Category: Socks

Sep 21

Self-striping Jekyll & Hyde socks

After finishing that last pair of socks, I needed simple knitting for my purse immediately. It’s rare I get to knit during rehearsals, but last week actually afforded me some knitting time at work. And because I’m such a follower, when Carin of Round the Twist kept showing gorgeous balls of yarn from Twisted Limone, I stalked the website for updates. I managed to score a couple balls right after Sock Summit.

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Those are Black Peacock and Choco-Raspberry Mustard.

I decided it was the perfect time to cast on a simple self-striping toe-up sock. I want to use as much of the yarn as possible, so toe-up was the way to go, plus I wanted to try putting in an afterthought heel. I decided on using the Black Peacock first.

Here is the proto-sock:

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A wee little toe, how cute!

Here is what it looked like after a couple days at work:

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That’s side 1. Here’s side 2:

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It’s like Jekyll and Hyde! The yarn was doing all sorts of pretty things in the blue/purple section on the toe, but once I got to the actual number of stitches for the sock, it was perfectly divided between blue on one side and purple on the other. I know you can see a little bit of each colour starting to peek around the sides at the bottom of that stripe. Well, here’s a little secret:

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That’s only happening because I pulled a loop of the purple yarn to make it change!

I’m not sure what to do… I know changing the stitch count would make it change, but it’s a stitch count that will fit my feet. I’m winging this pattern as I go – I measured my gauge, did some math, and came up with the following:

I have a 8.5″ circuference at the ball of my foot. At a gauge of 10st/1″, that’s 85st. But socks need negative ease, so I took 10% off, which gave me 76. I could probably go down to about 72, but I wouldn’t want to go smaller. I’m torn between wanting to knit past the current black stripe to see what the next coloured section does, or ripping back to the point in to the toe that has 72 stitches and try going from there.

(Hee, seeing my wedding band in that picture makes me giggle. I’m married!)

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Posted in Knitting, Socks

Sep 17

FO: Summer Traveling Socks

I started these socks to take to Sock Summit with me in Portland at the end of July. I took sock #2 with me to Seattle, and did a lot of knitting while surrounded by hordes of gamers at the end of August. Now, after a few days of snatching knitting moments at work, my summer socks are done!

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‘Summer socks’ as in ‘socks that were knit in the summer’, not ‘socks to wear in the summer’.

The yarn is Lotus Yarns Chakra in the colourway ‘Bettie’. I bought this yarn at Sock Summit ’09, so I thought it fitting to be knitting it during Sock Summit ’11.

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The pattern is Charade, and it was the perfect pattern for travel knitting. It was super-easy to memorize, and every other row is plain knitting anyway! I only needed the pattern for the heel turn, so I could always just pull the sock out of my bag and knit around and around and around. Socks are wonderful like that.

I really like the colourway. I’m not sure what this style of dying is, but there were short bursts of blues, pale green, and white all throughout the yarn. It wasn’t like some multicoloured yarns that have say, a section of blue, then a section of pink, then red, then it repeats again, and if it is in a skein you can get everything to line up. This yarn reminded me much more of the funfetti-style Koigu dyed yarn. The yarn is a little thicker than some sock yarns, these may end up being house socks, unless they shrink a bit in the wash. These are also the first socks I’ve ever knit that have cashmere content in the yarn!

I really like the toe in this pattern – it has more stitches in between the decreases than most patterns do, and I like the effect that gives.

It’s been a while since I’ve finished a knitting project, so these made me very happy.

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Posted in Knitting, Socks

Aug 14

Socks Away!

Sock Summit really got my knitting mojo going again. The mojo had been repressed by wedding planning, and even though I was knitting, not much was getting done.

Before I left for Sock Summit, I cast on a simple pair of socks in yarn I’d bought at the last Summit (so much for that goal of knitting it all up before SS11….). I finished the cuff while in Portland, and have just finished up sock #1!

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I knit on the sock on my lunch break from work this week. When it’s not thunderstorming, I like to eat my lunch in Olympic Plaza to get some much-needed vitamin D.

