Dare I share?

OK, look at this!


I don't like to swatch-especially for socks because they are most usually stating the gauge "in the round", so I just go ahead and knit the sock as if it were the gauge. In this case, in order to decide which needles to use, I swatched small swatches back and forth. I settled on the size 0 which were giving me a near perfect gauge.

As the sock knit up, the STR Rooster Rock colorway was looking awfully cool and I was really liking this sock.

Then I tried it on. It seemed a bit tight. Crap.

I decided to go up to size 1 (Clover, so they are 2.25, not 2.5mm...). For some reason, I think that going up a size needle made the gauge bigger not just by virtue of a larger size, but also because my hands somehow started knitting looser. (Or perhaps, the size 0 encouraged a tighter knitting?...or the lovely tiny pointed ends and slick smooth surface of the 0's encouraged a tighter grasp or playing the stitches closer to the tinier tips of the needles making for the tighter gauge?...) Of course, this (acheiving a looser gauge) was the point, and the fit "seemed" to be better. The colorway started out looking interesting and I kept knitting despite the fact that they appeared to be pooling. I kept thinking, "this isn't really pooling, it will just end up a broader, twisted type striping!"

I got to the last repeat of lace and guess what? I don't see the pooling becoming streams of ribbon colors!

I'm not one to get all upset about pooling, but look how much more gorgeous Sock 1 is to the larger gauge sock?

So again, I decide to try on Sock 1 without the needles sticking around in it. I put the stitches on waste yarn and, though a bit snug, I decided it fits afterall! Yeah, it fits 'afterall'! (I decided it really isn't as snug as I first feared or imagined, but I will admit it could be a bit roomier...) But guess what? I'll sacrafice a bit looser fit for that awesome striping I'm getting with Sock 1! Shallow, aren't I?

Of course, I won't frog Sock 2 until I am *really* sure Sock 1 is a go! Somehow, I fear this could be the beginning of a very long frogging adventure. I hope not. But then again, this could all just be a swatch, right?...

A "Four" Meme...and ANOTHER Sock started!

A fellow Socknitter had posted a little quip I found entertaining, so I blogdove over to her site...

She tagged anyone who knew her blog exists, so I thought it'd be fun to participate!

Four Jobs I’ve had:

1) McDonald's-gotta list that first job-and I was damn good at slinging McMuffins!
2) Office Assistant at an Orthodontic Office
3) Executive Director of the San Diego State College of Business Internship Bureau
(I like this one the best-it sounds so 'BIG'-lol!)
4) Rental Car Agent


Four movies I can watch over and over:

1) Cinema Paradiso
2) Lilo and Stitch (and with a 6yo, I've done this!)
3) Lord of the Rings -any and all
4) Harry Potter -any and all!

Four places I have lived:

San Francisco, CA
San Diego, CA
Honolulu, HI (if summer school counts, otherwise I can only list 2...)
Fairfield, CA (I list this for the above reason and because I would spend weekends and a good portion of summers there at my grandparent's...)

Four Television Shows I love to watch:

Law and Order
Star Trek
South Park
DIY-Carol Duvall Show and other crafty shows

(I actually don't even watch much tv, but these are shows that are the most watched and that I enjoy)

Four places I have been on Vacation:

Tahiti-that's the big one!
Hawaii-no, not counting summer school!
Europe
Louisianna


Four of my favourite dishes:

Cheesecake-oh!-maybe that's not a 'dish', huh? OK, then...
Honey Walnut Prawns
Tomatoe Beef Chow Mein
Lasagne
Prime Rib


Four Websites I visit (almost) daily:
Yahoo Mail
Google
My Blog
The Socks that Rock KAL

Four Places I would rather be right now:

Home
A yarn store (stolen from the person I took this meme from!)
San Diego
Italy

Four bloggers I am tagging:

Stilaholic Nartian Knits
BeadLizard
Anyone else who decided to read through this!


And Guess What I did this weekend?...

As promised...or did I threaten? I went ahead and started yet another sock! Ta-dah! Behold, the Kew socks knit using my new Rooster Rock STR colorway! YAY! I love the way this pattern is working with the Rooster Rock-nice and Autumny! And you all need to check out how good the Nodding Violet looks in this pattern, too! I'm harassing Stilaholic Nartian to put pics of hers up, too! They are looking fantabulous in that colorway, as well! More of a Spring Garden variety of leaves with the purples, blues and greens...

