I started working on the Nine Tailors Socks. I did a short-row toe and started the mini-cable panel on the foot. There's a little more than 4" done, it's not as complicated as it looks, although the leg has two mini-cable panels and two colorwork panels. I think I'm going to be ripping most of it out though - I didn't short-row enough so the end of the toe is a little too wide. And re-doing it will let me neaten up the start of the mini-cable, so that's good too. Haven't decided on the heel yet, but I have time before I get to the gusset. Or maybe not, if I don't rip out, I'm only 2" or so away from the gusset/heel. This is going faster than I expected.
Other projects -
Regia Cotton Socks - I turned the heel of the first sock and I'm leaving it as all-stockinette with a picot hem. Slow knitting - but only because I'm not working on them much.
Barbara Seamen's Scarf by Myrna Stahman in a wool/alpaca mix. Done. And mailed off for a Craftster swap. I did switch to 14" straights, it was easier to keep the 2 halves of the scarf together than it was with the cable of the flex needle. The other half slid down the cable and made the needle feel lopsided. Didn't happen with the straights. Just over 60" long and about 10" wide. I think I'll be making one for myself in a different pattern. The ribbed neck and wide tails was a nice combination.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Project updates
Friday, June 26, 2009
More progress notes
Not sure what happened to May, but June just disappeared. A few days prepping for vacation. Almost 2 weeks on vacation. Three days for a family reunion-y weekend get-together. Four days of either me being sick or hubby in the hospital. I'd like to re-do this last week without being sick or seeing the inside of a hospital.
Anyway... project 'stuff'
The next-in-line stuff (first because it's more interesting)
The Nine Tailors Socks from Tsockarina. Definitely next up when the scarf's done (but only because I think the scarf will be done before the Regia socks and those are the only two that will be done in the few weeks.) I bought the kit at the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool show this year. I read through the instructions and got stuck at the line that said something like "because of the toe pattern, these can't be knit toe-up" (not an exact quote because the pattern's in the other room and I'm too lazy to go get it). So of course, I spent a while thinking about how to knit them toe-up. Because I really don't like knitting tall socks top-down - and from the sample at NHS&W these are taller than what I usually knit.
So I wound the yarn while I considered this. I think that will be the worse of the pattern. I hand-wind skeins into balls all the time. I have to, I don't have a ball-winder. I untie the skeins, shake them a little to loosen them, lay them over my knees, or over the newel post of the staircase, and wind. 100gm is about 30 minutes or so. No big deal. Until I started. Took about 2 1/2 hours. The skein wasn't knotted or tangled or anything like that, but the strand went *under&over itself, reversed direction, then repeat from * for the whole 100gm. Weird. And slow.
And I made row counters. Once I figured how the bell ringing notation was written out (it took a few re-reads of the instructions) it'll be easier for me to knit from that instead of the chart or the written instruction.
Toe-up. Definitely being done toe-up.
The active stuff -
Regia Cotton Socks - I finished the foot of one sock in the hospital. I'm thinking they'll be all-stockinette with a picot hem. I like the self-striping pattern that's showing up.
Regia Ski Socks - They've been found. That's all.
Barbara Seamen's Scarf by Myrna Stahman in a wool/alpaca mix. Very soft. Amazingly bulky compared to the socks (size 0 vs size 9 needles) I've finished the ribbing section and I'm doing the tails at the same time. I've been using flex needles, but I may try regular 14" straights instead.
Done stuff
Easy Peasy 2 Swap - Crocheted Robot finished & sent & pic here (posted by receiver).
UFO stuff
Sort-of Thora Sweater (last update) Absolutely no progress, except to entertain thoughts of frogging it and saying to hell with it. Then I get a good night's sleep and decide maybe it's worth finishing.
Socks to Anklewarmers - no progress, but hanging around.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
In progress notes
Regia Cotton Socks - I just these a few days ago. I think they're a regia yarn, but without a label, I'm just guessing based on the self-striping pattern. I suppose they could be Meilenweit or Fortissima too. I started with toe-up using the wide-toe cast on from Priscilla Gibson Robert's book Ethnic Socks and Stockings book. The foot will be (probably) be stockinette, haven't decided on the heel or leg pattern yet.
Regia Ski Socks - ???? I know I knit on them on vacation. I know they were too small (they can only stretch so far...) I know they made it home from vacation. I know where the extra balls of yarns are. I don't know where the socks are.
Easy Peasy 2 Swap - Not started yet
Sort-of Thora Sweater (last update) Absolutely no progress since the last update. I tried it on and it's not right - a little short (but that's easy enough to fix) and a tighter than I wanted (not as easy to fix). Even sleeveless, the sweater (vest) was warmer than I expected it to be. Not really a bad thing since I want to wear it almost as a light jacket. But the V-neck isn't quite right. This cabled sweater is close in style to what the Sort-of Thora sweater is turning out to be.