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And here’s the finished sock at home.

The pattern is Charade, and the yarn is Lotus Yarns Chakra in the colour ‘Bettie’. I lurve this yarn – it’s the first sock yarn I ever bought that has cashmere in the blend, and it is the silkiest softest thing I’ve ever touched.

I also cast on for a second pair of socks once I got home. I’m a really big fan of the videocast Round the Twist, and Carin is doing a nice slow-paced knitalong through Cookie A’s first book. I decided to cast on for the Rick socks, just like Carin, and join in the fun. I used more SS09 yarn, Liberty’s Yarn in Jabbersocky, in the awesome Lemongrass colourway.

Now, the day I started these socks, I had all my circular needles out for organizing. I knew I wanted to knit them on 2.5mm needles, so when I’d finished organizing I grabbed the needles I wanted and got going. After an inch or two the sock was looking very tiny, so I tried it on and it wouldn’t fit. I checked the needles, because I’d been having some problems with tightness when I was doing my decreases and lo and behold, I’d picked up my 2.25mm needles instead of the ones I really wanted. I ripped back to the ribbing, which fit fine, and started with new needles.

I tried the sock on when it had an inch or two of patterning done, and it fit over my heel just fine. I tried it on when there was 4″-5″ of patterning, and Rick and I reached a stalemate:

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He was not going any farther than that. The bias stitches make the sock squeeze down small like a Chinese finger trap. So I ripped again, the whole thing this time.

I’m trying to decide how to proceed next:

Option 1 is to start again on 3mm needles, even though I quite liked the fabric the 2.5mms were giving me.

Option 2 is to add another repeat of the pattern to the leg while knitting with the 2.5mms. This keeps the fabric I like, but could make the heel of the sock problematic. Although I did take a class from Cookie A at Sock Summit (and have the signed book to prove it) so maybe I should venture into the semi-design-your-own arena.

Or I suppose there’s Option 3: forget the Rick socks for now, and cast on for a sweater. There’s a chance I might make it to Rhinebeck this year, and if it pans out, I don’t want to be sweaterless!

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Posted in Knitting, Socks

Mar 17

Standby Knitting… Knitting GO

So last week, I wrote about not knowing whether I should attempt some wedding knitting. I felt like it would be a shame not to knit anything for the wedding, as it is my favourite hobby, but didn’t want to stress myself out. Well everyone wrote back with such wonderful compliments, and messages of support, so I dove in!

Monday I wandered over to a yarn store not 4 blocks from here, hoping to find some perfect teal yarn. I wasn’t too hopeful – it’s always hard going shopping for something so specific. Well, I walked in and found this:

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Three little skeins of teal sock yarn! I brought it home and pulled out some black sock yarn I already had: I’d actually bought it a couple years ago to make some socks for Cinnamon Buns, but never got around to it. I started the socks that night, and they’ve become my work knitting. Before you think I’m a bad employee – theatre can be a very ‘hurry up and wait’ type of environment (depending on the show, of course), so it is good to have things like knitting to keep your hands and brain busy. A lot of my current cast does crosswords – I knit. Naturally, I only knit in those dead spaces, and if there’s an emergency (busted button or snap, broken prop) or I have a cue (handing off props, guns, blood bags, helping people change outfits in 10.5 seconds, supervising the safe “hanging” of an actor… I have a weird job) the knitting is the furthest thing from my mind. That said, here is what one night at home and a week at work (on a show with a slow Act 1) looks like in knitted form:

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I’m getting close to the heel: you can see the start of the second skull pirate on the bottom right, a few rows after finishing him, it is time for the heel. I’ve made Cinnamon Buns try on the sock so far, and it fits, which is awesome. If you’re a knitter, the teal is Koigu KPM, and the black is Blue Moon Fiber Arts mediumweight.