And yes, this pic also provided for your pleasure via the scanner!

Signs of Compulsive Behaviour...

I was just reading the Soctoberfest board under the How Many Different Socks do you have on the needles? topic, went home and discovered-gasp!-I have EIGHTEEN OTN! Then I remembered 2 others! I'm so sick...

And what just got posted at Knitty? Kew-a new sock pattern!

You would think that with this new knowledge and realization as to how many socks I have started and unfinished, I would not even consider starting a new sock! Not so, as I am dying to cast these on and proceeded to shoot an email to Stilaholic Nartian proposing we both do these-our own little KAL! Talk about ADD and compulsive behaviour! But don't you think...perhaps the Rooster Rock?? I'm going to have to visit my stash and see...

BTW, in looking through my UFO's (or are they KIPs?...where does one start and the other begin? are they one in the same?...) I came across my skein of silk Opal and a couple of the glittery self-striping stuff and remembered other sock yarns in a box downstairs...Like I said, I'm sick and there is no way anyone will be able to see my whole sock yarn stash!

Here's another thing: in working on a KPPPM sock for my sister, I realized that the 2 skeins are rather small and may not be enough for my sister's size 8 socks I'm working on. I normally don't worry about yardage, since I wear size 6, so it is a foreign concept to have such sock worries on my mind. At any rate, it does finally come to mind and I start to think about and worry about future yarn shortage for this pair. Well this is the sick part: the worry lasted for a bit in the back of my mind, but once I realized that I would have to do the toes in a different color, I actually got excited about the possibility of not having enough yarn-that meant I would have an excuse to shop for a suitable companion yarn for the toes! Yes, I'm that sick...I think my purpose in life is to make others feel good about themselves! (You know-there is always someone worse than you out there and I'm that person!)

Flashing the Stash for Socktoberfest!

I'm ashamed to admit that I am one of those persons whose sock stash cannot be shown in one picture nor gathered together at once! I grabbed as much of it from a couple of places in my bedroom, took out the new stuff I already showed off, then divided roughly into handpainteds, solids (roughly) and self-striping/variegated. I can't beleve how much time it took just to resurrect most of it-then I couldn't get it all back where it came from! How'd that happen? My original intent and justification for taking the time to do this was that I could re-organize alot of the stash and make it fit better into the various nooks and crannies where they were placed! Not so, apparently...

Here are some of my handpainteds: STR, Lorna's Laces, Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Lisa Souza, Cherry Tree Hill...
Hand-painteds 


Mostly solids...I just love the Merino 2000! Washes up really well for socks! Missing from this lot are all the solid sock yarns I got from Elann.com. My Kool-Aid dyed and Easter Egg leftovers dyed yarns have been tossed in the front. Some awesome cashmere mixed in!

Mostly solids; a couple of my home-dyed in front 


I do still love seeing the patterning and colors reveal themselves with the self-striping variety, though I just haven't been as motivated to knit them as I have been to challenge myself with textures and cables which generally aren't the best patterns for the self-striping stuff...but here is my variety...

Self-striping and variegated 


Well! That doesn't look so bad, now does it? Of course, as I said, I left out all the other yarns that I already earlier posted: KPPPM, some STR, etc...And this is not all of my yarn stash-none of the Cascade Fixation/Elann Fixation-like are shown. I also have more self-striping and probably solids that are around and not shown, either. But let's pretend that's all of it, shall we?

Moving on...

Here are the Socktoberfest Questions:

Do you have certain patterns planned for some of the yarns? Some, yes, others, no...and still others I planned after finding patterns and looking through my stash.

Do you buy yarn and then choose a pattern?With my sock stash, for the most part, yes. However, I find that after purchasing a gazillion self-patterning when I first started sock knitting, I started adding to my sock stash based on type of pattern. e.g., solids and lights for more textured socks or to show off a cabled pattern I might have in the back of my mind to knit, sportweight solids for quicker knits, etc...

