In Knitting News - Primrose Socks

What I have been working on is Sarah Miller's pattern, Primrose from the Spring+Summer 2011 issue of Knitty.com.



I'm using Knit Picks' Stroll Tonal yarn, which is a dream to work with. I'm doing the socks on Kollage Square needles, size U.S. #1.

The pattern was very tricky in the beginning. I found I had dropped a stitch and had to pull back the foot to where the toe shaping (stockinette stitch) ended and the pattern started four times. Finally, on the fifth try it clicked.

Then, I goofed up the heel shaping and simply had to improvise a combination heel of my choosing.

I think I discovered an error in the pattern on the round which sets up the leg pattern. I have emailed the designer to see, but forged ahead with what I believe is the correction.

One thing I have definitely learned. This is not a pattern I am readily able to work on at the coffee shop during sit-n-knit!


(Despite that, I love the sock and I'm glad for the challenge of something fun to knit!)

Oh My Darlin'

I've decided the color of these socks reminds me of clementines....which reminded me of the song from elementary school days....



This may be my new "vanilla" sock pattern. Just a quick knit sock when you need a pair asap.

My friend dyed the yarn, which was acutally a sock blank. I knit them toe-up using Judy's Magic Cast-On, a combination heel and Jeni's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off.

No frills, but nice warm socks in the end!



How was your weekend??

Fall Was In The Air

We had a very fall-like weekend. The high temp yesterday was only 54*F! I finished these socks in a very fall-like colorway last week and am just now getting around to posting.



This is Knit PIcks Felici in the colorway "Clay" (although I keep thinking of Indian Corn when I see them!) I decided to do toe-up and use up each ball completely. Consequently, the feet are a hair too big for me. I'm counting on them shrinking up just a tad when I wash them.

I also started another pair using Paton's Kroy from Hobby Lobby. It's the line called FX and I really like what this colorway is doing!



I'm knitting these with 64 sts to the round and the fabric is coming out dense. I think these are going to make very warm socks!

Yes, I'm on a sock knitting bender. I noticed that most of my hand knit socks were darned at least once, if not more. I have given several pairs away and decided to go on a spree of sock making for myself. In doing so I have decided I LOVE my Kollage square needles!! I'm using the 5" and 6" double points in size US#1. (Although I just got some US#0 today! Yippee!!)

Happy knitting!

More Socks

Yes, there have been more socks. These are from Noro's sock yarn.



And these are from Austerman Step.


On these I copied an idea from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot) and carried one section of ribbing down to the ankle on each side. I like the effect and since they are for me, that's perfect!

Happy knitting!

Surprise! (not)

The swatch I posted earlier was a pair of socks I knit for my SIL's 30th birthday present. Some of her favorite colors were among the stripes and I do believe she really liked them. Other than the tour of the ER at the local hospital with our son which ended the day (x-rays showed nothing major wrong as it turned out, so we're thankful for that!), we had a great day at Okoboji!!

Socks Are Go!

Well, I put it out there in the universe via the blogosphere that I intended to complete (by the end of January) the socks from the sock blank I received from a friend on the west coast and......

TA DA!!



"I did it! I did it! Yeah, I did it!" (Apologies to Dora the Explorer.)

Here is one from a side angle:



I like the way the blue subtly striped along the cuff.

I knit them from the toe up because I wanted to try using up all the yarn for once. The cuffs will have to be rolled as they go too far up my calf without any sizing and I don't want to stretch out the bind off too much. (That's ok, I haven't worn socks that far up my calves in quite some time anyway!)

I'm glad to have completed them because they really do feel lovely on my feet. The yarn is very soft and the socks are quite thick, yet supple. Really nice!

On to the scarf I'm doing in brioche rib. I can knock that out of the park tomorrow and be on to the afghan in no time!

Happy knitting!

Painful, But Necessary

Well, I'm afraid that the sock project which has been languishing in my WIP basket finally guilt-tripped me into taking it to my knitting group on Wednesday. You may remember them from earlier posts:



As I was struggling to knit them on the 2 circular needles I was thinking about what it was that kept me from working on them. Although Christmas knitting DID need to get done, it seemed there was something more to my having set them aside. Then I figured it out.

