Good company

Last night Ken and I sorted out that he was leaving this morning at 10:30 and me at 10:45, he to Canada’s west coast, me to the east.

Joe drove us both to the airport where we spent a happy hour knitting and drinking an electrifying amount of coffee. (We both ate too…but we are trying to forget the airport food and will not recount it here.)

I started a sock (STR in the sock club colour “Firebird”, available for purchase in a couple of months- the colours are exclusive to the sock club in the beginning.) and Ken worked away on his latest project. I decided he needed to learn colourwork and my will was wrought upon him at Lettuce Knit a couple of weeks ago when I chose a Dale of Norway Cardigan for his niece, (I’ll look up the pattern number when I’m back home.) grabbed the Baby Ull off the shelf and presented him with the whole shebang. (I had him provide the Mastercard. I am no fool and my enabling goes only so far. )

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He’s doing really, really well. So well that I guess I was wrong and he doesn’t need to learn how to do colourwork. He knit. I knit.

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I don’t know how Ken is doing as we wing almost as far away from each other as possible in this country…

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but this is how much sock you can knit going from Toronto to Halifax…and this –

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is a piper standing on the corner. This is Halifax. They are a free range species here.

175 thoughts on “Good company

  1. We listened to Scottish-kilted bagpipers in Halifax when I was a kid. I told my folks that was the instrument for me! Dad said I had to wait till my lungs were bigger (smart man.)
    Great job, Ken, meantime!

  2. I hope you have a wonderful time in Halifax. Wish I could be there (only three hours, twenty minutes away)ARRG as Charlie Brown would say.
    Mary B IN PEI

  3. Oh, I’m so glad the pipers are out at the Public Gardens! I miss home so much.
    Enjoy our lovely little province while you’re there.

  4. So, if one wanted to learn to do colo(u)rwork, is the what you’d recommend?
    All knitting but sock knitting fills me with fear but I want to TRY SOMETING NEW before my friends and family restrain me forcibly from knitting them more socks. (I live in Austin. It’s, roughly, oh, as hot as the surface of the sun here.)
    Anyway, that’s a GREAT sock and the colo(u)rwork is gorgeous.
    Barb

  5. Ooooh!!! The colorwork is gorgeous! And I need to know the pattern on that sock, ’cause me likee…
    Safe travelings to both you and Ken.

  6. Ken is doing great.
    I can’t believe how fast you knit! And I notice it’s toe up. Were you not going to say anything about that?

  7. That color work is beautiful! Good job to you for picking a gorgeous pattern, and to Ken for rocking it!

  8. Ken is great! The pattern is so freaking cute, I love having a daughter for all the girly stuff. I’m knitting my very first sweater for her…in pink.

  9. Oh, such pretty, sweet colorwork! That’s somewhere on my future accomplishments list. Firebird looks yummy, too. My skein is still in pet mode. Someday it will become a proper knitted item.

  10. Oooh, pipers! I still remember hearing pipes one day and following their siren call across streets and yards in a blatant disregard of property rights. I found him playing in a backyard, and he was quite pleased to play for me.
    I want my daughter to become a bagpiper. Would you help me convince her that this is her life’s mission?

  11. Glad you made it to Halifax safely. The Knitting Out Loud group and I are thrilled to see you in a few short hours! (We’ll be the ones in matching T-shirts)

  12. I LOVE bagpipers. They had them when I graduated from college; the graduates all marched behind them out of the chapel into the center of the quads for a party. It was awesome.
    Seriously, nothing says party like a bagpipe.
    Also, love the sock pattern.

  13. There’s something eerie about seeing the piper I walk by every day on someone else’s blog. . .excited to see you in Halifax tonight!

  14. I’m wondering what kind of toe you used for your toe-up sock. I like it. BTW, glad you’re coming to Wichita. As a displaced Canadian living in Kansas I long to hear Canadian accents, lol!

  15. I’m jealous – I have only been to Halifax once and it was a really quick trip. I found it to be a beautiful city, worthy of much more in depth exploration.

  16. I am so going to visit Halifax as soon as I move a little closer (next year!). What patterns are you guys using for the sweater and the sock? I think I can accomplish the sock but the colourwork for the sweater will definately have to go on my to do list for when I am a better knitter. Safe trips!

  17. That is so sweet that Ken is knitting a sweater for his niece! Love your socks too, but I think Ken may have you beat a little with that beautiful little girl’s sweater! Have fun in Halifax – can’t wait to hear all about it!

  18. I’ve always wanted to go to Halifax. Don’t know what’s there but I am a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables. They talk about Halifax in a big city sort of way and so I was intrigued. Of course, most places are big city compared to PEI.

