A Bit of Everything Thrown Together

Last week, I finished my pair of socks (dubbed Blueberry River socks) because I used a "waffle/woven" knit stitch for the cuff but used a specific guidelines* for the "Riverbed Architecture" sock. And the color is variegated with varies blues and purples.

And since those socks were my "train knitting", I started a brand new pair of socks using the same Riverbed Architecture guidelines, because
a) I have the same exact yarn but a different color
b) I only have one skein of that color and I know that I need only one skein for a pair of socks using the Riverbed Architecture.

I'm not sure what to call it since the colorway are purples and yellows.

As a costumer, I find it fascinating that as part of the knitting process, you're building the fabric (from the ground up) to wrap succinctly around a 3D object, instead of taking a flat piece of fabric and manipulating it to fit around a 3-D object.

---

Drop Spindle:
I'm getting better at the drop spindle. I've been keeping a notebook of progress for each set of rovings/top spun. I've more than tripled my first attempt of the measly 12 yards. I'm only using the drop spindle about 10 minutes a day, but it's helped. My hands are getting a better 'feel' for what they're supposed to be doing.

So my experiment is thusly: 1/2 lb (8 oz) of a wool top. I've separated them into 4 piles of 2oz.
I've been getting about 10-15 yards more each subsequent set spun, which isn't too bad,
My last attempt (#5) netted about ~80 yards of yarn at about a sport/DK weight.
My current attempt is probably going to double that as it's more of a sock weight yarn.

The experiments are mostly for me to get better because I picked up some beautiful tussah (wild) silk rovings, and it's like petting a soft downy kitten, and I want to make it into something.

---

Dyeing
I dyed the 3rd/4th set of yarn I spun up using Kool-Aid of all things. I had some Jacquard acid dyes on order for overdying some fabric, so I'll make use of it for the yarn as well. I think I stretched out the yarn a bit much during the drying process, but I'll rewash them to put the crimp back into it.


*Guidelines because the "pattern" involves *you* figuring out the actual size of the foot, your gauge, and looking up numbers to see what you *should* be knitting for the toe, heel, gusset, and cuff.

Kool Aid Dye

Today was a bit of dye-ing. I had some very white yarn from the drop spindle that needed more coloration. I read that kool-aid is a very appropriate dye for wool, requiring nothing more than packages of regular kool-aid and water (and much much cheaper!)

So, out popped an old pot, added very hot water, kool-aid, & yarn, then let that boil (10 minutes) and cool (hours). Colors aren't so bad, although it didn't compeletely dye everything (I have some small white spots), but I didn't want to stir it too much, lest all of it FELTS.

The colors aren't too bad (Black Cherry & Grape), although I did end up with Kool-aid stains over my hands at one point. Sticky, but washes quickly away with warm water & a bit of soap. The yarn vaguely smelled like Kool-aid for a bit, until I rinsed it out and hung it. Kool-aid smell is now gone.

Although, if I do that again, I'll have to do it right with some actual acid dyes. Plus, I've been meaning to actually dye some fabric anyways, so that's two birds with one stone. I took a dye classese while back, and really enjoyed it. The silk scarf that I dyed with a red ombre was *lovely*, and I have a wish to do that again. Plus, as our teacher told us, almost *anything* can be overdyed, provided you like the fabric.

OOOH, and Dharma Trading company has BLANK SILK fans! I could make a new fan to match every costume....Hmmm.....

Knitting

I'm close to actually finishing the Clapotis -- that IS if I don't run out of yarn. I'm on the last skein of yarn, and I'm HOPING that I have enough.

The pattern comes in five parts:
1) set up rows 2) increase rows 3) straight rows 4) decrease rows 5) finishing rows

I'm 50% done through the 4th part - decrease rows - and I just started the last skein. Hopefully, I did the math totally right in finding the correct area with the right amount of rows per area. *HOPE* Because the LYS is NO longer carrying this particular yarn -- it was all on clearance. *crosses fingers*

Otherwise, I'm going to have to rip back and see about decreasing faster without ruining the look of the thing. Oofda.

