Stitches West 2008!

Had a great day yesterday visiting with my cousin who was up from sunny SOCAL. I sewed the last button on my mom's tweed stitch cardigan and she modeled it for the camera, so I will soon have pictures to post. The cardigan was originally for me, but gauge was not my friend once again. It was my first steeked garment, adapted heavily from a pullover in Sally Melville's Color book. My mom loves it, though, so it all worked out well. She's been wearing it with only three buttons all winter long.

I'm busy getting ready to go to Stitches West next week. I have homework to do ahead of time for all three sock classes I'm taking. I may not get much shopping done, which will be good for my budget and my stash. It seems like February is the month for knitting socks, both at home and in classes. I got in from the waiting last for one Cat Bordhi class, and also signed up for a class from Lucy Neatby and a more advanced design class with Cat as well.

I knit a little bit on my Printemps/Primavera socks yesterday as well. This is a really easy pattern that looks hard and makes the best of some of the more muted self striping yarns. I'm trying to get a few pairs of socks to the right point so I can have something to knit at Stitches besides homework. I don't like to bring a sock project out in public while working on the heel. I've finished sock one and started on sock two. I also turned the heel on the second spiral eyelet sock so I can bring them as well, and I just need to finish the top section of the first Cat Bordhi's Salish Sea sock from the last Rockin' Sock club shipment I got. I decided not to sign up again this year, since I haven't finished any of last year's socks. I have too much wonderful yarn and more patterns than I can ever knit now. I'm also working on a pair of hiking socks in DK weight wool for DH. The Thuja pattern from Knitty is another great, simple pattern that adapts well to many weights of yarn, and is really easy to knit.

That's My Story and I'm Sticking to it

Mea culpa (I'm not Catholic, but the image & words popped into my head.) It' s been over 2 months since my last post, so here's one I was working on BR (before )
I have been knitting, and here's proof: a felted bag project (my own design) finished and ready to shrink.

I also started (and finished) a larger felted tote, knit in a stranded design using two colors of Kureyon over the long, cold Thanksgiving weekend. The pattern was in MagKnits a couple of years ago and it turned out really nice. I hope everyone had some time to knit in the past few weeks.

I've gotten back into sock knitting recently as well. Must be the time of year. I finally finished my fishtail lace socks and started this spiral eyelet lace striped sock on Christmas Eve, and I'm also working on a pair of worsted weight socks for my DH.

I was an anthropology major in college but I got sidetracked by theater and costume design. My last semester in college I forgot to file for graduation so I took one Linguistics class and a whole bunch of fiber classes at the local junior college. This was back when they offered them for credit. I took quiltmaking, spinning and natural dyeing, weaving, upholstery and knitting, all in the same semester. The only two which stuck were knitting and quiltmaking. I stopped crocheting much and stayed with the quiltmaking through the following decades, coming back to knitting once when I got Kaffe Fassett's first book and then again about 9 years ago (for good this time.) The first item I knitted was a top down circular sweater made of Bernat Berella acrylic. My mom wore that sweater for many years up in the snow.

I learned to crochet right after high school and crocheted all through college, even during classes. Having something to do with my hands helped me to concentrate. If I didn't crochet, I would doodle and lose all of my focus. I made doilies, a tablecloth and a blouse from crochet cotton, along with shawls, afghans, ponchos and a room sized rug. When I learned to knit I switched to that because I liked the fluid look and feel of knitting better than crochet, even though crochet was easier and faster. I also wanted to make a fairisle sweater. Still haven't done that. Did I mention I was told that I was allergic to wool? I still am sensitive to Shetland wool and some other scratchy wools, as well as mohair and even some alpaca.

Instead of using my anthropology degree (did I mention I was also allergic to dust, which was a bad thing if you wanted to be an archaeologist), I owned a natural fiber clothing/fiber supply store for 11 years right after college. We had dye packets that didn't sell, so I dyed cotton and rayon t-shirts for the store. I also made custom cowboy shirts, wallets and quilts to sell.

I still love to dye fabric, yarn and clothing and create with color. I like to knit socks, felted items, scarves, cardigans and all manner of stranded and slip stitch designs. I first got into designing socks because I could never find patterns that fit my thick ankles & high insteps. I would just find a nice stitch pattern, adjust for pattern multiples/repeats and gauge and use my favorite heel and toe. After having success with socks, I have made sweaters for myself and family members. I would find a pattern with shaping that I liked and drop in my choice of stitch pattern. I usually don't write down what I do at the time I'm doing it, which I am trying to change.

I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing

It's been a month since I posted. What can I say? I've been busy at work, knitting, and spending way too much time on Ravelry. I also went to a quilt festival and our big local whoop te do, the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. I'm lucky I can walk there, otherwise I wouldn't be attending. 300,000 people descend on our small town over two days, and traffic is a nightmare. All the locals do their grocery shopping on Friday night and stay home, or leave town early in the morning and come back late (like I did to go to the quilt show on Sunday). I also went to see Across the Universe on Saturday night after a sushi dinner for my husband's birthday. It was really a trip (back in time, too), and great singing too. I highly recommend it. Bono is great. I didn't recognize him at all, although I knew I had seen him before somewhere. I had to wait for the credits to see who it was playing his character. (I won't give it away.) I also went to two yarn stores last Thursday night during a local shop hop and had Chinese food afterwards. Great fun shopping with other like minded folk from my knitting group.

