July 19, 2008

I am sad to report that I was unable to submit a sock to the second Summer of Socks bi-weekly raffle (rav link.) For two weeks I tried to complete a sock, but I ended up frogging every attempt. You've seen the updates.

Well, finally, I think I am meeting with some success and I owe it all to Trekking XXL color #326 and the Anastasia Sock pattern. It probably doesn't hurt that Hubby is gone for the week-end and Offspring and the Stray are in Birmingham. No interruptions usually makes for good knitting. This progress pic was taken yesterday. Today I turned the heel and I'm knitting the leg.



And as always, I have some fiddly bits:

• I sold my soul to plurk.
• Offspring is nearly done with her charity baby hat.
• Heath Ledger is a terribly disturbing joker.
• It occurred to me as I labeled this post that I'm inconsistent.
  

Countdown 1,000: 73

Labels: Knitting, Socks, WIPs

|

July 12, 2008

First, begin with a yarn that has a lot of promise. Knit Picks Essentials in the Meadow Multi colorway should do nicely.

Pattern is important. Check out what others are doing on the Summer of Socks board on Ravelry. Be sure to choose one that most people are warning has a little bit of bias which can be annoying. Invest in knitting it until you get to the heel of the first sock. At this point it's important to note that the yarn looks fine, but really the biasing is more than you can stand...even if it doesn't show when you wear it.

Frog the entire first attempt and go for a simple 2x2 rib sock. Be sure to underestimate the power of 2x2 pull. You want the sock to be narrow enough to resemble a snake. As you increase for the gusset and work the heel, the yarn will begin to change. Swirling is to be expected.

Try on the sock. Go ahead and admit now that it is too narrow. Do not invest any more time. Frog the second attempt. The yarn is almost ratty enough.

Begin 3rd attempt. Cast on and frog false starts until yarn is good and ratty (almost to the point of being felted.) On the final attempt, resurrect a variation of a pattern you've already done twice (and weren't so crazy about the second time.) It works well for the yarn. Work three inches, then stir in the new yarn patterning. When you get to the gusset increases, add the third yarn pattern. A marked difference among the three patterns must be achieved, otherwise the frustration will not be complete.

When the heel is finished and you've arrived at the cuff, you may slowly introduce the fourth and (hopefully) final pattern.

The final magnificent step is to throw in the towel and just knit the stupid things. Even it they are ugly, you can count them as the spoils of war. If you finish the pair, you have the satisfaction of knowing that they did NOT drive you to the loony bin and your confidence was NOT completely destroyed!

Countdown 1,000: 78

Labels: Knitting, Socks, Year of the Sock

|

June 25, 2008

I finally finished my rpm's, but I've decided "Kermit" is a better name for them.




I'm really pleased with this pair. I still have a little perfecting to do when it comes to heels (and that pesky gap at the gusset,) but I'm getting there.

Pattern: rpm
Yarn: Panda Cotton by Crystal Palace Yarns (59% Bamboo, 25% Cotton, 16% Elastic Nylon)
Color: Fern
Amount: 1 ball per sock, with plenty to spare from each ball
Needles: 40" Addis 1 1/5 (I think 2.25 MM, but don't quote me)

Did I mention how excited I am? I may never get the hang of sweaters, but I am lovin' the sock knitting!
Countdown 1,000: 96

Labels: FO's, Knitting, Socks, Year of the Sock

|

June 23, 2008

I was invited to this swell kick-off party Saturday night so off I went at midnight to cast on. I finally decided on rpm for my first SOS sock. I'm just not feeling a multi-hued yarn for the Tangled Vines.

So midnight (CST) arrived and I cast on for the sock, finished the ribbing and went through 2 9-row pattern repeats. Here's the progress pic I took Sunday morning:



I sat down Sunday and screwed up the heel, so I started over again. I finished the first sock this evening and I've already cast on number two. Hopefully, I finish the second one a little faster. I'm doing my own heel and toe thing since the pattern is written for 2 circs and I prefer the Magic Loop. Hub-a-Dub was impressed it wasn't a striped sock. I guess my next pair will have to be solid colored.

I'm trying not to get down on myself and my slow speed. Folks are already posting completed pairs over at Ravelry!
Countdown 1,000: 98

Labels: Socks, Summer of Socks 2008, Year of the Sock

|

June 20, 2008

Dear Self,
You are cordially invited to the 2008 Summer of Socks Kick Off Party
Date: June 21, 2008
Time: Midnight
Location: The Living Room
Dress: Jammies
In lieu of gifts, please bring the Panda Cotton in the Fern colorway and the pattern for rpm


Countdown 1,000: 99 (woot! double digits!)