I had to admit that I really do not like knitting 2 socks at once on circular needles. I'm much faster on dpns. The 2 socks on 2 circs method slows me down because I am constantly having to fiddle with untangling the yarn(s) and needles.

That problem was further exacerbated by the fact that the yarns, in this case, were coming from a singular source (the sock blank) which made it all the more difficult to keep them from tangling and getting into weird/difficult to knit with positions in relation to the needles. At some point, I suppose, the process became too inwardly frustrating, so I set them aside.

So, I decided at my knitting group to seperate the Siamese twins in order to transfer them to dpns. It seems like a no brainer solution, doesn't it?

Well, let me tell you, it was a difficult process during which I think I recalled every swear word I ever learned (in any language, real or imagined).

Because I had to begin unraveling the sock blank at the wrong end, it didn't really want to unravel. I had to perform intricate "pass the balls through the loop" manuevers at each end of every row. Because of this, the yarn was twisting as well. And the yarn was already VERY kinky because it was being unknit from the sock blank.

I started the seperation surgery at about 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. The yarn was ALL over my living room (in my attempt to keep it from tangling up as much as possible). I did have a couple errands in the middle of the day....but it took me until 8 p.m. Wednesday to have two balls of yarn and two socks, one now on dpns while the other waits on the original circs.



Truth be told, I may have to set them aside once more until I recover from the process of seperating them!

What I learned about sock blanks:

1. I love the colors my friend used to dye the blank with. The potential to make whatever color and patterns you want is priceless and well worth it! The yarn itself is lovely, and after what it went through on Wednesday, I'm guessing it's quite sturdy as well!

2. If I ever find myself in possession of another I know now that I had better seperate the two balls of yarn BEFORE beginning the knitting process. I won't attempt to start two socks on two circs again....the method is just not for me.

Anyone else out there ever knit a sock blank? What did you learn? about the process? about yourself as a knitter?

Happy knitting!

Ok, Now I Get It!

Sometimes it's hard for me to accept what seems like "hype" or "PR" of products.

Growing up, I began to be responsible for my own clothing purchases in 8th grade when I babysat regularly and then got a summer job at the Dairy Queen. I learned pretty quickly that I could either buy 1 pair of "designer" jeans, or 3 pairs of "plain" jeans. To me, jeans were jeans . . . especially when you compared the fabric and construction. Levis seemed just as good, if not better in quality, than the Calvin Kleins advertised by Brooke Shields.

In knitting I learned pretty early on that I really do prefer natural fibers to acrylic. And even among acrylic yarns, some are better (softer, easier on the hands to work with, etc.) than others.

So when I heard everyone swooning over Malabrigo, I figured it was just another form of hype--a fad which would fade and everyone would look at the Malabrigo in their stash a year or two later and wonder why they had spent money on it.

Boy, was I wrong! One sitting with the luscious fibery treat and I have to say....I get it! I think it's the sort of thing you don't really understand until you do knit with it for yourself. It is the softest wool I've knit with! It's smooshy and dreamy and delightful. I'm making my daughter a scarf from it.



I figured with everything going on in our little corner of the world, and not knowing what's up with hubby's job....I just needed a little extra comfort and a dash of joy....if only for the few minutes I steal off and on throughout the day to knit on this scarf!

(Still no official word when/if job changes are coming. The governor did sign the executive order today and we are still awaiting word as to its specific impact. I do appreciate all the thoughts, prayers and well wishes though....keep them coming!)

In other knitting news....

I finished an Elizabeth Zimmerman hat for DD. It's the "Very Warm" hat from Opinionated Knitter. I used up the left-over alpaca from her thrummed mittens and another color of alpaca for the inner lining. Should be very warm crossing campus.



Progress on DH's socks is slow....and hasn't happened much the past few days what with the malabrigo on the other needles. I'm using Dreams In Color Smooshy in the Cocoa Kissed colorway for them.



