Socktoberfest recap

Socktoberfest is over (well, sort of; it looks like the Socktoberfest group on Flickr will be kept open throughout the year), and what do I have to show for it?

One sock. Part of another. I cast on for a third sock, inspired by the orange-and-purple Socktoberfest colorway from Scout's Swag (see the skein on the far left here). It was going to be a worsted-weight, slouchy sock with big stripes of orange, purple and black, but the pattern I was working with had some weirdness around the heel and I goofed up the jogless jog to hide my color changes. I was going to restart the sock using the formula from "Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks", but then I got an actual skein of Socktoberfest and my enthusiasm kind of waned. I'm sure I'll find another use for the Halloween-y wool.

And I acquired a ton of sock yarn. That oughta keep me busy.

So what's next? A pair of Knucks for the Beloved, once I get that purple sock off my size 3 circs. (Figures I'd have to go up a size for the socks and down a size for the gloves so that they require the exact same needles at the same time.) I also want to do a Moebius cowl (scroll down) or shawl. I know someone who has Cat Bordhi's "Treasury of Magical Knitting" and can help me with the cast-on, and if I borrow the book from her, I can try before I buy.

In anticipation of doing the Moebius cast-on, I bought some loooong cables for my Denise set and some Knit Picks Options needles in appropriate sizes and lengths. (Yes, I know I could just join a bunch of Denise cables together to get the really long needle, but I didn't want to tie up all my cables in one project.) The upshot is, I can now make a needle that is about as long as I am tall (longer, if I go crazy with the Denises).

I got all my new toys yesterday and couldn't resist giving the Knit Picks needles a spin on a scarf I'm doing for a colleague. I did notice that the stitches seemed to slide a little more smoothly to the tip of the needle, and the flexibility of the cable was nice. Will I be trading in my Denises for a full set? Probably not. But I'd definitely buy more sizes/cable lengths from Knit Picks if the need arises. (I note that Knit Picks has size 4 tips available; the smallest Denise is a 5. I do have two pairs of 24" size 4 circs, but if I ever had need of a different length of cable, I'd probably get the Knit Picks needles.)

My little progress bars are hopelessly outdated. I'll have to fix them soon ...

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Socktoberfest!

Socktoberfest is here, and lookee what I did:



Said sock is actually finished; I just haven't taken a fresh picture of it. (A close-up of the lace is here.) Pattern is Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark from Interweave Knits Spring 2004; yarn is Lang Jawoll Color Superwash, in color 820164; needles were size 1, and I used the included reinforcing thread on the heel (at least until the instep) and toes. One skein was an almost perfect amount of yarn, with a smallish ball left over for any mending that may need to be done down the road.

I feel like I've reached a milestone. (Although I've really only reached half a milestone -- the sock needs a mate.) But it's the first time I stitched a heel, and it was magical to watch it all take shape. The more I do things like this, the more I feel that, if I shy away from a knitting technique I want to try because it intimidates me, I'm missing out on something important.

To borrow from my LiveJournal:

This is not to say that the experience has been without problems, oh, no. I had to unravel the sock completely at one stage (thankfully, very, very early in the process) and had to cast on (i.e., put the starting row of loops on the needles) a bunch of times before I was really happy. On more occasions than I care to remember, I grabbed not the stitch-free working needle from my hand, but one of the other needles that you see sticking out from the sock, and suddenly had one-fourth of my stitches flapping in the breeze, threatening to unravel. Many's the time I had to un-knit several rows to fix an error, and then un-knit several more because I took apart one of the more complex stitches incorrectly.

[The Beloved] asked me, at one point, "Why do you do things that frustrate you so much?" I reminded him of the fits he throws occasionally while playing video games. He fell silent. (The Mario Kart games? They cheat, horribly. So does his poker-simulation video game. At least, that's how he tells it. He's not at Phil Hellmuth level with his rants yet, but just you wait. :-) )

With this being my first pair, I'm not going to have much to say in response to the sock history questions posted by Lolly, the Socktoberfest host. But here goes ...

1. When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
   
   Last month; self-taught.



2. What would you have done differently?
   
   Grafted the toe a little better. It's a bit pointy, and probably not Kitchener-stitched right ... Cat Bordhi talks about slipping the stitches on each side to make a more tidy toe. Perhaps with the next sock, I'll plan to do that.



3. Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
   
   I used DPNs for these socks, but the next pair I'm contemplating is worked on two circs, a technique I've used for a couple of projects and which I like. Just waiting for the circs to arrive -- I ordered sets of sizes 0 and 1 for just that purpose, and I already own 2 sets of size 2.

