Building Skills

My weekly Build Your Skills class at Village Yarn & Tea with Rebecca DeGaris (here, coaching Gina) is for me like membership in a club. The membership grows and the attendance shifts according to schedules of work, family, vacations, and so on - it's the thread of spirit that keeps me week after week. I joined the class when I returned to serious knitting after periodic long breaks from the skill (sport?), and my techniques have been improving ever since. The class, wonderful "fiber friends", and visiting stores and websites give me insights and inspiration - I'm in real awe of my good fortune when I stop to think about it.

So let me tell you about some members!

Joanne was in the class when I signed up in March of 2007, and she, like me, shows up for "un-knitting class" even on the weeks there are no classes scheduled. Joanne has never seen a pattern she doesn't have a great idea to alter, and she's courageous about just doing it. She teaches needle felting at Village and has a gift for charming whimsy, an eye for lively color, and the good-natured generosity to share her creative ideas with us every week. I think the colorful pullover she's working on is like looking at a Monet pond.

Charlie is a knitter for whom no project is daunting. She knitted afghans before joining the class, then her first project was the February lady sweater. It was beautifully done, and she promptly gave it to a family member who admired it. She next knit an Un-pattern top-down, long-sleeved, v-neck - she still has that one as far as I know. Now Charlie is working on a beaded lace shawl of tencel yarn in darker Monet tones. She has experimented with lifelines and markers, including some frogging to begin again, after identifying a mistake in the pattern she is making beautiful progress and we're waiting to see what she will take on next.

Gina found herself knitting dozens of hats for each student in her pre-school, so she decided to expand her knitting skills. Her first adult-size project is the February Lady sweater, and she has patiently learned to purl, count stitches, frog when there are errors, and she is working on the lace portion. When she was nervous about knitting lace, she decided to do a lace swatch. Then a lace scarf. Then the lace scarf over again. Turns out she loves knitting lace. It's going to be a lovely sweater.This serious expression hides Kathie's fun-loving and adventurous nature, and her laughter rings throughout the store frequently during class. She often brings out of stock items from the toy store where she works and gives them to Gina for her pre-school. Kathie is learning about matching patterns with yarn, and is knitting a classic T in a soft charcoal yarn, and has chosen some sock patterns to become adept on two circular needles next.Terry has been knitting Cat Bordhi socks from her own handspun yarn. The yarns are beautiful - she's quite a skilled spinner - and she likes the way the swirl of the sock design fits her tiny feet (she was previously a shoe model at Nordstrom). Terry's always up on the newest knitting accessories and is here with her travel pack. She's now working on a shimmering summer shawl knit from yarn she had in her stash - she's preparing for a trip with her husband.
Joelle is a quietly "monogamous knitter" - committed to one project at a time. She decided on her first stranded project and ended up with a beautiful Selbu modern hat - it made me want to knit one too! Recently, she's had fun knitting this beautiful baby cardigan for a new granddaughter - she chooses beautiful, elegant colors, even for babies! Marguerite has been doing a lot of traveling and recently had foot surgery, and she comes to class when she can. She likes to knit gift projects - this scarf is from cashmere yarn - she has lucky family and friends!

And me? I'll be sharing my recent creations and triumphs next time, along with the latest movies and books I've enjoyed. The yard has been taking large chunks of time, and I'm picking up my Adirondack chair today so I can sit outside with my knitting through the summer.

As for my class/club, there will be new folks coming in and some of our current members will need to take time away. The constant is the inspiration, the sharing, and the learning of new-to-us techniques and experiences.

We're so lucky to be in the Pacific Northwest where we have so many options to feed our knitting passion!

Warmth and joy

The hints of spring are tantalizing after so much damp cold and grey this winter. The thrill I feel at hearing birds singing when I head out to work in the morning and the joy of seeing early and late light on the flower buds are sweet distractions from the continuing rain and still chilly temperatures.

Blooming forsythia shrubs and blossoming trees remind me of the announcement of spring at my childhood home each year. A tour around my yard shows our magnificent Magnolia tree, some volunteer flat-leaf parsley, primroses, the prolific camelia and euphorbia, pungent winter Daphne blossoms, the last of our winter crop of carrots and leeks, and the rebirth of chives from Naomi. I decided not to show any of the much-too-healthy weeds.

