Mostly Non-Knitting Content

Today's not really a knitting day, as much as I'd like it to be. I was working with some super bulky yarn last night and earlier this morning and I can feel it in my right wrist. So, it's time to take a break from knitting... a short one, trust me!

With the atmosphere in the house being less than optimal (no, don't even ask), I decided to take the camera and meander through the woods behind the house. The crispness of the winter air was very refreshing. There's not a lot of colour out there at this time of year, but I was determined to take a few pictures. On one of the pictures, I even removed whatever colour there was.

Stroll with me...

Enjoy your day, all of you.

Afterthought Heel... afterthoughts

I've done knitting the socklet with the afterthought heel, taken pictures of it, and analyzed the pros and cons of this sock in particular and afterthought heels in general. Are you ready?

Done with the toe, a standard toe knitted to 16 stitches and then Kitchenered (don't you love changing a noun into a verb?)

The stitches have been picked up and the waste yarn removed. I started out with 56 stitches for the sock. Each side of the heel should have had 28 stitches, but one side had 27. That wasn't really a problem; I simply made one more stitch on that side.

Starting to knit the heel. I worked 2 knit rounds before starting the shaping, then continued in the standard shaping technique of working decreases on one row and knitting the following row.

Of course, I had to try it on. How else could I tell when I'd knit the heel to the right measurement for finishing?

The finished heel. Not bad at all, really. Yes, there's some holey-ness at the corner of the heel, but this IS just a sample sock, right? I needed to know how it would work out just doing the heel first. From here on in, I can perfect my technique.

Here's the other side of the heel. Again, there's quite a hole there. Now that I'm aware of that, I can easily pick up an extra stitch in each corner and knit it together with one of the corner stitches. That should fix that problem, don't you think?

And the sock on my foot. It doesn't look half bad, in my humble opinion. The only problem is, 56 stitches on 3 mm needles, using dk weight yarn is a little loose on my foot. As well, both the toe and the heel measure 2" each. That's a total of 4". I made the foot section a total length of 6.5", making the entire sock 10.5" long. That's no problem if your foot is 10.5" long; mine's 9.75", so this sock is a bit too big on me. No, let's face it, my foot swims in this sock. It's a good thing it's just an experiment at this point.

So, now for the pros and cons. This would be a great heel for my socks. It fits my foot quite nicely and it's deep enough for my heel. Conversely, it's much too shallow for John's foot.

It's a great way of completing the sock without interrupting any patterning you may work on the cuff and instep as you can simply continue knitting all the way down without having to disrupt the flow of the knitting.

On the con side, other than this heel not being ideal for every foot, I can't really think of a lot of cons. Perhaps the only con, in my estimation, is that you really need to know the length of the heel and toe in order to work the main part of the foot. Maybe I'm just not familiar enough with this heel yet to figure out how to lengthen or shorten it, as might be necessary.

I liked working this heel and will probably use it, but not for all the socks I knit. For John's socks, I'll stick with the standard heel and gusset shaping. I will definitely keep the afterthought heel in my repertoire, though.

Note: Sorry about the colour change in the photos. It's not the camera, it was the angle at which the pictures were taken. The sock is, in actuality, more towards the green colour in the upper pictures than it is blue, as in the latter pictures. Interesting how just a change in angle, and lighting (there's a skylight just above our bed) can change the colour the camera perceives.

Le Sock... so far

Beadlizard, in her comment, said she was going to enjoy watching me make the afterthought heel, so I decided to post frequent update pictures. Susanne commented that the sock leg didn't look very long. Susanne, you're right. I decided to spare myself a lot of knitting and time by making them/it ankle socks. Your suggestions, by the way, make sense and I have filed them for future reference. Thank you.

Ok, so this is where I am on the sock right now...


The instep (or top of the foot)

The sole. The heel will be where the green waste yarn is.

I've started the toe in a contrasting colour and will have it done later today. I'll take frequent pictures of the heel in progress and will post them over the next day or two.

Oh, Beadlizard, I think you're right about BGW's second treasury. I've already got post-it notes throughout the book on stitch patterns I think would be great in socks. All sorts of ideas are going through my mind as I page through the book. Like I said to John the other night, I need more hands to do all the knitting I'd like to do. That, and time.

I'll end this morning's post by letting all of you know how much I appreciate your comments, input and suggestions. There are times it almost feels like a "Sit and Stitch" session. I love it! Thank you, all.

Just a thought

Or perhaps an afterthought?

I've never done (but have read about) an afterthought heel in a sock, but after seeing the ladies in the knitting class at the store doing their Christmas stockings with that heel, I decided to give it a try. This afternoon, I cast on for a sock, in dk weight yarn so it will work up quicker than 4 ply. I've read the directions and I'm giving it a go. I'll keep you informed as to how it works out.

Here's the sock so far...

See the dark stripe? That's where the heel will be put in later. All afternoon, my mind's been mulling over the measurements. Two inches for the toe, two inches for the heel? Most of my standard heels are 1.5 inches. Should I go with that measurement for this one, too? Does that mean the knitting for the foot should be 3.5 inches less than my total foot length? Or should I play it safe and allow 3.75 inches?

