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Serendipitous Spinning

2012-01-29T17:37:00.001-05:00

Today a group of spinners gathered in nearby New Oxford for what I hope will become a monthly tradition: Spinning Circle! We met at a new shop downtown on the square called Serendipity. The owner, Terry, stocks many things made by Pennsylvania artisans – including some gorgeous pottery, jewelry, and handwoven items (her loom is set up in the back).

There were 7 spinners there today using a variety of wheels and spindles.

How did I not get a photo of Jess’s Pretty Pirate yarn? Oops! Must have gotten distracted. Since she’s spinning what looked like cobweb yarn to me, I’ll probably have plenty more opportunities.

I started some natural BFL (blue faced leicester) that I bought from Misty Mountain Farm at MDSW. I checked The Knitter’s Book of Wool and The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook BEFORE beginning this time, and noted that this longwool breed begs to be spun worsted rather than woolen. Since my fiber preparation appears to be top (not roving) and my default spinning style is worsted, this is perfect for me. I have 8 oz and I’m planning a 2-ply yarn.

I got more spinning done today than I have in a long time. It’s amazing what you can do with a little structure. Thanks for bringing us together, Terry!

Loop-de-loop

2012-01-28T15:16:00.001-05:00

Remember the only non-sock yarn I bought at Sock Summit last August? This BIG skein contained 8 oz (~225 g) and 665 yards of DK-weight alpaca. Well, the ball band says DK and the Ravelry record says sport, but whatever. Now about half of that skein has become this squishy loopy scarf: I used the Yarn Harlot’s one-row scarf pattern, but I began with a provisional cast-on so I could join the ends neatly into a loop with Kitchener stitch. I twisted the scarf one time before grafting. It’s long enough to wear long or doubled:I used a US 5 (3.75 mm) needle so keep the stitches open and airy. This makes the scarf cozy. Don’t you just want to reach out and squish? This pattern is dead easy and would have made a great portable project, were it not for the size of that big honkin’ skein of yarn. Plus, the scarf itself got kind of long after a while. So while it was good PUBLIC knitting, it wasn’t great OFFICE knitting because it was a little more obtrusive than what I usually knit at work.

At work, I’ve been whipping through another pair of plain vanilla sportweight Felici socks. This is the colorway “Seaside.” I cast on 52 to fit me. Round and round and round is perfect for meetings!I’m almost ready to put in the afterthought heels.

Great Scot!

2012-01-24T20:09:00.001-05:00

I wanted to get something on the wheel as soon as the sea foam green oddness came off… so I reached for the Spinner’s Sampler I got at the PA Farm Show earlier this month. First up: Shetland!Good thing I have a couple of reference books on hand. From Clara Parkes’ The Knitter’s Book of Wool, we learn that Shetlands fall into the category of “Northern European Short-Tailed” sheep and are cousins to Finn and Icelandic sheep. The fiber can vary quite a bit in terms of staple length and softness. Even on the same animal, one can find 5 different types of fiber. The really, really fine stuff is what they make the famous Shetland lace wedding shawls out of (the ones that can pass through a wedding band). Mine wasn’t that fine. Oh, and Clara says that Shetland wool is typically spun in the woolen style so that those short, crimpy fibers can bloom. OOPS! I spun in more of a worsted style (which is my fallback style). I let a little twist into the fiber mass, so I suppose it was a hybrid technique. (All this Shetland info is from pages 75-76.)

That may explain why my finished yarn feels a bit rough.

Okay, so I started out with one ounce of fluff that looked like this: I spun the singles on my 14:1 whorl on my Ladybug. The bobbin looked like this as it started to fill:I LOVED how lively this fiber felt as I worked with it. It was so much more substantive than the alpaca-wool sliver I worked with most recently. It had a bit of lanolin left in it, and it smelled sheep-y – but in the best possible way. I was very disciplined and made a little sample card this time. It shows the singles and a small piece of 2-ply. The idea is to use this as a reference to achieve a more consistent single. Check out the single up close – doesn’t it look springy and alive?

Since I only have a small amount of this fiber, I spun it all on one bobbin and then navajo-plied it on my next bigger whorl (12.5:1). This produced a 3-ply chained yarn. I know you’re not supposed to try navajo ply with long-stapled wools and this one wasn’t…I have 61 yards of finished yarn, and the skein weighs exactly one ounce. It was really twisty when it came off the niddy noddy but calmed down a lot after its hot water bath. The skein was still slightly unbalanced, though (and I didn’t determine whether it was underplied or overplied). I wonder if navajo plied yarns are ALWAYS super twisty when they come off the niddy noddy? Anyone know? I could really use a spinning mentor! Deb Robson’s The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook devotes a full 10 pages to the Shetland breed, including some gorgeous photo spreads of the sheep themselves, the fiber, and yarn and cloth made from the fiber. She says Shetland is a “conservation” breed. I didn’t find a precise definition of this, but it isn’t as bad as “critical conservation breed” (which is globally rare and on the precipice of extinction) or “extinct” (p. 6). It shows a skein of Garthenor Shetland yarn that looks super yummy. I could see myself knitting a sweater out of this stuff.

There is a Ravelry group for The Knitter’s Book of Wool (of course there is!) and they’ve been studying breeds since it came out. Back in August 2010, they focused on Shetland (I’ll look forward to reading the backfile). Here is the breed description that’s posted there:

Shetland: This hearty, short-tailed, longwool sheep is actually a Primitive or landrace rather than a breed, meaning that Shetlands breed other Shetlands all on their own, if you get my drift. Because of their diversity, many colors and patterns of Shetlands developed, though some colorations have dwindled as shepherds have selected for easy-to-market white fleeces. Their 11 remaining colors and 30 pattern variations are codified using terms that derive from Norn, the Germanic language formerly spoken on the Islands. Their ancestors were most likely brought to their North Sea Island homes by Scandinavian settlers more than 1000 years ago: Shetlands are related to Finns, Icelandics, and other Scandinavian sheep. They’re the smallest British breed. The ewes are polled, while the rams have beautiful spiraling horns. When well tended and fed, Shetlands produce fine-crimped, long, soft wool between 20 and 30 microns, and the sheep will roo if given the chance, and some are double coated, revealing their Scandinavian ancestry. The harsh climate of the Shetlands has helped these sheep develop a great independent streak—Shetlands can handle harsh climates and terrains, and are very quick witted. That independence makes them easy to care for, and their small size keeps feed costs down.

Hmmm, that description says “longwool” – did you notice? Again, could use a spinning mentor.

I haven’t started spinning another breed yet. Would you care to vote? Other choices in the sampler include Lincoln, Coopworth, and Romney.

Sunday update

2012-01-22T15:01:00.001-05:00

I have a bunch of stuff in the pipeline to share, but only a couple of small things have popped out the end of the pipe.

First off, Kris finished the second of Ed’s socks. She really got the bad end of this deal, as she knit far more stitches than are in the finished sock. Hey, it’s all about the learning, right? I packaged the socks up today and they will begin their journey to Texas tomorrow.

I hope Ed loves them.

Secondly, I finished up a quick headband project for my friend Cinda. It’s the Parisian Twist headband/ear warmer. It calls for double stranded Malabrigo Worsted, but I couldn’t find any at my LYS. So I ordered the new Knit Picks Special Reserve yarn, Full Circle, which is a worsted weight single play. This is the color “Rock,” which is a very, very deep grey. The project was quite quick. I don’t have the button sewn on yet, but I want to do that in person to ensure the best fit. So for now, it’s done:

I could have used a similar ear warmer yesterday. It snowed 2-3” here Friday night, and I took the boys sledding on Saturday afternoon. Turns out you don’t even need a sled to go down a hill!

In other news, the Vodka Gimlet sweater is DONE! And it’s BLOCKED! But I don’t have photographs yet. Patience, my friends…

Later today, I’ll ply the Shetland singles. Oh, did I even tell you about that yet? See, lots of stuff in the pipeline…

Ready for takeoff

2012-01-20T13:06:00.001-05:00

Remember those little aviatrix hats I knit for impending babies? This baby is here and flight ready. I don’t want to go all Melanie Wilkes or anything… but the happiest days are days when babies come, don’t you think?

I’m just relieved that the hat fits. This baby arrived at 9 lbs 5 oz.

So sweet!

New year, new yarn

2012-01-16T10:41:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally finished spinning that little 4 oz bag of alpaca/wool that I started waaaaay back in November. I’m not that impressed with my yarn. I got 278 yards of 2-ply:

You can see that the two plies aren’t very even. I need to make a better effort when it comes to consistency. I also need to work on plying – I just get so confused when I read articles about calculating the angle of twist and how I’m supposed to be able to see that without some scientific apparatus.

Even though I divided my fiber in half and spun each half on its own bobbin, I had kind of a lot left over on one bobbin. So I rewatched the navajo ply video and finished up the remaining singles. Remember, navajo ply creates a chained 3-ply yarn. This should look “rounder”: I have only 30 yards of this.

I spun the singles on my 10.5:1 whorl and plied them one size bigger (9:1). I read somewhere that you should ply on the next whorl size up, so I tried that. Not sure it made a huge difference on the two-ply. It did make the navajo ply more manageable.

I’m resolved to keep on doing this until it gets better. I think I’ll spin up those little bags in the spinner’s sampler I got at the farm show. Since they are samples (1 oz each), I guess I’ll navajo ply so I don’t have to worry about dividing and then having leftover singles.

I keep reminding myself that I’ve put a LOT more practice into knitting than I have into spinning, and what I’m getting is still fairly beginner-level handspun. I just need more practice. Gotta get back on that horse.

And I also want to start knitting more with my handspun. I think that will help, as well. My sock knitting improved considerably once I started wearing my own socks rather than giving them all away. One gives oneself the most honest feedback!

My little minions

2012-01-15T13:10:00.001-05:00

These hats are so adorable I can’t stand it. If you haven’t seen the movie Despicable Me, please do so!

The hat part is dead easy. The eyeball is where things are a bit more challenging. I whipped out a crochet hook and tried to crochet it, since the pattern photo clearly shows crocheted eyes. I figured crochet was chosen because it’s easier to make concentric circles with crochet than with knitting. But my crochet is a bit rudimentary, and I got something ruffley:

Then I noticed that the pattern ALSO had instructions for knitted eyeballs (but with a disclaimer that the designer prefers the look of crocheted eyes). She specifies using dpns and for some reason I did. Man, it took me FOREVER to knit this:

The pattern calls for you to bind off after completing the white portion. Then you make a gray i-cord and sew it around the eye. I thought it sounded a lot simpler to finish the eye with an applied i-cord bindoff, so I did. And I liked the bindoff. But look at how the black part of the eyeball isn’t round at all! Yuck! The pattern called for you to change yarns on an increase round and to use the “knit through front and back,” which created this pixellated look. So I tried again, and got these:Much improved. I made them bigger, too, as you can see. Then I hit them with steam from the iron to see if they would settle down a bit. I didn’t actually touch the iron to the fabric, since the i-cord is very three-dimensional and I wanted to keep that (the gray is supposed to look like goggles). Can you see the difference? Left eye is unblocked, right eye is steamed: Then I sewed the eyeballs onto the hats. I used a black tail from the middle to tack down that middle section, and then I used a long piece of gray yarn to whip stitch around the circumference. I picked up one side of the gray V closest to the white part, which is kind of on the back of the eye, so it doesn’t show:

Mama and minions are very pleased!

Status update – Vodka Gimlet

2012-01-12T09:14:00.001-05:00

Friends, my math has failed me. I finished one sleeve but it’s a good 3” too long. Oops! This is not a fine example of photography (or styling) but you get the idea. Luckily, this is a top down design, so I can just rip back. I could:

Just turn up the cuff and call it done
Rip back the cuff about 3” and bind off again
Rip back the sleeve about 9” and start the 6” cuff again

After a bit of mulling, I’ve decided to take route #3.

I’m still not sure if I knit this to the best size. I think it might be kind of big in the body, and I think maybe I should have put the waist detail a little higher. But it’s all about the learning, right?

While we were taking photos, S1 said “you know you have some big holes in the back, right?” WHAT?!?? She said, “yeah, you know, like missing stitches.” Minor panic. I told her to photograph the holes. Here is what she got:Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, that is just where I changed balls and haven’t woven in the ends yet. No big deal. But she got my blood pumping for a few minutes there. I do like how this yarn looks knit up. So pretty in stockinette, and so pretty with the small slipped stitch detail. And see how the slipped stitches happen on both sides of the neck band? Nice touch.

I’m briefly turning my attention to the minion hats because my little minions are clamoring for them. But I will get back to Vodka Gimlet as soon as possible.

PA Farm Show 2012

2012-01-07T20:41:00.001-05:00

I took photos of this months ago when Jess finished what she calls her Epic Shawl, but I forgot to share them. Probably because I took them on my phone, and they weren’t so great. (The photos, not the shawl, which is astoundingly beautiful and took her a year to knit.) Here is a shot I took at Knit Night back in September: Jess finished this in August and entered it in our local fair, the South Mountain Fair, where it won Best in Show. Wow! And completely deserved! It’s so long you can’t see the whole thing in one shot. Here’s Kris holding up the other end: We convinced her to send this up to the PA Farm Show, our version of a state fair, which is always in January. This is kind of unusual for state to have their big fairs in the winter, but the farmers are free then, and we have a State Farm Complex in Harrisburg where the whole thing can be held under one roof. We have a tradition of having nasty winter weather (blizzards, ice storms) during Farm Show opening weekend, but this year surprised us and the temperature rose above 60 degrees. (This is bad news for many farmers, actually…)

Anyway, Jess’s shawl was on display today. Only the prizewinners are guaranteed to be displayed, and somehow she didn’t win a ribbon. I have no idea why, because some of the winners were just really not so great… but competition was stiff in her category (Hand Knitted Accessory). But she made the display case! You can see, though, that showing a folded stole on a shelf doesn’t do the garment justice: Still, we were thrilled to see it. Here’s the knitter herself, sporting a fun handknit hat and some micro-skein earrings she bought moments earlier: Wanna see what won in her category? It was good, so that helped a bit. A stranded hat: As you might expect, the best of Pennsylvania produce was on display. We saw lots of this: And of course, the butter sculpture:

Here is the display for MY local apple grower, Hollabaugh Bros. in Biglerville:

We saw so many neat displays. Honeybees, maple syrup, mushrooms. Anything that comes out of Penn State. Check out this winter scene, constructed entirely of mushrooms:Boy 1 spotted this sign:

Yes, there were 4 holes of mini golf set up, each with an educational message about pesticide safety:We got more Mr. Yuck stickers here.

Then, on to the East Hall – Poultry. This is where the real drama of the show is. Check out the kids watching the eggs:While we were there, this chick – which must have just come out because it looked wet and exhausted just laying there by the light bulb – got up and hopped around, cheering its incubator-buddies on.

And then, the reality TV show of the day – the Duckling Slide. First, the handler gives the webcam viewers at home a close up shot: Then a couple of kids move the ducklings from their cage to the slide area. The ducklings are coaxed up the slide by food and then go PLOP! into the water. Hilarious and very popular. I couldn’t get anywhere close to the front, but Boy 1 managed to work his way to the edge. I mostly got these shots by holding the camera up as high as I could.We were on the “step” side rather than the “slide” side.

Later, we saw some sheep, pigs, and cows. And then we stopped into the Equine Arena to see what was going on. Some kind of cart competition. These horses were dressed up fancy! (Steven, is this was Amy does?) Check out the bow on this horse’s backside, all wrapped up like a present:

In the junior classes, the competitors have to have another person riding with them.

And I can’t believe I forgot to mention the food! We ended up eating from the “potato” and “dairy” groups pretty much exclusively, but they were yummy. The Farm Show milkshakes are renowned for good reason.

