Status Pics

Gawd, I'm feeling so boring today. Just get a load of that awful title. Oh well.

Finally, the Log Cabin finished and blocking. I had to lay down towels on the kid's bed just to have enough space. And here we are, all dry and ready to ship:
Big Whoop. However, I felt this odd sense of accomplishment that doesn't come with a pair of socks or a hat. Like I actually made something that will be around a while. Interesting.
WTS is progressing as could be expected. I guess you actually have to knit on a project for it to get done. What have I been doing instead? Swatching:
First I tried Jaywalker, then I tried winging a basketweave. But Shibui sock yarn, in Peacock, is thicker (and rougher!) than I expected (must be the overtwist) so when casting onto 2.25 mm needles Jaywalker was way out of proportion even at the smallest size. Basketweave on the fly, with a reduced number of stitches, still didn't work. So I actually swatched for once. I still may go up to 2.5 mm dpn's and back down to 64 (instead of 72) stitches to take advantage of the yarn's thickness. Here's what I worked out so far to start this sock:

Hell In A Handbasket Socks

C/O 64[72] st to 2.5 mm (size 1.5 US) [2.25 mm (size 1 US)] needles. Divide evenly, aiming for multi's of eight per needle. Knit cuff in 2x2 rib for 1 inch. Begin leg pattern.

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: *p5, k3, repeat from * 7[8] more times
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: as row 2
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: as row 2
Row 7: Knit
Row 8: p1, *k3, p5, repeat from * 6[7] more times, k3, p4
Row 9: Knit
Row 10: as row 8
Row 11: Knit
Row 12: as row 8

Repeat rows 1 through 12 until desired length is reached.

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Heel to come.

Smattering

Okay, pathetically, still no pics. I've actually got an excuse: more company. BF's mom is coming to visit on Friday, and I'm working my tail off to keep the house decent so I don't have to freak out on Friday. Freakin' Friday. Not for me.

So I shall direct my dears elsewhere for some good readin'.

First, this. Look in the sidebar and scroll down a bit. If you're already reading this, then you know what I'm talkin'bout. What a killer idea!

Second, back to Mason-Dixon for the football post. I could care less about the NFL, but I have a weird soft spot for football movies. Thusly, I add my own titles to the list: The Replacements, Varsity Blues, Radio, WaterBoy...(okay, maybe I'm getting a little cheesy here). Baseball movies effect me the same way, especially For Love of The Game. Wait, where was I going with this?...Nevermind.

Went to my LYS for a little entertainment and to check on a pattern. They just got in a whole bunch of Lang Jawoll sock yarn. Sweet!

The Socks

(Do you think Hitchcock could've found a use for that title?)

A raging storm is coming in through the walls and windows. I open drawers and overturn things Looking For Something, but everywhere I turn, socks that to my knowledge have been bound off, are actually only partially done. The more socks I find, the more I panic. Hey, wait, isn't that the third b/g monster I've found?...

Whew! It was only a dream. But seriously, I couldn't figure out how all of a sudden all my finished socks had got so un-finished. Cruel, cruel subconscious. Thankfully, the kid woke me up to get a drink of water before things could get worse.

Something About Socks

I really shouldn't browse the internet on virtual yarn shopping trips. I get into trouble. I start to find ways of justifying buying things outside my budget. Like....

this

or

one of these.

And get a load of this place. Do they know how unfair that is to sell all that fabulous yarn in one place?

Then I stumbled on this over here for a really good price and suddenly I was envisioning a black sock with Fair Isle-type patterning with the Rainbow skein.

Needless to say, Cashmere doesn't tempt me, and sweater projects sound like fun but don't thrill me the way this and this and these do. This year for Christmas, I plan to knit quite a few pair of socks as gifts, and I hope that I will receive ample opportunity to buy more sock yarn.

(I should note that I have been addicted to drugs before, well, nicotine, so I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't a grand conspiracy going on to lace all sock yarn with something potent and highly habit-forming.)

No, It Isn't A Myth...

...finishitis is real. If you've been reading here, or here, you know what I mean. Is it fall coming closer by the minute having the opposite effect of spring? I don't know the answer, but I know it's either contagious or spontaneous.

Though I've acquired numbers 154, 102 and 40 in Kureyon for Lizard Ridge, some Dream In Color Smooshy, and three more skeins of Baby Ull for a "quad sock" brainstorm project in the last week, I haven't been casting on.

Instead, I finished that beasty Log Cabin blanket over the space of a couple days. I tore out the applied I-cord edge (that "I" really does stand for idiot, though not in the way EZ intended) and whipped up a simple and fast (i.e. perfect) single crochet border. The blanket softened way up with Eucalan, and now its all dry and waiting to be sent. Pictures to follow in future post.

I also pulled out a striped baby hat I knit up over a year ago and sewed in all the ends. Now to find someone to give it to. Suggestions?

Then I unearthed a wacky sweater I don't think ever got posted about made out of some awful acrylic and wool blend in colors I would never, ever pick for myself. (What else does one do with 1500 yds of handn-me-down yarn but self-teach?) I had originally thought to slog my way through a sweater with some basic knowledge and see what I learned. But now that I've finished the body and I can't imagine myself wearing the silly thing, I don't know if I should continue. At this point I don't think I can just hand it off to Goodwill - who would buy the half-baked thing with extra skeins in tow? I could whip up the sleeves then send it to a shelter. What would all of you do?

With all that under my belt in a few short days, I decided I needed to start a new pair of socks for an upcoming birthday. More to come on that. I've also managed past the heel on the first WTS. Specs:

WTS Men's Sock, Part Deux

At the beginning of the next round, assuming you've got the leg length you want, knit the first stitch of the first needle onto needle three. Now you're ready to fashion your heel flap.