I've been knitting on my cotton sideways striped sweater in cotton. I saw this pattern in the Spring 2000 issue of Knitter's and have wanted to make it ever since. I had the solid colored cotton yarn, but I needed the variegated yarn, which is very thin, boucle loop cotton, and discontinued. I found someone who was destashing the exact amount I needed, in the right color. A trip to the Paypal site and it was mine! I've knit one front and most of the back already. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the sleeves. Horizontal stripes don't look that good on my arms.

I also finished a stranded beret and am working on a few more. At least one is going to be felted. I found the free pattern through Ravelry and cast on immediately. I'd recommend you cast on fewer stitches for the brim, though, as the designer recommends. I'm plugging away at my lace socks, too, but they are usually relegated to waiting room knitting, or waiting for the movie to start.

Sockapalooza

It's been a busy few weeks here. School started, which is always the busiest time of year for me, since I work at a district office. I received my package from my Sockapalooza 4 pal, Alice Yu, all the way from Onslow Gardens, London. When the package arrived I thought it was a Fairisle vest like Onslow wears so badly in Keeping up Appearances. What incredible socks Alice made! The yarn is my absolute favorite, Shelridge Farms handpaint from Canada, and the lace pattern is beautiful and Alice's own creation. How did she know my favorite early childhood book was Winnie the Pooh? The lace pattern, which somehow reminds me of oriel windows (don't ask me why), is called "Hundred Acre Wood". The socks fit me perfectly, too. Thanks so much, Alice!!!

Alice also sent along some incredible hand dyed Blue Faced Leicester wool from The Natural Dye Studio, a yarn I've never seen before. I am sharing the generosity with my own sockapalooza pal, whose package was sent off today.

Picture of her socks

I also finished up a UFO sweater project that had been languishing in the project box, lacking only half a sleeve and the button bands. I used vintage yarn purchased on ebay quite a while ago, a mercerized white cotton and a blue & white fingering weight yarn combined. I used the feather and fan pattern on the hem and cuffs, and crocheted a shell edging as well. I don't have a picture of the whole sweater, but here are some detail shots.

Still No Sock Knitting

I started knitting the Via Diagonale bag by Wendy Wonnacott from Knitty's Spring 2005 issue last week and I'm at the binding off point. I could not stop knitting on this project! Everything else got put on hold. I'm using two stash yarns: a Chinese red Pingouin mercerized cotton from Elann left over from a sweater I made my Dad 5 years ago and some cabled cotton, also from Elann, that I helped a friend dye a nice soft teal blue and she gave me the leftovers after finishing her sweater. I saw the bag in someone's project pages when I was browsing for ways to use a certain yarn on Ravelry and was reminded of how much I liked it originally.

I love using slip stitch/mosaic patterns and this one was no exception. Once I got the rhythm going I didn't even need to look at the directions. It helped that I'd made some socks using the same pattern a few years back. The double stranding helps give the bag structure even in cotton yarn, although I will have to line it and put something in the bottom to help the bag keep its shape. Since I had more yardage than the pattern called for, and I like bigger bags, I'm making it taller. I plan to insert plastic aquarium tubing into the handles, or maybe use purchased handles. The colors are a bit brighter in real life, as you can see from the frogged red bag's picture, and there are very subtle variations in the hand dyed blue yarn.

Using Ravelry's interactive features, I was able to click on the yarn info page for the pattern and see what weight yarn the designer used, something that's not always obvious with patterns. Then I could just go to my stash page and figure out if I had enough yardage to make the bag. This is only one of the reasons why I love Ravelry! If you haven't put your name on the waiting list I'd encourage you to do so. It took six weeks for me to get an invite but it was worth the wait. Once they are out of the Beta stage the site will be free and open to all.

I plan to make the bag again in Kureyon and a solid colored wool, using larger needles, and felt it. Slip stitch designs really work well in felted bags. I've also been working on my mitered garter stitch vest and a modular sweater using a big bag of miscellaneous purple and blue green yarns. Pictures pending

In order to make the Via Diagonale bag I had to frog this bag project, which had been on hold since I didn't think I had enough yarn to finish. I'm much happier with this new project. I have a golf ball sized amount left of the red yarn and one skein left from the teal, enough to bind off and make the handles.

No Sock Knitting

The weather is normal for this time of year: misty and overcast in the morning, then the fog burns off and the sun comes out. I've been getting the itch to knit more than socks. Being able to see all of the great projects others have made in Ravelry has been an inspiration. It's also been a distraction, leading to less knitting time than usual.

I also got some great books at the Knitpicks 40% off sale that I might not have purchased if they hadn't been such a good deal. The best one so far has been Top Down Sweaters by Doreen Marquardt. I learned to knit by making a top down circular sweater in Berella 4 acrylic, so this one was right up my alley. The construction techniques are quite different, involving lots of provisional cast ons and three needle bind offs.