The Farm show is mostly about displays, but there were a few booths with items for sale. While Boy 1 rode the carousel (yes, there was one set up in the Main Hall), I spied some fiber and investigated. I bought a Spinner’s Sampler Pack of sheep breeds (1 oz each of Shetland, Coopworth, Romney, and Lincoln) and 2 oz of Icelandic wool roving: Also got a “stick weaving” kit for Boy 1, who was interested (he rocked the potholder category for Christmas this year).

If you’re in this neck of the woods, a trip to the Farm Show is definitely worth it! Admission is free, but it costs $10 to park near the complex.

Thanks for a fun day, knitters (and Boy 1 and IHH)! I think Jess should enter her shawl in the MDSW Skein and Garment competition this year, don’t you?

Sweater update

2012-01-06T06:43:00.001-05:00

When last you saw the Vodka Gimlet, I believe I had just put the waist detail on. Since then, I’ve finished the body, which includes a turned hem at the bottom. I have one other sweater with a turned hem and I like the way it lays so flat. Here is the WS where I’m stitching up the hem. The pattern just said to use “waste yarn” to sew. I decided to use some Plucky Primo Fingering left over from Ed’s sock, which is in a similar color, rather than more Plucky Primo Worsted, figuring it would add less bulk and be more smooth. I caught one “v” of each BO stitch and one “purl bump” of reverse stickinette, and you can’t see it from the front at all: By the way, I had to block the hem before doing this, so that the yarn was flat and relaxed. Primo is a bit lively before its bath.Since then, I picked up stitches for the neckband, which goes all the way from one hem, up around the neck, and down to the hem on the other side. It is mostly ribbed but features the same slipped stitch detail. Bonus feature: the slipped stitches appear on both the RS and WS, so no matter how you wear your collar, it will show. Next, I pick up the sleeve stitches which are on cables and knit down. With luck, I’ll wear this yet this month!

Plucky’s yarns are addictive. Because the shipment of Vodka Gimlet kits was delayed, she had a “private shopping event” open to us with free shipping included. I held myself back but I couldn’t resist getting something. Here is what arrived in the mail yesterday: 1 skein of the new Primo Sportweight in colorway “Lincoln.”Same blend as the other Primos: 75/20/5 merino/cashmere/nylon. I plan to make the popular Kalajoki socks with it.

Hats out, hats in

2012-01-01T12:13:00.001-05:00

My knitting focus at the wane of 2011 and dawn of 2012 has been on hats for wee ones. I whipped up one of those insanely cute Aviatrix Baby Hats for a friend who is expecting (free rav download):I just love these helmut-style hats that hug tiny fuzzy newborn heads. This one looks a little military because of the color, but rest assured this is the color the mother selected for her little boy. It was so adorable that I made another one for a colleague who is expecting in just a couple of weeks:This is one of those patterns that comes in a lot of sizes and for several weights of yarn. I used Dream in Color Classy (100% superwash – important for babies of non-knitters) in color Shiny Moss, which is a worsted weight yarn. The first hat was made in the 3 month size. I chose to move up to the 6 month size for the second one, remembering what an enormous head my colleague’s first child had (I say this with love, since Boy 1 was the same way). Then again, her second child wasn’t so top heavy. But I digress. My point is that the 6 month hat came out smaller than the 3 month hat. I ripped back and added another wedge. Let’s hope it fits. There are too buttons to help the strap fit longer. That garter stitch should stretch a lot.

Boy 2 has been asking for a minion hat off and on all fall, so I think he’s serious about it. Did you see Despicable Me? If not, you should! It’s great even if you don’t have kids. There are lots of adorable minions in the film, and this free hat pattern mimics them. So we went to The Mannings yesterday to get minion yarn. The shop owner thought we were making a Steelers hat but nooooooooooooo sirree, not at this house. I started this at a NYE gathering last night and it’s humming right along. I’ll have to give myself a crochet refresher tutorial when it comes time to make the eye (some minions have two eyes and some have one; Boy 2 has requested a one eye hat).

I have also been working on the Vodka Gimlet sweater, but I’ll update you on that in a few days when I have more to show you!

Any knitting resolutions for 2012? Ravelry always buzzes with year-long project KALs this time of year. Last year I participated in the Sock Stash Knitdown (SSK) with the Stash & Burn group. Any good ones this year? Are you joiners or go-it-aloners?

Webby things you might like…

2011-12-20T16:36:00.001-05:00

This week, KnittingRyanG has brought more giggles to me and S1 than you might expect. Like this:

HEY GIRL. I DON'T THINK YARN BOUGHT WHILE ON VACATION COUNTS AS STASH EITHER. LET'S MAKE A LIST OF PLACES TO VISIT WHILE WE'RE AT YOUR MOM'S

I realize I’m incredibly behind in getting these pop culture references (Inside Higher Ed noticed before I did), but apparently there are a bunch of these (like the library one, Biostatistics Ryan Gosling, Feminist Ryan Gosling, and Medieval History Ryan Gosling). I know some librarians read and I’m going on record that the knitting one is WAY funnier than the library one. If you use Twitter, you might want to follow “him.” I’d love to know who’s writing those tweets.

And now, for a total change in direction, I have a video you might like. In Sheep’s Clothing is from 1932 and the National Library of Scotland has digitized it. It’s a silent film but it has some of those explanatory headers every so often. It shows sheep being herded into an enclosure and getting “rooed” (the wool is plucked off rather than shorn), as well as spinners making yarn and knitting. 10 minutes of enlightening relaxation, at a pace that doesn’t jack you up like a lot of YouTube videos do. I recommend it.

Scrappy socks

2011-12-18T13:00:00.001-05:00

Boy 1’s Crazy Brown Socks – knit entirely from scraps – are done! Boy 1’s feet are creeping up closer and closer to my size. For plain vanilla stockinette socks, I cast on 64 for myself. These are 56. 15 rounds of 2x2 rib at the cuff, then 15 rounds of each crazy scrap divided by 3 rounds of brown. I LOVE how they came out.I used techknitter’s jogless stripes, but they very clearly still jog to my eye. Maybe you just have to tug the yarn tight enough in socks that the technique doesn’t work so well. You can see the jog clearly on the right side of his right foot above. When I do this again, I may move the yarn join to the back/bottom of the sock.

I chose an afterthought heel so as not to disturb the striping pattern down the foot and also because Boy 1 really liked the idea of having solid brown at the cuff, heel, and toe. They look so silly in this view!Boy 1 chose many leftover balls of yarn. I edited his collection a bit to make the colors work better together. (I told myself that this is because he’s red-green color blind, not because I wanted to overly control his socks – ha!) I only removed balls – I did not add, honest! Also, I chose to use 100% superwash merino scraps in the topmost position only (just below the ribbed cuff) where they won’t be subject to heavy wear. I put stronger yarns around the heel and on the foot.

I made them a tad too long in the foot – intentionally. He’s growing quickly and he gets so sad when his socks don’t fit. And he doesn’t seem to mind them being a bit big. Having that extra fabric at the toe would drive me crazy, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

This “feet in the air” post got a big laugh. He is such a willing and cooperative model! And there’s my compost bin – again! I finished these Friday night. Saturday morning he had them on – so we did photos right away. This morning (Sunday) he has them on again. We’ll see what tomorrow holds.

Double finish

2011-12-14T19:18:00.001-05:00

I finished up a couple of projects last week. First up, the Farfalle Socks.I’m pleased with the way these came out and think I’ll have lots of chances to wear them. They are kind of a denim blue. I modified the (free) pattern a bit to improve the fit.

Specifically, I knit the leg over 72 stitches as indicated, but I worked the heel over 34 stitches (not 36) so it wouldn’t be too roomy. I had 38 stitches on the instep needle while I did the heel. After picking up the gusset stitches, I decreased on the sole of the foot until I had 34 there (while keeping 38 on my instep needle). I continued the stitch pattern down the top of the foot. When I was ready to begin the plain stockinette toe, I decreased by 4 stitches in the cable twists. Then I rearranged stitches so I had 32 on each needle, and did my normal toe.

I did this because for me, 64 is the right circumference in stockinette. But 72 worked great in the stitch pattern (since the cable twists pull in the fabric and reduce stretchability).

I’m happy with the resulting socks, though this yarn base is not a favorite. The fiber content is fine (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon) and it is a 4-fly yarn. But the twist is too loose and the yarn splits very easily. This would be terrible yarn for a beginning sock knitter.

…though the dye job is GORGEOUS and this stitch pattern shows it off well.

I also finished the crazy rainbow bright bag for my niece:I think she’ll love it. But me, ever the critic. The pattern called for a size 7 needle, but I went down to a 6 so my gauge wouldn’t be off. That’s fine - but I STILL had to stop at least one inch short of specified length so I wouldn’t run out of yarn.

Projects like this appeal to beginners but are actually quite challenging for them. Holding splitty yarns doubled isn’t easy. Neither the viscose or the Cotton Fleece have any give, which makes the beginning rounds of the body very difficult (you knit the bottom of the bag flat, then pick up stitches around the edge and knit up in the round). The instructions for picking up stitches on the edge of the bottom are confusing; you can’t pick up 27 times between 27 ridges, as there are only 26 “ditches” between the ridges if you have 27 ridges. I would have written this much differently.

But it’s done, and she will love it. It should wing its way to Texas later this week.

I’m nearly finished with Boy 1’s Crazy Brown Socks. I love the scrappy look, but there are a lot of ends to weave in! Soon, I’ll show you a scarf-y thing I started, and return to the Vodka Gimlet.

Crafty Christmas

2011-12-11T14:40:00.001-05:00

A few images from our Crafts, Cookies, and Cocktails party…

Busy hands and creative spirits. A great evening – thanks, ladies!

We come from the Planet Christmas

2011-12-08T20:18:00.001-05:00

Two new aliens have popped up at my house.

Can’t get enough of this pattern!

Christmas is coming…!

2011-12-04T12:54:00.001-05:00

Are you the type of knitter who knits a lot of holiday gifts, or not? I fall somewhere in the middle. I usually knit one or two significant gifts – often far ahead of time – but additionally, I succumb to some last-minute idea for something else handknit.

I’m right on track this year. My big gift is for my mom (she doesn’t read the blog, so you all know about it already): the Pamuya shawl I finished in September:My last-minute gift is something a little less “me.” Here’s a peek: Remember when I went to that yarn shop in the Outer Banks a couple of summers ago? It was full of bright colors and stocked way more cotton than wool, not my aesthetic at all. But I got caught up in that vibe and bought the yarn to make a little bag. The multicolor yarn is made from recycled viscose from Indonesia. It is held double with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (80% cotton, 20% wool). You got the pattern (a shop original) for free if you bought the yarn. I did it. I don’t know what I was thinking… this doesn’t look like a bag I would carry. But you know who it does look like? A 4-year-old girl! So when I ran across this project recently when tidying up, I decided to knit it up for my niece for Christmas. I think she’ll love it.

This is one of those projects that is deceptively simple. The pattern is dead easy – you knit the base of the bag flat in garter stitch, then pick up stitches on 3 sides and begin knitting in the round – but working with these two yarns together is difficult. I can see a beginner knitter being drawn to it and then frustrated by it. But I will push through. I got some done while errand-ing yesterday and during a music concert.I’ve noticed that knitters like to take care with the wrapping of their gifts, also. If you aren’t already aware of the fabulous gift tags designed by Laylock, you should make your acquaintance. She just recently released some free, printable tags shaped like mittens with care instructions already printed – you just circle the appropriate symbol(s). I’ve been using Laylock’s KnitLove tags for years. They are really lovely.

For non-handknit gifts, you might enjoy these retro-look printable gift tags. So many independent designers make things freely available for us to use – it’s a wonderful gift.

What are you knitting for Christmas, Hanukkah, or anything that’s celebrated this month?

Kris starts a sock 4x...

2011-12-01T19:29:00.002-05:00

She starts, but doesn't rip...

Kris starts a sock 4x..., a photo by JLW in PA on Flickr.

Kris brought her Ed sock false starts to Knit Night tonight. 4th time's a charm! Gauge is a tough taskmistress.

Note the lovely handquilted piece on Judy's dining room table. Her home is full of wonderful quilts of all sizes, each one with a story. So beautiful!

Updates

2011-11-30T19:28:00.001-05:00

There’s a progress shot for Vodka Gimlet – that is the slip stitch detail around the waist. Now I have to go in stockinette for a while before doing another bit of detail at the hem, and then knit the turned hem. It’s growing!

In other news, Boy 1’s Crazy Brown Socks are starting to look like something: 15 rounds of sock yarn leftovers separated by 3 rounds of brown. I’m using the “jogless stripe” technique, but it’s a little soon to say if it is notably successful. The heels and toes are also to be solid brown. Just as with Felici socks, I don’t want to interrupt the nice striping pattern, so I’m doing an afterthought heel. The heel will grow out of a little 3-round brown stripe. Right here:I knit on these while listening to Margaret Atwood read from her work last night. What a treat and a thrill. She’s a knitter, you know! She SANG us the Mole Day Children’s Hymn from Year of the Flood at the very end of her reading, and conducted us to sing the last word of the refrain with her. What a wonderful moment. I will remember it always, and there’s a bit of it knitted into these crazy socks for my boy.

I recently tidied one of the rooms in my house where fiber-ific things tend to pile up, and I found a scarf I made from yarn leftover from this baby bunting project way back in 2005. The scarf wasn’t very long, so I didn’t really wear it. I decided to unravel it and repurpose the yarn. Boy, was that a bigger project than I expected. There were a lot more stops and starts in that yarn than I remembered (my ends were woven in so well that I couldn’t see them). Also, I knit with two strands held together (one green, one blue), so the yarns never ended in the same place. After a couple of hours of frustrating picking – during which S1’s help was required to hold the yarn I was rewinding – I had a whole lot of ramen:

Nice tidy little nests of ramen, to be exact! Or, muppet wigs:

I gave them all a nice bath and now I have nice slinky piles of spaghetti:These little skeins aren’t big enough to wind on the ballwinder, so I’ll make little balls by hand. I’m not even sure if the circles will fit on my swift. I may need S1’s hands again.

This is worsted weight superwash merino, so I thought maybe I could get some baby hats out of it or something. We’ll see.

Kris's 3.0 mm = my 2.25 mm

2011-11-29T18:43:00.002-05:00

Kris's 3.0 mm = my 2.25 mm, a photo by JLW in PA on Flickr.

Finally, we achieve sock gauge parity! I hate to ask how many different needles she used and how many times she started.

Okay, I asked. This is her 4th try.

Learning is fun!

(Sorry for lame-ish photo - it was taken with my phone.)

Two balls in

2011-11-27T11:53:00.001-05:00

I spent most of my Thanksgiving holiday knitting selfishly (and happily!) on my Vodka Gimlet. Here’s how it looks after a little more than two balls of yarn:

Yeah, not that impressive when it’s still on the needles and shown on a nine-year-old. But it serves as proof that I’m finally off and running on this project!

I also dusted off the spinning wheel and started making some yarn. This is an alpaca/wool blend I got from The Spinning Loft in Michigan (by mail – but wouldn’t it be great to visit there one day?). I believe it’s this: Louet Eastport Sliver in sea foam green. And for my knitting readers, “sliver” is pronounced with a long “i” – rhymes with MacGyver. I have neglected my wheel for too long and need to address my fiber stash! Last year, S1 got me a gift certificate for this shop, a nice generous one that was enough to buy a rare breeds sampler. But I ended up chickening out and not buying it, because the fiber required carding or combing and I don’t have those tools. Instead, I just bought a range of other things, including some breed-specific prepared fibers. All have been marinating in the fiber basket for far too long. I’m interested in taking Deb Robson’s Rare Wools workshop at MDSW 2012, but I won’t feel worthy unless I spin a fair bit of my stash before then. So, to the wheel!

