FO: Naive Socks

Well, there's actually a bit of a story to why I chose to knit these socks. A friend has asked me to make her some very tall and cabled socks in the future. I told her I would consider, even though I'd never finished a cabled project before. I did try making the Irish Hiking Scarf a few years ago, but I never finished it. It's actually a very simple pattern that is perfect for beginners, but I may have been looking for a bit more of a challenge at the end of the day. Anyway, it was high time I tried a cabled pattern again and I figured a sock pattern would be a good idea. So I browsed all over Ravelry and found this Naive Socks pattern. It looked like just the thing. It featured several different cables that weren't always crossed on the same row. Additionally, the pattern is carried down the heel somewhat and it really added a fun element to keep me motivated.



Overall, I really like these socks. They fit very well and are quite comfortable. The yarn feels just a little thicker than some of the other fingering weight yarns I've been using recently. I would highly recommend the yarn though because it really sparkles and I like the color changes. I considered matching the stripes on each sock, but I didn't take the time to really do so. But, I actually really like the way they came out. They match without being too matchy matchy. :) I am pleased to say that I learned how to cable without using a needle on this project. It was a little scary at first, but much quicker and easier than I anticipated. I've also discovered that using a size 2 1/2 needle for the toe works wonders for me. I shall have to remember to do it every time. It makes the toe fit so much better for me.

Pattern: Naive Socks (see link posted above)
Yarn: Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Colori Disco Socka
Needles: Size 2 and 2 1/2 (for toe)
Techniques learned: Cable without a needle

FO - Everlasting Bag II

My friend Tawah bought this fun green cotton yarn a while back, but she was having a heck of a time trying to make it into a bag. She told me that she tried several patterns and none of them were working out correctly. She asked if she could send me the yarn so that I could take a stab at it. Naturally, I thought that sounded like a fine plan. So, she sent me the yarn and I decided that I would make a modified Everlasting Bagstopper. The yarn is DK weight though, so I couldn't use the numbers from the pattern, even if I had wanted to. But, I do love the construction of the bag, so that's what I went with.

I cast on for this bag and went to work. Everything I tried seemed to go wrong. The bag was either too loose, too tight, too big, too ugly, or some combination of these. It was a bit of a nightmare really. The problem? Tawah only had 1 skein of this yarn for me to use. That meant, it had to be just right or I would run out of yarn. I ripped the bag out at least 4 times that I can count because of the yardage issue. I tried at least 3 needle sizes, trying to get a good looking product. Finally, after several months of playing around, I figured it out.

I used size 7s for the bottom and then 10.5s for the body. I did decreases in the stockinette portion of the bag before starting the pattern. After much debate, I went with a simple stitch pattern because it worked. I also worked a few decreases at the top in the seed stitch portion of the bag. I wanted it to be just a little tighter at the top because it is likely to stretch with use. After all was said and done, I really liked the finished object. It's useful and that really is what matters for me. I met Tawah in Indiana just before Easter and gave it to her. She seemed to love it! Hooray! We loaded it up with snacks for her car trip and it worked beautifully. Next time she wants me to make a bag for her though, she's going to have to send me more yarn! That's all there is to it. :)

In case you are curious, that's a laptop inside the bag. I wanted to try and show how big the bag could actually become. :) You can see the fun pooling effect of the yarn in this picture. I'm not sure why, but it is much more apparent in the pictures than in person. Go figure!

Crazy Veil of Leaves socks

It all started innocently enough. I was at a somewhat Local Yarn Store (LYS) and I noticed a new sock book. It wasn't just any new sock book though, it was the magical New Pathways for Sock Knitters Book 1 by Cat Bordhi. Wow. Let me tell you, the book will catch the eye of any sock knitter. I flipped through it a few times but kept putting it back down because I thought I didn't need another sock knitting book. But, there were interesting patterns and new ways of sock knitting included that I ended up getting it. The first pattern to catch my eye was Veil of Leaves. I don't know why, but that's the one that did it for me. I wanted to make them so much that I ended up just casting on for them in December of 2007.

I finished the first sock in record time. It was interesting. The heel damn near killed me, but I just kept going and got it done. I put on my new sock and felt... well... okay with it. It just didn't look as good on my foot as it did in the book. Not only didn't it look as good, I don't think it fit very well overall either. I was disappointed in it, and not sure what to do. I thought I should try wearing it a few times before making a final decision. So, I did and it never really ended up being a favorite. The short row heel wasn't as comfortable as a heel flap for me and they end up slouching a bit around the ankle after I wear it for a while. I put the project aside for a bit to clear my head. Then, I took out the magical book and did all the math properly. I decided to change a few things here and there to customize the fit. Hell yeah, I was ready to get down to that second sock now!

