Estonian Nightmare

I started the Estonian Socks almost a year ago and still haven't even finished the first one. The first problem was the stranded cuff and after I found a solution to that problem the leg pattern kept kicking my arse, especially at the heel.



I was finally sick of it and in a fit of Finishitis I ripped the leg back to the end of the cuff, put the stitches on a holder and started the socks from the toe up with a simple lace pattern up the sides.



I started from the toe because I didn't feel like figuring out the calf shaping right then, but of course, I have to start figuring it out now that I'm almost done with the heel. So far I have always successfully avoided calf shaping, but I can't with these socks. I know I should just sit down and figure out how far away I have to space the increases, when I have to start them and to how many stitches I have to increase (I think I dropped a stitch or two while ripping back, so that isn't as easy as counting the stitches on the holder). Guess there's nothing but sucking it up and doing it, right? *sigh* Thought so.

In much better news, I received my credit card statement from my time in London today and I spent way less that I had aticipated! Guess, I have the good (for me) exchange rate to thank for that. I'll simply not mention to non-knitters that roughly half of that was spent on yarn. ;)

London

I'm not sure what to write about I Knit Day and the trip to London in general. Most of it was simply overwhelming and I feel like I'm not a good enough writer to do the experience justice. I certainly can't do a picture only post, because I was a bad blogger that way as well (let's not talk about what kind of blogger I am for only posting about it now, okay?). Most of the time I forgot I even had a camera. Would listing all my yarn purchases be enough? ;) But then, maybe I should stop dithering and just write down what comes to my mind.

The Harlot

This was something I was most looking forward to even though I was a bit worried at the same time. I do like her books and have read all of them (except the new one, which isn't out in Europe yet) and read her blog every day, so sometimes some of her opinions and ideas aren't new to me and I didn't want to sit through one and a half hours of repetitiveness.

I needn't have worried.

Stephanie had quite a lot of new material, but I think her ability to capitivate the audience is really best shown when she was telling stories I already knew. Because it wasn't repetitive at all. Her interaction with the audience and the liveliness of her presentation made it funny, thought-provoking and exhilarating all at once, giving even older ideas a new dimension and completely captivating me with her new ones.

I also noticed the most curious phenomenon. Usually, time drags on when you're not having fun and flying by when you're having fun. I've never known time to move slowly while having a blast. And that is exactly what happened. I'd look at my watch and realise that only 15 minutes had gone by since the last time and would just be so damn happy that I still had more to look forward to. Congratulations, Stephanie, you've managed to make time behave in inexplicable ways (maybe that could be used somehow for Christmas knitting?)!

The Stash

Of course, there was also yarn buying. Lots of yarn buying. And since I'm back here there has been even more buying. My goal for this month of negative stash acquisition, makes me snort fall down laughing hysterically since I'm somewhere around 7,600 yards for this month and I'm expecting more still.

But enough talking and let's simply enjoy the pictures.

Bought almost as soon as I arrived in London on the Friday at Stash Yarns.

Left: ShibuiKnits Sock in 2 different, but very similar colourways - plan to make stripey socks out of these
Top to bottom:
Dream in Colour Smooshy in In Vino Veritas - lace scarf of some sort
Misti Alpaca Handpaint Fingering - socks for my Mum since she loves green
Noro Kureyon Sock - which somehow made it onto the picture even though I didn't buy it at Stash, but the same day at John Lewis

Then at I Knit Day, there wasn't only the Harlot, of course, but also lots of vendors, with lots of yarn.

And while I was good at the beginning towards the end my resistance got low and I splurged on quite a bit of silk yarn.

Left to right:
Knitwitches 100% Pure Silk Laceweight in Grapes - Crest of the Wace Lace Scarf
Fleece Artist Italian Silk
Fyberspates 100% Laceweight Silk - possibly Ring of Lace Wrap
The Knittery Merino Slim Socks in Merlot
Pagewood Fram Alyeska in Navajo

But not enough with the splurging while I was in London, since I've been back in Trier that impulse hasn't abated in the slightest.

Top left: Patricia sock yarn - pretty generic, very cheap, but incredibly soft
Top right: Schoeller + Stahl Ronda - a shiny wool/rayon mix that is going to be Interlocking Balloons from Scarf Style

I already posted about KnittyBitty, which now also has KnitPick's yarns and here is my order.
Left to right:
SWTC Tofutsies - Shetland Shell Lace Scarf
KnitPick's Alpaca Cloud in Tide Pool - Laminaria
KnitPick's Shimmer in Sherry - Colourfull Splendor

But that's still not all. Since then two skeins of Plymouth Sockotta have arrived from Birds-n-Yarn...