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival
West Friendship MD
May 3–6, 2012

A two-day workshop on "An In-Depth Look at Rare Wools." On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I’ll also be doing half-day walk-arounds in the barns! (The Sunday one will end in time for the Parade of Breeds, which I don’t want to miss, either!)

Here’s the link to Deb’s teaching schedule if you’re interested.

I’ve worked a bit more on Boy 1’s Crazy Brown Socks, but I’ll share those with you again next week.

I hope everyone had a great holiday. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food? My “musts” include pumpkin pie, that horribly processed green bean casserole (just open cans and heat!), mashed potatoes and gravy, and a dab of cranberry sauce. I like the good sauce, but I also like the canned stuff I was raised on, ridges and all.

Baby Sweater Update

2011-11-21T14:10:00.001-05:00

Remember the his-and-hers baby sweaters I knit last summer? Here is baby girl in her sweater. She is about 3 months old:

I haven’t seen it in person, but this photo makes it look like there is plenty of grow room. Plus, garter stitch is extremely stretchy. The only strange thing is that the sleeves are awfully short. I’ve noticed this with the BSJ before. But as a mother, I have to say that I think that’s fine. Sleeves that are too long can be frustrating for babies, and frankly, she’s probably warm enough swathed in all that wooly goodness!

I wish I could reach through the screen and squeeze those cheeks – don’t you?

Fall Footsies Finally Finished

2011-11-19T19:27:00.001-05:00

Okay, we don’t really call socks “footsies” around here, but I succumbed to the alliteration.

I finished these socks a week ago, but daylight savings time and a few rainy days made photography difficult.

As I’ve said before, I really love these socks – but I hate the way the pattern was written. I may knit another pair for myself, though. The slanting cable is beguiling. Half of the cuffs and 3/4 of the feet are stockinette, so they progress more quickly than you might think.

On sock #1, I knit the toe as the pattern indicated – a standard wedge toe. But it didn’t fit perfectly, so I knit a slightly more rounded toe on sock #2. See the difference? I decided that it was worth it to fix sock #1. So I ripped back thusly …and reknit the thing. I’m glad I did. I’ve found that if I decrease every other round until I have half as many stitches as I began with and then decrease every round until I have 8 or 10 stitches left, my sock toes fit better. (so do S1’s.) But every foot is different!

The last bits of fall are slipping through our fingers here. I can tell that winter is hastening because of the number of handknit socks in the laundry each week. Boy 1 is wearing wool socks every chance he gets (which is precisely 4 times per week, as he has 4 pairs that fit now) and he let me know that he needs more socks. That’s what this is about: I’ll leave you with some shots of a hike the two of us took last weekend. Fall fun!

5th on 5

2011-11-15T19:49:00.001-05:00

I know you’re all waiting with bated breath to find out how my swatching dilemma turned out. Bonny, thanks for suggesting I try a different needle material. That got me unstuck. I made a 5th swatch on a US 5 METAL needle (my first four swatches were on wood) and I did get slightly different results:

Stitches over 4”

	US 4	US 5	US 6	US 7
wood	19.25	*18.5	19	18
metal		19

*troublesome outlier!

I decided to do a DIFFERENT kind of math to see where that would get me. If the recommended gauge of 5 st/in will get me the size I want (38), then what size does my actual gauge of 4.75 st/in get me? Oh cross-multiplication, I love you so: it gets me a size 36.1. The pattern includes a size 36, so I will knit that. At my gauge, I should get a size 38 sweater. (If I’m horribly wrong about this, please correct me now, before I knit the whole sweater.)

Now the question is: should I knit with a US 5 metal needle, or a US 6 wood needle? Here are those two swatches: Note that there isn’t much yarn left over from what was originally a hefty 200-yard skein.

I think I’ll use the US 6 wood needle, as it’ll be easier on my hands.

Now, I just need to wind the other skeins and prepare to cast on. Hopefully this will be a great project to sink into over Thanksgiving break.

You don’t know how close I came to just starting another sock last night instead of knitting yet another swatch… Socks are my comfort knitting!

Perplexed

2011-11-13T19:20:00.001-05:00

For my Vodka Gimlet, my gauge is supposed to be 5 st/in, or 20 st/4”. The pattern recommends a US 7 (4.5mm). I’ve swatched on 4 needles now (US 4-7) and something is decidedly NOT RIGHT. See?

That blue line should be kind of diagonal. Maybe a little curvy… but NOT HILLY. Why am I getting fewer stitches with a US 5 (3.75 mm) than with a US 4 (3.5mm)? That dip at 18.5 makes no sense to me.

I washed all my swatches the same way. I’m at a loss. What should I do now?

Farfalle

2011-11-11T14:17:00.001-05:00

This is my current office knitting project – Farfalle Socks: I can’t remember where I ran across this pattern – somewhere in the Ravelry forums. The poster categorized the pattern as “sleeper hit” or some such equivalent. It’s really very simple – almost all stockinette with a couple of 2x2 left cable twists thrown in every now and then. The twists look like the middle of a piece of farfalle.

I was a little skeptical when the pattern asked me to cast on 72 and in fact prepared to rewrite it with a lower number. But I tried with 72 first anyway. Lo and behold, all those cable twists, small as they are, really make 72 work on a woman’s medium foot. The 1x1 ribbing at the top is a little loose, so I might do that differently next time – but the main sock fabric is perfect. I adjusted the foot so that the bottom needle has 32 stitches (half of 64, my perfect number in stockinette) and the top needle has 36 (half of 72 – since that section still has twists). Seems to have worked well. The yarn is Dye Dreams (no longer in business, sadly) Dream Sox (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon) that I purchased at the 2010 Indie Artist Celebration at Eleganza Yarns in Frederick, MD (also no longer in business). The yarn has 4 plies, but they are not very tightly twisted. I often lose a ply doing the cable twists, but so far I’ve had little trouble getting them back on the needles. Of course, I’m using my pointiest Knit Picks needles.

In other knitting news, I’m coming to the end of the second orange sock. With luck, I’ll finish this weekend. Vodka Gimlet beckons…

Sunday Swatches

2011-11-06T12:18:00.001-05:00

I’ve been swatching for the Vodka Gimlet sweater.I knit both of these during an incredibly dull school board hearing a couple of weeks ago. It was a hearing for a proposal to build a new middle school. Only my knitting stopped me from going to the microphone during Q&A time and asking if any of the 6 or so speakers actually liked their jobs… because their presentations were so lackluster and passionless that I couldn’t imagine they had any interest at all in their various professions. It was bad. But… the swatches are pretty, yes?

The yarn is Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted, a 4-ply with tight twist that is 75% merino, 20% cashmere, and 5% nylon. The colorway is a luscious neutral called “Barely Birch.” The hand is wonderful… and look at the stitch definition up close, won’t you?One of the swatches is knit with a US7/4.5 mm (the one with the orange loop) and one is with a US6/4.0 mm. I’m supposed to get 5 st and 7 rows per inch – but I’m being a good knitter and measuring over 4 inches, so I’m looking for 20 stitches and 28 rows. After washing my swatches:

On a US7, I get 18 stitches and 28 rows in 4”
On a US6, I get 19 stitches and 28 rows in 4”

So yes, I’m working on a third swatch on a US5 (3.75mm) and we’ll see if I get gauge. I might have to go to a US4 (3.5mm). Which wouldn’t surprise me… I’m a loose knitter. I probably should have started swatching on a smaller needle. But who minds swatching with yarn as yummy as Plucky’s?

In other knitting news, I’m chugging through S1’s orange Asymmetrical Cables socks – I’m on the heel flap for sock #2 and I hope to finish them this week. I’m also knitting another office sock you haven’t seen, so I will try to photograph that this week to share.

Hope you’re enjoying the extra hour of knitting time today!

Book review: The Knitter’s Book of Socks

2011-11-04T10:16:00.001-04:00

I posted this review on goodreads and wanted to share it here, as well. Who else has gotten their hands on this book? If you don’t already have it, it’s time to update your holiday wish list!

The Knitter's Book of Socks: The Yarn Lover's Ultimate Guide to Creating Socks That Fit Well, Feel Great, and Last a Lifetime by Clara Parkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a big fan of Clara Parkes - The Knitter's Review, her books, her classes. I was fortunate enough to take her classes at Sock Summits 2009 and 2011, and this book is both a summary and extension of everything she presented there. It is wonderful to have it all together in one place, and in such an attractive place, too! As usual, Potter Craft did a beautiful job on the book design and photography. I have been known to pet this book gently as I pass by it in a room. It's not going on the shelf anytime soon - it's staying on the coffee table, the nightstand, etc.

The first quarter of the book is like a textbook for mastering knowledge about sock yarn. Clara reviews the performance requirements of sock yarn (which differ from yarn for other garments). She goes into detail about the molecular structure of different fibers sometimes used in sock yarn, and takes care to highlight the strengths and drawbacks of each. This is especially useful if you want to spin your own sock yarn. She talks about twist and plies - again, helpful if you're creating your own yarn, but also informative for consumers of commercial sock yarn. You'll find yourself untwisting a bit of yarn in the store to learn how many plies it has before deciding whether to buy! And finally, Clara outlines how the stitches used in socks affect the ultimate performance of the sock. When should you use ribbing? When cables? When lace? How should these be combined for best effect? How can you make your socks fit perfectly? Clara's tips empower knitters to design their own sock patterns or to modify existing patterns for the better.

And that's just the first 25% of the book! Ahead lie the patterns - 20 delicious, tempting patterns that you will not be able to resist. Clara designed one herself (Stepping-Stones) and it is perfect for a new sock knitter (or an experienced knitter who wants a darn fine sock that is simple enough to knit in public). The Stepping-Stones pattern (free!) appeared in some promotional materials over the summer, so some knitters have already posted finished socks in Ravelry. The other 19 patterns are designed by the Sock Celebs - people like Cat Bordhi, Cookie A, Anne Hanson, Nancy Bush, Lucy Neatby, Ann Budd... the list goes on. What a treat to have such a fine collection between two covers.

And the patterns! How many of these do I want to make! Let me tell you about a few of my favorites:

Stepping-Stones. Yes, I'm one of those crazy Sock Summiteers that got the pattern in Portland and cast on right away. This is a rib variation pattern that is fairly simple but looks fantastic. Perfect for women or men. I'll knit this again (and this time, I'll try the extra cushy heel, which I skipped because I got to the heel flap during a meeting at work).

Darjeeling. This Cat Bordhi pattern has an unusual architecture (Cat's hallmark). I can't wait to try putting the arch expansion on the sole. The toe decreases are different, too - but very attractive.

Hickory. This Jane Cochran pattern looks like undulating bark on a tree, gorgeous in its subtlety. I'll knit this in a semi-solid - and soon.

Elm. Another tree pattern, this one from Cookie A. Elm features wide but flat faux cables which should fit wonderfully. The branching movement really makes these socks come alive.

Salted Caramels. Stephen Houghton has designed a super handsome cabled sock that would look great on a man or a woman. This one is knit from Trekking Pro Natura, a yarn I've knit with before and loved. I'll definitely make this sock.

The photographs in this book are just what I want - clear, beautifully styled, and plenty of them shot from different angles. Most of the socks appear to fit exceptionally well (the exceptions are the Neatby and Morgan Oakes designs, which have shorter cuffs that appear to sag around the ankle).

Are you getting the sense that I love this book? It's my ideal knitting book! I predict that Clara's latest contribution will have the staying power of Interweave's Favorite Socks, which has proved to be one of the most popular pattern books of all time. It's that good.

Thank you, Clara! I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

View all my reviews

New sock… Asymmetrical Cables

2011-10-30T19:12:00.001-04:00

This sock has been on the needles for a while, but I haven’t worked on it very faithfully. As I’m coming to the end of sock #1, it’s high time I shared it. From Ann Budd’s Sock Knitting Master Class, this is Cookie A’s Asymmetrical Cables: I’m very pleased with the way these are coming out. The cable is attractive in a DNA helix sort of way, and it travels diagonally over half of the 8 repeats. The motif going down the back of the sock just goes straight down and stops at the heel flap, but the front one twists and continues down the foot.I love this Cascade Heritage yarn (which I’ve worked with before), and this shade of orange (called “cinnamon”) is 100% seasonal and delightful.However, I’m not happy with how the pattern is written. I’ve never encountered such a needlessly wordy Cookie A pattern before, which makes me wonder if this is the result of a very unusual tech editing style sheet more than Cookie herself. The pattern spells out EVERYTHING in words and full sentences, which means there is ample opportunity to miss something important amongst the less critical stuff. The way the cable panel instructions are written is particularly irksome. The cable panel is a 16-round repeat. I understand that editors want to save space by formatting like this:

Rnds 6, 8, 10, and 12: blah blah blah
Rnds 7, 9, and 11: blah blah blah

But when it says

Rnd 14: Rep Rnd 4

…I just go crazy. It wouldn’t take any more space to write out the instructions for round 4, yet that isn’t done.

But the cardinal sin, in my opinion, is that this 16-round repeat is not charted. The pattern would have taken up less space to print and been far more clear with a visual. I understand that some knitters are chart-phobic and prefer the written instructions… but in a case like this, I think the editor should err on the side of including both approaches (which is, I believe, the current norm in knitting patterns).

In addition, the travel rounds would have been so much more clearly communicated by saying “perform travel round on rounds 1, 5, 9, and 13 6 more times.”

All in all, I’m going to be very happy with these socks. But I would NEVER give this pattern to a newish sock knitter. It’s a shame that the editing went in the direction that it did, as it might scare away a subset of sock knitters – particularly ones that are using the book as a self-directed master class (this pattern is the first one in the book).

I took a quick look at Ravelry to see if others were encountering this. Only one other person mentioned it prominently in the project description. I wonder if it’s a problem for others, as well?

I suppose that I could be the exception with this pattern. Perhaps it hits most other knitters just fine. But I’ve knit a LOT of socks, written a lot of different ways, and this one is a big huge outlier.

I’m curious to look more carefully at the rest of the book to see if other patterns are presented similarly.

Maple Leaf Do Rag

2011-10-25T20:37:00.001-04:00

The leaves are turning here. Some have already turned orange and fallen off, but the maple trees near my house are slower to change. They can be green and yellow and orange all at once.This weekend, I made a very seasonal hat for S1. The yarn is Harrisville Designs New England Highland in color “High Gold.” It’s a woolen-spun 2-ply yarn a lot like Shelter.

The pattern is Melissa LaBarre’s November Leaves, which calls for Shelter, so I knew this substitution would work well (both yarns are spun at the same mill in New Hampshire). I got a different gauge (her pattern calls for 5 st/in and I got 4 st/in), so I had to modify the numbers – but my mods worked perfectly. I made the “beret” version, but it’s worn as a slouchy hat……or kind of a do rag, to keep one’s hair under control on a windy day! With apologies to Scott Joplin, I’m calling this one the Maple Leaf Do Rag.

In other knitting news, I was the very lucky recipient of a pair of Steven’s Woodland Winter Mittens – the October version. Look how pretty!

These will be so cozy when the temperature dips lower. I can actually wear them in my climate! They fit great, and I love them. Thanks, Steven!!!

FO: Different Lines

2011-10-20T11:29:00.001-04:00

I finally bound off Different Lines at knitting group last night – and I wore it to work today. This is exactly the right time of year to have a little knitted goodness wrapped up around the neck.

This shawl is a bit tricky to wear, however. The shape isn’t quite triangular – see? Fortunately, this sock yarn knit on US 5 needles in garter stitch is very stretchy and drapey, so you can pull it out of shape a little bit.

I love the modern, asymmetrical look – but human bodies are symmetrical, so keeping this thing on takes a bit of doing. Still, I adore these colors and I’m really pleased with the final result. Knitting it was mindless fun, too.In other news, my Vodka Gimlet yarn arrived this week. I need to photograph it so I can share.

