January 5

Check it out, i knit this much sock today:

so far...
plus i did like 6 rows on my Multnomah since yesterday.
it took me most of the day to decide on this stitch pattern for the sock. i originally wound this up and had a go at charade. it was a fail .way to tight after the heel . you remember me and heels not getting along right? i have to get through at least one more pair before i am truly truly convinced i have it down. since i have cast on like a dozen socks over the past year, me and toe-up goes know each other pretty well. i like to start them with circs but as you can see i am knitting the foot of these here with dpns.


what you see: a toe-up sock with lozenge stitch pattern in Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! differential Grashopper. acquired at SS09. Signature 2.5 mm Double-Pointed needles. i go around with 5

the early part of the eyar has seen me spinning just a bit. i mean i had to play with my Kuchulu. it came with a sample piece of Finn wool and i have been taking my sweet time with it. also came with som esuper silky silky. it's like floaty cotton candy threads. i can't mess with that.
i'd better go log in a few more rounds...

unicorn found

i could always do short rows. i mean, i can follow pattern instructions. no problem. it's that there would always be something aesthetically bothersome about the heel once i completed it. holes, asymmetry, ill fit. i had tried every kind of technique, wrapping, double wraps, hiding the wraps, no wrap, double stitching German, Japanese, crazy YOs. you name it. if i asked for help and someone said "try this heel" i would do it with an open mind. over 3 dozen individual socks hells and that doesn't count the frog and repeats. than. last night. blammo. i unvented my own. NO HOLES. symmetrical as a mirror reflection, no wraps. just magical. the unicorn of short-row heels. it took me a year but i have earned my sock knitter badge !

Autumn, the New Year for knitters.

well Fall has been here for a bit but this chilly day has really made me take notice of the season change. and it it friggin' October!

i have planned myself a bigger task list this month than i ever have. (mainly knitting, but some other projects too.) Mostly because i have not really been a planner. not in this way. i see things and i am all "oooh i wanna make that" and each mental picture goes in to pile and i pick them out randomly. so this planing ahead for stuff is way weird. and yet, fun. i don't want to get discouraged by acknowledging that i haven't been this productive in such a small amount of time before. ever. and chances are this list will be the same come November. no way. i just wanna be a glass-half-full kinda gal for a minute okay?

my first foray into a KAL was, well, i won't call it "unsuccessful". i didn't finish the project at all let alone on time. but it's still on the needles and once i gain the skill badge i was missing for it to be a complete success, i will revisit it. That said, i am trying new things! throwing caution to the lions, i joined not just a KAL, but a mystery one. not just a mystery KAL, but a lace one. i know. i am nuts! BUT don't give up on me yet. i have actually wound the yarn (1700+ yards. yes, a daunting task) AND i knit the swatch. all on the official day one of the KAL. so not bad right?

(click to embiggen)

yea, i messed up towards the end. skipped a row i think . i wasn't paying close enough attention. first time trying lace with patterning on both sides. i should be more scared, but well, i'm not.

mystic embers kal 2009
Sept 30 -Oct 31

yarn, wm lace in spice market, 4mm addi lace needles. the swatch is not properly blocked.
ravelry Project page

i did complete a Swallowtail shawl [interweave knits, fall 06]. it is a small shawl as far a shawls go. as many before me have stated. it went alot smoother than Ishbel. surprisingly. i was a little scared of it but had to dive in after seeing so many beautiful ones on shoulders at Sock Summit. (i know, i owe you some posts on my adventures there. procrastinated but not forgotten!) particularly Glenna's sea silk version. Her Ravelry project page. a real glistening beauty tat shawl. and even after touching it i didn't buy any seasilk in the SS09 market. Go restraint!
Here's mine

not the best pic ever.

yarn wm twin in maus jung 4mm addi lace needles
ravelry project page

you may or may not know the drama i have been experiencing with socks. one successful pair, three successful lonely abandoned singles, five ill-fitting single toe-up socks,and two frogged attempts at cuff down. int hat order. pretty much.

well...

i said i wasn't giving up!
i am up to the heel flap on the second one and trudging along steadily.
i want these to be finished! my feet are cold!

pattern is summer sox socks by Cookie A. cuff down with a hell flap *gasp* i know. not my preferred method. but i am open minded and tried it and it fits so there.
wm twin in wasabi 2.25 mm harmony dpns (woulda been better in 2.75 mm but still fits!
ravelry project page

Than there is the Gothsocks groupies KAL. i have mental plans for this.
also, been thinking about Multnomah since it first came out. that's a simple one i just can't decide on a yarn. i had single skeins of Bugga! but wanted it bigger since i already have two shawlettes- and like i said- i'm cold! i keep wanting squishy warm knits! i nabbed two skeins of Skinny Bugga! for this. but i have been wavering back and forth between the two ideas. if i knit it in the SB, i can make it bigger but. that means i will have to knit it bigger! kwim?

and then Damson caught my eye. i dunno how many shawlettes one girl needs, but so far the two i have made have been successful-at least in the end- and interesting to knit. they don't have to fit the way godforsaken socks do! it's really pretty. i dunno how much opportunity i will get to wear it. the girly prettiness of it limits it's versatility for me. but whatevs.

