DPTS or Circulars, That...is the Question!

Today was a hell of a rainy day in Boston, and to celebrate I decided to take the children out to visit a yarn store in downtown Boston, called Windsor Button. Before I continue with my very philosophical debate on the merits of either types of needles, I want to say a few words about this store. The store is huge, and has a great selection of yarns, from the simplest cottons, to the most luxurious silks, like sea silk, from the thinnest lace yarn to the thickest yarns, etc... They have enough of the yarns in each colorway to knit a big project, and I have to say they have a wonderful color selection. They also carry zillions of buttons. The part that delighted my children the most was playing in the huge button box, shuffling the millions of buttons. It turned out to be a little less fun, when they dropped many of them on the ground! The staff was great, even at that moment!

I did not buy yarn, because I was afraid the house might sink into the ground if I added just a single ball of yarn to my collection! Rather, as I was browsing the needles, I decided to purchase short bamboo dpts in size 1. Me buying dpts? Not only did I buy them while sober, I actually thought that it would be cool to try them out. So I rushed the kids to the nearest fast food restaurant, and transfered my sock to the dpts. By the time I was done with my bigmac, the sock was back on the circulars, and the dpts were returned to their package. It is always a good idea to carry toothpicks in your bag, isn't it?

I know the great Yarn Harlot hates knitting socks on circulars but there are many advantages to them. Nothing pokes you while you knit. I hate being poked. It reminds me way too much of when my violin teacher used to poke me with a knitting needle to punish me for wrong movements! With the circulars you only have two potential ladder spots. Not being a firefighter, I have no need for ladders. With the circulars, you do not drop 10 stitches at once when your lovely children decide to suddenly hug you before you even have time to yell wait, and put your knitting down. If I were Kung Fu I might love the thought of being able to break wood sticks at the touch of my fingers, but since I am not, I have no particular fancy for that hobby! Can you tell I am slightly partial to circulars?


As it was still raining, and the sock, the circulars and I needed some quality time after the dpt fiasco, we decided to make a stop at Borders. The children grabbed their favorite books, while I apologized profusely to the circulars, promised eternal allegiance to them, and begged them to treat me and the sock nicely!

Petaluma Knitters Rock!

If you are in the Petaluma area, and love to knit, why not join the yayayarndivas? They are a fun group of people that meet at the Aqus Cafe on Saturdays. They knit at all levels, and most of all they have a great time. You can find info on their group at yayayarndivas.meetup.com. I even joined the group, which on my part is a little bit of dreaming since I live in Boston. A few thousand miles, sheesh, a detail, as Lucy would say! Yayayarndivas, I will be with you in spirit!

Knit and Make a Difference for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children...

*****Note: Scroll down for mini sock pattern*****

Today, I want to write about something very special, and dear to my heart, and I am going to ask you for your knitting help.
When I was still in California, and working in my yarn shop, I met a wonderful woman named Kathleen, and her two daughters Victoria and Gabriella. Knitting brought us together, and then we became friends.

Kathleen suffers from progressive hearing loss, and because the condition can be inherited at birth, Kathleen had both girls tested, and the youngest one, Gabriella, tested positive. Kathleen has been a wonderful mother, creating the most supportive environment for her daughters, and working with school officials, and healthcare organizations to ensure her youngest daughter' s needs were met. In the process, she realized that resources for families of Deaf or Hard of Hearing children were few and far apart, and she decided to form a non-profit, DHH C.A.R.E.. She writes: " Being in the mainstream school like many hearing impaired kids they get scattered. Then there is no opportunities for them to get together for playdays and shared activities. Girls Scouts, Boy Scouts, soccer, softball. All these activities that may seem simple would be great for these Deaf and Hard of Hearing kids. Along with these things we would provide services to family members. What their rights are as a parent with a deaf child. Getting ASL (American Sign Language) classes, getting help with going to the dentist, doctors office and many other services. Raising a hearing child is VERY different from a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. I know from experience." (Kathleen's brand new blog is http://kwc-adventures.blogspot.com/).

Kathleen and I were talking about fund-raising for her non-profit, and we thought that you could help. All you need is left over sock yarn, your favorite needles, and you can even help if you have second sock syndrome! You do not have to knit matching socks, just unique little ones! Kathleen needs you to knit miniature socks, and send them to her or to me. She and I will apply your donated miniature socks to greeting cards, and raise funds for the children, by selling the cards through yarn stores.
Just think how easy it is to help, and how, one more time, knitters can make a difference in the world! Kathleen, and all the children and their families, who thanks to you will receive the support they need, thank you for your help with knitting the socks, and passing the message along to as many sock knitters as possible.