The Hemlock blanket is going slowly, mostly because there's so many stitches and I'm not even halfway through the chart repeats. Ugh. Luckily, the Eco wool is such a bulky yarn (3-4 stitches per inch) that it goes by "relatively" fast. However, this is my next-to-the-computer knitting/

The Clapotis is my train knitting, so it's going by a lot faster. Unfortunately, I can't take the Hemlock blanket on the train, because the yarn cake is too big, and the blanket's going to be sizeable past a certain point to efficiently carry on the train.

Consequently, a small draw-string bag & socks are on the next to-do list after the Clapotis.

Drop Spindling...

I acquired some additional roving from ImagiKnit, and spun that up relatively quickly. It's pretty bulky, like the last one. I think I shall knit that one into a small drawstring bag, then FELT the crap out of it -- it's got thin and thick bits all over the places.

After reading up a bit more on the various forums, and picking up a book over at the Library, I have (more or less) figured out how to do it better. And the practice rovings look better. The first two skeins ended up being a bulky worseted weight, and now, it's more Aran weight.

This is one of those skills are really taught better in-person, because it's so "kinetic" in nature.

There are lot of things I've learned on my own, from reading, watching videos, or whatnought, then just figuring things out, and I'm pretty good at this type of learning....but sometimes, there are things that are done by "feel", and is much better conveyed in person by a good teacher that can help you understand how something should "feel" when doing X.

Drop spindling is definitely a very kinetic practice....

Sewing + Knitting = Math

So, given a 3-day weekend, what do costumers do?
They sew. What do knitters do? They knit.

Being as I do both, guess what I did? LOL. And I re-discovered that I have a love - hate relationship with costuming. I love the final product, I love the actual 'making' of stuff, but boy, when it goes wrong, it make me want to tear my hair out.....

In the case of sewing, and armscye needed to be completely reworked (actually it was reworked 2x over) and I had to readjust several seams. And this is on a SIMPLE pattern that I already made (sans sleeves). Because apparently, when you add sleeves, it changes the WHOLE fricking geometry of the armscye and the back panels. Ugh. (I hate seam ripping, even basted stitches!)

And apparently, I have the same relationship with knitting. Apparently, I am incapable of looking at simple mathematical formulas and charts to discover the appropriate numbers I need to knit up a sock. You don't really need a pattern to knit up a pair of vanilla socks -- just the appropriate numbers for your foot, the stitch gauge for the yarn, and viola....finished sock! Geometry in all of its finest.

I frogged several inches of my sock project TWICE over because I was incapable of looking at a simple matrix to find out how many stitches I needed to actually knit.

When I actually did a small try-on, the toe of the sock was too big. Luckily, I didn't actually get any farther than 4" on the sock, so I ripped back two inches, which might not seem like a lot, but that's about 18 rows of stitches AND I'm knitting two at the same time, so ....well, let's just say it was doubly painful.

Why am I knitting up a pair of socks? Because I finally finished the "Viral Clap" shawl/scarf/stole, based off of Clapotis on Knitty.com. Named, because it's a viral pattern (i.e. almost all knitters seems to be doing it) and it's smaller than than the prescribed pattern, hence "clap" from "clapotis"

Yeah, I know why mathematicians knit. Because it involes a lot of fricking math & geometry. The socks are only one example.

For this project, because I didn't have the required yardage for the original pattern, I had to figure out patterns finished area & yardage per inch, then make adjustments based on my given yardage and make adjustments to the finished area. I actuallly got paranoid at one point, because I wasn't sure if my calculations were even correct to begin with! Luckily, they were and I had plenty of yardage to spare.

Yes, I've been doing a lot of math for knitting. Kinda like sewing, except even MORE SO, because with sewing, you have to take account funky body types, including mine that don't conform to standard "pattern measurements" off a "standard" body type. Hmph.

Anyways, here's the finished shawl/stole/scarf...whatever. It can be worn several ways.