I’ve decided that I will work on Cinnamon Buns’ socks first, and start my wedding shawl when they are finished. If I were to pick just one project, I’d knit his socks, so I won’t be too fussed if I don’t finish the shawl. Oh, shawl patterns! You know all those ones I showed you last week? I picked one! I picked one that wasn’t in that original post – in my defense, it is a much more recent pattern than those ones, and I hadn’t done a new search in a while. I will (maybe) be knitting Potager, by Anne Hanson for my wedding shawl:

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(photo from Anne Hanson’s website)

This shawl is just what I was looking for. I wanted something that evoked leaves or flowers, to go with the flowers on my dress. There are a lot of lovely geometric shawls out there, but I wanted something more organic-looking. There will be some beads on the two ends, and I’ve ordered some 100% silk yarn from the Unique Sheep to knit it with. As one commenter mentioned, it’s my wedding, this is the time to invest in silk! Wool is a little more forgiving, but I want that sheen that only silk has.

Now the race against time begins!

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Posted in Lace, Socks, Wedding

Oct 03

Yes, I still knit!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled wedding-planning with breaking news: I still knit! And, I finished something!
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Yes, that is one pair of finished Aquaphobia Socks, in yarn I bought at Sock Summit from Purl Up and Dye.

I didn’t make any (intentional) changes to the pattern. These socks were getting picked up and put down a lot, so there are a few places (especially on the second one) where the cable twists the wrong way. It didn’t bother me enough to change it once I noticed though, and once there was one wrong cable twist, why bother fixing the others?

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The yarn is colourful enough that it is a little hard to notice. I love how there was no colour pooling with this stitch pattern. It’s a slip stitch pattern (like the heels on a lot of socks!) so these socks are extra-thick and warm. They’ll be great walking to work in the winter socks. I make sure all my winter shoes will fit hand-knitted socks. It means I only have to wear the big, ugly, clumpy boots when there are actual snowdrifts on the sidewalk.

This yarn was Sock Summit 2009 stash – I’m slowly working away at it. I hope to work up a lot more of it before Sock Summit 2011!

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Posted in Knitting, Socks

Jun 11

Life with Evenstar

I’ve been spending a lot of my free time lately knitting. Knitting away on the edging of my Evenstar shawl. This is the ginormous shawl that has a deadline that’s coming up in a couple weeks. I’ve been exclusively knitting this shawl since I started it, not wanting any distractions, or anything to detract from my knitting time. The edging is 56 repeats of a point, and I had been pushing myself to do up to 4 in a day.

‘Had’ is the operative word in that last sentence. On Tuesday, I looked at the little tally on my pattern print out (I make a mark each time I complete row 20) and I thought ‘ that can’t be right!’. But it could: I only have 7 repeats left to go! That is this much:

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I can now actually see the beginning (and end) as I’m knitting.

So with only 7 repeats to go, and more than 2 weeks until the deadline, what is a knitter to do? Cast on something else, of course.

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That is the Eunice pattern from Cookie A’s book Sock Innovation. I recently started watching Round the Twist, a video podcast by Carin, and she has decided to knit every sock out of said book. I caught up on all 40+ episodes over a few weeks, so I’m joining in after she has already completed a different set of socks. I also need to do this to start using up some of that Sock Summit stash. The yarn I’m using is Wool Candy BFL in the colour ‘Robin’s Egg’.

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I’ve been having a bit too much fun with this sock – I need to put it down and finish up that last little bit of Evenstar, and then block it. That’s why tonight I’m going to watch The Two Towers and knit, and tomorrow will be Return of the King. Those two movies should be just the right amount of time to finish 7 beaded points.

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Posted in Lace, Socks

Feb 22

Knitting New Year

I’ve been thinking more about my Knitting New Year idea, and I think I may forge on with it. The guidelines I’d set for myself would be to have finished all my current Works in Progress by my birthday, April 2nd. I don’t think this is an unreasonable goal, considering I have most of March off from work, and the work I’m doing from now until then is fairly knit-friendly.

If I meet my current knitting goals, the thrummed mittens will be done by February 28th, and the Fiddleheads by March 7th (although I think I’ll be done before then).

