brainylady

My plan for getting more sleep is already off the rails. I cast on for a sock last night, sometime after midnight, and knitted through The Royal Tenenbaums on TV. (Why, oh why, does CBC show good movies in the middle of the night instead of at 7 p.m.?) First I spent a fair amount of time doing a tubular cast-on, according to Anna's excellent tutorial, and it did turn out beautifully. Not stretchy enough, though, so away it went. (And I was too lazy to get up and find a slightly bigger needle, which I think would have done the trick.) I started again and just followed the pattern, which is from the winter 2006 IK: the Embossed Leaves Socks, by Mona Schmidt. I'm using my semi-solid prune Koigu. It's been quite a while since I made fancy socks, and it's fun to have a little chart to follow. I think I'll make them a little shorter than called for, to have a pair of pretty little dress-up socks.

I've also made a significant yarn purchase, which is something that only happens about once a year. Bill doesn't really wear sweaters, and he has said "no, thank you" to every sweater pattern I've shown him in the past. But he has now stepped up and requested a vest. Specifically, he has requested a vest that only a non-knitter would request. Two words: Black. Stockinette. It actually wasn't easy for me to find a pattern that was basic classic enough for his tastes, but I finally did find this free Berrocco pattern online, which has been approved. So a box full of black worsted-weight Swish Superwash wool from Knit Picks is now on its way to my house.

For myself, I’ve been thinking a lot about this charming cardigan since Robyn showed me the pattern at the last knitting group. But I also still want a saddle-shoulder pullover. Maybe another yarn purchase for my birthday, which is in a few days? Oh, wait, I'm really not doing well with this less-knitting plan, am I? I wish I could get as excited about deciphering, say, Gayatri Spivak as I do about imagining how a particular knitting pattern would look in different yarns...

p.s. Mooky got beat up over the weekend, and as I'm sure you can imagine, there are few things more terrifying than seeing drops of your pet's blood hit the floor. Cats tend to go for the throat when they fight, and Mooky came in with a small gash on one side of his neck. So for us, Thanksgiving was all about being thankful that he's totally fine. After some serious rest on the couch, the big boy is his old self again. "Just a flesh wound," says Mooky. "I'm still hungry."