  19. Wow, with a cardigan that beautiful I could be convinced to try colorwork, too.
    And any place where pipers walk around free range, in kilts to boot, is my kind of place.

  20. I want to go to Halifax… but yay for pipers! Give him a dollar or a hug or something.

  21. If you ever go to Carnegie Mellon University, you’ll find bagpipers free range there too! I believe that it’s the only place in the world where you can get a bachelor’s degree in bagpiping.
    Ken’s colorwork is fantastic! And you make such fast progress on your sock!

  22. That’s beautifully done colour-work! I have a LOT of trouble with colourwork, I do the “one colour in each hand” method, and my tension is nowhere near even. I really struggled when I made a pirate fair-isle hat and used Rowan cotton-wool. Maybe because it was less grippy than the Briggs & Little I used in my mittens?

  23. So glad to know you’re in town. I’m skipping out of work right now. Don’t tell my boss.
    The KOLers will be representing tonight!
    Woo hoo!

  24. Ken’s colorwork is so beautiful. Why am I so afraid of colorwork? It doesn’t bite, does it?
    Bagpipe music always makes me cry.

  25. What, you didn’t get the piper to hold the sock? You’re slipping! At least you didn’t have to Kinnear him.

  26. The only thing I like better than bagpipes is men who knit! There need to be more of those!

  27. men in kilts. oh dear. of course, my husband being swedish/german, refuses to wear one, even to appease his scottish/irish wife. le sigh.

  28. That’s a lot of sock done on a plane. Ken’s colorwork looks, well, like you said, like he doesn’t need any practice! (makes my first piece look darn right remedial) I wish I could play the bagpipes, I think I have enough air =)

  29. I love the Firebird colorway. I was lucky enough to see it in person when a STR Member had it with her at our Knit Night. Ken’s colorwork is lovely! Enjoy Halifax!!!

  30. Gorgeous start to a great Dale sweater!
    And the sock isn’t half bad either. 😉
    Hope you have a great time in Halifax!

  31. There is nothing quite so thrilling and demeaning as knitters who pick up new techniques fast. I remember fighting with a particularly frustrating cable one night, giving up and then finding Downtown had picked it up and swatched it flawlessly while I wasn’t looking.
    Beautiful colorwork. And such tasteful colors. Looking forward to the pattern number when you get a chance (though my colorwork still leaves much to be desired).

  32. If you can’t get to Baadeck Yarns, I sure hope you’re able to wrangle a visit to Fleece Artist on this trip. Have a wonderful time!

  33. They are a free range species there! I remember a camping trip to Nova Scotia when I was a kid and I dicovered a young piper practicing in the campground amphitheater.

  34. He’s still there! I lived in Halifax a few years ago, and used to see him all the time – it’s nice to see somethings in the city haven’t changed 🙂

  35. Love the piper! You don’t see much of that around here, which is really a shame. The world can always use more music. The knitting, of course, is lovely. I’m seriously coveting that sock yarn based on color alone. Have fun in Halifax!

  36. I haven’t seen much of Canada (its a big country!)but Nova Scotia is, i think one of the most beautiful places on the eastern seaboard of NA.
    Visit the historic fort if you can, (I love history, and love it) but if not just enjoy being in a really beautiful place.
    (my most striking memory? getting caught in a traffic circle at rush hour (well halifax’s version of rush hour) and EVERY YEILDING so i could move to the lane i needed to get into…)
    being a NYer –and you remember what NY is like a Saturday evening–this just amazed me!)
    enjoy you visit!

  37. It must be hard to be so far apart… Or nice, depending on the day..lol
    My husband is learning to knit, and I just have to say, that this goes in two ways. On one hand, he asked me for some of my stash, ok no problem. Then he starts asking me about “our” stash. Then we discussed “our” stash versus “his and her” stashes. We decided that we would have “our” stash, and just ask before using something the other had purchased.
    But on the other hand, when I go to the yarn store, I now do not need to explain why I want this skein or that skein. Thats nice, but then we have to say, “Oh I’m getting this, and he’s getting that” But if he gets that, I can’t get this… Oh well, I just got more sock yarn instead.

  38. Well, I do so hope you enjoy my home province and my favourite small city. It has been a long time since I was last there. At the time, Fleece Artist was a shop selling yarn on the wharf.

  39. Ken, dude, that’s some great looking colourwork! Good job!
    And, I’m a curler – I love being “piped out” on to the ice for bonspiels – there’s no sound like the bagpipes…

  40. I really enjoyed the Firebird colorway, too! I opted to stitch the Fawkes sock from Socktopia since I liked the way the two went together. I’ll be saving the Solstice Slip pattern for a different yarn – likely a Trekking.
    Free-range pipers exist here in the Bay Area, too. I came upon one serenading the Bay while out for an early Sunday run. Thank goodness he wasn’t facing inland at 6:30a!

