Sleepy Lisa.

One of my goals has been to knit more socks - and learn different techniques (toe-up socks in particular). With this in mind, I signed up to be part of the Summer of Socks 2007 knit-along (a bunch of knitters all dedicating the summer to knitting socks and posting their progress online).

The knit-along started June 21 - I started a couple days late, but full of good intentions. My plan was to knit a pair of Anastasia socks with my skein of “lemongrass” Socks That Rock lightweight.

Since this colorway was bound to make for a stripey pair of socks I was looking for a pattern that would show off the colors rather than muddle them up with too much stitch pattern. Thought I’d found the perfect pattern - I even got as far as halfway up the instep when I realized it just wasn’t working. I tried several times with several different needle sizes to get gauge - I don’t know how anyone can get 8-10 stitches per inch on size 0 needles using STR. The closest I got was 7.5 stitches per inch on size 0’s and that was with me knitting as tightly as I could and creating a really stiff fabric (gross). And, it was huge!

Orange sock = sock that fits, Green sock = sock that sadly does not fit.

So, I decided to hell with it and ripped it all out. Now, I know that as patterns go, this one is actually super simple to modify, but I just wasn’t going to be happy with it. One last look at the instep that was:

Since I didn’t want to go to big with the needle size, I thought I’d keep the size 0’s, loosen up the tension, and embrace the slightly stiff fabric at 7 stitches per inch with a ribbed pattern instead of one based on stockinette stitch to give it some stretch. That brings me to this summer’s issue of Interweave Knits - it has a whole section on knitting socks from the toe up and a pattern for toe-up ribbed socks (On Your Toes socks). Perfect! Except… I had to do and redo the toe a few times before I was happy. I didn’t like the suggested toe after trying it out. So, I went with the figure-8 cast on toe. Much nicer. Now, I’m happily knitting away until I get to the heel. Try the pattern’s short-row heel? Try a gusset heel? I try the short-row heel first - super easy to do and it looks very nice, but… the short-row heel just doesn’t give enough ease across the instep-to-heel area. Its just too darn tight thanks to my high arches. Now, I must rip it out and attempt a gusset heel - which I believe should give me some more ease.

Shot of very nice looking, but soon to be ripped out short-row heel:

All of this has been a fantastic learning experience for knitting toe-up-socks but its also made me feel like a huge slacker when it comes to the knit-along.

In other semi-sock related news - I’ve been playing around with dyeing my own yarn. I did a test run with 9 different colors to see how the dye would react to the yarn (see results here). Now, I need to come up with some colorways to dye the couple skeins of Knitpicks Bare I picked up. After that, hopefully even more sock knitting.

Not sure if anyone is still bothering to check my site - its been ages since I’ve posted. I’m now fully settled in Austin. And I’ve been busy knitting up baby sweaters - for baby girl Fischer, expected this September.

The first sweater completed is the Elizabeth Zimmermann “February Baby Sweater” from her Knitter’s Almanac.

I borrowed this book from the Austin Public Library and boy has it been around the block a few times. It was stamped with due dates all up and down the inside cover - dating from the early ’70’s. A little mind blowing to be using a book that is older than me to make a sweater for an unborn baby.

I used Knit Pick’s Shine Sport in Hydrangea for this sweater. I ordered about 12 balls of this yarn back in October to make a sweater for myself, but I’ve come to the realization that it just wasn’t going to happen. And the cotton is so soft, sproingy, and shiny, I thought “why not” and used it for the February Baby Sweater. The yarn was a little splitty, but other than that, knitted up perfectly.

I used a modification I found on Austraila blogger Linda’s site - rather than the garter stitch yoke, I used her notes for a stockinette stitch, raglan yoke - which I much prefer (after having first tried out the garter stitch).

The second sweater, also in Knit Picks Shine Sport, is from Debbie Bliss’ Special Knits. Its the “Ribbon Edged Cardigan” minus the ribbon edging.

I omitted the ribbon edging because I couldn’t find any ribbon that I liked. I found one ribbon that would have been cute - a ruffled white ribbon, but thought it would be too itchy to put around baby’s neck. So, instead, I opted for really cute bunny buttons. Who doesn’t love bunny buttons?
The other modification I made on this pattern was to use short rows to shape the shoulders rather than the bind off method written in the pattern. I tried the bind off method first and just hated the way it looked when seamed together. So, I ripped it out and did the short rows instead with a three-needle bind off - much more clean looking. The super nice thing about baby clothes is how it doesn’t hurt too much to rip out since they are so tiny to start with.

Other knitting news - I’ve ripped out my “We Call Them Pirates Hat“. I had taken such a long break between the second and third pattern repeat that when I finally picked it back up again, my tension was off. The pirate skulls on the third repeat were almost a third larger than those of the bottom two. Knowing that I would never wear a hat that looked so crappy (and Gord would never wear a purple and green hat, even if it did have pirates on it), I ripped it all out and rewound the balls of yarn (yummy cashmerino). So, now they’re waiting for inspiration again.

So much for my goal to post more than once a week. Okay, I’ll try to be better going forward. Other than a couple trips to KC for Doctor’s appts for me and Gord, I haven’t been doing much here in Harveyville lately. The weather has been super cold for the last week and its kept me inside - where fortunately its warm. The temperature paradox here in H-ville - super cold outside (20*) –> super warm inside (80*) , regular cold outside (55*) –> exact same temperature inside (55*).

I’m working on three knitting projects right now.

The first is the Grannie Smith cardigan knit out of a purply-gray Kidsilk Haze. I’ve finished the back and am 1/3 done with the right front side. Here is a detail of the lace pattern:

The second project is for Gord. He asked for a fisherman-type sweater and picked one out of my Interweave Knits magazines - a cabley sweater with lots of twists and turns. I’m using a grayish tan wool. For some strange reason, when I ordered the yarn on the web I didn’t order enough to complete the sweater - I’ve never made that mistake before. When I caught my error, I ordered an additional skein and am hoping that its from the same batch so the colors match up. If not, I’ll just use it for the sleeves and hope that is a close enough match. Gord probably would not even notice. I’m about 1/3 done with the back of the sweater. Here is a photo of the swatch I knit to check my gauge. This swatch doesn’t show the full cable pattern - just the twisted stich patter on the sleeves and edges of the sweater.

Lastly, I’m working on a hat as part of the “We Call Them Pirates” knitalong. Nikol mentioned to me that she was starting this knitalong and I’ve seen Kelly Sue’s finished hat and thought it was super cool. I’m not sure who this hat will be for - I think it depends on what size head it fits. I thought about purchasing yarn specifically for this project, but remembered that one of my 2007 goals is to knit up 50% of my stash before buying new yarn. So I dug out some 50g balls of KFI Cashmerino that I had leftover from a fairisle vest I knit in 2004. I had only one light color so it was light green for the skulls. I had a choice between dark green or dark purple for the background and went for the purple after seeing a light green/purple WCTP hat on Flickr. Here is a detail shot of the skull:

Hope everyone is keeping warm in the cold weather!