But, alas, the second sock isn't perfect either. :( I did fewer wraps, increased my wing stitches, decreased the total number of stitches after the heel, and started the toe a little later than in the first. That should basically make the world's most perfect sock for me. But, it's still just not quite right. I really dislike the short row heel, even after trying to modify it. It doesn't fit my foot very well. I'm a heel flap girl I guess. So I finished this challenging and new pattern only to find that I'm not as over the moon as I thought I would be. Oh well. I will continue to wear them and I will likely tackle other patterns in the book. But, I've got to figure out a way to make the heel more comfortable on my foot. I'm going to have to read through all of the information again and see what I can come up with. In the meantime, here's a pic of the socks for your viewing pleasure! :)

Dishcloth Central

Well, I'm not sure why, but Januaray became my month for knitting dishcloths. It all started when I accidentally stumbled across this Illinois Dishcloth pattern. I thought it would be a fun gift to make for some friends of mine. So, I charted the pattern out and got to work. It went so fast, it was practically instant gratification! I made 2 of them back to back so that I could send one to Tawah and one to Alicia. But, Alicia was born and currently resides in Pennsylvania. So when I saw there was a pattern for a Pennsylvania dishcloth on the same site, I made one of those to send to Alicia as well. I must admit, the Pennsylvania dishcloth was a bit boring to knit, especially compared to the Illinois one, but it went so fast that it didn't really matter. Overall, I love them and I hope my friends will love them too. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I only needed 1 ball of yarn to make all 3 items. The yarn I used was on sale at Jo-Anne's one day for under $2, if I remember correctly. What a great way to stretch a dollar! I was able to get hours of entertainment, plus a useful household item, for very little investment. Awesome! :)

Patterns: KnittingKnonsense.com
Yarn: Lily's Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn
Needles: Size 7

Mismatched Mittens

Ahhh mittens. I love them. It can get very cold here in winter and you must have something to protect your hands from the elements. I made a pair of mittens last year based off the Peekaboo Mittens found over at Magknits.
However, they seem to be hiding from me this year. I thought I put them in the top of my closet, but I didn't see them this year. Oh well. It seemed like a good excuse to make a new pair and so I did.

I found last year, that I never used the peekaboo on both mittens at the same time. I would occasionally poke my fingers out from one hand in order to open my purse, or grab money, or something like that. But, I never needed both. So, I decided I would make 2 different mittens from the same yarn. Here, they look identical, don't they?But, of course, I didn't call them Mismatched Mittens for nothing. The mitten on the left is a standard mitten. However, if you look closely, you'll find the mitten on the right is a peekaboo mitten. It's the perfect solution as far as I'm concerned. They are very pink and warm. I love them and I can't wait for it to get cold enough to wear them. Wait? Did I really just say that? It's official; I've been in Michigan for too long!

• Yarn: Plymouth Galway
• Needles: Size 6 and size 7 DPNs
• Pattern: Mine but with lots of inspiration from the Peekaboo Mittens and the general mitten guidelines found in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.

Rummikub Bag

Well, not long after I finished my first Veil of Leaves sock, I cast on for a small game bag. You see, we bought a Rummikub game for a family friend as a Christmas gift. It's a really fun game and Pam loved it! However, the down side is that it's a tile game that doesn't come with a bag. It is so much easier to throw the tiles in a bag and pass the bag around while playing. I made one for our Rummikub set when I first learned how to knit and it is ugly but functional. For Pam, however, I have a few more years of knitting under my belt and I was ready to design a better bag.

I love how it turned out! I used elements from several different sources while creating this bag. It has a bottom similar to the one featured in the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com. Then it has shaping similar to a bag in 25 Bags to Knit. Finally, I used a drawstring with tassels similar to the one seen on the cover of Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The great thing is, however, that I modified each of these elements to make it look how I wanted it to look. It is entirely my own design at the end of the day. It came out even better than I thought it would. To top it off, we tried it out the other night and it was perfect. Hooray! I love it when things work out right, don't you?

• Yarn: Plymouth Encore
• Needles: size 9
• Pattern: Mine

A Letter to Cat Bordhi

Dear Ms. Cat Bordhi,

I recently started your Veil of Leaves sock pattern from your book "New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book 1". The pattern intrigued me and I couldn't wait to just dive right into this fun, new sock. I cast on before completing the mate to another sock I finished months ago because I was just too excited! I made a small alteration right at the start because I really enjoy ribbing at the top of a sock, but then I began to follow your pattern as written. Things were progressing quite nicely! I liked following the charts for the leg and my sock was really coming along. Then, however, I came to the heel.

