Startitis at Pittsworth

We're suffering from a nasty case of Startitis over here at Pittsworth Manor these days. Look! I have proof:It's a new mitten! Well, it's a mitten knit (so far) up to the thumb, at any rate. It's a cute, quick little pattern that I've taken to calling Psychic Hearts. I think it might be safe to say that it's the first (and only) knitting pattern named for a Thurston Moore song.

Yes, I have Thurston on the brain, having just seen Sonic Youth this past Monday night. Oh, it was an amazing show! It took my right ear until Wednesday to fully recover. I haven't had that sort of painful fun at a show since I saw Spiritualized last September. I'm seriously considering wearing earplugs at concerts from now on.

In any event, I hope to polish this mitten off soon (maybe tomorrow?) and release the pattern shortly thereafter. Maybe I'll even do some kind of crazy sale on the new pattern, in celebration of those of us who love knitting our mittens, even if it is July. We'll see.

The stalled sock

Because you've been waiting so patiently for it, here's the aforementioned sock:Meet L'Amour et La Morte, (what will eventually be) my latest sock-pattern-in-the-works. It shares its name with a song by The Real Tuesday Weld, whose music I have been much taken with as of late. Keep an eye out for more pictures of the sock soon, since after this initial burst of colourwork it's going to change gears somewhat. Exciting, no?

There are mittens on the way as well, most notably the Owlmittens, which I'm hoping that you'll enjoy. These, of course, are the mitteny incarnation of my Owlsocks. Other surprises are on the way as well (as usual.)

Saturday night's alright for...

Found: an odd, quickly scribbled MS Paint doodle in my ancient flickr account.
The weird part? It's still more relevant than ever. Oh, the universe provides.

In other less cryptic news, there is a new sock / sock pattern in the works. I regret to admit that production of said sock seems to have stalled...but let's just see what this week has to offer, shall we? We might be pleasantly surprised, and you just might see a sock that you might like to knit.

State of the table

Exactly where I'm at on this Friday evening -- a veritable snapshot of my unsuspecting end table and the contents thereon.Clockwise, from top: Vanilla by Patricia Rain; Dream in Color Smooshy in Good Luck Jade (soon to be a new iPod cozy;) Two skeins discontinued Rowanspun 4-ply in Jade (soon to be the beginnings of Ene's Scarf;) some early spindle-spun handspun of Heather's (soon to be...a Scarfy, perhaps?); Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner (I can not get enough of her Riverside books;) and a lovely local red wine -- Mastronardi Cabernet Franc 2006 -- on one of Heather's handmade, gently quilted coasters (I told you I use them, lady!!)

Yes, it's another exciting Friday night at home.

In other news, my dining room is now sporting a very well-hung chandelier, the borage and I are on good terms and the vegetable garden is dug. Tomorrow, the herb garden. Pictures to follow.

New pattern -- ROBOSOCKS!

If some of you are thinking "Hey, where did these come from?" you're not alone. They kinda snuck up on me too. But they're done, and more importantly for your (most likely) currently non-robot-guarded toes, they're OUT. Find the ROBOSOCKS here, on Ravelry or here, in my Etsy shop. And now for the additional Robo-info:

So you still don’t have that robot army you’ve always wanted? Why not knit your own batallion of mechanical minions to serve and protect your toes?

Traditional, folky-style socks with very untraditional robots marching down from cuff to toe – the perfect combination of past and future!

The pattern is, as always, a clear, concise, 5-page .pdf file with large charts and images. I aim to please and to make your sock-knitting experience as painless as possible.

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 8 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: 2 skeins each of Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed (229 yd / 50 g) in Grasshopper Kettle (Main Colour – MC) and 2 skeins of Knit Picks Essential(229 y / 50) in Ash (Contrast Colour – CC), or any other comparable fingering weight yarns in a comparable weightthat complement each other.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 2 (2.75 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Increasing and decreasing, knitting in the round, stranded knitting, twisted stitches, and chart reading.

I'm sure some of you will be pleased to learn that there are ROBOMITTENS in the works as well.

First glove

Well, look what I finished today (Raveled):

and the palm:I know -- I can hardly believe it myself! And you know what's even weirder? Knitting all those fingers (and thumb) was engaging and FUN. Why didn't anyone ever tell me how much fun gloves can be?

Now, no one's more surprised about this than I am. I doubt that any of you have caught me as I'm working the finger decreases of a mitten, but if you ever have the opportunity, take note of my mood as the task of the thumb looms nearer. I am not a fan of having to pick up for and work that pesky thumb. Usually this is because by the time I hit the finger decs I'm already planning my next project, and I'm more likely than not impatient as crap to finish the mitten at hand (ha.) So why is knitting the equivalent of five thumbs, one after another, so much different?

Answer: I have no idea. There was just somethng terribly compelling about watching each finger take a bite out of the held stitches; watching each finger cling onto its neighbour and then grow more stitches of its own for the next finger to cling onto. It was a lot of little achievements stacking up and turning into one big achievement -- the finished glove, with all the fingers finished and in place, all those stitches used up and accounted for -- and, oh, yeah, the total lack of grafting didn't hurt either. I'm even casting on for that second glove tonight.

But you know what? I still grumbled about knitting that thumb. Go figure.

Il faut cultiver notre jardin.

The settling-in process continues here at Pittsworth Manor -- I had no idea why I thought it would be over in a week. It's not like I haven't moved before, you know? I'm just so anxious for this new place to feel like a proper home! I know it'll happen, I just have to be patient. Trouble is, I've never been all that good at patience.

In any event, the knitting continues. I should be seaming up my Central Park Hoodie, but I'm doing this instead: These are Ulla's Gloves from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia, and I've already picked up three new techniques (the fringed cast on, the vikkel braid and the Estonian inlay technique) so far. I'm even looking forward to the finger knitting process, which either means that I'm a natural glove knitter or totally insane. You pick.

And in what might turn out to be another indication of the onset of madness I've joined twitter again. Keep up with my fibrey, housey and gardeny adventures right over here: spillyjaneknits. Yet another place for me to leave my mark online.