mad dash to the finish

glorious morning. i was once again awake with the birds (for me, heh) and outside taking blog photos first thing. i want to get a bike ride in later this morning, and it pays to get at least one of my two things done beforehand. the stargazers have bloomed and are trumpeting their perfume, the light was just perfect to take some nice pictures of them, movie stars that they are . . .

we have been madly dashing around the place, bumping into each other as we go, to get the last sock summit items out to chris so they can be included in the shipping pallet on the truck to portland (hence the lack of regular posting). a big stack of samples, sock and mitt shapers, and the most recent patterns are going out tomorrow, first thing.

we are bringing oodles of patterns; i hope that very few of them will come back home with us.
david has been a printing and packing maniac the last couple of days (never thought i’d say “david” and “maniac” in the same sentence . . .). between getting these ready and filling a spate of shop orders as well—patterns are going out the door in all forms (yay!); some weeks are like that. thank goodness for my man.

lest you think that means no knitting, i can assure you that there is some, but time for it is sorta scattered and progress is fitful. my coffee table is a veritable dumping ground for myriad projects—so much so that i cringe to look at it, much less sit down to work there

on monday i worked on nightingale in class and got one more repeat done (how many times can i say that and still keep you interested?). i have a feeling that one repeat at a time, this project is growing but i haven’t checked the length—i’m waiting til it feels really long (and i’m not nearly there yet).

but here’s the progress on the yarn reduction.

oh, let me take a very short break from my own knitting for a sec to make an announcement—my friend deb kessler at fearless fibers has opened signups for her fall sock yarn club, to include selections from three different (YUMMY) yarns dyed in club-exclusive colors. deb’s colors are always to-die-for and her yarns are a great value—what more could you want?

like i said, i’m practically knitting on autopilot this week—not my favorite, experientially, but you know, it’s one way of getting things done and it doesn’t mean nothing is happening.

for instance, how the heck did this another nate sock happen?? i hardly remember knitting on it at all, but there it is finished and on my foot

this has to be the fastest sock in the history of knitspot. either that or, er, i just blanked out.
you don’t need to comment . . .
i’ve worked on this while watching the bike races over the last few nights (very exciting races this year). one of these years, i’m going to spin the tour de fleece, but it wasn’t going to happen now, so i’m knitting socks instead (i think i’ve finished three since the tour started).

anyhow, this was fun, fun, fun (and fast) to knit and when i slipped it on i could tell it will be a favorite lounge sock this winter—it’s very soft and snuggly and warm. i don’t think it’s a sock i’d want to walk around in much (that’s really not as antithetical as it sounds), because it’s rather thick (but not heavy) and feels like it might not wear exceptionally well. however, it is the perfect sock for a get-well gift or, like i said, for lounging.

the yarn is a new offering from briar rose, dyed on a 2-ply merino artisan base form mountain meadows wool. available now in her booth at upcoming fiber shows (see these samples at sock summit) and very soon to be listed on her site.

this sleeve is done now and i started the sweater pattern. i’m trading off time with another pattern simultaneously, so it’s not going as fast as i’d like. i was just lamenting to tana (the tech editor) the other day that i’ve gone and spread my energy too thin lately—now that SS is out the door, i need to rein in and focus on managing the mess i’ve made.
no more starting anything until two of my current projects are done (there are four OTN now).

but i think it’s ok to treat myself and david to flowers for what we have gotten done so far this summer—we have been motoring, but still having fun; it’s all good as david would say.

the other pattern i’m working on is for a secret project that i’m doing with my buddy kim, using her lovely new superwash merino sport yarn (not listed on the site yet).

i know—we hate secret projects, don’t we? this one wasn’t even going to BEE a secret, but then i think i inadvertently turned the recipient into a blog reader and, well, now i have to be more discreet (so no giving it away in comments you guys, not even if you’re sure you know!).

anyway, i’ve been swatching and patterning quickly so that kim and i can get started on the knitting—we’re making presents, you see, and there are deadlines. the swatch (or part of it) might look something like this

she dyed us up something special and my yarn should be here any minute (picture that in a completely different, happier color and add more fancy sts). it might be for something square, but not too big. and there might be a common garden creature involved.

maybe even a kit if kim is up for that . . .
remember, no shouting out the answer in comments!
sit tight and all will be revealed at a later date. but i promise i’ll post glimpses, just to make you happy (you will be happy; it’s a happy color for a happy event that i can’t talk about yet—but soon).

ok, enough mystery for one day . . . even though we’re frantically busy, the garden waits for no man. it’s been really dry here but not too hot—nice weather really, especially for the greens, which continue to produce in large quantities. and the ones i reseeded a couple of weeks ago are looking strong now that they have their second leaves

although maybe not hot enough for the tomatoes to turn. we do have a little japanese beetle issue in our eggplant patch that we are trying to get rid of, but so far, it’s not hurting how many eggplant we have on the vine.

and the spinach just loves this weather (it goes down into the 50s some nights).
my okra starts are getting taller and have second leaves now—soon i’ll pull my beets and transplant the okra in that row, where they can spread out a little.

so yeah, everything humming along. and if we don’t pause or think, we can keep up with it.
alright, that’s enough for today—i need to get outside and ride my bike before the day runs away with itself.