Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Aw yeah I finally have a finished matching pair of socks.
Jaywalker socks. The stripes don't match.
Yarn: Regia Crazy Color 6ply
Needles: US3
I knit these toe-up using short row toes and heels, 13 stitches each on 4 needles. The first sock I did the usual wrapped stitches method; the second sock I used the Sherman Heel method, which was so much easier to execute and looked much neater. On the first sock I bound off normally but loosely, however it was still a little tight. So on the second sock I tried the knit two, purl two bind-off as described in Vogue Knitting. Is this a tubular bind-off? It was definitely much stretchier but I'm not sure I like how it looks.
These socks have been perfect for the chilly weather we've been having lately. But from now on, any socks I make will be ankle socks. Completing 6 inches of the leg even on big fat size 3 needles still felt like an eternity, I tell you.
***
Last year, my knitting raison d'etre was all about finished sweaters. As many sweaters as humanly possible in the least amount of time. I was going at a rate of one completed sweater per month, and accessories like scarves, hats, socks were deemed an inefficient use of knitting time.
And now, this year, after finishing Cabled Toad, not only have I not even wanted to complete another sweater, I have knit five whole socks (only one matching pair, see above), two half socks, and am about to dive headfirst into the geriatric world DOILIES, TABLE RUNNERS and TEA CLOTHS!
For chrissakes what's going on?!
Enter Thistle, Daffodil, and Rose.
 
Modern Lace Knitting is what's going on. While at a fellow knitter's house for dinner this weekend, our hostess brought out these knitting books for me to leaf through. Wow. WOooooOOoooow. The lace is so unbelievable that it doesn't even look like knitting anymore. It looks like...a station wagon. A grizzly bear. A sunset! Might as well, it's so ridiculous.
She let me take the Second Book home and I have been carrying it from room to room like a teddy bear, never far from my side, leafing through it more than occasionally while I try to decide which I would like to try.
And I don't even like table runners or doilies! But that's not the point anymore. It's about making works of art, which these lace pieces definitely definitely are. I accept the challenge!
What kind of yarn should I use (and which pattern?)? I don't want to turn any of these into shawls. I'll never wear them, and draped decoratively on a table is better than being hidden away in a closet. But I don't want to use cotton thread. I know I won't enjoy working with it, even if it is more appropriate as a table cloth, etc. Would a silk/wool lace blend work? All silk? Hmmmmmmm.
Filed Under: Lace | Socks
Monday, April 17, 2006
This has suddenly become a sock blog.
This weekend the Easter bunny (me) left sock yarn in someone's Easter basket (mine). Presenting more Koigu, more Regia sock yarn in various crazy colors. These are from C0l0rful St!tches in Lenox, Mass. I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket since Christmas. Only one skein of each color because I plan on making footies/ankle socks from now on.
Progess Shots:
Second Pomatomus and Jaywalker sock
Pair almost complete. The toes are different. On the finished sock I used short row shaping with wrapped stitches. On the second sock I used the Sherman short row shaping.
Again drastically different toes. On the finished sock I knit cuff down per given instructions. On the second I knit toe up, using short row shaping with wrapped stitches, which gave a rounder toe. So when I finish I'll have a matching pair that don't really quite match. Heh. The scallops are nicely mirrored though.
I do prefer working the Sherman short row over the usual wrapped stitches short row. More on that later.
Socks + Domesticat = BFF
Filed Under: Socks
Friday, April 14, 2006
The sound of the postman's truck got me out of bed early this morning. PACKAGE!
 
Sundara Yarn, in Fern and Troubador ordered from pureknits.com. It came fast, packaged all nice with a pretty little ribbon and a lovely handwritten note. Hooray for supporting small online businesses, hooray for partnerships, hooray for me, hooray for DELICIOUS, CANDY-LIKE SOCK YARN.
Holy crap.
Must...restrain...self...Must...not...eat...sock yarn...
Filed Under: Socks
Monday, April 10, 2006
Koigu yarn, all wound up
So I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never. The winder is to a knitter like the Kitchen Aid is to the baker. Why did I wait so long to get one why?
Spring is in the air you guys. I can almost smell it, I can almost taste it. I was just out on the town (buying this winder and having sushi for lunch, yum) and there are daffodils in places where there was just dirt, and pink magnolias on once barren trees, and in my own backyard, the fluffy heads of peonies making a showing. Woooooooo. I am in a grand mood at the prospect of nice weather, that it has prompted me to devise a What I Will Do This Spring/Summer List, 2006:
- Go to at least 5 Red Sox games.
I'm totally into baseball this season, don't ask me why. I don't usually start following or caring in earnest until around August, but this year I've already watched/listened to all six games so far.
- Have a clambake.
Or at least, boil own lobster in kitchen.
- More weekdays lounging at Singing Beach.
- Knit a three-quarter sleeved cardigan using Mirto yarn, in a chevron pattern.
I've been thinking about this one a lot. I want to use Mirto yarn again very badly.