My friend Liz has said, "Walk softly and make loud socks." Would this yarn do? (I am sorely tempted to get some, if she reopens the offer.) There's some other loudness in the sock stash, too. Pix forthcoming.

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Talking points (and double-points)

Ah, my poor neglected blog ... but I have a few status reports:

• Mom's Sophisticated Scarf -- finished!
• Knucks -- not yet embroidered, but otherwise finished! They've been keeping my hands toasty at work, as promised.
  
• Booga Bag -- I need to felt the handle and assemble it, but the knitting is done! It came out better than I could have hoped, and yes, the Cascade DID enable me to use only two skeins of Noro Kureyon. The base and 2-3 rows of the sides are Cascade, along with the handle; the rest of the body of the purse is 2 skeins of Noro. Details and pix to follow.
• I've started my first socks and joined Socktoberfest 2006. I'm finally using some of those tiny sock needles I gushed about here (although not the tiniest of that lot -- they're size 1s.
• I've also made a sort of bowl-ish thing that I need to felt. I began it at ...
• ... the knitting retreat I attended a week ago.

So much time and so little to blog about ...

(... strike that. Reverse.)

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Missed it by that much

Little updates:

• The scarf is knitted! It's down to the finishing now ...
  
• The Knucks are ... almost knitted! I need to motivate myself to do another repeat and a half of the textured cuff pattern, which involves switching stitches back and forth between my two circs in a carefully orchestrated ballet that I always worry that I've done wrong. Much concentration is required. (But it looks good. And the actual stitching is kinda fun ...)
• Next on the needles: A Booga Bag, in pink-green-blue-aqua-purple Noro Kureyon with some matching solid hot pink Cascade 220 (?) to supplement the Kureyon. I think I will stitch the bottom in the solid, and perhaps the strap ... I'll have to do a bit of math to figure out where to put it in the body of the purse.

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The big and the small of it

I am a fan of small things. When I used to play with my grandmother's metal knitting needles, I was fascinated by the slender dark green pair, size US 2 as I recall; the bigger ones seemed clunky. I didn't know how to knit back then, but I would occasionally rub them together as though I did. I also used them as props in other playtime pursuits, and I loved the satisfying tinkle they made when I clicked them together. I have no recollection of her ever using them, though. They just sat in a jar next to the sewing machine (which I also don't remember her using), a bouquet of sharp pointy possibilities.

Same deal with crochet hooks. I resented having to use a size G or H with some yarns; why couldn't I use a little one, like a D? (I had a slim dark green one of those too, at one point in my youth. What is it with slim dark green fiber-arts implements?)

It isn't just needles and hooks, either. I was fascinated with 22-count aida cloth for cross-stitching (that's 22 little holes to the inch), and when I was able to do a project on linen, with an even finer count? Joy!

(I should note, however, that the project on linen is sitting unfinished in my closet. Should get it out someday.)

I write on college-ruled notebook paper. I prefer 0.5 mm mechanical pencil leads to 0.7. I usually go with fine-point pens. I like slim wire hoop earrings and eensy metal studs. Back when I smoked, my preferred mainstream brand was Virginia Slims, especially the Superslims. My preferred Winamp skins are the ones that fold up into fully functional title-bar sized windowshades. (MMD3 and the default Winamp Modern are so choice.) I like tiny screen resolution on my computer. I dig super-slim CD/DVD and cassette cases.

But back to the craft implements:

Here's the big and the small of my collection. That's a size US 17 needle next to a size 000, and a hook of indeterminate size next to a Q. (The penny is provided for size comparison).

The nano-hook is a bit of a mystery to me. It used to belong to my uncle's grandmother ; it might be a 15 or so, and seems suited to crocheting sewing thread. There is no manufacturer or size information on it, but it's elegant and slim and I would cuddle it if it weren't so danged pointy.

Same goes for the 000, which came in a set of four sizes with five of each size. Its companions are 00, 0 and 1 and also just plain adorable. And now that I have sock yarn (tiny!), I can use them instead of admiring their shiny slimness.

The 17 and the Q? I'm something of a completist and couldn't resist likewise buying the largest hooks and needles I could find at the local General Crafts Store. I have since learned that there are S hooks, and 35 and 50 needles, but I think the compulsion to buy big has faded. Besides, if I ever have need of knitting, say, waterski tow line, I may be prepared with what I have.