Labels: Good Stuff, Socks

|

June 5, 2008

It appears that Swapna is the fastest clicker in the erm...east. She's snapped up the yarn and knitting book.

Netter is the fatest clicker stateside. She's now the proud owner of the crochet grab bag.

I sat down last night and finally finished a pair of socks I started in April:

Pattern: Yarn Over Cable from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Panda Cotton by Crystal Palace Yarn
Needles: Size 1.5 (2.5 mm) 40" Addi's (Magic Loop is my favorite!)
Comments: This is the softest yarn! At first I found it to be a bit slippery and splitty, but I got used to it. These socks will be worn in public!

So far in this Year of the Sock I am averaging 1 pair of socks per month. Not too shabby.

But you know that feeling you get when you finish a book? You know, like you can't quite decide what to read next? I kind of feel that way about the next pair. I can't decide if I want to do RPM or Tangled Vines. All I know for sure is that I want to use this yarn:

Panda Cotton in Fern (hence the backdrop)

Your thoughts?
Countdown 1,000: 122

Labels: FO's, Knitting, Socks, Year of the Sock

|

May 25, 2008

I have completed another pair of socks. I'm calling them the Knockabout Socks because I don't plan to wear them outside of the house. That makes four out of five pairs that will never see the light of day.*



I probably don't need to tell you that I'm not super keen on this pair. Which is usually the case with this brand of yarn. I made them a little too long and loose. I also tried a garter stitch short row heel:



I'm a little concerned that I've done all this sock knitting and I don't see any improvement.

Countdown 1,000: 139

*The Learning Pair, The Third Pair, the Fourth Pair, and these.

Labels: Knitting, Socks

|

April 7, 2008

I stayed up past my bedtime last night to do the heel on the sixth pair. I must have been too tired because I flubbed it. I thought I could get away with a creative fudge here and there, but when the sock was tried on it looked terrible. There were a few large gaps and the stitches were too stretched out. I frogged and I started over this morning. I added 10 more stitches so I hope that will help. I really hate mucking it up, though. Oh well.

I worked on this WIP for a little yesterday:

But I was just itching to start something new. It didn't help that I had the new issues of Crochet Today and Interweave Crochet. I really loved the Tunisian Lace Ascot (scroll waaaay down), but I only have a size G tunisian hook. The pattern calls for a size J and when I tried it as written, the piece was about 2 inches wide. The pattern doesn't list the multiple of stitches needed to increase the width, so I whipped out a book I bought when I was 14:




And found a similar tunisian stitch pattern and voila!



Isn't it strange how differently the color turned out? The left is closest to real life. I managed to hide the wonky bottom too.

Labels: Bitchin' and Moanin', Crochet, Socks, WIPs

|

April 3, 2008

I got home before the sun went down today so I snapped a picture of the fifth pair. Please excuse the trash can back ground.




These, too are destined to be just house socks. Out of the 5 pair I've made, 3 are not for use in public...but one day...

The Details:
Yarn: Lion Brand Sportweight Wool Ease (I've lost the label, so I don't know the "official" color name)
Needles: My size 1 1/2 addi's (duh. It's all I've been using, lately) 2.5 MM for my international readers
Pattern: I made it up
The Commentary:
I think maybe this pair is just a bit too snug. I didn't realize how much all the cables will draw in. I found great instructions for an easy short row heel with video on the internet. It worked like a charm! You can find them here. You'll never wrap again.
There's still room for improvement, but I'm feeling better and more confident about my sock knitting.

Update: the Sixth and Seventh pairs





I did decide to frog and start the Sock of the Month Club sock over again. This time I'm tweaking the numbers so it will be a little smaller (I could tell the other one was going to be bigger than I like) and so I could use the magic loop method (on my brand new KnitPicks circs...LOVE!) I just wasn't feeling the DPN's. I guess this means I'm not a real knitter according to the rules of the knitting universe, but I'm enjoying the project more now. I also figured out why the back cables were wonky. There are two charts that are followed for the back cables. I had followed chart B correctly, but skipped 3 rows of the cable pattern for chart A. That's why the cable twists weren't making a nice alternating pattern. I'm not going to make the same mistake again:




There are 48 rows of the pattern, I made a copy and cut it up, ten rows at a time and prepared a page for each ten row section (8 rows for the last page.) This, coupled with Andrea's suggestion to use post it notes to cover anything you aren't working on will insure my success! The pattern will not win!