I started the cover sweater, using some Silk Garden yarn I had in my stash, but decided to make it a vest instead of a jacket. This is the back of the vest, where the 3 needle bind off joined the two side pieces. The fronts are also mitered rectangles, with a raglan yoke holding everything together.

My top down cotton lace top is on hold because I ran out of yarn once again. I was using some vintage stash yarn from an eBay find, so there was no way to get any more. I decided to add an edging in a different lace pattern, using some pale pink fluffy yarn held together with a fingering weight ecru cotton to achieve the same gauge. It's just enough different in color and texture to look like a design feature instead of an afterthought, and not too high contrast so it doesn't cut me off right at the worst place. However, I ran out of the fingering weight cotton yarn before I ran out of the fluffy pink stuff, so I need one more skein of that. It was one skein of Rowan Cotton Glace which a friend donated. I'm going to buy some Paton's Grace at Michael's to sub for that. The color is slightly different, but since I'm using it along with the fluffy pink stuff I think it will be okay. The only picture I have just shows the yoke, but it's almost done.

Hogwarts Sock Swap

I finally sent off my Hogwarts sock swap package to Shannon in Maryland on Friday. She received it by special delivery Owl post on Tuesday! That owl must have been caffeinated or something. I've never had a package fly so fast all the way from California to the East Coast. It must be the higher rates the owls are charging now. I couldn't post any pictures earlier because Shannon had figured out who I was and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. She also took wonderful pictures and said I could use them.

I modified the Horcrux sock pattern quite a lot to make this pair for Shannon. I used the fingering weight version of the pattern that Susan shared with the Six Socks KAL Yahoo group. I also striped the top ribbing, left out the ribbing after the lace, added a reversed repeat of the Horcrux lace and a slip stitch stripe, used my usual eye of partridge flap heel, made the foot solid stockinette and crenelated the toe to look like the Hogwarts School ramparts (and reintroduce the grey yarn to make the socks look complete.)

My DD Elanor (age 26) was my creative consultant on this project. If she had been a Slytherin Shannon might never have received this pair! I'm proud and happy to say that I used my stash yarn to make these socks. If I had received a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff pal I would have had to shop for those colors, because, amazingly, they are not in my stash of almost 300 skeins of sock yarn. These socks took me just a week to make, although it took 2 months for me to get around to weaving in all of the yarn tails.


Thank you to Shannon for being patient and sharing her pictures with me (and the world) and to Rebecca for having the idea and hosting the swap. If you want to sign up for round two the signups open on the 14th. Click on Rebecca's name for the information.

This is what was in the package I sent to Shannon. I even ordered special bamboo sock needles from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions. Of course, along with the needles came quite a few skeins of sock yarn. Maybe I should have shared one of those with Shannon too. Oh well, hindsight. I am going to send her the leftover green and grey sock yarn to make a mini Horcrux sock for her keychain.

Number Nine Socks

I finished the RPM socks from Knitty last night, pair number nine for the 52 pair plunge. Sorry the picture is so bad. The dark colors in this Fleece Artist yarn don't show up well on screen. It's the colorway Parrot: blues, greens, fuschias and purples, all very luscious. These are definitely winter socks, though. The yarn is really thick and squishy, especially in the spiral rib pattern.

A finished pair is a good thing, since the new summer Knitty came out and there are several good sock patterns included. The Spring Knitty also had some great sock patterns (not to mention some great cardigans.) Of course, I didn't start a new sock project from either of those sources. I started knitting a lace sock from the 365 Stitch patterns calender. (January 17th, Feather Lace.) I'm using some aqua Sisu yarn that has silver thread wrapped around it that I just got a few weeks ago. It's looking good so far, although not quite like the pattern image. I may need to block the lace.

I'm also working on my Jaywalkers in Jitterbug in Jay (Colinette). I thought the color name was appropriate. It's an incredible mix of turquoise, teal, purple, jade, olive and kelly green, and the Jaywalker pattern shows off the stripes very well. The color doesn't really look like any blue jay I've ever seen, though. I still remember the somewhat domesticated bird that would hop into my mom's kitchen through the open window and eat all the butter off the dish.

Finished Socks!

of the 52 pair plunge challenge!

I finished the toe on sock two of my vine lace stripe socks last night while watching the season finale of The Riches. (Interesting show, very different.)

I also finished sock number 1 of the RPM socks I started a few weeks ago (my mindless knitting project). They are made from Fleece Artist Merino in the parrot colorway, blues, greens, purples, magentas. Just lovely. I have cast on for sock two, so hopefully that pair will be finished next week. Because of the broken spiral rib pattern, the socks look really funny off the leg, very poofy. They look great all stretched out, though. This yarn was so dark it was hard to see any patterning at all, so I think the simple spiral works well.

Goal Setting

These are my Regia cotton slip stitch socks, from an old KnitNet pattern. One skein each of black and a grey/white mix (leftover from a pair of lace socks)

I saw this idea on Krys' blog, and thought it was great. I've decided to try and set goals (and meet them) every month in 2007.