Those of you who've done socks with an afterthought heel may feel free to advise me on this one. It's a learning experience for me. I'm not even sure I'll make the second sock, but if this one turns out well, I will. I've decided to do the heel and toe in the same colour I used for my waste yarn. Both yarns, incidentally, are Sirdar's Country Style DK and the sock is done on 56 stitches, with 28 for the heel.

I also finished a top down hat today. I found the directions at I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can. It's a great technique which enables you to use ANY yarn at all to knit a hat. And the best part is, there's no swatching! I love it! Here's how my first attempt turned out.

*grin* I like it, but when I put it on and I've got on my warm sweater and my snow boots, I look perfectly equipped for life on the farm. (My apologies to those farm folk out there.. I mean no disrespect at all. I grew up in farm country.) I simply don't look great in toques.

Adventures on a Thursday

Well, ok, it wasn't really an adventure but we decided to take a day for ourselves and, literally, get out of town. We drove to Vernon for the day. For those of you unfamiliar with this area of the country, that's about a forty-five minute drive. The weather report said snow wasn't expected until that evening, so we decided to take the opportunity and just get out. We didn't see sunshine, but at least it didn't snow (it was pretty cold, though).

We did want to get a Vernon newspaper to see what kind of opportunities (job and housing related) were available there. We did that and read the paper over an early lunch at a little cafe, "Lunch Matters, Breakfast Too". After lunch, I made it a point to check out Neverending Yarn, a yarn store just down the street from the cafe. I like going there just to see what they carry that we don't. I hadn't planned on buying anything, but.....

I now have a complete set of the four Barbara Walker treasuries. I found the second treasury at the store, and simply HAD to buy it! I'm thrilled with it. I've already got ideas for several more pairs of socks. I also purchased a big ball of Opal sock yarn. I've bought the Opal cotton before, but had never seen the regular Opal sock yarn before. It feels softer than the Regia. I'm looking forward to knitting with it, but I'm trying to exercise my self-control by not starting any more projects (other than the Feathery Stole) until the four reversible hats are done. So far, so good.

The snow flurries started just as we pulled off the highway, onto the road we live on and soon turned into a regular snow storm. It didn't stop all night, apparently. I wanted to get a nice picture of what we see from the living room window, but in all honesty, a picture that shows very little but gray and white is kind of boring, monotonous. So I took a picture of my snowmen instead. John put this little display together last month. I think they look very festive with their "frosting".

I don't think we'll be doing much driving today. The roads, especially the side roads, are reportedly pretty slippery. It may well be the perfect day to stay home, start a fire, do some knitting, some baking, some cuddling. Now, if only we had the house all to ourselves.

One more FO for 2005

It's fun watching my Finished Objects list growing a little more before the end of the year. When you actually keep track of what you finish, it's surprising how much you can create. I know I knit a lot, but I really hadn't realized just how much I did finish this year. And today, I added one more thing to that list: the Soho scarf from Exquisite Little Knits.

I made a couple of minor changes to the scarf, like making it a little wider than the original pattern... and working completely in garter stitch, rather than purling one stitch at the end of each row in the center section. I did that because I didn't like the way the third section was picked up (a definite seam). Now, I love the scarf!

As well, I did the cast on for another project from the same book. As some of you may remember, for my birthday earlier this year, I spoiled myself and ordered some yarn from Handmaiden yarns. One of them was called Angel Hair, 70% Kid Mohair, 30% nylon in a colourway named Autumn. It's a gorgeous combination of lime green, yellow, orange and corals... truly beautiful. It's been tucked away in my stash since August, but last night, one skein made it's way on to two chairs and became a ball of yarn. It's amazing how gorgeous the colours looked on the skein. When wound into a ball, it looks like a dog's breakfast. But, that aside, it's knitting up VERY pretty.

The pattern I'm using is one called the Feathery Stole. It calls for Rowan Kid Silk Haze (I do have some of that, too), but I thought it would be very effective in the Angel Hair. What do you think so far?

Notice the needles? They were another gift to self... Lantern Moon needles. Beautiful needles for a beautiful yarn.

One last thing... I'm going to be posting a couple of pictures to the store's blog. You have to go and check out what Cathy (one of my co-workers) knitted up. Check it out here.... Art of Yarn

This and that

It's Monday evening. There's a repeat of CSI on the tv behind me. I'm not usually at my computer at this time of day, but today's just been that kind of day.

You saw a picture of the beret I knitted for John; today, I finished a second one for a store sample. They've been felted, but are not quite dry yet. They're resting on separate heat registers for now. I did try to get a picture of the hat, pre-felting, on John's head, but he wasn't terribly enthusiastic. Here are pictures, though, pre- and post-felting. They turned out nice and thick and plush. I think they'll be very warm indeed.

The black beret is made with Paton's Classic Wool, while the burgundy-ish one is Galway, in a burgundy/tan tweed. I will try to get a picture of John wearing his beret.

And then, there's the sock from my SSSS exchange partner.

On a dreary, wintery, hovering around 0C (32F) kind of day, doesn't that sock just scream sunshine and happiness? Now, to get a couple other projects done so I can get those socks on my feet rather than just looking at one finished sock and one ball of yarn.