- Go biking on Carriage Road in Acadia National Park, Maine
- Go sea kayaking.
- Go strawberry-picking.
- Bake a strawberry banana cake.
- Attend at least one Tanglewood concert.
- Plant more mint for mint juleps and mojitos.
- Throw at least two barbeques.
- Eat more peaches.
Speaking of peaches, I'm headed to Georgia for an extended stay at my parents' at the end of the month. They are (possibly) putting the house on the market by the end of the year, and I thought it would be nice to hang out in my hometown for more than a couple of days like I usually do. You know, just relax, cook, knit and sew (?!?) with my mom, garden with my dad, go to a Braves game with my high school friends...And I'll still be able to work from my parents' house. While there we're going to make sidetrips to Savannah and the GA islands. I haven't decided which. Mmmm, Spanish moss...bumblebees...azaleas...magnolias...warm southern rays...
Filed Under: General Knitting | Life
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The bad news is it's snowing, the biggest, fluffiest snow all year. Hi it's April.
The good news is, I have heel, and it's a short row heel!
I had been following this pattern for the toe-up Jaywalkers. I was 2 rounds into the gusset directions, when I thought to myself, Blah blah blah so much instructions for the heel. Must I have a gusset/turned heel/heel flap? Just because the original pattern had it cuff-down, must it be mirrored toe-up?
'Course not! I'm a rebel!
So I ripped back the two rows, and using these great instructions for a generic toe-up pattern, started a short row heel. It turned out great, fit great, and was so EASY I couldn't stand it. Hells yeah I'll do another short row heel! Give it to me! No more finagling with heel flaps, or picking up stitches.
However, I didn't much like knitting the wrapped stitches - TWO wrapped stitches really - which you do when you start increasing back to your original number of stitches. Knitting three stitches together was a pain in the ass and didn't look all that great. I still had little holes.
Gappy short row heel.
I quick search on the Internet and I found another short-row method called the Sherman Heel that works for both the toe and the heel, and involves only 2 wrapped stitches. (There's another tutorial here, for knitting cuff-down.) I'll see how it works on the matching sock.
La la la la I love you short row heel!
Elemmaciltur called it way back when, he did, when he said that I would unevitably be bitten by the sock bug. I really doubted it, but I underestimated just how big and virulent this bug would be. So OK YOU'RE RIGHT I ADMIT IT SOCK ARE FUN YOU HAPPY NOW?! Hee hee. And no I haven't increased my sock stash any more. I did trade in the two skeins of lavender Koigu I bought last week for two skeins of CORAL Koigu. It's lovely and the color is so strawberry-daiquiri edible.
OK I have got to get back to work. The sock has been banished to the next room to avoid distraction and temptation...
Filed Under: Socks
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
It's a dreary spring day out, but inside it looks pretty cheery, with my vase of daffodils, and new Jaywalkers, toe up!
I wanted to see how the Regia crazy color would knit up, and just had to try the toe up method, so I set aside starting my second Pomatomus sock and casted on my first provisional cast on for the toe. What fun! Before I knew it, 4 episodes of 24 had passed and I had nearly an entire foot.
I give knitting toe up a big toes up. See how I did that there? Heh heh. I like being able to try the sock as I go along, but most of all I like that I'm starting right off the bat with the actual "socky" part of the sock when knitting toe up. Part of my problem with knitting socks, besides the toothpick needles, is the ribbing for the cuff - so slow and boring - and then working down the leg when I all want to do is get to the heel, foot, toe already. The juicy meaty parts of the sock.
Changes I made to accommodate using 6ply yarn and size 3 needles: I casted on 24 stitches and short-rowed to 8 for the toe. For the sole I have 24 stitches and for the instep I have 26, which means I work chevron pattern over 13 stitches. When I reach the cuff I plan to have 52 stitches total.
So far it fits well. Actually it fits amazingly well, considering I dived right in without nary a swatch, heh heh. My approach for better or for worse is that while I modify every pattern I do - yarn change, needle change, width change - I never swatch before I do it. I eyeball a little, guestimate a little, scratch out some algebra a little, then jump right in a lot, and the end results almost always come out fine. That is my one little knitting superpower :)
I am approaching the gusset now. I might have knitted the foot too long before getting to this point but we shall see. And we shall really see if my haphazard pattern modifications hold up. If all goes swimmingly I will have a MATCHING pair of socks in record time, and might even begin to admit that I enjoy knitting socks, heh.
In case you're wondering about the progress of Cate, there hasn't been any. At all. Sad face. Soon Cate soon.
Filed Under: Socks
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Not a matching pair, but a pair.
The toes on the Pomatomus sock is a little crazy. It's very pointy/triangular and I've got dog ears. Hmm. These socks were looking real good and I was feeling great about them until the toes. Oh well, practice practice. I'll do less toe decreases with the mate.
I might give these away to my sister-in-law (who is a general sock lover) for her birthday and make one for myself in a solid color. Still not totally into the variegated colors, even for Pomatomus.