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Ideally, I’d finish both by February 28th.

That leaves me with the following projects to finish (or frog) by April 2:

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These socks just need a lot of ends weaving in – I could do that in a day.

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This modular linen shopping bag. I don’t want to frog this! For some reason I stopped working on it, then lost it. I found it again recently, tucked away in the storage room. I’ve stolen the needle from it for the thrummed mittens, but that doesn’t matter because mittens must be done first!

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These socks will the challenge. They’re knee socks, and I’ve got one knit down to the ankle. Problem is, they’re a titch tight. I think I will soak and block what I’ve got so far, to see if that will loosen up the knitting. If it does, I continue to knit and have a wearable pair of socks. If it doesn’t, then I have to make the hard decision. I may also submit these to the Stampede knitting showase, if I do, do I need (or want) them to fit me?

And those are actually all the projects I have on the needles right now. The issue is that while I want the projects done and out of my knitting bags, there are other things I want to knit! My first Unique Sheep Lord of the Strings sock club kit arrived last week, and I joined the Evenstar Shawl knitalong. It is very hard not to jump in to those projects right now.

Maybe if I’m disciplined, I can finish the above projects (Fiddleheads, P’s mitts, Toe Socks, bag, green socks) I’ll have time before my birthday to cast on a new project. That will be completely allowed in the rules, because this challenge is to make me finish those things that have been hanging around.

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Posted in Knitting New Year, Socks

Jan 01

Slow-growing Socks

The Green & Blue toe socks stalled a bit when I got to the heel, because I didn’t want to have to bring the book anywhere, so they languished until I had a few hours of quiet at home to do the heel.

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Now I’ve got about half the length of leg that I need! I’ve been bringing them to work, and doing a few rows at lunch each day. I also finally duplicate-stitched the top of the heart on the finished one:

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I’ve been busy at work, and I’ve been preparing a wholesale stitch marker order in the evenings at home. I haven’t stopped making cards either, I’ve got a whole pile of those to post and blog about, and I’ve even got a few for challenges! January will be one of the busiest, craziest months of the year, but things will get easier after that, and I even have some time off in March. I’m planning on spending that time crafting and baking.

I had a great Christmas, and I did something I’ve been wanting to do for ages: I put all my Christmas money towards a big purchase (rather than say, rent or groceries). A KitchenAid Artisan mixer is on its way to me! I’m very, very excited for that to arrive.

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Posted in Socks

Sep 10

Box #2 contains…. a family legacy!

As you may remember, yesterday I left you hanging with this tantalizing picture:

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You got to see that end of the box, because the other end has a nice little label-holder with a neatly lettered label. This box contains:

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Holes! Well, socks that contain holes, as well as all my extra sock yarn bits, and my Weavette hand loom. I’m planning on darning those socks so I can have warm feet this winter, and then making a few more rectangles for my handwoven sock yarn blankie. I’m going to be working on that blanket for a long time.

Now, to darn socks you need a tool usually called a darning egg, or darning mushroom (someone told me once just to use a lightbulb, but that only works if you don’t have CFLs. For one thing, those things don’t die, and for another, if your heels are shaped like my CFLs, I don’t know how you walk!). I didn’t have one of these tools, so the socks sat languishing. See the languish?

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Luckily, there was a solution to this problem. Email mum, and ask her if she has granny’s (HER granny’s!) darning mushroom still. And the answer was….YES.

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That is my great-granny’s darning mushroom. I do have a vague memory of her showing me what it was for, when I was about 4 or so.

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Mmmmm, patina. It says Czecko-Slovakia [sic] on the underside. I’m really looking forward to using this.

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Posted in Socks, Vinnlands

May 03

Travel Knitting

Back in February, when I left my home for what turned out to be more than two months work away (it was originally only going to be one month), I gave a lot of thought to what projects I wanted to bring. I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to finish off some UFOs, as being away from my stash would force me into project monogamy. That thought also worked well in conjunction with the rule I set myself: no new yarn until the stash is under 10 kms long (when I left, the stash was 17+ kms). I brought with me two unfinished pairs of socks, and yarn for a small new project, the Eyelet Rib Bandeau.

