Pattern: Firestarter (rav link) by Yarnissima
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Deep Seaflower
Needles: Hiya Hiya 9" circular in size 2 and 3
They've been gifted and they fit. Hurrah!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Finished Firestarters!
Pattern: Firestarter (rav link) by Yarnissima
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Deep Seaflower
Needles: Hiya Hiya 9" circular in size 2 and 3
They've been gifted and they fit. Hurrah!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Acquisitions, Gothsocks Club Spoiler
Attention all ye readers! If you happen to be in the Gothsocks club and you haven't received your April shipment, beware! The picture is below. (I'm pretty sure no one would find it by accident, but there's the alert, just in case.)
Okay, I have to admit, I'm still acquiring yarn faster than I can knit it. But selectively.
First of all, I needed a new order of Noro for a donation piece I'm going to make. I just happened to buy a couple of skeins of the highly-coveted Skinny Bugga to fill up my shopping cart. The colours are gorgeously saturated, and are called "Lubber Grasshopper" (the left skein) and "Eurota Purplewing" (the skein 2nd from left).(ETA: Ordered from The Loopy Ewe, of course, and received only two days after ordering.
Also new to my yarn stash is the March Gothsocks colour, Godric's Glory. If you watch True Blood, it makes sense to you. If you don't, like me, you can still admire the pretty, pretty sparkly stripes.
April Spoiler, here.
!
!
!
!
!
!
This is called "Frakkin Toaster" and it's inspired by Battlestar Galactica. It's a bamboo/merino/nylon blend and begs to be something wispy worn around the neck.
Sob. I need more knitting time!
Okay, I have to admit, I'm still acquiring yarn faster than I can knit it. But selectively.
First of all, I needed a new order of Noro for a donation piece I'm going to make. I just happened to buy a couple of skeins of the highly-coveted Skinny Bugga to fill up my shopping cart. The colours are gorgeously saturated, and are called "Lubber Grasshopper" (the left skein) and "Eurota Purplewing" (the skein 2nd from left).(ETA: Ordered from The Loopy Ewe, of course, and received only two days after ordering.
Also new to my yarn stash is the March Gothsocks colour, Godric's Glory. If you watch True Blood, it makes sense to you. If you don't, like me, you can still admire the pretty, pretty sparkly stripes.
April Spoiler, here.
!
!
!
!
!
!
This is called "Frakkin Toaster" and it's inspired by Battlestar Galactica. It's a bamboo/merino/nylon blend and begs to be something wispy worn around the neck.
Sob. I need more knitting time!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Socks of the Deep Sea Flower
Finally! A chance to knit a project on a 9" circular needle. My hands get a little uncomfortable, but it's not a barrier to use, and the socks just sail along.
The pattern is Firestarter, just like the previous (still unfinished) socks. The yarn is my ever-favourite Dream in Color Smooshy, in the colourway Deep Sea Flower. I turned the heel last night and finished the heel flap today, so I'm making good progress.
ETA PS--Look! Squee! Johnny Jumpups! Did I plant those??
The pattern is Firestarter, just like the previous (still unfinished) socks. The yarn is my ever-favourite Dream in Color Smooshy, in the colourway Deep Sea Flower. I turned the heel last night and finished the heel flap today, so I'm making good progress.
ETA PS--Look! Squee! Johnny Jumpups! Did I plant those??
Monday, April 12, 2010
Ravelry Goodies
For those of you who use Ravelry, check out this page of lesser-known goodies. This showed me how to get progress bars on my blog, which gives me happiness.
Monday, April 05, 2010
splish splash
In a previous post, I worried about the gussets pooling. Boy howdy, did they ever! Those beauteamous stripes just oozed into a slick smear. Fortunately, the smear confined itself to one side, so I was able to make that side the heel. We'll see what can be done about sock #2.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
A skewed-up finished object
For a long time, my daughter has wanted socks out of fingering weight yarn, and finally she has some.
Pattern: Skew
Pattern: Skew
Yarn: Online Supersocke
Needle: Size 1
Modifications: Knit as instructed at a smaller gauge to fit a slimmer foot.
Issues: it fits perfectly, but it's difficult to get over her heel. I suspect here's another pair of socks she'll never wear.
Those darned right twists
Me: These right twists are going to kill me.
Him: I hope those aren't your last words!
Me: That would suck, eh?