The yarn is one I'd never heard of before... Vesper Sock yarn by Knitterly Things. It's 100% Merino wool, very soft, very cushy. The colour way is Aqua Melon. Interestingly, on the label, the word colour is spelled the Canadian/English way, not the American way, which would be color.

Now, back to the Soho scarf. I've frogged it and am re-knitting it. I really don't want a simple scarf pattern to get the best of me, yanno? Thanks to the Knitlist, I have some excellent suggestions as far as the cast off goes. The standard "leap frog" cast off just isn't right for this project.

Almost December

Can you believe that November is almost gone? It seemed like yesterday was the beginning of the month and now that month is almost over. Wow!

I've been knitting away, as usual. Last night, I finished knitting this...

...for John. I do intend to get a picture of him wearing it, both before and after felting. The pattern (Fibertrends) is an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper, so you have a good idea of how big this beret really is. It's huge. I have one more to knit for the store. Once I have that one done, I'll felt both of them. I must admit, they're fun to make.

Since I was off yesterday, John and I decided to go out for a while. One of the places we went to was the library, where I found this lovely little book.

As I told John, it really isn't a book I want to purchase, but it is a nice one to look through for inspiration. As a matter of fact, I was inspired by this pattern.

Remember my cashmere scarf? The Zigzag one? Well, I decided I really wasn't happy with that pattern for that yarn. For one thing, it was way too long and curled a little more than I liked. So, last night I frogged it. And this morning I started the Soho scarf from Exquisite Little Knits. I'm loving it in the cashmere. It's so soft, so nice to work (play) with. It's designed by Iris Schreier, who also wrote a book about multidirectional knitting. She's also got a Yahoo group of the same name.

This is how it's looking so far. I think it's a good pattern for this sumptuous yarn. It won't be a very wide scarf (about 4"), but considering the fact that it's cashmere, I don't think it needs to be. I've already discovered that cashmere is a nice warm yarn to wear around the neck.

On another note, this week I received my Second Sock Syndrome Sock Exchange sock from Yahaira. I love it! I'll post a picture of it another day, but let me tell you... the yarn is stunning! Gorgeous bright colours that make you happy just looking at it. And the pattern she chose is perfect for the yarn. Sorry to make you wait for pictures, but it's time for me to get moving here. There's knitting to be done, yanno!

Pattern available

The shrug pattern has been posted for your convenience. It's in the sidebar as "Bernat Shrug".

I have the second of the four reversible hats finished and I love the combo. I'll post pictures of all four hats when they're done. I've started the third hat and am almost to the beginning of the crown shaping on the first half. They do knit up quickly, almost a mindless project.

That's it for today. Now, to get rid of this cold before it takes over....

Note: the link to the Bernat Shrug should work fine now. Darn that HTML... it sure is fussy... and case sensitive. My apologies. (11/24/05)

One more FO...for me!

And, it's a wearable FO!! I've had this pattern for a long time, knitted it once in the called for yarn (Bernat Chenille... yech!) and decided to try it again, considering the popularity of shrugs and all. This time, though, I did it in Sirdar's Country Style DK.

Thank you, John for taking the pics. I love creative photography.

It was a fast knit (less than a week is fast in my books) and only took 2 balls, making it less than $20 CDN. And it's perfect. I love the fact that I can wear it and still knit comfortably without fighting with the body of a sweater. I tend to get my needles caught in the excess sweater fabric, for some reason. John calls this my sweater without a body.

The pattern is an old Bernat free leaflet. It doesn't look like the yarn is available anymore, so I'm assuming the pattern isn't either. I suppose I could type it up for anyone interested in it (giving proper credit, of course). There is, incidentally, no copyright notice on the leaflet I have; no date, nothing.

Other than the shrug, I've got the second of four reversible hats half finished. I've just started the second half of what will be Trinity's hat. I discovered this week, thanks to Melissa and her daughter Kensie, that the infant size does not fit a one and a half year old. That means I'll be making one of each of three sizes, I'm thinking. The sizes are infant, childs, womens and mens. The mens size fits me quite nicely, so I'm thinking the women's size should fit my 8 and 5 year old grandsons. The children's size will fit Trinitiy.

Ok, back to knitting... or making cream of onion soup for dinner. Yum...comfort food! Decisions, decisions.

Just another Tuesday

...and it's snowing. This is the first snow of the season to be falling at this level. I don't really think it will last long as the temperature is rising slowly, but in the meantime, it's snowing and the ground is turning white. We can barely see the other side of the lake. It's the kind of day to light a fire in the fireplace and just knit, knit, knit.

Speaking of knitting, here's the little Harlequin hat, as promised. I'll be taking it back to the store later this week, leaving it there as a sample for a while. I've also decided to make three more, one for each of my three other grandchildren. I've got the yarn picked out and am just going to finish the project I'm working on for myself (which should only take another good day or two of knitting).

On Saturday, Sandra came to the store to pick up a hand salve I had promised her. Unfortunately, I wasn't there at the time. When I got to work yesterday morning, I found a manila envelope waiting for me. In it, I found this...