  41. Welcome to Halifax! And speaking of bad memories getting caught in traffic circles, that rotary is currently under construction and a bit of a nightmare: avoid if at all possible! But, there’s a new ice cream place in the public gardens that sells many rum-based items. There might have to be a mass exodus after your talk to check it out…

  42. Nice. Very nice. The piper. The colorwork. The sock. The moons seem to be aligned. Ho!

  43. Awesome sock! Socks fill me with fear at this point.
    Anyways!
    I’m so excited about you coming to Wichita! Do you know where exactly you’ll be talking??

  44. Lucky, lucky you! Nova Scotia is a lovely part of the world and I sure enjoyed our visit there last year. It’s not that close to to Halifax, but Gaspereau Valley Fibres is a fabulous shop. I miss the people, the pipers and lobster rolls, too!

  45. Oh, no… this is how much of a sock YOU can knit from Toronto to Halifax. If it were me, people would be coming from all over the terminal to see my gerbil cozy.

  46. I love free range pipers! Much better than the caged variety. We have a festival in Bethlehem, PA called Celtic Classic at the end of september. we let the pipers roam free in the festival area of town. it’s awesome!
    The sock is really great.

  47. Go Ken!! That looks amazing!! The colors, the knitterly skill…
    My first colorwork looked like a freakish knot.

  48. That piper is standing across from the Lord Nelson Hotel on the corner of Spring Garden Road. I bought a kit for Thrummed mitts at Jennifers of Nova Scotia just around the corner…
    Your sock is beautiful…I love to knit on airplanes. Your friends colour work is spectacular.
    I am new to your blog, but have read all your books…currently in the middle of the latest one.

  49. In college (in Arizona of all places) there was a piper group who’d play in the evenings as it got cooler. I’d wander all over campus looking for them but never found them, because the sound echoed off the buildings. I guess AZ has free range pipers too. (I wonder if they’re organic?)

  50. Wow he does lovley colorwork. That is going to be gorgeous!
    I haven’t started my STR club sock yet. Sadly it is still in skein form.
    Love me a man in a kilt. 😉

  51. I meant to leave a note for Ken on his blog, regarding the lovely colourwork. It looks great! But he seems to have turned off his comments, so I’ll have to leave it here and hope you pass it on. 😉

  52. Okay, just looking at the number of colors in Ken’s project gives me the cold sweats–go Ken!!! It sounds like a pleasant hour–isn’t it amazing how someo f your nices moments with your most beloved people come in odd corners of time in your lives?

  53. I’ve yet to find good airport food. Because of an odd love of Stravinsky’s work, I’m drawn to that particular colorway. Looks great!

  54. NOOOOO!!! its not a skirt, somebody in comments said skirt!!!! *bursts into flames* its a kilt a KILT!!!! what a lovely sight, what was he playing
    that colourwork is amazing, so so neat and the sock is lovely

  55. You gave him a pattern with 3 colors in the same row for his first colourwork? Wow! He’s doing amazing. I love the little rose bud pattern (thanks, now I have to knit the new baby a Fair Isle sweater too 😉

  56. wow, cool knittings, more geography, AND a MIK (Man in Kilt) sighting. What more can you want?
    🙂 Someday I’ll be brave enough to try colourwork.

  57. I can’t believe you didn’t get the piper to hold your sock in progress, or hang it from his pipes! Did he have fancy hand knit socks on? Ken’s colorwork is FABulous and fancy and lovely!

  58. Here I was looking for a bird, thinking “maybe its behind the lady in the skirt and very-wooly-for-August knee highs.”

  59. I forgot to ask- Do you know how much of the cafe press prices for the TSF items go to the actual charity? If most of the cost goes to the charity, I’d love to get some for Christmas gifts for the knitters in the family (and those I’d like to convert….little do they know)

  60. Lovin’ firebird. I can’t wait until it gets cold so I can actually wear mine!!
    Love Ken’s project too. It’s beautiful!!

  61. For some reason, here in Seattle a band of pipers participates in the St. Patrick’s Day parade and then makes a tour of the Irish pubs in town.
    We have a Utilikilt store around the corner from me in the Pioneer Square area. But be careful with your Kinnearing when you come to Seattle. A few years ago we had a guy who was cell-phone videoing up short skirts regularly so there’s now a law against it. I don’t think the law applies only to women’s garments and kilts would be covered. So to speak.
    I’ll try not to let Ken’s beautiful color work get to me. I’ve done little yet, only a couple small things like hats, even though I took a Sally Mellvile workshop a couple months ago where I learned several ways to carry my yarn in two hands.
    But the hands are the issue currently. I’ve been pruning large specie rose bushes. I’ll confine my self to simple stuff in large gauge wool for a while.