Him: I'd put it on your gravestone.
Me: In the stress of my demise, you'd forget the exact words, and there'd be a misquote on my grave.
Him: It's not that difficult. "These right twists are going to kill me." I'd get it right.
The pattern is Yarnissima's Firestarter. The yarn is Stitchjones' Titanium Sock. At 72 stitches around and 10spi, this yarn knits up perfectly. I'm not sure I'll like the gussets. I suspect they'll pool.
The right twists have been the worst part of this pattern. I recall warriors in Sock Wars complaining about the right twist. They did a workaround that involved a k2tog, but what with the purls and the ktbl, that's not an option here. I unvented a workaround in which I slip both stitches to the right needle, and do a mirror image of the process for the left twist. Works beautifully!
Him: I hope those aren't your last words!
Me: That would suck, eh?
Him: I'd put it on your gravestone.
Me: In the stress of my demise, you'd forget the exact words, and there'd be a misquote on my grave.
Him: It's not that difficult. "These right twists are going to kill me." I'd get it right.
The pattern is Yarnissima's Firestarter. The yarn is Stitchjones' Titanium Sock. At 72 stitches around and 10spi, this yarn knits up perfectly. I'm not sure I'll like the gussets. I suspect they'll pool.
The right twists have been the worst part of this pattern. I recall warriors in Sock Wars complaining about the right twist. They did a workaround that involved a k2tog, but what with the purls and the ktbl, that's not an option here. I unvented a workaround in which I slip both stitches to the right needle, and do a mirror image of the process for the left twist. Works beautifully!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
A year in the making
I started this sock a year ago on a road trip. I just returned from a road trip to the very same place, and I found myself knitting on the sock again. I had previously decided to rip out the heel and redo, but I changed my mind.
I took this picture to show the kind of scenery I was enjoying while knitting, but knitters might notice something interesting about this picture. Look at the needles. Can you see that one is missing? When I put the knitting into my knitting bag, I some how pulled out a double-point and didn't notice. Directly after taking this photo, I put the double-point back into the knitting. It actually went back in quite smoothly.
The yarn is Knitpicks, the discontinued Essentials. It's really quite soft and lovely to touch, in sharp contrast to some other Essentials I have.
I started the toe as written, and then remembered that I wanted a double-stranded toe. I ripped out 12 rows of toe and redid the toe to match the heel. That didn't turn out so well. The toe was too pointy to fit a human toe, and the decreases made the chequerboard look messy, not cute. I ripped out the double-stranded toe, and redid it as written in the pattern, finishing just as we arrived home this afternoon. A year later, one sock complete.
The pattern is Hiiumaa from Knitting on the Road
I took this picture to show the kind of scenery I was enjoying while knitting, but knitters might notice something interesting about this picture. Look at the needles. Can you see that one is missing? When I put the knitting into my knitting bag, I some how pulled out a double-point and didn't notice. Directly after taking this photo, I put the double-point back into the knitting. It actually went back in quite smoothly.
The yarn is Knitpicks, the discontinued Essentials. It's really quite soft and lovely to touch, in sharp contrast to some other Essentials I have.
I started the toe as written, and then remembered that I wanted a double-stranded toe. I ripped out 12 rows of toe and redid the toe to match the heel. That didn't turn out so well. The toe was too pointy to fit a human toe, and the decreases made the chequerboard look messy, not cute. I ripped out the double-stranded toe, and redid it as written in the pattern, finishing just as we arrived home this afternoon. A year later, one sock complete.
The pattern is Hiiumaa from Knitting on the Road
Two Skew
It seems like I can't count. I make a LOT of errors while knitting this pattern. For that black and white sock, I reknit so many times, I'm convinced I could have made a complete second sock in the time I spent fixing errors. Not big errors, just little ones where I find I'm one or two stitches off.
Interestingly, I'm making another pair just like this one! I'm still on the foot repeats.
Monday, March 15, 2010
. I bought it in Spain. Sadly, I've quite neglected it, because I don't understand anything it says. But the animals are adorable!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Online Superskew
My daughter wanted a pair of those "sideways socks". Skew isn't really sideways, but that's what she calls it. This necessitated some yarn shopping to get the perfect yarn. And it is perfect! It's just her colours. Even better, I went to buy it and it was 30% off.
