I can’t say that I’m sad to see 2008 go, but it did have its high points. Crafts-wise, 2008 was the year I officially became a “joiner.” I started going to Sit ‘n’ Knit New York City meetups, met a crew of really great knitters, and had a blast going to parties, sock and cowl exchanges, WWKIP Day and other events (like Rhinebeck!). I also participated in both the Summer of Socks and the Ravelympics, which led to some crazy deadline knitting, but managed to meet my goal of 5 pairs of socks, and learning stranded knitting. I published my first-ever knitting pattern here, handmade two wedding gifts, and started to try to teach myself spinning.

It was also something of a rough season on the baseball front, but the season did have its high points for me. Between the Yankees, Mets, and Brooklyn Cyclones, I went to 15 baseball games this season, according to my scorebook, and got to say goodbye to Yankee Stadium by taking a nostalgia subway train from the 1920s from Grand Central up to the Bronx. It was great to catch so many games, and to spend time with my friends, family and my favorite team. Getting to see the inside of the clubhouse and walk the field on the Yankee Stadium tour was pretty nifty too, as was Ford’s sending this nondriver a game-used Derek Jeter batting glove in a sweepstakes they ran. I didn’t manage to finish my pinstriped socks, but it’ll be sort of fitting to knit one in the old Stadium and one in the new. And since I’m thrilled with 3/4 of the Yankees acquisitions so far this winter, I’m optimistic that 2009 will be much better than 2008.

And what’s a new year without some resolutions? My goals for 2009 include getting back to blogging on a more regular basis, improving the quality of my spinning, designing another pattern, and taking a picture a day for a year. Oh, and graduating. It’s going to be a busy year, but I’ve decided that it’s going to be awesome.

I was matched up with Shameka, and based on her preferences, I decided to make a neck warmer with buttons, instead of a cowl, and to make something in a nice bright color. I had the perfect yarn in my stash–Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Island Blue, so the next step was to pick my pattern: the Celtic Cable Neck Warmer by Lindsay Henricks:

It’s a very well written pattern, with a very clear chart, and it is absolutely adorable. I’ll definitely knit this again in the future.

I held the yarn doubled to get gauge on US #8 needles, and I purchased the buttons at Tender Button on E. 62nd Street. The yarn has very good stitch definition, so the cables show up nicely, but it’s still so soft and not at all scratchy on the neck. The only problem that I had was that when I wet-blocked it, I had to rinse it out about 15 times until the dye stopped bleeding. The color is still very vibrant, though, so it seems like there was just some excess dye on the yarn. On the bright side, the yarn got even softer with all that washing and rinsing.

I’m so glad that Shamkea liked the finished product!

As for me, I was the happy recipient of not one, but two cowls. The lovely and talented Tawana went above and beyond the call of duty for me–when the first neckwarmer turned out too big, she made me a different cowl. I just love the yarn and the color–it’s so soft, and it keeps the autumnal chill off my neck perfectly. Thanks so much!

Ever since then, he’s been my favorite pitcher who is not named Mariano Rivera on the Yankees. Not only was he talented, but he gave some of the most dryly funny interviews that I’ve ever heard from a ballplayer. And he further endeared himself to me with his amazingly clutch relief performance in 2003 (especially significant when coming from a player with a bit of a reputation for being a hothouse flower).

So I extend my heartiest congratulations to Moose for becoming the oldest player (at 39) to win 20 games in a season for the first time. He gave us fans something to root for in a season where there wasn’t a lot to be happy about, and kept us on the edge of our seats. J and I had the privilege of getting to watch one of those 20 wins in person on July 5th (although J might argue whether it was a privilege or not), and it was a pleasure (for me) to watch him shut down the Sox. I can understand why he’d want to retire after this season, after a long career, but the fan in me wants to get to make the Moose call for a couple more years.  20 wins is a huge accomplishment, and I’m so glad that Moose finally reached that goal.

I tried not to come off as too much of a train geek on camera, but it was such a fun ride from Grand central to the Bronx.

I’ll see if I make the final cut!

Edit 12:12 AM I didn’t make the cut, but the train itself did: video here. Many thanks to Ben at River Ave. Blues and Second Ave. Sagas for writing about this event.

While the rational side of me knows that they were trying their best to get the game in tonight, during this last home stand, the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that they can’t have minded having a captive and hungry audience to sell concessions to for an hour and a half after the scheduled start of the game, when they made the announcement. Or possibly, they could have been trying to give us a few extra hours to think about how much nicer and non-leaky the new stadium will be during these long delays.

The enforced free time was good for chatting, and for getting another stripe in on my first pinstriped sock from way back at the beginning of the season, but as a fan, the lack of communication from anybody in the organization got really old, really fast.  On a related note, it will also be interesting to learn if you’ll be able to hear the PA system from under the bleachers in the new stadium, or if the announcements will still sound like they’re being delivered by one of the adults in a Charlie Brown TV special.

Still, tomorrow will be another day, and with it will come my chance to bid the old girl a final (and hopefully drier) goodbye.  Despite all her quirks, I’m very sad to see her go.

