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New socks & a new computer

Whew -- finally got everything working on the new computer. When you switch computers, you realize how much software you use on a daily basis. I've finally got Photoshop installed and it's back to photos in my posts.

And what a colorful photo to start with, huh? These are the STR Crazy Lace Agate socks that I knit for myself. I've heard that there is sometimes an issue with the amount of yarn in a hank of this stuff, so I went for a shorter top on these socks. This is more comfortable for me with my German farm girl legs anyway (got that from the Klotz side -- my Mom has wonderfully skinny, shapely legs. Hmph.) But I digress. As you can see, I had plenty of yarn left over. In fact, I think I'll try weaving some of the extra on my BonHop loom.

One Down -- STR Crazy Lace Agate Socks

Last night while watching the final presidential debate, I finished up the first Socks that Rock Crazy Lace Agate Mediumweight sock.  I used my usual sock pattern and this time I went with the eye of partridge heel.

I really like how the eye of partridge looks with stripey yarns and the STR is no exception.  So pretty:

I'm really on a roll -- having finished the Keepsake Shawl that I posted about recently, and now a sock!  What will be next?

I've Got Knitting Fever!

I just finished up this pair of socks for Maddie using Trekking in color 48 -- her favorite color is blue.  These are just knit using my generic sock pattern that is a combination of my sock formula in my head aided by the Yankee Knitter Designs sock pattern which I bought years ago.  It's nice because it gives you a starting point for any size socks knit with almost any weight of yarn.  A handy reference to keep in the sock knitting basket!

But before I even Kitchenered the toe on Maddie's socks I got the itch to start a new project and after surfing around Ravelry a bit, I stumbled upon the Noro Striped Scarf which I've been wanting to make for a while.  Since I'm trying to knit from the stash, I am using the only 2 colors of Noro Silk garden that I had on hand.  I'm still not sure about how they are working together, but I'm enjoying the actual knitting -- so who cares?

And I always like to have a pair of socks on the needles -- plus we have a long car trip coming up -- so I have a decision to make.  First up is Regia in my favorite colors -- orange & brown -- colorway 5757.  I love knitting with and wearing Regia socks, so it's probably the leading contender.  Next is STR Mediumweight in color Crazy Lace Agate.  I knit up a little swatch of this and it is so pretty!  Plus the gauge was right on -- 7.5 st/in.  I kind of want to do something a little special with this yarn and it is a little more difficult to knit with since it's not a stretchy as most sock yarns.  Not the ideal car knitting, I think -- but so pretty!  Finally there is Opal in colorway 1073 -- mostly grey with a bit of yellow and purple.  I've never actually knit a pair of socks with Opal, believe it or not.  It feels soft and fluffy, and the colors are more spring-y (as opposed to the autumn-ish Regia).  Hmmmm. . .

Can I be an honorary member?

Things have been so crazy busy here for. . . well, for quite a while I suppose.  So much so, that I completely forgot to sign up for Socktoberfest (is it too late?  Can I still sign up?)  I have finished a pair of socks though, so I'm hoping that I can be an honorary member anyway!

These socks are for Pete and are knit with Socks that Rock heavyweight.  There's more info about them back here.

I'm afraid that's all I have for today -- busy, busy!  But come back tomorrow -- I'll have an interview with Shannon Okey about her new book Spin to Knit!

***Update***  I guess it's not too late to sign up for Socktoberfest!!  I just did it and I'm on the list!  (I'm #793 right now -- there's like almost 2000 people signed up!  wow!)

Quiet for a little while. . .

This is the project that I'm going to be taking with me this week on my somewhat unexpected trip to South Carolina.  A very close friend of our family is in her final days and we are going to be with her so that we can say our goodbyes and hopefully make her last bit of time here a little bit more cheerful. 

The socks are for Pete and this is the third time that I have started them.  This heavyweight Socks that Rock is throwing me for a loop!  I ended up knitting them with US 4's and did 48 stitches around.  Needles to say, they are knitting up quickly at that gauge. 