Dude, and I'm not even FOND of math ...so says the girl who double-majored in math & CompSci in college....(Yeah, I'm all over theoretical calculus and mathematics to a certain extent. Geometry, not so much, except when it comes to pool & knitting. I really should have paid more attention in class.....Oh, and don't even ask me to figure out the tip amount for a waiter/waitress!

Knitting & the Art of Zen......

Last night's train ride was...eventful in a totally uneventful way. The baby bullet had engine problems and had to stop 2-3 stops down from SF(at a non-baby-bullet stop). We sat for about 20 minutes before the engineers gave up and the conductors announced that we had to get off the train, but that the train behind us was going to stop and pick us all up.

So, about 100+ people got off the train into the nice warm day (most of us having to travel back to the last train car in order to get off on the actual platform), and waited and waited.

Because of the baby bullet delay, the train behind us was 38 minutes late, which we didn't find out until about 15 minutes into actually getting off the train. *joy* Gotta love Caltrain service!

I had placed several calls to DH who was picking me up AND who claims he was actually ON TIME to pick me up at the train station and cites that's why the delay occurred. I had him just go home and wait for my call since I didn't know how long it was going to take to actually get home.

Most people were a bit frantic at being delayed so long, and many were on the phone either complaining or passing the time away, and there were many small congregated groups also bitterly complaining about said delay. There was also a lot of people who started reading email, the web, or whatnought on their phones. (I wonder what would have happened if we had been in an area with little signal??) Or just standing there and sulking for the train to arrive.

And, while I was somewhat miffed at the delay (I was eager to get home, PLUS I was starving), I sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed a bit of sun. I took out my knitting and just worked away at my stole.

One person even commented at how lucky I was to have brought it, but I've started carrying around a knitting project because I find myself waiting a lot. It's something I don't think I've noticed until I STARTED carrying around the knitting.

There's waiting in lines, waiting for the next bus, waiting on the bus, waiting in a waiting room, waiting for food to arrive....just a lot of waiting, waiting, waiting....Five minutes here, 10 minutes there, a couple of minutes here, 20 minutes there.

That's lot of time wasted just waiting around.

However, I'm finding myself 'zen'-ing out with the knitting during these waiting times. It gives my hands something to do, it allows my brain to go into a meditative state, and I find myself less hurried and frazzled during those waiting periods. Especially, yesterday, I found myself relaxing versus most of the very frazzled people waiting around for the next train

Plus, when everything is said and done, I end up with a finished product. THAT alone delights me to no end.

Of course, I could also be reading a book during these waiting periods, but I find that I require a good chunk of interuppted time in order to get into the flow of a book (at least 10 minutes); any time shorter than that is unproductive for reading. However, I do find that if I've got two minutes, I can easily whip out the knitting and get a few stitches done without any issue.

But, with the audio books, I am definitely getting a bit of 'reading' done while knitting, so I'm quite pleased with the setup.

Yesterday, it took over two hours to get home (Left work at 5; got home around 7:30), and I got a lot of work done on the stole.

AND, random piece of trivia -- In some Southern American countries, such as Costa Rica and Peru, a person who doesn't know how to spin (or tend sheep or weave or something "practical") by the age of 5 is considered useless.......

First Skein

After letting the skein for a while, the yarn I made is actually starting to look like yarn instead of a gnarly tangled mess. A majority of the twisted kinks have stretched out. Actually, the whole of the skein has really stretched out. I'm definitely going to get a lot more yardage than the initial measurement.

However, I am thinking about dye-ing it some color; Now, I've dyed fabric & taken a few dye workshops, but never worked yarn. But I don't think the process differs that much. But I have a few websites bookmarked just in case. I'm going to start simple and use Koolaid to do some variagation on this skein.

Spinning

Egads. I've done it to myself again, and picked up a new hobby. This weekend, I started using a drop spindle.

I started at S's craft day at her apartment. I picked up a drop spindle and some fiber over at Purlescence in Sunnyvale.

I've just finished the skein I started at S's apartment. I've set the twist, wrapped it around a make-shift niddy-noddy (amazing what extra PVC pieces will make with the right connectors), and then set the twist. It's currently hanging to dry. It's about a worsted or DK weight yarn.

