Yarn Smaug And Moth Bilbo

So after the excitement that was knit/crochet blog week and then a trip to see a friend (amongst other things) I found myself pretty worn out on the blogging front. However, knitting has continued and I have a finished object to show off. Behold, a pair of socks out of Canon Hand Dyes Charles Base in the color Fall Leaves. This was the first skein Canon Hand Dyes that I bought. 

I love them. I wish it were cool enough to wear them. But it's been shorts and sandals weather and it doesn't look like it is going to let up any time soon.

As usual, the universe likes to balance out my stash. So since I finished one pair of socks out of Canon Hand Dyes, I obviously had to replace it with two new skeins. Both skeins are Canon Hand Dyes in the Charles base. On the left is Yoga For Elephants with a grey heel/toe skein. It's themed after a Babar picture. On the right is a Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic themed skein called "What Would Be The Scientific Purpose Of Killing It?"

But let's get real. The universe clearly wants me to have a giant stash. This is what has really been bought recently. I feel like a yarn Smaug with a hoard of fiber. (Last night a moth flew a little too close to my room. Let's call him Bilbo. He didn't make it.)

In other, slightly ironic news, I've started to pull out a lot of yarn and fiber out of my stash. There are skeins and roving that once made me happy, but my taste has changed and it has started to feel overwhelming. I'm now deciding how to go about selling/offloading/redistributing or otherwise not having the skeins and fiber in my room anymore.

Pinnacles Or The Lonely Mountain

On the 29th was my 4th blog anniversary. For the last three years, I've gone to Green Planet Yarn. Like many great traditions, it ended up broken, but for good reason. Rachael invited me to go hike at Pinnacles National Park, which was a tough offer to pass up. The weather was perfect. This area gets pretty hot, so it's better to go in winter. But it's also tough when it is wet. This has been the driest year in California since records have been taken. So although we need more rain, it has been a great hiking year.

It should be noted that there are many trails and loops. But they are not for a casual hiker. We did the 8 mile loop, which ended up being closer to 10 miles since we did some exploring. But you can't beat the view. This is where we had lunch. Although it is difficult to see in the picture, just past my feet is a steep cliff.

Then there was the trail that was called "Steep And Narrow." It's not a misnomer. There were parts where the rocks came out so far that you had to hike leaning 45 degrees to get past.

I stole this from Rachael. Rarely do we get a picture of the both of us on an adventure.

There are California Condors that live in the area. They are an endangered bird, and according to Rachael, a big deal for bird watchers. We did see some soaring above us later on in the hike. I wish we had gotten to see them a little closer.

As we hiked on, we noticed that some of the rocks had pretty distinct forms. This one looked like Smaug the dragon to me. The left side has a bit of a snout and nostril. And it has a wicked looking smile. It's neck arches over the top of the main rock.

But, by far, the neatest part of the hike was where we got to go through a cave. Bear Gulch was closed, so we went through the Balconies cave. I accidentally took a picture while I was fiddling with the flashlight. Here's what the inside of a cave looks like.

Once you emerge from the darkness, you eventually end up in an area where giant boulders have wedged themselves in fissures of the mountain. They kind of reminded me of dragon eggs. Both Rachael and I decided that it would be a terrible place to be if there was an earthquake. Also, we felt a bit like we were in Lord of the Rings. Possibly the Mines of Moria.

When we left the cave area, we realized that we had probably been under that dragon looking mountain from earlier. So perhaps Smaug is actually a girl and we were in the Lonely Mountain. It was by far the neatest hike I'd ever been in. I'm looking forward to hiking it again.

Passing Through Mordor

Dad and I awoke to find that all the rain in New Zealand had decided to pour on our location. I had hoped to go on a hike, but the wind was howling and the rain just wouldn't let up. As we packed to leave there was a break. So we checked out quickly and ran to the Taranaki Falls trailhead. 

This is the view from above Taranaki Falls

After an hour of walking, we came to the falls. Chris had let us know about this one. It is a waterfall you can walk behind, which I did. (I'm the blue speck on the right hand side of the waterfall.) I would recommend that if you are going to walk behind a waterfall on a windy, cold day, wear waterproof pants. I only had jeans, so I remained wet the rest of the hike.

The whole area is simultaneously beautiful and haunting. And with such heavy mist, it felt like we were walking through Tolkien's world.

 

Although the mist was enjoyable, it did obscure the view of all the mountains the entire time we were in the area. So Dad and I drove up Bruce Road up to the ski area to have a look higher up the mountain. Turns out the higher you go, the worst the visibility.

I wanted to take pictures of my Smaug socks in Mordor. We got about two pictures before large, cold raindrops suddenly started to pelt us. A quick retreat was made back the the heated car.

 Photo credit to Dad.

We drove north, skirting along the east side of Lake Taupo. I'd never seen the lake, but had always wanted to. The eruption that created the lake apparently spewed so much ash into the air, the Romans and Chinese noted the change in the color of the sky.

After lunch in Taupo, we drove to Raglan to stay with my Dad's childhood friend. Bit of the Raglan area looked eerily similar to the mountains back home. The only difference was that there were more cows in the area.