I'll be back late next week, but may not be posting until the following week, depending on my level of physical and emotional exhaustion.  Please send my friend good thoughts for a peaceful and graceful exit from this world -- she was a crafter at one time too. . .

WIP Confessional

It's time to lay it all out.  Well not all. . . I know I have more wip's than I'm showing here, but these are the ones I'll probably finish.  (Well mostly. . .)

Keepsake Shawl knit in many colors of Koigu.  I started this in 2004, I believe and I came up with a great system for knitting it so that I could just pick it up and remember exactly which yarn to use and which row I was on.  So why does is sit?  Who knows.  I really want to finish this one up, so I think I will make it my #1 knitting priority.

Ingeborg, oh Ingeborg.  I started you back when the knit-along began.  Was that 2004 also?  And every winter I pick you up and get re-invigorated . . . for about 15-20 rows.  Maybe this will be they year that you get finished!

Trekking socks started for the "Trek along with Me" knit-along.  I never did take a picture of me trekking along.  Is it still going on?  I'm *awful* with knit-alongs (see Ingeborg above) and should never, ever join them.  These socks will get finished though.  I love Trekking yarn!  It just takes me several months to finish a pair.

New felted bag design I'm playing around with.  It's a smallish bag and I'll finish it up in the next week or two.

What is this thing????  Why am I making it?  Okay, this is the Amineko and I decided to make it with Encore from the stash.  I should have gotten a different yarn.  I didn't really want a red cat and I don't really care for this yarn, so I never work on this project and the featureless head is all that has been made.  Time to rip this one out and start over with a new yarn, I think.  This was my only crochet project in the works and it's a failure.  Ugh!

Oh!  My quilt!  I love these fabrics and want to get back to work on this soon.  The last month has been so busy and I really need time when I want to quilt, so this has been neglected.  I know that cooler, quieter weekends are on the way though, so it will progress!

Mountain Colors woven scarf.  I love how the weaver's wool from Mt. Colors is sort of striping, sort of not in this scarf.  A free hour or two and some good podcasts to listen to and this will be finished!

I'm still making good progress on that lovely pink fiber from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  The third bobbin is well on it's way to getting filled up and then it's on to plying.  I have no doubt that this will be finished up very soon.

Paradigm Lost cross-stitch sampler.  I often want to work on this but there are several impediments to my progress -- First, I don't have good lighting pretty much anywhere in the house and I really need it to work with this dark thread on linen.  Second, it's in a small basket, so I have to keep it stored off it's stretcher bars.  So I can't just pick it up and stitch a bit -- it requires set up time.  Third, my eyes get tired at night and that's usually when I find time to craft.  Hmmm. . .

Elsa Williams Jacobean Crewel Embroidery.  Not sure why this has stalled, other than the fact that I have so much going on. 

I realized that I haven't listed the Kumihimo braid I'm working on either.  And I'm sure there are other things.  Maybe posting photos of my wip's on a regular basis will get me excited about them again.  It seems to have worked.  I'm already looking forward to getting in some rows on the Keepsake Shawl!

In other news, guess what tomorrow is.  It's not my birthday, or wedding anniversary, but it is *an* anniversary for me. . .

Maddie's Socks Finished!

Last night I finally grafted the toe on the second of Maddie's socks.  I really shouldn't say *finally*  since I just started these sometime around the end of June or beginning of July.  You have to love little feet which require equally little socks that knit up so quickly!  These were knit with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the color Uptown using US size 1 dp's and my usual sock pattern.  I have to say though that I recently started using the heel turn from Lucy Neatby's book Cool Socks Warm Feet and it's now part of the "standard sock" pattern I use.  Yeah, someday I'll try that new-fangled short-row heel thingy.  Maybe  :)

Maddie even consented to model the socks:

And then she didn't want to take them off!  It's still a bit warm for wool socks though, so I got her to remove them by promising to make her a second pair.