I feel like a spring bud right along with the flowers, shrubs and trees - full of possibilities! My mind is sparking in several catagories, from gardening, cooking and reading, to music and movies, to sewing and knitting. I'll choose a sampling:

Several of my favorite authors are releasing books this season (and hopefully will come on a book tour!). I recently met a new author: Orangette's Molly Wizenberg (A Homemade Life). I love her book, her blog and her approach to food! I baked her French Yogurt cake for Easter dessert, and we all loved its humble appeal. She is charming and thoughtful and open and has much more to share with the world, I'm guessing. Her stories inspire me to think and write about things in a new way - such a joyful perspective! And George is looking forward to pizza at her husband's new restaurant, opening next month!

Joyful is how I felt watching Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. My co-worker, Terry, sent it to me on e-mail and it was the first thing I saw when I sat down at work one day this week. I was and continue to be completely moved by what I saw and heard from her and from the judges. While I don't know the facts of this woman's life, I've been told that she cared for her mother until her recent death, and is now in a position to reach for whatever the rest of her life holds. I hope her guardian angel will help to avoid victimization by the sort of people who would take everything from someone who trusts. I love that the world is so delighted with her talent - I know I enjoyed seeing my expectations from her behavior and physical appearance dashed. I somehow feel hopeful that people who don't wear their abilities in the world standard of beauty can still have such beauty inside, such as a voice like that.

Joyful also describes watching the scene to Julie Andrews' singing surprise in the Antwerp train station - I'd love to be present for something so unexpected and uplifting. What a gift for those lucky folks! Terry sent me this one too!

Back to authors, Alexander McCall Smith is due back in Seattle at the end of April and I'm listening to The Good Husband of Zebra Drive in anticipation of the release of the next book in that series. I'm loving The No. 1 Ladies Detectivie Agency series on HBO - it's astonishing how near it is to my imagined characterizations from reading and listening to the audiobooks. This series will certainly be added to my list of knitting movies when it is released on DVD.

And Laurie R. King's next installment in her Mary Russell series is due out on April 28: The Language of Bees. I haven't seen her scheduled in Seattle yet, but am counting on it. My friend, Claudia, called me while she was reading her first Laurie King book (The Beekeeper's Apprentice). She said that she felt terribly guilty because she was so into the book that she didn't want to sleep, eat, or talk with anyone because she didn't want to stop reading. She went on to say, "This woman is a genious!" I think so too, and every new book re-confirms that belief.

Oh, I mentioned knitting movies, didn't I? I began with a list of a dozen last November - to clarify, they are not movies ABOUT knitting, they are movies one can watch WHILE knitting. And here are my next few titles, in no particular order:

• Green Card
• Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Bottle Shock
• Girl in the Cafe
• Truly, Madly, Deeply
• Saint Ralph
• Waitress
• The Illusionist*
• The Prestige*
• Benny & Joon
• Chocolat
• The Wedding Singer

*I admit that I have not seen these two, so am trusting the guidance of my friends. I tried Penelope Cruz's Volver last weekend - with the subtitles, no knitting was going on, but it was completely worth seeing! This weekend, I have Slumdog Millionaire, The Namesake, and La Vie en Rose, so I'll let you know whether I knit successfully through them.

Adding to my sunny frame of mind is the completion of three projects in March: my Comfort&Joy socks, then George's sweater, AND Cindy's Melody's Shawl. Here, Cindy is trying it out during our outing at Molbak's. Cindy is my movie aficionado friend, so she's a good fit for today's post. She spends part of her time in Phoenix, Arizona, so she says the shawl will be the perfect accessory for evenings there and recovery from hot flashes here.

Instead of immediately going back to works in progress, I picked up my pink Knit for the Cure sock yarn and started the Nutkin sock. And frogged when the gauge resulted in a very small sock. Increased the number of stitches and tried again... still too small. So the sock is now on US0 needles, and 78 stitches around in the Twin Rib stitch pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. This delicate Trekking Sport yarn is actually creating a hearty, hardy sock. I'm now thinking that if I'd stayed on US1 needles, it would actually look sort of lacey. But warm is good too, and I have a couple of sock yarns left to try lacey. Like over 50. But we won't talk about that right now.

