theknittyvritti

trendsetter

 

Hightest has gone and done it....learned to knit socks.

She loves it, has bought a set of Signature needles, and has vowed to never not have a sock on the needles.

She is going to wear socks with everything.

My sister, the fashionista.  Just wait, next year, poolside, you'll all be sporting them. Go, ahead, throw away those flip-flops, you won't be needing them.

And just in case you've wondered about my absence, yes, I've been busy, but my home computer refuses to upload photos to the blog. I haven't fully accepted this reality, so every couple of days I try again, get nowhere, and wander away, promising myself that I'll look into this soon. I will..look into this soon. There's a lot on the needles.

accessory envy

 

Hightest has been hand-knitting for a little over a year now. She's made a few sweaters, but the newest incarnation of a half century old case of sibling rivalry is accessory envy. Mine. Because unburdened by (final count) 24 sweaters worth of yarn (unlike me), she has been making accessories.

A few examples below.

First, a Thorpe. Now everyone has one....except me.

Next, the DK Eco Slouchy hat. I can't believe she already has two black hats....and I have none.

Here's a more colorful hat that I wouldn't mind having, the Portland Tweed Pom-pom hat.

There are also scarves.

Like this Rhodocrocite.

And my all time favorite thing she has and I don't:

her Elbaite. I do not, however, envy her her tail. I didn't get one, and I don't really want one.

(pattern info for each of these available on Ravelry).

this one's for you.......

....Hightest. Maybe this will be the year you become a sock knitter?
 

she has always been fearless

 

That's how she got her name. Hightest is short for High Test Babe, which is short for High Testosterone Babe, which is what  we call her on account of her aggressively "why not?" approach to the world. She wasn't exactly born this way. I remember her as a weepy little kid, but that only lasted until she was about seven, and by the time she was nine, she had me cowed. Fortunately, she liked me well enough, and I was safe.

We thought we'd come a long way from the days when we spent whole afternoons making paper doll clothes in the basement, but it seems in fact that we are right back to where we started. We are once again spending afternoons making clothes. I guess it's what you'd call a premature second childhood.

Except that Hightest has the chops of an adult, and a ballsy one at that. She decided that it was time to take on hand knitting, and rather than waste her time with dishcloths (ugh) or scarves, she decided that she would just, well, knit a sweater.  That sweqter above is her Nimbus, (rav details), and as you can see, she's obviously a natural. 

So what does a girl like Hightest do for an encore?

She wants to knit lace. Surprisingly, she didn't ask to borrow my size 0 needles to whip up an Shetland lace wedding shawl. No, she more sensibly decided to work a lace pattern in sport weight. But it is clearly only a matter of time.