Und diese Biene die ich meine…

Grasshoppers are done!

done in Zitron Trekking XXL bought right at the source. My first spring knitting!

closeup of the pattern – it’s quite simple, actually. it’s [k2tog, k1, yo, k1, yo, ssk] for the pattern row, odd rows are all knit. 13 pattern repeats in the shaft, then after the heel, I continued it over the top until I was done with the gusset.

I replaced the first ‘column’ on each side (ie the k2tog, k1, yo on one side and the yo, k1, ssk on the other side) with stockinette, continued like that for four more repeats, did away with the second columns (so it was k11, yo, k1, ssk, k2tog, k1, yo, k11) for four more rounds, then stockinette till I’d reached 44 rounds after the gusset, standard wedge toe, done.

Wheee!

Now I can start my Roomie Socks. I have yarn to wind.

Public knitting

Things I learned today: Don’t drop a DPN on the tram if there’s somebody sitting right in front of you, because it will take all your power to keep from flying headfirst into his crotch when you try and pick it up.

I’m almost done with the Grasshoppers. Cast on the second one last night before Jule, knit for two and a half, maybe three hours there, and a tiny bit at Christian’s afterwards (VERY little. I was kinda drunk, but my stitches were surprisingly even.)  and then again this morning/afternoon. I’m completely done with the lace pattern – there were 16 more rounds of it after the gusset decrease, with a gradual decrease of lace every 8 rounds, and now there’s just a tiny bit of stockinette and the toe left. The pattern is crack, I swear. Not a spot of SSS, though it took me forever to motivate myself to rip back the toe on the first one – there was a decrease mistake somewhere, which put it right on the bottom of my list until I finished the Time Warps.

Speaking of the Time Warps. I sent them out yesterday, with a letter squeezed onto two postcards. I can’t wait until he gets them, I’m guessing/hoping sometime next week. (Also, Deutsche Post. €6 to send a C5 envelope? Seriously? That’s five cents more than I paid for the yarn!!!)

Aaaand… somebody nominated them for the Bobby Award for Best Obscure Pattern. Holy shit. Not that I stand a chance of winning, but… holy shit. I’m slightly overwhelmed, and my ego is ready to burst.

Spring fever

The good news is: I managed to squeeze all my yarn into my suitcase. This means I have to find a spot for shower gel and shampoo in my backpack, which is weird, but at least I won’t have to leave any yarn behind.

The not-so-good news is: it seems like I’ve developed a case of startitis. I was helpless in the face of all the new yarn in the house, so I pulled out a green ball of Trekking XXL and new 2.5ers and cast on a pretty, lacy green spring sock I tentatively titled ‘Grasshopper’. Because, you know, it’s all springy.

No, really though. It’s several shades of green, a shade of teal and some white (or is it very very light green?) mixed in.

It doesn’t really show the brightness and vividness of the colors, but it was a rainy day yesterday, and I already packed my camera. Not that today is any better cloudwise, but at least it stopped raining.

But, you know. Until I get a photo, just picture that yarn with 20 rows of 1×1 ribbing, and  [k2tog, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, ssk] every other row thirteen times, a heel flap in plain stockinette, and the first seven rows of the heel gusset split between a patterned top and a stockinette bottom.

And only after Dead Poets Society and a teeny tiny little bit of Sky High, too. Oh, and some listening to Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’ audiobook. Ok, I’m not as awesome as I thought.

However, this means right now I have on the needles: three pairs of socks (Time Warp, Grasshopper, elf socks for my mother that only need some smallish triangles added at the top), a lace shawl, a cardigan, and a random pair of almost finished mitts on my broken Harmonies that I can’t finish because, well, my Harmonies are broken.

Oh, and there’s a pair of randomly striped stashbuster socks, them kneesocks, a pair of gloves… and I think that might be it. But we’ll just ignore those last few for now.