But first I'm knitting Pete a pair out of heavyweight STR -- yes, my first pair of Socks that Rock.  The heavyweight is throwing me for a loop though!  I've decided to use size 4 needles (recommended needle is 5-6, but I just can't imagine knitting socks on needles that big!)  I cast on 56 stitches after much calculation, knit a good part of the ribbing and it just looked too big, so I ripped it out.  ARGH!  I'm going to try 52, but according to the mathematics, I really can't go smaller.  The yarn is very tightly spun and isn't really like any other sock yarn I've worked with weight-wise.  I'm a bit confounded.  Anyone reading this knit a pair with the heavyweight before?

Mug mat & a little sock!

I finished up my first weaving "project" -- a wildly colorful mug mat.  Two of them actually.  I gave one to Maddie (because I thought Pete wouldn't want one since they are rather psychedelic -- but when I did he looked at me and said, "I could use a mug mat."  Looks like I have my next project lined up!)  The mohair weft made for some super fuzzy edges that hides any edge problems I may have had.  I suppose beautiful edges will come with practice.

In the past few days I also finished up the first of Maddie's socks, so I feel like there's enough progress to warrant a photo:

Maddie picked out the yarn from my stash and she chose Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the color Uptown.  I only had one skein, so she helped me weigh and wind the hank into two smaller center pull balls of the same weight.  (See Maddie, you do need to use math in the real world -- I call these opportunities "school" -- ha ha)  I was a little nervous about having enough yarn now that her feet are really starting to grow (2 sizes in the last year!)  But I had plenty left after the first sock.

Other than that, I've been busy at work getting out orders for the Dorothy Bag Pattern and putting up the new winter Hero Arts stamps at my rubber stamp store.

If you are knitting the Dorothy Bag, please leave me a comment or send me an email!  I can't wait to see everyone's bags!

Regia Jubilee Finished!

It seems almost like a miracle to me that these socks are finally finished. I started them way back in December of 2005. They even travelled to Maryland with me this year (where I completely messed up the heel). And here they are, over six months later, finally finished.

I'm a very goal oriented person and I've been thinking a lot about all my wip's. Work has been insane this spring (with the breakdown and re-building of my online store) and I've been busy starting new projects (like the Pincushion Challenge, Stitch-Cast and Booga Talk), but I'm thinking that with summer arriving I should be getting back to normal. I'm hoping this will give me time to work on some crafty things and this has me thinking about how to best tackle the piles and messes that have accumulated.

I'm probably going to start some kind of WIP "goal" for each crafting area I enjoy. And since I'm always online, I'll probably integrate a tracking mechanism on the blog. (We had an awful storm here on Monday night and the power went out. I was up half the night and really had time to think this all through. Just in case you thought I was a bit crazy -- ha ha.)

So, I'll probably be getting that together this week. It will involve photo taking and cleaning and reorganizing. We'll see if I actually find the time to carry out my big plans!

Oh, and if you are curious, the sock yarn I used is Regia Jubilee, colorway 5472 and here's what they look like on:

Trekking 107

Here's my start on the Trekking 107 socks.  Having a little time in the car is always good for sock knitting.  In person this colorway is more pastel, but the light wasn't quite right on my usual windowsill spot this afternoon.

In other news, I was going to do the "Senior Year of HS meme" that's going around and I started to answer the questions and realized that my best friend tried to kill herself the year before and was sent away.  I had been taking classes with people a year older than me and they all graduated, so I was left with some really small classes and with other classes that were really boring (the teachers used to let me sleep in class), and on the weekends I used to go out and drink way too much (heck I used to drink during the week sometimes too).  Meanwhile my sister was still recovering from brain cancer surgery and going through radiation treatments.  In two words -- it sucked.  So I decided not to do the meme.  I *so* love my 30's!!  Love love love love love my 30's!!!!

Trek with Me!!

Despite the fact that I've been working on my last pair of socks for over six months, I went and joined the Trek Along with Me knit-along.  Why?  Because I really want to have an excuse to start another pair of Trekking XXL socks.  So tonight I cast on.