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Random knitting content

We may be seeing Snakes on a Plane this weekend. It is to my regret that I didn't think to knit myself a muthalovin' snake to wear around my muthalovin' neck to the movie. (It could be done. I-cord, with strategic increases and decreases for the head. And it would use up some of the acrylic sitting in the stash.)

---

I have now met three other Lauras and a Laurie (unsure of spelling) through the Wednesday night knitting group. Can't swing a skein of yarn without hitting one of us, it seems ...

---

Upcoming projects:

• Potholders for the Beloved's mom, who is quite enamored of the ones made for her earlier. So enamored, in fact, that she doesn't want to use them until I make more. :-) I think I have some suitable colors in the dishcloth cotton stash ... I don't think I have any more pink, but I do have some red and burgundy.
• The Booga Bag. Or some other felted bag, if I find a pattern I like better. I have four skeins of Noro Kureyon, in a pink-purple-green colorway, and the pattern calls for three. I had, however, been hoping to use the Kureyon for a pair of Hurry Up Spring cabled armwarmers from Stitch 'N Bitch Nation. Although, if I buy a skein of coordinating wool and use it with the Kureyon, I could do both ... (Of course, with the Knucks, I may not need the armwarmers. And I've also been contemplating black armwarmers instead of color. *shrug* We'll see.)
• Oh, and speaking of shrugs ... the Convertible from Knitty also intrigues me. Although I also have Wrap Style, and there's a few garments in there that I covet ... never mind that I already have a couple of non-knitted wrap-y shawl-y things that I received as gifts.
• And didn't I say I was going to re-attempt Branching Out?
  

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Knuckling down

Look! A Knaked Knuck!



Finished the knitting part ... Sunday, I think. I've had a mild case of Knuck fatigue ever since ... I have yet to start Knuck #2 or do the finishing on Knuck #1 (don't let the pic fool you), and although I put in a few more rows on Mom's Sophisticated Scarf, I've done much more dreaming and scheming about knitting than actual stitching. Thus is the Way of the Needle, I s'pose ...



... oh, and the Bear really wishes I'd weave in the #$%@!! ends and seam up the #$%@!! fingers, already. (Although the Bear expressed this in a gentler manner more befitting a soft cuddly creature.)

But even in its unfinished state, the Knuck has gotten lots of love. It has earned me props among my fellow Wednesday-night knitters (I've heard it called Chicks With Sticks and Knit 'n' Bitch, but darned if I know the real name), and most folks to whom I show it simply MUST try it on. Including the Beloved, whose big manly fingers are way too large for it. He has requested a big manly pair of his own, in brown or black, and I've requested some big manly Rowan Felted Tweed in Cocoa for him. (And some Pine for me. Although I may make a different sort of hand covering out of it. I was just chuffed to see a dark green. It's sort of my signature color, and I'm just not seeing it in ladies' fashion these days.)

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Finally, a post that's not about frogging

Behold, the joining of the fingers!



These are, of course, my Knucks, and they have gone astonishingly well thus far. I opted to knit all of the loose fingers first, to help cut down on Second Sock Knuck Syndrome:



Here are the fingers for the other hand (except for the index, which is knitted and left live on the needles; the other, separate fingers are then slipped back onto the needles, and the lot is knitted together) and the thumbs. An old friend is helping me to hold all the loose stitches; the waste yarn is coming from one of the first skeins I ever bought, and with which I made my first-ever stitches. *

The pattern is written for DPNs, but after being shown the two-circulars technique, I've been digging that. (Besides, I had the circs. I don't have the DPNs.) It has meant that each finger has looked like a rather ungainly arachnid, what with all the loose ends and circs dangling about, but I've avoided any major snarls.

I'm still contemplating the embroidery. I'm making them primarily for work, where the A/C can approach refrigeration levels, so I've been half-tempted to stitch my work logo onto them. It's abstract enough that it would just look pretty to those who don't recognize it ... on the other hand (heh), I think I could just get really creative.

The lettering? I'm trying to decide between WORD NERD or WORD GEEK. Either would be accurate; I'm leaning toward "geek" but I like the way "nerd" rhymes.

Once these are done? I'll probably attempt socks again. I seem to have caught the fever for sock yarn; the skeins and balls keep trickling in. Viz.:



(Dramatization. No actual cats were used in the making of this photo.)

It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Shadow. It may well become a pair of socks for the Beloved, who occasionally will pout that I haven't made anything for him. (Fortunately, as Floridians, we have little use for sweaters, so we may be immune to the dreaded Sweater Curse, at least if you take the name literally.) After petting it in the yarn shop for several weeks (the yarn, not the Beloved), I decided it simply HAD to come home with me. But isn't that the way of all yarn?