Despite my unusual productivity in March-May, I still did a fairly shabby job when it came to meeting my goals--maybe they were unrealistic?:

1. Finish 4 pairs of socks a month - one a week
   
1. March: Four: Swirly Girl, Basketweave, Mad Cow & Madtini
   
2. April: Five: Seed & Rib, Marble Arches, Double Spiral Mosaic, Horcrux Slytherin Socks, Broad Spiral Rib
3. May: Two, but I've made progress on other socks: Monkeys, Grapevine Cream Cotton, plus I've been sick for over a week, no energy.
   
2. Finish at least one other WIP NOPE!
   
3. Work on all remaining WIPs - FAT CHANCE
   

The progress on my 2007 goals was slightly worse:

1. Have only one project of each type (socks, lace, fitted garment, etc.) in progress at any one time. I have a lot of work to do before this happens.
   
2. Have a maximum of five projects on the needles at any given time, not counting socks. I have a lot of work to do before I get here.
   
3. Finish at least one of the two WIPs started in 2006, and rip out the remaining one if no progress has been made by the end of the year.
   
4. Decrease the amount of yarn in my stash. - OOPS
   
5. Work on my own projects at weekly knitting group--WEEEEELL
   

And now, June’s goals!

1. Finish 4-6 pairs of socks (to catch up for May and keep up with the 52 pair plunge challenge
2. That's it! (Do you think I'm crazy?)

Vine Lace Summer Socks Pattern

In honor of Memorial Day, the traditional start of summer weather and activities, but also so much more. Take a minute tomorrow at 3:00 pm local time to remember those who have died serving our country in war and peace. Memorial Day started after the Civil War as Decoration Day, when people would go to the cemetary to clean up graves and place flags and flowers.

The actual stitch pattern for these socks has been around for awhile. I'm not sure where I found it the first time. I was looking for a stitch pattern for some new yarn and found it in my stitch library (culled from many sources, web and print based). It may be in one of the Walker Treasuries. A sock designed by Kathy Garguild is one of my favorites from the book Socks Socks Socks by XRX Books. (1999) When I do a search on the term vine lace sock (and variations) I don't come up with the reference where I got the pattern. I swatched with ribbing at the top and then started the pattern. After a few inches I decided that I didn't like how the sock looked. I did like how the yarn's soft stripes looked in the vine lace pattern. I ripped it out and started over with a simple garter edge, which ripples a little bit because of the chevron of the lace stitch. A better picture is coming soon.

Vine Lace Stripe Sock Pattern
Knitted on one 12" Circular Needle

Sized to fit Women's Medium (size 8 feet)
Gauge: 8.5 sts and 9 rows to the inch in stockinette.

Supplies Needed:

Size 2.0 MM Addi Turbo(r) Circular needle (U.S. size 0) (or the size needed to achieve gauge)

Size 2.0 mm or 2.25 mm (1 U.S.) double point needles, which you will need for the heel and the toes, set of 5.

I prefer using a 12" ADDI turbo circular to knit my sock, so that's how this pattern is written. It can certainly be knit using any method you prefer. See my post about using markers instead of needles to avoid ladders and convert any pattern to your preferred method of knitting.

100 grams of Opal Cotton/Wool Blend in the Hundertwasser Positive/Negative colorway. You may also use another cotton and wool blend fingering weight (sock) yarn such as Regia, Meilenweit, Lang Jawoll or Sockotta, or try Tofutsies or the new Bamboo blends. This pattern will look nice in solids or self striping yarns, or a yarn like the one I chose, which is a little bit of both. I'm not big on wearing the red, white and blue, but this pattern might work well in that yarn too.

2 small circular markers

Abbreviations:

CO = Cast on
K = Knit
KW = knit wise, or inserting your needle into the next stitch as if you were going to knit it
P = Purl
PSSO = Pass the slipped stitch over the stitch you just knitted (just like binding off)
PW = purl wise, or inserting your needle into the next stitch as if you were going to purl it
SL = Slip
SSK = slip a st PW to right needle, slip a second st KW to right needle, then move them back to the left needle knit those two together
TOG = together (as in K2TOG: knit two stitches together to decrease one stitch)
YO = Bring the yarn to the front of the work as if you were going to purl. Instead, bring the yarn back over the needle and knit the next stitch. This creates a hole, and a new stitch, which must be accounted for with an accompanying decrease

Sock Pattern
CO 72 sts. Join, being careful not to twist, and knit in garter stitch for 6 rounds, ending with a knit round.

Garter Stitch in the Round:

Round 1: Purl
Round 2: Knit
Repeats rounds 1 and 2 for as many rounds as you want

Vine Lace Stripe Pattern Stitch (9 stitch repeat)

Round 1: *K1, yo, k2, sl1, k1, psso, k2tog, k2, yo*; rep between *’s
Round 3: *yo, k2, sl1, k1, psso, k2tog, k2, yo, k1*; repeat between *’s
Rounds 2 & 4: Knit
Repeats rounds 1-4 for pattern

Place a marker at join. The striping pattern of most yarns should look nice for both sizes at this gauge. Knit around in the vine lace pattern stitch until sock tube measures 5-6 inches long (stretched out), ending with round 1 or 3 of the lace pattern.