All the hand-knit Christmas gifts (and the ones we bought too!) have been put into the mail yesterday afternoon. Hopefully they will reach their destinations before the end of day next Thursday.

Happy Knitting! (8 more days until Christmas!)

Love's Limits

If you look back to May 6 you'll see my initial post regarding the Elizabeth Zimmerman blanket I intended to knit.

It started out swell! I was so full of enthusiasm and love for all things EZ, after all Elizabeth is one of the knitting elites....a pioneer, an inspiration, a revered oracle of all things knitted.

Well, I can tell you, row upon row of nothing but garter stitch is d@mn boring!

Over the summer my love for the project waned.

The blanket languished at the bottom of my WIP(works in progress) pile.

Until one day in November I realized that there really were a limited number of days left until Christmas and if I truly intended to give the #$@^& thing as a gift, I'd better pull it out and get busy.

So here it is, finished at long last!




I'm afraid only a knitter is going to look at it and realize how much time went into the thing. But I do hope when my nephew cuddles up with it he might one day realize his Aunt Kim's love for him has no limits, not even endless rounds of boring garter stitch and more finishing work than she's ever put into any other project!

I decided I can't leave my niece hanging when it comes to hand knits for the holidays, so I started a quick pair of socks for her as well. Fortunately six year old feet aren't all that big and this pair will take me about 4 evenings of knitting while watching t.v.



Do you suppose I should've been making something for my own kids??

Catching Up

I must admit, I didn't do much knitting over the weekend. (*gasp!* "so close to Christmas?" you're thinking.)

Well, it's true. My left wrist has been very sore for a few days, so I was giving it a rest.

But I did take photos 1)of a completed project:



It's another of "Fool's Gold" by Chris Church from the Knotions ezine. I LOVE this pattern. Have now completed 3 child size hats for nephews & niece. This is the niece version. I knit it double stranded using 2 colors of pink superwash wool. I think it turned out great!

Also, I couldn't resist trying the sock blank that my swap partner/friend K sent me from California. K dyed the sock blank herself and I think it's really lovely.



I've been knitting on this in public and discovering that most people don't get the concept of a sock blank. So I'll explain.

The piece of knitted fabric comes that way. I am not undoing a piece of knitted fabric that someone took the time to lovingly hand knit. It came as one piece of fabric. And it was white.

K then dyed the sock blank in the manner of her choosing, with the colors she wanted to work with.

The blank was knitted double-stranded. That means that however K dyed it, when it unravels to become the sock yarn I make the socks from, the two seperate balls of yarn (which were knit together, side-by-side, into one piece of fabric) will knit up two identical socks. [This is a huge benefit to the people who must have identical twin socks....i.e. stripes must match up when the two seperate socks are layed side by side.]

Here's a shot that shows the two seperate strands coming apart from the knitted fabric, each going to its own sock. (I am knitting two socks at once on 2 circular needles.)



I met a woman at the car dealership last week who looked at me as if this were some sort of magic. We were both getting our oil changed in our vehicles. She was a crocheter. First off, she'd never seen "such tiny knitting needles!" Then she was convinced I had knit the sock blank fabric and changed my mind when the piece turned out too small to be anything useful. She seemed mesmerized by the whole process. We chatted for 15 or 20 minutes beyond my car being ready to roll. And I got a pattern for crocheting pot scrubbies from nylon cord to boot!

What have you been working on?

Happy knitting!

Common Quandary

Well, I wasn't quite sure if I was dealing with a quandary:

quan·da·ry: \ˈkwän-d(ə-)rē\
noun; plural quan·da·ries; origin unknown

: a state of perplexity or doubt

or a conundrum:

Noun
1. a puzzling question or problem
2. a riddle whose answer contains a pun [origin unknown]

As it turns out, it seems to be more of a quandary than a conundrum.

I've become quite fond of knitting my socks from the toe up for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is the ability to use up the yarn in a more efficient way.(When knitting from the cuff down I am uber paranoid about not making the leg too long so that I don't run out of yarn an inch short of finishing up the toe.)