  62. Wow. Free range pipers. Maybe I should be looking in Halifax for a new job. It’s absolutely still too far south to be in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (Weather has been way too hot this summer).

  63. That’s Ken’s first colorwork?! My Lord, it’s gorgeous. My first colorwork looked as if the cat had gotten a hold of it. 🙂 Rock on, Ken!
    Firebird is beautiful. How on earth do you take decent pictures of your own foot? I have yet to manage that.

  64. First (sorry Steph) that’s some beautiful colorwork Ken’s doing! (I really need to learn colorwork.)
    Second, must see more pictures of Halifax! I’ve longed to visit Nova Scotia, but it’s an awfully long way from Alaska.

  65. Holy crap. Ken’s first colorwork makes me feel about as secure as the “first socks” people who show up at your talks. Does no one else have first efforts that look like a 6 year old made them? Congrats to Ken. P.S. Your sock is great too!

  66. Halifax – I’m so JEALOUS! Even though I grew up in Vancouver, I sadly didn’t travel much around Canada… there are so many place I would love to see and hopefully WILL one day! I think living in Southern California now makes me want to travel around Canada even more 🙂
    The Solstice Slip looks GREAT! Almost makes me want to have another go at the pattern. I wasn’t convinced on my first attempt but the pattern I started instead isn’t really doing it for me either… hopefully I’ll settle on something soon… This is my first sock club experience and so far I’ve loved everything so much!

  67. The socks look amazing and I am quite jealous. My yarn is still neatly wrapped in its hank with the label still on. At least the second month of the club has been wound into cakes . . . but need to be cast on. Ken’s colorwork looks lovely as well. I’ll have to try it some day. Halifax is always a dream for me; my husband visits frequently on business, but I never seem to make it fit my schedule.

  68. This is why we’ll be honeymooning in the Maritimes next summer (that and the whole making it legal part). I’ve always wanted to be in Halifax for Canada Day and that’ll be the opportunity to do it and wear a kilt.

  69. Halifax is lovely- and in early August they hold a Busker’s Festival- if you go, wear sunscreen, even if it is cloudy.
    The Citadel fires a cannon at 1300 every day. I love cannons and munitions… and they do it at 1300 because it is cheaper to fire one at 1pm than 12 at noon… how thrifty is that!
    I managed to spend 6 months on watch outdoors in the Arabian Gulf and NOT get sunburned (it’s easy to remember to wear sunscreen when it is deathly hot and sunny) but I was burned to a crisp on the return trip on a cloudy, cool day in Halifax, because it was so nice out that I forgot to wear sunscreen.
    Halifax was one of my absolute favorite port visits… despite the sunscreen.

  70. Wow… that is some pretty colorwork. And I love the STR yarn… very pretty.
    So, you’re now Kinnearing pipers… will it never end?!

  71. Ken’s work is beautiful — and so are the colors and design you picked out!! Way to go! Delicious.
    And Halifax is a cool place. My husband and I were there a couple of years ago and went to a great pub I can’t remember the name of, unfortunately. But, I can tell you we drank some Keith Alexander (I think — a local brew) beer and it was m-m-good! So, I highly recommend it. Beer . . . yummmm.
    Hey! A Wiki-link! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Keith's

  72. Love the kilt! Our Tennessee college’s name is “Highlanders,” complete with a kilted marching band and two pipers. And my daughter followed a piper down the aisle at the wedding.
    By the way: When a piper was asked, “What is worn under the kilt?” this was his response. “Madame–NOTHING is worn under the kilt, as everything is in perfect working condition.”
    OK–so rate me XX!

  73. Hey! I brought that very sock with me on the Egg Book Research tour! Unfortunately, I also brought along a Mason-Dixon Log Cabin Moderne-in-Progress, and, well, it’s just easier to do miles o’garter stitch after reading farm reports from 1922 for six hours…
    I hope you are having a simply brilliant time in Halifax. (Mmmm, free range pipers.)

  74. Oh, I so love Halifax – I’ve several good friends that work for the national park service at the Citadel doing the re-enactment stuff. Some pipe, some drum, and one shoots those loud guns that make car alarms go off. I hope you have a magical, wonderful time! 🙂 I wish I were there instead of sitting at my crappy work computer yawning and longing for some sun.