So... to fix the width, I can add some panels to the side seams. Easy enough. But the V-neck still won't be right. I'd have to rip out both fronts and re-do the neck & front cabling again.
The V-neck isn't right because the sweater's tighter than I want. Before I rip back I'm going to undo the side seams and see if I can tell what the V-neck would look like if the sweater was the right size. Then I can rip-back if I have to.
Socks to Anklewarmers - no progress
Monday, April 27, 2009
Robots 2.0
I knit up a few more robots for a Craftster swap recently - pic here - using this pattern. I made a few tiny changes- maybe not even big enough to be called 'changes' but since it's not the way the pattern was written, I'll go with changes.
For the hat (called Front & Back in the Body section of the pattern), I did one robot the way the pattern said (knit the body in the round, knit the front & back of the hat separately, knit icord twirly thingy, then stuff & sew) but I didn't like the seam on the side. So for the second one, I stuffed as I went and did the hat decreases the way I'd do a 'real' hat. Basically, I knit the body like the pattern said, when I got to the hat, I stuffed the body, then knit the hat as *Knit 6, k2tog* around, knit one round, *k5, k2tog* around, etc etc stuffing a little at a time. When I got to the last few stitches, I stuffed in some more and did the little icord twirly thingy.
For the leg & arm tubes, I followed the pattern but did it as double-knitting to knit the tube flat rather than in the round. I checked every few rounds to be sure I didn't make a mistake and knit the tube shut. I also had to switch to needles about 2 sizes smaller so the tension would be about the same on the legs & arms as on the body.
Tiny changes. That's all. But if/when I knit this robot again, I'm going to use some of the techniques from the Robot 2.0 dolls. Knitting the arm&legs as flat tubes and maybe the head too. Not sure if I'd do the body in the round though since the front & back have different patterns. I think I'd keep that flat, but sew&stuff first, then pick up for the arms, legs, and head for double-knit tubes.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A mini sweater
I posted this over in Ravelry's Top Down Sweater Group thread not too long ago. It's a mini sweater (that is not intended to fit anything) of Barbara Walker's Simultaneous Set-In Sleeve from her Knitting From The Top book.
(um, I haven't actually knit this yet, though, but it should work because other people have knit it and say it works)
*NOTE - Barbara Walker's book has three methods for top down set-in sleeves. This mini uses for the Simultaneous Set-In Sleeve variation.*
Worsted weight yarn, and whatever needles you're comfortable using. Part of this is knit flat, and part is knit in the round. (in other words, circs or dpns will come in handy.) Or use any yarn you have handy. No gauge.
- Using a provisional cast on, cast on 15 stitches (this is 5 stitches for each shoulder and 5 for the neck). You will knit FLAT until step 5
- Do 2" of garter stitch on all 15 stitches (the garter stitch is just so there's no curling. if you really hate garter, do another stitch.) This is the back. Put the stitches on a holder, and cut the yarn.
- Undo the provisional cast-on and do 2" for each front (the 5 stitches at each end are the fronts, the center 5 is the neck, leave the center 5 stitches alone for now, they're not being knit yet.)
- put the left front on a stitch holder, and cut the yarn
- knit across the right front, put a marker (#1), pick up stitches along the 4" side, put a marker (#2) knit across the back stitches, put a marker (#3) pick up the same number stitches along the 4" side, put a marker (#4), knit across the front, cast on 5 stitches for the neckline and join the fronts. The rest is done in the round.
- knit one round
- Knit to marker #1, slip marker #1, increase, knit to marker #2, increase, then slip marker #2, knit to marker #3, slip marker #3, increase, knit to marker #4 increase then slip marker #4, knit to end
- repeat rounds 6 and 7, 4 times (these rows are the top of sleeve - you increased on the sleeve, not on the body)
- repeat 6 and 7, 4 times BUT INCREASE BEFORE AND AFTER each marker. (you're increasing on the sleeve and the body)
- Knit across and when you get to marker #1, cast on enough to (2 or 3 stitches for this mini one) join the underarm. Put the stitches between marker #1 and marker #2 on a holder. Knit the back (to marker #3), cast on enough to join the underarm, put the stitches between marker #3 and #4 on a holder. knit to end.
- Finish the body. Or the sleeves if you want to do those first.
- Finish both sleeves. Or the body if you did the sleeves first.
This will give you a mini-pullover with no neckline or shoulder shaping. On a real sweater, don't forget to do a neckline! And shoulder shaping, if you want.