I designed this simple top down pattern for the project. I am assuming you already know how to knit socks, but if you do not, or need more detailed guidelines, let me know through the comments.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Materials: left over sock yarn, circular or dpts size1
Gauge: 9 stitches/inch

Cast on 20 stitches, and divide stitches over your needles. Join the round. Knit for 1/2 inch in K1P1 rib, continue in stockinette stitch until the leg including the rib section is 1 1/2 inch long.

Heel flap: Work back and forth in stockinette stitch on 10 stitches only, while slipping the first stitch of every row as if to purl. Continue until heel flap is 1/2 inch long.

Heel Turn:
R1: slip 1 as if to purl knit 5, ssk, k1, turn
R2: Slip 1 as if to purl, purl 4, p2tog, p1 turn
R3: slip 1 as if to purl, knit 4, ssk, turn
R4: Slip 1 as if to purl, purl till last 2 stitches, p2tog, turn

Knit one row.

Pick up and knit 1 stitch in every slipped stitch
along heel flap, pick up 1 stitch at the intersection
of the heel flap and the instep, knit the instep
stitches pick up 1 stitch at the intersection
of the instep and heel flap, pick up and knit one
stitch per slipped stitch along the heel flap, knit
the 1/2 of the heel stitches. Your sock should be in profile, with either half of the stitches of each circular needle, or split over three dpts, and the beginning of the round should be at the center of the heel flap.

Shaping the gusset with circulars:
Place markers to separate the 10 gusset stitches ( knit till 5 sts are left on needle one, PM. On needle 2, knit 5, PM, knit to end.)
R1: knit to 3 stitches of the marker, K2tog, k1, slip
marker, knit to end of needle, go to second needle,
knit to the marker, slip marker, K1, SSK, knit to the
end of the needle.
R2:Knit
Repeat R1, and R2 until you are back to your original
number of stitches which is 20.

Shaping the gusset for dpts:
Do the above decreases at the end of needle one, and at the beginning of needle 3, alternating decrease round and even round.

Foot: Continue to knit in stockinette stitch without decreasing until the foot
of the sock is 1 3/4 inch.

Toe decreases for circulars:
R1: knit to 3 stitches of the marker, k2tog, k1, slip
marker, k1, ssk, knit to the end of the needle, repeat
the same decreases on the second needle.
R2: knit.
Repeat row 1 and 2 until 4 stitches are left on each
needle. Break yarn and with a darning needle gather
the remaining stitches.

Toe decreases for dpts:
Rename needles: With instep stitches on needle 1, 5 sole stitches on needle 2, and 5 sole stitches on needle 3.
R1:
needle 1: K1, ssk, knit to last three, k2tog, k1
Needle 2: K1, ssk, knit to end
Needle 3: knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
R2: knit
Proceed as for circular needles method.

Weave in ends.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Send your finished socks to:
KWC c/o Sonia
9760 Brooks
> Road S. Windsor CA 95492

Traditions or Destiny...

Tradition, la-la-la-la-la---la--- as Topol would say. Destiny, destiny, no escaping destiny, as Dr. Frankenstein would scream.

In the Woody Allen fashion, if this were a movie, I would insert the inevitable flashback. I would appear as a child, surrounded by my father and my mother's family. The ones discussing the making of the sweaters, the others the selling of the sweaters, while my mother would pat me on the head, telling me I would not knit sweaters or sell them, because I was going to go to school. So there I was, dressed in an orange and yellow knit sweater, thinking that I could escape the power of the ancestors. Mind you, my mother's point of view, and rejection of all items knit, or made of wool could be understandable.

You see, my family miraculously survived the war in France, and like many other Jews, it took time for them to rebuild their lives. When my mother was about 6 years old, they decided they could go with the children on vacation. So they went to the northern beaches. Being Mediterranean Jews, North meant cold. So my grandmother got some nice old-fashioned wool, and knit the children some warm bathing suits. Imagine, my mother and her younger cousins, scratching constantly, because the wool was shall we say of the vintage sort, with the women of the family, blindly blaming the sand for the itchiness. They sent the kids swimming to get rid of the "dirt", and I think this is when my mother swore never to knit, and that she would break the traditions. The wool drank the water, half emptying the sea, and got so heavy that when the children got out of the water, the bathing suits had streched all the way to their knees. I can hear the voice of my grandmother "What did you do to the bathing suits, such good bathing suits, no more playing roughly in the water! Have respect for what you own..."