and i have to stop ignoring my February Lady. it would be nice to have it done for Rhinebeck. what!? it's possible! i just have to count my stitches and start the Gull Lace. it's totally doable. if i would just power through and stop dilly dally-ing. and maybe not knit anything else until it's finished... yea right.

hmm i think that's it. well, besides the fact that i have discovered hoop dancing and am madly in love. i guess i like being a beginner becase i keep trying new things. of course that means i now have to make my own own hoop. add that to the craft repertoire. i am starting to take my photography more seriously. not really for my craft photos (as is plain to see) but for other things.

i have slowed down on stashing. specifically Wollmeise. yes, because i have run out of room. (pictures soon!) but also, because the ratio of knitting to acquisition was unbalanced in a way that finally pushed me to do so. at first it was difficult, but i have been enjoying the extra sleep quite nicely. having opened my palette to other dyers at the summit i am shifting my attention in differnt directions. and having fun wiht other weights colors and textures. oh. and i'm broked. tee hee.

i'll try to visit more often!

eta: oh! and how could i forget! the dexterous Laris is hosting a KAL on Wollmeiseholics Anonymous for -what else but- gloves! sign ups are until OCT 4 and then i guess she'll email the pattern shortly after that. i am eager to get started on those. hmmm but in which colorway...

Leyburn ponderings...

So. I have come to the point where it is time to start paying attention to turning the heel. Deciding just where to do it and such. I am glad i realized that because with this pattern stitch it is suggested to increase a bit on the instep before turning the heel. If I had missed that instruction: frustration.

I like the way it's coming along. The sock. It's a nice snug foot. More fitted than my other endeavors. I seem to prefer this so far as it shows I am improving at getting a good fit. Toe up construction just seems to make sense. I dunno why the standard is the opposite. I hope to become good enough at reversing pattern directions that I might be able to modify to get a good, custom, ideal fit. In socks and everything else.

The yarn I am using was originally purchased with the designation to become a clapotis. Two skeins at about 360 yards each. As a single skein is intended to provide for a complete pair of socks (of the average persuasion with regards to foot length and cuff length variances) the question arises: how long to make these leyburns?..

I could stop after turning the heel on this first sock, place it aside as i begin and complete the heel on the second sock, see how much yarn I have left, split it evenly between the two, and make a basic pair of socks.

Or I could complete the first sock an make the second to match with no regards to having leftover yarn.

Or I could keep knitting until the first skein gone. Letting the yardage determine the length and using the entire second skein for the next sock.

The issues with each option respectively:

What would I do with the other skein of korrppi after completing leyburns of average length? sure that's an issue of stash and therefore not an issue. but would i really make another pair of socks in the same colorway? and having only one skein limits my non-sock options for the yarn. just a bit.

The second option might leave me with half a skein of yarn left. or force me to wind the second skein for just a few yards in order to finish up. This option throws all caution to the wind and let's the project decide. hmmm. i don't really like that.

The third option, using an entire skein for each sock, seems the most appealing. but would require bit of design, math and time extension (into the "long-term projects" category. working on shaping and calf increase and such. i would really want to take my time and invest my energy properly into such an endeavor. those could be just knee-high or there might be enough yarn in those skeins to accomplish thigh-high or above the knee socks. i am not so good with the estimating due to lack of sock knitting experience and most of my projects going, thus far, unfinished.

Then there are issues with regards to wearability.

what can i wear them with in terms of footwear, and outfitting?

do i intend to be able to fit these into my work wardrobe? because if not, i might never get very much opportunity to wear them...

and so, when i wear them do i intend for them to be seen?

and a million more ponderings.

thoughts?...

The first socks

one of my first projects in the beginning days was a sock. i made a knee sock with striping , a heel flap and all. Pippi Kneestockings from stitch n'bitch.

but i only made one.

more of an exercise in technique. i put it down and picked it up and frustratingly persevered through that project for like 6 months.

i got involved in the CPaA swap group in December. this yarn was up for grabs and i was "meh" about it. someone posted a pic of it knit up and it was these cute footsie socks. froot loops. it's a knitty pattern i had seen before and was meh about that too. i was all anti-patterned sock.

"why all that work?, it's going in a shoe anyway, that's gotta be uncomfortable, etc..."

just stockinette socks for me.

but i saw what this raveler had done to the pattern. and the crazy yarn was very froot-loopy indeed. since they were ankle socks i could maybe even finish them! one ball, that's all. being December i was cold, cold, cold and i couldn't find cashmere socks or cozy warm woolie socks any where any how. my tootsies needed these footsies!

and some how, some how i finished them.

cast on dec 28th cast off feb 9

and they are cozy indeed! i heard all the smack talk about how fab woolly socks are. specially the hand-knit variety. i know there are the peeps out there that are flipping mad about there sock knitting. the sock knitters. i never considered my self a sock knitter. even though i had made three halves of pairs of socks. cause all the patterns people are queueing on rav, i was all meh about. these opened my eyes.

i dunno if i consider myself one or not but leyburn is hanging on my needles now. i could attribute that to the virus though. once the yarnharlot showed those puppies queue rates went through the chart. i resisted but hey, a girls gotta use up stash some how.

yarn porn

the wollmeise

the poison

petit poison light,red hot chili med, red hot chili light, rhubaber med, mitternacht dark