In other news, the Pincushion Challenge gallery and new theme are up!  Go check them out!

How To: Picot Cast On for Your Handknit Sock

After I posted my first thrown together picot cast on, I received several requests for the "pattern".  Since I had just come up with it on the fly, I wanted to test it on the second sock before I gave it to you here.  Well, last night I stayed up past my bedtime getting that picot edging done on sock number two.  So without further ado. . .

The Picot Cast On Tutorial for Hand Knit Socks

1. Determine the number of stitches you will be using for the "leg" portion of your sock.  This should be an even number -- but you were going to use an even number anyway, weren't you?  Also determine the needle size you will use.  We'll refer to this as the "leg needle", or LN from now on.  I don't care if you use dps, or two circs or one circ -- they should all work!
2. Gather your yarn, needles that are 2 sizes larger than your leg needles and needles that are one size smaller.
3. Cast on with the needles two sizes larger than your LN's using the long tail (plain old) cast on.  The number of stitches should be the same as the number of stitches you will be using in the leg portion of your sock.
4. Switch to the needles one size smaller than the LN's.  Knit 7 rows with the smaller needles.  Yep -- just seven rows of stockinette stitch.
5. Switch to the LN's.  You will be using them from here on out.  Get ready -- it's time for the picot part of the picot cast on!
6. For one row you will repeat (K2Tog, yo) for the entire row.  Some Notes - All you are doing is knitting two stitches together and then bringing the yarn to the front between the two needles, thereby creating an additional stitch.  So you are decreasing and increasing at the same time.  *** You should have the same number of stitches at the end of this row as you started with! ***
7. Knit seven rows.  Yep, just seven rows of plain old stockinette again.
8. (This row is a bit tricky, but once you get started you will appreciate the fact that you will have no finishing to do at the end of knitting the sock!)  You are going to knit each stitch of this row with a stitch of the cast on edge.  So here's what you do. . . find the first stitch of the cast on edge, pick it up with the tip of your right hand needle, slip it onto the left hand needle and then knit it with the next stitch.  Keep going in this manner, picking up a stitch from the cast on edge and knitting it with the next stitch on the needle.  What you are going to see is the piece you have knit folding in half along that row of (K2Tog, yo)'s that you did -- this is what makes the picot!  And by knitting the cast on edge with this row, you are saving yourself the trouble of having to sew the edge down later.

Well, after that you just go on with your sock as planned. 

Some thoughts. . . I'm thinking you can use just one needle size, but I like to have a cast on that is stretchy so that I'm not struggling to get it over my foot.  And I chose the smaller needle for the inside since there is no ribbing to help keep the sock up -- I'm thinking this will help a bit.  And you probably can sew down the cast on edge later, but why would you want to?  Then you would have to worry about keeping the sewing loose enough (like the cast on) so that you could easily get the sock on and off. 

I hope that you found my tutorial for making a picot edged sock useful! 

Productive Evening

Last night was quite productive.  First of all, I finished the first Regia Jubilee sock (colorway 5472).  See?

This means I'll be casting on for sock number two, thus trying to reproduce my picot cast on.  If all goes as planned, I'll write up the "pattern" for you all and post it here on the old blog.

I also finished the book I had been reading, Other Electricities by Ander Monson.  This was an odd book.  He calls it a collection of stories, I guess I'd call it experimental fiction.  There are charts, and diagrams and a guide to the characters and symbology (?) as well as a strange index in the back. 

Overall the themes were quite melancholy (grief, loss) and the event were tragic (falling through the ice, murder) so I can't really say that I *enjoyed* it.  Then again, I read in in only three sittings, so I guess that counts for something.  It's definitely different and if you are tired of the same old, same old as I was complaining of, this may kick you out of your rut.  I would say it's worth a read.