Does a certain sock yarn you have in your stash take you back to a certain event? (where you were when you bought/received it? what was going on in your life at the time!)Some do. I can mostly remember where and when I bought the yarn-envision the petting, the drooling and the cave-in, the excuse for/of purchasing! Time-wise, I don't necessarily have any memories attached, though my first Koigu PPPM I completely remember buying-my first sock yarn and purchased at Stitches West from Foxy Knits! Ah, yes...the start of it all!

Because I care enough to share the very best...

Oh, My! How did these get here? 


MORE STR, you may ask? Well, you see...it's like this: I was planning on getting a few more skeins and then I find out that a somewhat LYS is opening in the area and will be carrying STR-what's a STRer to do?! There the skeins were, staring me in the face! IT'S ALL Stilaholic Nartian's fault! She knows I'm weak! She knows all you have to say is 'yarn sale' and I'll follow you anywhere-even an hour drive from home! And if it's STR, well, it's all over! In her defense, (like I said...) I had been planning a STR purchase in the near future, so actually she SAVED me money-I didn't have to pay shipping on these skeins! (Gas money doesn't count, right?) So there you have it! New yarn (a Malabrigo thrown in...) from a new store, Purlescence, that just opened in Sunnyvale, CA! Looks like they are the lucky store to get distribution rights in Northern California!

Highlights of my store visit:
-I got to pet the BMFA "Bambu" yarn-oh so soft!
-I met Cookie A. of Knitter's Anonymouswho probably thinks I'm nuts, but I had to introduce myself and show her my Hedera socks which I wore there in case I saw her!
-I got to check out other BMFA yarns!
-I got to see my bud (and most talented, knowledgable), Sylvia and catch up with her! I got to meet her DD who is as tall as Sylvia says! And she is darling!
-I met a wonderfully awesome knitter who helped me with my Puck's Mischief sock heel*

*more on that, later, as my mystery is actually only 1/2 solved now!

So let me show you what my skeins look like!...

The dirty details...STR in Moonlight Revel, Carbon Dating and Rooster Rock. Malabrigo Stonechat 


My little brother was in town this weekend and look what he brought from downtown?

Can you tell this was a good weekend?! 


And look what else I need to share?

Gluttony comes in all forms! 


Finally, yes, I have been doing some sock knitting...Finally doing some Jaywalkers using Fleece Artists Merino Sock, Baltic Sea colorway...(I actually didn't like this colorway much but decided to 'go outside the box'! Glad I did cuz I think it is looking pretty awesome knit up!)

It's not always about just buying... 

"Xtreme" Knitting?

Yeah, like Xtreme PITA!-lol!

OK, first of all-yes, these socks look nothing like the colors of the beginnings of my DK socks I earlier showed you. That's cuz they're not! I couldn't find the beginnings I started last week and ended up stash diving to find more 'kid sock' yarn colors I didn't mind giving up for this project.

So, look how far I've gotten...?

Look how far I made it! 


And see what I am now showing you?...Yes, Miss Smarty-Pants me decided that I no longer needed to check between the two fabrics to make sure they weren't stuck together. Luckily, I didn't wait too much longer before checking again, yet it was long enough! At least 1 1/4"-1 1/2" to tear back! If that wasn't enough, the join ended up right at the gussett decreases! ARGH! Why not at some straight portion?

The other side that I 'neglected' to show you! 


I messed around with the two fabrics and did my best to repair the damage. I figured as long as the stitch count comes out right, I really don't care how perfect the gusset decreases are. After all, won't a kid be happy to have something warm on their feet? Who cares if the gussets lack perfection, right? So, that said...

This is as good as it gets! 


Criminal, I tell you!

So this is my assessment thusfar of this technique:

1) I am glad I am doing this project so that I can learn this technique.
2) I will probably never apply this to sock knitting
3) I don't understand what sane person would prefer this method to others-buy an extra set of needles! Don't be so cheap, damn it!
4) I could knit the pair at the same time more quickly doing them on two sets of DPNs or circs-carrying the yarn front and back wastes time and drives you nuts
5) The risk of having your socks ending up stuck together and having to waste time fixing TWO socks far outweighs any benefits
6) I'm questioning the effect on gauge when knitting in this manner-I will refrain from judging whether it has an effect or not until this set is complete
7) If the gauge is not affected (see 6 above), I could see the benefits of perhaps knitting sleeves in this manner-it would drive me less bonkers than knitting 2 sleeves in the round on 2 circs (which I am currently doing!)

