Ever Have One of Those Days?

One of those where the accretion of annoyances and things-gone-wrong, both little and big, make you think you must be wearing a "Kick Me" sign that is visible to the entire cosmos?*

Well, when that happens, I highly recommend, after yanking that sign off your back and flinging it back in the face of the cosmos with elan, looking at all your pretty new yarn.

Yarntini Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in Vintage

Yarn Nerd 900 MHz Merino Superwash in Teal Semi-Solid (for a swap)

Yarn Pirate Superwash Merino in Loopy Groupie

Madeline Tosh Hand-Dyed Sock in Jade

* The new job is actually going well, thank you all for asking! Nevertheless...

I'm a Cider Moon Groupie

I resisted the urge to call myself a Cider Moonie. The trunk show was fabulous! The place was packed! And there were a lot of people there, too!

Gail and Jacki (like most Ohioans, some of the nicest people EVER) took a lot of photos, which you can see here on their blog. Also Preeti has some great pictures of the event and the yarn. Me, I had camnesia. But I did manage to get a picture of everyone at lunch.

L to R: Jeanne, Deanna, me, Joyce, Preeti, Ludmilla, Carol, Debbi.

Here's what I walked away with!

1. Close-up of Cherry on Top, 2. Cider Moon Glacier DK in Cherry on Top, 3. Cider Moon Glacier DK in Avocado, 4. Cider Moon Icicle Fingering Weight in Pistachio

One picture of each, and just because I am so in love with it, a close-up of Cherry on Top. Pink, cream and brown are very good. Aqua, cream and brown are very, very good. Pink AND aqua and cream and brown make me want to weep with happiness. I couldn't stand it. I had to cast it on.

But, wait! There's more Cider Moon goodness! An FO!

Pattern: Campfire Socks, available gratis on the Cider Moon website
Yarn: Glacier DK in Mardi Gras by, well, you know
Needles: 3.25mm circulars for Magic Loop
Thoughts: OK. I see the whole Mardi Gras gold-purple-green thing. But this yarn is So Much Prettier than the reality of the French Quarter on the day before Ash Wednesday. The green in particular is so deep and lovely, ranging from pine to the most beautiful olive. This is the softest, squishiest yarn ever. And I made the socks from way less than one skein ... see how much yarn was left? Yay!

It was so much fun to see everyone, and to meet Gail and Jacki. If you too love Cider Moon, you should visit and join the Flickr group! It's hosted by Katie, who has some seriously nice socks in the pool. Check it out!

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A non sequitur by way of a query: Someone who has commented here recently posted instructions on how to do drop-down menus on your Blogger sidebar, and because I am clearly suffering from CRS* I don't know who! Can you identify yourself and remind me how to do it, please? I am eternally grateful.

* Can't Remember Shit.

In Love

Colors, from left: Istanbul, Chocolate Mousse, June Carter

I have found a yarn that joins Jessie's and Sundara's among my very favorite yarns. It's Cider Moon Glacier DK superwash merino. As I noted in my last post, I recently started a pair of socks in some of this delicious, dyed-here-in-Ohio yarn. I bought it at the Knitter's Mercantile, while I was in Columbus taking the bar exam. Finally, it found its way on my needles. I am besotted. So much so that I dashed off to their website, fortuitously soon after a shop update. I may have gone a little nuts.

This yarn is buttery soft and the colors are simply amazing. Plus, great customer service -- the shipping was very fast and they included four little yarn samples: three more Glacier colorways and one in Flurry, a fingering weight yarn. I am looking forward to trying some of their other yarn styles! As for those socks, I imagine you'll be seeing an FO post soon.

Link-o-Rama!

- More babies! Faith from The Knitting Cook has welcomed a little girl to her family! Yay!
- Lately, I've felt the desire to cast on some lace ... next new project! You too? Not into triangular shawls? Check out JennyRaye's fantastic compendium of rectangular shawl patterns, both for sale and gratis.
- From the Department of Very Extremely Beautiful Things, check out these socks!
- On a non-fibery note, Sister Diane recently posted about a cheery little vintage Betty Crocker cookbook she scored while thrifting. I have a SERIOUS weakness for these cookbooks and have a little collection of my own.

How to Get Out of a Rut

1. Catch up with your favorite podcasts.

2. Browse your library.

3. Embrace the fact that you are a process knitter. Let your WIPs be WIPs.

Boteh Scarf; Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mother Lode

4. Ascend the learning curve.

Clockwise from top: Socks That Rock in Garnet, Koigu KPPM in Springwater, Sundara merino sockweight in Hydrangea, Sundara merino sockweight in Bird of Paradise

5. Play with your yarn.

Campfire Socks; Cider Moon Glacier DK in Mardi Gras

6. Cast on something soft and gorgeous and warm.

And the Answers Are...

Well, that was fun! Pretty much everyone recognized the Koigu.

I have no idea what the brown tweedy yarn is. I was curious what people would guess. This scarf is from my early days as a knitter, when I didn't fully comprehend the idea that you can always frog something that isn't really working. This scarf is ridiculously too wide and too short, but the yarn is nice. It might be Classic Elite Waterspun. Not sure.

These lovelies are, from left, Colinette Jitterbug and Cider Moon Glacier. The Jitterbug was a very generous prize from Cat (I was the 100th commenter on her blog). The Cider Moon is made by talented hand-dyers here in Ohio. I bought this at the Knitter's Mercantile in Columbus the evening after the first day of the bar exam. The people there were extremely nice, helpful, and sympathetic about my ordeal. They agreed that yarn was definitely in order.

There seemed to be a split among the guessers with respect to the garter stitch project: many thought it was Cotton-Ease and almost as many guessed Knit Picks Shine.

