Gift Card Cozy/Sock Swatch

I'm working on a troublesome design idea that is requiring me to make lots of small swatch experiments. The idea hit me to turn these little test pouches into gift card cozies. Here's my basic recipe:

• Using sock yarn and 2.5mm sock needles,Turkish cast-on 22 loops.
  I originally wrote "24 loops," but that's a bit loose. YMMV.
• Knit across 22 stitches; turn.
  I loop the working yarn around the cable on the opposite side. This makes a wrap that I can use to close the short-row gap by working k2tog-tbl at the end of the first round.
• Knit a few rounds plain.

This creates a little pouch, 22 stitches on each side. I test two variations of my idea, one on each side.


When finished testing, knit a few plain rounds, then bind off.

---

Why do I knit 22 stitches then turn? Because I like a nice, purled turning edge at the bottom of the pouch, but I hate purling the first stitches. Knitting, then turning around to knit the other way makes that nice, sharp bottom. It's extra fussy of me to do the little short-row wrap, because I could easily sew closed any holes with the tail that's hanging there. But are you surprised that I'm extra fussy?

Olympics Day 16

The start was promising, but like many a good athlete, I didn't have the talent, drive, or luck to make it to the medal stand. I finished one sleeve in a good, competitive pace, but by Day 3 my energy was pulled elsewhere, and I began to fall short of Olympic performance.

I began the body using TECHknitter's method with a long tail cast-on rather than provisional. That proved to be a mistake. As TECHknitter warns, a hem that is knitted shut, rather than sewn, tends to flip up. Blocking probably would have corrected it, but I knew it would be a perpetual source of irritation with the finished sweater, and since it was clear by Day 11 that I wouldn't cross the finish line in time, I started over.

I'll keep at it, because I'm excited by my vision of the completed sweater, but I fear without the Olympic focus this may end up like so many of my sweaters -- unfinished at the last stage because I just don't like them well enough to follow through.

Olympics Day 1

...and we're off!

The torch is lit in Rio, and this morning I cast on for my sweater. My goal is to make a seamless, saddle shoulder henley out of Wensleydale wool from Triskelion Yarn and Fiber.

A half-assed gauge swatch shows me at 5.5 stitches per inch, which makes my key number 235. I cast on 20% -- 47 stitches -- while waiting for my oil change and tire rotation this morning. I didn't have a second needle with me to pick up the provisional stitches to close the hem, but discovered it's not too difficult to grab those stitches from the back of the crochet chain.

I've never worked a sweater starting with the sleeves, but it seems like a better plan than starting with the body.

More about this "Rio Sweater" project as the Olympics unfold.

Limoncello Batch #1

So the batch of limoncello I started on New Year's Day is out in the wild.

Alcohol: Everclear 190 (1 1.75l bottle)
Lemons: 20 organic from Fresh Market
Simple Syrup: 10 cups water, 7 cups sugar

The simple syrup was the problematic step. Because the Everclear was 190, instead of 151 from the recipe, I would need much more simple syrup to get the alcohol content down to something drinkable. Ben at limoncelloquest.com recommends going down to 25% alcohol if you're giving it away as a gift, but I was worried that a gallon of simple syrup would make the whole thing much too sweet.

My friend A--- wisely pointed out that you can always put more simple syrup in, but you can't take it out. So I decided to double the "standard" recipe, putting in about 13.5 cups of simple syrup.

I couldn't wait for it to mellow, and tried a shot that night (February 13). The flavor was generally good, but there was a harshness underneath. The harshness did soften a bit over time, but in the end, the alcohol content of this is really too high -- the calculator puts it at about 33%. When you hold a swallow in your mouth, it burns slightly, like Listerine.

I've bottled it up, and am selectively handing out to friends to try, encouraging them to experiment with ways to offset the alcohol. A--- thinks she wants to try mixing in some whipping cream. My best success so far was with a very good Ginger Limoncello Fizz cocktail: a shot of limoncello, a shot of ginger ale, and a couple shots of seltzer.

Prayer Shawl

Mummy dust, to make me old. To shroud my clothes, the black of night. To age my voice, an old hag's cackle. To whiten my hair, a scream of fright. A blast of wind to fan my hate. A thunderbolt to mix it well. Now, begin thy magic spell.

--Queen, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

As a kid who was fascinated with magic and spells, I loved this section of the movie and the idea of sounds and other intangibles made into ingredients. To create a magic potion, you literally mix metaphors.

The knitting project I'm working on brought this scene to mind. My library knitting group wanted to explore shawls for our February meeting, and I decided I was going to sign up for Josh Ryks' latest mystery knit-along. It was a fun evening, and Josh was great. But instead of getting into the new shawl design, my heart was captured by an old one, Urban Survival, which Josh admits is one of his favorites.

So what ingredients are going into my Urban Survival spell? The yarn base is called Fortitude, which seems like a good foundation for survival. The set I bought includes the colors "Slush" (something to be warded against), "Earl Grey" (for comfort), and "Gun Powder." While I personally don't believe that gun powder is necessary or helpful for urban survival, the friend who is the likely recipient of this shawl certainly does. I'm adding from my stash a bit of "Midnight Blue," symbolizing...what? Late night melancholy? Quiet romance?  There's something peaceful and calm--stable, solid, and subtle--about the dark blue worked into the dark gray. And playful too, like the blue in Superman's hair.

I don't believe in magic, and I don't believe my knitting is imbued with the energies of my intentions, but I find I'm enjoying the idea of casting a spell with my yarn.

Prepping for Christmas 2016

I hate shopping, and that makes Christmas an ordeal. I love my friends and family, and I love the feeling of having a gift for someone which is perfect for them. But I hate finding those gifts, and frankly, I'm not really thoughtful enough to come up with a different, perfect gift for every individual.

Arts fairs are cool, and I love supporting the independents who sell there, but it's too easy to find too many options for some people and nothing for others. When we went to Winterfair, I decided to just enjoy it rather than take on the shopping pressure: if I saw something cool, I would buy it, regardless if I had an intended recipient in mind. That's a strategy I may repeat. Perhaps not all the gifts I gave were home-runs, but none of them completely struck out.

You'd think a knitter would be at an advantage here, but I hate the pressure of required knitting almost as much as I hate shopping. (Every year, Yarn Harlot chronicles the escalating stress of her Christmas knitting. I've stopped bothering to read those posts -- she brings it on herself.) Still, knitting is impressive, and at the beginning of 2015, I resolved to knit a Christmas ornament every week, so I'd have a stockpile of little, handmade gifts. I think that resolution held up for 3 weeks, producing only a couple oak leaves.

I also had this idea that my sister and I should make limoncello and give it away in little gift bottles. My plan was to start in August. But when August finally came, I was in an emotionally wretched state from the twin blows of being offered a job I didn't want and then
not being offered the job I did want.

But it's a new year, and I've got 11½ months to prepare. Friends had scored 1.75l of 190 proof Everclear for me in the fall, and my family bought me the Microplane Zester from my Amazon wishlist. I spent the first morning of 2016 zesting 20 organic lemons while running the Everclear through a filter as LimoncelloQuest.com recommends.

As for the knitting, I could take another stab at the "On Sunday We Make Ornaments" resolution, but I know it's doomed to failure. Maybe I could convince myself to do one knitted give-away per month?

IDEAS:

• Ornaments, like felted oak leaf, small sock, or folded Moravian paper star
• Jultomtar
• Wine totes or sweaters
• Gift card sweaters or coffee cup sleeves