I think I'm not a big fan of intarsia. I was on a big kick several months ago and assembled a whole stack of patterns to follow, but I never started any. This seemed relatively easy and quick on a larger-pattern scale (larger than the flower pocket on Anouk). As quick as it is, it's just not grabbing me. I'm through the back and front intarsia parts, and it was grueling to get through the front. I have the two sleeves, and then I'm done. I'm excited about having a sweater for DD (in purple, her favorite color), but I probably won't do intarsia again for awhile.

Those are the two projects I have going and took with me on the train, but the real giddy part - the part that makes me feel like I'm in third grade - is that I took the sock plunge! As a thank you to a dear friend for putting me up during my visit, I offered to make her a pair of socks - my first pair. This is also the gal who got my first quilt with triangles, which had the tips cut off because I measured wrong. So, with due warning, she gracefully accepted, chose her yarn (and suffered through my browsing at the Bethesda LYS), and is waiting patiently for her package.

I've avoided socks for a long time because they struck me as really boring. And you have to do a second one, and I couldn't imagine tedious knitting, interminable stitches, microscopic needles. Slowly, as I've gotten into lace knitting and different yarns, I've started to like the smaller needles. I've looked for lace patterns and sought different lace-weight yarns. Socks seem a natural next step, so I went for it.

So, enter
Simple Sock
Fortissima in disco-blu
Cat Bordhi Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles
Knit on 2 circ Addi Turbos size 2 in 16" and 24"
I picked up my first pair of Addi Turbos, and ONG, they're butta. Stunning. I can't imagine using anything else. I'll probably still use my skatel bamboo (addi) needles - I love the bamboo. But I adore the addi turbos.

I also love the sock knitting! I chose a simple first sock to knit. I've knit hats and other small things in the round on two circs before, and I really like two circs over clunky and awkward dpns. So knitting socks on 2 circs is natural and easy, and I esp like them when it comes to the heel (it's so easy to leave some of the st on one needle and work the other).

So that's one reason I feel like a giddy girl - silly, really. I'm finally a sock knitter, and I can't wait to try more yarns and more patterns.

The second reason I'm a giddy girl is because I met a fellow knitter and blogger - Cara from JanuaryOne!

The Saturday midday train from Washington, DC to New York was pretty empty, and I have to admit my grimmaced when she first sat down next to me. "Um, hello, there are lots of empty seats around here," I thought. Luckily my bitchiness stayed in my head because in a few seconds out comes her knitting and it clicked for me. Ah! Chatting politely, we quickly stumbled on our blog similarities and chatted the whole way back from Philly to NJ. What a fun, serendipitous occasion, especially moreso since I missed my first train and had to take the one I was on.

So, all is well on the knitting side. I'm still crazy busy with work, and it's still hard to juggle, but I'm enjoying all of it the same and moving on. Sadly (or not so sadly) my list of projects is now triple with the start of socks. Me, DH, DD, Mom, Mom's Husband, Sister, SIL, BIL, Uncle, Grandfather, Grandmother, MIL, FIL, on and on and on. ;)

The next pair of socks are jaywalkers for me. Cara's jaywalkers were so lovely, and the yarn so delicious, I have to have a pair for myself. Selfish. I'm allowed.