  75. My last swap partner should be there to see you. I’m excited to hear about it from her. Baring unforseen circumstances, I’ll be there to see you in L.A. Now…my swap package traveled even further than you are from Ken at the moment…east coast Canada to west coast USA (Southern California). And there was a Yarn Harlot book in the package =0) KM

  76. This is Wonder-Ken, who makes the computer go? And, he knits like a dream as well? That’s so impressive – either of those are impressive. The Halifax photo just pulls at my heart, I simply need to be there. Have a blast with the presentation tonight.

  77. I just tried colourwork for the first time last night. It wasn’t nearly as elaborate as Ken’s (which is gorgeous!) but I think it turned out okay. I was also trying to get the hang of DPNs at the same time. One day soon I hope to get my first sock going. I’m the opposite of Barb – socks intimidate me. But I expect I’ll discover it’s easy once you know how. I’ve definitely got to start knitting something much smaller than baby afghans during the hot Tennessee summers.

  78. Head down to Soup Sergeant (+/-Garden Rd I think) if you can – they have lots of dental friendly veg soups. I love the Sea Bound Coast, in fact I hope you’re not reading this, just taking it all in….

  79. Growing up reading L.M.Montgomery the only thing I know about Halifax is that it was a euphemism for H-E-Double hockey sticks!
    Isn’t it strange how scared people are of colourwork until they try it? Then, the addiction (another one) starts.

  80. Now a man that can wear a skirt is ready for anything!
    My Uncle Geordie used to say “nothing is worn under a laddie’s kilt, it’s all in perfect working order.” Hoot mon!
    The colour work of Ken is lovely.
    thanks for the tales of your travels.
    J

  81. Holy smoly, Ken is realy doing a wonderful job with four colours for his first try!! I’d hate to see the same thing if I was doing it . Oh my Lord , something else I’ll have to give a go. Will he have to do do STEEKS too ??? Have fun in Halifax, can hardly wait to see your next post about it all.

  82. Please take a picture of the back of Ken’s work as he moves along. I would love to see it.

  83. How would you ever amuse your knitterly self without Ken to inflict your will upon?

  84. Just over 48 hours until Toronto or Bust!!! I’m going to be heading to Lettuce Knit as soon as it’s open on Friday… I am so excited I’ve got butterflies!!
    Enjoy Canada!

  85. Go ahead — justify colo[u]rwork back and forth. Give me one reason that that [toothsome] sweater couldn’t be knit in the round. Gimme one.
    (Kilts are hot, though. In every possible sense.)

  86. My husband likes to tell me the story of the piper standing on a corner here in Cornwall one year, playing “Enter Sandman”.

  87. how grand is a piper??? 4 of my friend’s 9 children play bagpipes. they give concerts if requested by pseudo-aunties. it’s heaven on earth.

  88. God, I love a man who knits…just as much as I love a man who dances. It’s a huge turn on. **Did I just say that?**

  89. Yes the pipers are free range here. My nanny knits up uncle knee high argyles for when he plays bag pipes. Hows that for some serious Grandmother knitting!! Thank you for bringing the respect back to the grandmothers, mine is amazing!!
    You were great tonight. Thank you for coming to Halifax.

  90. OK, Mme. Harlot, next free-range piper you see, pop him in a box with lots of airholes and ship him to TX. [I am half-sick of lawyers, wept the Knitter of Shalott.]

  91. That’s how much YOU knit from Toronto to Halifax. The rest of us, however,….
    Ken’s little neice’s sweater is beautiful.

  92. …yeah, I’ll be needing that cardigan pattern I think. That is sooooo cute, and I happen to have a baby girl, AND I suck at colorwork, so this all seems like good excuse to start another project.

  93. Ken’s colourwork is fab – nary a bump and it’s not even off the needles! Ken, you rock!
    Gorgeous toe-up sock, and sexy ankle, Stephanie! (That IS your ankle, isn’t it, Stephanie?)
    Ah, Halifax. Ah, pipers. Favourite memory of Halifax: visiting the Citadel, walking past a piper in order to descend a stairway to the lower level. I had just gone behind him and down two or three steps when a huge gust of wind arrived and showed me, up close and personal, what Scotsmen wear under their kilts.
    …should’ve kinneared him…

  94. Ken’s knitting is gorgeous! His niece is going to have a lovely sweater.
    Enjoy Halifax – I love men in kilts. And playing the bagpipes too? One of my favourite reasons to head to the Inner Harbour in Victoria.

  95. Ah, a red sock and a pic of South Halifax, not far from my alma mater…how could I resist commenting. I covet that red sock yarn, and it might even be enough to push me over the edge into sock knitting (I’ve been too intimidated by socks to date….having just started knitting in March, and, well, having long standing issues with holding onto very small things like thin needles and thinner yarn. But I love nice red socks even more!)

