It has nae lugs!*

 We spent a week driving around Scotland because Scotland is pretty and we have so far always had nice weather while there.  (Sometimes nicer weather in Scotland than the neighbors report back at home.)  And also because back in March when we had to cancel our planned April trip to Scotland with friends, we had higher hopes for September.   Guess we really didn't know yet what a shitshow 2020 would be.

I managed to knit most of a selfish sock in the car - we drove around 1500 miles.  I'm debating mirroring the chart for the second sock.  The pattern is written for top-down but I evidently have gone to what earlier me would consider the dark-side and knit socks toe-up now.   However, I think the personality traits that has me debating a mirroring of the charts would have done the same thing for top-down socks, even if I hadn't gone to the dark side.

Sock is the delightful Teton Yarn Company's sock in Mermaid.

I also managed to knit the entire skein of red Berocco vintage that I got for a firetruck scarf.  I like that it is garter stitch, I do not like that it is not reversible as the pattern is written.  So I am trying to figure out how to knit or crochet a ladder (well, two, actually) so I can sew it on both sides.  The fact that there is a crochet stitch called ladder stitch is not super helpful.  But that's one of the three remaining GiftMoose presents I have to knit, so progress.  And a garter stitch scarf is simple enough to knit while gaping at the beauty of Scotland.

I also finished knitting, since we got home, a tiny Flax sweater for the incoming baby of friends', as I was able to talk them into purchasing the Whisky in a Teacup colorway from Gauge Dye Works and shipping the yarn to me.

There's just enough yarn left over that I am now knitting a tiny Barley Light hat for their sprog as well.  The sweater did not go to Scotland with us, as I had finished the body the day before we left and didn't think two sleeves would take long enough to bother with the packing.

I've asked someone on Etsy to make custom cloud buttons from polymer clay, as that seemed the perfect button for an adorable (but not twee!) rainbow sweater.  I am debating if the hat will need a button as well?

*related to the ram statue in the center of Moffat, one of the delightful places we stayed in Scotland.

FO: GiftMoose Socks

 The Specs:

Pattern: None
Yarn: Regia 4-Ply Color, sock yarn that is 75% wool and 25% nylon
Color: 03655, Fall, dyelot 188

Amount: 1.52 skeins, 349.6 yards, 76.95 grams

Size: Women's 8.5/8

Needles: US 0 - 2.0mm, Kollage square DPNs.

For: GiftMoose 2020

Start to Finish: 02Sep2020 to 09Sep2020

Notes: I have not knit with DPNs for a while.  I forgot how I can't have a hairband on my wrist because the DPNs will hit it.

Standard sock pattern for me - toe-up, cast on 6 stitches with JMCO, increase 6 stitches every other round til big enough.  In this case, big enough was 66 stitches.  Plain stockinette foot, short row with shadow wrap heel over 33 stitches, 22 of them wrapped.  K4P2 ribbing on the legs, JSSBO at the cuff.

Since these were self-striping, I went to my normal lengths to make sure they matched as much as possible.

I was pretty much exactly spot on.  I had recorded in my notes that I was 2 stitches into the start of the round where I increased to a total of 24 stitches when the red started on the first sock and the same thing happened on the second.  I also started the heel when I finished the blue stripe just before the heel, regardless of where I was in reference to the toe.  Same for the bind-off - I finished the black and started with the two stripe white section.  This confirmed that JSSBO takes about two rounds worth of yarn, which is not a huge surprise.

Regia is not the softest yarn, but I have found that it tends to wear very well, so I don't expect these socks to require mending any time soon.  I am slightly concerned about fit, but I think they will be alright.  I can get them on my feet, even if they are smidge too small for me and I don't find the cuffs super tight.  I often don't wash socks before giving them to their intended recipient, but I like to wash Regia (and Opal) socks with a bit of hair conditioner to soften them up a little bit.

This is the last Required pair of GiftMoose socks.  I might make one or two more pairs, just because it is September and I have some measure of time.