Sandra, thank you so much! I love them! And, interestingly, they're different from the books Priska gave me. I know I've said it before, but one of these days, I really want to try the Innovation socks (socks knitted on two straight needles and stitched together). One of these days...

Decision made!

I've been working, a bit at a time, on my Donegal Tweed cardigan. The front of the cardigan has been on my mind for weeks now; I haven't been able to decide what kind of cable pattern I wanted to use. I do know there will be a single cable on each side of the front. Last night, while once again going through my three Barbara Walker treasuries, I found the one I want. Actually, I keep coming back to the same one. That tells me it's the one I want.

For the first time in a very long time, I did something I always tell others to do, but rarely do myself...swatch. I did a swatch of the cable pattern to see how I would like it in my chosen yarn. I sat by the fire while John watched tv from the comfort of the bed and knitted up the pattern. Here's what it looks like....

I like it. John likes it. It will be incorporated in the cardigan.

As well, I finished the child's reversible hat yesterday. I don't have time right now to take a picture, but seeing as I have tomorrow and Wednesday off, I'll take a picture then. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It will serve as a store sample for a little while and then, I think, one of my granddaughters might just get it. I have a feeling that the colours would look really sharp on Oceanna (the apple hat sure did suit her colouring). Incidentally, my daughter called yesterday to let me know that Oceanna is smiling now (6 weeks... right on time) and "talking"; you know, that lovely baby gurgling and cooing that every grandmother just adores.

And, Michelle? I'll have to try your suggestion (2 needle provisional cast on) next time I make that hat pattern, or any other pattern that calls for provisional cast on. Thank you.

Things learned, things done

I love learning. When it comes to knitting, I get very excited when I learn a new technique (new to me, that is) and it works! That's what happened this week. I was perusing Nicky Epstein's "Knitting on the Edge", which I do occasionally for inspiration. Well, this time, at the very back of the book, I came across a paragraph on the provisional cast on. Now, don't get me wrong. I've done provisional cast on before. About a year ago, I did the Harlequin cap (from elann.com) for John; it's done with a provisional cast on. I did the crochet cast on, but found that picking up the stitches was somewhat less than successful. At least, I wasn't really happy with the result.

See what I mean? Some of the stitches just don't look right. I could have taken it out, but at the time I couldn't really figure out how to fix it without frogging the entire thing. And I did not want to do that. After reading Nicky Epstein's directions for provisional cast on, I decided to try it again. I'm making a small version of the Harlequin cap (baby size) and am MUCH happier with the final result. Well, not quite final... the cap's not quite finished yet. When it is, I'll post a picture of it. Here, however, is a picture of the cast on edge.

Much better, don't you agree? I love it! The original cast on edge was done using the multi-coloured sock yarn and a strand of cotton yarn. It was easy to pick up the stitches (with solid red) and easy to pick out the cotton yarn. I used a dk weight cotton because I wanted the stitches to be easy to pick up and cotton because it was smoother, making it easier to undo.

I managed to get quite a bit of knitting done yesterday. I'm not sure how much I'll get done today, but I do intend to finish the little hat. I've also started another small project that I'd like to get done this weekend. It's a very simple knit; I'm about 1/3 of the way through the project already and I started it at about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. You know those almost mindless projects you can work on and still watch tv? That's what this is. I'll tell you what it is when I have it done.

As well, I finished John's socks yesterday. He was happily wearing them last night and has decided that he likes the fit and feel of this pair the best yet. That's great news for me because, for once, I made notes of exactly how I made them. From here on in, I can replicate those socks any time. I'm SO glad I started making notes of all the socks I make now. If you don't make notes, do it! It makes it so much easier the next time you want to make socks for the same person. The socks?

They're made with one ball of Online Supersocke, from the River Collection. I really like that yarn. It's got some nice colourways and is comparable to Regia in quality (our yarn rep told me that it actually comes from the same factory, is the same yarn, but with a different label and a slightly lower price). I still have a bit left over, a small ball about 1.5" in diameter.

I've been checking my stash every couple of days, monitoring the smoky smell. I'm happy to report that most of the yarn no longer smells like smoke. I've decided, though, that I probably shouldn't store my stash in the bedroom. It does look neater without the pile of yarn beside the fire place. As yet, though, I haven't come across the perfect place to store it. I'm leery about storing it in the garage, even though it is an attached garage. It would have to be stored in a Rubbermaid storage bin, or something like that, in order to keep any creepy crawlies out of it. At the moment, I don't have one. I suppose I could store it in a suitcase, but what's the best way of keeping it from smelling musty after a while? Your suggestions are appreciated.

SSSS Exchange sock... FO

The second sock syndrome sock exchange sock is complete. I'd post a picture of it, but I wasn't thinking too clearly this morning and have already sealed it in an envelope, ready to mail to New Jersey. It's a nice feeling, knowing that some of my work is now in Utah and will soon be in New Jersey. Interesting where your knitting can take you, perhaps not physically, but at least in thought.