Of couse, I still only work on these when the rest of the house is asleep. I spend the rest of the time on these:

Labels: Knitting, Socks, Year of the Sock

|

April 1, 2008

Please pardon the rambling nature of this post. Believe it or not, I usually try to write a somewhat logical, decent-flow sort of post that a person can get the gist of within a 30 second glance, but that ain't gonna happen today.

I finished the fourth pair, but can't get a decent picture. Will try it in more natural lighting.

Started on the fifth pair Sunday night. It's from my sock of the month club from TheKnitter.com. Actually I'm in the Bi-monthly sock of the month club. I get a pattern and yarn to complete said pattern every other month. Anyway, this is the pattern from January....February?




I'm sure for an experienced knitter this is pure child's play. But I must be completely alone to work on this. This means that I can't even work on it when there is even a chance that someone might call, the cats may need my attention or the Hubster may want to talk. At my house, that means I have to wait until 9 or 10 pm and then only do 2 or 3 rows. So progress is minimal:



I'm toying with the idea of frogging these and starting over. I feel like the cables look wonky on the back (the pic with the marker). I swear I'm following the chart religiously! I'm about 60% against frogging. It really was a bear to get this much done and I can't face starting over. Madame Lazy Sticks thinks she will just do better next time.

I also decided I needed to start a sixth pair since I won't be making tons of progress with the fifth pair. That way I'll have something to work on when Hubster insists we "spend time together." Really! How am I supposed to get any knitting done?

Of course, I have no pictures of the sixth pair, either. It's on my To Do list.

And I think the Knitting Fates are trying to tell me that I should invest in good yarn. Trekking is a brand I've heard folks rave about but the price has always scared me.

Lo and behold look what arrived last week from the sock of the month lady (Judy at the above website):

Labels: Knitting, Socks, Year of the Sock

|

March 28, 2008

I originally planned to tell the knitting "story" behind each pair. But really, who wants to read that every time I finish a pair?

So anyway, here's the third pair. I finished them some time last week. It's my first pair of toe-up socks. I didn't follow any one pattern. I used a no-wrap short row method I found on the sock knitters yahoo group for the heel and a pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks by the goddess of socks Charlene Schurch for the cuff. I decided to use sport weight yarn and size one needles because I wanted a strong pair of "around the house socks". I'm hoping the acrylic paired with the bulletproofedness of the knitting will give the socks a long life.

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease (sport weight.)
Color: Autumn (to me it looks like Christmas colors...like woodlands Christmas)
Needles: Addi Turbo 40" circular 1 1/2 (2.5 mm). I just found out this week that there are two size "ones" on the market: 2.25 and 2.5mm. These are the same needles I've used since the Learning Socks fiasco.

Reflections
Why the hell haven't I been doing toe ups all along?! Just being able to try them on as I go makes it worth it! There were some moments when I was figuring out the whole toe up process, but nothing frustrated me to the point that I wanted to pitch a bitch fit...and my husband will tell you that sometimes just dropping a spoon frustrates me to the point of bitch fit pitching.

Labels: Knitting, Socks, Year of the Sock

|

March 27, 2008

As I mentioned with my second sock post, I'm not ready to plunk down wads o' cash for sock yarn. Yes, I love the way good yarn feels, but if I buy one hank of sock yarn at $14-$21 dollars per hank I'll only have 1-2 hanks of yarn (normally I'm not a math person, but this is easy.) I prefer to have MORE sock yarn, so I've put "find cheap but good sock yarn" at the top of my To-do list.

Thanks to the Yarn Harlot, the grunt work is done. She talks all about it in this post. Now I at least have a starting point. Not having an LYS is really a bummer. Most of my knitting friends are sweater knitters and don't have any suggestions for sock yarn. I mean, I can find plenty of cheap options on the web, but how do they really stack up? Knowing what a die-hard sock knitter uses helps a lot!

Labels: Fan Mail, Knitting, Socks

|

March 19, 2008

Get ready! Below is the first installment of many sock knitting posts planned for this year...

January 2008
I decided I was going to knit a pair of socks and I wasn't going to use no stinkin' pattern thankyouverymuch.