I just saw on Natalie's KAL / CAL list that she discontinued the list (and I guess it will be taken down at some point) because of Ravelry. That's what it says on the page, I'm not guessing at a reason. Seems like the online version of big-box store comes in and the mom&pop store closes. Her list is easy to read - one page, listed by month, and also alphabetically. Ravelry's list is nearly 200 pages (with 20 or so groups per page). Not so easy. Read More......
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Random Tuesday
1. I finally finished the Lang Jawoll Socks and I ended up making them crew length (midcalf?) I like the purl side of the stockinette better, the self-striping design is more interesting. I'll try to get pics up. Except for the ribbing, it's all plain stockinette. The ribbing I did in a k2p2 alternating with p2k2. I used the fibonacci series to decide when to switch - 13 rows, 8 rows, 5 rows, 3 rows, 8 rows and end. No, you can't really tell once the socks are on. But it did make the socks more interesting to finish and that's all that matters. Haven't decided on the next pair though. Something I like more than these though.
2. I added two UFO's to finish to the project sidebar. One's a pair of fingerless mitts that I want to lengthen. I spun up the yarn for this year's tour de fleece. I've already crocheted some length to one mitt, and just need to copy it to the another. And depending how much yarn is left, I'll lengthen them a little more.
3. The other UFO is a pair of wearing out Regia socks. They were one of the first pairs I knit and the gauge was a little loose and the foot wore out. On the other hand, they did last 5 or 6 years, so not all bad. I used them mainly as bed socks because they were too loose for regular wear. The ankle and cuff are fine. I cut off the foot on one, and I'm going to add some ribbing to the cut end to make ankle warmers to wear under dress pants to work. When it's not snowing, I wear regular shoes with nylons and those just are not warm. I figure ankle warmers will help. Can't hurt.
4. No progress on the Thora sweater, (last entry here) but I listed it on Craftster's Less Than 4 Month's to End of Year Craftalong so I have to finish it. I hope.
5. I'm also crocheting a Turtle hat (or two) for a Craftster Swap.
6. I haven't done any spinning since.... Tour de Fleece? I need to add a 2008 button to my sidebar. My husband is threatening to sell my wheel. (bad hubby. very bad.)
7. I have 1 oz each of a dark blue and a dark green Zephyr wool/silk blend. About 150 yards each. I have no idea what I'm going to do them. I got them in a sock kit, but I don't want to do socks with this yarn. I'm thinking of cable-plying together to give the yarn a little more body (the zephyr feels very floppy and insubstantial to me) and then knitting up a short scarf/neckwarmer type thing. Or maybe something else. This is just the latest idea.
Finished Projects with Blog Posts
Finished Projects with blog posts (I finished more than this, honest.)
I'm removing the lists form the side bar and just needed a place to keep the links together. This list will be updated whenever I finish something that's been blogged.
Babies & Bear Sweater
Lang Jawoll Socks
Opal Purple Mittens
Fishtrap Hat
Spinning dyed BFL and Wensleydale Laceweight
Toe Up Gated Vine Socks
Garter and Honeycomb Baby sweater
Endpaper Mitts variation
Sunday, September 28, 2008
A Sunday Sock Meme
When did you first learn to knit socks? - About 5 years ago, I think. I was one of those “Hand-knit socks? Why????” knitters. Then I was at Michael's and saw some yarn that was “oooh, that would be PERFECT for socks” I figured out later that Woolease worsted weight isn't the best yarn for socks. Especially at a loose gauge.
What's the first sock you ever knit? The blueberry waffle socks. I don't remember if this is the link to the version I used, I know there's a few different links to the pattern. They lasted a while, but the WoolEase wore out, and I just knit more socks. Although only 2 pairs using WoolEase.
Favorite Sock Pattern? I don't think I have one. I start at the toe, usually one from Ethnic Socks and Stockings, do stockinette until it's time for the heel, then pick a heel, and a leg pattern.
Favorite needle method? DPN.s. I've tried magic loop and 2-circs. I like the dpns. I don't like circs for something as small as socks.
Favorite sock needles? 6” bamboo dpns, a set of 5 preferably. Although if the socks are tall enough, or heavier than fingering weight yarn, I use 7” dpns. But still bamboo.
Who do you knit socks for? Me, myself and I. But I did do one pair for my hubby in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. And I've done a few pairs of baby booties as gifts.
How many pairs have you knitted to date? Maybe 18 pairs. I've got about a dozen in the drawer, plus 1 for hubby, plus a few that have been “retired” from use.
What is on your sock knitting to-do list? Finish the Lang Jawoll socks that I don't like knitting, but I don't know why.
What kind of socks to you like to knit-
Lace? Sometimes. I did one pair of lace socks two years ago that I hated working on because I couldn't get the lace pattern memorized, but they look good.