George's Sweater

I've talked a bit about George's sweater. I've been working on it for some time, although, in fairness, I have not concentrated all my efforts on it while also knitting a couple of wraps, my smokering and a pair of socks, and attending Madrona. Last year I was on a frantic search for the vintage Rowan DK Marl yarn in the Buttercream colorway to knit Rebecca's Sock Monkey Sweater for myself. When I found my yarn, the same seller had 15 skeins of the Fudge colorway, so I bought it to knit a sweater for George. I didn't realize his would come before mine...

Knowing I would be using Karen Alfke's Unpattern with raglan sleeves, I measured George's favorite Pendleton sweater as the example, and measured some parts of him because of the sweater's extra long arms and body length (he buys XL in order to fit body builder shoulders and arms). My swatch provided the gauge for back and forth knitting on US5 down to the front center until I switched to knitting in the round, then the sweater became a swatch (in other words, a period of knitting and re-knitting) until I identified that I had to go up two needle sizes to US7 in order to have the same gauge.

The neckline was the big unknown because he doesn't like his neck to feel confined in any way. I had always planned a shawl collar of some sort, and wasn't clear in my mind about the look I wanted. I was absolutely clear that I didn't want the standard pick up around the neck and knit out with a rib stitch. I didn't want that horizontal look for this sweater. (George said he didn't care, he just wanted it finished.)

I considered a shawl collar squared like a wide henley in the center front, or in a V, then ultimately decided on a combination with a 16 stitch bridge across the bottom of the V. That enabled me to finish the body of the sweater and think about the collar later. I looked at books, patterns, photos, and finally saw what I wanted in my own wardrobe - a sweatshirt from Target had the collar idea I was after! I also saw the look I wanted in several of Elsebeth Lavold's designs at the Nordic Heritage Museum, and as luck would have it, in a book I have of her designs. Next was how to do it. I enlisted guidance from skilled friends; showing them my dilemma and hearing something about short rows.

I was focused on wanting to pick up the neckline as I knit the collar, and hadn't really taken the issue of fullness around the neck into account. I finally picked up the first 16 stitches and began to knit. I tried a couple of different stitches and settled quickly on the 2x2 rib to echo the purl darts at the bottom edge. Picking up the neckline 1 for 1 gave the look I wanted but was v-e-r-y s-l-o-w and tedious, so I decided to pick up the 16 stitches then knit the entire collar separately to sew in afterwards. Experiments (I knit and tore out the collar beginning at least a dozen times) with how often to increase led me to settle on 1 stitch every other row, a make-one two stitches in from the neckline. After having an "aha" moment of realization about how shortrows could be used (I, and everyone who talked with me about them, didn't realize how vague my understanding of shortrows was), then getting a look at a diagram of how to plan shortrow fullness in Principles of Knitting, I finally used some graph paper and inserted a long and short shortrow every 8 rows. I like the finished collar even better than I had planned, and George is thrilled.

Although I still have the finishing to do: the final 12 inches of collar to knit, sewing it in, the grafting to do in the center back, and the blocking, I'm already mentally reviewing the entire project. My afterthoughts on this sweater are that I clearly have some design impulses, and my inclination is not to draw things out. I balk at documenting the steps I've taken with this sweater, yet this is a collar design I believe I will want to use again. Since my memory can be limited about some things, it's worth changing my habits. The good news is that I have not settled for less, and have stubbornly waited (trying George's patience terribly) until the look and construction are what I envisioned. Especially good is that I have the resources, not only in print, but in talented, creative and exacting friends who are patient enough to nudge me through new-to-me steps of the design process.

Afterglow...

Last month was the second time I attended the Madrona Fiber fest - on the 10th anniversary of the event - and I'm still enjoying the aftereffects of new confidence and inspiration. Hearing Suzanne and Cornie reminisce and get misty about the early days was a treat and I felt somehow included by hearing the stories, even though I missed the first eight years when I wasn't knitting much. I can imagine the struggle to keep the size of the retreat manageable even while they strive to include as many knitters as want to be there, and am thankful that it is such an accessible feast of talent, fiber, meeting places, and old and new friends. I know I'm lucky to have been there!

There are several keys to the maximum enjoyment for me, the first, being able to spend as much time as possible with my knitting circle of friends, second, taking the entire weekend, from Wednesday evening to Sunday to bask in every aspect of knitting, and third to just be with so many intrepid souls who take the time and put in the effort to learn and try new things in the fiber world.