Now you know what this means -- I can start Julie & Julia tonight!  No one expressed an interest in reading along.  In fact, it sounds like quite a few of you have already read it!  Am I this far behind the times?  Maybe I'm losing my touch  :)

Where do your socks stall?

Why do I seem to be able to move forward so easily on shawls while my socks sit forever?  The need to pick up stitches. 

I love knitting socks, but they always seem to get finished slowly.  I finish the top ribbing (or picot edging, in the case of this pair) and quickly move on to the leg portion.  This part usually flies by!  Then I do the heel flap -- no problem there.  And the heel turn, which I think is kind of fun.  Okay -- now it's time to pick up all those stitches.  Oy!  (Once I'm past the picking up, progress resumes.  And I also like Kitchenering the toe, so there's no trouble there!)

I blame it on my less than stellar eyesight, which is probably true.  Looking at all those tiny stitches as I pick them up usually aggravates me.  (No, I don't have an Ott Light -- yet.)  But even more than that, I think it has become a mental block. 

So, if I were to make a New Year's Resolution -- which I'm *not* -- it would be to forge ahead and pick those stitches up right away instead of letting the poor sock sit for weeks.

SOCK NOTE -- This sock is 68 stitches around on US 1's.  I tried a picot edging on the top for a change of pace.  I also couldn't find my notes for my personal sock pattern, so I used the Dutch Heel instructions found in Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet.  It's a shallower heel -- kind of flatter on the back -- than I'm used to, but I think it will actually be better for me. 

I put these sock notes in here, because while I do take notes on paper, I always lose them or can't understand what I wrote when I look back at them.  Then when I go to make calculations and plans for the next pair I'm hitting myself.  The blog is the perfect place to keep these notes because it's easily searchable via the nice little Google thing over in the sidebar.  Saves me lots of headaches!

Picot Pride!

Okay, it may seem silly, but I am very proud of this picot cuff on my current SIP.  I kind of flew by the seat of my pants here and figured out how to make the picot edge as I went.  I think it turned out really well and may even be the right size -- a bonus!  (I really thought I would have to rip out and try again once I figured out how the sizing would work.)

It's even nice and neat on the inside, don't you think?  Surprising since I was up past midnight knitting these.  I swear it was like reading a great book -- I just couldn't set it down.  Picot edgings are fun!

Now I only hope sock #2 turns out the same way when I get to it.  I did take notes, but I have notoriously bad handwriting and often lose my notes as I have 5-6 project notebooks floating around at any one time.

Oh and for the curious, that's Regia Jubilee colorway 5472 -- pinks and browns -- what could be better?

FO! FO! Trekking 100's Finished!

After several months and many distractions, I finally finished my Trekking 100 socks!  They are certainly wild and I don't think any color patterns were repeated throughout both socks.  To me this is very cool and made the knitting of them all the more fun.  If you like wild mis-matched socks -- try Trekking!

I used Brittany 1's and my own hybrid pattern.  The leg and foot are 64 stitches around. 

I'm so excited because now I can start knitting up my pink/brown Regia Jubilee socks!!

Desperation

Okay, desperation is a little strong.  But what does a knit blogger post when there isn't much to post?  Yep, sock-in-progress pics.  Here are the Trekking 100's.  Now that I'm a soccer mom (yikes!) I've been getting a bit of sock knitting done at the weekly practices.

So why post a sock in progress?  It's more that the weather is dark and gloomy -- hence too difficult to get decent pictures -- than a lack of things to show.  I do have that "Amazon" colorway spun, plied and washed.  And I spun up "Merlot" too.  I do have a picture of that:

It's rested for a couple of days on the spindle now, so I should be able to Andean ply it tonight.

I've spent a lot of time reading this past week though.  I'm making my way through Eragon and I'm liking it quite well.  Sure you can tell he was pretty young when he wrote it, but it's still impressive.

I also picked up a couple of old needle arts books while out thrifting this week.  They cover everything from knitting to macrame.  I'll try to scan in some pictures later this week!

Trekking XXL 100 sock progress. . .