NOTE: Don't worry when you first start knitting the lace pattern. The sock will flare out and look like a flower and you'll swear it will never fit anyone but Bigfoot. Not to worry, keep knitting a few repeats of the lace and the sock will calm down. The top does flop over a bit when not on the foot. I don't find this to be a problem. If it really bothers you, you can knit a few more rounds of garter stitch before beginning the lace pattern. The lace does not have a lot of widthwise stretch (think Jaywalker).

Remove marker until the heel is finished. Change to double pointed needles (or keep using two circulars or one long magic loop circular), keeping the instep stitches on the circular needle. I knit the heel on double points. Knit across the first 36 stitches. This is the first row of the heel.

Heel: Eye of Partridge with slipped stitch edge (EOP)

Row 1: *slip 1, K1,* repeat between *'s to end

Row 2: slip 1, P to end

Row 3: slip 1, K1, *k1, slip 1,* repeat between *'s to last 2 sts, end K2 (Don’t end with a slipped stitch.) This alternates the slipped stitches, creating the EOP pattern. I originally discovered (unvented) this variation when I made a mistake doing the heel sitch and liked what I created. Later on I learned that it had a name. Many patterns will have you slip two stitches at the start of round 3, then K1, SL1, but for stability I prefer to have two knit stitches in a row instead of two slipped stitches.

Row 4: repeat Row 2.

Knit in this pattern until heel flap is 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 inches long. This is a matter of personal preference. Measure the bare foot of the intended recipient from floor to middle of ankle bone to determine the correct measurement. You can also knit until the heel flap is square, as many patterns state, but with the eye of partridge stitch drawing in the heel I prefer to use an actual measurement.

Heel turn: (round heel) Thanks to Dave Mackay's "heels by number" which was the inspiration for these.

(Note: SSK = slip a st PW* to right needle, slip a second st KW* to right needle, then knit those two together)

Row 1: slip 1, knit 18, ssk, k 1, turn

Row 2: slip 1, purl 5, p2tog, p1, turn

Row 3: slip 1, knit 6, ssk, k1, turn

Row 4: slip 1, purl 7, p2tog, p 1, turn.

Continue on, adding one st knitted or purled at the center of the row until all sts have been worked. I try to keep knitting the heel turn in the EOP stitch, but it's not essential. You should be ending with a knit row. If not, knit across the heel until you reach the first pick up edge.

Using a new double point needle, pick up & knit one st from each slipped st along the edge of the heel flap (about 20). If there is a little gap where the heel meets the instep stitches, pick up a strand and twist it, then knit it to close the hole. If you have to, pick up another loose area and repeat the process. Place the first marker here. Knit across the 36 instep stitches (still waiting patiently on the circular needle holder), place second marker. This will be round 2 or 4 of the vine lace stitch (plain knit), which you didn't knit earlier. Pick up & knit stitches on the opposite side of heel flap, knit across heel flap to three stitches from first marker. You should have about 96-104 stitches on the needle at this point. It is not critical to have an exact number of stitches, as you will continue to decrease the extra stitches away until you return to the same number that you started with.

NOTE: I've recently rediscovered a great band heel which mitigates the wider heel stripes and all decrease rounds at this great site. I knit my last two pairs using this heel and it is very nice. I still use the EOP slip stitch, which means I have to add a few rows to the heel flap before decreasing. Then I have a few decrease rounds after picking up the gusset stitches. Thanks to Nan for this great pattern and tutorial, and to Nancy Bush for popularizing the band heel.

Decrease Rounds:

Three stitches from first marker, K2 TOG, K 1. Slip marker, and knit across the 36 stitch instep in the vine lace pattern to the second marker, slip it, K 1, SSK, knit around to the first marker. Around this point you will want to change back to using the circular needle. Knit one round without decreasing (or two, if you like a slower rate of decrease for a higher instep), and repeat decrease round. Repeat decrease and plain knit rounds until 72 sts remain on the needle, 36 on the instep and 36 on the foot. Knit plain, without decreasing, and keeping the instep stitches in the lace pattern and the foot stitches in stockinette, until the foot is about 7.25" long (2 to 2 1/2 inches less than desired length). .

Wedge toe:

Round 1: Knit to last 3 sts before first marker, k2 tog, k1, slip marker, K1, SSK, knit to last 3 sts before second marker, K2 TOG, K1, slip marker, K1, SSK.

Round 2: Knit around in stockinette stitch.

Change to double pointed needles again when you have too few stitches to go around the circular needle easily. Repeat these two rounds until 18 sts remain. Divide the 18 sts between 2 needles at markers and Kitchener stitch (graft) them together or do a 3-needle bind off like me.

Now knit the second sock!

Copyright 2007 Margie Dougherty

All rights reserved. You may print this pattern and share it with others, providing this notice remains attached.