Naomi thought to ask for the two rooms with seven people (Naomi, Ellen, Jen and Amy with Melinda, Joni O and me next door) to adjoin, so the knitting energy filled the air even after classes, shopping and the evening events. We ate some wonderful food and the restaurants welcomed the knitters. It was fun to see spinning wheels, knitting bags and market purchases going up and down the elevators. Here are Naomi and Amy, sort of letting me photograph them knitting, and Jen in her own cardigan design knit with Kauni yarn.

My favorite elevator moment was when I was in an elevator with Vivian Hoxbro and another woman entered and said to Vivian "Oh, is that a Vivian Hoxbro sweater?" Vivian graciously answered that it was and the woman suddenly looked at her face and said "Of course it is - I didn't even see who you were because I was looking at the wonderful sweater!" And we all had a laugh because that's how it is! Many of us were looking at the sweaters before seeing the wearer. And what sweaters there were! I don't know every design (yet!), but admired many February Lady sweaters in all variations of detail and yarns, Kaunis, several of the Solveig Wild Apples and all manner of socks, shawls, scarves, bags... well, you get the idea.

Once again, sitting outside the Marketplace to knit brought opportunities to talk with folks. Rebecca came down on Saturday with her spinning wheel, and two Village Build Your Skills class members (Charlie and Randi) stopped in to shop. I went to Janine's Fair Isle reunion and was inspired by ideas and swatches from more of her color analysis students to start another stranded project. Naomi helped me get started on the lace border of a smokering knit from the beautiful qiviut-merino yarn she gifted me - I didn't really talk much while I concentrated on the lace pattern.

I was fortunate to take Borders and Buttonholes from Sally Melville, Express Knitting from Stephanie McPhee, and Mittens from Ruth Sorenson. As with last year, while I didn't apply the knowledge immediately, I have now had occasion to apply ideas and techniques to what I'm working on. Rebecca took me to talk with Karen Alfke and ultimately show her the progress on the Un-pattern top-down sweater I'm knitting for George, and to discuss my challenge with the type of shawl collar I want to design. She graciously offered to assist, and I felt the delicious generosity of being around knitters.

And, speaking of Ruth, I was thrilled to host her last night in the US on this trip when she had an overnight layover from New Mexico before returning to Denmark. We watched Mama Mia! while knitting, then saw the Elsebeth Lavold exhibit at the Nordic Heritage Museum and stopped at Uwajimaya before heading out to the airport. She's a joy to spend time with - I loved hearing her speak Danish to Maverick, and he understood every word!

Although I really don't want to rush winter on this first day of spring, next year's Madrona Fiber Fest can't arrive soon enough!

January and Knitting

January is already over. I spent some time reflecting on 2008 while working through some things and suddenly it's February. The economy and national politics invite hopes and fears for the year and farther into the future. I have been answering the tax infolines at my workplace, so have had some first-hand contact with the pain the economy is bringing. I've also listened to much hopefulness due to the changes in the White House. I believe that the changes needed are much bigger than people of this nation are willing to make - most believe others need to change what THEY are doing. Many issues are so emotionally charged that they don't seem able to look at a larger scope; things like the environment take a back seat to human "quality of life", the definition of which varies by individual. And I'm fascinated by the media manipulation of our collective emotions.

While I'm doing my best to pay attention to our nation and world, I know the things I can impact are on a much smaller scale. Which means I can support my friend, Kellie, who has learned to knit while recovering from her breast cancer surgery. Which means I can be inspired that we are one month closer to spring, Valentine's Day, George's upcoming races, and our MADRONA FIBER RETREAT!

I have been facing my knitting challenges. I decided to frog my Comfort & Joy socks back to the beginning of the gusset and use the other end of my ball to introduce a different distribution of color. It was better, but still not what I was looking for, then was compounded by the "seam" which I foolishly placed right in the middle of the heel. I didn't realize it would be so dense, and is bound to be uncomfortable. So, I decided to do what Melinda, Naomi, and Ellen had suggested in the first place, and learn the short row heel. I am now armed with Simple Socks - Plain and Fancy and Melinda's tutorial, so I hope to report success in learning and execution soon.

