Double finish

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. 

Farfalle

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…