Lucky Seven

I finished pair number seven in the 52 pair plunge challenge a few days ago. I used a cream colored Regia cotton. This is the Grapevine pattern from More Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch (Page 96). It's a 12 round pattern, with every odd round plain knitting. I think these might be for my Sockapalooza 4 swap pal. I was happily knitting along and belatedly realized that the foot was long enough to start the toe. I had an extra repeat of the pattern on the instep. so the two parts of the sock tube had different amounts of stitches. I thought I would try a round or spiral toe decrease. It's made somewhat like the top of a hat, usually on a number of stitches divisible by 8. Since I had 72 stitches, I divided the total by 8, giving me a total of 9 stitches for each repeat. On round one, *K7, K2TOG* and repeat this around. I would then ordinarily knit 6 plain rounds and do another decrease round of K6, K2TOG, then knit 5 plain rounds. This would have resulted in a toe a lot longer than I needed. Because the foot was almost long enough already I only knit two plain knit rounds in between the decrease rounds instead, and finally one plain round in between. I think the toe worked out well. It's not as pointed as a normal spiral toe and so easy to finish.

I've been sick for a few days and couldn't knit. I was having withdrawals, and not just from the caffeine. This morning I woke up with a different headache and realized it was a caffeine headache. Sure enough, a cup of coffee and the headache was gone. I also didn't feel much like turning on the computer. Now that I'm feeling better I've been working on the vine lace socks in Opal cotton/wool. Sock one is finished but for the toe decreases. I made a shorter cuff than usual because it was lace and hope to have enough leftover yarn to make another pair along with a solid blue cotton yarn. It's good to have my knitting mojo back!

Stash Enhancement

My (stash enabling) knitter friend & neighbor emailed me that she added a new rule to her personal knit from your stash guidelines. If the yarn is new to you, you are allowed to buy it. (Don't know if that means you can buy one skein or a whole project's worth.) I liked that rule. For her, it meant she could buy Colinette's new Jitterbug sock yarn. For me, it meant that I could use my birthday money and order a whole squishy full of new to me sock yarns from Astrid in the Netherlands. (They arrived yesterday.)

I got some Opal Bamboo in grey stripes for DH's socks, some Trekking Pro Natura (wool/bamboo in solid colors), some pale blue Regia silk, some Opal wool/cotton in the Hundertwasser artist colorways (the Positive/Negative yellow color is just luscious), some Trekking in pink and charcoal (very 50's), also some of the tweed and an interesting speckled color, and a skein each of Fortissima Socka Colori, Opal Smoke and Gedifra, each in various different blue and grey self striping colorways. It's a good thing I like blue! Those three skeins were on sale, and blue and grey always works well for gift socks. Average price with shipping, $11.00 per pair of socks. Astrid also sent 5 free sock patterns and a bonus skein of white angora yarn, and I got some 6" long bamboo double points to try out. I think I might also get some Jitterbug yarn. After this, though, NO MORE SOCK YARN for me, unless I trade other sock yarn for it.

I swatched for a new pair of socks using the Opal Hundertwasser cotton/wool blend. After considering the Quill lace pattern from the Spring Knitty, plus a few other simple lace patterns, I think that the Vine lace stripe pattern from the Socks Socks Socks book is going to work out best for this yarn. It's a simple 4 round repeat, easily memorized, which isn't totally obscured by the pattern of the yarn.

Last year I got inspired to compile pattern conversions for some of the stitches in the 365 Stitches calendar and the Barbara Walker Treasuries to knit in the round, for socks and other circular items. I now have a big Word document complete with images and the stitch patterns all typed out, along with multiples and repeats. I've also added stitches and images from sock patterns as I find them. At this rate I won't need a new sock pattern ever again.

I've been Remiss

It's been a busy few weeks, and the only posts I've made are the really easy ones, with almost nothing about knitting. I've been knitting all along, just not writing about it. I finished one of my Monkey socks and am halfway down the leg on sock two. The second sock should be finished this weekend, just in time to meet my 52 Pair Plunge goal of a finished pair every week. This is one of the easiest patterns I've ever knit and it looks so wonderful knitted up. Sorry for the terrible picture, more to come.

Unless I wanted to knit with sportweight yarn, I had to add an entire repeat to the pattern to enlarge it. Since the repeat was a huge 16 stitches, making a total of 80 stitches cast on, I tightened the gauge so the sock wouldn't be too large for even my fat ankles. I cast on 72 stitches with a 2.25 mm needle and knit my ribbing. On the first round of the pattern I increased 8 stitches evenly around. I knit 5 repeats of the pattern 9 times, lengthening the leg a little bit.

When I got to the heel I realized that since I had 5 repeats of the pattern, it would not divide evenly. It was at this point that I realized the error of my ways. I centered the heel over 2 repeats and knit my new favorite, the band heel. I tightened the gauge a little bit more (went down to a 2 mm needle) and knit the foot of the sock with 3 repeats of the pattern stitch on the instep (48 stitches) and 32 stitches on the sole in stockinette. At the toe I adjusted the markers so that the top and bottom had the same amount of stitches to do the decreases. I also ran out of yarn. Panic ensued. This is the same wonderful yarn Cookie A used in her sample sock, although I used a different color way. It's hand dyed, and I've had the yarn in my stash for several years. I should have known this might happen, given that I knit more repeats on the leg and added 16 stitches around, but I went blithely on knitting. A search of my stash revealed several possible substitutions to knit the toe with. Lorna's Laces semi solids are wonderful yarns in the same weight and subtle colors. I had periwinkle and denim blue, left over from other sock projects. I held both colors up to the SIP and the periwinkle looked more promising. 20 decrease rounds later and sock one was finished. I immediately cast on for sock two, not wanting to slow the momentum & miss meeting my goal. I'm about ready to turn the heel, so I will now return you to your regularly scheduled program and get back to knittng.
UPDATE: Sock two was finished Monday 5/7/07!