I did learn to knit. Whenever my mother would leave me with the ancestors, the knitting needles would magically appear, as well as the balls of yellow and orange. " Do you want Mamie to teach you how to knit?" So I learned. I developped sort of a double life, bookworm at home, knitter at my grandmother's. Even though my fate remained uncertain for a while,
like Dr. Frankenstein, traditions pulled me back in, but this time completely. I may not stand next to my knitted sock, yelling "it's alive, it's alive!", but I do run around the house, parading it, and showing it to every person I can, saying it's a...mazing, no?!

Between Boston and le Mont St Michel

Good morning Boston! This is what I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs in the morning on my deck as I take in my first breath of fresh air, and look in the distance. See, I stand on the deck in my pj's because I need a little help with the getting up at 5 routine. So one single breath of that CRIIIIISP morning air, and I am awake. Ok it is beautiful too, and it is worth the cold air, and I love the thought of greeting Boston every morning. Boston is not just a proper noun, it is alive. It has its own heartbeat made up of the thousands of hearts that beat in it, its thought is the thoughts of its people combined. Today, I know Boston will smile, because the sun has come back. Boston will smile at the Crocus that are starting to pop up everywhere like little colorful Jack in the box pantins. The city will laugh like thousands of children running and playing in the gardens and playgrounds, "she" will enjoy its lunch in the Boston Commons listening to the songs of the birds. Today, Boston will wear all its jewels, sparkling diamonds, glistening gold, deep saphires, all this over a simple garb, but I know that in a few weeks she will put on the most beautiful dress of emerald spring, adorned with jewels of pink tourmaline, citrine, peridot, ruby, amethist, garnet...
In a few weeks I'll take the sock and the children to the park. The children will play, run and scream, while the sock and I will sit together and enjoy the air, and the sun.
Actually, we may give it a try today, I feel like taking the children to the Boston Commons after school, and letting them run around duck pond and feed the ducks, while the lace sock and I make some progress in our work. The ostrich feather pattern is so much fun that I had a hard time stopping last night to prepare dinner, which meant that it was omelette night! But it was a fantastic omelette. I mean you really have to try this. The taste was just like the one of the mere Poulard's omelettes on the Mont St Michel.

So for now Omelette a la Mere Poulard:

You will need 2 eggs per person. Break the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Add a pinch of salt to the whites, and beat them into stiff peaks. Beat the yolks slightly. Pour the mixed yolks over the whites, and with a fork, gently incorporate the yolks into the whites, until the two are blended. You should have something like a light yellow egg mousse.
Take a non-stick pan, butter the pan evenly, warm it up, and transfer the egg mousse to the pan, spread it into the pan. Cook on a medium to low fire. Once the bottom is cooked, insert a spatula under the omelette, and fold one half over, continue cooking it a little, then turn it over. Et voila! You now are ready to enjoy "Une Omelette a la Mere Poulard". Serve immediately, with some delicious crusty French baguette, and some Edith Piaf, and I promise that if you close your eyes, you might even believe that you are in France on the Mont St Michel!

Let me know what you think.

Life Goes on...