Th-th-th-that's All Folks!

Socktoberfest is Here!

I'm so shameful. Here it is, October 4, I posted on the 2nd and all I could do is whine and obsess and forget to mention Socktober fest altogether!

Well, I'm ready to Socktober Fest! Here are Lolly's questions...

When did you start making socks? After telling a overly zealous saleswoman at a LYS (quite curtly, at that) that I had no interest in doing anything in that small of a gauge (I only do large gauge!) when she gushed about Koigu and how her dream was to have a whole drawer full of Koigu socks by Christmas (hmm...this must have been Fall of 2002...). I bought my first sock pattern and Koigu KPPPM at the following Stitches West in February 2003! Shortly thereafter, the journey began!

Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? 100% self-taught; first via the Ann Norling pattern I bought at SW (basic cuff-down), then via on-line tutorials and other patterns where I learned 2 on 2 and all the details. One gal at a LYS told me she taught herself Magic Loop by looking at the cover of the Magic Loop book and said it was very instinctual. I looked at the cover and did the same.

What was your first pair? Ann Norling basic in Koigu PPPM. How have they "held up" over time? They are still worn by me and are wonderfully soft.

What would you have done differently? I was told by a woman at Foxy Knits (at SW; they sell only Koigu)that though the yarn called for size 3 needles, she preferred knitting her socks on size 2 1/2. Me being 'so smart' decided on my first sock that since: 1)I had gone down a 1/2 needle size already and 2) I have chubby, wide feet...that I should not decrease down to my original 64 stitches and instead only go down to 66 or 68...! Needless to say, my "intellegence" resulted in my first sock being a bit too loose. Luckily, I decided to knit my second sock properly, rather than have both too wide...So one sock is larger than the other!

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? Definitely Socks that Rock (STR)! Also, "Seduction", which (like STR)is another Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn, only a merino/tencel blend. Lovely to work with, looks wonderful and washed up well...but, IMHO, at around $32 a skein (vs. $19 for STR), too luxurious to again use for socks! Love Fleece Artist Merino sock and was pleasantly surprised at how nice the Jawoll felt to knit with! Also love Zara and Print 2000 for heavier wt. socks! Washes up like a dream!

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? Haven't tried crochet yet, and don't really much have the desire to. I mostly prefer DPNs, but will use whatever needles are around and do own the tiny sized circs, too. HATE 2 on 2 circs-just don't like having to keep untwisting the two strands of yarn!

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?) So far, I definitely lean towards flap.

How many pairs have you made? 13 pair that I can recall, and have around 3-5 singles that I can think of.

And here is my extra comment...
What am I currently doing for Socktoberfest? Well, at this point, I thought it would be good to try and finish at least one single sock to make a complete pair. Second, I was inspired by the Extreme Knitting article in Knitty and will attempt 2 pairs of toddler socks (if I am able to master this Double Knitting technique) to donate to CIC or some other charity.

This is as far as I've gotten...Just figuring out the cast-on took a bit of time for me! YIKES! Let's see if I can even get this monster joined!

Now to join in the round... 

I know...I keep harping on this...

I've progressed on my Carnations and Cranberries socks in the Apple Laine Apple Pie yarn. I keep finding funking portions of slubs that come up, but I continued to knit. I'm still not convinced that this particular skein isn't some mill end, but it certainly does knit up nicely and feels so soft!

Here's a 'slub' that I was talking about...

The look of a 'slub'... 


And another...
Still obsessing 


Maybe you can see it as stitches on the needle...am I just being obsessive? Probably, huh...
10th and 12th stitches in...do you see what I see? 


This pic is as good as I could get to show the slubbies sticking out in the knit fabric. Subtle, but still there...
Follow the points of the needles (lower right and left) 
src='http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/151/6467/400/DSCF0669.jpg'>

This is a bit lighter...maybe you can see the chubby stitches better?
A bit better...? 

At Your Request! A Full Service KPPPM Show!

So I have publically admitted having a Koigu PPPM sub-stash of yarn, so I guess I will reveal it. I think this is about the rest of it, save a couple of colors currently living as "WIPs"-or would it be "UFOs"...? At any rate, those will get posted eventually!