While Sidney Ponson has seemingly had the magical ability to both allow a ton of guys on base and not allow them to score, August 27th was not his night. Sir Snacksalot got roughed up for four runs, and the bullpen put the game way out of reach for a final score of 11-3. These have been frustrating days to be a Yankee fan, and this game was no exception to that. Defensive play was downright sloppy at times, with Cano misplaying a routine-looking groundball (that runner came around to score), and various outfield miscues and mishaps. On the bright side, Alex Rodriguez did fulfill my prophesy that he’d have a big night, with two doubles, one of which drove in a run. Jason Giambi hit a home run in the 9th, but by then it was too little, too late. Still, a bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day at a lot of other places, and I want to enjoy this ballpark before they tear it down.

On the new stadium front, there have been rumors floating around that the Yankees will discontinue their policy of allowing people to bring food and non-alcoholic beverages into games. As someone who goes to as many games as she can, I have to hope that isn’t the case. One of the things that makes Yankee Stadium affordable is the fact that I can bring in my own water and some lunch/dinner/snacks, rather than being at the mercies of the stadium vendors. This is especially important in the bleachers, where the concession pickings are rather slim. I do rather enjoy the occasional stadium hot dog, and I find it hard to resist the siren call of soft-serve ice cream in a bowl shaped like a helmet, but that cost does really add up over time.

In other sporting news, the Ravelry Olympics have come and gone. I oversubscribed drastically, because I wasn’t sure what project I could commit to, but I ended up medaling in two events: the WIPs Wrestling for one pair of socks, and the Colorwork Crosscountry and Sock Put for my Ziggy Socks.

The pattern is Ziggy from the Summer 2008 Knitty, and it was my first time using Noro Kuyreon Sock (in color S95) and doing any sort of stranded colorwork. I couldn’t carry both colors in my left hand without massive tangling, so I ended up with one strand of yarn in each hand, trying to knit Continental and English at the same time. It was very slow going, until I got some coaching from Ann Marie at knitting group, which really helped to speed me along. I’m still not sure how I feel about knitting two-handed. As it turns out, I’m very left-hand dominant, and I found that forming stitches with my right hand gets very tiring after not very long. I’ll have to find a source for one of those rings that you can run yarn through for colorwork to give it a try that way before I take on the Ivy League Vest, which will be my next stranded project. All in all, I had a great time doing the Ravelry Olympics, and I’m very grateful to the moderators, volunteers and team captains who made it such a fun experience.

I’m amazed at the response that my Unraveled Rib Socks have received this past week. I really do hope that everyone has as much fun with the pattern as I did writing it, and I’m definitely inspired to try my hand at design again. I can’t wait to see how everyone’s socks turn out!

Finished size: 7″ circumference, unstretched. Fits a women’s size 7 foot.

Materials

Yarn: 1 skein Dream in Color Smooshy yarn (superwash merino, 3.99 oz, 450 yds), color Wisterious. My socks used up approximately 338 yards, so a second skein might be necessary if increasing the size.

Needles: 2.25 mm (US Size 1), 42″ circular needle. This pattern is written for Magic Loop, but can be adapted for 2 circs or for dpns if desired. To knit for a larger foot, substitute 2.5 mm or 2.75 mm needles.

Notions: Stitch marker, cable needle, darning needle

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch in stockinette, approximately 9 stitches/inch in unraveling rib pattern

Supplemental Information:

Adapted from Exploding Rib from A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker.

The 33rd pattern stitch is only necessary to balance the pattern on the instep of the sock. For the leg, use only stitches 1-32.

Methods

Cuff: Loosely cast on 64 stitches and divide: 32 stitches per needle. Join to begin working in the round, placing a marker at the beginning of the round.

Cuff ribbing: K2tbl, [p4, ktbl] to end of needle. Repeat for second needle.

Work a total of 12 rounds in ribbing for the cuff.

Leg: Begin chart, knitting stitches 1-32 of chart.

Repeat chart 3 times, ending on row 30 on last chart repeat.

Heel Flap: K1tbl from needle 1 to needle 2. 31 st remain on needle 1.

Row 1: sl1, [p4, k1tbl] to end

Row 2: sl1, [k4, p1tbl] to end

Repeat rows 1 and 2 15 more times (16 repeats total). If you have a high or low instep, knit more or fewer rows for the heel flap and adjust the gusset decreases accordingly.

Heel Turn:

Row 1: sl1, k17, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 2: sl1, p6, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 3: sl1, k7, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 4: sl1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 5: sl1, k9, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 6: sl1, p10, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 7: sl1, k11, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 8: sl1, p12, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 9: sl1, k13, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 10: sl1, p14, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 11: sl1, k15, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 12: sl1, p16, p2tog, p1 turn work.

Gusset

K across 19 st, pick up 16 stitches along heel flap, plus 1 st between flap and instep. Knit in pattern across instep stitches (following chart row 31, and including all 33 chart stitches). Pick up 1 st between instep and heel flap, and 16 stitches along heel flap. There will be a total of 81 stitches. Knit 9 stitches from heel and re-position marker for new beg of round.