On my sock needles at the moment is the remaining sock of a pair for John. The first sock was completed a while ago, and the second sock has been haunting me. It will be finished this week. I'm making a concerted effort to complete some of my UFO's. That list in my sidebar will be just a little longer by year's end. Then, I'll copy and paste that list into a file, so I can look at it occasionally and realize that I really DO finish things and I'm not totally unproductive when it comes to my knitting.

Oh! My yarn stash has been lounging in the garage (which is directly below our bedroom... enclosed). I checked it this morning to see how bad the smoky smell was and I have good news to report. The yarn that was tucked into the wood cubby (whatever that space for wood storage is called) really doesn't smell much at all. It seems that the yarn that got most of the smoke was in front of the fireplace. The worst of it was the Donegal Tweed for my cardigan. I've Febrezed it and have left it in the open and it doesn't smell much at all right now. I think it will all work out just fine in the end. The bedroom's smelling better, but, seeing as there's a lot of wood in that room, still smells smoky. The smoke smell just permeates the wood... quickly. It smells like we've had a fire going in the bedroom, which, of course, we did. In time, it will all be fine, thankfully.

There, I've eaten my toast with peanut butter. Now, it's back to working on John's sock (just finished the first round of the gusset) for a little while, before I have to get ready for work.

Smoke gets in your eyes...

... and in your stash... if you store it next to the fireplace... and the damper closes without reason.

So, how do you get the smell of smoke out of your yarn stash. Bedding, I can wash. Carpets, I can spray with Febreze (gotta love that stuff). Clothing can be washed or hung outside to air. But my yarn?? Any and all suggestions will be gratefully considered.

We slept in the garage last night.

In the meantime, I did finish the Leaning Ladders scarf. It's drying as we speak. I've picked up my cardigan again and hope to make some good progress on it today, in spite of having to clean our bedroom. But then again, I might not have time... we'll see.

Right now? It's time for a shower (to get the smoky scent off of me) and then go out and get another couple bottles of Febreze. Wish us luck.

Thar's snow on them thar hills

Yup, snow!

It's not the first snow of the season, but it's the most so far. If it keeps going like this, the ski hills will have a great year. I know that Whistler will be opening this weekend (where the 2010 Olympics will be held) and they've got good snow already. I'm sure Silver Star will not be far behind. Incidentally, for those of you who know this area a bit, Silver Star Ski Resort is in the range just behind the hills in the picture (sort of in and behind the v area you can see).

On the knitting front, I'm doing an experiment. I'm still working on the Leaning Ladders scarf, but I've also started another one, in a different yarn, with one change to the pattern. Instead of working one side in knit and one side in purl, I'm knitting both sides... garter stitch. I just want to see if I like it that way or not. I'll post a picture, comparing the two, once I have the garter stitch version knitted a little further. Right now, it's about four inches long, not really long enough to make a fair comparison.

I'm also looking at future projects (something I really shouldn't be doing, but if you can't dream about future projects, what's the use??). I was perusing Elann's website and came across a poncho I actually like. I'm considering it. I'm thinking about it. I might. I might not. I've printed up the pattern. Which one? This one. What do you think?

Oops... John just corrected me. The resort area I was pointing out in the photo is not Silver Star, it's Big White. Silver Star is outside of Vernon. My excuse? I don't ski... what do I know?

November 6/05

Another day, another pattern

Yes, I've written up another one. It's another scarf. I guess a part of me is still looking for that perfect scarf to go with just about every outfit I own. This one uses the leaning ladder stitch pattern from Barbara Walker's Fourth Treasury. Once you get going on the pattern, it's an easy one to read. I've already got close to 24" knit and I only worked on it for a while last night (and no, I'm not a really fast knitter... really).

Here's how it's looking so far...

Once it's done, I'll be blocking it. Though I don't mind the waviness of the left edge, I'd rather have it the same as the right edge. I'm working mine in Sirdar Country Style DK, which is an acrylic/wool/nylon blend on 4mm needles, but it could be worked in any smooth yarn, using the size of needles specified for the yarn. I was going to try it on larger needles than the yarn requires, but I do like it knit to the gauge required.

The pattern is available in my sidebar, as usual. If you do knit it, let me know... send me a picture of your finished scarf. I'd love to see it.

Dreary, dreary

It's definitely fall in the Okanagan. Today is one of those dreary days . You know the kind. It's raining. It's gray. It's difficult to get anything done because you're as restless as the sky is gray. I've been knitting a few rows on my second sock here and there. Then I get up and scan a few websites. Back to the knitting. Back to the surfing. A little cooking.. have to eat, after all. It's nearly 11 a.m. and that's how my morning's been. I just can't settle down on any one thing.

I'm trying very hard to get the mosaic socks done. Then, I'll finish the sock for the sock exhange. It doesn't have much left on it so I should be able to finish it today, too. I have one other project to work on over the next couple of days. One of my customers was having a problem with a pattern that I've done before, so she asked if I could help her get it right. I'll work on that for the next couple of days; it's a pullover with a lace insert around the arm openings. She could not get the lace panel correct. I'll be doing just the section from the sleeve shaping to the neck.

Here, by the way, is a progess picture of the mosaic socks. I like them. I can see myself using this pattern as a starting point for other socks.

Ok, on to a little more knitting...

