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11 in 2011, Socks

Dagon Casadh Socks

By Sheetar 27 February 2011 16 January 2022 1

The first finished item of my 11 in 2011 lineup.

The yarn is from the January 2011 installment from Little Red Bicycle. The colorway is called Dagon, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories. In fact, the three month club will entirely be based upon Lovecraft’s stories and I’m excited to see what comes up next.

The pattern, Casadh, worked up pretty quickly since there’s a lot of plain ribbing inbetween the crazy cable rows. The sock was sized for men, so I made a few modifications (only 15 repeats on the heel flap, decreased on the gusset to 18 stitches each needle) to help fit a smaller foot. The combination of the ribbing and cables gives it plenty of stretch though, so it ended up working out just fine. They’re really comfortable and I can’t wait to wear them out and show them off! There are a few more pictures on the Ravelry Link below as well as more information about my modifications.

Ravelry Link

Fiber Festivals

Rhinebeck 2010

By Sheetar 28 October 2010 7 February 2012 2

So I swear, sometimes I actually post about knitting and yarn and things like that. October 16 and 17 was the annual New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, more commonly referred to as Rhinebeck. It’s become an annual knitter tradition to go up for the weekend and enjoy fall, the beautiful leaves, snorgling sheep, checking out everyone’s incredible knitwear, and most importantly, SHOPPING. I’m going to keep it short and say that we had an AWESOME group carpooling to the festival and it was pretty much an epic weekend (THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID! HA!). I came home with probably more than what I intended to buy, but I love everything and really really badly want to knit all the things right now. I still need to get together a post about the awesome sweater I wore to show off, but that’s for later. Can’t wait for next year!

Link to full flickr set, including acquisitions!

Domestic, Socks

Komet

By Sheetar 29 March 2010 7 February 2012 2

Komet tl;dr
Pattern: Komet
Designer: Stephanie van der Linden
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: Sheepy Time Yarns Yarn That Shall Not be Named in, “Teal Deer,” from the Sheepy Time Knits December 2009 Club
–Ravelry Project Link–
This is the second installation of the Sheepy Time Knits club for February 2010. I picked a different base this time, and managed to pick a pattern that worked perfectly with the yarn. These were knit over the span of a week-long vacation in New Hampshire at Attitash Mountain. We, the husband and I, went up for our somewhat annual ski trip, but what ended up happening was him skiing three days of the week, and me spending a lot of time getting to know all the inner workings of the lodge. I did one run down the mountain and decided that I was really out of shape and just not cut out for skiing this season. The pattern was a touch tricky – there’s a 4×5 cable cross in there and I actually needed to break out the cable needle for that one. This is the cable needle that I used only one before since I do all my cabling without a needle – so much faster that way. The result is worth it though – the design is super cute and I just love the brilliant teal color of the yarn. The base is similar to another yarn that shall not be named, but starts with a “W” in case you were wondering. Another fun club knit!

Oh, Teal Deer or, tl;dr for short, is internet speak for, “Too Long; Didn’t Read” (or Too Long; Don’t Read) for posts on message boards that ramble on and on and on. ie:
tl;dr – socks are awesome, yarn is lovely, vacation was great, but I’m not built for skiing.

More on that vacation though, because I really did spend a few days outside the lodge. Tuesday, we went up to Great Glen Trails to take the Snow Coach halfway up Mount Washington. The road up the mountain isn’t plowed through the winter and cars are only allowed to drive up in the warmer months. During the winter, a specially built van (van + tractor treads = Snow Coach) takes visitors to a halfway point up the mountain, weather permitting. We were having some really fantastic weather which was maybe not the best for skiing, but great for playing tourist. It was about 45 and sunny at the base, and about -20, sunny, but the winds were blowing at around 40mph. We decided to go for the snowshoe rental at the base and bring them with us in the coach. Nixxed the idea of getting out at the midway point (4300 ft approximately), but jumped out somewhere around the 4 mile mark on the auto road (3500ft elevation). We strapped in for our first time snowshoeing and headed off. The Snow Coach driver mentioned a trail that would take us up to Lowe’s Bald Spot. We took the trail only to find that it went nearly straight up and was pretty battered from some knucklehead who tried to hike it in plain boots (and sunk in a good foot with each step). We managed it anyway and came up to a bald spot with some spectacular views. Hiked back down, and made it back to base after nearly 6 miles of snowshoeing. It was exhausting, but well worth it for the experience! We did end up coming home with snowshoes since we loved it so much – here’s hoping we get snow again in Philadelphia (maybe not *quite* as much) next winter too.
We also took a side trip up to the LL Bean flagship store in Maine. On the way back, we stopped off at Cold River Vodka to have some samples. Their vodka is made from potatoes and is sweeter than most other vodkas I’ve had. The Blueberry vodka is really something special – the aftertaste is as if you’ve just squished a big, juicy blueberry in your mouth. Perfect. Needless to say, we took some home.
On the way home, we stopped at a winery we love – Flag Hill. Last time we were in New Hampshire, I didn’t knit, and clearly didn’t notice the farm selling yarn and roving right down the road. So, we stopped at Riverslea Farm too. 🙂 Found some great roving and yarn.
Overall, a really great trip! It was nice to get away from our snow and see someone else’s snow.

For more photos, click on to this Flickr photo set.

Midway up Mount Washington

The Snow Coach

Husband in his snowshoes

Cold River Vodka

Gloves/Mittens

Boscage Mitts

By Sheetar 25 March 2010 7 February 2012 0

I was fortuante enough to participate in another test knit – I’m really getting to love doing these! It’s taken me a while to write up (I know, I know, bad blogger!), but here’s what I’ve got. Expect more updates in the near future – I’ve got a lot of things to tell you about.

Boscage Mitts
Pattern: Boscage Mitts
Designer: Ritsuka Nashi
Needles: US 11 (8mm)
Yarn: Handspun silk/wool blend, approx 10wpi
–Ravelry Project Link–
What an absolutely fabulous pair of mitts! I happened to have this skein of handspun merino/tussah blend that I bought as roving from Cloverleaf Farms at Rhinebeck. It had been spun up for a while, just waiting for the right project to come along. Well, the right project did come along and how right it was. The stitch pattern makes the mitts light and airy while still being warm, and get this, reversible! Ritsuka’s pattern is well thought out, using a tubular cast on which makes the finished mitts look clean and neat. I know it’s not really the season to knit mitts anymore, but you can never be too prepared for another snowpocalypse, now can you? Plus, they knit up quickly – I finished these in one afternoon.