I initially measured about ~432 inches (~12 yards) of yarn around the niddy-noddy. However, I think I overtwisted the yarn, so I'll probably end up more...if it's not too overly twisted to use (I hope).

We'll see how it turns out. Not sure how much I enjoy it yet, altho', I do have to say it is a bit of fun. :-)

On the Needles

Because the entrelac scarf was finished, the 'Viral Clap' stole is now my train commuting knitting. It's working up relatively slow. I'm only getting about 2 rows per train ride, and it's only going to get slower as I increase the stitch count.



This past weekened, I cast on the Jared Flood's Hemlock Doily Ring blanket/throw, which is a free pattern; you can find more on Ravelry. The yarn used is amazingly inexpensive (considering how much yardage you get PER skein) and is knitting up relatively quickly on US 10.5 needles (as it's a bulky worseted yarn). HOWEVER, the throw does go up to about 500 or so stitches (I'm only on about 136 right now), and it's already taking a long time to finish a single round. It'll be FOREVER to finish a round when it's bigger.

A friend, L, already made this project, and warned me that casting off is also going to take "forever". This is actually my first "lace" project, as the blanket was adapted from a vintage doily pattern.



I'm "itching" to make a pair of socks, for which I have the yarn, but I'm holding off because I have two project on the needles, and do I really need any more? (Don't answer that....)

Of course, I might end up casting a pair on later, but I digress.

------------

Project Ideas: Something I heard on a podcast that made me say, Hmmmm......

- Felted wool blanket from Thrift store sweaters -- basically: felt the sweaters, cut out squares, then quilt the whole of it together.
(http://www.blackbirdsf.org/diy/blanket/)

- Use the sleeves of said sweaters for leg warmers or the cuffs as wrist warms.

Finished Entrelac Scarf

On Thursday's train ride home, I finally finished the Entrelac Scarf. I still had a little bit left over to crochet an edge to it. I wasn't too pleased with it just having that straight boring cast-on/cast-off edge.

So later that night, before bed, I took a quick glance at different crochet edgings online. First, I tried a picot edge, but that didn't look right, so I frogged the several I had made as a trial. Then I settled on a scalloped edge instead, which looked much much nicer.

I had just enough yarn left over to scallop both ends, and still have a good foot of yarn left over. (Yaay for winging yardages!)

On Friday, I wore it (prior to washing or blocking) because I very much wanted to do so. Friday night, I washed it & blocked it, which made it about 6" longer on either side than I anticipated. Now, it's *very* long.

And, I'm debating whether I want to line the wrong side. I should have enough of the gold lining fabric from the Mandarain Collared Robe to do so, but am not sure if the color will work.

Out with the Old; In with the New

The Cigar Gloves are pretty much done. I have to bind off the last finger covering, and then it's over. They're pretty darn comfy, and I'll have to make another set of just actual fingerless gloves. I might have enough of this particular yarn to make another set. I'm absolutely amazed at the yardage that comes with the Socks that Rock Yarn by Blue moon.



In the meantime, the Entrelac scarf is almost done with the last fricking skein. Although this is my train knitting, I've felt like I'm in a project black hole with this one. I heard this term from someone else, and I've been in this situation before, so I thought to appropriate it.

A project black hole is that project, where despite all of your efforts or amount of time spent on it, seems to get *nowhere*.

In this instance, because I like long scarfs, this seems to go on *forever* and it doesn't seem like I'm making any headway, except that the skein is getting smaller. Luckily, I started the very last row today...much to my absolute relief! This will probably be finished by this afternoon's train ride.

New Project:
I've also cast-on a new project, which is "Clapotis", using a 100% Italian merino wool I got on clearance sale on my birthday. It was the last 6 skeins in a gorgeous burgandy red. It's an Aran weight wool and is soo super soft.

However, as I realized upon starting the project, that the yarn has a tendency to split if I'm not careful, despite using my sharpest needles. And the ends of the projects (both on the needles and not on the needles) are curling. However, i think this is in part how the pattern lays out. Subsequent Ravelry.com checks on other people's projects using this pattern show the curling at the ends.