My second Melody's Shawl was completed this month, from Plucky Knitter's silk-merino in her lovely soft red. I was just over half complete on size 9 needles when I decided I wanted a tighter fabric, so I frogged the entire thing and began again with size 7 needles since I am such a loose knitter. It was immediately so much better that I bought a second skein of the same yarn in blue, and will make yet another one. The tense moments were unraveling and cutting the fringe - it's just amazing to me that it doesn't unravel completely.

I delivered it to Mom last week when she came in from Bainbridge Island to have lunch with me. She isn't certain how to wear a wrap or a shawl and felt a little silly modeling for me in a downtown building, but she's willing to try. She noticed the warmth right away while I was taking the photos - I think she'll find what many of us have found - a lightweight, luxurious way to keep warm.

Here's the swatch for George's Rowan DK Marl sweater using Karen Alfke's topdown Un-Pattern. I was thrilled last year at this time to have found the vintage yarn on e-bay for my own Sock Monkey sweater by Rebecca, and purchased from the same seller enough of that yarn in the Fudge colorway for me to knit something for George. He wants a pullover with a high shawl collar neck - while he can't stand to have anything close around his neck, he also doesn't want a low neck. My challenges have been planning that neckline and anticipating the change in my gauge when I switched from back and forth to in-the-round knitting. I didn't swatch for that, so I have another little learning experience under my belt. I'm now on track after about four frogging sessions, and have gone down two needle sizes to match the gauge. This yarn makes a beautiful fabric - and George is very appreciative of the effort since he's witnessed so much re-knitting.

All Aboard!

I didn't realize those words could bring such a thrill of anticipation until we were on Amtrak's Coast Starlight for our Christmas adventure. The conductor calling with the age-old cadence brought back memories of traveling from Iowa to Seattle with my grandmother when I was 5 and my family first moved here... Our destination on December 22 was Oceanside, California, and we expected to be about 38 hours en route, including a train change in Los Angeles. However, snow affects many things, and the delays on our route south gave us an extra 22+ hours to experience our first long train trip. We stayed fairly philosophical, remembering that many flights at the airport were outright canceled, and at least we were progressing south. We had a "roomette" with cozy privacy of two wide seats facing each other, our own heat and lighting controls, meals included, and the seats became one bed at night with a second lowering into place bunk-bed style. The food and the relaxation were quite preferable to air travel - sitting at a dining table chatting with other riders while we ate was interesting and varied, and the scenery is incomparable. We napped, talked, read, George watched a movie on his portable DVD player, and I knitted.

The train staff began to refer to our trip as Murphy's train since nearly everything that could delay progress seemed to do so. Initially, there was a power outage on the train, so we got out of Seattle about 4 hours late. Then there were, of course, frozen switches; a tree on the track that caused the need for an engine change in Portland, then the power was out again (3 hour delay); the engineer and conductor twice ran out on their 12 hour federal work hours limit, so the train was literally stopped where it was (3+ hour delay the first time, right in the Cascades) while new staff were brought in. We stopped further in the Cascades to pick up two stranded crews (photo at left is one set) from freight trains frozen in the snow, and later waited while another set of engineer and conductor were in traffic behind a major freeway traffic crash. On the third day, the train staff members who were not being relieved (the car attendants and the food servers) were showing their fatigue, having only slept minimally since leaving Los Angeles 5 days before. They still managed to do their jobs with courtesy and a sense of humor; we heard that our long trip was covered on CNN and joked about by Jay Leno. Still, we only saw one example of a passenger taking out frustration on the train staff. I think the people who choose to travel by train are ready to relax and enjoy themselves and maybe since they've already chosen the unhurried method, are not quite so stressed as those who pursue the quick way then are upset when it is slower than expected, or fails completely. Our return trip was delayed by only 15 minutes, and picking up the luggage was nearly no time at all. Anyway, we had a great time, a good visit with George's family, and we expect to travel by train whenever we can. As George said, when you travel by train, you're on vacation the minute you step on board - a refreshing change from air travel!

Snowbound for the Holidays!

Here is a slanted image of George and Maverick across the street from our house and a rather blurry view of our front yard. While I love to think we are snowbound in the snug, warm and cozy sense, we have been able to get where we need to go. George got a terrible cold last week, and mine followed this week (although mine is less intense and shorter lived than his) so we really aren't going out sledding and truly enjoying the snow. I love that it is not Seattle's usual wet, heavy snow, but lovely powdery snow and frozen dry air.