I cast on right away. To make them fit her slender foot, I'm knitting the pattern as written, but at a smaller gauge.
These pictures show the sock right before the "origami moment", just ready to kitchener the heel shut.
Off to kitchener.
I cast on right away. To make them fit her slender foot, I'm knitting the pattern as written, but at a smaller gauge.
These pictures show the sock right before the "origami moment", just ready to kitchener the heel shut.
Off to kitchener.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Yarn store grumble
Whine, whine, it's my blog and I'll whine if I want to.
I went to a yarn store yesterday. I generally don't go to this store. A few years ago I went there to buy a needle, and stood there by the counter holding the needle for a full fifteen minutes while the worker chatted and knitted in the next room, ignoring my attempts to get her attention. I finally put the needle back and drove to a yarn store in a different community so I could buy the needle from some one who might possibly give a flying freak.
But I went there again, yesterday, because they're the only local place that sells the sock yarn I was looking for. The worker was helping another customer. She asked the customer a question, and while the lady was starting to answer, she breezed past me and asked, "Are you finding everything okay?" Actually, I wasn't, and I needed help, but the circumstances--she in the middle of a conversation with another customer--demanded of my own personal etiquette that I answer the most truthfully I could without engaging her, "For now." When she finally finished with the customer, I turned to ask my question, but she whipped out her cell phone and dialed, telling the person on the other end that she was just leaving now. Then, right on cue, another employee walked in, and they had to greet each other and discuss each other's health. By the time the first employee left, I had been wanting help for twenty minutes, and was starting to run late. The new employee said, "I'm guessing you don't need any help, or else she would have been following you around." Funny, that, what an inflated idea she has of her coworker's customer service practices. I responded, "Actually, I'm interested in this pattern here" and finally got the info I needed. She was very nice, and offered pattern assistance if I needed it.
By the time I got out of there, I was late for my coffee date, but fortunately, everybody else was later. All good, there.
Days like that make me not sorry to order things online. It still puzzles me, how common it is to read stories of yarn stores with lousy and adversarial customer service. They must not really need consistently good customer service, I guess.
I went to a yarn store yesterday. I generally don't go to this store. A few years ago I went there to buy a needle, and stood there by the counter holding the needle for a full fifteen minutes while the worker chatted and knitted in the next room, ignoring my attempts to get her attention. I finally put the needle back and drove to a yarn store in a different community so I could buy the needle from some one who might possibly give a flying freak.
But I went there again, yesterday, because they're the only local place that sells the sock yarn I was looking for. The worker was helping another customer. She asked the customer a question, and while the lady was starting to answer, she breezed past me and asked, "Are you finding everything okay?" Actually, I wasn't, and I needed help, but the circumstances--she in the middle of a conversation with another customer--demanded of my own personal etiquette that I answer the most truthfully I could without engaging her, "For now." When she finally finished with the customer, I turned to ask my question, but she whipped out her cell phone and dialed, telling the person on the other end that she was just leaving now. Then, right on cue, another employee walked in, and they had to greet each other and discuss each other's health. By the time the first employee left, I had been wanting help for twenty minutes, and was starting to run late. The new employee said, "I'm guessing you don't need any help, or else she would have been following you around." Funny, that, what an inflated idea she has of her coworker's customer service practices. I responded, "Actually, I'm interested in this pattern here" and finally got the info I needed. She was very nice, and offered pattern assistance if I needed it.
By the time I got out of there, I was late for my coffee date, but fortunately, everybody else was later. All good, there.
Days like that make me not sorry to order things online. It still puzzles me, how common it is to read stories of yarn stores with lousy and adversarial customer service. They must not really need consistently good customer service, I guess.
Friday, March 05, 2010
I'm skewed
I am still infatuated with the Skew pattern. I'm getting closer and closer to the heel, and it's so intoxicating. I just can't wait to fold up that beautiful heel!
I did start these socks on a size 2 needle, and while my knitting instincts were yelling at me that this gauge was not okay, my calculating brain was determined to stay with a size 2 needle. I finally showed Knitting Coworker, and she confirmed that I needed to drop down a needle, so I started over. I was reluctant, because by going down to a size 1 needle, I have to go up to 84 stitches, but the pertinent numbers are all provided here.
Ok, back to knitting!