Manhattan, New York

2011-10-17T19:21:00.001-04:00

During the entire course of my lifetime, my Aunt Georgia lived in Manhattan, Kansas. Everyone knew that’s what you meant when you said “Manhattan” (not New York), and everyone knew that’s what you meant when you said “the little apple” (not that you were a doofus who really meant “the big apple”). This weekend, I made a Manhattan AND a New York: These knit up super fast in Knit Picks Swish DK on size 4 needles. The red is color “garnet heather,” the green is “moss,” and the brown is “bark.” Using the classic Ann Norling Pattern #10 (Kid’s Fruit Cap), the little apple was knit with the 6 month instructions (CO 72) and the big apple was knit with the 1 year instructions (CO 80). You would expect them to come out smaller than their intended sizes, as the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn… but I think they are plenty big. Boy 2 (small for his age, but still) is modeling the Manhattan here: Quick gift project for some apple-y people expecting babies. I really do like the heathered yarns from Knit Picks.

New stripey socks

2011-10-14T16:18:00.001-04:00

These socks have been on the needles FOREVER… but I don’t think I’ve flashed them at the blog. I cast on way back in July, before Sock Summit. I don’t remember why. We were going someplace and I needed dead easy knitting. Finally, finished! These are for Boy 1, who has been outgrowing some of his handknit socks and “needed” more. The yarn is Knit Picks Felici (of course) in color “Abracadabra,” which he selected. They are knit top down with an afterthought heel.

I had a little trouble with the second ball of yarn. It was wound in the opposite direction as the first ball, so I had to rewind it on my ballwinder (since Boy 1 said he wanted these socks to match). Then I hit a weird spot near the toe of the front sock – you can see it if you look. The dying went off. I also found a knot in that ball when I rewound the leftovers into tiny balls. Oh well, every now and then you get a weird ball.I made these a teensy bit generous in the toe so that they would fit a bit longer. One thing I’ve learned as a mother: boys grow.

I’m nearing the end of my Different Lines shawl, so expect a completed project photo soon!

Different lines, different shape

2011-10-06T09:47:00.001-04:00

Isn’t the shape of this WIP intriguing? This pattern is brilliantly simple. I cast on at the top of the photo, at the blue tip. I’ve been increasing one stitch every 2 rows down the right side of this. Since it’s garter stitch, that gives me a neat 45 degree angle. But the short rows cause the whole thing to curve. Notice how the green stripes aren’t “rows” so much as “wedges.” At the short end of the wedges, each stripe is one garter ridge wide – the stripes are equal. See?But because the fabric keeps increasing, the wedges must grow wider to get to the other end:I have 3 more green wedges to go, and then the whole thing will be capped off with a nice, deep, blue edge.

Ingenious. I just love this pattern. Different Lines by Veera Välimäki. Just another great way to use sock yarn.

Good Golly

2011-09-30T16:35:00.001-04:00

Miss Molly! My yarn tease of autumnal hat yarns resulted in this Molly hat: As you can see, this hat is big enough to hold ALL S1’s hair, which is, shall we say… voluminous.

Since there are many patterns named Molly, I want to point out that this is the one by Erin Ruth. It is just the perfect thing for fall. I knit mine out of Shelter, which is a slightly crunchy woolen-spun 2-ply yarn. This means the hat is extremely lightweight for its size (which is good, since it’s big) and feels sturdy and durable. I knit the ribbing on the brim on US 3 needles (ouch!) but moved up to a 6 for the rest.

Most of the hat is in a waffle-y stitch, which provides a wonderful texture. The star, of course, is the giant cable running up one side. The cable cleverly grows smaller as the crown decreases.This hat would be equally lovely knit in a super soft and drapey yarn, but I’m also happy with this earthier version.

Although the overall shape makes us both think of Fat Albert’s buddy Dumb Donald’s hat (minus the eyeholes), I think we’re both quite happy with the result.

A brush with fame

2011-09-29T14:57:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone,

Gettysburg/Musselman alum and fellow librarian Anne Kennedy just got a shoutout from Knitty.com!

From this post:

Socks for Soldiers: Anne Kennedy, Reference Librarian at Licking County Library, Newark, OH gives us a glimpse into history. She writes about the initiatives to knit socks for soldiers during the US Civil War. Bonus: she includes a pattern for socks as printed in Scientific American magazine in 1861. Really!

Nice article, Anne! And I can say “I knew you when…”

Casting on...

2011-09-28T20:16:00.002-04:00

Casting on..., a photo by JLW in PA on Flickr.

Came down with a bit of startitis last night. I LOVE this yarn so much! Care to guess what I've begun?

Pamuya!

2011-09-26T20:11:00.001-04:00

Guess what is finally done?

The Pamuya shawl I made my mom for Christmas this year is off the needles and blocked! With Nathalie’s help, I finally got some decent shots of it. Look how stylishly my French friend models a shawl: I hardly know what to do with a shawl, but she instantly looks elegant, even in a Sunday tee and shorts.

I ran out of yarn and had to leave the last two rows off. Can you tell? The scalloped edge is the bindoff:I used the same stretchy bindoff specified in the Sugared Violets shawl (*K2tog tbl, slip st back to left needle*), which seems to eat up some extra yarn but is worth it. I used every last inch of two balls of Brooks Farm Solo Silk. I ran out with about 20 stitches left to bind off. Luckily, the tail where I changed balls was rather long, so I scavenged from it.The whole thing is 6 feet long on the long side, and 45” long on each of the scallopy edges. It took me a couple of months to finish, but that was with Sock Summit and some other projects along the way. This is a very nice pattern. I highly recommend it. I’ll put this in the Christmas pile…(making sure to hide it from Nathalie, who rather liked it)

One Sock for Ed

2011-09-24T19:57:00.001-04:00

I haven’t posted in a while, but I have been knitting – honest! One of my biggest challenges is photography. We’ve had some funky weather here lately with loads of rain – complete with flash flooding and other fun things. I came home at lunch on Friday to find the ceiling leaking on two floors PLUS water pouring into the basement through the walls. Our ground is completely saturated. Today was dry, so I tried to photo this sock for Ed.

I used the Stepping Stones pattern from Clara Parkes’ forthcoming The Knitter’s Book of Socks. The pattern is written for worsted weight yarn, so I converted it. Believe it or not, this is the first sock I’ve ever knit for a man. I may have gone a bit overboard. The leg is 8.5” long from the top of the heel flap to the cuff edge. I knit the top of the leg on a 2.25 mm needle so it would be stretchier, then moved down to my usual 2.0 mm needle.

Notice how the stitch pattern changes slightly on the top of the foot. I guess this is to make it comfier inside a shoe.

The yarn is Plucky Knitter’s Primo Fingering, a luscious 4-ply blend of 75/20/5% merino/cashmere/nylon with a very tight twist. The color is called M.A.S.H. Tent, and it is a wonderful brownish grey. The subtle handpainted variations in color kept me entertained, but overall, this is a brown sock. The true color is like the picture against the white background (my front door).

I did a test fitting on Dan last weekend (that’s what you get when you come to brunch with a knitter). Dan’s foot is 1/8” shorter than Ed’s, so I could do my toe decrease calculations perfectly on him. But I digress. The moment the sock came out of the bag, Dan said “oooooo, that is a nice sock!” I consider that man-approval. (And you know, complimenting my socks will end up getting some knit for you sooner or later, so it was a good move on Dan’s part.)

I have 41 grams of yarn remaining from the 101 gram skein, so I used about 60 grams. Kris was right to insist we buy two. But I have a good bit left for some other project down the road.

Now, the only problem/challenge is getting the second sock – knit by Kris – to match the first one. At least a little. Ah, gauge.

Possibilities

2011-09-19T19:19:00.001-04:00

It’s high apple season here in south central Pennsylvania. There’s a chill in the air most mornings. The leaves are beginning to turn. And it’s time to knit some fall hats.

The yellow: New England Highland, color “gold,” 100% wool, 2-ply, 100 g, 200 yards.

The red: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, color “long johns,” 100% wool, 2-ply woolen spun, 100 g (total), 280 yards (2 balls combined).

There are 12 slouchy hats in my Ravelry favorites. Which one will be first?

Sunday is for blocking

2011-09-18T10:26:00.001-04:00

Sunday is for blocking, a photo by JLW in PA on Flickr.

Pamuya is off the needles and relaxing in Soak this morning.

KDO 2011

2011-09-11T15:57:00.001-04:00

We knitters had a fabulous time at Knitters’ Day Out again this year! First, a shot of all the hats… it always impresses me to see them together like this: Here are the ones knitters submitted for judging: There were some really interesting ones there, like this rasta-style hat: Here’s Judy’s sweet little baby hat: And I really liked this Minion hat, as well (so does Boy 2, so this may be in my near future): Now, on to my class report. Judy and I took Strick-ly Socks from Candace Eisner Strick, and we had the best time. If you have a chance to take a class from Candace, jump on it. She is an excellent teacher. She planned our time well, paced the class just right, displayed perfect classroom management skills, and best of all – she was funny. We laughed a LOT during class, which created an ideal environment for learning. This was good, since we packed a lot into 6 hours.

We learned a new cast-on: the Channel Islands cast-on (provisional). This was counterintuitive for many of us, so we spent time practicing the hand setup – time well spent. We also learned a new bind-off: the tubular bind-off. We learned Candace’s way of starting a sock with the toe, but not with the tip of the toe – instead, we started at the top of the sock just before the toe decreases begin. We worked flat to the toe tip, then turned the picked up stitches while increasing to create the toe “cup.” Then the foot is worked in the round as normal, and the heel is created just like the toe. Here is the top of my toe cup (it’s huge because I used worsted weight yarn):And here is the bottom of my toe cup. It looks different than the top because it doesn’t have those strong decrease lines: Here’s how it looks along the picked up edge:

The resulting sock structure is not that different from how I make my standard Felici stockinette sock with afterthought heel, but the way it’s accomplished is different. We also learned how to create a small gusset to accommodate large ankles or a leg stitch pattern that pulls in some – that will be extremely useful! Look how intensely Judy is concentrating – you can SEE the learning happening: Candace brought samples from her new book and scattered them around the room for our reference. This was really helpful. I immediately recognized this sock, which was the Spring 2011 issue of Knitcircus earlier this year: I love those slanting ribs and plan to make the sock. Note the cuff edge at the bottom of the photo – see how the 1x1 rib just sort of disappears into thin air? That is the result of the tubular bind-off, which was really cool. here is my sample with tubular BO (the color change is just because I ran out of grey yarn): This is achieved through a Kitchener-like maneuver that is fun to do. Candace sat on the floor and had us huddle around to learn it:One sock that really impressed me is this completely reversible cable sock. Here is one side: Then I turned it inside out and put it back on the blocker – here is the other side:Like a magic trick, isn’t it?

We had fun eating lunch with our KDO group of friends, which included me and Judy, Kris, Julie and her sister Allison (who always comes down from Brooklyn for this event), Judy’s two quilter buddies, Kris’s knitting buddy from church (Hi, Pru!), and Connie who I met at that Anne Hanson class in Frederick a couple years ago. I didn’t manage to take any pictures, though – of the wonderful company, their class projects, OR the marketplace (my BAD!). The market was bustling and full of interesting things, as usual, but somehow I kept my wallet in my pocket this year. I think this is partly because I’m still shocked at how much good loot I amassed at Sock Summit, and partly because I had a yucky cold that left me not much in a shopping mood.

We had a great day and I am super pleased with my class choice this time. If I see Candace teaching anything in the future, I won’t hesitate to take it. She gets 5 stars from me in the teaching department (and you KNOW I’m tough with my teaching stars).

Now if Lorilee Beltman and Candace Eisner Strick ever co-taught something, I think I’d just die.

FO: Weekend Hat

2011-09-06T08:08:00.001-04:00

I finished the patent stitch hat in a weekend! Cast on Friday evening, finished Sunday evening: As usual, I overbought yarn. I purchased 2 balls (110 yards/50 g each) of each color, but used less than one. I have 19 grams remaining of the grey yarn and only 8 of the purple. I’m not sure why… So if you want to make this hat, it is a 100 gram project (50 grams of each color in worsted weight).

The way the decreases come together at the top never ceases to amuse me: I knit a good 8.5” before beginning the decreases, partly because the crown of the hat isn’t very big, but also to give the recipient lots of flexibility in how much to cuff the hat. This is Boy 1 modeling the hat (he has a BIG head but still, he is a boy). That hat was meant for a kid but would also fit an adult. I find there’s not THAT much difference between child and adult heads. Babies, yes, but not children. And now… it’s time to get ready for the bus stop. Have a great day!

Hats off to KDO

2011-09-03T16:02:00.001-04:00

Wow, it’s already September! That means Knitters’ Day Out is almost here again. One week from today, I’ll be taking a class from Candace Eisner Strick called Strick-ly socks. Here’s the description:

Learn Candace’s revolutionary and simple new method. The toes and heels are worked flat, yet there are no seams. Sounds impossible? Yes, but so easy you will be amazed. Beginners and sock-veterans alike will be enthralled. And you can convert any existing sock pattern to this simple method. Once you have learned the incredible Strick-ly Socks toe, go one step further to customize your sock with an array of gusset and heel options to fit any foot ever invented! End your sock with wonderful stretchy bind off for K1, P1 rib, even if you like to use k2, p2 rib.

Supplies: Light colored SMOOTH wool yarn of dk weight or heavier and appropriately sized set of 4 double pointed needles. (Note: If you know how to do 2 circulars, or 40” circular for magic loop you may use this method, but it will not be taught in class), a few yards of smooth cotton yarn

Homework: With light colored, smooth wool yarn of dk weight or heavier, cast on 30 sts and work in K2, P2 ribbing for about 1 inch. NOTE: this homework is worked flat. Leave sts on needles with the yarn attached.

As usual, the KDO registration fee includes bringing a handknit hat to donate to Caps for Kids. There is always a contest for best hat, which I’ve never entered. But last year, they started a new category: best hat made using a technique learned in a KDO class. I decided to dust off my Estonian patent stitch technique, which I learned from Merike Saarniit at KDO 2009. So I’ve started this:I didn’t have anything in stash that was quite right for this (mostly because my worsted weight yarn isn’t superwash, and I hold that charity hats should be machine washable), so I acquired (thanks, Kris!) some Knit Picks Swish in colors Squirrel Heather and Lava Heather. I’m in love with these colors. This patent stitch technique makes a double thick fabric that is super squishy and totally reversible. Mmmmmm….

Hope you’re getting some extra knitting time in this weekend. (It doesn’t happen to be a long weekend for those of us who work in the private higher ed sector, but I’m being greedy and taking more than my usual knitting time today – I just started this hat last night!)

New sock

2011-08-27T19:53:00.001-04:00

Next project: a sock for Ed, Kris’s and my Portland host. We are each knitting one sock of the pair. As you can see, this is a quite plain but manly sock in a very neutral color called “MASH Tent.” The yarn is Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering (75/20/5 merino/cashmere/nylon) with 4 plies and a very tight twist. It is round and bouncy and lovely to work with.

We’re knitting the Stepping Stones Socks from Clara Parkes’ forthcoming The Knitter’s Book of Socks – I got the pattern in a promotional thingie at Sock Summit. It’s wonderfully simple. After a 1x1 rib cuff, the stitch pattern alternates between one row of k1p1 and another row of k3p3. You know I’m a sucker for rib variations.This photo is terrible (thank you, convention center lighting) but stands as proof that I actually have a pattern:

You know, after all the dozens of pairs of socks I’ve knit, this is the first time I’ve knit a man-sized sock. It is BIG. Because the stitch pattern repeats over 6 stitches, I wanted something that divided nicely into it. We went with a 72-stitch cast-on. And to make sure it’s roomy and stretchy enough at the top, I’m knitting on 2.25mm needles now. I’ll transition to 2.0 mm at some point soon.

