Jaywalkers Cross the Finish Line

I got the second skein of Jitterbug yarn in the mail today, (along with two more in semi-solid colors) only two days after ordering it from Jimmy Bean's Wool. Now that's what I call customer service. I wound it into a ball and found a knot quite near the end. The little golf ball of yarn that resulted was just enough to finish the second Jaywalker sock. The socks fit me, although they are a little tight going over the ankle. I'll have to wear them on less humid days when my ankles aren't so swollen, or save them for my mom as a gift.

I don't know why I waited so long to make this pattern. (Well, I do know: all the scare stories about the socks not fitting made me a little bit skittish.) The pattern is really easy and shows off the stripes in the yarn really nicely.

The next pair I make will be a little larger. This pair makes 10 finished pairs for the 52 pair plunge. I think I'm only one week behind at this point. I now have 5 first socks on the needles, so I'll have to concentrate on working on only one pair at a time if I want to keep up.

I almost forgot! I finally got the invite from Ravelry and it's everything I'd hoped for. I've been entering books, stash and projects all day today, at least until the mail came and the additional Jitterbug yarn arrived!

Jaywalkers hit a Roadblock

They would be finished if I hadn't run out of yarn!

I'm really getting good at those double decreases. I've been working on my first pair of Jaywalkers, using Colinette Jitterbug yarn in Jay. I've hit a roadblock, though. I ran out of yarn halfway down the foot of sock two. Not to worry, I ordered another skein, plus some in a coordinating color to make another pair. In fact, I followed the recommendations of kindred spirits on the socknitter's list and ordered the yarn from Jimmy Bean's Wool, which is up in the Sierras near Lake Tahoe, about 225 miles away from me. I knew about this store and website, but I hadn't visited before. I ordered the yarn before noon today, and they have already shipped it to me! I have high hopes that the yarn will arrive, if not tomorrow, then on Wednesday. They have great yarn, free shipping over $75, and some really nice free patterns too.

I knew there was a likelihood that I would run out of yarn, and probably should have knit these socks toe up or with shorter cuffs, but what the hey, I will have a wonderful pair of socks, and the second pair might be spectacular (I plan a slip stitch design.) I'm using the 76 stitch pattern, size 2.5 mm needles, and the sock just barely fits over my ankle. It's about 10" around, but these Jaywalkers really do have no sideways stretch. When I make the pattern again using this gauge I will follow Grumperina's advice for enlarging the sock. If I make the pattern with a finer gauge yarn I'll have to enlarge it even more.

While I'm waiting for my yarn, did I work on one of the other sock projects that I have going? Of course not. I started a new pair. I've wanted to make the Fancy Silk socks from Vintage Socks since I got the book in March. I'm using Regia cotton/wool in a nice denim blue solid. The top edge is quite nice and uses those double decreases again. The rest of the pattern looks pretty easy too.

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?)

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!

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.

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!

Finally Finished!

I finished the seemingly endless Socka socks for DH I've been working on for months. They've been my "take in the car just in case (JIC?)" socks. I used the alternating 2 X 2 rib pattern from SKS. They were supposed to be done for Christmas. I guess they'll be an April Fool's day present now.

Since I had a free set of needles, rather than finish another sock project, I cast on for a new sock using an Opal yarn from the pre color names/numbers/dyelots era. It's in rusty red, burgundy, navy, eggplant and brown. It looks better knitted up than on the skein. Somehow I didn't expect stripes. A friend brought it from PT Yarns in Oregon (the US Opal distributor's store). I traded some of my Opal Tiger to her for the yarn and considered myself lucky (except when I think of what I could have sold the Tiger for on Ebay a few years back.) I didn't like the Tiger: it was too coral pink, not really tiger colored at all.

I thought I was going to make the Monkey socks but this yarn is not right for that pattern. When I got home today my new book More Sensational Knitted Socks had arrived from Knitpicks. I picked out a six stitch broad spiral rib pattern and it's looking good, very subtle and somewhat masculine. I have some Shelridge Farms hand dyed yarn that may look better in the Monkey pattern. I'm already itching to start them too. I will have to curb my enthusiam for new projects and hunker down to one sock at a time if I want to finish a pair every week for the 52 pair plunge challenge.