However, when I knit toe up socks using one skein/ball of yarn from which both socks must come, I find myself in the same quandary time and time again.

I almost always knit the first sock with too short a leg/cuff because I'm worried about having enough for the second sock. I've done it once again on the Brachs Sox I'm making. Have a look:




There is obviously going to be plenty left in this lovely skein of Trekking XXL to make the second sock's leg a respectable length. (The first sock is short by at least 2".) So my plan is to go ahead and knit the second sock to the length I'd like. Then I will go back, take out the bind off and add length to the first sock.

What a pain.

I do wish there were a solution to this dilema. Anyone have any suggestions??

In other news, I'm slowly getting back up and running with the new hard drive. My reinstall of Photoshop Elements is complete, but the program is acting a bit wonky and not performing functions as it did before the crash. I'm sure this is due to the fact I'd made some changes to it through the months I'd used it. I'll be darned if I can remember what off the top of my head though! (Of course, with the flaming head cold I've got going at the moment, that's not too difficult. Hard to think, let alone concentrate!) I guess I'll go get another cup of hot tea!

Happy Knitting!

Pink Flamingos and Brach's Candy

What do pink flamingos and Brach's candy have to do with anything?

More particularly, what might they have to do with knitting?

Well, I wasn't sure I'd ever shown a picture of the needle holders my kids made me for mother's day last year. I currently have the pink flamingo pair in action holding my latest sock project.



As you can see, they keep the sock from falling off the needles while it rides around in my bag or sits around on the couch waiting for me. (This also keeps the sharp dpn's from piercing the sofa or legs or paws of those using the couch!)

I decided to start a fun project to break the winter blues cycle I seemed to be stuck in. When I visited my stash, I found this fun Trekking XXL yarn waiting for me!




I ordered it from Simply Socks Yarn Company (web store) many months ago. I remember it was described as the "Brach's Candy" colorway. It is SO FUN to see how the colors come out! It is turning out to be a fibery sweet treat like none other. I've used Trekking before....gotta say, "LOVE IT!"




The dpn holders are made from two finger puppets secured together with elastic cording. You can adjust the length of the elastic cord to suit the length of dpn needles you use (shorter or longer). It's a brilliant idea, and they do work wonderfully!

I'm off to dream about sweet, sweet tropical destinations while knitting my socks.(Or who's yard might need some pink flamingos!)

Happy Knitting!

A New Day, A Fresh Outlook

Two things I love about life:

1. A good night's sleep.

Never underestimate the ability of a good night's sleep to help you with a fresh perspective on things the next day. I love the restorative, healing nature of something so natural and wonderful as simply sleeping.

2. A gathering of knitting friends.

Wednesday is my "sit-n-knit" group. We meet from 9:30 to 11:30 or noon each week. There is plenty of delicious coffee (or mochas or lattes or tea or whatever floats your boat!) along with yummy baked goods and other forms of sustenance.

The best part, however, is the weekly show-and-tell and the comradery. Today there were 11 of us. We chatted, sometimes as a whole and at other moments in smaller groups. There is laughter. (Sometimes so much it leads to tears!) Sometimes there are just tears. (That usually leads to hugs.) It is like a weekly trip to the spa/therapy/arts & crafts class all in one! Hard to beat the healing and restorative nature of that as well!

Today I worked on the socks I am making for my sister. You may have spotted the pattern on the Yarn Harlot's blog (I know that's where I found it.) I liked the way it made her varigated yarn look. I thought it might jazz up some plain yarn too.

What do you think?



The pattern is Leyburn Socks and can be found at:

http://www.pepperknit.com/patterns/LeyburnSocksPattern.pdf

I am using Paton's sock yarn (Krory, I believe) and size US#1 needles.

I think my sister will like them.

Happy Knitting!

Online 6-Ply Sock Yarn

We are having an unusual streak of arctic air blasts this winter. I decided I needed some thick, wool socks and that I needed them quickly. Leslie at my LYS, Ewephoria Yarns, came to my rescue by introducing me to Online Yarn's 6-Ply Sock Yarn.