I also continue to work on Mom’s Pamuya shawl, but unless I move it onto waste yarn or a really long cable, you will not benefit from a new photo – so there is none today. It gets 4 stitches bigger every other row, which means it gets slower and slower to knit. Or at least, it seems so.

Kris, have you started the sock yet? Bug me to send you the details so we can matchy matchy!

Phew!

2011-08-24T19:07:00.001-04:00

It’s been a while since I posted and even longer since I had some actual knitting to show for it. It’s the crazy time of year for us who work on college campuses – and kid schedules are completely wacko as summer day camps have ended but school has not yet begun (who is in charge of this stuff, anyway?!?). But I finally finished this pair of Amelie socks. These socks are well-traveled. I started them before going to Sock Summit and finished the first one on the plane back. It’s taken me weeks to finish the second.

I toyed with mods. On some pattern repeats, I knit the stitches to either side of the lacy dropped stitch area through the back loop, to neaten things up. Can you tell? The top repeat in the photo below has those twisted stitches, and the bottom one does not. It’s neater in some ways, but doesn’t affect the overall look that much. Plus, it’s way slower. If I knit this again, I wouldn’t repeat that. I thought my lacy panels were much wider than the ones shown in the pattern photo:

The version that Kris is knitting (using Cascade Heritage) is more like the pattern photo than my sock. I’ll take a picture and show you that another time. I guess my 100% superwash BFL sock yarn is extra sproingy or something. I don’t really have a satisfactory explanation for the difference. Another modification: I stopped doing the dropped stitches partway down the top of the foot. I figure that even if I wear Mary Janes, it won’t show – and the plain ribbing will be much more durable than those ladders. All in all, a pretty pair of socks. I don’t normally do lace, so this was a big change for me.

Vodka Gimlet?

2011-08-18T11:18:00.001-04:00

Oh, boy. We now have a serious frontrunner for “Sweater Janelle Will Actually Knit This Winter” – the Vodka Gimlet (Rav link). I totally stole that photo from the designer’s blog and you should go read all about it and peruse the other photos.

I spied this on The Plucky Knitter blog – she will offer a kit with her Primo Worsted yarn and the pattern. I don’t know all the details. Like.. does the kit only come with the yarn color shown (which is “Barely Birch” and completely lovely) or does one get to choose a colorway (which could take me weeks)?

When I apply what I learned last year from Amy Herzog’s Fit to Flatter course, I think this would be a flattering design on me. There are some beautiful details, but it also looks like it won’t require 100% of my knitting brainpower (like some all-over cabled sweaters do). This seems very knittable.

I should do a little homework tonight and figure out what size I would knit… just in case I fall for this when it goes on sale tomorrow morning.

[…like I don’t have enough in my knitting queue already. A zillion socks I must knit, plus a hat for Knitters’ Day Out and two slouchy fun fall/winter hats for S1, plus finishing my mom’s Pamuya for Christmas and making a Different Lines shawl for myself…]

Thoughts?

Mea culpa

2011-08-13T12:17:00.001-04:00

I fear the yarn fumes got to me a bit at the Sock Summit marketplace and I’m a little surprised at how much stuff I bought. I’ve been putting off this post partly because the past two weeks have been incredibly busy, but also because I feel slightly embarrassed by this bounty. So, please join me in the confessional booth.

Let’s just do it, shall we? Here is what I got. First, two really cute project bags. First, this one from Dancing Sheep: You know how those blue and green combos draw me – and the flash of orange was irresistible. I think this was my very first purchase when the market opened to students Thursday night. Much later, I spied this one: I have been eyeing this sock monkey fabric for years, just waiting until the right bag made from it came along. The bag is made by good to be girl but I bought it at The Plucky Knitter booth.

Since we’re already on the topic of Plucky, let’s look at the yarn I bought there. I was entranced by this booth – the yarn was all dyed in rich shades of semi-solids, and there were a LOT of neutrals. I ended up getting 4 skeins of Primo Fingering, which is 75% merino, 20% cashmere, and 5% nylon. I really hope that 5% holds up its end of the deal. It is a 4-ply with a tight, springy twist, so I’m hopeful. I got these colors (the green is Wonder Years and the blue is 2Cool4School) to make the now ubiquitous Different Lines shawl. Later, I went back to get yarn for Kris and me to make a pair of socks for Ed, our Portland host during Sock Summit. Because he has big man feet, I got two skeins – just to be safe. This is a neutral called M.A.S.H. Tent which somehow contains hues of green, brown, and grey all at the same time. (Steven: breathe into a paper bag if you need to.) Next, here is Sincere Sheep’s Cushy Fine yarn – 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon (this is a common base and while the cashmere is nice, it’s really the nylon I’m after). The color is “Winter’s Night” and it is dyed with natural dyes – it is a moody blue-grey. There is a generous 490 yards in this skein. 3 plies, medium twist: Next, let’s visit Huckleberry Knits. I was completely overcome by the rich shades of this yarn – and I was eager to try the 80% Blue-Faced Leicester/20% nylon base which she calls “Willow.” I couldn’t decide what to get so I ended up with FOUR skeins (in my own defense, I was also having a “hungry emergency” while in this booth): From the left, the color names are absinthe, browncoat (a reddish-brown), eucalyptus (it’s green – so hard to photograph), and creme brulee. Willow is a 3-ply with medium-high twist.

I got this skein of Lucia yarn from Dirty Water Dyeworks – it’s 75% superwash merino/25% nylon and the color name is “Pixie” – this is a 4-ply light fingering that is fairly twisty. It is also very green and a little more variegated than any other yarn I bought:While we’re doing the green yarn, this is watercolors sock yarn from Periwinkle Sheep. The color is “juniper” and it’s also 75% superwash merino/25% nylon. Like Lucia above, it has 4 plies and is fairly twisty. I’ll bet these two skeins were dyed on the same base yarn. You really can’t tell from the photo but I swear, this is green!

I picked a lot of sedate yarns. This Anzula yarn is called Squishy and it’s 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon in a 3-ply. The yarn base sounds like that used by Sincere Sheep in Cushy Fine, but it feels a lot softer. I’m guessing that’s the difference between superwash merino and regular merino. The color is unnamed so I’ll just call it “brown”: Now, on to my WEBS purchases. I wanted to try this new Lorna’s Laces sock yarn called Solemate – it’s 55% superwash merino, 15% nylon, and 30% Outlast. Outlast is a human-made fiber designed to regulate body temperature (used by NASA originally, I think?). The yarn is a 3-ply light fingering with decent twist. I got the colorway “Grand Street Ink,” which also has the Brooklyn Tweed logo stamped on it. It is a moody purplish-grey: Also at the WEBS booth, I picked up two 50-gram skeins of their own Valley Yarns Huntington, which is a standard 4-ply 75% fine superwash merino/25% nylon with a medium twist. The color is “mustand” but in my mind, it’s “school bus.” This yarn is definitely destined for S1’s feet! And here is the only non-sock yarn I bought at the Summit – 8 ounces (665 yards) of a 3-ply DK weight 100% superfine alpaca in a heathery purple color: I plan to make some kind of infinity scarf out of this – for me. It will be sooooo snuggly warm in the wintertime. I got this at the Village Spinning & Weaving Shop booth.

I also got a pattern for the Achillea Socks by Kirsten Kapur. A booth sample seduced me.

That’s it, folks. I feel like I’ve just finished a huge Thanksgiving meal and I won’t want to eat again for days. I’m going to try to not buy any new yarn for quite a while. There are so many socks I’d like to make in a couple of books and this stash should keep me busy for quite some time. I’ll tell you about those in a future post, though.

Signing off! I feel so much better now that I’ve told you about this. And I’m not even Catholic. :)

Alien takeover

2011-08-07T09:19:00.001-04:00

Okay, maybe “takeover” is a strong word… but I did whip up another mini-alien / impalien for Joanna: It’s nestling in a hops vine that goes crazy out of control over part of our back fence/gate. The vine came with the house. Apparently birds like the berry thingies in the winter (the previous owner was a far better gardener than I!).

I’ve also been working on the Pamuya shawl for my mom. This is probably a Christmas present – I’ll want to whip up something smaller for her September (yikes) birthday. I know what you’re thinking, but she’s not really the alien type. :) The colors are washed out a bit here but I’ll get more accurate pictures when it’s off the needles.

…and in other knitting news – as in Other People’s Knitting News – my friend Nathalie has made her third hat! She learned to knit as a child and still had that knit/purl muscle memory, and declared a desire to knit a slouchy hat last winter. We trekked to The Mannings and found a fun yarn, as well as a slightly cheesy looking (but very serviceable) booklet of patterns called Celebrity Slouchy Beanies for the Family (Leisure Arts #75358). She made a very plain hat from her multi/mottled yarn and wore it all winter, and then she made a smaller men’s beanie cap out of the leftovers. Before going on a long trip overseas this summer, she professed a desire to make a cabled hat – but ran out of time to return to Mannings. So she shopped in my stash. The only worsted weight yarn I KNEW I had enough yardage of for a slouchy cabled hat was left over from my Must Have Cardi, a heathered colorway called Lake Ice. She sent photos from France (the hat hasn’t returned stateside yet) and look how great the hat came out! And here’s the best part: next, she wants to learn socks. Be still my heart. I bought a skein of sock yarn at the Summit with her in mind – and promised to knit her a pair myself to spur her on. Stay tuned for future chapters of Nathalie’s Knitting Story.

I know I still haven’t flashed my SS Stash, but the weather hasn’t been conducive to photography (as witnessed by those lamish photos I took this morning). I’m happy to report that it rained a lot yesterday, which we sorely needed. I’ll keep waiting for the photography window.

Impaliens, Phone Sox, and a Good Sign

2011-08-04T18:57:00.001-04:00

I have been meaning to knit these adorable mini aliens for a while… and when S1’s birthday loomed, I decided it was time. Aren’t they cute? I’m calling them “impaliens” because I had to impale them on spare dpns to pose the photo (they don’t stand up on their own). I’m sure you can think of a ruder name, but let’s stick with “impaliens” for now, eh?

Here they are walking in a line (the pink one is losing focus):

And here they are at band practice – Blue is Lead Singer and the others are the backup singers:

These were so quick and fun to knit. I used scraps from my worsted weight feltable wool stash, and I ordered the safety eyes (7.5 mm) from 6060.etsy.com. They are super easy to use and come in a variety of colors and sizes. The pattern gives directions for knitting these either flat or in the round – I chose to knit flat, which I think made it easier to apply the eyes and mouth.

S1 also wanted a phone sock of her own, and she liked the honeycomb pattern from Boy 1’s Socks-to-be-Electrified, so I whipped this up: It is just enough to keep a phone from getting banged up when it’s inside a larger bag. I used Knit Picks Stroll Tonal left over from these socks.Those small items were secret knitting, unveiled on the day I returned from Sock Summit. I couldn’t put them on the blog or Flickr or the secret would be out.

So that covers the impaliens and the phone sock. Now for the Good Sign. Yesterday we got news that the boys’ favorite babysitter has mono plus a bacterial infection and more. She’s really sick. She’s supposed to leave for a year abroad in Turkey in 2-3 weeks. And if she looks as sick as she is now, they won’t let her on the airplane. So we want her to get well fast. Boy 2 made her this card (symmetry is very important right now):Note that he includes some temporary tattoos – just what every sick teenage girl wants! But the inside is the best part – read this: “We’ll make something out of yarn.” It’s not a good sign that Joanna is sick, but I’m taking it as a very good sign that Boy 2 thinks making her something out of yarn will help her get better.

So… we are going to make another impalien tonight.

One Sock, No Scarf

2011-08-02T19:44:00.001-04:00

This was a little surprising to me, but I didn’t have much time to knit while I was in Portland – either in the tourist-y part of the trip or while at Sock Summit. The bulk of my knitting was completed on the plane.

On the way home yesterday, I finished the first sock of the pair I started just before I left:I think it will look a little nicer after blocking. The dropped stitch sections (the part with ladders) are a little sloppy, but I expect the yarn to settle down a bit after a bath. Then again, this 100% superwash BFL is quite lively and springy as it is. Maybe the floats WON’T settle down. We shall see.

I decided to discontinue the dropped stitch pattern partway down the instep because those sections are going to be weaker than anyplace else. I figure there’s no reason to subject them to the friction of a shoe. I kept going long enough that you’ll be able to see the pattern through a Mary Jane strap, but not all the way to the toe decrease.

Also on this trip, I learned that I really don’t care for knitting laceweight yarn. I spent the longest time getting through one repeat of this lace pattern, and I just don’t like it! There’s nothing wrong with the pattern and the scarf will be lovely (the yarn is 100% cashmere), but I don’t like knitting it. Does anyone else want to finish it? I’ll give you the yarn if you take this project off my hands! I think I would happily knit the pattern on heavier yarn, but not this thin stuff. Look how thick it is next to my lifeline (which is dental floss). It’s super thin.

I know I still need to show you the goodies I got at the Sock Summit marketplace… but I haven’t photographed them yet. This is just a quick update. Oh, I have to show you the birthday aliens, too!

Sock Summit Day 4

2011-07-31T22:50:00.001-04:00

Today started with electronics – my Twinkle Toes class. Syne Mitchell had lots of fun electronically-enhanced textiles on display at the front of the class. I know I should have video of these, but I just don’t. There are limits to what me and my little netbook can do with limited internet access. Here is the bag she designed for knitty.com: And here is another blinky hat: We got our electronics kits and tested our components. All of mine worked right at the beginning, which was good. Eventually we started sewing things onto our handknits with conductive thread. I managed to sew in the “sparkle” component (which is the one shaped like a flower) as well as my four LED sequins (the smaller pieces you’ll see below) just before the end of the 3-hour class. I started connecting my circuit by duplicate stitching conductive thread between the sparkle and the LED lights, but I didn’t have time to finish.After I do that, I’ll connect the battery holder to the sparkle piece (also using conductive thread) and hope everything lights up. I’m a little worried that I don’t know how to do the duplicate stitch well enough and that my circuit will break the first time Boy 1 puts the socks on. The thread isn’t stretchy at all, which is why we compensate for that by using duplicate stitch (which waves around the way the yarn does in knitted fabric, with extra room for give). But we shall see…

I popped into the marketplace for a couple of minutes to check out the Fleece to Foot competition. The teams started at 9 and were still hard at work at noon – I saw some people knitting, but others on the team were still spinning and even flick carding:

There was this really cool wheel in one of the team’s work areas. I don’t know the story, but I like how colorful it is!

I jumped on a train and Kris and I had Japanese food for lunch. Then, a quick train ride back to the OCC, and I finished out my Sock Summit experience with Clara Parkes’ class, “A Bag of Tricks for Stretch and Strength.” We spent the first part of class looking at raw fiber and talking about the qualities of wool, alpaca, silk, cotton, cashmere, and nylon. Handknit socks require strength, elasticity, and moisture management, so we talked about those properties in each of those fibers. We covered some of this information in Clara’s class in 2009, but it was a wonderful recap (with some new detail). Then we talked about specific sock patterns that make the most of a particular yarn’s qualities. The patterns are all in Clara’s new book, which will appear this October. She had a single galley proof with her in class, and we all eyed it greedily: There are so many great socks in this book – we looked at the samples in class. I want to knit a bunch of them! Here is the sample sock for the pattern that is shared in the promotional brochure for the book (that I got yesterday):I think this pattern is a contender for Ed’s socks! Kris, what do you think?