I did start these socks on a size 2 needle, and while my knitting instincts were yelling at me that this gauge was not okay, my calculating brain was determined to stay with a size 2 needle. I finally showed Knitting Coworker, and she confirmed that I needed to drop down a needle, so I started over. I was reluctant, because by going down to a size 1 needle, I have to go up to 84 stitches, but the pertinent numbers are all provided here.
Ok, back to knitting!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Finished Fingerless
Finished on Friday evening! He's been wearing them ever since. I'd like to get some pictures of these in natural light, but I just wanted to show they were done. Hooray!
Really Truly Totally Off the Needles
The Olympic WIP socks are DONE. It was no small matter, either!
While redoing the foot on sock #2, I remembered that I had planned to double strand the toes, just like I had the heels. So I went ahead and knit the toe double-stranded. Which meant that when I was done toe #2, I had to rip out toe #1 and redo it double stranded. As if I wasn't sick to death of these socks already! As I was reknitting toe #1, I recalled that I had previously finished sock #1 only to find it too small, and had ripped out it for more length. So I have knit a total of 5 toes for these 2 socks.
When I take more photos of the finished object, I'll take photos of the heel. The heels fit with a big bump of knitted fabric pointing out where fabric shouldn't be. That's my punishment for trying a new heel: a rotten heel.
But! Both socks are now the same size, and with the exception of the heel, the right size.
While redoing the foot on sock #2, I remembered that I had planned to double strand the toes, just like I had the heels. So I went ahead and knit the toe double-stranded. Which meant that when I was done toe #2, I had to rip out toe #1 and redo it double stranded. As if I wasn't sick to death of these socks already! As I was reknitting toe #1, I recalled that I had previously finished sock #1 only to find it too small, and had ripped out it for more length. So I have knit a total of 5 toes for these 2 socks.
When I take more photos of the finished object, I'll take photos of the heel. The heels fit with a big bump of knitted fabric pointing out where fabric shouldn't be. That's my punishment for trying a new heel: a rotten heel.
But! Both socks are now the same size, and with the exception of the heel, the right size.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Olympic Do-over
Okay! Tonight I ripped out the ill-fated ill-fitted sock foot. Ripping out this colourwork is annoyingly complicated, but not as bad as if there were multiple colours in each row. Off to knit!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
After the sock debacle
Well. After my olympic disaster, I did several things. None of them was to rip out the offending sock.
I did start casting on with wild abandon. I cast on the previously mentioned Noro mitten, but I determined I needed a size 1 needle for the cuff, and I was liking the 9" circular needle so much, I wanted to go buy a 9" size 1 needle just to continue.
I also cast on a pair of fingerless gloves for the teen in my life. He's been politely inquiring about their progress, so I thought I'd reward that interest. I'm using the same pattern as the ruby gloves I made earlier this month. The yarn is the ever-delicious Dream in Color Smooshy, in the colourway Black Parade. Maybe I'll finish tonight!
I also balled up some yarn to cast on a new Skew sock. My intention was to try Skew on a 9" circular needle, and for that, I made the journey to the far-away yarn store that sells them. Sadly, they were mostly sold out, and all I got was a bamboo size 2 in the 9" needle. The yarn I balled up required a size 1, so there are two projects that are waiting on a size 1.
By a stunning coincidence, there was a Harbor Freight in the same strip mall as the yarn store I drove 30 minutes to get to. I had never heard of that store until I was reading about calipers on Ravelry, and a knitter recommended one of theirs.
The calipers were on sale, and the moment I got to my car, I pulled them out and measured my 2 size 1 needles. It turns out that one of the needles was 2.25mm and the other was 2.5mm. This explains why my 2 socks were different sizes! When I put the socks back on the needles, I thought I was putting them on a size 1 needle, but I actually put them on a slightly larger 1.5 needle.
My KnitChek never distinguished between size 2.5 and 3 needles, and now I discover it never allowed me to realise that what I thought was 2 size 1 needles was actually a size 1 and a 1.5. Now I have calipers and I will never use a KnitChek again! Information is power! Rar!
I did start casting on with wild abandon. I cast on the previously mentioned Noro mitten, but I determined I needed a size 1 needle for the cuff, and I was liking the 9" circular needle so much, I wanted to go buy a 9" size 1 needle just to continue.
