Separation Sunday

The clothes closets in our new apartment are somewhat smaller than the ones we have in our current apartment, so even though we are in the process of going through our clothes and will be sending a lot of our old clothes to the Salvation Army, we are still going to need some additional storage for our clothes. Tim suggested getting a second chest of drawers for our bedroom. Instead, I figured we could use the armoire we have to put the extra clothes. Unfortunately, the armoire is where my stash was stored.

On Saturday we went shopping for items for the new apartment, and I found these containers:

The two big containers hold all of my full skeins of yarn. The partial skeins fit in the small canvas cube I already had. The small container holds all of my needles, crochet hooks, and notions. I think this works really well. We will keep it in the second bedroom.

We got the keys to our new place on Sunday. Because our old apartment is so cluttered right now we brought everything for the new apartment over there on Sunday. That means that stash was the first thing that was moved, and it’s 20 miles away right now. I kept my two WIPs here at the old apartment. I thought of keeping a couple of other skeins here in case I finish either of my WIPs, but then I realized that if I finish either of those WIPs it means I’m spending too much time knitting and not enough time packing or cleaning. Sometimes I just like looking at my yarn, though, so it’s weird to not be able to do that.

Up in the air

I have a set procedure for dealing with my knitting when I travel. I always take socks, preferably one that I just started so that I won’t need scissors while I’m gone because I don’t take them. The socks are always on bamboo double pointed needles. I put everything I need into a project bag that a friend made me for Christmas that fits nicely into the front pocket of my carry on suitcase. I take the project bag out as I get on the plane, and put the suitcase in the overhead bin.

There is generally a lot of knitting time while the rest of the passengers board, and while the plane taxis to the runway. Sometimes I can get ten or more rounds on a sock knit during that time, depending on how complex the pattern is. Then, when it comes time to take off, I stop. Take off can be bumpy, so I usually wait until the ride smooths out before I start knitting again. I always fear that in the speed or bumps of take off I will drop something and not be able to reach it.

On Tuesday night everything was going as planned. I was knitting while other passengers were boarding, and while our plane was taxiing to the runway. I could tell the plane was turning to take off, and I was in the middle of a needle. I tried to knit really quickly to finish the needle before we took off. I was successful, but because I was working so quickly I lost control of one of the needles on the last stitch and dropped it in the crack between my seat and the seat next to me just as the plane started speeding down the runway.

I tried to bend over to find my needle, but it was very uncomfortable. I figured I would wait until after take off. After a few minutes I started looking again, and I couldn’t find my needle. I thought that perhaps it rolled back during take off, so I asked the people sitting behind me if the needle was on the floor by their feet, but it wasn’t.

What could I do now? I didn’t have an extra needle. I considered putting all of the sole stitches onto one needle and continuing on, but after my butterfingers move earlier I didn’t want to take any chances. I put my knitting away and took out a magazine.

I started contemplating how hard I would look for the needle after landing. What if it still wasn’t under my seat? Would I wait until most of the people cleared out of the plane to try to find it? Was it worth it? Should I just buy a new set of size 1 DPNs?

Fortunately I didn’t have to worry about it. The gentleman sitting behind me found it as he removed his carry on from under my seat. I got my needle back!

But this incident got me thinking. Maybe it’s time to make the switch from knitting socks on DPNs to knitting them on two circular needles. Maybe not all the time, but at least on the projects I take with me while traveling. If I had dropped one end of a circular needle all would have been fine because nothing would have fallen on the floor. I also want to make Skew, which won’t work well on DPNs.

So I’ve decided I’m going to buy some bamboo circular needles, even though I contemplated getting some cheaper stainless steel ones. I haven’t decided if I will buy them before I move or not, as I don’t think I would get started using them before that.

Crawl to the border

I haven’t posted much about the afghan I’ve been knitting since November because it’s a gift, and I feared that the recipient would see it. I’m relatively certain, however, that she does not look at this blog, and if she does, oh well. So here we go.

I’m making the Tree of Life afghan for a wedding present. The wedding was several months ago. I really hope the newlywed couple likes it. I tried to find a pattern and color choice that would be meaningful to them, and maybe once the afghan is done I will explain it all.

It took me several months to knit the body of the afghan. I bound off last week, and it was an amazing feeling! Now all I have to do is knit the border and sew it on.

That’s all? Ha!

I’ve read on Ravelry that it takes a really long time to knit the border. Great. And I hate sewing. I considered creating some other sort of border where I could pick up stitches, but it won’t be nearly as nice. It’s a beautiful border with a leaf motif. Here is what one pattern repeat of the border looks like:

Isn’t that cute? I’ve now done three repeats. I reckon I need to do about 70 more. Ugh. After I have a few more repeats under my belt I may sew some of it to the blanket, and sew as I go. That will make the sewing so much more bearable.

FO: Candy Corn Socks

Pattern: Slip Stitch Heel Basic Socks by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Sophie’s Toes in Candy Corn, 1 skein
Needles: US 0 DPNs
Date started: 2/12/10
Date completed: 3/15/10

Okay, so I only took a picture of one. I was in a hurry the other morning when I took the picture. But these are my awesome Candy Corn Socks! I had the yarn held for me at Yarncon because I was arriving later on from the airport and was worried that the color would be sold out, and I wanted it so badly!

On this day of green…

My boyfriend enjoys the socks I’ve knit him. Unfortunately for me, they have looked like this:

and this:

White and plain. I bought him some dark yarn, which he was receptive to, but he still only wanted plain socks.

Then I showed him my skein of TOFUtsies. I thought he would be interested in that yarn because of the chitin. He’s a Type 1 diabetic, and taking care of his feet is a priority. Imagine my surprise when he said he liked the color I already had:

I showed him other colors I could buy, but yes, he wanted lime green socks! Not only that, he’s allowed me to skip the plain stockinette stitch or ribbing and chose the Mock Cable Socks by Wendy Johnson. So, not white, not plain, who is this guy in my boyfriend’s body?

So, on St. Patrick’s Day, I’m starting to knit green socks that aren’t for me!

FO: Exfoliate!

Pattern: EXFOLIATE! The Dalek Cloth
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton in Sage, .27 skein
Needles: US 7
Date started: 3/2/10
Date completed: 3/2/10

I know it’s late, but this is part of my boyfriend’s Christmas present. Along with the electric skillet he wanted, I told him I would make him two Doctor Who dishcloths. I finished the Tardis dishcloth a while ago, but then the Olympics started and I had to focus on my Ravelympics project. My boyfriend was home visiting his mom last night, which gave me time to work on the second dishcloth without his knowledge! I hope this is a nice surprise for him when he gets home!