There You Go*

 In retrospect, doing an arm workout and then sanding a door wasn't the smartest move.  But it did mean that a dirty, dusty self wasn't doing pushups and getting dust all over the new-to-us antique rug we just got.  So I guess some points for planning there?  (I probably lose an equal, if not more, number of points for vacuuming up the sanding dust without making sure there was a bag in the shop vac.)

I am trying to make a coat tree thing from an old door.  Sanded the flat parts, trying a paint and varnish stripper on the nooks and crannies that would be a nightmare to sand by hand.  Might have to try another one, as the first attempt with this one didn't do a lot.

I've gotten UFOs all over the house.  Door coat tree is taking up space in the garage.  We're building a custom crate topper for the pupperdo's crate.  I need to get something for the top, cut it (or have it cut) to size, attach it, then fill all the nooks and gaps, sand, and paint.  That's taking up space in the conservatory.

We also picked out a cool old beam that will become a custom, narrow table for behind the couch.  It just needs to be cut in half and lightly sanded, then finished with something like 17 coats of poly.  It has a beautiful old patina that I don't want to sand off, but it also is a bit rough.  I figure enough coats of poly and it won't snag on the fabric on the back of the couch.  Oh, and I need to find and order legs for it.

We also picked up a cool, old writing desk shortly after we first got here.  Someone removed the old, small knobs and installed big brass handles on the drawers along the side.  They did a crappy job filling the holes left from the knobs and of course drilled new holes for the handles.  It won't look perfect, but we've got replacement knobs.  I need to take one of the drawers with me to get stain for the knobs and possibily the drawer fronts.  I plan on wood filler, light sand, re-stain, and ignoring the patch job.  Worse case, we have to paint the desk.  I hate painting beautiful wood, but some people are jerks.

Thinking of the number of wood-based projects that are lounging around the house...  The two pairs of socks, one tank top, and hat that are languishing in the WIP pile don't seem like a major deal at all.

I am also more than halfway done the cuff of the second sock of one of those pairs, so that's close to being finished. 

*Johnny Cash, the man in black

Party Pit*

 I've already knit about half of the list for GiftMoose this year, but it is suddenly September and I feel like I am way behind.  Admittedly, time is very weird in 2020, but I also need to worry about shipping times and well, 2020 is weird in multiple, BINGO-game-ending ways.  The goal is to have everything done by the end of October.  I just ordered yarn from WEBS this week for the last few things, so there might be some deadline knitting this year.

I just started a new pair of socks last night.  About a year ago, I was wandering around Caernarfon, Wales one morning while it seemed that the rest of the city was watching a ruby game.  I stopped into the British Heart shop, just to see what they had, and found two skeins of matching color AND dye lots of Regia sock yarn.  I think they were about £1.50 each, so these were an excellent find.

While I took careful notes of exactly where I started the toe (and where I was when the next obvious color change took place), I have little faith in my ability to make a perfectly matching pair.  

I also can never decide if K1P1 ribbing is better at keeping the look of the self-stripping pattern, or if something like K5P1 would be better.

Knowing that the intended recipient of these socks likes to have roomy sock tops, I've gone with K4P2 for the leg, since I have a multiple of 6 stitches. 

I also had Some Level of Concern last night about the length of the foot.  I was about halfway through the bigger band of white and blue when it was time to start the heel.  Should I continue and finish that before starting the heel?  Should I frog and start the heel on start of the blue/white? 

Obviously, I opted to not frog and I think it was the correct decision.  This is when I almost wish I had a cast of each of the 'normal' recipients of socks, so I could make sure things fit before having finished both socks.  

Also, that ruler sticker was one of my better ideas ever.  (And I am lucky to have a friend who agreed enough to buy it for me.)  I am still sad it doesn't fit on the inside of the laptop, but there's not quite enough room between the trackpad and the keyboard or the trackpad and the edge.

This is the first pair of socks I've knit on DPNs in quite a while.  I've found that a long circular and magic loop makes trying on socks a hell of a lot easier and using US 1s means the math is the same a lot of the time.  But Regia is a thin enough yarn that I wanted to use US 0s and I don't have a circular in that size.  The downside to using DPNs is that I have a lot of DPNs, so I don't have to finish this pair before I start another pair...

*the Hold Steady