Now that it is the day before I leave for home, it is time for a review. How did it all work out? Well, I finished one pair of socks, my Millicents. They only really needed one foot knit. I also discovered an error in the pattern, mentioned in this Ravelry thread.

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Cara’s socks… are not done, but now only need one foot knit. This is starting to sound familiar. I don’t get second sock syndrome, I quite enjoy casting on the second sock. I just need to stall before I finish the foot, apparently.

The Eyelet Rib Bandeau: I swatched for it, and decided I didn’t like the way the stitch pattern looked, and was starting to doubt how much I’d wear the finished product (I still think it is super cute!). So, I looked around for something to cast on. I was hampered by the fact that I only had two knitting magazines here, and one book (and of course, teh internets). The book was Favorite Socks, which was no help for using up Rowan Cashsoft DK. This is where Ravelry came in handy, with the new experimental search. I found that I had enough yarn for another project I wanted to make, that was in the same magazine as the Bandeau! So, I cast on for the Clementine Shawlette.

Clementine Shawlette

I actually got a lot of this done backstage at the opera. I had almost no cues in all of act 3, plus I was stuck upstairs alone on the upstage side of balcony. There were windows and French doors all along it, so once the show started, I couldn’t move from where I was without being seen. So I’d sit down on the ground (no room for a chair!) and knit away. This helped with memorizing the pattern, I didn’t want to have too many loose bits up there that could accidentally get kicked over the edge. I memorized the pattern so I wouldn’t have to have the magazine up there.

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I love that it is knit in two halves, rather than one piece, because I can use up every inch of yarn by just knitting until ball #2 runs out, then start again.

I’m not sure if I’ll keep this knit. I have a friend in mind who is going through a bad time, and I thought it might be nice for her, although I don’t know if she’d use it. I may just start a Christmas present box. That’s a novel concept; knitting Christmas gifts in April!

Last night I finished the first half, I’m going to start the second half today.

This trip was not without stash aquisition though: I got a great closing night gift from one of my co-workers:
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Fleece Artist Merino sock yarn! Yum! His girlfriend is a knitter, but she maintains that her only input was the idea of getting me yarn, and that he picked the yarn and colour by himself. Impressive. :) Those two pictures are the same skein, I love all the colours in it!

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Posted in Millicents, Stash

Apr 03

Finished Millicent Socks

Millicent Socks, started August 4th, 2007, finished March 22nd, 2008
Pattern: Cookie A’s Millicent Socks
Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl in ‘Grape’, just under 4 skeins
Needles: 2.25mm Addi Turbo (US 1)
Dimensions: (Edit in later, when I find my pattern)
Pattern Notes: There is a mistake in the pattern for the left foot and toe. I asked Cookie about it on Ravelry, and she confirmed. I made no changes.
Would I knit it again? Love the pattern, but I don’t need two pairs of these socks. Nor do I need to do that much 2×2 ribbing for a long, long time.

 Look at those toes!

I love that they are mirrored.

In this photo, you can see a bit of my new favourite thing, my bright pink trench coat! Birthday present from mum. :) It’s such a great coat on grey days.

 

It was cold, so I had to wear tights to walk and find my photoshoot location. I don’t have appropriate shoes with me to actually wear with these socks. I have my Docs here, but they are getting a bit rough in the heels, and I didn’t want to risk holes in my fabulous new socks.

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Posted in Millicents, Socks

Mar 13

Finishing those pairs…

About time for a knitting update, isn’t it? I’m doing wonderfully on two counts:

1. The Millicent Socks

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Yes, that is Millicent #2! And so close to being done. I finally got over what was keeping me from finishing it, which was an error in the pattern! The directions for the left gusset and left foot are slightly wrong. I mentioned it on Ravelry, and Cookie confirmed it, which was all I needed to get going. I find it odd no one noticed the error before, and I have seen finished Millicents… maybe I was following the pattern too blindly?

