coming along

[But first: what the hell has happened to my sidebar??? I didn't touch it, I promise, but half the buttons are little XXXX's. Damn, I don't have time to fix it but will have to live with it until January.]

Easter egg socks are coming along. My joking about "sock revolutions" aside, and despite nearly unintelligible instructions, the Wulster booklet has produced a fine ribbing, quite unusual and lovely but very simple to do while having a conversation. (Now if only I could take a decent picture, but I just can't seem to understand what my digital camera needs from me to stay in focus.)

Stopped into the campus bookstore today, where there is a woman who used to own a knit shop. We got to talking, and I asked for help with my Continental purling. She whipped out a pen and a crochet hook, cast several stitches onto the pen, and taught me some tricks. I love knitters who can improvise! I was so humbled I asked if she could help me with the mess of laceweight hopelessly tangled, and she's going to bring her swift to see if we can tackle it.

I think we'll also plan a trip to Canvas Works. I've never been there, and she says there's a great oyster restaurant nearby. But she wanted first to make sure that my husband had something to do on Saturdays so I wouldn't be leaving him alone. Very sweet. I didn't tell her how often poor B gets left to his own devices on the Saturdays that he doesn't work. Hey, I'm a busy girl, and I love my girlfriends!

Which reminds me--I'd just like to say--B is the best, best, best DH. Funny, smart, twisted, devoted, innovative, a fixer, great cook, and an all-around good guy. I never thought, after twelve years I'd only like him more all the time--I think I was raised to believe that you married in the first flush of love and it was all downhill from there.

I'm supposed to be balancing the checkbook right now. I hate chores.

more lovely sock yarn

At our campus holiday craft bazaar yesterday, I found this gorgeousness:I was so impatient to wind it that I didn't get a picture of it in the hank, but it was exquisite. I now have more sock yarn than I can knit in two years, probably but can't stop buying. This stuff was dyed by the woman who taught the knitting class my coworkers took.

tag, i'm it

Got tagged with my first meme by Lissa. Don't know meme etiquette, so forgive me if I faux pas:

What is your favorite yarn to knit with?
I'm slow, so there haven't been that many! I like sport- and fingering-weight yarns, though, and anything with cashmere or merino.

What's the worst thing you've ever knit?
I have my share of hideous acrylic scarves from when I started knitting again last year--the big-needle kind that stretch out in the middle, but stay too wide at the ends. Don't look for them in my FO's--I can't muster the enthusiasm to even photograph them. The most expensive of them is now like a big spaghetti noodle and is already pilly and fuzzy. I can't stand to wear them much anymore, but at least they got me back to knitting.

Most valuable technique?
The Continental knit stitch. It's saving my wrists and hands. Now if I could learn the purl properly (instead of ending up with a backwards leg), I'd be set. I just can't seem to keep tension unless I wind the yarn around my left-hand fingers in a bizarre way that doesn't allow for a proper "pick." Second place: learning how to avoid the hole at the corner of the sock gusset. Third place: YO's and SSK's, the key ingredients for interesting lace patterns.

Your most favorite knitting pattern?
I like a lot of Fiber Trends patterns, especially Evelyn Clark's lace socks.

Your favorite knitwear designer?
I don't have one--I'm a peripatetic knitter, drawn to one thing one day, and another the next.

Best knitting magazine?
IWK, hands down, for sheer knitting lust. But I'm a plus-size girl, and the sweaters are never big enough, dammit. Anyone know any good guides to pattern-alteration mathematics for Myers-Briggs INFP's?

Favorite book?
My current favorite knitting book is Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I'm addicted to socks, and it just feels like such a good value, with a bazillion sock patterns and many toe/heel variations.

Your favorite knit blogs?
My favorites are in the sidebar, but Margene's is my only must-read. Partly because she takes gorgeous pics of my home country, that make me both more and less homesick. Partly because she's fast and seems to crank out more knitting than I ever hope to.

Knit item you wear the most?
The last few weeks I can't stop wearing Faina's Scarf--it's cuddly and warm. I keep giving away (or promising) my FO's so I don't have many to choose from.

Am I supposed to tag someone else now?