Clara also took a look at my Hedgerow Socks, the ones that blew holes in both heels on the same day. Do you remember those? The yarn was Green Mountain Spinnery Sock Art, a mix of wool and mohair. Clara was mortified when she saw the socks (which, remember, had been worn less than half a dozen times). She picked apart the fluff at the frayed parts and noted that the wool staples were extremely short, which they shouldn’t be. It almost looked like the wool had dissolved, leaving only mohair behind to hold the sock together. Mohair isn’t strong enough to do that on its own, which is why the holes appeared. I had some of the leftover yarn with me, too, so we looked at that. The twist was tight enough. The 2-ply structure of the yarn was a concern of hers, but mostly, she diagnosed a fiber preparation problem. She thinks that perhaps the fiber wasn’t blended well enough at the mill before spinning, so the wool and mohair separated and broke. Or, perhaps something was wrong with the wool (the staple was too short, breaks appeared easily due to stressful growing conditions for the sheep, who knows?). She was concerned enough that she suggested I contact Green Mountain. I may do that. It was affirming to hear that I hadn’t made an error in choosing the yarn. And she really liked seeing another pair of Hedgerow Socks in the world (the pattern originally appeared in The Knitter’s Review).

…and that was the end of Sock Summit 2011! Kris, Ed, and I went to Hawthorne Hophouse for a lovely dinner on the way home. Kris and I split a beer “flight” of 6 little glasses, after which we ordered our favorites. I had a salad with strawberries, hazelnuts, and chevre. It was super yummy. I would love to have a restaurant like that in my neighborhood – they have 24 microbrews (and even a category new to me, nanobrews) on tap brewed in Portland and the surrounding area, and the varieties are constantly rotating. I had a “Black Cherry,” which is a mix of a cherry/apple cider and a porter. Super yum.

Portland, we enjoyed being here. Thanks to the mountain for coming out so often. Thanks to Ed for showing us a great time. Thanks to all the knitters, and to ST-1 and ST-2 in particular. I had the time of my life!

Sock Summit Day 3 part 2

2011-07-31T11:45:00.002-04:00

The second half of Day 3 began with the flash mob dance, which was a TON of fun. Here are some of the ST-1s and ST-2s (ST = Sock Team) getting ready up at the front. Technically, we’re still mingling at this point.
Kris and I ran into the rest of the central PA contingent and we stuck together for the dance. That’s Kris on the left (note how bright her green shirt is – that’s what helps you find us in the videos!), then Missy, then Carol of The Mannings, and me on the right. Here are Stephen Houghton and Debbie (sorry, don’t know her last name), the ones who made the instruction video:
Here is some mingling that happened before the music began. Kris and Katharine are showing each other their yarn (you can see Steph and Tina in the background if you look between Kris and Katharine):

And then there was dancing. I didn’t record any because I was participating… so you’ll have to search YouTube on “sock summit flash mob” and you’ll find a ton. I’ll add a couple of links where you might spy us later (my internet access is brief). Added later: this is the best video right here!

After the dance, Kris, Katharine, and I jumped on the train and went downtown for dinner. Then we rushed back to the convention center for Stephanie’s lecture, titled “This is Your Brain on Knitting.” She summarized some of the scientific research that pertains to our craft. Not that there is neuroscience research on knitting… it’s not quite that direct. The literature on repetitive motion and the relaxation response is helpful, though – and some of those studies actually mention knitting (though one, hilariously, concluded that it is not practical for everyone to carry around knitting with them, though they think it would be helpful). I think I took good enough notes that I can track down some citations (Stephanie usually mentioned the author’s name and institutional affiliation), so I’ll do the librarian thing when I get home and see if I can recreate a list of references. She also used some of the research that the video game industry has commissioned to learn why people get addicted to video games and how to get them to pay good money to do something imaginary. She told a compelling story. The room was packed. I was right in the front row (a fluke – I walked up there with Katharine, who was having a seat saved for her by an early arriver, and it turned out there were a couple of empty seats right up front). It was neat to turn around and see an entire room filled with people knitting socks and listening to someone talk about knitting. There were over 500 chairs in the room and the event was sold out. After the lecture, we dropped off our baby shower donations. There were at least 6 tables full of things like this. That big bag on our table was full of items that someone brought from their local knitting group – it contained at least a couple dozen hats, pairs of booties, and more. After that, we decided to swing by Voodoo Doughnuts, which was a pretty hopping place on Saturday night. I kind of clutched at all the choices and ended up with a plain cake donut with chocolate frosting. I prefer cake doughnuts to raised ones, and the cake ones were way tamer than the raised ones. They had vegan doughnuts – I was sad that Boy 1 wasn’t here to try one (he’s never had a doughnut because he’s allergic to eggs). Katharine bought a “voodoo dozen,” which is a dozen doughnuts that they select – you don’t hand pick them. Here is a peek:

Yes, that is a piece of bubble gum stuck in the hole of the pink doughnut, and some kind of colorful cereal on the one in the back. Super crunchy! One more day of classes, and home on Monday!

Sock Summit Day 3 part 1

2011-07-30T19:52:00.001-04:00

This morning I spent a little more time in the marketplace. I made a slight attempt to take some pretty pictures today. I had a lovely chat with this weaver at the Eugene Fiber Center. Isn’t this twill gorgeous? I took a closeup photo specifically for Julie and Allison:The weaver said it was a pretty common pattern and encouraged me to photograph the pattern, too – so here you go: The loom is a Wolf Pup, for those who are curious.Kris and I have decided to knit a pair of socks for our host in Portland, Ed. I know that normally two people wouldn’t work on the same pair of socks, but we like the symbolism of each knitting him one sock and that’s what we’re going to do. I was charged with returning to The Plucky Knitter booth and acquiring yarn. They have a lot of manly, greyish colorways (Steven, you would LOVE it) and I picked one called MASH tent: I’m not sure the photo shows it perfectly, but there is the slightest hint of green in this grey. It’s the kind of color that will go with grey pants, khaki pants, jeans, olive green… all the neutrals.

I also bought a big skein of DK weight 100% alpaca yarn (3-ply). It is a nice heathery purple and I intend to make a squishy infinity scarf from it that will be super warm and snuggly in the wintertime. I spent some time in the Hazel Knits booth – the way they displayed samples of their yarn was very eye catching. They had cuffs of socks on vertical lengths of PVC pipe: The colors and textures really drew me in. They had a lot of kits made up with patterns and partial skeins of sock yarn (just enough to complete, say, a pair of fingerless mitts). I was ready to buy a pattern but they were out of printed copies. No worries, I’ll just buy and download it online. At 11:00, I went to Clara Parkes’ lecture, “Sock Yarn Stories.” She spun a yarn (sorry, couldn’t help it!) about how sock yarn trends have changed over the past 10-15 years, starting with the “old faithful” yarns through the indie dyer surge up to the latest trends. As usual, her presentation was excellent. She summarized the sock yarn scene superbly and I learned a lot!After her talk, knitters stormed the front to get copies of a nifty little brochure advertising her upcoming book (due out in October). The brochure also contains one pattern from the book as a teaser. I have a copy of this that Clara signed for me during her booksigning time before the lecture.

In the afternoon, I took a class from JC Briar about pattern writing. It was chock full of detail and there are NO interesting visual aids. You will just have to trust me that it was interesting and helpful. I’m not sure I’m going to be creating full blown style guides and pattern templates in InDesign anytime soon, but I appreciated the overview and attention to detail. Surely the nit picky librarian in me honored the nit picky tech editor in her.

I think I’ll go ahead and publish this post now. There is more to come on Day 3 – the flash mob dance and Stephanie’s lecture called “This is Your Brain on Knitting.” But this is long enough now, so I’m hitting the button.

Sock fatigue is starting to sink in a bit. But I’m still having fun!

Sock Summit Day 2

2011-07-30T12:11:00.001-04:00

I’m a little behind in posting – there is just no time at “home” at Ed’s in the evenings. Luckily, there is wifi at the convention center. I’ve been toting the netbook along so I can post from there. Yesterday I composed on the MAX ride in and then uploaded at the center just before rushing into class.

I’m writing this on SS Day 3, but I’ll tell you what happened yesterday. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of great photos. Content yourselves with Kris and me at the Sockgate. I don’t totally get the Stargate reference, but many other people do. This is right in front of the marketplace entrance.

In the morning, I took “Knitting Knee Highs: Do the Math” with Barb Brown, who has a book just out called Knitting Knee Highs. Her concept was just what I wanted – a formula pattern to customize for any size foot. The class should have been a one-hour wonder, though – there just wasn’t enough content for 3 hours. The most beneficial part was that she brought most of the socks knit for the book and passed them around. We were even invited to try them on. Trying on a dozen pairs of handknit knee socks turned out to be the most helpful part of the class. My neighbor and I were both taken with this pair (unusually lacy for my taste, I know – but they fit so well):That ribbon at the top would also help keep them up really well. We talked about ways to do that, including running lingerie elastic into the hem. I can’t shake the feeling that one shouldn’t have to put elastic into socks if they fit properly to begin with… but we shall see. Look how different the socks appear in the book. Models are always about 6 feet tall and knee socks never come all the way up. This is the exact same sock. I brought my Bohus-style knee socks to the class and consulted with Barb (and my neighbors) about them. I have a new plan now, and it’s a plan I felt was coming. Now it’s confirmed. You know what I’m going to say, don’t you? RIP! Those babies are coming out. I’m going to recheck my stockinette gauge in the green yarn (which is Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Heather). I might need to replace it, since it feels slightly plumper than the SSYC solids in the stranded section. I can easily order a similar green color from SSYC and reuse the Shelridge for something else, if I need to. I’m also going to start over with a MUCH smaller cast-on number. The pattern called for 104 and I might go as low as 84. I’ll also use a 2.0 needle for the ribbing at the very edge of the cuff, and then move up to 2.5mm for the stranded colorwork, and then edge back down to 2.25 and 2.0 for the rest of the sock. My main question now is whether the colorwork section will be too tight over 84 stitches. Stay tuned for more thinking about that project!

Kris and I decided to bolt from the convention center at lunchtime. We jumped on the MAX train and got off at Chinatown. We had a fairly mediocre meal, but it was nice to get out of the OCC and into another part of town.

In the afternoon, I took Amy Singer’s “Making the Next Monkey” class, which is about sock designs published in Knitty.com. She talked for about 2 hours about what sock patterns have been in Knitty and why. We looked at the Sock Hall of Fame, which included many patterns we all know now… leading up to, of course, Cookie A’s Monkey, which is the most popular sock published in Knitty. We learned the story of how it came to be called Monkey (that’s NOT what Cookie titled it in the original submission) and discussed elements that make it stand out. Then Amy broke down ways to beat the odds and get your sock pattern published in Knitty (by the way, doing the math between sock pattern submissions and how many sock patterns she wants in each issue results in a 1 in 5 chance of getting in). She also talked about the top 5 ways to blow it, and we spent quite a bit of time looking at photo submissions (the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly). She dispensed design and pattern-writing tips and encouraged us to submit our designs. The last part of the class was spent providing feedback to students who wanted her critique of their sock designs. Some people directed her to Ravelry photos, while others just stuck out their foot which was clad in an original design (Amy then photographed it with her iPad and then connected it to the projector so we could all see it while we discussed it). It was very informative and interesting.

I popped back into the marketplace for a while, but all I bought on Day 2 was some Soak foot cream (peppermint – I’m such a sucker for mint scents). Here is a shot that gives you an idea of how crowded it was and how striking some of the booth designs are: This is the booth for A Verb for Keeping Warm. I love their naturally dyed colorways, but their sock yarns are 100% superwash merino, and you know how I feel about that. It might be fine for a shawl, but not for socks!

We ended our day at Ed’s and enjoyed some of our dinner courses on the roof deck, which was perfectly lovely. There was more wine from Edgefield. We stayed up too late (DOH!) but are here at the OCC again this morning, ready for more sock fun!This last shot is a bit blurry, and yes, it’s because I had a glass, too. Yummy!

Sock Summit Day 1

2011-07-29T11:52:00.001-04:00

My morning class was Explore Shimada’s Socks with Gayle Roehm. We spent the first half of the class reviewing the book. Gayle’s handout explained what kind of information was in which section and translated key Japanese words and symbols. We talked our way through one of the daunting charts that is a Japanese sock pattern.

During the second half of the class, we swatched one of the heel styles in the book – the one least familiar to Western knitters. It is essentially a short row heel with yarnovers and turns (slightly different than the wrap-and-turn I’m used to), but it doesn’t decrease and increase evenly and as a result is shallower. I don’t understand why Shimada does it like this, but our goal was to work the heel the way the designer intended. Here is my teacher holding my work: Will I use the patterns in Shimada’s book? Probably not. I think it’s interesting to look at Japanese stitch dictionaries and I' can see myself incorporating some of those into sock designs, but I don’t see any advantage in using the Japanese sock structure.

Interestingly, Gayle said that sock knitting isn’t nearly as popular in Japan as it is here. She could only find TWO Japanese knitting books devoted to sock patterns. Some books include one or two sock patterns in a larger collection, but there aren’t stacks of socks-only books like we see here.

Kris made some friends in her morning class (Cat Bordhi’s class) who joined us for lunch – it was fun meeting Susan and Katharine, both from the S.F. Bay area. Katharine is a new teacher this year, teaching a Bosnian toe one-hour wonder class. It was fun to chat with her about how she got started. She has taught others in her knitting group before, but this was her first big teaching opportunity. I wish I was in her class to cheer her on! We also ran into teacher Lorilee Beltman at Burgerville and she joined us for lunch, too. Kris met Lorilee at a wedding earlier this year (the bride is her niece) and since they were both knitting, they connected right away. It just so happened that I was signed up for Lorilee’s afternoon class, so let’s talk about that next!

My afternoon class was Mad for Plaid, and it was a JOY. Lorilee had structured the class ideally for learning. She explained things very clearly and managed the classroom superbly (I always notice this stuff because the kind of teaching I do is also “one-shot” teaching and classroom management can be difficult in this environment. She dispensed little tips throughout the session which were gems (I’ll show you the knit one slip one trick in person!), and she insisted we take a stretching break (smart). Here is a sock made using her plaid pattern, so you can see what we were learning: Do you see that the vertical lines aren’t quite one stitch wide? They zig zag back and forth over two columns, which creates a twill effect. It looks really, really good! We brought yarn in a main color but samples in three other colors were provided by The Plucky Knitter (you’ll see that I fall pretty hard for her later, when we get to the Marketplace). We didn’t get very far along during our 3-hour class, but we learned everything we need to knit this sock successfully. I am definitely planning to make this sock at home. Here is what my class work looks like:I know, there isn’t much to see yet – but trust me, it was impressive.

Here is Lorilee dispensing thoughtful wisdom to a fellow classmate. You can see the brain waves, right? After afternoon classes ended at 4:30, the marketplace opened to students only. The line was insane. I didn’t take a picture so you’ll just have to trust me. I ran into Carol from The Mannings and Missy, too (Missy from the former Wool in the Woods). Missy and Anita taught my first beginner knitting class 9 long years ago. When I introduced Missy to Kris, Kris exclaimed “then you are my grandmother!” It was a pretty neat moment.

I didn’t take many pictures in the marketplace. It was crazy. I was too hungry to be shopping for yarn. (You know how you’re not supposed to go grocery shopping when you’re hungry? You shouldn’t go yarn shopping, either. I was so hungry that I forgot I had stashed some almonds in my backpack. I just wasn’t thinking straight!) I did take this shot of The Plucky Knitter booth, where I liked every single thing I saw (including the pompom chandelier covered with xmas lights). Best use of pompoms I’ve ever seen. I l bought two skeins of yarn here to make the Different Lines shawl (which is the one you see hanging in the top right corner). I may return to look at patterns again – there were some neat ones. This vendor is based in Michigan – I’ll try to convince her to come to MDSW.

