knitting in the dark

For those of you looking for something to do now that Socktober is coming to a close (right, like anyone ever has free time that they don’t know how to fill): I propose participating in National Novel Writing Month. Your piece doesn’t have to be publishable or even very good; it just has to be 50,000 words written between the 1st and the 30th of November. I want to try - I already know I will not have the time to do that much writing - but I should try anyway, shouldn’t I? That’s part of the point of NaNoWriMo… one never really has enough time to do these things, so why not just do it now anyway. Happy writing!

It’s been quite a week here in Cleveland and I am excited to be leaving later this evening. I have just a few more images to share before I go…

This was the beautiful morning we had a few days ago in between all the rain and snow:

This is the cute courtyard in the middle of the Cleveland Play House:

And this is where I’ve spent my last week; at the tech table:

And I really actually ran out of brown sock yarn for my father’s socks, but my mother found a ball of it at Weaving Works in Seattle (which is really one of my favorite knitting stores anywhere) where I originally purchased the yarn and mailed it to my apartment so it should be there waiting for me when I get home!

I put the second brown sock on a string so I could use the needles for another project. I finished the first red stripey sock months ago - like in April… and I’ve been meaning to knit the second ever since. At least this pair will be completed during Socktoberfest even if the brown pair isn’t.

I’m so so happy to be going home tonight. Whenever I leave NYC for more than a few days I start to miss it, but this time has been particularly excruciating because there really isn’t much to do in Cleveland while not working. Even the people who have lived here for years had a hard time telling me what I should do with my free time…

So, as previously mentioned, I’m in Cleveland this week to remount RFK at The Cleveland Play House. Saturday was a beautiful day here - and we only worked a half day - so I took this opportunity to explore the city a little. I started at the LYS: Fine Points on Larchmere. The online reviews seemed promising, but I was disappointed. They had nothing to solve my dilemma regarding my father’s Christmas socks and they had only one skein of a beautiful Koigu PPPM colorway (in which I’m usually not interested, but this one seemed pretty for some reason).

I then drove out Cedar Road and back through Shaker Square (where I’m staying):

Next I drove out and back through Little Italy and the University:

This building reminded me of NYU’s Bobst Library:

This is the wall along the perimeter of the beautiful Lake View Cemetery:

And the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Little Italy:

I wish it were nice like this again today as today is my day off, but instead there is a lovely mix of rain and snow falling from the sky. I might just go see a movie this afternoon rather than trying to explore the city any more.

Okay, okay - I’m convinced; I’m in love with short-row toes for socks. But I still think a sl1, k1 heel flap seems more sturdy than a short-row heel. And I’d forgotten what big feet my father has and am therefore running out of yarn. Apparently his two-color socks will need to be three colors unless the local Cleveland yarn shop has Fortissima Socka in this brown color that I’ve been using. I suppose the third option would be for him to have shorter socks than I would usually make him but I think they’re really still too short for that:

I had to get up this morning while it was still dark to go focus lights in a dark theatre. And it was dark when I left the theatre at the end of the day. I hate that. And it’s raining that steady incessant rain - not a drizzle - not showers - but steady umbrella-necessitating rain. And it’s been doing that ALL DAY.

The following socks are a birthday gift for a young man I’ve been seeing. He and I met in August working on a play at Altered Stages on 29th Street called THREE WAYS; he’s an actor. The first time he and I ever had a real conversation I was in the middle of knitting birthday socks for a friend; he thought it was “so cool” and promptly asked if I would knit him socks for his birthday. I said no - having no idea that we’d be dating at this point - so these will be a complete surprise for him (I hope he likes green).

His birthday is November 1st and I’m done with this pair early… so I’m going to attempt to finish my first pair of toe-up socks (my father’s Christmas socks) before the end of Socktober. I fly to Cleveland tomorrow to remount RFK at The Cleveland Play House, so I should have plenty of time in the evenings after tech rehearsals.

I love this ribbing and this color and this yarn is so soft. And yes, I made a complete pair:

pattern: none

yarn: Trekking XXL color 66

started: 29 September 2006

finished: 16 October 2006

I’m hoping socks don’t have a curse the way sweaters do… I’ve successfully knit socks and continued dating a past boyfriend (not that the relationship was successful in the long run, obviously), but I wouldn’t even call this current young man my boyfriend - so I should be safe. (Please please please).

• When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I knit my first pair of socks while sitting in technical rehearsals for RODNEY’S WIFE at Playwrights Horizons… I think that was November of 2004. I just followed my mother’s favorite sock pattern from the 1950’s.

• What was your first pair? How have they “held up” over time?

I was ambitious - for my first pair I knit ribbed knee-highs in a (very) bright green 75/25 wool/nylon blend - probably Regia 4-ply, but I can’t find the ball band right now. They’re still going strong - and I machine wash them frequently.

• What would you have done differently?

If I’d been thinking clearly I would have done a more normal-length sock for my first pair, but I do love them. I wore them to sleep last night (it’s officially autumn here in Brooklyn).

• What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

I just discovered Trekking XXL so I’m not sure how it’ll hold up over time, but I just knit a pair in color 66 and they are BEAUTIFUL and so soft already. I love Regia 4-ply. I hate Fortissima Socka, but I like their tweedy colorways. I didn’t like knitting with Froehlich Blauband, but now that I’ve washed the socks a few times I really love wearing it. I’m afraid of knitting any yarns that are 100% merino as I’m afraid they’ll wear through too quickly.

• Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

Call me old-fashioned (’cause I am), but I use 4x 15cm 2mm (US 0) INOX dpns. They’re starting to bend from use. I am considering trying to knit 2 socks at once… but haven’t yet. And I know nothing about crochet and have no desire to learn.

• Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

Until my current sock-in-progress (it’s a Christmas present for my father) I have always knit top-down with a flap heel. I’ve always felt that the flap would wear better over time. This is my first pair of toe-up socks and will also be my first short-row heel…

• How many pairs have you made?

Not so many, now that I think about it… I think 8.5 pairs plus the current S-I-P. All but one of those pairs were knit in the last 12 months. After the second ribbed knee-high I needed some time off from the teeny stiches! But now I always have one cast on and I take it everywhere with me - I knit instead of reading on the subway and while I’m waiting for meetings to begin and on airplanes and standing in line and everywhere that’s not home.

So this is the finished object that inspired the blog/web journal of FOs:

pattern: none

yarn: Regia 4-fädig Farbe 616

started: 15 September 2006

finished: 29 September 2006

I made these as a birthday present for my friend Arielle… my friend Rachel also earned a pair earlier last month. I’m sure I’ll post a picture of those at some later date.

I did it! I figured out the installation of this whole WordPress thing all by myself! That means I did it without the help of my genius flatmate - he’s great, but it’s so much more satisfying to figure things out for myself. Hooray for me! Next up on the “to figure out” list: posting pictures and editing the overall appearance of page… um, and to figure out why nearly every link on this page delivers a “404 - Not Found” error message. Wish me luck!