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2. Cara’s Socks:

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That is sock #2, partway through the heel flap. Will I have two finished pairs of socks in March? I hope so!

A quick digression on airline knitting: I recently flew from Vancouver to Calgary and back, with the Millicents in my carry-on luggage (I had no checked bags). No one said a thing. On the way back, I stuffed more needles into my bag in case I need them out here, and no one said anything. Not even the security guy who hit me on the head with his beepy paddle thingy. I was making everything beep on that trip through security, even the hooks on my bra made the thing beep.

(Please excuse the photos, I’m staying with friends of my parents, and don’t want to have to explain taking photos of half-finished socks, so I took the pics in my room in the basement.)

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Posted in Embossed Leaves, Millicents

Feb 13

Finishing this sock on a bus… could you do it?

Sock Sans Model

I’ve finally taken pictures of Cara’s first finished sock! It is currently unblocked, as I’ve only just started sock #2. I know they are going to need it eventually, but I’m not sure what to do. If we had the same size feet, I could justify buying sock blockers, but Cara has teeny size 5s, and I have whopping size 8s. Any small-footed knitters want to lend me some blockers some time in March?

The sock that needs blocking

I had fun taking photos, because I finally got around to making a little light tent out of a cardboard box and some tracing paper. Opening my Etsy store was the big nudge I needed. But now I can take fancy sock pictures! I do some adjusting in Photoshop, but I did nothing at all to the photo above.

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That’s my hand, pretending to be a foot. It makes me think of a cobra or something.

Sock #2 for Cara has almost reached the end of the top ribbing, so I’m not too far along on that. Once again, I blame Etsy. I’m sure if my work really knew what I did most of the day, they’d blame Etsy too. But they don’t know, and they all say I’ll be missed when I leave this Friday (who are they kidding, I’m just one in a long line of temps).

Embossed Leaves Toe

I’m leaving on Friday because on the following Wednesday, I’m flying out to Vancouver for work! I’ll be out there until probably the first week in April. I’m taking the Etsy stock (it all fits into a shoe box), and more importantly, I taking my Knitting!

I’ll be staying with a friend of my mum’s for most of it, and I’ll have about a 45 minute commute each way between her house and work. And we all know what car-less commutes mean… knitting time! And reading time! The thing is, I need some advice.

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I was a car-sick kid (never seasick though). This was not fun on the journey between our house at the time, and my grandparents in Vancouver (but there were two ferries between all the twisty driving, so at least my parents had a respite on the boat). I’m not that bad any more, but I can’t read in a moving vehicle, I start to feel gross, and like I’m going to barf. I’m extrapolating this to mean that knitting on the bus may do the same thing to me. Any tips to help me, so I don’t go mad on the rides? Any way to combat knitting-induced bus-sickness? I’ve never really had to bus anywhere regularly, so I haven’t had the time to build up an immunity.

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Posted in Embossed Leaves, Socks

Jan 05

Cara’s Socks

I’m knitting my first pair of socks destined for someone else.

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My friend Cara has had some pretty horrible health news recently (well, before Christmas, I’m just slow) and as soon as I heard about it, I knew she needs some fuzzy, cozy socks made just for her. I had some yarn in my stash that just screamed “CARA!” and the yarn gave me the idea for the perfect pattern.

The yarn is a lovely green, with touches of brown and purple, from All Things Heather. I got it for donating to a kids’ book drive she did on her blog a little while ago.

Because of the gorgeous greens in the yarn, I knew the pattern had to be leafy. And Cara is all about the outdoors, so I narrowed it down to either Elfine’s Socks, or Embossed Leaves from IK. I finally settled on Embossed Leaves, they seemed slightly less lacy, and she lives somewhere colder rather than warmer.