Smaug Socks

I finished my Smaug socks! I was hoping to have them completed before The Hobbit movie was released. You know... so I can wear them while seeing The Hobbit.

The yarn is Handmaiden Casbah in what I'm guessing is the Ruby colorway. The pattern is Smaug Socks by my former co-worker, Claire Ellen. (Yes, I'm totally name dropping.) I'm most impressed by Claire's clever integration of the gusset shaping into the tail cabling. If you knit it, you'll see what I'm talking about.

This pattern was really fun to knit. I ended up having to rip back a bit to add an extra inch. No fault of the pattern. It's just a personal preference and I didn't really pay attention to the length the pattern said it would be. The pattern was accurate. I was not. But it didn't matter because these socks were so much fun to knit, it didn't feel like a chore. I did need a bit of quiet when I got to the heel. It might be easier for people who are use to heel flaps, but my default is a short row heel. Regardless, I'm extremely happy with how these turned out.

Unfortunately, when I cast off the Smaug Socks, I found myself without any knitting. That's right. I had nothing on the needles. Not even secret designs. Current secret designs are in the math/swatch/graphing stages.
My November list of knitting is done, so I have started in on my December list. As an aside, anyone who might be curious as to how I stay on track with knitting: I make a monthly list of knitting and assign myself a daily knitting quota. If there isn't a hard deadline, I don't push myself. But I also don't cast on more than 3 projects total.
This looks like a pile of noodles, but it is the beginning of the Rock Island shawl by Jared Flood. All going well, it will be gifted in January.

Rock Island will get easier after I get past the edging. But the edging takes a bit more concentration, so I've also cast on a pair of Skyp socks. The yarn is Socks That Rock lightweight in the colorway Puck's Mischief. 

I think I might be turning into Andi. It seems wrong not to have a sock on the needles. She's also the reason I chose the pattern. Her pair of Sir Isaac Lime Skyps made me want my own. Well, that and if I finished this skein, I won't have any more Socks That Rock. That means I can buy more in February when I go to Stitches West... right? It's totally reasonable.

The Swatch Was Right

New yarn! I ordered two skeins of Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter to test out for the final book pattern. I'm a little undecided on the color, so I got a skein of the final two contenders. On the left is "Button Jar", and on the right is "Tent". Even though I would personally select Button Jar for my own sweater, I'm leaning a bit more towards Tent for the book. I think swatching might help me decide. Although if anyone has an opinion on what color sweater a woodsman living in medieval England who enjoys stealing from the rich and giving to the poor might wear, I'd love to hear. Keep in mind that there will be cabling going on.

I also treated myself to a color card from Brooklyn Tweed. I kind of want a skein in each color now...

On the sock front, after making my swatch and completely ignoring it, I knit 3 inches of a sock that I then got to rip out. The swatch was very accurate and the sock was exactly too big by the amount the swatch said it would be. We won't talk about the second false start I had on the sock. So now I'm on try number three. The Smaug pattern is great. I'm just stubbornly stupid sometimes. 

Vestus For The Rest Of Us

I am on fire. Another FO in under a week. My Aunt had requested a vest last year. Although it took me until now to feel comfortable enough with my skills to design a vest for her.

She loaned me one of her vests so I could match the sizing. I am proud to say that I the knit vest is pretty darn close in size to her other vest. She also bought the yarn, which was Universal Yarns (now discontinued) Deluxe Worsted Magic in the Blue Meadow colorway. The ravelry project page is here.

It's funny how when you follow a knitting pattern, shaping a shoulder is easy. But when you are writing up a "quick" pattern, all of a sudden shoulder shaping is a mystery. After a few days of puzzling, I finally thought to add a few short rows to help it slope. Ta-da. Magic.

I was so eager to start my next project, that I actually started swatching while walking to get tea. This lovely ball of Handmaiden Casbah was a nightmare to ball. I was going to roll it up "quickly" before bed, but it turned into a tangled mess (no fault of my own), so I went to bed at 2:30AM because I couldn't just leave it. What will this skein become, you wonder? It will be a pair of Smaug Socks that I fully intend to wear when I go see The Hobbit.

Accountability

Thanks to everyone for all the warm wishes in regards to Scooter's recovery. He has been running around like nothing has happened to him. Hopefully he'll remain happy when we go back the vet to get his stitches out in the next week or so.
Now I'd like to confess something. I bought more yarn. Again.
A couple weeks ago right after Knit/Crochet blog week finished, Pumpkin Spins said I ought to treat myself to some yarn. I had to admit to her that I already had. But if you saw Tosh Sock in the Plaid Blanket colorway, could you leave it behind? I even checked ravelry to see how it knit up. It doesn't pool in socks. No pooling. None.

Then when I walked into work, we had a shipment of Handmaiden in the Casbah base ( merino/cashmere/nylon - machine washable!) laying on the back table. I usually don't buy red yarn. But this was pretty. And shiny. And other people said that they would buy it if I didn't. I didn't realize I could become territorial over a skein. I think I'll make a pair of Smaug Socks out of it.

Whew. I feel much better getting that off of my chest. This blog is almost like an accountability partner. No more yarn. I swear. Not for.... at least a week.