Finally! & The Harlot Letter

And the Heavens opened up and the Angels sang a chorus of Alleluja! for Husband's Chocolate Cake Socks were finished!

I made it all the way to the toe of the second sock and realized that I'd missed an increase round immediately after the cuff.... [sigh] I didn't even blink [I'm quite proud of myself, you know], I walked over to the swift and just started reskeining the whole bloody thing right then and there.

That was two weeks ago. In the meantime, I've learned how to use the sewing machine my husband gave me for christmas 2 years ago, made a HUGE 6x8 foot banner for an idjit sketch that we had to do at work, run two Lunch& Learn Sessions with very little planning and a semi-hostile audience (it's wonderful inheriting and cleaning up someone else's mess), fertilized my garden, anti-rabbit and deered my garden and managed to start working out again. So, frankly, I think I've done quite well.

Husband loves his socks, I didn't have to rip back anything else once I got rolling for the third time. Any errors in the teeny tiny moss stitch between the cables is going to be our little secret cause I can guarantee that Husband ain't ever gonna know about it. If the sock was too small, (like 11 sts in circumference smaller than the 1st one to small), he'd know it. But little tiny moss stitch? Nope. Or that one of the cable rows is two rows longer than the 17 other cable rows.... nuh-unh.

And. We're. Not. Going. To. Tell. Him.... Are We??. I didn't think so.

Whew. So glad that's over. But they really are beautfiful and I'm embarassed to say that I can't wait to start more socks in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, even though it's so tiny, the fabric just comes out beautifully!

So here are the details:
Pattern: Sensational Knitted Socks - 3x3 Cable with Moss Stitch
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock - Chocolate Two balls and a stupid arse little bit of a Third for 1 pair of size 12 men's EE feet, but they go half way up his claves.
Needles: US 0, 2 mm
Time to Complete: 6 weeks for three socks with other stuff in between.

On another note, I took the following letter over to the Border's in Oak Brook along with some turnout pics from the Harlot's previous book tours just so's they'd know what they were up against.

Dear Mr. or Ms. Event Coordinator,

I just wanted to drop a friendly note to give you a heads-up about an impending book signing.

Ms. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, author of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting will be coming to your location on April 3rd, 2007.

Fondly known as the Yarn Harlot by her fans, Ms. Pearl-McPhee is a regular blogger (www.yarnharlot.ca) with over 7,000 subscribers as recorded by Bloglines.com. Often, when this author arrives for a signing, the hosting location is unfamiliar with her work and the popularity of same.

I would hate to find you caught in a bind with not enough books to sign or space set aside for Ms. Pearl-McPhee’s fans to attend and hear her speak. Last night, March 22, 2007, the Yarn Harlot spoke in New York City at The Fashion Institute of Technology in an auditorium that holds 750 people. I imagine pictures of the turn out will be up on her blog tomorrow or Saturday.

As an interested supporter and fan, I have included a few pictures of her book signings from last year’s book release in an effort to help you understand the sheer numbers of people that come to her signings.

Please feel free to contact me directly at the number listed below if you have any further questions as I would like to see this be a successful event for both Borders and the Yarn Harlot.

Sincerely,
Jen in Chicago insert real contact info here if you feel like it

Are you sitting down? You'd better....

I wouldn't want you to fall over from the shock.

I'm working on "The Other Mitten". Let's just let that sink in for a minute shall we? Yeah, now it's coming back, isn't it..... That mitten. Remember this?

I guess 2007 is the year for Finished Objects. I'm still working on husband's Chocolate Cake Socks and I wanted to work on something that wasn't so small it made my hands cramp.... so what did I decide to do?

I figured I'd wrestle an octopus just for grins. No, really. These mittens are worked in Fair Isle on 5 DPNs size US-2. Fair Isle is fiddly and to be frank, (Alyssa cover your eyes) I hate DPNs.

I'm sorry to all those folks who love them. I know there'll be gnashing of teeth and such, but I'm an Addi Turbo girl myself. If I can't work what ever it is on two circulars, I'm miserable. That, and I'm so used to working on two circs that are connected that when I get to the end of the row, I just keep letting go of the needle and dropping the damn thing on the floor! (which my cats love and think is the "Best-Game-Ever", BTW)

So, I worked all the increases for the tip of the mitten on those blasted DPNs and then I switched to Circulars as fast as my little fingers would carry me. Interestingly, while I still struggle with the best way to hold the yarn in my left hand, the pattern is going a LOT faster than I thought it would. I got an extra inch finished last night while Hubby watched another something about WWII on the Hitler History Channel. Maybe someday I'll even graduate to the Lion Scarf that I ordered from Herself lo, these many months ago.

I've even been thinking about using the finishing techniques I learned from Catherine Lowe last year. It's funny how finishing knits makes you think on what you've learned. Now if I could just figure out how to Start a project with sufficient lead time to Finish it the way I want to, well then, life would be just Ducky now, wouldn't it?!



Touched by Royalty!
For those of you who haven't already heard, The Harlot is coming to Chicago-land!! She's coming on April 3rd to Oak Brook, IL. at Borders. 1500 16th Street at 7:30 p.m. And here's the cool thing. Are you ready??

I work almost across the street from where she'll be making her appearance!!! I'm so excited I'm wiggling again!! Here's a map, just for proof.

If you read her blog you'll know that she's been talking about "Representin'" in New York and how her Wonder Publicist has booked a hall that holds 750 people where she will speak and show the sock and take pics and such.

Thinking about Representin', I left a comment yesterday on her blog mentioning how close I work to the venue and offering (half in jest) to go over and let them know just how many people they might want to expect. I was planning on doing it anyway when I checked my email this morning and what did I see?

A reply. I got a reply from the Yarn Harlot h-e-r-s-e-l-f!!! She said she thought it would be a good idea and would I please do so? Holy Canoli, Batman!! I've been touched by Knitting Royalty (even thought Stephanie herself would probably choke at being called "Royalty")!! So, I figure I'll print out some of her attendance pics from past events and write a short but professional note for the store manager explaining what to expect.

Thanks Miz Stephanie! I hope lots of people call Borders and tell them to expect a whole load of people. Maybe then they'll get the message not to underestimate the amazing power of knitters!

Tonight is GROUP night at the Borders at Lake and Skokie Blvd. from 6:30 until Whenever! I hope you can join us!