Crazy busy here.  Just enough time to take a quick picture of my progress on the Trekking XXL 100 socks. 

My three new Japanese craft books are excellent and as soon as I find a few minutes, I will scan some pictures.  Gotta run!

Finally Finished!

I started these socks on the way to MS&W -- yeah, that long ago.  They are made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in colorway Indian Summer.  I used US 2's, my own hybrid pattern and they are 60 sts. 

Finishing these meant I could start these. . .

Yipee!  These are Trekking XXL in colorway 100 and they are fun!  I'm using US 1's, my usual sock pattern and 64 sts.  I want to forget all my responsibilities and just sit and knit these all day!

What do you do when. . .

You have three socks on the needles and three new balls of sock yarn arrive?  Frog one pair of course. . .

This is Opal Royal in colorway 5015.  It's orange and sparkly, and I eagerly cast it on (ages ago) despite my fear of all things sparkly.  I knit about 2 in. and it just sat and sat.  So when I was assessing the sock situation, I decided that if I couldn't finish the first sock, I was never going to get around to making a second.  So to the frog pond I went!

Now I know that someone gifted this to me, and I hate to be a re-gifter. . . but I hate to see yarn go to waste even more.  Do you have any non-sparkly yarn that you would like to trade with me for this?  I like Regia and I'm willing to give Opal another try.  Just email me!

And to prove that I have been somewhat "good". . .

I did start the second Cherry Tree Hill Indian Summer sock.  I'm going to try to finish this before starting another pair.  I hope I have the will power!

What do you do when. . .

You have three socks on the needles and three new balls of sock yarn arrive?  Frog one pair of course. . .

This is Opal Royal in colorway 5015.  It's orange and sparkly, and I eagerly cast it on (ages ago) despite my fear of all things sparkly.  I knit about 2 in. and it just sat and sat.  So when I was assessing the sock situation, I decided that if I couldn't finish the first sock, I was never going to get around to making a second.  So to the frog pond I went!

Now I know that someone gifted this to me, and I hate to be a re-gifter. . . but I hate to see yarn go to waste even more.  Do you have any non-sparkly yarn that you would like to trade with me for this?  I like Regia and I'm willing to give Opal another try.  Just email me!

And to prove that I have been somewhat "good". . .

I did start the second Cherry Tree Hill Indian Summer sock.  I'm going to try to finish this before starting another pair.  I hope I have the will power!

Lonely Sock

I finished the sock that I started on my trip to MS&W.  Took me long enough.  Especially since it's on size 2's!  Not even tiny needles.  I was under pressure to finish this sock (and hopefully the second one) because look what has been arriving in the mail. . .

On top is the elusive Trekking XXL in colorway 100.  (Maybe not so elusive.  I emailed theknitter.com and although it was out of stock, they emailed me as soon as more arrived.  Great customer service!)  This is such happy yarn that I want to start knittng these socks right away!  I've used Trekking for a pair of socks for Pete, and I really liked the yarn.

Down on the left is Regia Jubilee in colorway 5472.  I love pink and brown together, so I had to have this sock yarn.  I've made several pairs of socks with Regia and love them all.  (Here's my favorite pair.)

And last , but not least, is the Opal Element in colorway 1073.  It's got both yellow and purple mixed in -- subtle.  I have another pair of Opal's on the needles, but they are lingering.  Too many projects have come up since I started them. 

The plan -- finish at least one pair of socks (I have three on the needles) before starting any of these three new ones (which I *so* want to start!)

A PLEA!!!  Please help me!  I'm working on my latest bag design and ran out of yarn.  My LYS is out and I think the color may be discontinued.  It's Noro Kureyon in colorway 130 and I only need one ball.  I'll do a trade or pay you via PayPal.  Please!  If you have it, I really need it right away!  Here's the color.  It's the three in front.  Thanks!!

UPDATE!  Thanks Caryn for finding the Kureyon in your stash!  You have saved me from pulling out my hair  :)