The pattern is one of those really pretty, but it seems to be a viral knitting patterns -- almost everyone seems to have done this pattern after it came out -- so I've decided to call it the Viral Clap on Ravelry. LOL.

It's knit "on the bias"....as I am referring to it. It's an elongated parrallelogram, starting at one point, knitting increases every single round, until you reach the farthest point. The finished product reminds me of a bias cut fabric; and supposedly, the finished knitted piece is super stretch too.

However, this project, too, also seems like a project black hole. Right now, I'm only knitting on it in the evening for a few rows -- so I only have gotten about 4-5 inches since starting it last weekend. The stitch count increases every row, so by the time I'm at the widest part, there should be 100+ stitches & 18 stitch markers separating every 6 stitches. With the aran yarn, this should end up pretty darn warm.

As it is, I'm not making it as long as the actual recommended pattern (820 yards with a finished size of 55 x 21 inches). I have 570 yards (6 skeins), so it'll be just somewhat shorter (40 x 19 inches).

Of course, this required much of my rusty math skills. I had to figure out the area of the original pattern versus yardage used, with the stitch gauge....then apply that to the yardage I do have to keep the same yarn yardage per square inch. OY!

No wonder there's a bunch of mathematicians who have taken to knitting!

Cigar Gloves

The photographer (aka Cigar) gloves are almost done. I've got the thumb left on the second hand left to finish, then I can bind off.

In this pattern, the thumb, index, and middle finger are "fingerless" and the pattern stops short of the 1st knuckle. The ring & pinky fingers are fully covered. This should help keep my hands relatively warm while operating a camera. (I only need those fingers to operate the camera controls & lenses).

The gloves went by surprisingly quickly using "left over" yarn from my first pair of socks. I'm thinking about making a small pocket for the palms to hold hand warmers, but I can easily make those later. I'm also trying to figure out IF I can make coverings for those three digits without adding buttons (i.e some sort of elastic that wraps around the hand or another finger?), but I highly doubt that will work.

Actually...now that I think about it, I might be able to knit individual tops for those three digits, then sew a part of the circumference into the ribbing of the glove. I might have to knit it very stretchy in order to remove the finger tops when needed. Hmm. Must experiment. 2x2 ribbing? Or just elastic? Hmm...

Regardless, once this is done, I'm pretty much out of knitting projects to start, which is sad....at least without buying more yarn. I did finish the guage for the shawl, but that's more of a very slow project since the yarn & needle gauge are...not conducive to overall health of my hands...and I need to buy longer needles for this specific gauge. The ones I have are much too short both in needle & cable length.

I might actually have to go back and finish the projects currently in hiberation -- mostly crochet projects.

Knee High Socks

I finished my knee-high socks; casting off the last pair tonite. They've been washed and are psuedo-blocking (as in drying on towels because my wire-hanger ones are for short socks).



I did try working a gauge on the Serenity shawl kit that J gave to me, but the recommended needle (Size US 4) is too small, so I'm going down a needle size and re-gauging. Unfortunately, I have problems with needles smaller than US 4, because they wreck havoc with my hands. I can do short stints on US3s, but not for long. So, I'll work on the gauge and see where that leaves me.

If THAT doesn't work, I have to find a new project to work on the train. I might make myself a pair of "photo" gloves. Fingerless gloves with a mitten cap; or add fingers only for the last two fingers (I need the thumb, index, and middle to operate the camera and lens.

Down to the last skeins....

Yesterday, I realized that I was almost done with the entrelac scarf, as I was almost out of yarn (I originally had 3 skeins). THEN I realized that I was not going to have enough to actually finish the appropriate row so I can do the LAST row so I can cast off.

(The entrelac is built on 4 different row sets: start row, Row 2-3 that alternate until length, then an End row. However, you need to end on a Row 2 in order to do an End Row.)

So, I can either:
1) buy another skein and make it longer.
2) frog back a whole row (which is a lot, considering entrelac) and then end it appropriately.