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These socks are filling all sorts of purposes. I have a whole list of resolutions/goals that I will post about later (I’m doing this), but these socks get me on the way to lots. It is stash yarn, a stash pattern (in Favorite Socks), I’m knitting socks, and… I’m sure there was a 4th one. Either way, great.

This is also the first of my close friends to have any sort of huge health issue like this. Well, technically she’s been told she’s only at risk, but a very probable risk it seems, for some biggies. She’s only 24… just a year older than me, and I can’t imagine a doctor telling me the things hers has told her. But she’s strong and amazing (she is Cara, after all :) ) and deserves something fuzzy.

Giving them will be interesting, as I don’t think any of my high school friends know I knit. I’m not keeping it from them, we just don’t talk about stuff like that.

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Posted in Embossed Leaves, Socks, Uncategorized

Dec 19

In my infinite wisdom…

First, some eye candy*.

*(not my leg, the sock!)

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The finished Millicent! Isn’t it pretty? I still need to weave in the starting end, but it is otherwise raring to go. I used less than 2 skeins of Louet Gems, and I have size 8 feet and average ankles/calves. Full measurements used when I finally finish sock #2.

Millicent #2 got some attention yesterday. And then I had to rip out all I did that day. I had left it off at the end of the heel flap. In my keenness to be done with it…. I started the gusset without turning the heel. What is sad is that I managed to pick up all the stitches (thinking ‘is it always this awkward?’) and knit a couple rows before noticing.  I was stuck on a line of the pattern… it seems likein  the traveling k2p2 band, the stitches don’t stack neatly on top of each other. Although, that could be something to do with me having totally the wrong number of stitches, and the wrong shape of sock when I was doing that part.

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Posted in Millicents

Dec 11

One Millicent!

I just grafted the toe of one of my Millicent knee socks!!

No pictures for now, as there’s a man coming to knock a hole in our ceiling in a few minutes.

The other sock just needs the foot done…. AT LAST!

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Posted in Millicents

Oct 28

Frogged!

The projects I was talking about frogging last week? I did it. Well, I’m done 2/3. The other one I’m doing tonight.

The projects on the chopping block were (click for big!):

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  • DSC00122.JPG Cleo, my oldest UFO. As in started more than three years ago. All the bits were done, and I had a bathing suit top I wanted to cut up to make a lining, but I didn’t know how to do it, so it just sat. And sat. And sat. And looking at it the other day I realised that the fabric was much, much too loose for a shirt, and it was heavy and would sag, and the world would just be a better place if it went away.
  • DSC00120.JPG Simply Lovely Lace Socks. I started these over a year ago, in yarn I Kool-Aid dyed. I got just past the heel on the first sock, when I realised they were a bit tight. That was also before I realised that I don’t want socks with holes already in them. I wear wool socks in winter for warmth. Holes are not warm.
  • DSC00121.JPG Sidewinder Sock. A fairly recent project, compared to the other two. I think it was May? ish? I knit one whole sock very very fast, grafted the eleventy-thousand stitches, and then it was too tight. The pain was a bit too new to frog it earlier, but I’m okay with it now. I’m undoing the graft, and will measure and record my gauge properly, then try again.

Now, I don’t have a swift, and all this yarn had been sitting knit up for ages, so it was going to be really curly. Wrapping around my arm is tedious, but I came up with a great solution:

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My chair, the swift! I just needed to spin the chair with one hand and hold the offending item with the other. It even worked for Cleo, which was two strands of yarn held together. I just made sure to keep my fingers between the strands, started them out at different heights on the chair, and twirled away. Can your swift do that?

Yarnage counter: 16.89km

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Posted in Kool-Aid Yarn, Sidewinders, Stash

Oct 11

Lady of Leisure

I’m a lady of leisure now that the show is over. At least until the 21st. :)

I had debated about finding work for this in-between time, but I think I made the right choice. I deserve some rest, right? And it’s not like I’m totally not working, I had my first ever union call on Sunday, and I’m doing a day at a theatre this coming Wednesday.