I was feeling stressed and not interested in putting up a Christmas tree until George took a day off last week to help. We got a smaller tree than usual and I got the lights on it - no pressure to see if we feel like decorating further. We switched to using LED lights outside, and we're very pleased with how festive they look - the snow just adds to the holiday feeling.

Gift knitting has gone fairly well this year, although I chose to knit a couple of larger projects that meant I knitted fewer gift items. I have some 3rd and 4th quarter knitting to share!

Our Build Your Skills class KAL of the February Lady cardigan was so much fun - Village is beginning one on January 1, 2009! I am especially pleased with mine after finally finding the right buttons (I finished the sweater at least six weeks before I was happy with buttons for it). I have been justly described as something of a button nut after trying over a dozen different buttons for this cardigan, but I really believe the right ones were finally found! Okay, there is other evidence of button nuttiness in the shopping bag of buttons from the Beppa Button Sale... but I'm sure to be ready next time I'm looking for just the right button for a yarn or fabric!

I hope to include photos of other February Ladies from class; we have had an inspiring variety of colors and style points. Mine has bracelet length sleeves and I delayed the decrease to the final row before the garter cuff, and the length of the body is just below my hip bone. It's a surprisingly warm sweater!

Next, I was inspired by Melinda to knit the Shaped Lace Tee from Knitting Lingerie Style. Although getting gauge was a challenge since I chose Cascade's Pima-Tencel instead of the specified 100% cotton yarn, the texture of this knitted product is sort of dreamy. It was my first project with my new Harmony interchangeable circular needle set from Knitpicks, and I love how the wood needles complement the yarn color. I stopped 3/4 of the way up the back to begin Christmas gift knitting, and am excited to get back to it in January.

During one of our BYS classes, each member brought stash yarns we don't know what to do with. The recommendations were inspired by Rebecca and by each other - one of mine became the Twilight Lace Wrap for my friend, Cheryl. It's not really lace, but it did give me a sort of lace lesson in reading the pattern and the stitches as it progressed, as well as beginning with the provisional cast-on and picking it up to finish the other direction. AND it was my first time blocking with wires having to catch each lace point for the border - Emily helped me lay it out. Next time I would go up in needle size, as I don't think the "stars" really show up enough. This is another example of fabric with holes being warmer than one might expect.

I was inspired by Amy's Melody's Shawl from Moorehouse Farms, so George came to Village with me and bought JoJoLand cashmere to knit one for his mother. It was a dream to knit with, and the gauzy results are everything I was hoping for. I used 3 oz since his mom is petite; the final measurement after blocking is 18" x 78" exclusive of the fringe. I want to knit one for myself. The best part is when people reach out to touch it and "oooh!" of surprise at the luxurious softness. My own mother is allergic to many fibers, so I'm using Plucky Knitter's Silk-Merino in red to knit the same wrap for her. Since Amy used the same Plucky yarn, I'm hoping my mom's will be as beautiful as hers!

I surprised myself by deciding to knit a scarf for my brother. He recently bought a bright yellow sports car and I've noticed his style of dress has stepped up a notch. I chose Karen Alfke's Linen stitch scarf, which was supposed to be from three different scrap yarns... but of course I had to get him just the right colors. The linen stitch takes time to knit, but the results are so elegant, and I hope he'll enjoy it. At least we're having the right weather for him to wear it.

Last week I completed a new Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my friend, Jennifer. The book was a gift from her last year, and as we looked through it together, the scarf was something she liked a lot. I struggled to find a good pairing for the Koigu yarn in my stash, and wasn't at all certain about what I'd found at Weaving Works until I began knitting. I think the finished product is very pleasing, and will be perfect for Jennifer.

Finally, I decided to try the Purl-less Monkey socks from the Dragon Fibers Comfort & Joy yarn I bought last year. I LOVE how the hand-painted yarn makes them look like a candy cane... then I turned the heel found that I have a pooling situation. There are those who say that it looks cool - it shows that the socks are handmade, and it does look like a candy cane after part of the stripes were licked off... I want to like it this way because I don't really want to frog all the way back to before the heel, but I haven't felt like knitting another row since trying them on. I've never done a short row heel and am thinking this is what this project may be meant to teach me. So, I'm thinking that the new Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn book may be a future purchase, and I'm likely to be frogging first thing in 2009...