Heel

Row 1: K across 32 st. Turn.
Row 2: K2, p28, K2
Row 3: K2, *sl1, K1, repeat from * until 2 st remain, K2

Repeat rows 2 & 3 until your heel flap is 31 rows long, including row 1, which should mean ending with a RS row. Begin turning.

Row 1(ws): K2, p15, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 2(rs): sl1, K3, K2tog, K1, turn.

Continue in this fashion until all heel stitches have been incorporated, ending on a right side row.
Gusset/Instep

I found on the Pig Tail Socks that picking up along a garter ridge on a heel flap looked nicer and was actually easier than slipped stitches, so I've continued that in this pattern.

Taking a spare needle, pick up 16 stitches (one for each ridge), then knit across with the heel flap needle. Continue across the top of the foot in this way:

Foot Pattern

Row 1: K1, *p1, K1, p1, K1, p2, K2 (K1 on final repeat), repeat from * three more times.
Row 2: K1, *p2, K1, p1, K1, p1, K2 (K1 on final repeat), repeat from * three more times.

Of course, you will need to adjust which row you start with based on where you ended the leg to keep the seed stitch pattern.

Then, pick up the other gusset ridges (hopefully sixteen in all), knit across and knit ten stitches from the heel flap. As you knit around the instep and gusset, reduce one stitch every other row at the beginning of each gusset. On needle one that would be a K2tog, on needle three a sl1, K1, psso. Continue in foot pattern as well.

When I get to the toe, my plan is to do a standard paired decrease every other row over stockinette and then Kitchener it shut once I reach 16.

Chatty with Charlie

Scene: Bedtime.

Mom attempts to read A.A. Milne to toddler. Toddler reads his own version, following words with finger.

Page reads, according to toddler: Feefee dollars, feefee dollars, feefee an' dollars. Kissor Robin. Mango po'sicle. Eat it all up. Bees, bees. Buzz, buzz, everywhere.

(What context did my child learn the phrase "fifty dollars" from?)

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The Lizard Ridge Sq1 is zippity-doo-dahing right along. I have some fun money coming, originally intended for E.L. Silky Wool in a color now unavailable, and I'm trying really hard not to plan out a jaunt around town to all the stores I know have Kureyon in order to pick out my next few squares. So many projects, so little self control.

And the leg of WTS #1 is 6.5 inches. Heel shortly, folks.

It's All About Aquisition

You know you have startitis when....

- you go looking at colors of a sale yarn at your LYS without a pattern in mind, but quickly find a suitable project for said sale yarn.
- you leave the LYS with Kureyon for this.
- you immediately abandon the sock you've been slogging in order to start one of the above.



(I have actually finished that dark grey pair of socks for hub. I do accomplish things now and then.)

I thought I'd make the second pair of Baby Ull grey socks more interesting to knit, so I threw in some seed stitch panels. Way Too Slow. Thus, these will be the WTS socks. Here's the quick rundown if you're crazy like me:

WTS Men's Socks, Part Un

Needles: Size 2, four or five
Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull ('cause it's bigger and smooshier than most sock yarns)

Cast 65 st onto 2 needles, then divide evenly and join. I tend toward the k2tog joins, which means you're knitting 64 st. Rib 2x2 for 1.5 to 2 inches. Knit leg pattern for 7 to 8 inches.

Leg pattern
Row 1: *K2, p1, K1, p1, K1, p2, repeat from * 7 more times.
Row 2: *K2, p2, K1, p1, K1, p1, repeat from * 7 more times.

(Okay, so that's only the first half of the pattern. Stick around, and I'll post the rest when I get to it. Any suggestions on which heel to use?)

BTT: Multiples

Booking Through Thursday this week asks:

Do you have multiple copies of any of your books?
If so, why? Absent-mindedness? You love them that much? First Editions for the shelf, but paperbacks to read?

Well, yeah. Anyone who has taken Shakespeare at the University level knows what a nightmare juggling the Norton Shakespeare alongside other textbooks can be. In addition to the collected works I have quite a few plays as small paperbacks for portability.

There were quite a few books both my husband and I had, including four copies total of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. A few we've kept for sentimental reasons, but most have either been donated or (once they were discovered) sold back to Powell's.

Let's not rule out total lack of brain functionality as well. I can think of several leather-bound collections that I later bought paperback individuals out of sheer collection lust. And three of those American Gods? Bought by me at three different used bookstores, thinking I was getting a really good deal on a book.

I think the observation can be made that even if one accidentally collects the same yarn over and over, at least there would stil be a use for it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Hacker

My computer has been hijacked by a 15-year-old! I say that laughingly, because I really don't care, although having my step-daughter here sure has cut way back on the number of times a day I check email. And blogging? Well.

I have been doing actual knitting, though. I've finished another BBDR, a silk/alpaca baby hat in the most wonderful ruby red (yarn here), the second Pig Tail sock for my mother, and yesterday I whipped out the first of a pair of dark grey heathered socks for the hubba (seen partially above).

Things I have not done: housework and finishing the border on the red/brown log cabin blanket.

Is it avoidance? Procrastination? Utter dislike for the project? Try all three.

I was perfectly happy to make a ridiculously large blanket in garter stitch. Boredome? Not an obstacle when I have a deadline. I've dealt with worse (like reading Ulysesses for university, ugh), but nothing could've prepared me for my lack enthusiasm for the border. I tried a simple cro-Kay (as in Mason-Dixon), but it looked rather bad. I tried applied I-cord in about three different ways. I finally went with I-cord, and got through the first side before I realized I needed to go up at least one needle size, if not two. Now I'm nearly finished with side number two and have stalled out because I can't make up my mind about frogging it or barrelling through.

So, if there are any of you left reading, send me some motivational vibes. I need to get this blanket in the mail already.