  96. Surely Ken was pulling your leg about “Never doing colourwork before.” That is absolutely stunning. Can I be his niece?
    There is something very hot about a man in a kilt… okay, so of course there are exceptions, but for the most part I find it appealing.

  97. ok – so read the post and thought “STR”? and now read the comments and feel like I might be the only one in the world who doesn’t know what that means? someone, please fill me in (I’m a new – so yes, very obsessed! – sock knitter)! and don’t think too poorly of Atlanta (Georgia) knitters that I have to ask – we are VERY excited about your upcoming visit in September – I was just at Knitch today, and can confirm, we can’t wait!

  98. you were awesome tonight at the Lord Nelson! I really enjoyed hearing you speak, and hope you enjoy your very brief time in Halifax (what is the worst that they do to you if you miss your flight out in the morning? (what if you “accidentally” unplug your alarm clock/ “accidentally” of course!) You really need to do some yarning in Nova Scotia — see the sights, take in a few spinners, weavers and dyers … plus enjoy the sights and sounds (wwe have more than free range paipers … sometimes there are wild lobsters as well!

  99. Ah, bagpipes…such a comforting sound… I grew up in a small Michigan town that had a dorky carnival every summer with a parade as part of it. The parade always had a couple of pipe and drum bands (usually from Ontario, go figure), the only good part of the parade really, well, that and the fire engines. I just assumed that every parade had bagpipes and was somewhat dismayed to find out later that this wasn’t the case. It was kind of a sucky place to grow up, and I think the bagpipes may be the only thing I miss about it. I never understood why some people hate bagpipes. But I never understood why anyone liked Elvis either. Just a personal thing, I guess.
    Men in kilts? Oh, that’s sexy… (Elvis? Not sexy.)

  100. Ok… it takes me days to get that much of a sock done. I know I am not at optimum speed due to carpal tunnel and I usually knit socks at around 10 stitches per inch, but really. Are you some kind of speed demon or something?
    Beautiful sock, by the way.

  101. The STR (Socks That Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts) is breath-takingly lovely and often causes mild obsession in sock knitters. Now, I’m not a crazy person, but . . . how many stitches around is that sock? Maybe about 60? Are those 2.0 mm needles? Or 2.25? And are you going to add a gusset before the heel (and worry about breaking up the stripes) or just do a short row heel (and rely on the amazing stretchiness of that lovely slip-stitch rib to give you a great fit)? Can’t wait to see more of the Firebird.

  102. OOOOOOOOOOH Men in kilts. Makes heart go pitter patter….I love bag pipes. When ever someone in our family gets married someone always manages to come up with a piper from somewhere. It’s kind of a tradition.
    Men who knit…too cool for words.
    Enjoy Halifax. I want to go there some day.

  103. Ken’s sweater is lovely so far. I could be his niece;couldn’t I?
    About this sock club..how does one get into it?
    I enjoy reading about your knitting and other adventures. I was laughing outloud at work while reading about the spider(hair) in the shower. My co-workers are beginning to get suspicious.

  104. Ken’s colorwork is gorgeous – enough to make me slightly ill with envy. [g] And your Firebird sock is aptly named, both for the color and your speed! (I’m never gonna be that fast. But we who plug away also finish. Eventually.)
    Free range pipers? ::sigh of envy:: Man, I love bagpipes. I remember one night when still living up the street from Powell’s, some guy was playing the pipes at the MacDonald’s kitty-corner from us for a couple hours. Although when I finally caught a look at him, I saw what he was playing were the Uillean pipes. Only time I’ve ever seen someone playing those – and what a strange spot to see them! A lovely thing to hear…

  105. Wow. That sweater Ken’s knitting is almost enough to make me want to do colorwork. How utterly adorable for a little girl.
    And that sock has just decided me on which sock yarn I’m knitting up next. I don’t have any firebird, but a variagated red in my stash has been haunting me for a while.

  106. So sorry to have missed you in Halifax. Just spent 4 weeks in Nova Scotia, but had to be back to work in Indiana today. 🙁

  107. Oooo, Nova Scotia. Believe it or not, my one and only time to NS..and we did NOT get to Halifax – not on the way from St. Johns to Cape Breton Island, but the free range species up there not only plays(though fiddle seems more like the instrument there), they also all seem to be able to step dance as well, and…simultaneously. And the community halls all sprout “Ceilidgh Tonight” signs at the ends of the drives at precisely 4:30 p.m. don’t know how they do it..

  108. Ken is a better person than I. That color work is amazing for his first go at it.
    Now on to the sock. Might I inquire as to what pattern that is?