When I finally caught up with Kris again, she was winding lace yarn at the yarn winding station. Look at the neat swifts made by The Oregon Woodworker: And then we went to Burgerville for smoothies because we couldn’t make it until 7 pm and the snacks at the opening reception.

The reception was fun. We met lots of people and were entertained by Stephanie and Tina. We saw a blooper reel of the making of the flash mob dance video, and then we all practiced the dance. We looked pretty darn good, I must say!

The (Portland) Oregon Trail

2011-07-29T11:50:00.001-04:00

Kris’s and my flights were right on time and we were in Portland in plenty of time to DO some stuff on Tuesday. Because it was one of those rare days when Mount Hood wasn’t socked in by clouds, we went straight there. There were skiers coming off the mountain – can you believe it? Apparently one can ski from November through July here. The snow was still really deep in many places. We went to the Timberline Lodge to look around (it’s such a neat building, built by the WPA in the early 20th century) and for a snack (/cocktail).

This was the view from our cocktails:

The lodge itself is full of interesting 1930s details that I just love. It reminded me of the Old Faithful Lodge that I visited as a teenager. Here are just a few: Did I mention we’re staying with my friend Ed, who lives here parttime? (It will be fulltime once he retires in 4.5 years.) That’s Ed. He really gets a kick out of standing in the snow. He' lives in Texas most of the year, so we can excuse him for that. :)

Later we went to McMeniman’s Edgefield for wine tasting (thanks, Julia!) and dinner (Cajun tator tots!). No photos, just memories.

Wednesday dawned and we went to the Japanese Gardens, which were pretty fantastic. We got there just in time to join a guided tour.

We hit some food carts for lunch and I had some yummy Thai food. Then we went by the convention center to register. Stephanie was at the Information desk, so we waited in line to introduce ourselves. As usual, she was extremely kind and held Kris’s sock while someone (perhaps a member of ST-2?) rushed in to take our picture:After that fun was had, Kris went to catch up with her friend Jared and Ed and I went downtown to explore a bit. We saw a ton of public fountains, including some with Oregon animals in them: I looked for salmon but didn’t see any:

Portlandia is kind of impressive, with the trident and all. This was my favorite fountain:And finally, I give you Mill Ends Park, the world’s smallest park. It is an official city park of Portland and it is 24” in diameter: Back to Edgefield for dinner again. The gardens are lovely. Next post: Day One at The Summit.

Leaving on a jet plane

2011-07-25T10:53:00.001-04:00

My bags are packed, I’m ready to go… Tonight Kris and I go to a Baltimore hotel (we have a creative but complex parking situation) and early tomorrow morning we fly to Portland for the Summit! I will post updates on All Things Sock from there.

I might even tweet. If you’re interested in following, you’ll find me at jlwinpa.

I decided to take the Anne Hanson lace scarf on the plane rather than the Yakaboo fingerless mitts. The scarf is lace, but the mitts have complicated cables (like crosses with knits on one side and purls on the other) and bobbles. I thought the lace seemed simpler.

I spent some time yesterday practicing the flash mob dance. We’ll see how that goes. It’s really not that different from jazzercise.

I am SO READY to be someplace where the temperature is 30 degrees cooler than here.

Packing for the Summit

2011-07-23T09:35:00.001-04:00

My pile of stuff to take is growing slowly. Click through to Flickr to see notes if you wonder why things are in the pile! (Like, perhaps, the wedgie-free girls underpants?)

I started a new sock a few days ago to knit at the Summit. I wanted something that will be easy enough to knit in public, but not dead dull like a stockinette Felici sock. You know, something that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen knitting among other hardcore sock knitters… Here’s what I came up with: Amelie (by Alana Dakos, who also designed the Cedar Leaf Shawlette) in Dye Dreams Luster Sox (100% superwash BFL and purchased at Sock Summit 2009): The color of this yarn is very rich and bronze, almost metallic. I like it! And since they are for me, there will be no fitting issues. My feet are always with me.

I thought I’d take something else to knit on the airplane, something a bit more complicated but that doesn’t take up much space. I have two main contenders right now – holler if you think one makes more sense than the other.

Campanula Scarf. I cast on for this last summer (yes, a full year ago) and am about 3 rows into it. The yarn is 100% cashmere and it’s gorgeous, but it’s also really fine. It sure doesn’t take up much space, though!
Celtic Vine Fingerless Gloves. I got the Yakaboo yarn for this at MDSW’11 and the pattern came with it. The yarn is a wee skein (only 25 g). The pattern still isn’t in Ravelry – here is a not-so-great photo of the photo on my printout:

Thoughts?

I need to think about my wardrobe, too. It has been “Texas hot” here in Pennsylvania lately and I’ve been living in sandals (or less). Portland is easily 30 degrees cooler. I can’t wait! I’ll be sure to pack my little sock yarn shawls (cedar leaf and sugared violets) – they will come in handy in the convention center (which was chilly last time) and perhaps outdoors, as well.

Knitters, what else should I be thinking about?

Smiley Shawl

2011-07-19T18:51:00.001-04:00

I started a Pamuya shawl for my mom yesterday. I got this yarn at MDSW in May, specifically for this pattern. The yarn is Brooks Farm Solo Silk – the same yarn I used for Karen’s Cedar Leaf Shawlette, just a different colorway. The Pamuya pattern is written for fingering weight yarn and this is a bit bigger (the label says “sport”), so I increased my needle size to US 6. So far, so good!

This pattern is essentially a sampler. If you look closely, you can see I’ve just begun the first section of what the designer calls “tiny cross pattern” I was thinking of taking this along to Portland as my airplane knitting project, but I can find something that will take up less space instead.

Tricorn Baby Hat

2011-07-17T17:44:00.001-04:00

I’ve whipped up a baby hat to take with me to Sock Summit. It would be rude to show up to a baby shower without a gift! Appropriately, this hat is knit from sock yarn. Look, it’s a tricorn baby hat (tee hee):

This simple pattern is from the Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders book, which is chockfull of quick patterns that could address my sock yarn stash quite well. This hat took only 32 grams of yarn (including the tassels). The yarn was left over from Boy 1’s Circle Socks (also going to Sock Summit). I still have 57 grams of this yarn left – it has more to give.

Yes, this hat required more stitches than a baby hat knit from worsted weight yarn (the CO # was 120), but the result is so cute and I didn’t have to buy any new yarn to make it. Also important: the yarn is machine-washable. I insist on that for my charity knitting projects.

Mods: I knit the body of the hat a little longer than the 5.5” specified in the pattern because I thought it looked a little skimpy (remember, my first child had a HUGE head). The model above is Boy 2, now 6 years old. He’s a little small for his age. I think the hat will be fine on most babies and even many toddlers. I hope it brings a smile to a Portlander’s face.

Countdown to SS: 9 days to go. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Circle Socks

2011-07-10T16:16:00.001-04:00

Boy 1’s socks are done. He loves them! I like them. Here are my thoughts:

The honeycomb pattern isn’t as stretchy as you might think a knit-purl pattern would be, even accounting for the slipped stitches. I worked the leg over 56 stitches and he has a hard time getting it on. (I knit the heel over 30 stitches and made the heel flap deep in order to compensate.) If I were knitting for an adult, I might use more stitches than the recommended 64.
The Knit Picks Stroll yarn in Midnight Heather is lovely – but not quite a perfect match for the hand paint. I couldn’t tell this from the website, but the heathered bits are mostly greenish – so the overall effect with the deep blue and green is peacock-y. Not an ideal match for the purple and blue handpaint. I’d love a pair of socks made from the Midnight Heather alone, though.
I had plenty of blue yarn left – I bought 2 50-gram balls, but only used 37 grams of the first ball.
Even though I only knit with one yarn on each round, working with two yarns was still fiddly and really slowed me down. Not my favorite sock knitting experience. S1 likes the honeycomb pattern and has requested a phone cozy made in it – but with just one yarn, not two. I’ll have to add that to the list.

I have a tiny bit of class homework for Sock Summit left, plus the gathering of class supplies, but finishing these socks and getting that Japanese book were the biggest homework components. So I’m happy to be done with those. Now, on to Eloise’s hat!

Check out Boy 1’s foot modeling:

Baby Boy BSJ

2011-07-09T14:47:00.001-04:00

While out of town, I managed to knit another BSJ out of a more boyish colorway. This is Knit Picks Felici Sport yarn in color “Ecology,” from which I already have a pair of socks. Doesn’t the resulting fabric look different? The baby jacket has a tweedier effect, I think. Just as before, I used slightly over 2 balls of Felici. The buttons are understated, but not quite as neutral as the ones I used on the Neapolitan version: Also note how that diagonal line looks. I used a different increase technique on this BSJ –for the double increase, I did LRinc – Knit – LLinc (LRinc = Cat Bordhi’s Leaning Right increase and LLinc is obviously the Leaning Left increase).

For the girlish version, I used the double increase specified by Elizabeth Zimmermann: Slip 1, K2tog, PSSO. The diagonal line looks very different, see?I can’t decide which one I prefer.

In other knitting news, I’m almost done with Boy 1’s soon-to-be-electrified socks – I should be able to share those in the next day or two. And I popped into three LYSs in North Carolina. I only bought one skein of yarn, though – this lovely Bearfoot from Mountain Colors.This colorway is called Thunderstorm, and it is mostly a deep purple with bits of greyish teal and olive green. Very moody. I’ve knit with Bearfoot twice before and really like it. In fact, the very first pair of socks I made for myself was out of Bearfoot. They are lovely socks, though a bit large (because I was knitting on – gasp! – size TWO needles then). This yarn makes EXTREMELY warm socks – it is a 3-ply composed of 60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon. I wear my pair in the deepest days of winter, over another pair of thin cotton socks (because the handknit socks are roomy). I don’t see Bearfoot in shops that often, so I didn’t think too long before deciding to purchase it. Mmmm, take a closer look: Next: I want to whip up a quick hat to take to Sock Summit for Eloise’s baby shower. Will dive into stash for that…

We’ve got yarn

2011-06-28T11:13:00.001-04:00

I finished up a skein of yarn last night:This is the grey-ish green stuff I got from Bullen’s Wullens at MDSW last month – it’s 50/25/25 merino/bamboo silk. And it’s pretty fine, even with 3 plies. I spun the singles on my smallest pulley (16:1) and plied on the next smallest (14:1) – I did this because I read a Spin-Off article by Judith MacKenzie that said to ply on the next largest pulley size when making worsted-style yarn (you do the opposite with woolen spun yarn). I’m not sure I love that. The yarn has less twist than I expected it to. I guess I could run it through the wheel again to add more twist... I got 409 yards out of this and it weighs 124 g (the label said approximate weight 112 grams, so they were generous). Is it thin enough to be sock yarn? Maybe. I did a little math, and in only 100 grams of yarn (standard amount for socks) I have 330 yards. Felici has 426 yards/100 grams. Regia sock yarn has 460 yards/100 grams. Koigu has 350 yards/100 grams. So maybe I’m not quite there yet. I don’t think I would use this fiber blend for socks, anyway. It’s destined for something around the neck.

I’m not sure what I think. The way the colors look plied reminds me of that sock yarn with chitin in it (TOFUtsies), and I never liked that look very much. But once it’s knit up, it may be fine. It’s a moody color, that’s for sure. I had a heck of a time photographing it. Usually everything looks better in outdoor light. Not this! I couldn’t get the greens to show up. Look, here’s the yarn against grey stone – it doesn’t really surprise me that the green gets washed out against all the grey: But I thought that putting the yarn against green would bring out the green, and it doesn’t. See? It actually looks a tiny bit better – and also bluer - against this yellow table! I know that blue and yellow make green, but why would green and yellow make blue?The yarn is really and truly green, which came out best in photos taken INDOORS (but with lots of indirect light):I’m no color expert or photography expert, so if you can explain this to me, I’m all ears.

Baby Girl BSJ

2011-06-27T17:31:00.001-04:00

I was done knitting this weeks ago, but I finally seamed the top of the arms and found some buttons. All done!The buttons are kind of light brown and cream, like chocolate and vanilla ice cream swirled together – a perfect match for a yarn called Neapolitan. Because the stripes are fairly bold, I didn’t want buttons that would compete with them. Lord knows there are plenty of cutesy kid buttons on the market – little bugs, butterflies, legos, etc – in every shade of pink imaginable. None looked right. I’m happy with this subtler choice!

Just a reminder – this was knit with Knit Picks Felici Sport (on a US 4 needle) and it took me slightly over 2 balls to do it. So if you buy yarn for this, buy 3 balls! I’m going to make another one using my Ecology colorway. I only have 2 fresh balls, but since I’ve already made a pair of socks out of it, I have some leftovers that should be enough to finish the project.

Crazy cables!

2011-06-26T08:33:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, Kris and I took a 3-hour class with the Queen of Cables, Janet Szabo. If you don’t immediately recognize her name, you’ll surely recognize some of her patterns – they’re everywhere and always full of luscious cables. The picture above shows some of the many swatches she brought to share. I really like that one in the middle that looks like a knot.

We worked through 3 swatches during the class: a circle, a shape I don’t know how to describe, and a heart. My swatches are unblocked here so they are misbehaving a bit, but you get the general idea: The cool thing about these cables is that they really can go in any direction you want them to – left, right, up, down. We were inspired to attend this class because Kris wanted to knit a sock for a young woman who had just returned from a semester abroad in Kenya. While there, she was “branded” (kind of like tattooed, except really more like a brand) with a design that looked like a chain of interlocking horseshoes. Kris wanted to replicate that pattern down the leg of a sock, and we had trouble finding something in a stitch dictionary that would work. I think we can make something now, though – thanks, Janet!While in the shop, I also picked up a skein of this New England Highland wool in a school bus yellow shade called High Gold. It is heathered and contains both yellow and orange. It will make a cheerful slouchy hat for S1 that will be mighty visible come fall, even if it has to compete with glorious changing foliage:

Circle game

2011-06-23T13:34:00.001-04:00

You haven’t seen these yet… they are Circle Socks (free pattern!) and they are for Boy 1: This honeycomb pattern is pretty neat. Look at all the versions on Ravelry – many people use a single, multi-colored yarn throughout (there are some beautiful versions with Felici), but some use two yarns, as I am doing here. The solid yarn which frames the circles is Knit Picks Stroll in Midnight Heather – it is a very deep blue that looks black unless you’re in good light. The multi is Knit Picks Stroll Hand Painted in the colorway “Lullaby.”

This pattern looks far more complicated than it is. You never use more than one color on any round (thank goodness, stranded colorwork does not seem to be my thing!). The magic is achieved by using slipped stitches to the extreme. I’ve just started the heel flap – it and the entire foot of the sock will be in the solid yarn.

These socks are my homework for the Sock Summit class Twinkle Toes. Boy 1 thought it would be be neat to have blue lights on his socks that look like stars in the night sky. He also wanted a busy yarn. We spent some time on Ravelry and came up with this pattern as a compromise. Some blue lights can go in the little circles. You’ll have to stay tuned to see how that works out!

FO: Tsunami Socks

2011-06-19T09:52:00.001-04:00

I just couldn’t bring myself to make any cutesy jokes about tsunamis, given the weather events of this year, so you get a boring title.

But the socks are done! These were a pretty quick knit. There are 3 cable twists running down the leg of the sock, but the rest is a simple knit-purl diamond pattern and it chugs along.I’m glad I picked a solid yarn for this project – I think even a heathered yarn would have hidden the stitch pattern somewhat. I quite like the finished socks. The yarn? Not so much.