I also cast on a pair of fingerless gloves for the teen in my life. He's been politely inquiring about their progress, so I thought I'd reward that interest. I'm using the same pattern as the ruby gloves I made earlier this month. The yarn is the ever-delicious Dream in Color Smooshy, in the colourway Black Parade. Maybe I'll finish tonight!
I also balled up some yarn to cast on a new Skew sock. My intention was to try Skew on a 9" circular needle, and for that, I made the journey to the far-away yarn store that sells them. Sadly, they were mostly sold out, and all I got was a bamboo size 2 in the 9" needle. The yarn I balled up required a size 1, so there are two projects that are waiting on a size 1.
By a stunning coincidence, there was a Harbor Freight in the same strip mall as the yarn store I drove 30 minutes to get to. I had never heard of that store until I was reading about calipers on Ravelry, and a knitter recommended one of theirs.
The calipers were on sale, and the moment I got to my car, I pulled them out and measured my 2 size 1 needles. It turns out that one of the needles was 2.25mm and the other was 2.5mm. This explains why my 2 socks were different sizes! When I put the socks back on the needles, I thought I was putting them on a size 1 needle, but I actually put them on a slightly larger 1.5 needle.
My KnitChek never distinguished between size 2.5 and 3 needles, and now I discover it never allowed me to realise that what I thought was 2 size 1 needles was actually a size 1 and a 1.5. Now I have calipers and I will never use a KnitChek again! Information is power! Rar!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
New toy!
A couple weeks ago, I drove a half an hour to a yarn store I'd never before visited. It was very luscious! Lots of familiar names in yummy yarns. But my real reason for the visit there was to acquire for myself one of the famous Hiya Hiya 9" circular needles. I've read about them a lot on Ravelry, and some people hate them, and some love them. I suspected I would be in the hate-them camp, seeing as 40" circular magic loop works so well for me. But tonight I cast on a mitten with my new 9" circular, and discovered that I love it. It really does work well, you just knit round and round and round.
Sadly, I really need a size 1; this cuff is too loose. Time for another trip to the yarn store!
Sadly, I really need a size 1; this cuff is too loose. Time for another trip to the yarn store!
twined mittens--the finished object
Today I finished the twined mittens. This makes me very happy! They've been on the needles since December. They needed to be finished now, because the Afghans for Afghans deadline is March 1st. These will leave in the mail Monday. Thanks again to Priscilla for the yarn, and because she's such a dedicated charity knitter, it seemed right to send off into the world to keep some one warm.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Olympic Setback
Well. As part of the Ravelympics, I decided to enter the event "Wipsdancing" for Team Utah. "Wipsdancing" is the effort to finish works-in-progress, and these works must have been dormant for at least a month. I decided I need to work on my St. Peter Port socks, because they've been languishing for so long. The Team Utah is only working on projects by Utah designers, and these socks qualify, being a Nancy Bush design.
It's hard to get going on these socks, I just am not motivated. It might be that the first sock has a merely mediocre fit. The heel is really lousy. But I finished the second sock's heel early this week, which was a feat in itself. Then I avoided knitting all week long. Today I powered through sock two and finished while watching speed skating late tonight.
Then I tried them on.
Something is horribly wrong. One foot fit okay. The other was way too huge. Careful examination revealed that the second sock, while knit the same number of stitches, was significantly bigger. The only explanation I have is that the first sock was knitted on a smaller needle. I did take sock #2 off the needles and put them on a holder for a while. But I measured the needle I used for sock #2 and it's definately a size one. Does this mean I have two size one needles that are two different sizes? Significantly different sized? It's really puzzling. But the second sock is unwearable. And I may just rip out these socks. There is no joy left in them.
It's hard to get going on these socks, I just am not motivated. It might be that the first sock has a merely mediocre fit. The heel is really lousy. But I finished the second sock's heel early this week, which was a feat in itself. Then I avoided knitting all week long. Today I powered through sock two and finished while watching speed skating late tonight.
Then I tried them on.
Something is horribly wrong. One foot fit okay. The other was way too huge. Careful examination revealed that the second sock, while knit the same number of stitches, was significantly bigger. The only explanation I have is that the first sock was knitted on a smaller needle. I did take sock #2 off the needles and put them on a holder for a while. But I measured the needle I used for sock #2 and it's definately a size one. Does this mean I have two size one needles that are two different sizes? Significantly different sized? It's really puzzling. But the second sock is unwearable. And I may just rip out these socks. There is no joy left in them.
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