  109. I’m just glad you didn’t get too much detail of the piper’s kilt hose – I would have gotten jealous. 🙂

  110. L.O.V.E. that baby sweater. I could only aspire to do that quality of work NOW and i’ve been doing it for ages. sigh.

  111. The color is great, the piper is great and I’ll be in Halifax next month – you couldn’t have waited 35 days to travel there?!?

  112. I took the firebird sock for our weekend trip and am thrilled we’re knitting the same thing at the same time. Surprised you didn’t go with the top down method, though; think I’m a convert to toe up since the RSC experience.

  113. Thank you Stephanie, for a laughter-filled evening – and the blog-free knitters of Nova Scotia thank you as well. Including the knitter from Halifax and friend from Cape Breton (who left their DHs to enjoy themselves somewhere else at the Lord Nelson). And the blog-free knitters who were interested in the Nova Scotia dishcloth pattern – it’s from Knittng Knonsense – http://www.knittingknonsense.com/index2.html . Scroll down to People and Places. (Hint: the DW cloth is another great cloth.)
    Stephanie, you will just have to come back! For you to check out Peggy’s Cove for example – and possibly some lobster. And for those who couldn’t stay long enough to stand in both lines. Did you get to see the gorgeous scarf the fellow was knitting in red bamboo? He called it intarsia but I am thinking modular. (Did anybody see it? I would really like the pattern.)
    To end the evening, on my way home I stopped into Value Village and lucked into just over 7 balls of Rowan Designer DK Wool – which will be my introduction to knitting with Rowan. Also got 4 balls of 20% mohair; and 4 pairs of circular needles for the senior’s discounted price of $10.95 total.
    YH, thank you for bringing good karma with you.
    Janey, blogless and blog-free

  114. Okay, somebody commented above about surreptitious kinnearing to check under the kilt. My brother in law worked summers at Citadel Hill(yes, in Halifax) during university , and this actually happened to him one day when he was on sentry duty in his kilt. He was kinneared by members of a girl’s rugby team from Ontario!

  115. It’s Alexander Keith’s India Pale Ale. When last in Halifax my DH and I did the brewery tour, dorky but fun, and the IPA is wonderfully hop-py. I wish I were back in Halifax, especially if I could see you there!

  116. I hereby hand in my Knitter’s Union card. Ken’s project could only be sensibly knit back and forth. Circular would be painful suicide.
    Off to look for macrame instruction.

  117. Wow! Go Ken! It must be great to have a colourwork tutor! I love that pattern, what is it? I think the socks are great too, but socks fill me with dread. I have a pair on the needles that I started and put down. And now I don’t know how to re-start. Awesome, you guys.

  118. I haven’t tried colorwork yet, but I am getting really, really close. Is it easier to learn with a lace-sport weight yarn, or a worsted-bulky weight yarn? Just curious.

  119. Rams, petal, I think you’re taking things too hard. Back away from the macrame. Have a wee drink instead. Better yet, a not so wee drink.

  120. Who cares about the pipes. Did you see the socks? 😉
    I think ‘Kinnearing’ is just a few posts shy of making it’s way into the OED. Keep it alive!

  121. oh i’m just itchin’ to know how things went in halifax and also to find out more about that beautiful dale of norway sweater…..

  122. Wait, what colourwork tutor? I don’t think that saying, “You should buy this and knit it for your niece,” counts as a lot in the way of tutoring. When I expressed concern about carrying three colours at once, though, I have to admit that it was helpful to hear, “It’s not like you’ll be able to carry yarn in both hands anyway, so if you’re already putting down your current colour and picking up your next one, what difference does it make if there are two or three colours?” This was very true. And there’s only a colourwork border for this cardi, so I think it an entirely suitable first colourwork project (for someone not intimidated by 2.5mm needles). I don’t have the pattern book with me here in Squamish (I’m working from a photocopy) and I forgot the cable for my camera, but I’ll post the pattern number details and a pic of the reverse side when I’m back in Toronto in two weeks. Oh, and for those thinking I’m some kind of prodigy, everyone should know that I ripped back all of the colourwork when I was half-way through because I had totally messed up the pattern from the word go.

  123. Oh, how I miss Halifax! Courtesy Canadian Rail (great way to travel with little kids) we’ve enjoyed Halifax and many other locations in Nova Scotia. Lovely, lovely locale!

  124. “for those thinking I’m some kind of prodigy”
    Face it Ken. You are a colourwork prodigy. You can’t help yourself.
    Knitting colourwork flawlessly (in order to correct the disaster you had to see the disaster)is as fearless and daring as learning to hang off rock walls, nay indeed climb rock walls.
    Me? I like the flat ground, and I’m just learning to put holes in knitted things. No way its really lace yet.

