Chitin - It puts the crunch in bugs

That's what my high school biology teacher, Mrs. Catron, used to say. She was one of my favorite teachers, for that sense of nerd humor, and her ability to say things like that to help us remember things.

For those who don't know, Tofutsies is a sock yarn that is a blend of wool, soy fiber, cotton and chitin. The tag has a little picture of a crab, saying "chitin is fiber from crab and shrimp shells" and stating it as "naturally antibacterial". Anyone who remembers high school biology, or especially, high school biology with Mrs. Catron, remembers the vague feeling of disgust when learning or realizing that crabs are basically giant spiders living in the ocean. So, if you did not know that, think about it next time at the casino buffet when you are gobbling down the meaty legs of monster sea spiders. Yum!

I thought I'd show an update of the Tofutsies socks:




I just started decreasing the gusset last night while watching "Maverick". Funny movie, btw. Here is my foot modeling the sock, and my knitting assistant, Ginger, trying to clean her teeth with the knitting needle:


And one more picture, this one having nothing to do with knitting. We went hiking yesterday, and this is the view from the foothillls:



I really do love living in a place where hiking like this is, quite literally, in your backyard.

F.O.s fo yo mo fos

I've been up to a lot of knitting but not much blogging. I started this blog in grad school as a form of procrastination, and since I have finished school, I've had zero desire to blog. I realized that the blog depended on the stress of school in a sick symbiotic relationship, like those little birds that eat the crap out of crocodiles' teeth. So, a friend recently mentioned that the blog could be a good way to make myself photograph and document my knitting, and she's right. I knit four beautiful scarves for my bridesmaids, and didn't photograph them! Argh! If any of you ladies read this blog, send me a photo of your scarf, and I'll put in on the blog.

The first thing I'd like to share is a pair of Jaywalkers, in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, color Bittersweet:


The colorway didn't come out too symmetrical in the pair, but I really don't give a rat's ass. I finished these earlier this summer. Pre-honeymoon, I believe.

So, on the honeymoon, I mentioned I went to three yarn stores. One of my favorites, a small shop in Pagosa Springs called the Edelwiess Needlework Chalet, had Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb 40% off. WOW! So, naturally, I had to buy all four skeins and knit a Clapotis, the famous shawl from Knitty:


I've been waiting to knit this when I could find a good deal on L'nL, because I have seen it knit in other yarns (wool, acrylic, etc.), and it just never has the drape of the wool/silk blend. It is still too warm here to wear it, but soon I will have pics of the Clapotis in action!

At my bridal shower, a dear friend gave me the best gift ever- a knitting book entitled "Never Knit Your Man a Sweater Unless You've Got the Ring", which is all patterns for guys, and some gorgeous Opal cotton/wool self-patterning sock yarn. The colorway of the yarn is based on the paintings of some obscure Austrian architect/artist whose name escapes me. I just finished the socks last week:


I am IN LOVE with self-patterning yarn!!! It is the best for socks if you still want to knit but just finished a Clapotis that took a lot of thought to not screw up the pattern.

And last of all, but certainly not least, I have started more socks, this time in some Tofutsies that I got at the Edelweiss Needlework Chalet:



I'm pretty impressed with this yarn thus far. I am just making a simple pair of 4x2 ribbed socks, thought they'd look good with both clogs and hiking boots.

I'm back, baby!