P.S. It's now 1:22 p.m. and the mosaic socks are off the needle. Neeeeeeexxxxxt.......

Mosaic Socks... a review

The pattern, as posted in the Six Socks Knitalong group, is an interesting one. It caught me by surprise, actually. I was merrily knitting the leg part of the sock. After the mosaic knitting, you knit one round in your main colour, changing needles back to the smaller size. Then you go immediately into the heel. It's a modified strong heel. I read it over, sort of, then started knitting.

The usual heel is worked on half the stitches. The heel flap is worked on two needles, then you turn the heel, pick up gusset stitches and work around. On the modified strong heel, the heel flap and gusset is knitted along with the instep stitches until you reach a total of 60 stitches on the heel needles (32 instep, 60 heel), then the heel is turned. On a standard sock heel, the heel turning is perhaps 12 rows? On this sock the heel turning is much longer and follows the heel shape of the foot more closely.

I'm not sure if that's all comprehensible, but it works.

Once I finished the first sock, I was a little concerned about the depth of the heel (it's shorter than my standard heel flap) and the length of the sock (it looks really long... even Carol noticed that). However, once I tried the sock on, it fit perfectly fine. The second sock is well on it's way (I'm about halfway through working the heel) and I'll post a picture or two of the socks when it's done. No SSS this time... phew!

I may even use this heel again sometime.

SSSS exchange and such things

SSSS exchange... no, I'm not trying to imitate the sound a snake makes. It stands for second sock syndrome sock exchange. I may have written about it before. The concept is simple. When you're knitting socks, the first sock goes easily; it's fun; the pattern is new to you perhaps. The second sock isn't so much fun. You've already done the pattern once and you'd rather try something different. So that first sock languishes in your knitting basket, just waiting for it's mate to show up.

That's where the exchange comes in. You knit the first sock. Then you take it, it's future mate (the yarn meant for the second sock), the pattern and any changes you've made and you send it all to your sock exchange partner. She gets to do the second one. In return, you get the sock she finished for you and it's future mate and you make the mate. That way, you're only knitting one sock of each pair... no second sock syndrome.

So, that's what I've been working on for the last few days, on and off. And, obviously, I can't show you a picture yet, but I will post one after Yahaira gets her sock. Suffice it to say that the pattern is one I've done before, but have wanted to to again, with a tweak or two. Not to worry, Yahaira, I'll make sure you know about the tweaks.

I've also been playing with a pattern from the Six Socks Knitalong Yahoo group. That's a group set up to knit six pairs of socks per year, one every other month. I haven't been keeping up with it, but did check out the last pattern. It's called Mosaic socks. At first, I wasn't too impressed with it, but after seeing the mosaic technique in the Barbara Walker treasuries, I was intrigued. I'm doing this one in a brown Regia 4 ply and the contrast yarn is one of the Online River Collection sock yarns. The pattern calls for two sizes of needles, US 1 and 3. In metric that's 2.25 mm and 3.25 mm. I thought at first that might be an error, but used the sizes called for. It's not a misktake. I think if I had stayed with the smaller needles, I would not be able to get the sock over my foot.

The mosaic technique used in the sock (and the BW books) has you knit each pattern row twice, exactly the same, with only one colour yarn at a time, slipping some stitches, knitting others. The advantage to this technique is that you're not having to work with two colours of yarn, trying to keep them from tangling. I'm really enjoying the process so far. I'll post another picture when the socks are done (or when one sock is done..... who knows... this may become a round of the dreaded second sock syndrome).

On the sweater front, I have one sleeve done, the second sleeve to the armhole and the back has about 5" done. I would have finished the second sleeve already, but I didn't want to work on it at the store because the sleeve cap has a lot of shaping and I wanted to be able to keep track of it. When you're having to help customers, it's a little more difficult to concentrate on shaping. I apologize for the quality of the picture in one of my previous posts. It's a little on the dark side. The sweater is a nice chocolate brown with multi-coloured flecks. As much as I want to stay away from dull colours, brown does suit me.

(btw, Sandra, if you need more of the Donegal Tweed, call and I'll put some aside for you. It IS a nice yarn.)

Off the Needles

Finally, this scarf is off the needles. Now, I can mail it. The pattern is the wavy scarf from Scarf Style (Debbie Bliss pattern). The book has it as a children's scarf, but I used a heavier yarn and bigger needles. I love the way it turned out. My sister should be very happy with it.

On the cardigan front, I've finished one sleeve and have started the second. I'm pondering what to do with the front of the cardi. At first, I thought I'd put reverse stocking stitch diamonds along the button edge and the lower edge; I've since decided that wouldn't show up very well on this yarn. Now, I'm debating whether to put a lace panel along the button edge or a cable panel. I'm leaning towards the cable panel. I think a lace panel would be lost on this yarn, whereas a cable won't. Some of the Sirdar patterns that call for this yarn feature cables and they look very nice. Now, to decide on the cable.

Pictures and a New Project

I've finally gotten around to taking a few pictures of finished projects. The first is a pair of socks for my brother-in-law. He chose the colour of yarn. Now to get my sister's scarf off the needles (not a lot more to knit on that one... should be done this weekend, I hope).

