Mainly, I am working on the Paper Dolls sweater. It's incredibly cute, but there is a lot of small gauge stockinette before you get to the colorwork part. I am making good process, but I felt the need to stop and do something different, so I gauged. The yarns are, from biggest to smallest, Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky, Second Time Cotton, and "vintage" Spinnarin Cashmere Plus. I would really like to make a cardigan out of the Cashmere Plus (from a garage sale), but I think it's just a bit too fine. Maybe I'll hold it double, or maybe I won't have enough yarn to do that. I'm thinking of Audrey in Unst or Peyton, both from Twist Collective Fall 2009. But, the stuff is so soft and lightweight—maybe it wants to be something lacy?

Love! I am completely in love with my new striped knee socks. They validate my burgeoning relationship with knitting socks in general. I almost feel like I don't know why I'd ever knit anything besides knee socks. (Almost. I've just cast on for a sweater.) Ah, knee socks—you keep my boot from rubbing my calf. You provide a comfortable double layer for the part of my body that is below the hem of my coat without the double waistband of long johns.

The thing about most socks patterns is that the socks are not very tall. They usually come only a bit above the ankle. I want them taller. Is this possible, o seasoned sock knitters? Where do I put calf increases in a lace sock?

My knee socks came from this recipe at Streets and YOs and Noro Kureyon yarn. Also, I loved the Turkish cast on for the toe—so tidy. Here's a really good Turkish cast on tutorial.

I'm almost certain that when Andrew Bird wrote "I was the cartographer of the tangles in your hair," he was not thinking about mothers and their relationships with their daughters and the daily ritual of the hairdo. But, this is just where my mind goes every time. It's is such a beautiful, intimate line—to know someone so well that you know where each snarl is likely to crop up. It brings to mind morning sunlight and the process of tracing all the golden hairs from Eva's head and trying to get them to lay smooth and look brushed.

Of course, most mornings are not that beautiful. They are rushed—we are trying to get out the door to school and work. Most days Eva's hair is braided is one or two very long braids, and there is little time for experimentation. It is more likely to be a time where we feel cross with each other for all the pulling and yanking that those knots require. Seldom do I stand behind Eva with a comb and think that I am privileged to be able to groom this individual. But every so often, this song, Armchairs comes into my head and I take a breath and remember that it won't be much longer until she doesn't want or need me to do her hair, and I braid with a little more intention.

The hat is Eva's Christmas present from me. It was intended to be a beret, but it ended up being a hat. The hat covers her ears, which is important. I used Palette yarn left over from my tulip socks, and Sock Pixie's La Parisenne Beret pattern.

Also, Andrew Bird comes to town every year. Why have I never been?

Happy 2010 to you! I kicked off the new year with a soak in the clawfoot and a homemade bath bomb. Eva and I tried making the bombs for gifts this year and were mostly successful. I say mostly because our bombs were not so much round as they were slumpy patty-shaped, but the effect is the same. My new book, The Knitters Book of Wool also came to the tub with me. I love it. It is doing great things to fuel my obsession with someday far from now having sheep. Man, it's totally possible.

Anyway, if you see the hot pink sheep who made this wool, take a picture for me! This is Ysolda's Ishbel shawl, done up in pink for my mom. I loved, loved making this, so much so that I think there might need to be another one made for me (but in blue-gray, of course). I still can't stand the word "shawl", even though I love the object the word describes. It makes me think of Sunday school outfits from the early eighties. Oddly, I like "Shawlette" much better.

We had our first single-digit morning last week, and with it came a re-introduction to all my warmest, wooliest things. For going outdoors, I had my wool beret and cashmere cowl, and for wearing all day I had my good charcoal wool pants, knee socks and a just finished-up sweater that I started last year. I finally had woven-in all the ends and Kitchenered-up the armpits of my hourglass sweater. Oh, it is so warm, and it fits pretty well too. The Debbie Bliss luxury tweed is a soft and snuggy angora-wool mix that knits up quite nubbly, which i find very pleasing on the plain silhouette of the hourglass sweater. If I had it all to do again, I might shape the top a little differently, not increasing as much after the waist and knitting and inch or two more at the neck. I am happy with it though—having such good warm things to wear makes the cold something to look forward to. I know that sounds made-up and cheesy, but it's true.

