FO: Undulating Rib Socks for Mom

Here are the Undulating Rib Socks that are for my mom for Christmas later this year. When she was here for Christmas last year, she "shopped" my sock yarn stash and browsed my sock pattern books. She picked a couple yarns she liked and about four patterns. So she doesn't know exactly which socks she's getting... but here they are!

I agonized about these a bit (sorry, devoted readers) but I'm happy with the way they came out. Anne asked if the two socks striped the same way, and the answer is "no" - you can probably see that in the photograph. But because the color changes are tonal, it doesn't bother me as much as it would if the yarn was multicolor. I knit these cuff-down on 60 stitches with 2.25 mm circular needles, and used my own standard slipped-stitch heel and a star toe. The yarn is Shibui Sock (100% merino with a tight twist). I adore this color and will be on the prowl for more yarn in this shade.

I used to not believe in blocking socks - why, if they're just going on a pair of feet (which serve a fine blockers)? But presentation is everything. I bought a set of blockers before submitting several pairs of socks to a knitting exhibit at my library a year or two ago, and now I really like them. If I'm gifting a pair of socks, I block them. They look so much prettier right out of the box. Here is a photo with one sock blocked (left) and one sock fresh off the needles (right). The unblocked sock looks kind of twisty and wrinkled. A knitter would know that a rib pattern will stretch out and become beautiful on a foot, but a nonknitting gift recipient might not. In that case, I would block!

[Side note: Knit Picks just started making sock blockers, too.]

I finished these up in a hotel room in Seattle and immediately cast on for another pair of undulating rib socks - for myself. Photos of those are forthcoming.

I'm happy with how these came out!

Project updates

Things have been pretty busy here, so the blog has been quiet. That does not mean there has been no fiber, though! Here are some project updates:

Katie's socks

I started knitting Katie's 3-year-old birthday socks and am 3/4 done. I'm using the Coriolis construction from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, in Tess' Designer Yarns "Super Socks and Baby" yarn that Kristina purchased at MDSW. The colorway might be "spring garden," but it wasn't marked and I'm not sure (it looks like some of the other spring gardens in Ravelry, though). They are going well. I thought I wanted to do a picot edge on the cuff, and I tried to adapt the picot bind-off from the Fetching fingerless mitts pattern, but it looks weird. I'll pull it out and do something else.

Spinning

Sunday evening, I pulled out the wheel and did some spinning. I'm still working on "Heidi's Blues" and a new photo wouldn't really tell you much. I decided to start a new bobbin. In an attempt to not end up with a lot of leftover singles, I weighed bobbin #1 with its singles, then weighed empty bobbin #2, and weighed enough fiber to bring it up to the weight of #1. When I'm done spinning the pile of measured fiber on the piano, I'll try making some 2-ply. It's harder for me to get a really smooth single out of this fiber. It's grippy.

Koolhaas

Speaking of spinning, remember the grey Coopworth handspun that I wanted to knit right away to see if there was anything to be learned by knitting with my handspun? It turned out to be too bulky for the Habitat hat (so I used Julia for the hat, instead). I swatched the Koolhaas pattern with the grey yarn and decided I didn't have the right needles. A Knit Picks order was placed. The needles have arrived, but I haven't cast on for the hat yet. I hope that this one will fit Sharon's head a bit better.

Holiday Gifts (the magazine)

The Koolhaas pattern originally appeared in the 2007 issue of Interweave Knits' Holiday Gifts. Has anyone gotten the 2008 issue yet? I wasn't planning to visit my LYS anytime soon and it's a 25-minute drive from my house, so I thought I'd order it online. But the shipping cost drove me away - IK charges $4.50 to mail a $7.99 magazine! I emailed my LYS (The Mannings) to see what they charge to shipping it out to me, but I haven't heard back yet. If anyone local is heading there soon, let me know - I'd love to have you pick up that issue for me.

Holiday Gifts (the presents)

Now that I'm done with the Habitat hat, I thought I would use the leftover Julia yarn (about 1/2 ball) to make one of those adorable sweater ornaments that Berroco designed. My mom is nuts about Christmas, and even nuttier about decorating her tree - one of these would be a great gift for her.

I'm also planning to make Sharon a bag for Christmas. She wants a felted bag with a special fabric lining. She has chosen the fabric from an online store (ReproDepot) and wants the yarn to match the fabric. We need to get the fabric asap so I can decide which yarn to use. We have a sketch scribbled on the back of a Ping's placement. Now all I have to do is work out the design details. Should be fun! Here is the fabric:

Election

Did you vote yet? For the first time ever, I stood in a line to vote today - about 10 people were ahead of me at my local municipal building. I have never not gone directly to the table before. It was exciting! Local Democrats are abuzz about the lawn sign in our front yard. Check it out (part 1 and part 2).

Only 107 days until Christmas...

Are you planning any holiday knitting this year? Last Christmas, I knit these little stocking hat ornaments for some coworkers. The yarn was left over from the Tulip baby cardigan (what a great pattern).

I don't currently have any major Christmas knitting plans, but these sweater ornaments from Berroco are mighty cute. There are 12 different sweaters, each more adorable than the one before. Free patterns! Download!