I'm tempted by #1, because I like long scarves, and this one, while long, is not exactly as long as I like. AND, I wouldn't have to worry too much about the dye lot, as it is a variegated Noro and the scarf is multi-color ANYWAYS. But, it means a trip to the LYS....oh noes!

But, apparently, in my indecision yesterday, I took the scarf out of my commute bag, which, I didn't realize this morning, until I got on the train! DOH! Gawds forbid that I have nothing to do with my hands while on the train.

Luckily for me, I had grabbed my knee-high sock project, because I thought to finish up the last row on the entrelac and that would only take the train ride there; I wanted to have a second project for the train ride home.

So, it turns out I just have to work on my socks for today. Oh woez! Actually, I'm almost done. I've got less 2 inches on both socks before I start the final ribbing for another 1.5 inches.

Entrelac & Socks

Status:

- entrelac scarf -- slow going, as I'm using it as my train project. I can get about one row of diamonds done per train trip (2 rows per round trip). Right now the whole of the thing is about 12-15 inches long, but considering the fact that I like *long* scarfs, this might take a while

- Spiraling Coralis socks -- These socks started off on one set of needles so I could ensure that they would be knit exactly the same. But, I had to break up the socks into two separate needles after it got past the ankle, due to the need to constantly shift stitches around for the spiraling band up the sock. Having them both on one set of needles wasn't working too well, and I had to frog at one point because the band wasn't spiraling correctly.

I decided that these would be knee high socks, so it'll take a while to finish; they are primarily sitting by my desk in between moments of waiting for WoW BGs or waiting for images to finish printing.

One skein was enough for slightly higher than ankle socks, and I'm glad I had bought 2 skeins so I could opt to make the knee high versions. However, I doubt I'll need the whole of the 2nd skein. I'll probably make a small matching pair of hand warmers or some such.

I'm trying very hard to keep them exactly the same. The calf increases are every 3 rounds, so I'm stopping after a set of increases to go do the next sock.

Replacement Book

Yesterday, the book I had to re-order (because I lost it on the plane) came through! Now, I can finish my damn socks. And I've been wearing my other finished socks, which are nice, warm, and toasty. I'm rather pleased with them.

While I was waiting for that particular book to come in, I decided to cast-on an entrelac scarf using the Noro Silk Garden Lite I had picked up (silk, mohair, lambs wool). I love the variegated colors of the yarn, which is working perfectly with the entrelac scarf.

I'm getting used to the entrelac pattern; there is a pattern for four different types of rows (start & end rows, and the two rows (K&P side) that make up the inside of the entrelac.) Once you have memorized the pattern for either the Knit or Purl row, it's relatively easy.

However, if I'm totally ignoring what I'm doing or get too distracted, I will screw up a section. I've had to frog back parts of it, because I realized that I was doing the wrong row pattern. Luckily, each 'weave' section of the entrelac is self-containing and I usually catch myself before I get too far along.

Trip Knitting

On the trip to Moab,AZ, I brought two knitting projects to keep me busy. I ended up knitting mostly on the plane, with only minor knitting at the end of the long day while I was waiting for the photos to download onto the computer.

For one project, I started yet another sock project, but this time it was two socks at a time. I cast-on while still at home the night before I left, so I could work out all the twisty and tangles that I *knew* was going to happen.

First, I put the single cake of yarn in a old nylon so that I could knit from two ends of the cake without getting tangled. Then, I ended up frogging 4x before I got it right. I tried to do the magic loop with two socks. It ended up a tangled mess, so I gave up on THAT idea (especially since I can't do any magic loop with a SINGLE project, let alone two!). I opted for two circular needles instead.

I frogged THAT 3x before I got it right. I couldn't figure out why I was getting tangled. It would have helped if I had two different colored needles or cable to figure out which needle went to what, but since I was going on a plane, I needed to use my wooden needle sets....which are, unfortunately, exactly the same. *sigh*

Once I got that cast onto the needles and worked 3-4 rows without tangling, I worked up both toes (and all the increases for that) and left the foot length (just before the arch expansion) for the plane as there really is no increase for the rounds.