I pulled this yarn from DEEP stash – I bought it at a SSYC sale very early on (Allison is celebrating her 6th store anniversary now, so I would estimate this yarn is 5 years old). It doesn’t pass my current standards for sock yarn. This Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids yarn is 100% “luxury merino” (at least it’s not superwash) and – get this – it is TWO PLY. Did you ever hear of a commercial 2-ply sock yarn before? This is the first one I’ve encountered! I didn’t realize it was 2-ply until I was well into the project. There were a couple places in the first sock where one of the plies broke and so there is only one ply holding the socks together. That cannot be good. At first I thought I was snagging the yarn and only knitting one ply of it. Upon closer investigation, I realized that only one ply was left.

If I had realized this before casting on, I probably wouldn’t have. If I had realized this before knitting the first heel, I would have knit an afterthought heel or something that was easy to replace. I reinforced the inside columns of slipped stitches on the heel, and we’ll hope for the best.

[Note: this may or may not be the base yarn CTH currently uses. Like I said, it’s from deep stash.]

On a more positive note, I’ve knit two other pairs of socks out of this yarn base and S1 reports that they are holding up fine. They are summer shortie socks, though, and they don’t get as much wear.

So maybe I shouldn’t be such a Negative Nellie!

The sock in the book (Knitted Socks East and West – lovely) is knit from Regia Silk sock yarn, which I have knit with before. I made these Dalarna socks for S2 out of it:

Regia Silk is wonderful, and I would happily knit another pair of Tsunami Socks out of it. (And now that I see Dalarna again, I’m reminded that I wouldn’t mind having a pair of Dalarna for myself!)

Just in from Japan…

2011-06-17T19:50:00.001-04:00

My books from Japan arrived yesterday! This is Hand Knit Socks by Toshiyuki Shimada, and obtaining it was my homework for the Explore Shimada’s Socks class at Sock Summit. I ordered it from the yesasia site listed in the class description, and in order to get free (international) shipping, I bought two copies. I made a Ravelry connection with another knitter who also wants the book, and I’ll deliver it to her in Portland.

I’ve looked through the book and it’s pretty neat. I expected it to read back-to-front, but it doesn’t – and I see a few English words sprinkled throughout, which is interesting. It is very visual. I think an experienced knitter can decode a lot of the content. For instance, can you make out the anatomy of a top-down sock? All the lines and arrows direct you to other pages in the book with more detailed instructions about how to make a heel or a toe or what have you.

The diagrams of knitted stitches are great – unlike the ones I’m used to, they show the direction that the yarn takes as it moves through the fabric. Between the diagram and the step-by-step photos, I think a non-Japanese speaker could learn to Kitchener:

The real gem, for me, is having directions for stitches that aren’t in my repertoire. The middle of the book contains pages like this, which show how to execute specific stitches (you can see their chart notation on the left). I looked at the basic ones first - for knit, purl, left-leaning decrease, and right-leaning decrease – to get a sense of how these diagrams work. It is still a bit confusing to me, but I have the sense that I could get it.The pattern pages follow the stitch dictionary part, and I must admit, these look daunting at first glance: They show the whole sock as if it were knit flat – which it’s not – but it helps you visualize how the whole thing goes together. I think it serves as a chart at the same time.

I really hope I’m not committing a terrible violation of copyright by sharing these bits with you. I mean for them to entice you to pick up a Japanese knitting book the next time you see one in a shop!

The book also contains color plates with photos of finished socks. My favorite is this intricate knee sock. Isn’t it dreamy? Go ahead, blow it up to get a good look.I have no idea what’s on that little green slip of paper, but it works sort of like a bookmark and that’s how I’ll continue to use it. The only thing I recognize on it is an ISBN. There is a bar code like a UPC code, but my ScanLife barcode reader couldn’t find any information about it. However, the integrated GoodReads scanner went to a record for the book – nifty!

Getting this book served to get my blood pumping again about Sock summit. Only 41 days to go!

Spinning Seminar 2011

2011-06-11T21:15:00.001-04:00

As usual, the Spinning Seminar at The Mannings was really fun! This year, there were 7 of us gathered under a tree knitting (3 of us brought spinning wheels but just never totally unpacked them). I failed to get a picture of the whole crew, but here are a few of us: Allison is winding a skein of cotton-linen yarn she bought in the shop, Heidi is saying something wise, and Julie is looking sage in her corner.

Look closely at the cup holder on Allison’s chair – she brought bunnies! These are so adorable.She makes them out of scraps. The ones on either side are made of sock yarn and the one in the little is a bit bigger. I looked in Ravelry for the pattern and didn’t find it right away (but let me tell you, there are some seriously cute bunny patterns in the database!).

As usual, there were some folks showing how flax is processed. I’ve read and heard about this before, but it still boggles my mind. I am amazed that anyone figured out there was a long fiber running stem to root in this plant, and that you had to control the rotting of the plant and beat it up pretty well to reach the fiber. Here is a pretty good article that describes it if you don’t have The Intentional Spinner on your bookshelf. The part we saw today was “breaking and scutching.” Here is the flax brake: You wham that part she’s holding down a bunch of times, and the outer part of the plant falls off (you can see a pile forming on the ground underneath). Then you run a handful of fiber through this wicked series of hackles, starting at the bigger ones and working you way down to the smaller ones:

You grasp the handful of fiber and throw it down onto the hackles, then pull it through. I should have taken a video, but here is an action shot: Finally, you spin. The stick holding the cotton candy bunch of fiber is a distaff, and the spinner dips her fingers into a bowl of water occasionally – you need to control the fiber a bit and water does the trick. I have better pictures of this woman spinning flax from previous years – this year she was stationed in front of the A/C unit.

There was a nice exhibit showing how to dye different shades of red using natural dyes (cochineal, mostly) – look how many different colors you can get! And another woman had a table set up to demonstrate how to dye blues with indigo: There were a few animals, including these angora goats:Sometimes it’s fun to just listen for a while. This man was explaining that you can keep sheep and goats together as long as you don’t have unwethered (snipped!) males together. When male goats get aggressive, they rear up on their back legs. When male sheep get aggressive, they head butt. If they are both aggressive at the same time, the sheep can really damage the goat. See, I didn’t know that before today…

There were some other exhibits listed on the event description that I never found. I wonder if some were inside, perhaps back in the room with the spinning wheels? I never made my way that far in – the shop was too crowded!

Thanks, Mannings, for another fun year. We love the Spinning Seminar!

Off season - again

2011-06-10T09:09:00.001-04:00

Who knits wool knee socks with temps in the 90s? Me, apparently! I finally got past the colorwork section on those knee socks – see?They look awfully big to me, but they appear to stay up. The top part is 104 stitches in circumference. It seems to take me forever to knit 104 stitches over 4 dpns. You can see that I switched back to 2 circulars when I hit the green ribbing again. My leg doesn’t look quite so colossal in this photo: The decreases are happening quickly at this point in the sock, 2 stitches every other round. Eventually the circumference will be 64.

When I knit the next sock, I will use a smaller needle for the very top. I used a 2.5 mm for the rubbed cuff and the colorwork section, then moved to a 2.25 mm for the first few rounds of green ribbing, and then to a 2.0 mm needle. I think 2.5 mm is the right size for the colorwork, but everything else should be tighter.

Also, I’m contemplating casting on fewer stitches for the second sock. Of course, they wouldn’t match (sizewise) but I’m considering it anyway. I’m sort of letting go of the idea of actually wearing these. I could always hang them up in my room like art. They’re awfully pretty! In other news, I did tune up the spinning wheel and get her whirring again. I’ve just spun 1/3 of this wool/silk/bamboo fiber that I got at MDSW this year: At first I was going to spin the singles all on one bobbin and then Navajo ply them (which makes a chained 3-ply yarn). Then I saw how contrast-y the gray and green colors are, and decided that I didn’t want to preserve those color shifts. So I divided my fiber into 3 equal-ish sections (which took some doing, since some of it was already spun) and plan to make a 3-ply the regular way. The resulting yarn should have a barberpole look to it. Tomorrow is the annual Spinning Seminar at The Mannings! As long as it’s not too wet (scattered thunderstorms are predicted), I’ll take my wheel. Otherwise, I’ll knit a bit.

BSJ

2011-06-05T12:03:00.001-04:00

Have you knit a Baby Surprise Jacket yet? The origami at the end is the coolest part. Here is how it works:

Remember I bought FOUR balls of Felici sportweight yarn to make this. I used a smidge over 2 balls. Good to know!

WIP WIP WIP

2011-05-31T10:30:00.001-04:00

I’ve got several things on the needles at the moment, receiving various levels of attention from me.

First, remember the knee socks I started? They have progressed a tiny bit… but not much. Here is how they look right now: I’m sure if I could just be diligent enough to get past the 38-round colorwork section, they would move much faster. I would transfer them to 2 circs, for sure! I really don’t care for working socks on dpns.

Next, I started a BSJ for a coworker who is due in August. She decided not to find out the baby’s sex, though, and these are girly colors. So I may have to knit a boy-something, too! This is Felici sportweight in color “Neopolitan” And finally, I’ve begun a new sock. It’s not the sock I meant to start, though. I had a weird wave of guilt for not having used all the sock yarn I bought at Sock Summit 2009 and resolved to knit another skein. I picked this yarn (Briar Rose Fibers Grace), and I found Anne Hanson’s Keukenhof pattern (I purchased them both at the Briar Rose Fibers booth and they were meant to go together). I wound up the yarn but couldn’t get excited about the pattern.

So I went looking through my box of random stuff in the studio (I know you have one, too) and came up with the Swirls pattern. It said to cast on 70 stitches. I was skeptical. But I proceeded anyway. Sure enough, 70 is too many. I ripped. Then I rewrote the pattern for 64 stitches and began again. I didn’t love it. I ripped. Then I got out some books to look for inspiration, and I ran across this lovely:

I got this for Christmas (I think) a couple years ago. Maybe from Steven? I drooled over it but never made anything. Armed with post-its, I went through it again, and marked many beautiful patterns. I decided that Tsunami would be about right, fairly simple but not too boring. You can’t see it very well in this photo, but this is one of the pictures from the book:

And at the last moment, I decided that the yarn I had wound wasn’t perfect for this pattern, so I grabbed something entirely different – some solid purple Cherry Tree Hill yarn I’ve had in stash forever (from a long ago SSYC sale). I’ve turned the heel on sock #1 and this is how it looks today:I love how the cable is so loose and gentle - just a ripple in the fabric - and how the cable is framed by the reverse stockinette diamonds.

What are you knitting right now?

A new home for the handspun

2011-05-30T13:21:00.001-04:00

Do you remember that autumnal BFL I spun up? Well, Judy has knit it up, and it is gorgeous! She picked a simple infinity scarf pattern, which can be worn looped twice for a snug fit or left long: It really does look beautiful. She was able to use almost every last bit of the yarn, too. This will be so cozy come fall. Great choice of pattern.

I really should get back to my wheel…

Felici Marsh

2011-05-28T19:45:00.001-04:00

These Felici socks (in “Marsh” colorway) were on the needles for a bit, but they are finally done:They are my usual cuff-down plain socks with an afterthought heel, knit mostly at the office or on the go. I like this colorway a lot and these will be very welcome come fall.Their matchiness pleases me greatly!

Soon it will be time for me to turn my attention to Sock Summit homework. I noticed a thread on the Ravelry forum about the Twinkle Toes class that I am taking… the homework is to have a whole pair of socks knit. I could take a pair that is already knit, or I could knit something expressly for electrification. That will require some thought.

MORE Cedar Leaf!

2011-05-24T09:47:00.001-04:00

I told you this pattern was spreading likes weeds… here is my friend Kris’s Cedar Leaf Shawlette – in a gorgeous green. Kris bought the same Brooks Farm Solo Silk that I did at MDSW’11. The colorways at Brooks Farm are not named or numbered, as far as I can tell. This is such a moody green, with grey and blue undertones. Kris knit this up and gifted it to a May graduate. Isn’t she gorgeous? This color is perfect on her! I have a feeling I’ll be knitting this pattern again at some point, too. Wouldn’t it look great in come autumnal leafy colorways, like Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in “Foliage”? I’ve already made some socks from Foliage and I really loved the yarn.

One last shot of Kris’s shawlette…

Another spring shawlette

2011-05-22T14:05:00.001-04:00

These things are popping up like weeds… I made another Cedar Leaf Shawlette for my colleague, Karen, who is retiring this month: The yarn is Brooks Farm Solo Silk, a single ply of silk and fine wool (50/50). It is lovely. Knit on a size 5 needle, there is plenty of drape in this.The leaf edging is very entertaining to knit, and the perfect detail on an otherwise simple crescent-shaped scarf. I hope Karen loves it. We will miss her tremendously at the library.

Book review: The Joy of Sox

2011-05-15T11:42:00.001-04:00

I haven’t accomplished a ton of knitting this week… the weather was quite good and so I spent a lot more time than usual outdoors trying to get the yard into shape for spring. The weeds grow so quickly! However, I did manage to cast on for another Cedar Leaf Shawlette, and as of last night, the stockinette portion is done. I’ll take this with me on the airplane today and get started on the leaves:

This photo doesn’t quite do justice to the true color of this yarn – it’s a bit washed out here. I’ll get a better one when the project is finished. This is a retirement gift for a colleague and I hope to have it done for the reception.

I have a small stack of books I’ve been meaning to tell you about. I recently succumbed to The Joy of Sox. I kept seeing patterns from this book pop up that I liked, and when I had a 50% off coupon and saw it at AC Moore, I jumped.

I can take or leave the whole “sexy socks” theme – it is minorly amusing. But let me show you the 7 (yes, seven) patterns I queued!

A Roll in the Hay (by Gina House), above, is a good pattern for a solid or semi-solid yarn. It features wheat sheaves as the major design element, and some ribbing and seed stitch to fill in the blanks. Very attractive.

Make-Up Socks (by Kristin Kapur) is another good choice for a solid or semi-solid yarn and was already in my Ravelry queue before I bought the book. It has some climbing vines that are quite fetching. I could use my green Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine for these…

Royal Flush (by Mona Schmidt) is another good choice for a solid yarn (hmmm, I’m sensing a theme here). The traveling twisted stitches up the sides remind me of DNA models. These would require a lot of concentration – definitely not office knitting. I couldn’t find a photo to snag so you’ll have to click through to Ravelry to see these lovelies.

Girl’s Best Friend Thigh Highs (by Star Athena) have always intrigued me. I’m not sure why – I’m not a thigh-high kind of girl. I don’t wear snazzy short skirts with tights and boots in the winter, for which socks like these would be perfect. But I like them just the same – aren’t the diamonds fun? So there. Perhaps I could make a knee-high version. Again, no easy photo to snag, so click through to Ravelry.

Last of the Red Hot Lovers (by Janine le Cras), above, is another stitch show-off pattern best for a solid yarn. This one features a heart-like cable that I actually like. Most of the heart cables look cheesy to me. Perhaps a contender for a Valentine’s Day knit in 2012?

Warm Up Socks (by Sauniell Connally) is one I looked at for quite a while, trying to decide if I liked them or not. There is a fishnet-like panel in these and normally I’m not a lacy sock person. But something about these intrigues me… Even the Ravelry photo isn’t great because the sock is shown on blockers rather than a foot, but the one in the book is fetching. (Why doesn’t the publisher always submit photos to Ravelry? I don’t know!)

And finally, Sole Mates (by Alyson Johnson) is a good choice for semi-solid or solid yarn. The cable down the back of the sock is lovely, and it extends onto the heel flap. I’d want to wear these with open-heeled shoes to show that off. Do click through to Ravelry to see the detail!

This book also contains some instructional content that would be helpful for a newer sock knitter, as well as some “knitty bits” panels sprinkled throughout the book with interesting facts – like showing off one hand-dyed yarn knit up in stockinette, ribbing, lace, and cable – the yarn looks sooooo different! The book has a hard cover with a spiral binding – my favorite package for knitting books. If I really make all 7 of these patterns, it will have been quite a bargain!