My first knitting project

Hah! Finished my first sock, ever.
Of course, it's a *wee* bit big. BUT, it fits DH's foot perfectly (he's a size 12). LOL

So, yeah, I made him a sock. *coughs, looks around sheepishly* It's what I had intended all along, dontchaknow..... :-P

Now, I have to make the matching sock, and then maybe actually make myself a pair, in a totally smaller size, of course.....

Socks!

I'm almost done with my first sock. It was done in chunky weight yarn and size 10 DPN needles. I just have to finish the last 3 inches of the foot, then to do the toe. (I'm knitting it from the ribbing down.)

So far, the instructions I found are fairly easy, and along with some good YouTube videos about the construction of socks (by Expert Village), the sock has come along rather quickly.

As my first sock, it's not too bad. It looks like a sock, which is a good thing. LOL

It'd definitely be a "boot sock" or just around-the-house socks. I didn't do any shaping of the leg portion of the sock (it's ankle high) so it might be a little loose, and the foot part might be a little big circumference-wise. I am hoping the toe part works out well.

The yarn is really soft and warm, which is good, because I have a tendency to have very cold feet (a bane of DH's existence, according to him at least....). Plus with the chunky yarn and bigger needles, it's been easier to see WTH I'm doing at each step of construction.



The only thing I don't like is using the DPNs. The points get in the way, and am wondering if circular needles wouldn't be better for this sort of thing. (Although admittedly, packing the DPNs and project work well. The plastic cable might get annoying for on-the-go projects).

Some of the YouTube videos show socks on the circular needles, which look easier.

The cable scarf is languishing (obviously, since I'm working on the socks), and I've only got about 6" of it done thus far. I'm not liking the yarn (acrylic wool blend -- yes, I know, my bad!) because it sticks a little bit to my preferred bamboo needles (although they might do better with metal needles). I'm just probably going to stick with natural fibers for knitting (wool, alpaca, merino, etc), and keep the blended yarns for crocheting the amigurumi for the kids.

Knitting on the Train

I have about an hour commute (each way) on the train/bus to get to work. So far, it's proving very fruitful in terms of knitting & audiobooks.

I'm managing one book per week on the commute, and I've got about 6 more books that have been converted to MP3 for my iPhone so I'm set for the next few weeks. This is more books I've finished (although not read) than I have in the past year, which is a sad thing in of itself, but I find myself enjoying the audio books immensely.

And, it's allowed me to work & finish a couple of knitting projects, which is nice.
- I finished up the double-knit scarf.
- started a cable scarf
- finished a dishcloth with a checkered pattern
- finished a dishcloth with an entrelac pattern -- which was annoying at first, but once I got the hang of the pattern, it got easier. I *might* do an entrelac scarf later, once I finish up the projects I have on hand now.

- started on a singular sock with completed ribbing -- although I have to say DPNs are rather annoying, esp. the size 10 neeldes with chunky weight yarn.

Purls!

I finally figured out how to do a purl stitch continental style. I had been having problems with how most tutorials have you do it, because it involves pulling the yarn down with your finger or thumb; I just don't like doing that. I finally found a video showing a "Norweigen" or "Finnish" version of purling continental style and it seems to work well enough. The stitches are a little bit loose, but I expect them to tighten up as I get used to doing it.

I'm 3/4ths done with the double-knit scarf, which is good, coz I really want to be done with it. It's been a good exercise, because I've gotten comfortable doing both American and Continental style in the same project. I want to try cabling next and maybe socks. So, we'll see. LOL

FO: Scarf

My actual knitting project goes well. I am (more or less) finished with the sampler scarf I was making, and just need to bind the darn thing off, which would be good practice since I'd never done that before.

I'm working on a double-knit scarf in chocolate and teal, using a silk wool that pills horribly, but, it's *soft*. I am going to have to felt the darn thing once I'm done. This is my "train knitting" project. I'm using a combination of continental and english to do the double knit and now that I've got the hang of it. And I'm actually getting about 3 rows done per 30 minute trip, versus the one row per trip I was getting when I started. I'm even confident enough to actually alternate rows and trying out stripes. LOL.

My one problem, at the moment, is how the ends are coming out. Some are too tight, some are too loose. The inside rows are fine. It's the first and last two loops of a given row that are rather problematic.

Afterwards, I'm going to have to sand the 10 needles I'm using just a little bit more. The tips aren't as smooth as I would like them to be and never noticed that until just a few days ago.

I'm almost done with my amigurumi lion, although I'm procrastinating on it horribly. The body, head/mane, tail, and one arm is done. I am in the process of making the second arm and still need to do both legs.

Once I'm done with the lion, I'm off to do an amigurumi Shaun the Sheep.

I *really* should start sewing (after I clean off a bunch of paperwork on the table, but I'm usually too tired when I get home to even attempt anything of that magnitude.)