Whenever I think about what project would be good to stuff in my purse or my carry-on, take to a friend’s house or take overseas, I end up with socks. They keep me interested and I can practically knit them in my sleep. Here are two pairs that I knit in the past few months, the left pair with handspun merino from the Knitting Nutter, done in stockinette on size 0’s, and the right pair with Schaefer Anne leftover from my Mystery Stole #3 knitted in a 4×2 rib on size 1’s.

Been working on some other projects lately, a slightly modified version of Evelyn Clark’s Garden Shawl from Knitting Lace Triangles made with yarn from Avillion Farm:

And the Kimono Shawl from Cheryl Oberle’s Folk Shawls in a lovely merino in colorway Mouse from The Sweet Sheep.

This one is about two feet long now, but my camera broke, so no new photos till I get a replacement!

Some people have commented about my extended hiatus from knit blog land. To appease you, I am unveiling my most recent FO, Shedir:

I used the recommended #3 needles, dpn the whole way, and one skein of Dalegarn Baby Ull.

There are several other FOs but they haven’t been photographed or posted for a number of reasons, most of which are related to my general lack of knit blogging:

1. I was traveling again. Spent most of April in Kinshasa. This trip was similar to previous trips, nothing to write home about, other than the fact that although I lost my suitcase, I did not lose any knitting! I spent 3 weeks in Kinshasa without my checked luggage, and it was not in Johannesburg either when I passed through there at the end of my trip. The amazing part of this experience is realizing how little I can live on. I had 3 t-shirts, 1 pair of pants, a few undies, 1 book, 2 balls of sock yarn, and I bought a few toiletries and a couple of Congolese outfits, and I was fine.

2. I have a new hobby taking up my time. Even though I think it would be super cool if I could reach a wide audience with my knitting to further my causes, it seems like documentary film will be a more effective means of accomplishing my goals. I took a class, I bought a camera, I got some footage, I completed a 3-min. video and have a couple others in process… and I’ve realized that it’s very time consuming. Oh, and I started a new blog.

3. Internet access at home is deplorable. I used to share with the neighbors, but they had a problem that they never sorted. I shared with the other neighbor but her signal is too weak. And thus far I haven’t been bothered to set up my own connection, but I suspect that day is quickly approaching.

Yeah - I think there are other reasons, but mainly I made a choice to focus on other aspects of my life besides knitting and knit blogging. I’ll never quit completely, because there are great things about it - meeting people, networking, encouraging me to stretch my photography-with-a-crappy-camera skills, sharing what could otherwise turn out to be a solitary hobby, and especially hanging out with like-minded individuals who care about handcrafting and its linkages to other important ideas like self sufficiency and sustainability. Many of these great things are related to my longterm goals, but some of my longterm goals cannot be achieved through knitting. So - I’ll still be here part time, but not full time.

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! Second of all, here is a little something I designed.

This pattern grew out of a sweater that I knit out of my imagination one day back in January 2007. Finally it is here in professional form!

One Planet Yarn and Fiber released it just after Thanksgiving, as they told me they would, and I didn’t think to check whether it was up! They even posted a blog entry about it. You can see the blue version modeled by a little tyke on the blog.

A few days after the release, I left for Kinshasa again, with little to no internet, and then we were in the thick of the holidays, thus the delay in posting.

The pattern is written in 5 sizes and uses #8US straight needles. The recommended yarn is 2 skeins of Lanas Puras Melosa worsted weight. The colors used in the samples are cornflower (blue) and orchid (purple).

I haven’t posted here in two months. That was not intentional. During those two months, I have been fighting colds, trying to heal a sick cat, traveled out of the country for work, traveled to my hometown to visit my elderly grandparents, and tried to get used to my new job.

My new job is an addition to my old job, so now in addition to managing one group of public health research projects in DR Congo, I now help another team manage another group of public health research projects there. This meant an additional trip this fall, and my trips have ranged between 2 1/2 to 6 weeks, so we’re not talking some overnight to Washington, DC.

The new job has meant more time and effort put into my work, but no pay raise, which is fine with me because my old job wasn’t providing enough challenge anymore.

But in the spate of work that hit me, I fell off the Summer of Socks bandwagon and the knit blogging bandwagon. I have been doing a bit of knitting, but somehow in my efforts to photograph my projects, I left several WIPs out. So, those will come later. But here is a photo of my second pair of Highland Schottische Kilt Hose, never before photographed even though they have been done since … September? August? These took 3.25 skeins of Nature Spun Sport weight in color French Clay.