Thanks so much to Cookie for another wonderful sock pattern. The first time I knit one of her patterns it was the Pomatomus. I would recommend getting your feet wet with the Monkey socks before tackling the Pomatomus, but it is another pattern that is well worth the effort. Several more Cookie A patterns are on my short list of future sock projects.

Four Pairs Down, 48 More to Knit

I finished my 4th pair for the month of April. Only 48 more to go for the 52 pair plunge challenge. The socks are based on the Horcrux pattern by Susan Pierce Lawrence, but I made major alterations to it. No pictures yet because these socks are for my Hogwarts swap pal. The original pattern, knitted in worsted weight yarn, is available on Susan's blog. A fingering weight version is available to members of the Six Sock KAL Yahoo group. Anyone can join this group. It's a great group of socknitters who knit original sock patterns bimonthly.

I started this pair last Sunday and finished them today. One week from start to finish! That might be a new record for me. In order to keep up with the 52 pair plunge, I'm trying to cast on for sock two as soon as I finish sock one and keep knitting. Usually I start a new sock project when I finish sock one and come back to sock two after working on a few different designs. This helps to alleviate the boredom factor and makes the pattern fresh again.

I also finished another sock this week and made some beaded stitch markers. I got a multicolored bag of silver lined seed beads, and my DD makes macrame beaded necklaces, so she had some larger beads to add to the mix. She pressed some white mother of pearl beads on me, which I used to make a rainbow set. Each marker uses a pearl bead and two beads of a rainbow color. I think they are my favorite, but I've always been a sucker for rainbow colors. I'm using the turqouise beaded marker on my new sock project. I also got some oval Czech glass beads to use for my Hogwarts sock swap partner, so I made some Gryffindor and some Slytherin markers. Some of the Czech beads were purple with red, green and pink swirls, so I added pink or red seed beads to them. I think I made about 25 sets of 5 markers, and I have lots more beads to make new designs. I'll post pictures when I figure out how to use the camera. I haven't done my laundry yet and I need a pair of pants to wear to work tomorrow, so I'm off to fill the washer.

It's Official! I am a Sock Knitting Fool

I am obsessed with knitting socks right now. Yesterday, instead of finishing my taxes, I started knitting the Horcux socks designed by Susan Pierce Lawrence. These socks were the mystery socks on her blog in March, and didn't have a name. I won't say much more about that because they are for the Hogwarts sock swap and are a secret. I've changed the pattern quite a bit, too. (No more hints for my swap partner to see!)

I may have reached the point of no return. I have a baker's dozen of sock projects on the needles. They are all "first socks". I finished three pairs of second socks this month, which is a good thing. Of course, having free needles and lots of enthusiasm, I started four new sock projects. It's a good thing I have lots of needles. I don't use all of them to knit with, but they're okay for holding projects that are on the back burner. Last year when I counted my SIP's I had 9, and they were mostly second socks. I've finished all of those and more besides, so there is hope for these projects. I'm glad I have company in my obsession.

1. Monkey in the same yarn Cookie used, but in lavenders and blues (Yum Yum) KAL
2. Mona in Navy Sisu (needs really great light to work on it)
3. Waving Lace in Fleece Artist cherry pinks and bronze (maroon colorway)
4. Inside Out in STR Monsoon
5. Hogwarts sock swap striped socks of my own design in Socka, with thanks to Susan (almost finished)
6. Mitered Square socks in Lorna's Laces Lake House and the late lamented Special Blauband
7. Fairisle socks from SKS in self striping Blauband and KP Essentials solid (not mindless)
8. Broad Spiral Rib Socks from More SKS in Vintage Striped Opal (one sock finished)
9. Madtini Socks in varigated Silja (may frog these and use the yarn for something else). My second pair in this pattern from the Sock Madness competition
10. Slip stitch stripes in hot pink Bollicine (may be a UFO) This was a SOTM kit from theknitter.com
11. Blueberry Waffles in Blueberry Fixation, toe up. This is a really old UFO because I hated the needles I was using (old Bryspuns). I've knitted the sock onto my new rosewood sox stix from Lantern Moon and it might get finished before the next millenium. I was so happy to win the sox sticks at Stitches West. A pair of ebony single point needles, a post it note pad and cover and a rubber vase were also in the package. What a great prize!
12. Maze Mosaic socks from SKS in light and dark grey Silja (ran out of yarn and have to frog)
13. Sun and Moon socks in red and grey Regia 6 ply (what was I thinking!) The first sock is actually done but I never started the second sock. The reason being: the color combination doesn't show off the great pattern design, which is unfortunately no longer available. This sock has been a UFO for a number of years. I still remember watching the original Frankenstein with DH while I worked on this sock. I want to make them again in better colors.