It's been a beautiful Spring weekend. Friday afternoon we went biking on the Minuteman Trail and I did my usual pit stop at W!ld & W00ly, which is just off the trail. I traded in the one skin of Regia Miniringel in that hideous rainbow bright colorway you see up there, for another Miniringel in a much less controversial colorway. They only had that one skein, but it'll be enough for a pair of low cuff socks.
Also tomorrow I think I'm going to exchange that lavender Koigu I purchased for one in greenish-yellow. Or something else. I have too many purpley/bluey yarn.
And tomorrow since I have to go into the office for a meeting, I will be 3 blocks away from Winzdor Bu++ons. Oh I know all about the WB. I think their yarn selection is starting to rival their button selection. Very impressive.
Filed Under: Socks
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Clearly something has happened and I now love socks, right, because how else do you explain this little pile, this little pile that some might call the beginnings of a stash, of sock yarn?
Regia Crazy Color in Bonbon and some Koigu
At the same time, why do I find myself again straining to finish the rest of my first PotamtowoasjfsPochahontas sock? (Maybe because I can't ever friggin remember what it's called??)
Look at my pretty pretty scales.
For whatever reason I am just determined to make a pair of socks. It. Must. Happen. Truth be told I'm enjoying Potomac quite a bit. Thumbs up on the merino sock yarn (so soft), love the twisted ribbing, love the scallops. My problem seems to be when I turn the heel, I feel like I'm on the home stretch, woooo yeah a finished sock is in sight! but really the party is only getting started. One is in for the long haul when one finishes the heel and the gusset, and is faced with finishing the rest of the foot. That part is murder on my psyche. It's where I am now.
But I will finish I will I WILL.
So what's up with the yarn stash, you ask. Well for one, I am super obsessed with self-striping yarn. Even though I'm not 100% about knitting socks, I am 100% about self-striping sock yarn. I approve of the concept. That you see up there is Regia Crazy Color in Bonbon! which I got on sale at littleknits.com. The good thing about this yarn, aside from the color which is like hundred million gazillion times better than the first sock yarn I bought, is that it's 6 ply. Yes my friends, read it and weep. I can knit fun socks in well-mannered stripes using #3 or #4 needles and my knuckles will be happy.
I also recently bought Koigu sock yarn. I will admit this was more of a "charity" than a gotta-have-it purchase. Sigh. Do I even want to get into this...? OK, long story short, I was out walking on NewburyStreet and decided to duck into N3wbury Y4rn$. (Sorry for the f'ed up typing but I don't want this page to come up on a search. Because I might say some sad things about the store. Henceforth I will refer to it as NY)
I go in this store, praying that there is at least one other patron in there so that I don't feel totally guilty if I walk out of there empty handed. Does that happen to you? Go into a tiny store, two pairs of eyes watching you, wondering what you'll do next, and you feel obligated to make some sort of move that will ultimately involve an exchange of money? Or am I the only sucker here?
95% of the time I go in, NY is devoid of patrons but stocked to the ceiling with yarn. On this day, the store was empty save for the owner, her daughter who was at the table planning her wedding, and her mother who was knitting. The owner's on the phone with a supplier, telling supplier to "hold my order on such-and-such because it has been so slow and I'm not moving inventory. I'm sorry to have to do this to you again."
A little family business without any business! It makes me upset.
So there's the Koigu sitting in my stash.
Seriously I don't understand what she's doing wrong. But something is amiss. W00Lcott & Co in Harvard Square isn't much bigger, isn't any better stocked than NY. But there are always people in there. I'm actually not a fan of W00Lcott because they never have what I'm looking for, and most of all, their inventory/cash register system is a bloody nightmare. Lady spent 20 minutes once trying to process a return of a single ball of yarn because she couldn't find it in the system, and this for Cashmerino Aran.
She's like, "I'm sorry, people just enter yarn names differently and so I'm having trouble finding it." I'm like, WHERE IS YOUR LASER BAR CODE READER? Why is there SO MUCH TYPING?
Anyway, what is NY doing wrong? Aside from arranging her yarn by color so it's hard to find shit? Can that be its only downfall? It's in a great location, center of town, steps away from the subway, coffeeshops, antique shops, and other fine stores like...Cartier and Burberry. Is that the problem? All the people roaming up and down Newbury won't give a little knitting store even a single glance, among all the 'glitz'?
Whatever the case, I'm not married to any one local yarn store in my area, so I might as well try to go to this one more often (I have definitely said this before). And curb the online purchases.
Maybe you area knitters could patron NY a little now and then too? You know, before your lunch date at the Armani Cafe?
In some fun, positive, feline news...Kitty has finally gotten with the program and started writing about her knitting endeavors on her blog. Check it out. It seems like just yesterday that she showed me a picture of her wobbly stitches, and now she's already making her first adult-cat sweater. And some other cool stuff. You just know that as a kitten she was the first in her litter to climb to the very top of the tree. Makes a mama cat proud.
Filed Under: General Knitting | Socks | Pomatomus
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