The second picture is of my multi-directional scarf. I signed up for the MD tutorials and am having fun doing them. This scarf was an easy knit and looks neat. I made it from three balls of Noro Silk Garden on 5.5mm needles. The scarf is drapey and cozy and I've worn it a couple of times already.

And then, there's this...

This is the new project part. I'm making a cardigan for myself. Without an official pattern... sort of. I have Ann Budd's "Handy Book of Sweater Patterns" to use as a guideline. I've drawn out a design (which I'll post if you'd like to see it) and I've started the sleeve. I decided to start with the sleeves so that I can see where it comes to under the arm. From that, I can decide how long I want to make the body of the sweater. Does that make sense?

The yarn I'm using is Sirdar's Donegal Tweed DK (45% wool, 25% acrylic, 30% polyester), a yarn I've been eyeing since Art of Yarn first opened. Apparently, it's being discontinued so I figured the time was right to get what I needed while we still have it. I love how it's knitting up.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Casting on... again

Ok, I'm getting a little frustrated with the Faraoese shawl now. After having cast on for Cheryl Oberle's Litla Dimun shawl a couple of times, then frogging it for good (see the comment about little old Italian grandmothers in my last post), I've cast on for the Faraoese shawl out of "A Gathering of Lace". I've also frogged it.

One of the diamonds along the bottom edge wasn't diamond shaped. I didn't notice it until 3 rows (of 400+ stitches per row) later. I tried to correct the error, but it didn't work. I frogged it. I have not yet re-casted on. I will, though. I will not let this pattern get the best of me. Or, I'll do Evelyn A. Clark's Pacific Northwest shawl. Decisions, decisions. Perhaps it's just that the yarn I chose for the faroese shawl doesn't want to be a faroese shawl. That's happened before.

Now, what to do with the rest of my day? John's away for a couple of days and I have the day off.

I'll give it one more try. Just one more. If it still doesn't work, I'm doing the Pacific Northwest shaw. After all, I have the pattern, I have the yarn, I have the needles... what more do I need?

Generosity

I've been told a few times that I'm generous for sharing my patterns. I'm not sure that generosity has much to do with it, really. Certainly, I could be miserly and just tell you that you have to purchase my patterns. In all honesty, I'm too lazy to get everything set up to do that. It's easier to share.

And apart from that, I like the thought that somewhere out there, other knitters are knitting items that I designed. That gives me much satisfaction. It's difficult to explain. As well, I think if there was a little more of that kind of sharing, the sharing of knowledge, the world would be a better place.

Just for simplicity's sake, I've posted a pdf file of the Zig Zag Trellis scarf pattern in the sidebar. Yes, that's what it's decided it wanted to be called. It fits. Now, let's see what else I can come up with.

I think, actually, I want to start another shawl, a Faraoese shawl this time. I really want to see how they fit and feel. I'll be doing the one out of "A Gathering of Lace", I'm thinking. I had started one from Cheryl Oberle's book, "Folk Shawls", but John didn't like it at all. He said it reminded him of something an old Italian grandmother might wear and he didn't want me looking like an old Italian grandmother. I'm not Italian; I'll never be an old Italian grandmother. He was right, though, in that it was really quite a plain shawl. That was one reason I chose it; mindless knitting in front of the television while watching baseball, hockey, football or golf... the seemingly endless stream of testosterone driven entertainment that makes it's way across the television screens in this house. Hmm.. did that sound like the beginnings of a rant?

I'll keep you posted on the shawl progress.

Meet the Zig Zag Trellis

Here are a couple of pictures of the Zig Zag Trellis scarf, as promised. I have a few minutes before I have to head out the door, so I decided I'd get these up so you can see how it's supposed to look.

A close up of the stitch. You can see that using a worsted weight yarn, it looks almost like a rib.

New Scarf Pattern

I had planned on taking and posting pictures of the new scarf I'm working on, but one of the girls at work came down with the flu and I have to work today. The pictures will have to wait, but I decided to write up the pattern anyway.

I'm not sure what to call this scarf yet... Wavy Lacy Rib... Zig Zag Lacy Scarf... I don't know. If you knit this up and come up with a better name, let me know. In the meantime, it's a somewhat lacy, somewhat ribbed scarf that ends up zigging and zagging. I'm knitting it a worsted weight cashmere (which is amazing!! to knit with... a real indulgence!) that I picked up on our trip to Vancouver, but you can knit it up in any worsted weight yarn on 5.5 mm needles (I think that's about 9.5 US). I'm thinking it will use up about 200-300 metres, depending on the length desired. Ok, here's the knitting part.

Cast on 24 stitches. Knit 2 rows. Begin pattern:

Section 1:
Row 1: k1, *yf, k2 tog; rep to last st, k1
Row 2: purl

Repeat these 2 rows 9 times more (10 pattern repeats completed)

Section 2:
Row 21: k1, *ssk, yo; rep to last st, k1
Repeat these 2 rows 9 times more (10 pattern repeats completed)

Continue working these two sections until scarf is desired length. Knit 2 rows. Cast off loosely.