Following are the wound skeins-can you see the various color schemes I was working in when I chose thees? Can you also now understand *why* I needed to purchase the pinkish and periwinkle/bluish skeins? I *had* to broaden my Koigu palette, don't you think? The far left color is actually not as black as it looks. Kind of more of a burgundy-black look to it.

And more Koigu PPPM! 


And more Koigu with a splash of Shelridge Farms and Twisted Sister mixed in. Shelridge Farms is the greyed-out teal mix in the upper right hand corner. Twisted Sisters are the two far-right blue, greenish-brown mix. Definitely a couldn't pass-up purchase!

Koigu, Twisted Sisters and Shelridge Farms 

Slow progress

Well, I wanted to show off my new Fleece Artist Merino Sock yarn, but decided to wait until I get another order (ALSO from Little Knits) so that maybe it could be disguised as one order and I won't look as much like the obsessive yarn acquistion agent that I am!

So instead, I wanted to show you the progress on my Carnations and Cranberries socks, only I am right now-literally (my computer can be slowwwwww...) tinking back a few rows! Don't you just hate when your DPN comes out and in an attempt to place the stitches back on, some stitch somehow, somewhere, someway gets messed up? So then you frog back to a place where you can safely get the stitches back on the needleS, struggle to figure where you left off, start back up on the knitting and again find yourself lost? So then you start tinking backwards still hoping to solve this whole problem and get right back on track...??Then the sock becomes a UFO because sometimes you just don't want to be bothered?! Well, I'm right about at that point before the sock goes into the UFO pile...There is still hope, but options are running thin and I am refusing to completely frog at this point.

Hmmmm...maybe I should just dig out some more of my Koigu PPPM stash and call it a night!

Just Knot Sure...

Ha ha! Get it? "knot"=not? I'm so witty today, aren't I? Well, not really, but it was my lame attempt at having a more interesting subject line. I mean, I read all these other blogs that are so witty and I think, "Why isn't my writing entertaining?" Not even as much as the others, but at least entertaining? Well, I just have to continue relying on people with this mutual obsessive knitting disorder who will find this interesting for the sheer fact that there is knitting content in it!

OK, now to further illustrate my whining about the Apple Pie yarn from Apple Laine. Here is a photo of where the knot was, and how far out it was to the splice that followed approximately 15-18 yds later...(Ball in upper left, first portion of skein...ball below, the 15-18 yds...splice is shown in yarn between tiny ball in lower corner and larger ball in upper right hand corner...



I will tell you this-the splice really seems quite strong. But you have to admit it is ugly and would have to be strategically hidden or trimmed or somthing!



BTW, after inspection of the other two Apple Pie skeins (Pastel Petals colorway...), my initial assessment is there are no knots and I didn't detect any joins. I will have to wind the skein to confirm this, but so far, so good...

To Prove I'm not always a Yarn Snob...

If you saw my earlier pic of one of the colorways of Koigu PPPM I had to buy at the last Greenwich Yarn sale, here is it's "partner in crime"--the light blueish-purple skeins! Also, here are some other KPPPM I purchased a while back...just to reiforce that I don't need *more* Koigu! (This is not my complete "KPPPM Stash"-yes, another sock yarn sub-stash!)

Oh-and the fluffy purply-blue (to the left of the blue KPPPM) is the other half of my Northern Sunshine Designs order for Apple Laine's Apple Pie yarn, shown in "Pastel Petals". Is it not gorgeous? I love the colors!

And to prove I'm easy, just look--it doesn't have to be handpainted pricey yarn for me to buy it! It just has to be attractive sock yarn or cheap sock yarn or...BOTH! Observe my latest stash enhancements from Knitpicks...Gloss, Dancing and Essential Tweed herein represented. I'm sick. I know it. That's all I'll say...

Yeah! More new sock yarn!

What would life be like without new sock yarns to try? I have purchased patterns from Northern Sunshine Designs, and now they are carrying Apple Laine yarn! Had to try, no? This is a wool, silk, mohair (uck-I can't breath the stuff in normally...), nylon blend. I purchased 4 skeins-enough for 2 pairs of socks! This is the Arizona colorway and I'm knitting them using the "Carnations and Cranberries" pattern. So far, I'm quite happy with the way this yarn knits up and the soft feel and the sheen of it!