My goodness! I was NOT prepared for this. In your defence, it has been years since I've done any kind of short row heel. In fact, I did a short row heel on the first pair of socks I ever made and then I fell in love with heel flaps. I've been solely a heel flap girl for about 2-3 years now. Also in your defence, I did not start with the baby sock primer you feature at the beginning of the book either. I really felt that I could read through the pattern a few times and get through it without too much difficulty. But, imagine my surprise when your master reinforced heel section BLEW MY MIND! I had to read the instructions about 3 times to make sure I knew what I was doing. It was far more intense than I anticipated. Step 4 in particular was beyond my grasp. I'm still not sure how I ended up with the yarn in the right place and the correct numbers at the end of it all. The pictures probably helped the most, but it was mind boggling at first glance. What kills me about it now is that step 4 is probably the easiest section, but I just could not grasp it! I kept staring at the description and the pictures and saying WTF? inside my head. Luckily, I figured it all out and I finished my first Cat Bordhi master reinforced heel! I don't suppose you hand out medals for achieving such a magnificent feat, do you? If so, let me know! I desperately could use one!

Sincerely,

Helmut

FO - Crest of the Wave socks

Well, it's official! I finished my Crest of the Wave socks. Hooray!

So, in case you're curious, I did NOT work on them for a full 5 months. lol! I put them aside quite a bit and did a fair amount of ripping back as well. Overall, I'm quite pleased with them, especially the second sock. I made a few changes to the second sock and it made it even better. I added a few plain rows of knitting before starting my toe decreases and I used a larger needle so that I would gain some needed extra length and comfort. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that my right foot is definitely bigger than my left foot and that I wanted to make sure one of the socks would fit it well. So, my socks are officially fraternal twins and not identical twins. Oh well. Over time, I imagine the "shorter" one will stretch out a bit and fit just as well. But for now, I like that they aren't exactly the same.

Pattern: Crest of the Wave from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlotte Schurch
Yarn: Interlacement's Tiny Toes (fabulous yarn, btw! I would love to use it again sometime)
Needles: size 1, 2, and 2 1/2 DPNs made of different materials by different manufacturers... go figure!

Peacock Feathers Update

Basically, I've abandoned all other knitting projects in favor of this shawl. I did have to punish the project for 2 days for being tricksy, though. My count was off about 5 times in 2 rows. There was a LOT of tinking back and counting it out again and again and again. It was always a very silly mistake on my part. For instance, instead of doing a double decrease, I did a single decrease. Not good for my stitch count, I can tell you that much! A few times I was unable to ascertain where I went wrong, but I'm happy to report that it doesn't matter. I just completed chart 1A and inserted a new life line. I get to start on chart 2 next time! Hooray! Each row is getting longer and longer yet I'm still having fun with this project. I don't know how I'm going to stay motivated when my rows have an ungodly number of stitches, but I'm trying to stay positive and I'm avoiding such thoughts at all costs. I'll take a cue from 12 step wisdom and take it one stitch at a time. :)

Am I crazy enough for this?

Today I went to my favorite LYS and found they had a few of the Fiddlesticks patterns in their books. I've been eyeing the Peacock Feathers shawl for a while now but I just couldn't justify spending over $10 on a pattern I've never seen in person. Well, wouldn't you know it? They had it at the yarn store and it looks rather intense. It doesn't appear as though the pattern itself is crazy hard, but it's a LOT of knitting. There are many, many charts involved, too, which concerned me. I thought to myself, "I'd have to be crazy to try this!"

Lo and behold, I cast on for it today. I did a small practice swatch with some Plymouth Encore and it went surprisingly well. So, I just dove in. Oh and I just have to mention the needles I'm using. The pattern calls for a size 4 32" circular needle which is something I don't already own. Well, after looking at the circs available at the LYS, I decided to just go all out. They didn't have a very large selection available, I can tell you that much. They had Addi Turbos, which I love, for about $16 and they had Lantern Moon Destiny needles for $20. Normally, I'd probably grab the Addis, but I'm wanting to knit a lace shawl with these needles, so I figured I should get some form of wooden needle so the stitches will stick a little more. Lace weight yarn on aluminum needles = a lot of dropped stitches and cursing for me. So, instead I got the Lantern Moon needles. They are gorgeous! Almost too pretty to knit with. I got them in ebony . I almost bought the yarn the pattern called for, but I bought some Knitpick's Alpaca Cloud a while ago with the intention of using it for a shawl. So, that's what I'm using. I bought the light pink Peppermint colorway and I hope it comes out well. Honestly, I'm really hoping that I'm crazy enough to make this pattern period. It's intimidating for someone that can take forever to just knit a pair of socks! But, I'm excited to give it a go. Wish me luck!

I will need it. :)