Bad idea.

Really bad idea.

These are my socks:



I hate these freaking socks.

I have dubbed them my learning socks.

The animosity begins with the yarn. It's rough. It's ugly. And I knew damn well it was going to be ugly when I bought the ball. There's no telling why I bought the stuff. It's been in my house for years. I tried making it into other things. I thought maybe using it for it's intended purpose, it might look better. But it is stubborn. This shit refuses to look good.

Despite the yarn, I cast on my 52 stitches for the right sock using a set of 4 dpns size two. There were problems immediately. I learned quickly that a tube is circular and should therefore be knit that way. Not triangularly. But I was entirely too lazy to get up and get a 5th needle and I had to be at my knitting meeting within the half hour. I pressed on and decided that for my next pair I would use a set of 5. Yes, I said next pair, not "the stockinette portion", or even "the left sock." Remember, L-A-Z-Y so there are lots of L-A-D-D-E-R-S.

The ribbing is quite messy and Righty ain't so tighty. I did learn my lesson, though and cast on the left sock with 4 size 1 dpns and once I finished the ribbing used the 2's for the stockinette portion. The ribbing is much neater on Lefty and maybe a squidge tighter, but not much. Both socks are loose as hell 'cause I knit loose as hell and I never remember that "just right" at first fitting becomes "floppy" after 3 put ons/take offs because there is some stretch to yarn.

I decided to just do stockinette stitch for both socks and really the self stripe part is not so hideous when done in stockinette (and I mean in a "since I'm never going to wear them outside the house" kind of way.) The leg part of both socks was quick and easy aka mindless knitting.

But socks need heels, right?

I decided to whip out several of my (many) sock knitting books and research heels. After much perusing I decided Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush had the information I needed. For Righty I went with the Dutch (or Horseshoe) heel as described on pages 16 and 17. You'll notice there is no close-up shot of that heel. It wasn't too bad, but not thrilling or pride provoking, either. I shrug and tell myself I'll try a different heel and do better with Lefty.

(Lefty is the photo you see on the left...a complete coincidence. Lefty's heel is what I call Fusion Knitting. This is when I take an element (the French heel) from one reference book (pages 19 & 20 of Vintage Socks...again) and combine it with an element (garter edge) of another reference book (Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch.) This heel is an improvement, but the yarn pissed me off by looking like crapola at the garter edge.)

Anyway, when last we left Righty, I was done with the heel...

As I work the gusset to get to the foot portion I discover another flaw with self striping yarn, the stripes don't line up and the sock begins to resemble (horrors) a crappy handmade holiday gift. I ask myself again why in the hell I bought evil Lion Brand Magic Stripes this yarn. I curse the knit gods and continue on to my favorite part: the mindless knitting of the foot. Before I knew it, I had to start thinking about the toe. As with the heel, I research the various methods of toe construction and settle on the French toe (again, Nancy Bush to the rescue...page 21.)

At this point the fibery muses take pity on me and guide my hands and fingers and I end up with a not too shabby, rather nice toe. Even better, Frenchy doesn't even require the Kitchener (which, in my opinion, ranks right up there with Magic Stripes on the evil scale.)

Lefty received the same pedicure treatment.

Seriously, I learned a lot from these socks...and at the same time I learned nothing from these socks, to wit:
As soon as I finished these little bastards I cast on for another pair....




....in freaking self striping yarn! (Look for my adventures with the second pair soon!)

Labels: Knitting, Socks

|

Apparently, there are blogging "rules" and an "About Me" section is mandatory. Well, here you are:

I blog because I like to. I am a curmudgeon. What else would you like to know? Ask me, I'm happy to oblige!

Hub-a-Dub: Claims he is being punished for sins from a past life.

Offspring: A teen-aged girl who gets away with murder

The Stray: Offspring's boyfriend. We fed him and now he won't leave.

Join the Catster community

 

Subscribe in a reader

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called FO's 2008. Make your own badge here.

• Emotion
• Welcome Back, Students
• Hope You Like Quiz Results...
• Mini FO & Secret Stuff
• 50 Book Challenge #13
• He's a Keeper
• Back to Work
• Ooops! Sorry for the confusion!
• A Setback
• One Step Closer to Twitchysticks

- Look Into My Past - January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008

June 21-September 1

Boards and 'Zines

legalese

This work by Sara is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.