I was also working this summer on some socks based on the Ampersand pattern (.pdf), made with Hello Yarn’s Tough Sock in color Glowing, that came out like this:

And a photograph of my Mystery Stole blocking, which was a nice challenge… I don’t have a modeled photo yet. I used 1.5 skeins of Schaefer’s Anne.

Last but not least is a teaser for a pattern that will be released very soon - more details to come! If you have a little one in mind, you should have time to whip this one up before the holidays. Stay tuned! [And thanks if you are still out there reading. I have been reading but haven't had lots of time for commenting.]

The fall Knitty was released the other day - I think everyone else has already posted about it? Kathryn designed these super cool two-needle socks that require worsted-weight yarn and are a fairly quick knit. And they have a lot of visual appeal. You definitely won’t be bored knitting these gems.

(Full disclosure: Kathryn may have recruited me to take the photos…if you visit the link, you’ll see a photo of her at the bottom of the page hugging one of her newly acquired Shetland sheep, Wally! *Sigh* I just love Wally.)

I really am enjoying all the patterns in this issue. Emilee has produced these lovely leaf motif hats called Foliage. And Anne of Knitspot entertains us with this gorgeous throw: Totally Autumn.

I love Nancy Marchant’s colorwork in the Pecan Pie hat, as well as the 3-D effect of the colorwork in Aija Goto’s knee-high socks, called Q.

Man - I really have to get back in the game.

My trip is postponed so I am still here. I don’t have new knitting photos for you but hopefully this weekend? Amber was here visiting though, and she brought the kilt hose that I had knit for James and began unraveling them.

Yes. Pulling the ends out and taking out the toes. WHY??? ON EARTH??? might you ask? Well - because she loves them! But they are size 13 men’s and don’t fit her. So she’s going to reknit the toes and make them her own. We planned to wear our hose around together last weekend but hers weren’t reknit yet and it was too hot anyway. Maybe next time!

Posts are going to continue to be slow on the HeatherKnits front for a little bit. I made it back from Equateur Province with one complete Kilt Ho– and now have a pair of Kilt Hose (17 days for the pair, just like the last pair) but no photo!

Stalled on the Kauni Cardigan and the Mystery Stole but made it over those humps last night so I will be working away on those once again. A couple of other socks have made it to the finish line as well.

I also have had some gastro-intestinal fallout from the water and a bad cough/cold from too much airplane time. And the internet at my house crapped out.

But in the mean time, I finished up my visit in DR Congo, came home, took on some new work, and will be heading out to Kinshasa again in the next couple of days (!!). In case you were wondering what is up. That’s what’s up! I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off hoping against hope to get my visa in time for my Thursday departure, wondering how to do laundry when I’ve misplaced the key to my neighbor’s apartment, and “staying home sick” but heading out to the cafe next door since I have to do work and, well, my internet crapped out!

It sounds ridiculous, but I think I’ll be a more reliable blogger once I leave town again!

Dear all, I don’t have anything new to show you but I lied about being away. I’m going tomorrow, not yesterday, and you won’t hear from me till next week. We have to take a satellite phone we are going so far into the middle of nowhere.

I am bringing five changes of clothes because I’ve been told I won’t want to wear anything twice after all the dirt and sweat. I am bringing the kilt hose and “The Portable Graham Greene” for entertainment because I doubt there will be TV, although I am hoping for electricity because I can’t knit and hold a Maglite. I am bringing jerky and trail mix and handiwipes and gifts and bug spray and mosquito coils and remedies for malaria, worms, and diarrhea (oral rehydration salts). It should be a blast.

T minus 6 hours.

I have a quick update for you with a progress shot - I think I’ve added five repeats since the last photo, and I’ve done two since reaching the armpits. I am so glad that I brought this project with me - even though the yarn takes up a lot of space, it is so nice and relaxing to work on, at least pre-sleeves.

This week I’ll be out of internet range checking out a project that I have not visited before. We’ll be driving over non-roads and battling the insects and eating lots of canned sardines and bread (I imagine, from similar trips in the past). We’ll be bucket bathing and talking to people who will tell us all of their health needs and I’ll feel frustrated that I cannot change their situation with a wave of my imaginary wand. But we’ll hear directly from our provincial and community coordinators, and from the traditional birth attendants and community health workers that collect data for our research.

Since neither the Kauni nor MS3 were really cut out for trips to the interior, I think I’ll be bringing my as of yet nonexistent Highland Schottische Kilt Hose with me.

In the mean time, one more photo, this one of a storefront in Kinshasa, the Dorcas bucket shop!