... and I'm waiting on

3 skeins of Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere to finally start Henry
2 skeins of Elann Pure Bamboo for some lace project
2 skeins of Cascade Eco Wool to make Hemlock Ring Blanket
1 skein of Malabrigo Lace for Midwest Moonlight from Scarf Style
4 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted to knit Here and There Cables from Scarf Style
ETA later that day: The Malabrigo yarn just arrived. OMG, it's pretty! I can't wait to start knitting!
1 sock flat
2 skeins of Rowan Cashsoft 4-ply to make Odessa mittens for my best friend

You exhausted yet? :D I am, so more about some actual knitting soon.

FOs #3, #4 and Kinda #5

It's been a while and knitting-wise a lot has been going on, so I'm slowly working my way through the mountain of possible blog posts. Let's start on a positive note with my successful WIP busting. :)

Coupling got worked on while I was in London and I finished the first one there, starting the second while waiting for my flight. Despite my problems before with memorizing the pattern, I finally managed it sometime around the end of sock one and the second sock went much more quickly. They turned out to be squishy soft socks (no surprise with the incredible Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino). The yarn has a very nice bounce to it and I could kick myself that I don't have any more of it. And Cherry Tree Hill is, in my opinion, very difficult to buy online (just like Koigu), since they have so many colours that I have never seen represented properly on the screen. Of course, it's a yarn that's not available in Germany and I didn't see any colours that completely blew me away while in London, so I'm now officially Cherry Tree Hill-less *sniff*.



#4 were the Happy Ripply Retro Socks that were part of SockMadness 2, but didn't get finished since I ripped them a couple of times. The first time I tried to follow the pattern and did a contrasting heel, but that didn't look right and there were a few mistakes in the pattern, so I ripped attempt #1. Attempt #2 was then started from the top down with some contrasting striped in the cuff and an afterthought heel so I could stripe that one as well, but I was constantly unsure about the length of the leg. Instead of worrying about it all the time while knitting and then not being happy with the finished project, I ripped back again and started the pattern for the third time, this time from the toe up again. The toe, heel and cuff are again knit in stripes, but I was much mor confident that the leg would be long enough, since I've never gone wrong with knitting as many rows in the leg as I did for the straight part of the foot and then adding 10-15 rows for the cuff.



The main yarn is Koigu, with some pure merino as a contrast colour. Turned out very nicely, even if I do say so myself, but after all these attempts I'd be seriously disappointed if they didn't.

#5 is not actually an FO, but simply a frogged project that's no longer taking up space in WIP list and on my brain. The Multidirectional Scarf simply wasn't the right thing in Rowan Tapestry. I was always reminded of how pretty the Tapestry looked in the Lead or Follow Lace Scarf I once started in it, but ripped back and I think I want to try that again.



So I ripped back very, very carefully so the yarn would stay as untwisted as it is and not fuzz up. It's not the best yarn to rip back, but I think it worked out.

Eep! Eep! Eep!

Sorry, had planned to do a thorough post about London and another about my FOs of the last few days, but this discovery has me pretty incoherent at the moment:

After suddenly seeing KnitPicks needles all over shops in Germany, I finally found one that also sells their yarn!

Knitty Bitty

So far the collection is pretty limited, but I don't care. And apparently KnitPicks is looking for vendors all over Europe, so I hope to see lots more shops that carry their yarns soon.

Of course, I ordered some. 3 skeins of Alpaca Cloud and one of Shimmer. They also carry Tofutsies, so I ordered another one of those, as well as a pair of knitting earrings! I'm very excited. :D

FO #2 and August/September

The goals didn't go as planned at all last month, but I still consider it very much a success. I still haven't surrenderd to my impulse to start new things and instead am focussed on finishing my WIPs. In fact, I knit almost 7 (!) Log Cabin Blanket squares (on the last one I only need to bind off and weave in the ends), made good progress on my blackberry stitch bag (knitting is done, now the lining is kicking my arse) and finally figured out the pattern for the Estonian Socks.

August Goals were:
(1) use up 1,500 yards of yarn - nope, only used up 792 yards in FOs, but I knit up way more than 1,500 and did decrease my stash, although only by 8 yards ;)
(2) finish Francie - nope
(3) finish Coupling - nope
(4) finish Hippy Ripply Retro Socks - nope, but I did finally start working on them again and the first one is finally done and I finally like them!
(5) start a lacey shawl - nope - see my promise not to start anything new

So, for September I'm keeping things very low key, but hopefully with some good stash busters in there since I'm planning on getting quite a lot of yarn next weekend in London.

September Goals:
(1) finish Blackberry Stitch Bag
(2) finish Hippy Ripply
(3) finish Coupling (my London project)
(4) negative stash acquisition
(5) finish Multidirectional Scarf

So, and WIP-wise I'm down to 7 now, with the Siena Socks also being finished. I had planned a somewhat complicated mixture of lace and cables, but in the end went with a simple cable up the outside of each sock. I just couldn't face anything more complicated. Too much stress otherwise.



Btw, in the pic the cable is on the inside of each sock, but that's just for photographing purposes. :)