The first thing this lady of leisure did was…. laundry. But after that, I knitted! I got quite a few more stripes done on my bright stripes scarf. Pictures tomorrow, because I knitted (and cooked dinner) until it was dark.

I do have some pics of my Millicent progress though. These pics are from a week or two ago. They are closer to the same length now, as since I took the pictures, I’ve only worked on the shorter one. These pics were also taken inside, at night. The new camera didn’t do too badly, but daylight is still better.

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What I have left to knit is about the equivalent of a pair of regular socks. Which is heartening and depressing all in one go. I have to say that I’m looking forward to finishing them.

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The show is closed, it went well. My mum was visiting for a few days recently, and that also went well. She left us with a very well-stocked cupboard and fridge. And me with some new clothes. :)

I’m planning on using my 10 remaining days of leisure time on knitting, tidying, cooking, and possibly even sewing. Having just had my mum here, I’m all shopped out for a while (apart from an HMV gift certificate burning a hole in my wallet) so I won’t be tempted to spend money. Which is good, as I’m not earning any.

I’m hoping to finish knitting a project or two (Millicents? don’t know) and maybe go through the stash again. I’m all about paring down, especially after the shopping sprees mum took me on. All worthwhile sprees, I now own a frying pan! And jeans without holes!

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Posted in Millicents

Sep 10

Millicents, so far

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My Millicents are coming on fairly well, considering how limited my knitting time has been recently. Today I finally finished the cuff of the second sock, and have about 2cm more ribbing than I do in the photos.

I put them on to stretch out the lace pattern for photos, but when they’re done, the lace will be the other way up, folded down over the 2X2 ribbing, more like this:

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So right now I am essentially knitting a bit that will be forever hidden. Never seen. And yet it is still a good 15cm (per sock!) that needs knitting. sigh. But they’re so pretty!

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The ribbing on the longer one is about halfway there, I’m pointing at it in this pic. Please excuse the bright white legs.

I’m really enjoying working with the Louet gems. I haven’t found any knots (and I’ve balled up 4 skeins) and it isn’t splitting. The colour is also wonderful. I think I’m going to need to find some really cool shoes to wear these with.

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I started these socks as part of Ravelry’s Sockdown!, being held in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group. Basically, a set of ‘rules’ is laid down which gives each month (starting this August) a designer and a technique (August was Sockbug or lace). You finish a pair of socks by that designer, or using that technique by the deadline, and are entered to win prizes. August was lace, and the deadline is September 30th. Back when I started, I calculated that I’d need to knit at least 2.5cm per day to make it. If that was true, I’d be more than half done. I’m about 25% done, with close to 0 knitting time on the horizon until about the 21st. I think I may have been to ambitious (especially considering I knew what a timesuck my new job would be), but there is still a chance. The rest of the socks are just ribbing, no more following a chart.

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Once both legs are decreased a bit (after 12.5cm of straight ribbing, each…argh) I want to put them both on one circular. I tried that when casting on, and it was just a huge mess, mainly because the circ I have isn’t quite long enough for two socks the circumference of my calves. Once they get to normal sock size, it should be okay.

Having these just be ribbing now means that both projects I have on the go are simple TV-projects. If these weren’t on a deadline, I’d start something new…

PS: The socks I’m going to start in October (Nancy Bush or cables)? Bayerische, both at the same time on one circular. Am I crazy? At least I was sane enough to not even try doing anything for the challenge in September (Grumperina or toe-up).

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Posted in Millicents

Aug 06

Invisible Progress Beast

So I’ve been plugging away at my Millicent socks. I have changed, and am doing them one by one, as my circular is too short for two at a time on Magic Loop. Here is where I was yesterday morning:

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Here is where I was yesterday evening:

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Looks the same right? Wrong. The first picture has 7 lace motifs around the sock. The second picture has only 6. Yeah. I tried it around my leg, and even taking in to account the other layer of sock that will be under that cuff…. much too big. I could pink out one whole motif easily, so I ripped. And re-did. The lace has less mistakes now though. :)

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Posted in Millicents, Socks

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