So, it’s been over two weeks since I received this fabulous present in the mail from the even-more fabulous Scout. Part of me was shy about posting this, as not to mix my business life with my knitting life. But I trust you all. Now you you know where I work. Don’t get me fired (or Dooced!)

She’s done it again… surprising me with her color sense, her dye talent and her generousity. I’m so lucky to know her, even though we’ve yet to meet in person. Did you hear her on Sticks and String? She mentions on her blog that she also just recorded an interview with another popular podcast that involves citrus fruits and flowers (airdate TBD).

Sorry for the blog silence here of late. It’s extended to emails, blog reading and general socialbility. The injury (which is feeling better, thank you), combined with too many hours at work has drained me of any will to write. Oh, and I discovered LOST (through seasons 1 & 2, dabbling on online streaming season 3 episodes).

I have been a-knitting, so more is forthcoming: EZ BSJ, son of Brancusi and Cat Bordhi’s INSANE new book. But for now, thank you, Miss Scout: for thinking of me, for sharing your gift with the world at large, and for being my friend.

I’m really Stephen, but play along for the sake of the title.

Last week a skein of Adam’s Yarn Nerd 900MHz sock yarn in Ting! arrived chez me. Blue, orange, steel gray… what’s not to love?

I love his company name so much, I’d proudly wear some swag. In the meantime, I’ll have to settle for this t-shirt:

Sorry for not mentioning the pattern, Vinnland from The Anti-Craft. So simple you can knit an extra repeat (see ripped bits on right).

Yarn: CPY’s Panda Wool, bamboo and wool blend.
Needles: I mixed it up here, casting on with 2.5mm at the toe, switching to 2.25mm for the sole and finishing with 2.25mm for the entire cuff.

I’m not the biggest comic fan, but should this colorway be named after Dr. Bruce Banner’s alter-ego’s wardrobe instead of Violets?

I just finished weaving in the ends of these this weekend. Such a speedy and simple knit. I really loved this pattern. It took a smidge more than a week (with a few days of vacation) to pound these socks out.

It was my first time using Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Wool, bamboo and wool blend. It’s also a joy. I’ll be knitting with yarn again soon, were it not that I had so much more sock yarn. (Damn you, Ravelry, for making me face my stash!) I’d go so far as to say it’s my favorite commercially-produced sock yarn.

As is, they are a little tight on me, so I think my sister may be getting them. She’s butch like that green guy who wears purple.

I got to spend the other night knitting and chatting with the woman attached to these famous feet. Perhaps you’ve heard of her?

We got along like old friends, picking up where we left off the first/last/only time we met for 20 minutes or so back in December chez Knitty Gritty. I’d hang out with this lady whenever given the chance. I’ve always wanted to go to Toronto. She’s a hoot, a holler and a handbag all in one!

It was my first time to visit my new favorite South Bay LYS, Purlescence. I’d met co-owner Nathania at Sock Camp back in April. Like her, her partners in crime all happen to be published on Knitty, Sandi (of Spanish Dancer fame) and Chloe Sparkle (of Twinkle Toes infamy, no relation to Janie Sparkles). The welcomed me warmly, with open arms, and sent me home with a couple hundred yards of Colinette Jitterbug and Amy‘s book.

In addition to seeing Nathania, it was a reunion for one of my mom’s and my super-duper dinner dates from camp, Debbie! I hope it’s not another 3+ months before the next time we hang out. (It shouldn’t be. She’s going to be up in the city next week for an ASL interpreter’s conference.)

Now if only every weekend started out with this kind of laughter and late night-knitting with the girls and (lest we not forget) some handsome fellows (whose blogs I do not know)!

The neck is feeling much better. Thank you to everyone for your outpouring of concern! Acupuncture cleared up a lot of the general stiffness, but concentrated the strained area. And, yes, I’ll tell my mom next time before blogging. (It’s her ringing on my cellphone in the video below.)

Have a great Friday and lovely weekend.

For the past two Sundays (as well as Monday the 16th), I’ve given up hours of my life for a friend of a friend’s art project. He’s making a feature-length movie for his MFA that has no dialogue, is shot in HD, and uses synchronized swimming both as content and metaphor. I don’t pretend to understand, I just look good in a swimsuit. (Or better than pasty art school kids who don’t know how to swim.)

A handful of us from the swim team are playing a swim team in the movie and we practice, walk, swim laps, perform and ignore the main characters. Pretty much true to life. It was fun the first day, as there were two elite-level swimmers from the Aquanuts. Monday night ran late, with just me swimming laps in the background. (Out past 12:30 on a school night, oh my!)

This past Sunday was supposed to be 8 hours of shooting, but my time at the pool was cut short. In practicing a lift, where we raise and then throw the main character (a non-synchro swimmer) out of the water, the guy came down on my head, snapping my chin into chest and neck down. When I realized it wasn’t a simple injury (and when no one came over to see if I was OK), I changed in the locker room and walked off the set. Every bump of the road hurt as I drove myself home.

Today, three days later, all that remains is the stiffness. I’ve recovered my range of motion, albeit slower and not “normal.” My mid-back still aches, probably from holding my shoulders up to protect and support my neck. There’s a dull ache at the base of my spine, but it’s not like the initial hurt. Tomorrow I’m seeing an accupuncturist to see if getting my Qi flowing helps. It’s my first time, but, hey, I work in Berkeley, so when in Rome… besides, I don’t want a chiropractor to adjust me, nor a body worker to squeeze and wring out the area, nor a “regular” doctor to tell me to rest.

Needless to say, I won’t be going to swim practice tonight.

So, here are the ill-matched fruits of my labor. There wasn’t quite enough yarn for the second Brancusi sock, hence the scraps of my Sock Wars sock. Therefore, I’m withdrawing my design from the sock pattern contest. The goal of the contest was to design a pattern for the yarn you receive. My pattern uses more yarn and may not be the best match for such a thick yarn.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the pattern. LOVE it. It will be knit again, but worked on a finer yarn. I need to alter the pattern and hopefully resubmit it in Round 2. That’s right, Hill Country Yarns is doing it again in the Fall. The winning sock patterns from the design contests will be the patterns in their upcoming sock club.

I’m flattered so many people enjoyed the pattern, both in comments here and on Ravelry. I hope I get a chance to share it with you… once the contest winners have been drawn in the next round.

In the meantime, I took a break from twisted stitches and whipped up a refreshingly stockinette (and speedy) Vinnland sock during our three days in Eugene, OR. I’ll post a picture once the second one is started.

Brancusi is dead. Long live Brancusi!

Hey, there, new readers! Did you come here after seeing the episode of Knitty Gritty? Thanks for coming by, make yourself comfortable and poke around all you like. If we ever meet person, I don’t usually talk out of the side of my mouth, and, for the moment, I have a shaved head, not that hacked up ‘do.

I wouldn’t be knitting if it wasn’t for Betsy, dear friend, swim teammate and knitter fabulousa. She gave me my first balls of Crystal Palace yarns. Susan at CPY provided all of the yarn and needles for this project (as well as a sock that I knit this past weekend, more later).

Lastly, the whole reason Knitty Gritty found me, thanks to Wendy Eidson’s documentary Real Men Knit. And Wendy found me via MenWhoKnit.com. Thanks, Darrel for creating our community online.

DIY Network has posted the pattern here. (Vicky, the crew, and most of all, my producer Sonya were so great. I had such a great time on the set.) The pattern originally was part of the winter issue or MenKnit.net from Michael, aka Tricky Tricot and Dan, my first-ever publishers!

On the road today to visit the in-laws in Eugene, OR. I’ll be there until Saturday, if you know of any stuff I need to check out!