Round 1: K10, k17tbl, Knit next chart row on instep, k17 tbl, k9.

Round 2: K10, k to last 2 st, k2tog, knit instep in pattern, ssk, k to end of round.

Round 3: K all st to instep, knit instep in pattern, k to end of round.

Repeat rounds 2 and 3 until 31 stitches are left on sole (needle 1), and 33 on instep (needle 2): 64 st total.

Foot: Continue in pattern, knitting all sole st in stockinette and following chart for instep, until foot is approximately 2 inches shorter than desired length. Slip one stitch from needle 2 to needle 1, so that there are 32 st on each needle. k across all st for 1 round.

Toe:

Round 1: Knit to last 3 st on needle 1, K2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k to last 3 st on needle 2, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k to end of round.

Round 2: K all st to end of round.

Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until 24 st remain, 12 each on needles 1 and 2. Break yarn, leaving an approx 12″ tail and graft stitches from needle 1 to stitches on needle 2 to close toe.

Finishing: Weave in ends and block well.

This is the first pattern that I’ve ever published. I hope everyone has as much fun knitting it as I did! The pattern’s Ravelry page can be found here.

I may have mentioned that I had a few secret knitting projects going on, which cut into my sock knitting and blogging schedule. Well, my week of wedding attendance is over, so now I get to show off what I’ve made.

I started off with some Wedding Washcloths from the Purl Bee Blog for my friends E and O’s wedding. I made three sets, one each in the light teal, and natural colors of Blue Sky Skinny Cotton and one in a pretty coral shade of Rowan Purelife Cotton. I’m very happy with how they turned out. They’re all quite soft, especially for cotton, but I do wish I had used the Rowan for all of them, as it has a lovely sheen to it. As big a fan as I am of wool and wool blends, I think it’s good to knit with cotton and other plant fibers every now and again. They really require you to reflect on your knitting and exactly what you’re doing because they’re less forgiving of mistakes than stretchier fibers. Fortunately, blocking does work miracles.

My second secret project is also a very vivid example of the magical powers of blocking. My friend susebraids married a fellow knitter, so I took the risk of going off-registry and making a Hemlock Ring Blanket for the two of them. I very nearly didn’t finish it in time for the wedding, but after a feverish night of knitting the Tuesday before they got married, I had this (with 23 g yards of yarn to spare):

Not terribly impressive, I know. But a good long soak in some wool wash, in combination with every pin that I own yielded this:

The blanket took almost two entire balls of Cascade Ecological Wool in color 8063, knitted on size 10 needles. I knitted the entirety of Jared’s extended chart (3 repeats past where he ended). To be sure that I wouldn’t run out of yarn at the very end, I eliminated the last round of plain knitting, fudged the number of stitches on the edging and tried to knit really, really, really fast. I don’t think the fudging shows up, but the next time I make this (and there will be a next time, because I want one for myself), I’ll do the edging as written. I’ll still try to knit really, really, really fast, though, because I’m sure that was the key to having yarn left over. The finished blanket is very soft and cozy, and has just the right degree of frilly-ness. I couldn’t be more pleased with this project, and I hope the newlyweds like it too.

My second pair of socks for Summer of Socks is not the rousing success that the first one was. Is it possible to have second sock syndrome before you’ve even finished the first one? It’s not the pattern. My problems can be attributed to a combination of user error and fussiness over sock fit, but as a result of having to rip back all the way to the toe, it’s taken me over two weeks to finish one sock, and I am ready to be done.

At least I’m learning something from the project. It’s the special Summer of Socks ’08 pattern, and it’s my first pair with a toe-up flap and gusset heel. So far I’m finding that these heels are a little bit harder to “fudge” than the short-row heels that I’ve done on every other sock I’ve knit have been, but that could just be the learning curve talking. My second go at it was much more successful than my first one was (knitting the instep of one size sock and the sole/heel of the next bigger size might have also helped). The mesh pattern does bias, in spite of a half-hearted attempt at taming it, but I think that’ll block out. Despite the setbacks, I’m very happy with the way the socks look, and how the lacy pattern breaks up the way the colors spiral around the foot.

I’ve also had a lot of other stuff on my plate over the past few weeks. I’ve had not one, but two secret knitting projects going on (which will be revealed in time, but I’d rather not spill all to the Readership right away). But knitting hasn’t been the only thing on my plate.

There have been lots and lots of my favorite summer fruits out there that just had to be eaten.

I celebrated my country’s birthday by watching the Macy’s fireworks display with several thousand of my closest friends.

I also ended my boycott of All-Star Game related activities by attending Bon Jovi’s concert in Central Park with my cousin and 50,000 of our closest mutual friends (there was very likely some overlap between those two groups of close, personal friends). Oh, and I got my Mactop back from her adventures in data retrieval and getting a new hard drive installed, which means that I’ve got a month’s backlog of photos to go through and upload. There are going to be quite a number of trips down knitting and baseball memory lane in the very near future.