  125. Ken, what mistakes are you talking about? I recall holding that piece at Knit Night for longer than was strictly polite, and I didn’t see any mistakes. Either you’re trying to make the rest of us feel not-so-inadequate here in the comments, or else I had more to drink that night than I thought.
    Um. Don’t answer that last bit.

  126. You are coming to Atlanta!!!! Yes, yes, yes! Where? When? Our after school knitting group will be there even if we all have to get subs to cover classes -thank you!

  127. ***Totally off topic post alert***
    I don’t have an address for That Laurie, so I have to thank her here.
    That Laurie,
    Jen gave me the yarn you sent yesterday. Thank you! I went to my parents’ house last night and had a slice of the bread you made and some of the jam your mom made. Yummm. And then she gave me the gorgeous Fleece Artist sock yarn. I can’t wait to cast on for it.
    Just so you know, Dan came clean about how much he ‘helped’ pick it out. His response was, “Um, yeah. I think I said you like red maybe.”
    So, have fun getting ready to teach classes and procrastinating on the preparation. I’ll be enjoying my new sock yarn.
    ~Denice
    *and your daughter made it to my parents’ house safely last night.

  128. me again. i had a thought/request i wanted to mention…. over on annypurl’s blog (also very enjoyable!) i notice she has an area where you can view all her projects, both completed and in progress. i would find it very inspiring, steph, if you could do the same thing. (if it’s not a big chore, that is. i really don’t have a clue what it takes to put together a blog.) anyhow, if there were a link to a slideshow of all your fine work,i (and i assume others) would enjoy viewing that. what does everyone (& you) think?

  129. Yay for Halifax! Thanks for posting a pic of home (I used to work with a bevy of guys in kilts on Citadel Hill; something about the knees). And yay for the weather being stable while you were there. I hear rumours there was even sun.

  130. *sighs* I wish I could go to Halifax. It’s been.. 14 years since I was last out east (and though I live in Alberta, out east or ‘back home’ is always Nova Scotia since that’s where my Mom is from).
    Mom’s going back that way in about 3 weeks, I get to stay home.
    Have fun! Eat some lobster!

  131. if one looks in the archives one may view
    past knitting and delightful writing
    i am knitting for the red scarf projevt
    ofa here in the america and i wentto the
    october 2006 posting found sthepnies
    easy pattern and photo its nice looking
    and looks the same front and back
    thank you helps make the project a success
    what kind of camera or cameras does ken use

  132. I really enjoyed your talk on Tuesday, even if I couldn’t bring myself to say more than a couple of words when you signed my book, which I’ve also quite enjoyed, btw. I think it was several months before I started talking much at KOL, I’m sure there are still people there who have never even heard my voice… so it’s not just you. I’m honestly amazed I managed to say anything at all, thank-you for carrying the conversation, I’m really quite pleased that I managed to squeak out more than just ‘hi’. You’re very good at putting people at ease. Thank-you.

  133. Hating Ken right now. Really, really hating Ken. Look at that colorwork!! It’s so even!! It’s so pretty! It’s so smooth!! It’s his FIRST??? WAAAAHHHHH!
    Ken sucks. 😀
    Seriously, dude, great job!! It’s so beautiful!! You definitely have a talent for stranded work. That’s just amazing.

  134. Wow! You’re right. Ken knows how to do colorwork! Amazing…
    And your sock is gorgeous!
    I’m soooo envious – I wish I were in Halifax right now.
    (((hugs)))

  135. I apologize for the non sequitur, but for those who wished to see the pattern for Downtown’s toe-socks which appeared in the post on August 3, the pattern will be posted here: http://downtownknits.blogspot.com. The pattern is not posted quite yet, but will be either tonight or tomorrow. Okay, back to this post. Carry on.

  136. I simply LOVE Ken’s project. I do hope that you get the chance to post it because I must make one! So cute! I saw a darling smocked dress in a LYS the other day that had a very similar piece of colorwork along the bottom hem. SO CUTE! I think that the ovaries are talkin’, but you can’t deny that it’s cute. 🙂

  137. Oh, that color work is beautiful! It reminds me forcefully of some cross stitch patterns I had in my queue before I put that craft aside. It makes me think some pillow cases and a bit of stitching might just be in order! LOL BTW – your sock is no slouch either. Looking good! =-D

  138. oh when you find out the information on the dale of norway cardigan, please tell us! my friend is having two girl twins and that pattern looks amazing!

  139. Ken – That colorwork is so-o-o-o pretty! The idea of colorwork has been simmering in my brain for 2 or 3 weeks. You’ve inspired me to give it a try.

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