The bad side: (now, I know knots happen in skeins...) BUT...one of my 2 skeins had a knot almost 1/2 way through...then about another 15 yards down, a splice! The splice seems strong enough, but has a bit of a 'shaggy' edge to it. I'm still contemplating the course of action to take. Probably will cut the splice out and join the two broken ends.

The other skein has no knots, but I so far have (twice since starting this pair) come a cross some slightly thicker portions that feel suspiciously like really good splices...I kept knitting and am confident they will stay and that I don't need to cut and splice on my own. So basically, I like this yarn and the colors, but will have to see how the other two skeins are and decide what my final verdict is regarding whether I'd buy more...


Sometimes it's easier just to throw the stuff onto a scanner bed; amazing the pics you can get just scanning vs. using a digital camera! I adjusted the color a tad; in real-life, the yarn color is a bit lighter than how it comes out as shown in the background sock...but then again, "it all depends on your individual computer monitor, blah, blah, blah..."

Puck's Mischief and a sewn project!

Earlier I posted about my new Puck's Mischief STR colorway. I couldn't resist and had to start knitting it up, so here is how far I've gotten
On the left is a toe-up sock knit in the STR Citrine colorway. The other two are my toe-up "Jasper" socks in...PUCK'S MISCHIEF! I started on one heel and am not sure a) if I am doing it correctly and b) if I actually like this type of heel...I may have to examine other toe-up heels to consider because I don't think I'm sold on this one...I guess that means I'm at a stand-still for now! RATS!

OH! and remember how I'm getting re-interested in sewing? Here is what I recently made for my spoiled Only Emperor Child
I made the shorts, too. Guess what The Mighty Emperor told me? They need to be SOFTER! SOFTER! (I think the kid is thinking fleece for his oh-so-tender skin!) Well, I'm proud I finished it, despite the fact that I still need to put snaps or buttons on the top!

This weekend's project...

Well, I noticed this pattern at Simply Socks Yarn Company (http://simplysockyarn.com) and bought two skeins of "Gramercy" to complete them. I didn't realize that the Gramercy is a DK wt, vs. Chelsea which is a sport weight. Luckily, I may be able to barely SQUEEZE a pair out of the 2 skeins and if I'd realized earlier, I would have worked the cuffs about 1/2" - 1" shorter...Oh well...This is the first time for me doing this type of heel. At this point, I still prefer heel flaps. Maybe after the second sock, I'll feel differently. As for the pattern, it has been interesting to do, but I've definitely had to concentrate on it. It is an 8 row repeat and while knitting the cuff, you have to shift the beginning and end stitches alternately every 4th row or so. This may be a cinch for advanced knitters, but I found that this is not the type of pattern to start and set down for too long cuz you could easily loose track of your place! In fact, I did! I started this a while ago and over the weekend; while trying to pick back up where I left off, I decided that the prudent thing was to rip out the 1 1/2" or so that I had created and start again from the beginning. This is as much as I was able to complete over the weekend...




Lily Chin "Chelsea Cabled Socks"-only I didn't use "Chelsea"... 

I guess I've never confessed to the fact that I also subscribe to the Yarn of the Month Club. It's fun to get the yarn to play with, but quite frankly, I haven't done much swatching and am starting to come to the conclusion that it is not for me. I just don't have the time to play with the yarn and design a bunch of stuff. I did learn of a stretchy, fuzzy, fine yarn from Mango Moon called "Capelli", which I think would be an EXCELLENT "Kidsilk" substitue for those of us that are allergic to mohair, so that's one way the club has been great... But here's the shipment I just got...


My recent "Yarn of the Month" club shipment... 

And yes, more true confessions...I hit the end of the Greenwich Yarn sale-literally! My friend and I were there the hour of the last day of the sale and they even stayed open an hour longer for us! Now, if it wasn't enough that I purchased more sale yarn than I should have, I definitely did NOT have to throw the 4 skeins of Koigu in with the haul-but I did. And here are two of the four I purchased. The other two are a bluish color and maybe one day I will dig it out and it will be posted...but for now, my latest Koigu PPPM...


Always adding to my stash...