I seem to be spending more time with yarn and less time with fabric these days. If you want to find me on ravelry, I'm tumblingblocks there too!

Gotta go—the latkes are almost done!

No, they were not done by the end of Socktober, but they were done a couple weeks ago. Drat that there have been very many rainy days and today was the first day in a long time that camera, socks, and sunshine could all be together in one place.

These are the purlbee tulip socks done in Knit Picks Palette. I tried to match the original colors as best as I could: I went with Knit Picks' Sweet Potato, Blossom, Edamame, Green Tea Heather, Rose Hips, and Rouge. Overall I am happy with them. I think it's odd, but the gauge on the two socks is different—I was very tight on the first one. Both were too big and had puffy cankles where there should have been slender ankles. This was, again, a gauge problem and had nothing to do with the pattern. I added a wonky decrease to fix the puffyness. Knitting with colors was fun—it's as close to quilting as knitting gets!

I haven't been doing any one thing, but I've been doing lots of little things. Knitting has me in its clutches, as it often does once fall rolls around, and I've been clickety-clacking my needles away on my socktober socks and a couple other projects. I have a whole entire sweater completed—one I started last year—but until it gets just a hair colder, I don't really feel like blocking it. I think my socktober colorwork socks will prove addictive and there will be lots more fair isle in my future. Who knows, maybe I'll even need to buy one of those special things you can wear on your finger to help you manage two strands.

I've also made some modest accompaniments for a Halloween cosmtume, including a scrunchie, and am trying, really trying to catch up with my one quilt work. More on those soon...

The Beebs was home sick today (feeling much better now), so we spent a good amount of time sitting on the couch knitting. She's knitting too. She temporarily rediscovered the fun of knitting and her scarf project from last year. It's fun to knit with her and to hear her say things like, "Mom! I can even do it if I close my eyes and don't look at it--for a few stitches." Yup, me too, just for a few stitches, otherwise we get all kinds of hell.

Lunch was sick-at-home chicken soup, which means pasta boiled in broth from a tetra pack plus carrots and dried thyme. It's somewhere between for-real chicken soup and ramen, and generally, it's about what I'm good for.

I am nearly, nearly done with sock number one. I had to unravel it to the colorwork at some point in the gusset because I had to admit it had canckles. I added some wonky decreases, but it fits now.

My thoughts have been on pretty fall weddings today. Five out of the last six weddings I've had the pleasure to attend have been in the fall. My friend Jesse, who is getting married next weekend, says that when it comes to weddings, Fall is officially the new Spring. As in, that's what wedding magazines and the like are saying (not that Jesse cares what they say). I certainly think the fall is a pretty season to get married—Elie and I just celebrated our anniversary yesterday. So many happy things to think about.

Even though the bag above is modeled by my daughter, it is a wedding gift for Jesse. Everyone in knit night made a bag for her and her "new household". I went for knitty's Everlasting Bagstopper, a string bag that will stretch plenty to fit groceries, mangoes, or whatever. My hope was to make it not too girly so that her future husband could possibly get some use out of it too. I'm not so sure I succeeded there, but the colors do remind me of lumberjack socks, and that's pretty manly.

I'm in! I'm doing the Socktoberfest knit-a-long. Can you believe this is my first ever KAL? I don't exactly believe it—I had to check myself there. As far as I can tell, it's on ravelry, although it was invented by this lady (Lolly) a solid number of years ago (in web time).

I am super excited about these socks. Of all the things I wouldn't think I would like, it turns out I like both colorwork and socks, so it then follows that I would really like (like squared?) colorwork socks. Oh, I do! I am making these socks and trying to duplicate Whit's colors without buying quite such and expensive yarn. I wouldn't have thought to put these colors together, and they're not at all "my" colors (no gray, blue, or hint of red), but I just love the image they make.