Note: On row 1, I've use yf (yarn forward). Simply bring your yarn to the front, as if to purl; then knit the next 2 stitches together. When you purl the next row, you'll find the stitches easier to "catch" if you do the yf this way, rather than a yo. You can, however, do what you find easiest. I love that about knitting; it's not an exact science.

As I said, I'll try to post pictures as soon as possible.

P.S. Renita pointed out to me that there might be a mistake in the Dewdrop Scarf pattern. She was right. I've corrected the errors and have reposted the pdf file. It is now correct. If you downloaded it before today, please re-download the corrected version. My apologies to anyone who may have become frustrated with the pattern.

Oops, I forgot...

... to let you know how much yarn the scarf will need. Thank you, Ms Mar, for pointing that out to me. I'm still working on mine because I'd like it to be on the longer side (yanno.. so I can wrap it around my neck a couple times for that one REALLY cold day we get). I've just finished the second ball of the Alpaca Cashmere. That makes it 200 metres of yarn and the scarf is just shy of 4 feet.

It's not a bad length, just long enough to wrap around the neck once, if necessary, and tuck into the neck of a jacket. Does that help?

And Sandra? You can also click right here for my Picture Trails albums.

Another post for today

I really don't think I should be posting twice in the same day, but it's turning out to be a rather productive day. At least, I think it is.

For your enjoyment, I've added the Dewdrop scarf pattern to my sidebar. The scarf itself isn't quite finished yet, but I've increased it's total length by about 12 inches today. It's working up quite quickly. And, as you can tell, I've got the pattern typed up. Enjoy!

The remainder of today will be spent in Thanksgiving day celebration. In other words, cooking, relaxing, drinking wine, eating and more relaxing. We might even go for a walk; the weather's gorgeous. It's one of those beautiful, sunny autumn days with a lovely crispness to the air. We've got to enjoy it while we can.

A quick aside... pictures posted

For anyone interested, I've added an album to my Picture Trails web albums with pictures of Oceanna. Please feel free to check it out. There's a button near the bottom of the right sidebar that will take you directly to my PT albums.

Addendum: I've added the Dewdrop Scarf pattern to my sidebar, in pdf format. Enjoy!!

Work in Progress

So, I bought yarn in Vancouver, made the skeins into center pull balls, cast on for a scarf and decided the pattern was all wrong for the yarn, frogged it, bought more yarn and cast on for the scarf and it's working just great!

I'll post pictures of the 'other' yarn another day (not much time today, unfortunately). In the meantime, here's the scarf in progress. I'm calling it the Dewdrop scarf, as the pattern stitch is the dewdrop stitch from the first Barbara Walker treasury (have I mentioned that I LOVE her books; I have 3 of them now).

The yarn I'm using is a combination of the Luxury Collection's Alpaca Cashmere and a strand of Crystal Palace's Kid Merino held together. It's very light, very soft and very cozy. And, did you notice the needles? I spoiled myself and bought a pair of Lantern Moon knitting needles. Talk about indulgence! They are a real pleasure to knit with... and they're beautiful, too. Who knew knitting needles could be a thing of beauty?

By the way, I will post the pattern for the scarf once I have it done. I've already decided it can be worked in just about any solid coloured yarn that's not too dark. It's a simple 8 row pattern that's easy to memorize and fairly easy to 'read'. I think any advanced beginner could work this pattern without difficulty.

Till the next post, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Home again, home again

We arrived home late last night after a week at the coast. It's been an interesting week, to say the least.

We decided, last Tuesday, to go ahead and drive out to the coast even though we hadn't heard for sure that anything was happening with baby's arrival. The last thing John did before we left was to have a shower and while he was having that shower (just after 10 a.m.), my mother called. Alaina had just given birth to my fourth grandchild, Oceanna Marie. She was born at 10:07 a.m. on September 28 and weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz. Needless to say, we got on the road pretty quick and made it to Abbotsford in about three and a half hours.

When we arrived, we got the whole story. Apparently, Alaina woke up at about 6:30 a.m. in the beginning stages of labour. At about 9 a.m., she decided to wake her sister. She told Kristen they needed to go SOON. Trinity had to be woken up, fed and brought to the sitter. The girls called the doctor's office and were told to come to the office first, but by the time they got to the clinic, which is right next to the hospital, they decided it was getting too close for comfort and went to the hospital instead. By this time, it was 10:00. They got Alaina up to maternity, got her prepared and checked her. The nurse was surprised to find that the baby was already crowning and they got her into the delivery room as quickly as possible. As soon as they got her onto the bed, her water broke and by 10:07, Oceanna was born. Her doctor walked into the room just as Oceanna was delivered.

She's a beautiful little girl, but then, I could be somewhat biased. John, I do believe, is quite taken with her already and the fact that they share a birthday makes her even more special.

Trinity, when this picture was taken, wasn't quite sure who this little person was, but was telling us all where baby's eyes were. She couldn't stop saying "baby" and "eyes" and touching baby's eyes. Before long, she'll be used to this little invader, I'm sure. She's already being a helper to the girls, helping to pat Oceanna's back when she needs burping and fetching and carrying things like diapers and tubes of Vaseline.

Aren't grandbabies fun?