I usually knit socks on U.S. #0 needles. This 6-ply works up well using US #2's. This means less stitches per round and much quicker knitting!

Here are the two pair I've knit up thus far:



This version of Online is the Supersocke, 6-Ply, Cottage Colors collection. It is 75% superwash wool and 25% Polyamid. It comes in a very generous 150g ball with well over 400 yards. The only draw-back for me is that since it's one ball, I was hesitant in knowing how long I could make the leg on the first sock to still have enough to complete the second sock. Turns out I could've made the legs on my socks longer. Much longer. I guess that's one of those "live and learn" things! I could have remedied that by either: dividing the wool into two balls before I started knitting (might have been a tedious task!) or by using a scale to weigh the ball and the sock in progress to determine if I was nearing the "half-way" mark of usage. Since I don't have a scale, that wasn't a real option.

Anyway, I enjoyed the feel of the yarn as I was knitting and the socks appear to be very durable. They are definitely warmer than some of the other socks I've knit with finer, 4-ply yarns.

These were just quick knits following no particular pattern, just making them up as I went. The green colorway is knit toe-up with a heel flap/gusset construction, my new favorite way of doing socks.

I'd say I'll be knitting with this brand again in the future!

Happy Knitting!

Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life I've Found You!

(With apologies to Madeline Kahn!)

I can't believe it took me well over 50 pairs of socks to discover the secret to the perfect pair of socks for my feet!

I finally experimented with toe-up socks that have a heel flap/gusset. (The short row heels I had been doing never fit me right, no matter how I fiddled with the number of stitches.)

They fit me so well, I even convinced my husband to try on the pair that were too long for me. He hasn't taken them off since!!

Without further adieu, here they are . . . .



The pair in the middle are mine. They were knit from Regia and are fondly called my "Monet Socks" simply because the colorway reminds me of a Monet painting. The others are socks knit for my DH using yarn from Knit Picks. He's been wearing the pair on the left so much that I decided to knit him another before he wears through the first pair.

I LOVE this method first, because they fit the best. Second, because knitting them toe-up allows me to knit until I run out of yarn, meaning the leg/cuff are longer than my other pairs. (I always got nervous that I *might* run out of yarn, so kept them shorter and then ended up with lots left over.)

Happy knitting!

Susan's Sox - Part 2

This is the second pair of socks I knit for my knitting group friend Susan. She bought the yarn. It is Opal. I think it knit up quite lovely and much different than it appeared in the ball! (Had no idea those solid bands were lurking within!)

I will give them to her on Wednesday when our group meets. I hope she likes them!
I'll be interested to know if she has a preference for one construction versus the other (top down or toe up....)

Even though I did this pair from the toe up, I still ended up with quite a bit of yarn left over. First, these are knit to fit a woman's size 6.5 (US) sized foot. Secondly, since the yarn was in one 100g ball, I was still nervous on the first sock not to exceed the "half-way point" of the yarn and only made the leg/cuff about 7" long. Looking back, I could've easily made the leg lengths at least 9".

Anyone have any suggestions on how to solve that dilema?

That's What Friends Are For

I have a group of women I knit with nearly every week. They have grown into friends. While we knit we share bits and pieces of our lives. Over time, from these bits and pieces begins to emerge a bigger picture....like a jigsaw puzzle. We begin to see and appreciate each other in new ways.

One of the ladies in my group wanted to knit socks. However, she was just about to leave for the winter to go to Texas where it was sunny and warm. Alas, sock knitting didn't quite happen.

When she returned she asked me if I would take her yarn and knit her socks.
What could I say? I LOVE knitting socks! She delivered two skeins: one Opal and the other with its label missing. She has tiny size 6 (and very narrow) feet. Here is the first pair completed.



She tried on the first one and it fit perfectly, so I made the second just like the first. This is the yarn that had no label.

The other pair I'm doing from the toe up just to give her a sense and feel for how the two construction methods differ.

Now the word is out......I suspect I might be coming into some more sock yarn to knit for others in the group!