* It's a green-cream-red variegated skein of Red Heart. I'll introduce you later.

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Knit or get off the pot, part II

The Straight-Laced Sock from Knitty is not dead yet ... but it's not at all well.



The Nice Yarn Shop Owner suggested twisting the knit stitches in the ribbing to try to create a tighter sock, or perhaps crocheting in a bit of elastic afterward. Meanwhile, another knitter at yesterday's knitting group session repeated something I'd read on the Socknitters list -- Jawoll Color Superwash really does call for teensier needles.

In either case ... the sock is going to be frogged.

Which is fine. It frees up my size 4 circs so that I can turn this



into a pair of Knucks. (The Beloved felt that the yarn needed bunny ears.) The label says Inca Fiber Concept and gives washing instructions and a URL (www.incatops.com), but is mute on exact composition of yarn or yardage. (I'm guessing there's alpaca involved, but don't quote me on it.)

It would seem that I do more frogging than knitting ... but I assure you, the Mom's Sophisticated Scarf is coming along swimmingly. One more skein of yarn to go ...

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Knit or get off the pot

The Tribble is dead.



The Tribble -- my initial attempt to do Knitty's Branching Out scarf, as chronicled here -- simply was not meant to be, at least not in that yarn. If I still want a fuzzy one, my LYS seems to have some other yarn candidates, but I think I have a yarn or two in the stash that would also work. Of course, with my luck, that'll go pear-shaped as well. (I have yet to master the art of substituting yarn. Ah, well, learn from experience and all that ...)

I was unsuccessful at ripping out all of the Tribble's yarn -- Artful Yarns "Portrait" yarn, in what I think was the "Arnolfini Marriage" colorway -- because it all matted together. *sigh* But I think I have enough left to resurrect the Tribble, in a different pattern, later on.

Tribble, R.I.P. (And r-i-p.)

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Casting on ...

Because teh 1ntarw3bz can never have too many knitting blogs ... I've begun one of my own.

So who am I? I picked up the sticks about 2 1/2 years ago and never quite put them down (despite a few periods of knitter's apathy). I've made eyelash-yarn scarves. (In purple! And blue for my sister! And rainbow for her friend! And there's more in the stash!) I made an Eros scarf. I've made dishcloths. I've made something that was meant to be a dishcloth but that is adorning my Beloved's bedside table. I've made potholders. I've made a slipper that fits the Beloved's size 11 1/2 feet, but was intended for mine (7 1/2). I've made baby blankets for my niece and nephew. And I recently made a hat for my sister, my first successful foray into both knitting in the round (both on dpns and circs) and cables.

Plans for the future? Attend knitting group sessions at the LYS. Go on a knitting retreat. Explore more new techniques. Use my stash. (Yeah. Right.)

What's on the needles now?

This is the start of a Straight-Laced Sock from Knitty, worked in Jawoll Color Superwash on two circulars. (The pattern directs you to knit both at the same time, but I don't think my circs are long enough, and I think managing one at a time is quite enough for now, thanks.)

This required some adventures in swatching. Yarn and pattern say size 3 is cool? OK, I have 2 pairs of bamboo circs. Let's start from there ...

*knit knit knit*
*show to Nice Yarn Shop Owner*
*be informed that you are getting 7 stitches to the inch, when in fact you should be getting 5 1/2*
*discuss with Nice Yarn Shop Owner the possibility of finding a new pattern or new yarn more suited to my tight-ass knitting*
*try it on metal 4s, just to see what happens, even though it is not expected to net me much*
*knit knit knit*
*miraculously get gauge! ... WTF?*

I can only conclude that because the metal needles are more slippery, I knit more loosely on them. Worth knowing.

This is Mom's Sophisticated Scarf from SnB Nation as modeled by my stuffed bear. (I have no cats to pounce on the yarn and look cute, so I need alternative sources of cuteness.) My mom decided she wanted something neutral-colored she could wrap around herself for quick forays between heated car and heated building in the Ohio winter rather than unnecessarily wrestle with a bulky coat. I may be a Floridian now, and I may have traded blizzards for hurricanes, but I have not forgotten the art of coat-wrestling. So I'm making her a scarf out of Lion Brand Wool-Ease, and I think it will do nicely.

I'm itching to do a pair of Knucks or some other sort of fingerless glove, because my hands get cold at the office from the A/C. (Yes, in Florida. In July.) I don't want to have too many works in progress, though. (Especially since there's another blanket -- non-baby -- in the closet, from which I'm taking a hiatus.)

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