I had forgotten to photocopy the actual pattern from my book, so I brought the whole book (to my complete and utter detriment because I *forgot* the book on the plane on the last leg of the trip home. So I had to order another one so I can finish the damn socks (plus I actually really do like the book))

Now that the socks are past the early set of rows, it's relatively easy to knit both socks at once (until I do a brain dead manuever and use the wrong circ needle, which then leaves me with both socks on one circ needle, but luckily, it's an easy fix). Now, I don't have to worry too much about getting both socks *exactly* the same. Previous, each sock was just *slightly* different from the other (either a little long in the foot or leg), but not enough for anyone to notice...except for me.

In addition to the socks, I brought a simpler project -- a moebius cowl -- which totally appeals to the mathematician side of me (I double majored in CS & Math). It's a simple knit & purl combination of rows worked in a simple 3-6-9 pattern (3k, 3p, 6k, 3p, 9k, 3p, 9k, 3p, 6k, 3p, 3k). I cast on several days before the trip (using Cat Bordhi's YouTube video on casting on a moebius), and got about 4 inches into the project. It's worked on a single long circular needle with a twist to get the moebius effect. There's no dangling needles and it packs up pretty darn compact.

What's nice about this project is that it's really simple and mindless, and can be taken in-and-out of the bag relatively easy and you really don't need to think about where you are...just look at either a purl or knit row. Consequently, it was a nice trip project to bring in for the airport, or when you know that you don't need to concentrate all that much. I'm currently using the tencel/merino yarn I bought at Stitches and it's just absolutely lvely to work with.

Both projects were small enough (or wrapped small enough) to fit into the backpack with room to spare. The small REI stuff sacks were absolutely perfect to use, as they're nylon and I don't have to worry about the needles poking through...plus they just pack small.

I have a 2nd Sock!

Well, the matching pair is done. Unfortunately, the second pair is a little "off". I messed up the heel turn, probably because I wasn't paying attention to the darn pattern. The heel is a little square-er than the other sock (which fits perfectly) which then slightly shortened up the reinforced back heel. Bugger.

The sock *fits*, but feels slightly funny at the back of the heel. I'm not about to frog the whole of it back to the heel, so I'll keep them as house socks. I *knew* I should have tried on the sock while making it (like I did the first one), so this serves as an object lesson.

And, it also speaks volumes for actually knitting BOTH damn things at once. So, lessons learned for the next sock.

Photo of the unblocked 1st sock (which fits), so it looks a bit funny shaped:


(Hmm....and why does my photo have a *red* cast to it? Must look at the finished web image later, because the original doesn't....)

I Have a Sock!

I finished up my sock tonite, AND it fits. So, go me!
The sock yarn I used from Blue Moon is a great yarn. This pattern would have been probably better if it was a solid color to show off the stitches better, but they're still nice. The pattern book is pretty nice, showing you the mathematics of making socks that actually *fit* you with your measurements. It appeals to the costumer in me. :-)

It's always good to finish *something*.
Now, I have to actually finish the OTHER sock, but that can wait until tomorrow. Eventually, I probably should learn how to cast on two socks at once so I can finish both at the same time.

Wrist Warmers

I finished the body of the singular wrist-warmers (Dashing from Knitty.com) that I started last week. I still need to do the thumb, and the matching pair.

The Alpaca yarn I got from Stitches is working up well, and is a wonderful color. I'm actually quite pleased with it, and it promises to be warm.

However, now I'm ever-so-slightly paranoid about losing them, now that I've seem to lost one half of two pairs of gloves (cheap tho they were) somewhere between the SF train station and work. Oofda.



After trying out A's KnitPicks interchangeables and *really* liked them, so I went ahead and ordered a set for myself. I am now waiting for them to arrive so I can give A back her set.

I have also discovered that I have a tendency to cast-off TOO TIGHTLY. I noticed this on scarves, but really noticed it on the baby socks I had created. I need to remember to switch out to a bigger needle when casting-off.