Sorry. Wrong. It's Red Heart Soft Yarn.

Lolly recently posted about a cute, cute shrug she is knitting from Caron Simply Soft Shadows. She opined, and I tended to agree, that not all acrylic yarns are created equal. Some of them are actually nice. Her commenters had many suggestions for good acrylic yarns, which naturally I felt compelled to road test. We'll see how this stands up to the washer and dryer. But right now, I am tempted to dub Red Heart Soft Yarn the "Two-Buck Chuck of Yarns."

Now, I'm not going to argue that this is as good a yarn as, say, Rowan Felted Tweed anymore than I would suggest that Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc is as good a wine as my favorite French Sancerre. But, for the price, this yarn is excellent. It is soft as can be, feels silky not plasticky, knits up nicely, and comes in some decent (read secondary and tertiary) colors. And it was $2.99 a ball. For items that will take some abuse, where allergies or woolphobias are concerned, or when you're on a budget, I'd say this is a good choice.

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Link-o-Rama, Baby!

I have really been enjoying the links that Faith at No More Sweaters and Vera at freehand sketching have been closing their posts with. So much crafty goodness! So much inspiration! I decided to shamelessly steal their fantastic idea!

- Pamela Wynne at Flint Knits has made two of the Cutest Blouses Ever.
- Soe at sprite writes has a lovely recurring theme of "Three Beautiful Things" on her blog.
- Consistently hilarious Ellen at Knit Sisters blogs about the Healing Power of Jello.
- If you're looking for something good to read, you might check out this post and this one at Fig & Plum.
- Theresa at Knitting Underway is looking for manly sock yarns and patterns. Did I mention she's having a contest?

Name That Yarn

I am a top secret WIP. When I am ready, my identity will be revealed.

Birthday money burns a hole in my pocket no more.

I am a scarf. I am too wide & am off to the frog pond.

Oh, the lusciousness.

C'mon. Take a guess. And also, here is a picture of my Must-Have-in-Progress.

This and That Friday

So... sorry about all the not-new feeds ... affiknitty has officially switched to the New Blogger. I feel compelled to make up for it with a new post. And thanks, too, for all the nice comments about the Son and the Sweater.

The interview was a complete joke. I was there for, maybe, ten minutes. As I have little to explain in my past (frankly, I'm completely square), there wasn't much to talk about. I suppose there was that shockingly large stash of Wool-Ease, but I don't think the Bar Admissions committee is worried about lack of judgment in stash enhancement. (Thank God.) Anyway, my application is being approved and that means come February 27th, I will be in Columbus sitting for the exam. Gulp.

Monday night PCR and I went to a local venue for a little musical entertainment. We saw Asobi Seksu and they were fantastic. I highly recommend that you see them if you like shoegaze-dream-pop and they visit your hometown. Opening for them was a local band, Bears, who were excellent as well. They play a lovely, ever-so-slightly psychedelic indie pop reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian. The percussionist/glockenspiel player is the roommate of S's tutor, so I am especially pleased to let people know about them.

The knitting is going surprisingly well. I continue to be obsessed with knitting sweaters for small boys. Expect an FO post on J's EZ sweater very soon. I am already in the planning stage for sweater #3 for my nephew. Startitis has also set in. Yesterday, I toddled off to the big-box craft store, for the sole purpose of purchasing a large crochet hook to bind off the neck of J's sweater.

You can imagine how successful I was at buying only one crochet hook. They had Patons SWS (70% wool, 30% soy), a yarn which I have been wanting to try, so I picked up a little and cast on while listening to my Commercial Paper lecture. If Nona swatches, Laura can too.

The yarn is wonderful to knit with, soft and silky feeling. But ugh, this striping! This is the Natural Denim colorway, and the swatch measures 6 inches wide by 4.5 inches high. I was hoping for shorter color repeats and more gradual changes. SWS, take two ... this time with Natural Plum.

This is the beginnings of a house sock for me, knit in 3x1 rib. I'm not sure if this is hideous or beautiful. In any case, this is what I had in mind in terms of color changes and repeats. They will make warm and comfy socks and I think the colors will make me smile. Now, I really need to hit the books.

She Blogs!

... and knits, too, believe it or not! The bar study is proceeding apace. Torts, Evidence, and Contracts have been the topics filling my head this week. (Did you know that you are absolutely immune from a slander suit if you make the slanderous comment only to your spouse? So feel free to let loose on the topic of that annoying neighbor, but only to your sweetie!) I am managing to keep up with the schedule, but that's about all I am keeping up with. I am woefully behind in answering emails and I haven't been able to read and comment on all your blogs, either. I apologize.

Fortunately, I have discovered that I can knit something simple (e.g., stockinette in the round) while reviewing my notes and reading the outline books. So the EZ sweater is also moving right along. As you can see, I am almost to the point where I can join the sleeves and the body, otherwise known as The Fun Part. I haven't quite decided yet whether this will be a simple saddle-shouldered style or the seamless hybrid. For those of you who might have been wondering about the yarn I am using and haven't heard back from me yet, it's the highly kid-friendly Plymouth Encore Worsted in color 670. It's a beautiful blue-green, much better than it looks on my monitor, anyway.

Of course, all this study and whatnot hasn't stopped me from joining another knitalong, the Green Socks Knitalong. I have been thinking that I need some green socks and that could be a very study-compatible project. Plus, look at all the green sock yarn I have!

(Clockwise from far L: Knit Picks Merino handdyed with kool-aid, Cherry Tree Hill in Blues/Greens, Knit Picks Essential in Grass, Knit Picks Memories in Fly Fishing, Trekking XXL color 100, Fleece Artist Basic Merino Socks.)