I like to work on several pairs at a time so I don't get bored and have two mindless pairs to be my on the go project, but this is ridiculous. To be fair, I have finished 7 pairs already this year, 4 in March and three in April. (In January I was enthralled with entrelac and felting, in February I went to Stitches for 4 days, and also worked on the now finished socks).

Sunday Seven Eleven

Seven Things I'm grateful for this week:

1. Cookie A's creative sock patterns. I'm working on the Monkey pattern from Knitty's winter issue right now.
   
2. Shelridge Farms soft touch ultra hand painted sock yarn. I'm using this for my Monkey socks.
3. Pony Pearl double point needles in small sizes and 6" length. They are perfect for the Monkey socks.
4. April 15th is on a Sunday this year.
5. Clarinex allergy medication
6. Lettuce fresh out of the garden
7. Spring asparagus

Marble Arches FO

I have another FO! I finished my Marble Arches socks today. These were started back in the fall when I got the kit from the Rockin Sock club. I was past the heel on sock one when I decided that the top of the sock was just too ruffled for my foot. I ripped out the sock in February and reknitted it with about 1/3 less stitches at the top, and just finished sock two. I had to postpone knitting the second sock to work on the Sock Madness socks and the new Inside Out socks from this year's first Rockin' Sock club shipment. I also knit a pair of swirly girls, mosaic stitch socks and finished two other pairs which had been single socks for too long. I've been on a sock knitting roll, which is good thing, because I signed up to knit a pair every week for a year. This pair counts for week three's finished socks.

The socks are really warm and very different. The pattern was not hard at all, and I'm sure that I'll use it again. I can't figure out why the striping pattern on each sock is so different. I used the same needles, the same ball of yarn, not even wound into two separate balls, and the same number of stitches. The sock on the right was knit first, so maybe my gauge was a little tighter on that one. I did make a slight boo boo and forget to knit the band heel on the second sock. It's not too noticeable and both socks fit fine so I will keep it like it is. I do plan to use the band heel again. I like it a lot, and there are no gusset decreases. I've also got a pair of socks with two different toes and can't see the difference on or off my feet.

UPDATE: DD (now 26, pictured in the next post on the swing set covered in mud at age 7) saw the socks and liked the first one but not the second sock. Seems like she is one of those identical twins sock people. I don't mind having fraternal twin socks. Luckily the socks are for me and not her, and I'll know next time what not to knit for her!

Spiral Mosaic Socks Nearing the Finish Line

I watched The Good Shepherd tonight and worked on socks. It was very interesting. My dad had a friend from law school who was in the CIA (I think) during the same time period. I wish I could have discussed it with my dad but he's unable to speak at this point in his Alzheimer's dementia.

My spiral mosaic socks are winding down to the finish line, well ahead of the deadline for next week's pair in the 52 pair plunge. I ran out of the navy blue yarn right at this point. Luckily I had a feeling this might happen and ordered another skein from Knitpicks. I'll have most of the second skein left over to use with another solo skein of variegated yarn in grey, blue and a little bit of navy. It'll be much more low key, unlike this pair. I'll have to peruse my new More Sensational Socks book for pattern possibilities. I'm using the star toe in the pinstripe pattern for this sock, a nice variation that I found in the book. There are quite a few great ideas in the book that I want to try with my next pair of socks.

I couldn't start knitting with the second skein because I stupidly stashed it away this morning in the bedroom and DH is asleep. I worked on another sock project for a bit and now I'm going to bed too. Being on vacation this week has not helped my sleeping patterns, which were already messed up from the switch to daylight savings time. UPDATE: Zee socks zey are feeneeshed!

Slip Stitch Patterned Socks

I thought I would share the first pair of mosaic stitch socks which I made a few years ago. I love using slip stitch patterns, also known as mosaic stitches. They work well in socks for uniting leftover balls of yarn using a 50 gram ball of a solid color as the contrast. and using the leftovers as your contrast color. This does make a striking sock, but there are lots more ends to weave in.

These socks were made with a semi solid vintage Opal yarn and lots of little golf ball sized bits of leftover self striping sock yarn. I used the Peacock pattern from the knitter.com. I like my version much better than the knitter's version, which is all in blues. The second time I made the socks I used the slip stitch pattern on the foot as well as on the instep, so the socks don't look quite as much like canoes. These socks fit fine, they're just a little baggy on the heel. I've found slip stitches are less stretchy and I need to use more stitches. YMMV, and the slip stitch pattern you use also has a lot to do with it. This one was relatively complicated: 32 rounds and a 30 stitch repeat.

Here's the finished spiral mosaic sock. I used 76 stitches for the ribbing and 84 for the pattern, which had a repeat of 14 stitches. 70 stitches would not have fit my ankle, but it would probably fit a normal sized ankle. I used 2.5 mm needles and navy solid Knitpicks Essentials with Regia color. I'm very happy with the look of the heel and gusset on this sock. I've made several mosaic patterned socks and the gusset decreases always wreak havoc with the pattern. I think I solved the dilemma with this design. On to sock #2 after I finish a few more second socks. Edited to add: Sock # 2 is at the toe finished! The toe looks very pointed on this sock but I tried it on and it fits me perfectly.