There are a few reasons why I have not written in a few days. Some are more futile than others, but in general, it turned out to be a very busy, intense week.
First a futile reason: I have not been able to get up at 5 a.m. for a few days, which has meant that I missed the hour of calm before the troups wake up, and I write better when things are quiet. I don't have the endless chain of little complaints ranging from I'm still hungry, to, he took it, and he won't give it back, or I can't find my socks. I was just so tired. Today, it seems that I am back on track.
Then there are less futile reasons, and less futile reasons can sometimes be hard to talk about. One of our family members has been sick with anorexia for a while. This last weekend was a very hard one. I thought I did not have the strength to help any more because it was getting so hard. I don't know if you believe in God. I believe in a universal God, and I prayed so hard that he would give me the strength to continue, and that he would help my loved one make the decision to recover. Miraculously on Sunday, my loved one made the decision to heal, and work day by day at getting better, at accepting feelings, and oneself.
Anorexia is not an easy thing to talk about, and even though it touches at least 1% of the female population, you rarely hear about it from people. How often does someone tell you they have a problem with anorexia, or that a family member does? I always knew that there were socio-cultural causes for anorexia, but I never really realized how strong these pressures were. First, there is school, where they tell you every day of your life, that you should eat healthy foods only, (while serving you the worst foods for lunch) and exercise to stay thin, where some kids now receive "fat" report cards, and are labeled fat. What does that do to the child who receives the card, and to the others who are scared of getting the card? There is fashion. Each time, you go to the mall, you see these skeletal mannequins in the window displays. Trying the clothes on, is only a reminder of how you do not look like them, and should you not since they are the display? There are the movies, in which the beautiful sickly thin actress gets the handome good guy. There are the ads everywhere, eat this and you'll loose weight. The list goes on and on.
When you go food shopping, and you are waiting in line, the magazines there, are nothing but an endless reference to body image, and weight loss. The titles you read while you wait are: lose 10 pounds quick, how to lose your tummy, 10 wonder foods that will make you lose weight, 10 exercises for flatter abs. Then there are the the tabloids, who bombard you with their pictures of skeletal actresses, and the "unfortunate" ones who are comfortable in their average bodies.
Considering that women visit the supermarket at least once a week, if not more, and that they are often accompanied by their children, we can say that women, and children are bombarded with the message that FAT IS BAD, THIN IS GOOD, and TOO THIN IS EVEN BETTER.
Lately, whenever I go to the store, while I am waiting for the cashier to ring me up, I have started turning the magazines to not have to stare at the negative messages. We do not have to sit there and continue to let messages like these be pushed upon us. When I turn the magazine, I say no to the messages, I show my children that they too can say no, and maybe I am helping a few women in line say no.
I know all this is very serious, but it feels good to write about it, and share it with you.

Eventhough I did not write much, I did quite a bit of knitting over the last few days. I finished Paul-Hugo's birthday socks, and started on Alexandra's. I am knitting her socks with a luscious hank of Fleece Artist in a red poppy color, Alexandra's favorite color. It is a lace sock, with an ostrich feather pattern. I am designing it as I knit. I turned the heel of the first sock last night. I probably will knit quite a bit today, during and after our school, because the New England weather has once again tricked us! Spring was here to stay, temperatures in the 60s, sunny, lovely breeze, and then slam, 30s, snow, and sleet. You know how they say you can vote with your wallet if you like or dislike a store, well I am voting with my feet, and they will stay dry and somewhat warm at home in a strong show of disapproval for the current change in weather!

The last thing, but by no means the least important one, is that I am starting a new business, and it has everything to do with knitting. I am not quite ready to give you all the details as I am still in the preparatory stages, but should be ready within a few weeks. All I can say at the moment is that I thank all of you who wrote me e-mails asking me when and what I was going to do now that I was in Boston. You kept me thinking, and inspired me to start something new.

You know, all in all these last few days have been great. We have had birthdays, anniversaries, healing, and starting a new business. This is why I love writing, it makes me see the positive in everything around me. Whoever invented writing is way up there with the one who invented socks!

Happy Birthday Paul-Hugo

Happy Birthday to my big boy Paul-Hugo who is now 11 years old. 11 years ago you were born on April 2 at 8:23 p.m. 11 years ago and every year since, you have been my marriage anniversary present. 11 years ago was a very special day. Rolfe and I woke up that morning, and wondered as you were a little late wether this was the day. We decided Rolfe should go to work as usual. I walked Alexandra to school all the way down he hill. I was about to go do laundry at the laudromat,when you gave me a little warning sign that this was the day that you and I would look into eachother's eyes for the first time. I felt another contraction, mild, and then another 15 minutes later, and then another. I called Rolfe back. He came home, picked up Alexandra from school, and dropped her with our best friends Kevin and Larry. Contractions were now coming closer, but we waited a little longer. We went for a long walk around Alamo Square, and at about 4, decided it was time to go. We did not have a car at the time, so we walked from Alamo Aquare to Kaiser on Geary, by the time we got there the contractions were well established, and you and I got to work. I wanted you to come on April 2 because it would be my marriage anniversary gift to Rolfe, and I think you wanted it as much as I did, and at 8:23 p.m. I got to hold you in my arms and the world stopped for a moment while Daddy and I stared into your eyes. Happy birthday, my love.